GSM RNO Subject-Troubleshooting of Problems in Stages of Call Setup - R1.0 - 20130311

Troubleshooting of Problems in Stages of Call Setup
R1.0
Internal Use Only
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Revision History
Product Version Document Version R1.0 Serial Number Reason for Revision First published
Author
Date 2012-11-18 Document Version R1.0 Prepared by Yang Tao Reviewed by Zheng Hao Approved by Zheng Hao
II
Internal Use Only
Intended audience:
GSM Network Optimization Engineers
Proposal: Before reading this document, you had better have the following knowledge and skills.
SEQ 1 2 3 Null Knowledge and skills Null Reference material
Follow-up document: After reading this document, you may need the following information.
SEQ 1 2 Null Reference material Null Information
III
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About This Document

Summary
Chapter 1 Signaling Flow and Relevant Counters and KPIs at the Random Access Stage 2 SDCCH Signaling Flow and Relevant Counters and KPIs 3 Signaling Flow and Relevant Counters and KPIs During the Voice Channel Allocation 4 Call Connection Process 5 Signaling Flow and Relevant Counters and KPIs During the Terminating Paging Stage 6 Signaling Flow of the Terminating Connection Stage 7 Features of the V4 Allocation Process Statistics 8 Cases Description Describes the Signaling Flow and Relevant Counters and KPIs at the Random Access Stage Describes the SDCCH Signaling Flow and Relevant Counters and KPIs Describes the Signaling Flow and Relevant Counters and KPIs During the Voice Channel Allocation. Describes the Call Connection Process. Describes the Signaling Flow and Relevant Counters and KPIs During the Terminating Paging Stage. Describes the Signaling Flow of the Terminating Connection Stage. Describes the Features of the V4 Allocation Process Statistics. Describes some cases.
IV
Internal Use Only
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 Stage 1.1 1.1.1 1.2 1.3 1.3.1 1.3.2 1.3.3 1.3.4 1.3.5 1.4 1.4.1 1.4.2 1.4.3 2 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.3.1 2.3.2 2.3.3 Signaling Flow and Relevant Counters and KPIs at the Random Access 1 Signaling Flow at the Random Access Stage .................................................. 1 Channel Mode Changing Program ................................................................. 3 Counter List of the Random Access Stage...................................................... 4 SDCCH Congestion Description, Cause, and Handling Flow ........................... 5 SDCCH Congestion Description ..................................................................... 5 SDCCH Congestion Rate KPI Definition ......................................................... 6 SDCCH Congestion Counters ........................................................................ 6 Main Causes of the SDCCH Congestion ...................................................... 10 SDCCH Congestion Handling Flow .............................................................. 12 SDCCH Assignment Failure Description and Troubleshooting ....................... 13 Definitions of SDCCH Assignment Success Rate KPIs ................................. 13 Counters Relevant to the SDCCH Assignment Success Rate ........................ 14 Troubleshooting of High SDCCH Assignment Failure Rate ............................ 15 SDCCH Signaling Flow and Relevant Counters and KPIs ........................ 21 SDCCH Signaling Setup Flow ...................................................................... 21 SDCCH Counter List ................................................................................... 21 SDCCH Call Drop KPI Definition and Affecting Factors ................................. 22 SDCCH Call Drop Definition......................................................................... 22 Counters Relevant to the SDCCH Call Drop ................................................. 23 Factors Affecting the SDCCH Call Drop........................................................ 25
3 Signaling Flow and Relevant Counters and KPIs During the Voice Channel Allocation 27 3.1 Signaling Flow During the Voice Channel Allocation ..................................... 27 3.2 Relevant Counter List During the TCH Allocation .......................................... 28 3.3 TCH Allocation Success Rate Definition and Failure Cause Description......... 33 3.3.1 TCH Allocation Success Rate KPI Definition ................................................. 33 3.3.2 TCH Allocation Failure Description ............................................................... 34 3.3.3 Main Causes of TCH Allocation Failure ........................................................ 34 3.3.4 Problem Handling Process........................................................................... 36 3.4 TCH Congestion Description, Cause, and Handling Flow .............................. 37 3.4.1 TCH Congestion Description ........................................................................ 37 3.4.2 TCH Congestion Rate KPI Definition ............................................................ 37 3.4.3 Counters Relevant to the TCH Congestion ................................................... 38 3.4.4 Main Causes of the TCH Congestion ........................................................... 47 3.4.5 TCH Congestion Handling Process .............................................................. 48 4 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.3.1 Call Connection Process ........................................................................... 50 Signaling Flow of the Call Connection Process ............................................. 50 Counters in the Call Connection Process ...................................................... 51 Call Drop During the Call Connection Process .............................................. 53 Causes of Call Drops due to Radio Link Fault ............................................... 53
Internal Use Only
4.3.2
Causes of Call Drops Due to LAPD Link Failure ........................................... 55
5 Signaling Flow and Relevant Counters and KPIs During the Terminating Paging Stage .............................................................................................................. 56 5.1 Paging Principle .......................................................................................... 56 5.2 Basic Signaling Flow of the Radio Paging ..................................................... 57 5.3 Paging Counters of ZTE BSS ....................................................................... 58 5.4 Paging Success Rate KPI Definition ............................................................. 60 5.5 Factors Affecting the Paging Success Rate .................................................. 61 5.6 Procedure and Method of Low Paging Success Rate Optimization ................ 62 6 6.1 6.2 7 7.1 7.2 7.2.1 7.2.2 7.2.3 8 8.1 8.1.1 8.1.2 8.1.3 8.1.4 8.1.5 8.1.6 8.1.7 8.2 8.2.1 8.2.2 8.3 8.3.1 8.3.2 8.3.3 8.3.4 8.3.5 8.4 Signaling Flow of the Terminating Connection Stage .............................. 66 Signaling Flow of the Terminating Connection Stage .................................... 66 Relevant KPIs of the Terminating Connection Stage ..................................... 67 Features of the V4 Allocation Process Statistics ...................................... 68 Change of the Allocation Flow ...................................................................... 68 Change of Allocation Statistics ..................................................................... 68 Counter Adding ........................................................................................... 68 Counter Deleting ......................................................................................... 68 Modification and KPI Change ....................................................................... 68 Cases ......................................................................................................... 70 Cases of SDCCH Assignment Failure .......................................................... 70 SDCCH Assignment Failure Due to the LAPD Time Delay ............................ 70 High SDCCH Assignment Failure Rate Due to Co-BCCH and Co-BSIC......... 73 Noise Signal Access .................................................................................... 74 SDCCH Assignment Failure Due to Co-BCCH and Co-BSIC Handover ......... 75 SDCCH Assignment Failure Due to Poor Network Coverage......................... 76 SDCCH Assignment Failure Due to Continuous Location Update Requests ... 77 Improper Setting of the Tx-Integer Parameter ............................................... 79 SD\TCH Channel Congestion Cases ............................................................ 80 SD congestion due to LAPD Delay Caused by Transmission Fault ................ 80 SD Congestion due to Strong Interference.................................................... 81 Paging Cases .............................................................................................. 83 No Paging Response due to the SDCCH Congestion.................................... 83 Call Failure due to the MSC Flow Control ..................................................... 83 No Paging Response due to Wrong T3212 Setting ....................................... 84 Low Paging Success Rate due to Location Area Division .............................. 84 GSM Paging Success Rate Optimization of a China Unicom Branch ............. 85 V4 Cases .................................................................................................... 88
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Internal Use Only
FIGURES
Figure 1-1 Signaling Flow at the Random Access Flow ......................................................1 Figure 1-2 Channel Mode Changing Program ....................................................................3 Figure 1-3 SDCCH Allocation Flow ...................................................................................5 Figure 1-4 Immediate Assignment Flow ............................................................................7 Figure 1-5 Immediate Assignment Occupation Failure Flow ...............................................8 Figure 1-6 Immediate Assignment Flow ............................................................................9 Figure 1-7 Immediate Assignment Flow .......................................................................... 15 Figure 1-8 LAPD Delay ................................................................................................... 17 Figure 2-1 SDCCH Signaling Flow .................................................................................. 21 Figure 2-2 Immediate Assignment Flow .......................................................................... 24 Figure 3-1 Signaling Flow of TCH Allocation .................................................................... 27 Figure 3-2 Voice Channel Allocation Flow ....................................................................... 34 Figure 3-3 Figure 3-4 Figure 3-5 Common Assignment Flow (Internal TC)......................................................... 39 Common Assignment Flow (External TC) ....................................................... 39 Common Assignment Failure Flow 1 (Internal TC) .......................................... 40
Figure 3-6 Intra-BSC Handover Occupation Failure Flow ................................................. 41 Figure 3-7 Inter-BSC Handover Occupation Failure Flow ................................................. 42 Figure 3-8 Flow of Handling TCH Congestion .................................................................. 49 Figure 4-1 Figure 4-2 Call Connection Process ................................................................................ 50 Call Drop Caused by the Radio Link Fault ....................................................... 52
Figure 5-1 Paging Message Delivery ............................................................................... 56 Figure 5-2 Basic Signaling Flow of the Radio Paging ....................................................... 57 Figure 5-3 Figure 5-4 Radio Access Process ................................................................................... 58 Measurement Point of the BSC Sending the Abis Message to the BTS ............ 60
Figure 6-1 Signaling Flow of the Terminating Connection Stage ....................................... 66 Figure 8-1 Time Stamp Checking .................................................................................... 71 Figure 8-2 Signaling Flow Checking 1 ............................................................................. 71 Figure 8-3 Signaling Flow Checking 2 ............................................................................. 72 Figure 8-4 Signaling Flow Checking 3 ............................................................................. 72 Figure 8-5 Signaling Tracing Data Observing 1................................................................ 74 Figure 8-6 Signaling Tracing Data Observing 2................................................................ 75 Figure 8-7 Signaling Tracing Data Observing 3................................................................ 78
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Figure 8-8 Signaling Tracing Data Observing 4................................................................ 79 Figure 8-9 SD Channel Congestion Report Analysis (Case 1) .......................................... 80 Figure 8-10 No Response From the BTS (Case 1) ........................................................... 81 Figure 8-11 A Large Number of CHANNEL REQUEST Messages (Case 3) ...................... 82 Figure 8-12 Signaling Tracing Data Observing 5 .............................................................. 84 Figure 8-13 Number of Location Update Times................................................................ 85 Figure 8-14 Paging Success Rate ................................................................................... 88 Figure 8-15 TCH 2 Measurement .................................................................................... 92
TABLES
Table 1-1 Table 1-2 Table 1-3 Table 1-4 Counter List of the Random Access Stage .........................................................4 T3122...............................................................................................................5 SDCCH Congestion Rate KPI Definition ............................................................6 Definitions of SDCCH Assignment Success Rate KPIs ..................................... 13
Table 1-5 Corresponding Relationship Between the Tx-Integer Parameter and Interval Between Two Channel Request Messages ........................................................................ 16 Table 2-1 Table 2-2 Table 3-1 Table 3-2 Table 3-3 Table 4-1 Table 5-1 Table 8-1 Table 8-2 Table 8-3 Table 8-4 Table 8-5 Table 8-6 Table 8-7 SDCCH Counter List ....................................................................................... 21 SDCCH Call Drop KPI Definition...................................................................... 23 List of Counters During the TCH Allocation (for V3) .......................................... 28 TCH Allocation Success Rate (Handover Excluded) KPI Definition ................... 33 TCH Congestion Rate Definition ...................................................................... 37 Counters in the Call Connection Process ......................................................... 51 Paging Success Rate KPI Definition ................................................................ 60 Cell Basic Measurement Data 1....................................................................... 76 Cell Basic Measurement Data 2....................................................................... 77 Site Information .............................................................................................. 79 SDCCH Congestion Information ...................................................................... 83 TCH Congestion KPIs ..................................................................................... 89 TCH Measurement Analysis ............................................................................ 90 KPIs in the OMC Statistics .............................................................................. 91
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Internal Use Only
1
1.1
Signaling Flow and Relevant Counters and KPIs at the Random Access Stage
Signaling Flow at the Random Access Stage
Figure 1-1 Signaling Flow at the Random Access Flow
MS
1 Channel Request(RACH)
BTS
2 Channel Required
BSC
MSC
3 Channel Activationg
4 Channel Activationg ACK 5 Immediate Assigment Command
6 Immediate Assigment (AGCH)
7 CM Service Requst(SDCCH) 8 CM Service Requst Establish Indicationg 10 UA(SDCCH) 9 CM Service Requst
The signaling flow of the random access stage is described as follows. 1. Channel requiring The MS applies for one channel from one BTS through sending one random access burst on the RACH dynamically. In the CHANNEL REQUEST message, the setup reason is included. The reason may be response paging, emergency call, mobile originating call, short message service, or others, such as location update. What is more, this message also includes the random parameters. The MS selects five bits as the random parameters randomly. With these parameters, when two MSs access the network at the same time, the network can distinguish the MSs. 2. Channel applying The BTS sends a CHANNEL REQUIRED message to the BSC. Through this message, the BTS transfers the channel request initiated by the MS to the BSC.
Internal Use Only
Actually, the CHANNEL REQUIRED message includes some information of the channel request and some information added through the BTS. The application parameters can be acquired from the channel request information and the initial time advance is added to this message by the BTS. 3. Channel activation After receiving the CHANNEL REQUIRED message sent from the BTS, the BSC starts to find and allocate the SDCCH for this call according to a certain condition. At the same time, the BSC sends one channel activation message to the BTS. The important point is which BTS should be allocated with this SDCCH and the SDCCH combination. In this message, the parameters included are DTX control, channel ID (distinguishment), channel description, maximum power levels of mobile allocation, MS and BTS, and initial time advance of this access calculated by the BSC. 4. Channel activation confirmation This is a response to the channel activation message. After the BTS receives the channel activation message, it starts to send and receive messages on the SACCH. 5. Immediate assignment command The BSC informs the BTS of the used SDCCH.
6.
Immediate assignment
The BTS sub-system informs the MS of the used SDCCH condition through the AGCH. In fact, this message is an indication about moving from the AGCH to defined SDCCH sent from the network to the MS. In this message, the included parameters are paging mode, SDCCH description, associated SACCH, frequency-hopping, application parameters, initial time advance, and frequency allocation (frequency-hopping application).
7.
CM service request The MS sends a CM service request to the network, so as to apply one service for the connection management sub-layer entity, such as circuit switch connection setup, subsidiary service activation, or SMS sending.
8.
CM service request (setup indication) The BTS confirms the immediate assignment command through returning the setup indication message. The setup indication message has two functions. First, it points out that the MS is on the SDCCH from the BTS aspect. Then the BTS sends one message to the BSC to indicate that the CM service request of the MS is sent on the described SDCCH. What is more, the BTS will distinguish this connection and add the received L3 message to this message.
9.
CM service request
Internal Use Only
This CM service request message is sent to the mobile switch center (MSC). 10. No ID confirmation When the L2 link is built in the LAPDm protocol, no ID confirmation is L2 confirmation in the normal condition.
1.1.1
Channel Mode Changing Program

If the TCH should be used as the signaling mode due to no SDCCH during the immediate assignment, or the system requires for the rate change during the data sending process, it is necessary to send the channel mode changing program to the TCH, so as to meet the rate requirement, as shown in the following figure.
Figure 1-2 Channel Mode Changing Program
MS
BTS
Mode Modify
BSC
MSC
Assignment Request
Mode Modify ACK Channel Mode Modify Channel Mode Modify Channel Mode Modify ACK Channel Mode Modify ACK Assignment Complete
The channel mode changing is always initiated by the network. The network sends a channel mode changing message to the MS. This message includes the channel description and the new mode adopted by the channel. After the MS receives the channel mode changing message, it changes the mode of the indicated channel and sends a channel mode changing confirmation message to indicate the new channel mode. If the MS does not support the specified mode, it will keep the original mode and send one channel mode confirmation message of the corresponding channel mode information.
Internal Use Only
1.2
Counter List of the Random Access Stage

The counters of this stage mainly include the CS measurement, radio access measurement, SDCCH measurement, and TCH F/H measurement counters. The counters of the random access stage are shown in the following figure. The V4 and V3 counters are the same.
Table 1-1
Counter List of the Random Access Stage Counter Name Number of SDCCH seizure attempts for assignment Number of SDCCH seizure success for assignment Number of SDCCH seizure failure for assignment Number of SDCCH allocation success for assignment Number of SDCCH allocation failure for assignment Number of signaling TCH/F seizure attempts for assignment Number of signaling TCH/F seizure failure for assignment Number of signaling TCH/F allocation success for assignment Number of signaling TCH/F allocation failure for assignment Number of signaling TCH/F assignment success for assignment Number of voice TCH/F assignment failure for assignment Number of signaling TCH/H seizure attempts for assignment Number of signaling TCH/H seizure failure for assignment Number of signaling TCH/H allocation failure for assignment Number of signaling TCH/H assignment success for assignment Number of SDCCH assignment attempts Number of SDCCH assignment success Number of SDCCH assignments failure Number of MOC access attempts Number of MOC access success Number of SDCCH seizure attempts for assignment Number of invalid access requests Number of MOC access success for processes Number of other causes access attempts Number of successful random access processes for other causes Number of other causes access success Number of wireless accesses due to other causes Number of signaling TCH/F seizure success for assignment Number of signaling TCH/F allocation attempts for assignment Number of signaling TCH/F assignment attempts Number of signaling TCH/H seizure success for assignment
Counter ID C900060003 C900060004 C900060005 C900060008 C900060009 C900060010 C900060011 C900060014 C900060015 C900060017 C900060018 C900060038 C900060039 C900060174 C900060235 C900060241 C900060242 C900060243 C900060136 C900060236 C901250007 C901110001 C901110003 C901110017 C901110018 C901110019 C901110033 C901260002 C901260007 C901260013 C901270002
Internal Use Only
Counter ID C901270007 C901270008 C901270013
Counter Name Number of signaling TCH/H allocation attempts for assignment Number of signaling TCH/H allocation success for assignment Number of signaling TCH/H assignment attempts
1.3
SDCCH Congestion Description, Cause, and Handling Flow

SDCCH Congestion Description
Figure 1-3 SDCCH Allocation Flow
1.3.1
MS
Channel Request(RACH)
BTS
Channel Required
BSC
Immediate Assigment Reject/T3122
MSC
Immediate Assigment Reject
Channel Activationg
Channel Activationg ACK
When the BSC receives the CHANNEL REQUIRED message sent by the MS through the BTS, it acquires the SDCCH resources. If the BSC finds no available SDCCH, it will send an IMMEDIATE ASSIGNMENT REJECT message to the MS to ask it to wait for a while (T3122) before requiring for the access again and add 1 to the SDCCH congestion counter. T3122 defines the minimum time interval of forbidding the next call of the MS temporarily, so as to avoid the network congestion.
Table 1-2
T3122 Protection Period of Access Attempt (T3122, s)
Value range Unit Default value
0 ~ 255 s 10
Internal Use Only
Protection Period of Access Attempt (T3122, s) After the network receives the channel request message sent by the MS. If there is no proper channel for the MS, the network will send an IMMEDIATE ASSIGNMENT REJECT message to the MS. The T3122, that is the waiting indication message unit, is included in the IMMEDIATE ASSIGNMENT REJECT message, so as to avoid the channel congestion due to continuous channel requests of the MS. After the MS receives IMMEDIATE ASSIGNMENT REJECT message, MS cannot start a new call until T3122 expires. This timer is one of the system control parameters, which is sent to MS in the IMMEDIATE ASSIGNMENT REJECT message. The recommended value for T3122 is 10~15 s, and 15~25s in areas with dense traffic.
Description
1.3.2
SDCCH Congestion Rate KPI Definition

Table 1-3 KPI Definition SDCCH Congestion Rate KPI Definition SDCCH blocking rate Number of signaling channel blocking times 100%/Number of signaling channel call attempts V2 (C11625 - C11626 + C11697) 100%/(C11625 + C11696) V6.0 Counter formula V3 V6.2 (C100030005 + C100030011 + C100030039) 100%/(C100030003 + C100030010 + C100030038) (C900060005 + C900060011 + C900060039) 100%/(C900060003 + C900060010 + C900060038) (C901250003 + C901260003 + C901270003)/(C901250001 + C901260001 + C901270001)
V4
V6.50.10
For the V3 formula definition, the basic measurement counter is adopted; for the V4 formula definition, the common measurement counter is adopted. And the counter meaning and formula definitions of the two versions are consistent.
1.3.3
SDCCH Congestion Counters

C900060005: number of SDCCH seizure failure for assignment Description The SDCCH allocation attempt is activated by the MS channel request message CHL_REQ. After the BSC receives this message, it attempts to allocate the channel for the request. If the allocate succeeds but occupation fails, this counter accumulates; if the request returns that the transceiver is faulty, this counter does not change. For failures in other cases, this counter accumulates.
Internal Use Only
Measurement point This counter counts when the BSC requests for channel (due to assignment) but fails to occupy the channel. The measurement point is A1, as shown in the following figure.
Figure 1-4 Immediate Assignment Flow

MS CHL_REQ CHL_RQD
A1
BTS
BSC
CHL_ACT CHL_ACT _ACK IMM _ASS _CMD IMM_ASS SABM EST_IND

A3 A2
C900060011: number of signaling TCH/F seizure failure for assignment Description This counter counts the number of TCH/F channel occupation failures during assigning signaling channels. After the BSC receives the channel request, it attempts to allocate channel for the request. If occupation fails, this counter accumulates. If the request returns that the transceiver is faulty, this counter does not change. For failures in other cases, this counter accumulates. Measurement point The BSC requests for channel (due to assignment and the channel is used as signaling channel) but fails to occupy the channel, or the BSC fails to wait for internal resource. The measurement point is A1 in the following figure.
Internal Use Only
Figure 1-5 Immediate Assignment Occupation Failure Flow

MS CHL_REQ BTS CHL_RQD IMM_ASS_REJ A1 BSC
C900060039: number of signaling TCH/H seizure failure for assignment Description This counter counts the number of TCH/H channel occupation failures during assigning signaling channels. After the BSC receives the channel request, it attempts to allocate channel for the request. If occupation fails, this counter accumulates. If the request returns that the transceiver is faulty, this counter does not change. For failures in other cases, this counter accumulates. Measurement point The BSC requests for channel (due to assignment and the channel is used as signaling channel) but fails to occupy the channel, or the BSC fails to wait for internal resource. The measurement point is A1 in Figure 1-5.
C900060003: number of SDCCH seizure attempts for assignment Description The SDCCH channel allocation attempt is activated by the MS channel request message CHL_REQ. After BSC receives this message, it attempts to allocate channel for the request. If allocation and occupation succeed, C900060003 and C900060004 accumulate simultaneously. If occupation fails and the failure is due to transceiver fault, C900060003, C900060004, and C900060005 do not change. For failures in other cases, C900060003 and C900060005 accumulate simultaneously. Measurement point This counter counts when the BSC completes requesting for channel (due to assignment) (C900060004 + C900060005). The measurement point is A1 in the following figure.
Internal Use Only

MS CHL_REQ CHL_RQD
A1
BTS
BSC

A3 A2
C900060010: number of signaling TCH/F seizure attempts for assignment Description This counter counts the number of TCH/F channel occupation attempts during assigning signaling channels, including the number of occupation success (C901260002) and the number of occupation failure (C900060011). After BSC receives the channel request, it attempts to allocate channel for the request. If allocation and occupation succeed, C900060010 and C901260002 accumulate simultaneously. If the request returns that the transceiver is faulty, C900060010, C901260002, and C900060011 do not change. For other cases, C900060010 and C900060011 accumulate simultaneously. Measurement point This counter counts when BSC completes requesting for channel (due to assignment and the channel is used as signaling channel) (C901260002 + C900060011). The measurement point is A1 in Figure 1-6.
C900060038: number of signaling TCH/H seizure attempts for assignment Description: This counter counts the number of TCH/H channel being attempted to be occupied during signaling channel assignment, including the number of
Internal Use Only
occupation success (C901270002) and the number of occupation failure (C900060039). After BSC receives the channel request massage, it attempts to allocate channel for the request. If allocation and occupation succeed, C900060038 and C901270002 accumulate simultaneously. If the request returns that the transceiver is faulty, C900060038, C901270002, and C900060039 do not change. For other cases, C900060038 and C900060039 accumulate simultaneously. Measurement point This counter counts when BSC completes requesting for channel (due to assignment and the channel is used as signaling channel) (C901260002 + C900060039). The measurement point is A1 in Figure 1-6.
1.3.4
Main Causes of the SDCCH Congestion

From the aspect of singling flow, there are two main types of causes of SD congestion. Too many CHANNEL REQUIRED messages exceeds network capacity and all the SDCCHs are occupied. Too many CHANNEL REQUIRED messages means the cell is busy, while few SDCCH are configured, which results in frequent occupancy of SDCCH and overflow. During the SD congestion troubleshooting, the engineers should check whether the traffic increases firstly.
Note: Some operations at the OMCR (such as HLR configuration or LAC re-planning) may lead to traffic increase in network.
The occupancy period of SDCCH is too long, due to non-in-time ending of signaling flow If signaling flow doesnt end in time, which means channel activation/release period is too long due to some reason (say, transmission fault), it will lead to long period of SDCCH occupancy and reduce SDCCH resource, and eventually result in SDCCH overflow. Too-long channel activation/release period causes the MS to repeat the channel request again and again (the number of repetition is decided by
10
Internal Use Only
system parameter MaxRetrans), and to occupy SDCCH repeatedly, which worsens SDCCH overflow. The problem of the intelligent network with the USSD service or the CN with the LOC leads to the suspension of the MS during the SMS or LOC. The MS occupies the SDCCH for a long time, which leads to the SDCCH congestion.
From the aspect of fault categories, the main causes of SDCCH congestion are described as follows. Unreasonable LAC planning If the LAC boundary is set at high traffic areas or main transportation ways, where subscribers are in great number and in frequent movement, LAC renewal can be very frequent, which will form unreasonable calling modes and lower system capacity as well; Unreasonable parameter settings The relevant parameters of C1 and C2 algorithms are set unreasonably. T3101, T3122, and T3212 are set unreasonably. Hardware fault If the LAPD and TRX become faulty or unstable, the BSC cannot activate the ground resources of this channel during the immediate allocation. Then, the user makes multiple SD attempts, which leads to the SD congestion. Problems with adjacent cells Because of the faulty adjacent cell, the serving cell absorbs some extra traffic and the congestion happens. Frequent registration of the illegal users The engineers should check whether the congestion is caused by the frequent registration of the users with roaming limit. If the new service is used in this area, when the users with roaming limit stay in the limit area and the mobiles are powered on, the MSs will attempt to register in this network but the authentification always fails, which increases the signaling load. Abrupt SMS In some areas, a large number of abrupt SMSs about the mark-six lottery, soccer gambling, or SMS fraud, exist, which leads to serious SD congestion.
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1.3.5
SDCCH Congestion Handling Flow

1. Observe the performance report to check whether the congestion happens in all the cells of the site or only in one cell. The SD congestion in all the cells in the site seldom happens and it is always relevant to the land transmission or parameter configuration. Observe the performance report to check whether the channel allocation failure (channel activation expiration or failure) happens during the SD congestion. If the channel allocation fails, the transmission or the CMB and TRX of the site may be faulty. It is suggested to check the transmission equipment or the site CMB or TRX fault.
2.
Note: Too large LAPD flow will lead to LAPD transmission delay, which causes timer expiration before channel activation is completed. This kind of timer expiration shall be differentiated from that caused by transmission fault. 3. Check the radio access measurement, analyze the access reason of Channel Request which causes SD congestion, count the number of Channel Request attempts and success times due to different reasons, and compare indicators with those in normal period. The access cause of Channel Request falls into four categories. MOC MTC LOC Other reasons (call re-establishment)
Usually, the number of LOC attempts is the largest. The number of MOC attempts is equivalent to that of the MTC attempts and they are relevant to the users call behavior. The number of other reasons is basically 0. Here are explanations for each category of cause. If there are a big number of attempts due to other reasons, and all end in failure, the cause can be confirmed to be interference. When the number of MOC attempts is big, and even exceeds the number of LOC, the reasons could be: The first possible reason is that there is MS malicious pager in the network.
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Internal Use Only
The second possible reason is interference.
Judge the reasons through analyzing number of MOC success. Although the MS malicious pager leads to a large number of MOC attempts, the corresponding success times also increase. The interference cannot lead to the increase of number of success times. 4. If number of LOC increases abnormally, check if there are any changes on network parameters, such as re-planning of LAC or amendments of the HLR and VLR. Generally speaking, SD congestion caused by LOC wont bring large number of assignment failures. If SD congestion is accompanied with large number of assignment failures, its very possible that the cell traffic volume is high or co-channel interference exists.
5.
Note: For BSCV2 system, basic measurement includes the number of attempts/success of MOC, MTC, LOC and other accesses. For the iBSC system, there is a special radio access measurement, which needs to establish measurement task. In CS basic measurement, number of MOC/MTC attempts and number of MOC/MTC success are included, through which we can calculate the number of attempts/success of LOC access. 6. Make enquiries and find out if there are newly-setup sites, adjustments on LAC/HLR; Check the performance report of the week when the problem appears, analyze if SD congestion exists for a long time during busy hours. If the SD congestion is a long standing issue, and theres no big fluctuation in the number of MOC, MTC, LOC attempt and success times, this means the cell is busy and its traffic volume is high, and expansion is needed.
7.
1.4
SDCCH Assignment Failure Description and Troubleshooting

Definitions of SDCCH Assignment Success Rate KPIs
Table 1-4 KPI Definitions of SDCCH Assignment Success Rate KPIs SDCCH Assignment Success Rate
1.4.1
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Internal Use Only
Definition
SDCCH assignment success rate 100/(Number of SDCCH assignment success + number of SDCCH assignment failure) V2 C11644 100%/( C11644 + C11645) V6.0 V6.2 V6.50.10 C100420014 100%/(C100420014 + C100420015) C900060242 100%/(C900060242 + C900060243) C901250014 100%/(C901250014 + C901250015)
Counter formula
V3 V4
1.4.2
Counters Relevant to the SDCCH Assignment Success Rate

C900060242: number of SDCCH assignments success Description After BSC responds to the channel request to allocate and activate SDCCH channel successfully, BSC sends the IMM_ASS message to notify MS to use this channel. After MS receives this message, it sends SABM frame to BTS on SDCCH. BTS then sends the EST_IND message to BSC after receiving the SABM frame. If BSC receives the correct EST_IND message within specified time, it indicates that the SDCCH channel assignment succeeds, and then this counter increments. This counter counts the number of MS successfully accessing SDCCH channel when BSC sends the IMM_ASS message, as shown in the following figure. Measurement point This counter counts when BSC receives the correct EST_IND message or the assignment completion message. The measurement point is A3.
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MS CHL_REQ CHL_RQD
A1
BTS
BSC

A3 A2
C900060243: number of SDCCH assignments failure Description After BSC responds to the channel request to allocate and activate SDCCH channel successfully, BSC sends the IMM_ASS message to notify MS to use this channel. After MS receives this message, it sends SABM frame to BTS on SDCCH. BTS then sends the EST_IND message to BSC after receiving the SABM frame. If BSC receives the incorrect EST_IND message or T3101 is timeout, it indicates that the SDCCH channel assignment fails, and then this counter increments. Measurement point This counter counts when BSC receives the incorrect EST_IND message or when T3101 is timeout. The measurement point is A3, as shown in Figure 1-7.
1.4.3
Troubleshooting of High SDCCH Assignment Failure Rate

Improper setting of the Tx-Integer parameter The corresponding relationship between the Tx-Integer parameter and interval between two channel request messages is described as follows.
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Table 1-5 Corresponding Relationship Between the Tx-Integer Parameter and Interval Between Two Channel Request Messages Time interval (ms) TxInteger (CCCHs not Combined With SDCCHs) 501ms ~ 593 ms (109~129 slot) 750ms ~ 865 ms (163~188 slot) 998ms ~ 1146 ms (217~249 slot) 253ms ~ 483 ms (55~105 slot) Time interval (ms) (CCCHs Combined With SDCCHs) 267ms ~ 359 ms (58 ~ 78 slot) 396ms ~ 511 ms (86 ~ 111slot) 529ms ~ 676 ms (115 ~ 147 slot) 189ms ~ 419 ms (41 ~ 91 frames)
12 13 14 15
Usually, the Tx-Integer parameter is set to 14 by default. When the transmission link delay is long and the Tx-Integer parameter is set to be too small, the MS will send the access request for many times. Usually, the one-way time delay of the signaling transmission on the Abis interface is about 60 ms ~ 100 ms. For example, with the time delay on the Um interface being ignored, the time delay of one immediate assignment flow is shown as follows. The CHANNEL REQUIRED signaling: UL: 60 ms The CHANNEL ACTIVATION signaling: DL: 60 ms The CHANNEL ACTIVATION ACK signaling: UL: 60 ms The IMMEDIATE ASSIGN signaling: DL: 60 ms Total: The time delay from the MS sending a CHANNEL REQUEST message to it receiving a CHANNEL REQUEST message is about 240 ms. If the delay of the TX link is large and TxInteger is improperly set for example, it is set to 15, and the corresponding the CHANNEL REQUEST message expire time is 300 ms the CHANNEL REQUEST message expires before the MS receives the IMM ASSIGN message and then the MS resends the CHANNEL REQUEST message. Then the MS receives the IMM ASSIGN message corresponding to the last CHANNEL REQUEST message and finishes the access flow. The IMM ASSIGN message corresponding to the second CHANNEL REQUEST fails. High SDCCH assignment failure rate due to LAPD time delay The possible causes of LAPD time delay are described as follows.
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If LAPD multiplexing 1:4 is used on site, multiple BCCH TRXs may be multiplexed on one LAPD, and the traffic volume will be heavy and the delay is large. The delay is caused by large LAPD flow. For example, improper LAC dividing will trigger LAPD flow control. The transmission equipment fault leads to the message loss of the LAPD link or too long time delay of the LAPD link. This condition and the SDCCH allocation failure always happen at the same time. The SDCCH allocation failure counter accumulates only at the time of activation failure or no response to activation request. No response to the activation request has two specific conditions. One is message loss on the LAPD link. Then the BTS cannot receive the channel activation message or the BSC cannot receive the activation responding message. Another condition is too long time delay on the LAPD link, which leads to the expiration of the channel activation timer. Both of the two conditions indicate that the LAPD link transmission is faulty. The delay of the TX equipment is large, for example, satellite TX is used on the Abis interface. The affection of the PS service. Because the PS service is more sensitive to the network time delay, the LAPD time delay can lead to the resending of the PS service message. And the message resending increases the traffic, which leads to longer LAPD time delay. If the LAPD time delay achieves to a certain degree, the MS will resend the CHANNEL REQUEST message, which leads to the SDCCH assignment failure, even the SDCCH allocation failure.
Figure 1-8 LAPD Delay
MS
1 Channel Request(RACH)
BTS
2 Channel Required
BSC
MSC
TxInteger
3 Channel Activationg Lapd Delay
4 Channel Activationg ACK 1 Channel Request (Re-Send) 2 Channel Required 6 Immediate Assigment (OK)
MS change to SDCCH
5 Immediate Assigment Command 3 Channel Activationg 4 Channel Activationg ACK 5 Immediate Assigment Command
6 Immediate Assigment (Fail)
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Co-frequency and co-BSIC interference Co-BCCH and co-BSIC interference has two conditions: Two co-BCCH and co-BSIC cells: The CHANNEL REQUEST message sent by the MS is received by two cells at the same time and the SDCCH assignment is made. Because the MS accesses only one SDCCH, the SDCCH assignment of one cell will fail. During the RACH coding, 6-bit color codes are added. The 6-bit color codes are acquired through Mod 2 of 6-bit BSIC and 6-bit odd and even verification codes. Therefore, co-BCCH and co-BSIC may lead to wrong decoding of the initial accesses of MSs of other sites. As a result, the SDCCH assignment failure happens. The two cells are co-BSIC and the TCH ARFCN of one cell is the same with the BCCH ARFCN of another cell. Then the handover access request on the TCH of one cell is received by the other cell as the CHANNEL REQUEST message and SDCCH assignment is performed, which will surely lead to large number of SDCCH assignment failures. The engineers check the faulty signaling and find the RAs are the same, the TAs are consistent, and the FNs are continuous. The continuous CHANNEL REQUEST messages indicate the false access caused by the handover access of the co-BCCH cells. If the two cells are only co-BCCH and they are near to each other, the DL interference will happen, which leads to the SDCCH assignment failure.
Overshooting There are two conditions of overshooting. If the coverage range of the cell is too large, the signals at the marginal area will be weak and they will be interfered by other cells. Then, the signaling loss may happen during the random access, which leads to the SD assignment failure. If the coverage range of the cell is too large, this cell and one cell far from it are co-BCCH and co-BSIC.
For the overshooting problem, the most fundamental solution is to adjust the engineering parameters of the antenna, so as to control the coverage range. What is more, the TA_allowed parameter can reduce the number of SDCCH assignment failures due to overshooting effectively. The side effect is that the MS far from the site cannot access the network. Therefore, the threshold of the TA_allowed parameter should be set to be a little bit higher than the actual coverage range. For the cell coverage range calculation, the influence of the transmission distance of the repeater should be considered.
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For the TA_Allowed parameter adjustment, the risk is that the MS cannot make reselection after being limited by the TA_Allowed parameter. The engineers make a test for this problem. If the MS selects a cell with the strongest power but the location update fails due to the TA_Allowed parameter, the MS will select one cell with the second strongest power in the reselection cells (If the CI of this cell is larger than 0, the MS can access this cell) and it will not stay in the original cell. The time interval of the cell reselection is decided by the random waiting time and maximum number of resending times. And it always lasts for several seconds. The specific calculation method is shown as follows. Time interval of cell reselection = Random waiting time Maximum retransmission times + T3126 Judging from the reselection, during the cell reselection of the MS, there is penalty strategy for the cells with reselection failure. Therefore, the MS can make reselection even after it is limited by the TA_Allowed parameter.
Note: For the TA_Allowed parameter, other vendors have the similar parameters. For example, the corresponding parameter of Nortel is the RNDACCTIMADV parameter. This parameter is relevant to the actual coverage range of the cell. If the threshold of the parameter is setting properly, the pseudo-RACH request can be filtered. The unnecessary SDCCH assignment should be avoided. Judging from the test, for the cell with short coverage radius, if this parameter is set to 35, the RACH misjudgment (The system decodes the noise as the RACH pulse wrongly) will be 30% of the total RACH requests. If the threshold of the RNDACCTIMADV parameter is set to 2, there is no RACH misjudgment.
UL noise interference The BTS RX sensitivity is from 112 dBm to 125 dBm. If random access signals lower than the BTS RX sensitivity is received, the signals are usually interference. This type of interference will surely lead to SDCCH assignment failure. The RACHMin parameter (network parameter) is set for the BTS filtering noise signals, corresponding to the BTS receiving sensitivity. If the receiving level is lower than that of the random access signal of the RACHMin parameter, the signal will be abandoned as the noise signal. The SDCCH assignment success rate can be enhanced effectively through the RACHMin parameter adjustment. The interference signals usually have weak RxLev and large TA (larger than the actual coverage scope). With parameters RACHAccMin and TA_allowed, the engineers can greatly reduce the impact of interference.
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Note: The engineers must be cautious when setting the RachMin parameter. If it is too large, the paging success rate will be impacted. Frequent location update initiated by the MS due to poor DL quality Because the receiving sensitivity of the MS is lower than that of the BTS, the BTS can receive the CHANNEL REQUEST message sent by the MS but the MS cannot receive the IMM ASSIGN message sent by the BTS, especially when the MS is put in the drawer or under the pillow. If the MS needs to initiate the location update, it will send the CHANNEL REQUEST message frequently, with the cause being location update. But it cannot receive the IMM ASSIGN message, which leads to a large number of SDCCH assignment failures.
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SDCCH Signaling Flow and Relevant Counters and KPIs

After the random access, authentification, distinguishment, and encryption, the MS stays on the SDCCH and starts to call and set up signaling.
2.1
SDCCH Signaling Setup Flow

Figure 2-1 SDCCH Signaling Flow
MS
Setup(SDCCH)
BTS
BSC
Setup
MSC
Call Proceeding Call Proceeding(SDCCH) Assignment Request
The call connection signaling flow is described as follows. First, the MS sends one SETUP message to the network. This message includes the specific service category required in this call and the bearing capability of the MS. After the MSC receives the SETUP message, it makes the call connection according to the provided message. The MSC sends a CALL PROCEEDING message to the MS. After the call control entity of the MS receives the CALL PROCEEDING message, it enters the mobile originating connection state.
2.2
SDCCH Counter List

This list mainly includes the CS measurement and call drop measurement counters. The counters in the following table are applicable for V3 and V4.
Table 2-1
SDCCH Counter List Counter Name Number of SDCCH drops Number of call drops due to disconnection with RANA (On
Counter ID C900060053 C901070001
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Counter ID SDCCH) C901070002 C901070003 C901070004 C901070005 C901070007 C901070008 C901070009 C901070010 C901070011 C901070012 C901070014 C901070029 C901070030 C901070031 C901070032 C901070033 C901070035 C901070053 C901070054 C901070055 C901070056
Counter Name Number of radio link failures (On SDCCH) Number of LAPD link failures (On SDCCH) Number of OMC-R forced releases (On SDCCH) Number of forced releases due to other calls (On SDCCH) Number of other failures (On SDCCH) Number of call drops due to disconnection with RANA (On TCH/F signaling) Number of radio link failures (On TCH/F signaling) Number of LAPD link failures (On TCH/F signaling) Number of OMC-R forced releases (On TCH/F signaling) Number of forced releases due to other calls (On TCH/F signaling) Number of other failures (On TCH/F signaling) Number of call drops due to disconnection with RANA (On TCH/H signaling) Number of radio link failures (On TCH/H signaling) Number of LAPD link failures (OnTCH/H signaling) Number of OMCR forced releases (On TCH/H signaling) Number of forced releases due to other calls (On TCH/H signaling) Number of other failures (On TCH/H signaling) Number of SDCCH link failures Number of TCH/F link failures Number of TCH/H link failures Number of RANA link releases due to other cause on SDCCH
2.3
SDCCH Call Drop KPI Definition and Affecting Factors

SDCCH Call Drop Definition
The SDCCH call drops indicate the call drops that happen when the BSC has allocated the SDCCH channel to the MS but has not allocated the TCH channel successfully during the call. Statistical point: after the BSC receives the correct EST_IND message or after the assignment completion and before the TCH assignment completion.
2.3.1
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Table 2-2 KPI Definition
SDCCH Call Drop KPI Definition SDCCH Drop Rate Number of SDCCH call drop 100%/(Random access call attempts + Number of voice channel call attempts (handover excluded) (signaling)) V2 V6.0 C11605 100%/(C11625 + C11696) C100030053 100%/(C100030003 + C100030010 + C100030038) C900060053 100%/(C900060003+C900060010 + C900060038) C901070050 100%/(C901250001+C901260001 + C901270001)
Counter formula
V3 V6.2 V4
2.3.2
Counters Relevant to the SDCCH Call Drop

C900060053: number of SDCCH drops Description This counter counts the number of call drops on SDCCH channel due to radio link failure, LAPD link break, or handover failure. Call drop occurs after MS requests for TCH/H channel successfully. The counter increments if call drop is due to the above causes. Measurement point This counter increments when call drop occurs on SDCCH channel due to radio link failure, LAPD link failure, or handover failure. C900060003: number of SDCCH seizure attempts for assignment Description The SDCCH channel allocation attempt is activated by the MS channel request message CHL_REQ. After BSC receives this message, it attempts to allocate channel for the request. If allocation and occupation succeed, C900060003 and C900060004 accumulate simultaneously. If occupation fails and the failure is due to transceiver fault, C900060003, C900060004, and C900060005 do not change. For failures in other cases, C900060003 and C900060005 accumulate simultaneously. Measurement point:
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This counter counts when the BSC completes requesting for channel (due to assignment) (C900060004 + C900060005). The measurement point is A1 in the following figure.

MS CHL_REQ CHL_RQD
A1
BTS
BSC

A3 A2
C900060010: number of signaling TCH/F seizure attempts for assignment Description This counter counts the number of TCH/F channel occupation attempts during assigning signaling channels, including the number of occupation success (C901260002) and the number of occupation failure (C900060011).After BSC receives the channel request massage, it attempts to allocate channel for the request. If allocation and occupation succeed, C901260002 and C900060010 accumulate simultaneously. If the request returns that the transceiver is faulty, C901260002, C900060010, and C900060011 do not change. For other cases, C900060010 and C900060011 accumulate simultaneously. Measurement point This counter counts when BSC completes requesting for channel (due to assignment and the channel is used as signaling channel) (C901260002 + C900060011). The measurement point is A1.
C900060038: number of signaling TCH/H seizure attempts for assignment Description
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Internal Use Only
This counter counts the number of TCH/H channel being attempted to be occupied during signaling channel assignment, including the number of occupation success (C901270002) and the number of occupation failure (C900060039). After BSC receives the channel request massage, it attempts to allocate channel for the request. If allocation and occupation succeed, C901270002 and C900060038 accumulate simultaneously. If the request returns that the transceiver is faulty, C901270002, C900060038, and C900060039 do not change. For other cases, C900060038 and C900060039 accumulate simultaneously. Measurement point This counter counts when BSC completes requesting for channel (due to assignment and the channel is used as signaling channel) (C901260002 + C900060039). The measurement point is A1 in Figure 2-2 .
2.3.3
Factors Affecting the SDCCH Call Drop

Radio environment The SDCCH call drop happens frequently in the area with poor signal coverage. Interference, such as the internal interference due to improper frequency planning and other external interference Configuration of radio parameters If he minimum access level of the cell is set to be too low, the call drop may happen in the weak coverage area. If the radio link fault timer is set to be too low, the call drop may happen due to expiration in the condition of sudden deterioration. If the timer is set to be too high, the radio resource utilization rate will decrease. The power control parameter is improperly set. For example, if the level or quality power control threshold is improperly set, the power of the MS may decrease at the time of poor signal and call quality. The frequency hopping parameter is improperly set. For example, the MAIO is set improperly, which leads to the co-frequency and neighbor-frequency interference in the same site and then the call drop.
Hardware fault
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For example, too weak power amplifier output power, large difference between the transmission power of different carriers, and carrier transmitters, combiner, and divider faults can lead to the SDCCH call drop. Antenna and feeder system fault For example, if the tilts and azimuths of two antennas in the cell are not consistent, the SWR is large, the antenna is too high, or the downtilt is improper, the coverage range will be too large, which leads to the overshooting. As a result, the remote isolated-island effect exists and the call drop happens. BTS transmission problem For example, the transmission is interrupted or the transmission is unstable. BTS hardware malfunction For example, the E1 cable is unreliable and the CMM/CMB board and backplane connections are faulty. User factor For example, the contact of the MS battery is poor.
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Signaling Flow and Relevant Counters and KPIs During the Voice Channel Allocation
Signaling Flow During the Voice Channel Allocation
Figure 3-1 Signaling Flow of TCH Allocation
3.1
MS
BTS
Channel Activation
BSC
MSC
Assignment Request
Channel Activation ACK Assignment Command(SDCCH) SABM(FACCH) UA(FACCH) Assignment Complete(FACCH) Assignment Complete Establish Indicationg
The signaling flow of the voice channel allocation is shown as follows. After the MSC sends a CALL PROCEEDING message to the MS, it sends an ASSIGNMENT REQUEST message to the BSC to require the BSC to allocate the TCH voice channel for this call. This message includes the call priority, DL DTX, radio channel distinguish, and available interface bandwidth. After the BSC receives the ASSIGNMENT REQUEST message from the MSC, if there is any needed resource, it will send a CHANNEL ACTIVATION message to the BTS to activate the TCH. This message includes the channel, frequency, time slot, and frequency-hopping. If the BTS finishes the resource (such as circuit) preparation, it will send a CHANNEL ACTIVATIONG ACK message to the BSC. If there is no corresponding ground resource, the BSC will send a RESOURCE FAILURE message to the MSC. If the system allows queuing, the BSC will send a QUEUING INDICATION message to the MSC and put the ASSIGNMENT REQUEST message into the queue and enable T11. If this timer expires, the BSC will send a CLEAR REQUEST message to the MSC.
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After the BSC receives the CHANNEL ACTIVATIONG ACK message, it will send an ASSIGNMENT COMMAND message to the MS through the signaling channel. This message includes channel description and channel mode (full rate/half rate). After the MS receives the ASSIGNMENT COMMAND message from the network, it hands over to the allocated channel.Then, the MS initiates the low layer connection setup and arrange the sending and receiving configuration to this TCH and then sends a SABM message to the BTS through the FACCH. After the BTS receives the SABM message, it will send an ESTABLISH INDICATION message to the BSC and send one UA confirmation frame to the MS through the FACCH to make the preemptive judgment. If the MS occupies the allocated channel successfully, it will send an ASSIGNMENT COMPLETE message to the system through the FACCH.
The FACCH and TCH use the same channel. The only difference is that the ID of the TCH burst pulse is changed from 0 to 1. This is called as frame stealing.
Note: If the MS cannot occupy the specific channel because of radio interface failure, radio interface message failure, or assignment message distinguish failure due to interference and hardware problem, the MS will send an ASSIGNMENT FAILURE message to the system on the original channel. If the MS cannot receive the assignment command from the system or the system cannot receive the response from the MS due to interference and then the T3107 expires, the system will release the allocated channel.
3.2
Relevant Counter List During the TCH Allocation

This list mainly includes the CS measurement and TCH measurement counters. In V4, the TCH2/F measurement counters and TCH2/H measurement counters are added and the allocation flow is improved. The V4 allocation flow will be described in Chapter 7.
Table 3-1
List of Counters During the TCH Allocation (for V3) Counter Name Number of voice TCH/F seizure attempts for assignment Number of voice TCH/F seizure failure for assignment Number of TCH/F allocation success for assignment (speech version 1) Number of TCH/F allocation failure for assignment (speech version 1)
Counter ID C900060019 C900060020 C900060023 C900060024
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Counter ID C900060025 C900060026 C900060027 C900060028 C900060029 C900060042 C900060043 C900060125 C900060126 C900060127 C900060128 C900060129 C900060138 C900060139 C900060140 C900060141 C900060142 C900060143 C900060144 C900060145 C900060146 C900060147 C900060148 C900060149 C900060150 C900060175 C900060176
Counter Name Number of TCH/F allocation success for assignment (speech version 2) Number of TCH/F allocation success for assignment (speech version 3) Number of TCH/F allocation failure for assignment (speech version 3) Number of voice TCH/F assignment success Number of voice TCH/F assignment failure for assignment Number of voice TCH/H seizure attempts for assignment Number of voice TCH/H seizure failure for assignment Average number of available radio channel Average number of unavailable radio channel TCH/H busy time Maximum number of busy TCH/F TCH/F busy time Number of TCH/F allocation failure due to BTS connection failure for assignment (speech version 1) Number of TCH/F allocation failure due to BIU connection failure for assignment (speech version 1) Number of TCH/F allocation failure due to TCU connection failure for assignment (speech version 1) Number of TCH/F allocation failure due to channel activation failure for assignment (speech version 2) Number of TCH/F allocation failure due to BTS connection failure for assignment (speech version 2) Number of TCH/F allocation failure due to BIU connection failure for assignment (speech version 2) Number of TCH/F allocation failure due to TCU connection failure for assignment (speech version 2) Number of TCH/F allocation failure due to BTS connection failure for assignment (speech version 3) Number of TCH/F allocation failure due to BIU connection failure for assignment (speech version 3) Number of TCH/F allocation failure due to TCU connection failure for assignment (speech version 3) Number of data TCH/F allocation failure due to BTS connection failure for assignment Number of data TCH/F allocation failure due to BIU connection failure for assignment Number of data TCH/F allocation failure due to TCU connection failure for assignment Number of TCH/H allocation failure due to channel activation failure for assignment (speech version 1) Number of TCH/H allocation failure due to BTS connection failure for assignment (speech version 1)
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Counter ID C900060177 C900060178 C900060183 C900060184 C900060185 C900060186 C900060191 C900060192 C900060193 C900060194 C900060199 C900060200 C900060201 C900060202 C900060203 C900060204 C900060205 C900060217 C900060218 C900060244 C900060245 C901260021 C901260026 C901260038 C901260050 C901260062 C901260065
Counter Name Number of TCH/H allocation failure due to BIU connection failure for assignment (speech version 1) Number of TCH/H allocation failure due to TCU connection failure for assignment (speech version 1) Number of TCH/H allocation failure due to channel activation failure for assignment (speech version 2) Number of TCH/H allocation failure due to BTS connection failure for assignment (speech version 2) Number of TCH/H allocation failure due to BIU connection failure for assignment (speech version 2) Number of TCH/H allocation failure due to TCU connection failure for assignment (speech version 2) Number of TCH/H allocation failure due to channel activation failure for assignment (speech version 3) Number of TCH/H allocation failure due to BTS connection failure for assignment (speech version 3) Number of TCH/H allocation failure due to BIU connection failure for assignment (speech version 3) Number of TCH/H allocation failure due to TCU connection failure for assignment (speech version 3) Number of voice TCH/H assignment success Number of voice TCH/H assignment failure Number of voice TCH/H handover success Number of data TCH/H allocation failure due to channel activation failure for assignment Number of data TCH/H allocation failure due to BTS connection failure for assignment Number of data TCH/H allocation failure due to BIU connection failure for assignment Number of data TCH/H allocation failure due to TCU connection failure for assignment Number of unavailable defined TCH/H Number of unavailable defined TCH/F Number of voice TCH/F drops due to radio link failure Number of voice TCH/H drops due to radio link failure Number of voice TCH/F seizure success for assignment Number of TCH/F allocation attempts for assignment (speech version 1) Number of TCH/F allocation attempts for assignment (speech version 2) Number of TCH/F allocation attempts for assignment (speech version 3) Number of voice TCH/F assignment attempts Number of voice TCH/F handover attempts
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Internal Use Only
Counter ID C901260067 C901260068 C901260094 C901260095 C901260098 C901260099 C901260102 C901260103 C901260106 C901260107 C901260108 C901260112 C901260113 C901260114 C901260118 C901260119 C901260120 C901270021 C901270026 C901270027 C901270038 C901270039 C901270050
Counter Name Number of voice TCH/F handover failure Number of voice TCH/F handover failure messages do not received by BSC Number of data TCH/F allocation failure for assignment due to TIPB connection failure (speech version 1) Number of data TCH/F allocation failure for assignment due to resource request to iTC failure (speech version 1) Number of data TCH/F allocation failure for assignment due to TIPB connection failure (speech version 2) Number of data TCH/F allocation failure for assignment due to resource request to iTC failure (speech version 2) Number of data TCH/F allocation failure for assignment due to TIPB connection failure (speech version 3) Number of data TCH/F allocation failure for assignment due to resource request to iTC failure (speech version 3) Number of TCH/F allocation failure due to request AIPB resource failure for assignment (speech version 1) Number of TCH/F allocation failure due to request UDP port failure for assignment (speech version 1) Number of TCH/F allocation failure due to AIPB connection failure for assignment (speech version 1) Number of TCH/F allocation failure due to request AIPB resource failure for assignment (speech version 2) Number of TCH/F allocation failure due to request UDP port failure for assignment (speech version 2) Number of TCH/F allocation failure due to AIPB connection failure for assignment (speech version 2) Number of TCH/F allocation failure due to request AIPB resource failure for assignment (speech version 3) Number of TCH/F allocation failure due to request UDP port failure for assignment (speech version 3) Number of TCH/F allocation failure due to AIPB connection failure for assignment (speech version 3) Number of voice TCH/H seizure success for assignment Number of TCH/H allocation attempts for assignment by BSC (speech version 1) Number of TCH/H allocation success for assignment (speech version 1) Number of TCH/H allocation attempts by BSC for assignment (speech version 2) Number of TCH/H allocation success by BSC for assignment (speech version 2) Number of TCH/H allocation attempts for assignment (speech version 3)
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Internal Use Only
Counter ID C901270051 C901270062 C901270065 C901270067 C901270068 C901270094 C901270095 C901270099 C901270102 C901270103 C901270106 C901270107 C901270108 C901270112 C901270113 C901270114 C901270118 C901270119 C901270120 C901270124 C901270125 C901270126
Counter Name Number of TCH/H allocation success for assignment (speech version 3) Number of voice TCH/H assignment attempts by BSC Number of voice TCH/H handover attempts Number of voice TCH/H handover failure Number of voice TCH/H handover failure messages do not received by BSC Number of TCH/H allocation failure for assignment due to TIPB connection failure (speech version 1) Number of TCH/H allocation failure for assignment due to resource request to iTC failure (speech version 1) Number of TCH/H allocation failure for assignment due to resource request to iTC failure (speech version 2) Number of TCH/F allocation failure for assignment due to TIPB connection failure (speech version 3) Number of TCH/H allocation failure for assignment due to resource request to iTC failure (speech version 3) Number of TCH/H allocation failure due to request AIPB resource failure for assignment (speech version 1) Number of TCH/H allocation failure due to request UDP port failure for assignment (speech version 1) Number of TCH/H allocation failure due to AIPB connection failure for assignment (speech version 1) Number of TCH/H allocation failure due to request AIPB resource failure for assignment (speech version 2) Number of TCH/H allocation failure due to request UDP port failure for assignment (speech version 2) Number of TCH/H allocation failure due to AIPB connection failure for assignment (speech version 2) Number of TCH/H allocation failure due to request AIPB resource failure for assignment (speech version 3) Number of TCH/H allocation failure due to request UDP port failure for assignment (speech version 3) Number of TCH/H allocation failure due to AIPB connection failure for assignment (speech version 3) Number of TCH/H allocation failure due to request AIPB resource failure for assignment (data) Number of TCH/H allocation failure due to request UDP port failure for assignment (data) Number of TCH/H allocation failure due to AIPB connection failure for assignment (data)
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3.3
TCH Allocation Success Rate Definition and Failure Cause Description

TCH Allocation Success Rate KPI Definition
Table 3-2 KPI Definition TCH Allocation Success Rate (Handover Excluded) KPI Definition TCH Allocate Success Rate (%) (Exclude Handover) Number of TCH allocation success times (handover excluded)/Number of TCH allocation requests (handover excluded) V2 V6.0 V3 Counter formula V6.2 (1-(C11654+C11610+C11658)/(C11609) 100% (C100030017 + C100030028 + C100030036 + C100030235 + C100030199 + C100030210) 100%/(C100030010 + C100030019 + C100030030 + C100030038 + C100030042 + C100030046) (C900060017 + C900060028 + C900060036+C900060235 + C900060199 + C900060210) 100%/(C900060010 + C900060019 + C900060030 + C900060038 + C900060042 + C900060046) (C900060017 + C900060028 + C900060036 + C900060235 + C900060199 + C900060210) 100%/(C900060010 + C900060019 + C900060030 + C900060038 + C900060042 + C900060046)
3.3.1
V4
In V4, for the allocation success rate, part of TCH 2 measurement statistics are not considered, which is good for the allocation success rate. ZTE defines three stages for the TCH allocation process: occupation (congestion), allocation (channel activation), and assignment TCH occupation (congestion): After receiving an ASSIGN REQUEST message, the BSC checks the database to confirm whether there is any available channel. If there is, the occupation is successful. If there is no available channel and the queuing, directional retry, or force release function does not exist, the TCH congestion happens. If the queuing, directional retry, or force release function exists, start the corresponding timer and enable the function, so as to wait the available resources. If available resources appear within the time range of the timer, the occupation is successful. If the timer expires, the TCH congestion happens. TCH allocation (activation): After the channel resources are applied successfully from the data base, the BSC send a CHANNEL ACTIVATION message to the BTS, that is the TCH allocation attempt. After the BSC receives a CHANNELACTIVATIONACK message from the BTS, the allocation is successful. If the BSC receives a CHANNELACTIVATIONNACK message from the BTS or it does not receives the CHANNELACTIVATIONACK message within the time range of the timer, the allocation fails.
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TCH assignment: After the BSC receives the CHANNELACTIVATIONACK message during the channel allocation, it will send an ASSIGN COMMAND message on the DL SDCCH and one TCH assignment attempt is counted. After the BSC receives an ASSIGN COMPLETE message from the BTS, this assignment is successful. Otherwise, the assignment fails.
3.3.2
TCH Allocation Failure Description

The voice channel allocation flow is shown in the following figure.
Figure 3-2 Voice Channel Allocation Flow
The ASSIGNMENT FAILURE message corresponds to the ASSIGNMENT REQUEST message, which reflects one TCH allocation failure.For assignment failure 1, in most cases, the cause is no idle channel; for assignment failure 2, the cause is the channel allocation failure due to BTS fault; for assignment failure 3, it mainly indicates the channel assignment failure on the air interface and the causes include the coverage and interference.
3.3.3
Main Causes of TCH Allocation Failure

The common TCH allocation failure may be caused by the following issues.
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Cell traffic congestion If the congestion rate of the cell is high, when the MS applies for the voice channel, the system will find that there is no TCH resource for allocation, which will lead to the allocation failure
Hardware fault When the TRX is faulty, the allocation failure rate is always high and the incoming handover failure rate is also high, for the BSC assigns the channel for the MS at the time of incoming handover. If the cell allocation failure rate is higher than 10%, possibility of TRX fault is high. For this kind of cells, in order to locate the faulty TRX, the engineers can record the Abis-interface signaling of these cells and find out the specific TRX leading to the allocation failure through the signaling analysis. Combiner fault, such as no forward power output Clock board fault or internal cable fault
Co-frequency or neighbor-frequency interference Because of the high code error rate caused by interference, MS is unable to set up L2 link with BTS, which will result in handover failure;
Antenna and feeder system fault The feeders are corroded or worn down, which leads to high VSWR and affects the RX performance. The main and diversity antennas are blocked or the coverage is uneven. When the antenna with the TCH is blocked is not the same with another antenna with the BCCH or SDCCH, the MS cannot occupy this TCH.
Improper parameters If the frequency-hopping is adopted and the HSM or MAIO is set improperly, the co-frequency or neighbor-frequency interference will be serious in the cell or between the same cells in the frequency-hopping group, which will lead to the allocation failure. If T3107 is set to be too small, the network will release the channel due to T3107 expiration before it receives the assignment completion message.
Transmission fault on the A interface or Abis interface If the transmission error code rate on the A interface or Abis interface is high, the signaling exchange cannot be completed normally between the MS and network, which leads to the allocation failure.
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Influence from the repeater When the outdoor repeater is adopted, the microwave transmission mode is usually adopted. Therefore, when the repeater amplifies the UL and DL signals, the interference signals will also be amplified, which leads to the poor quality deterioration and call drop. As a result, the TCH allocation failure rate increases obviously.
3.3.4
Problem Handling Process

Its recommended to locate problem through checking radio parameters and hardware. Procedure of handling TCH handover failure problem is described as follows. 1. Check the traffic to confirm whether there is any congestion. If there is, solve the problem through the capacity expansion and traffic balancing. Check whether the radio parameter setting is reasonable, such as the frequency-hopping parameter and frequency data. For the improper parameters, make optimization and adjustment. Check KPIs, just like BER and idle interference band, so as to reduce or eliminate radio interference. Check the cell hardware, including CDU, RF connection lines between boards, and change hardware with faults; Check antenna system, including VSWR, direction of antennas in the same cell, wrong installation or reversed installation of antenna feeders, make necessary adjustment and changes.
2.
3.
4.
5.
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3.4
TCH Congestion Description, Cause, and Handling Flow

TCH Congestion Description
3.4.1
After receiving the ASSIGNMENT REQUEST message from the MSC, the BSC will search for suitable TCHs. If there is no available TCH, the BSC will send an ASSIGNMENT FAILURE message to the MSC with the cause of no radio resource available.
3.4.2
TCH Congestion Rate KPI Definition

Table 3-3 KPI Definition V2 Counter formula TCH Congestion Rate Definition TCH Congestion Rate Number of TCH congestion times 100%/Number of TCH call attempts (C11612 - C11699) 100%/(C11611-C11698) (C100030020 + C100030031 + C100030043 + C100030047 + C100030022 + C100030033 + C100030045 + C100030049) 100%/(C100030019 + C100030030+ C100030042 + C100030046 + C100030021 + C100030032 + C100030044 + C100030048)
V3
V6.0
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KPI
TCH Congestion Rate (C900060020 + C900060031 + C900060043 + C900060047 + C900060022 + C900060033+ C900060045 + C900060049) 100%/(C900060019 + C900060030 + C900060042 + C900060046 + C900060021 + C900060032 + C900060044 + C900060048) (C900060020 + C900060031 + C900060043+ C900060047 + C900060022 + C900060033 + C900060045 + C900060049) 100%/(C900060019 + C900060030 + C900060042 + C900060046 + C900060021 + C900060032 + C900060044 + C900060048)
V6.2
V4
3.4.3
Counters Relevant to the TCH Congestion

C900060019: number of voice TCH/F seizure attempts Description This counter counts the number of TCH/F channel being attempted to be occupied during voice channel assignment, including the number of occupation success (C901260021) and the number of occupation failure (C900060020). After BSC receives the channel request massage, it attempts to allocate channel for the request. If allocation and occupation succeed, C900060019 and C901260021 accumulate simultaneously. If occupation fails, C900060019 and C900060020 accumulate simultaneously. If the request returns no channel available but queuing or forced release is possible, enter the state of waiting for resource. If the waiting for resource succeeds, C900060019 and C901260021 accumulate simultaneously. If the waiting for resource fails, C900060019 and C900060020 accumulate simultaneously. If the request returns that the transceiver is faulty, C900060019, C901260021, and C900060020 do not change. For failures in other cases, C900060019 and C900060020 accumulate simultaneously. Measurement point The BSC completes requesting for channel (due to assignment and the channel is used as voice channel), or BSC receives the internal message of waiting for resource successfully or waiting for resource failed (C901260021 + C900060020). The measurement point is B1, as shown in Figure 3-2 and Figure 3-3.
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Figure 3-3 Common Assignment Flow (Internal TC)

MS BTS BSC ASS_REQ B1 AbisTCU connect CHL_ACT CHL_ACT_ACK ASS_CMD SABM UA ASS_COM EST_IND ASS_COM B4 B5 ASS_COM ASS_CMD B3 B2 MSC
Figure 3-4 Common Assignment Flow (External TC)

MS BTS BSC
ASS_REQ TCRescr Req TCRescr Ack
iTC
MSC
B1
iTC Connect Req iTC Connect Ack
CHL_ACT CHL_ACT_ACK ASS_CMD SABM UA EST_IND ASS_CMD
B2
B3
B4
ASS_COM ASS_COM
B5
ASS_COM
C900060020: number of voice TCH/F seizure failure Description This counter counts the number of TCH/F channel occupation failure during voice channel assignment.
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After BSC receives the channel request message, it attempts to allocate channel for the request. If occupation fails, this counter accumulates. If the request returns no channel available but queuing or forced release is possible, enter the state of waiting for resource. If the waiting for resource fails, this counter accumulates. If the request returns that the transceiver is faulty, this counter does not change. For failures in other cases, this counter accumulates.Measurement point The BSC requests for channel (due to assignment and the channel is used as voice channel) but fails to occupy the channel, or BSC fails to wait for internal resource. The measurement point is B1, as shown in the following figure.
Figure 3-5 Common Assignment Failure Flow 1 (Internal TC)
C900060021: number of voice TCH/F seizure attempts for handover Description This counter counts the number of TCH/F channel being attempted to be occupied during voice channel handover, including the number of occupation success (C901260024) and the number of occupation failure (C900060022). After BSC receives the channel request message, it attempts to allocate channel for the request. If allocation and occupation succeed, C900060021 and C901260024 accumulate simultaneously. If occupation fails, C900060021 and C900060022 accumulate simultaneously. If the request returns no channel available but queuing or forced release is possible, enter the state of waiting for resource. If the waiting for resource succeeds, C900060021 and C901260024 accumulate simultaneously. If the waiting for resource fails, C900060021 and C900060022 accumulate simultaneously. If the request returns that the transceiver is faulty, C900060021, C901260024, and C900060022 do not change. For failures in other cases, C900060021 and C900060022 accumulate simultaneously. Measurement point
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The BSC completes requesting for channel (due to handover and the channel is used as voice channel), or BSC receives the internal message of waiting for resource successfully or waiting for resource failed (C901260024 + C900060022). C900060022: number of voice TCH/F seizure failure for handover Description This counter counts the number of TCH/F channel occupation failure during voice channel handover. After BSC receives the channel request message, it attempts to allocate channel for the request. If allocation or occupation fails, this counter accumulates. If the request returns no channel available but queuing or forced release is possible, enter the state of waiting for resource. If the waiting for resource fails, this counter accumulates. If the request returns that the transceiver is faulty, this counter does not change. For failures in other cases, this counter accumulates. Measurement point The BSC requests for channel (due to handover and the channel is used as voice channel) but fails to occupy the channel, or BSC fails to wait for internal resource. The measurement point is C1, as shown in Figure 3-5, and D1, as shown in Figure 3-6.
Figure 3-6 Intra-BSC Handover Occupation Failure Flow
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Figure 3-7 Inter-BSC Handover Occupation Failure Flow
C900060030: number of data TCH/F seizure attempts for assignment Description This counter counts the number of TCH/F channel being attempted to be occupied during data channel handover, including the number of occupation success (C901260070) and the number of occupation failure (C900060031). After BSC receives the channel request message, it attempts to allocate channel for the request. If allocation and occupation succeed, C900060030 and C901260070 accumulate simultaneously. If occupation fails, C900060030 and C900060031 accumulate simultaneously. If the request returns no channel available but queuing or forced release is possible, enter the state of waiting for resource. If the waiting for resource succeeds, C900060030 and C901260070 accumulate simultaneously. If the waiting for resource fails, C900060030 and C900060031 accumulate simultaneously. If the request returns that the transceiver is faulty, C900060030, C901260070, and C900060031 do not change. For failures in other cases, C900060030 and C900060031 accumulate simultaneously. Measurement point The BSC completes requesting for channel (due to assignment and the channel is used as data channel), or BSC receives the internal message of waiting for resource successfully or waiting for resource failed (C901260070 + C900060031). The measurement point is B1, as shown in Figure 3-2 and Figure 3-3.
C900060031: number of data TCH/F seizure failure for assignment Description This counter counts the number of TCH/F channel occupation failure during data channel assignment. After BSC receives the channel request message, it attempts to allocate channel for the request. If occupation fails, this counter accumulates. If the request returns no channel available but queuing or forced release is possible,
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enter the state of waiting for resource. If the waiting for resource fails, this counter accumulates. If the request returns that the transceiver is faulty, this counter does not change. For failures in other cases, this counter accumulates. Measurement point The BSC requests for channel (due to assignment and the channel is used as data channel) but fails to occupy the channel, or BSC fails to wait for internal resource. The measurement point is B1, as shown in Figure 3-4. C900060032: number of data TCH/F seizure attempts for handover Description This counter counts the number of TCH/F channel being attempted to be occupied during data channel handover, including the number of occupation success (C901260073) and the number of occupation failure (C900060033). If allocation and occupation succeed, C900060032 and C901260073 accumulate simultaneously. If occupation fails, C900060032 and C900060033 accumulate simultaneously. If the request returns no channel available but queuing or forced release is possible, enter the state of waiting for resource. If the waiting for resource succeeds, C900060032 and C901260073 accumulate simultaneously. If the waiting for resource fails, C900060032 and C900060033 accumulate simultaneously. If the request returns that the transceiver is faulty, C900060032, C901260073, and C900060033 do not change. For failures in other cases, C900060032 and C900060033 accumulate simultaneously. Measurement point The BSC completes requesting for channel (due to handover and the channel is used as data channel), or BSC receives the internal message of waiting for resource successfully or waiting for resource failed (C901260073 + C900060033). C900060033: number of data TCH/F seizure failure for handover Description This counter counts the number of TCH/F channel occupation failure during data channel handover. After BSC receives the channel request message, it attempts to allocate channel for the request. If occupation fails, this counter accumulates. If the request returns no channel available but queuing or forced release is possible, enter the state of waiting for resource. If the waiting for resource fails, this counter accumulates. If the request returns that the transceiver is faulty, this counter does not change. For failures in other cases, this counter accumulates.
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Measurement point The BSC requests for channel (due to assignment and the channel is used as data channel) but fails to occupy the channel, or BSC fails to wait for internal resource. The measurement point is C1 in Figure 3-2 and D1 in Figure 3-3.
C900060042: number of voice TCH/H seizure attempts for assignment Description This counter counts the number of TCH/H channel being attempted to be occupied during voice channel handover, including the number of occupation success (C901270021) and the number of occupation failure (C900060043).. Measurement point The BSC completes requesting for channel (due to assignment and the channel is used as voice channel), or BSC receives the internal message of waiting for resource successfully or waiting for resource failed (C901260021 + C900060043). The measurement point is C1 in Figure 3-2 and D1 in Figure 3-3.
C900060043: number of voice TCH/H seizure failure for assignment Description This counter counts the number of TCH/H channel occupation failure during voice channel assignment. After BSC receives the channel request message, it attempts to allocate channel for the request. If occupation fails, this counter accumulates. If the request returns no channel available but queuing or forced release is possible, enter the state of waiting for resource. If the waiting for resource fails, this counter accumulates. If the request returns that the transceiver is faulty, this counter does not change. For failures in other cases, this counter accumulates. Measurement point The BSC requests for channel (due to assignment and the channel is used as voice channel) but fails to occupy the channel, or BSC fails to wait for internal resource. The measurement point is B1, as shown in Figure 3-4.
C900060044: number of voice TCH/H seizure attempts for handover Description This counter counts the number of TCH/H channel being attempted to be occupied during voice channel handover, including the number of occupation success (C901270024) and the number of occupation failure (C900060045).
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After BSC receives the channel request massage, it attempts to allocate channel for the request. If allocation and occupation succeed, C900060044 and C901270024 accumulate simultaneously. If occupation fails, C900060044 and C900060045 accumulate simultaneously. If the request returns no channel available but queuing or forced release is possible, enter the state of waiting for resource. If the waiting for resource succeeds, C900060044 and C901270024 accumulate simultaneously. If the waiting for resource fails, C900060044 and C900060045 accumulate simultaneously. If the request returns that the transceiver is faulty, C900060044, C901270024, and C900060045 do not change. For failures in other cases, C900060044 and C900060045 accumulate simultaneously. Measurement point: The BSC completes requesting for channel (due to handover and the channel is used as voice channel), or BSC receives the internal message of waiting for resource successfully or waiting for resource failed (C901260024 + C900060045).
C900060045: number of voice TCH/H seizure failure for handover Description This counter counts the number of TCH/H channel occupation failure during voice channel handover. After BSC receives the channel request message, it attempts to allocate channel for the request. If allocation or occupation fails, this counter accumulates. If the request returns no channel available but queuing or forced release is possible, enter the state of waiting for resource. If the waiting for resource fails, this counter accumulates. If the request returns that the transceiver is faulty, this counter does not change. For failures in other cases, this counter accumulates. Measurement point The BSC requests for channel (due to handover and the channel is used as voice channel) but fails to occupy the channel, or BSC fails to wait for internal resource. The measurement point is C1, as shown in Figure 3-2, and D1, as shown in Figure 3-3.
C900060046: number of data TCH/H seizure attempts for assignment Description This counter counts the number of TCH/H channel being attempted to be occupied during signaling channel assignment, including the number of occupation success (C901270070) and the number of occupation failure (C900060047).
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After BSC receives the channel request massage, it attempts to allocate channel for the request. If allocation and occupation succeed, C900060046 and C901270070 accumulate simultaneously. If occupation fails, C900060046 and C900060047 accumulate simultaneously. If the request returns no channel available but queuing or forced release is possible, enter the state of waiting for resource. If the waiting for resource succeeds, C900060046 and C901270070 accumulate simultaneously. If the waiting for resource fails, C900060046 and C900060047 accumulate simultaneously. If the request returns that the transceiver is faulty, C900060046, C901270070, and C900060047 do not change. For failures in other cases, C900060046 and C900060047 accumulate simultaneously. Measurement point The BSC completes requesting for channel (due to assignment and the channel is used as data channel), or the BSC receives the internal message of waiting for resource successfully or waiting for resource failed (C901260070 + C900060047). The measurement point is B1, as shown in Figure 3-2 and Figure 3-3. C900060047: number of data TCH/H seizure failure for assignment Description This counter counts the number of TCH/F channel occupation failure during data channel assignment. After the BSC receives the channel request message, it attempts to allocate channel for the request. If occupation fails, this counter accumulates. If the request returns no channel available but queuing or forced release is possible, enter the state of waiting for resource. If the waiting for resource fails, this counter accumulates. If the request returns that the transceiver is faulty, this counter does not change. For failures in other cases, this counter accumulates. Measurement point The BSC requests for channel (due to assignment and the channel is used as data channel) but fails to occupy the channel, or the BSC fails to wait for internal resource. The measurement point is B1, as shown in Figure 3-4. C900060048: number of data TCH/H seizure attempts for handover Description This counter counts the number of TCH/H channel being attempted to be occupied during data channel handover, including the number of occupation success (C901270073) and the number of occupation failure (C900060049).
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Measurement point The BSC completes requesting for channel (due to handover and the channel is used as data channel), or BSC receives the internal message of waiting for resource successfully or waiting for resource failed (C901260073 + C900060049).
C900060049: number of data TCH/H seizure failure for handover Description This counter counts the number of TCH/H channel occupation failure during data channel handover. After the BSC receives the channel request message, it attempts to allocate channel for the request. If occupation fails, this counter accumulates. If the request returns no channel available but queuing or forced release is possible, enter the state of waiting for resource. If the waiting for resource fails, this counter accumulates. If the request returns that the transceiver is faulty, this counter does not change. For failures in other cases, this counter accumulates. Measurement point The BSC requests for channel (due to assignment and the channel is used as data channel) but fails to occupy the channel, or the BSC fails to wait for internal resource. The measurement point is C1 in Figure 3-2 and D1 in Figure 3-3.
3.4.4
Main Causes of the TCH Congestion

Main causes for channel congestion are as follows: High traffic density, which even exceeds the designed capacity of BTS Transmission failure When the transient or high error code happens for the transmission on the Abis interface, because this fault has not been happened on the BSC, the congestion happens due to unavailable ground circuit resource at the time of channel activation of the BSC. After the queuing function is activated, this event is more obvious. Unstable hardware For example, the lack of usable resources or channel congestion caused by unstable equipment performance Problems with adjacent cells
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Because of the faulty adjacent cell, the serving cell absorbs some extra traffic and the congestion happens. Unreasonable parameter setting The T3107 and T3103 are set to be too large and the queuing parameters are set unreasonably; the handover threshold and capacity are set improperly; the minimum access level and BTS power are defined improperly. Too large coverage, leading to the isolated-island effect
3.4.5
TCH Congestion Handling Process

The Handling steps for TCH congestion are as follows: 1. Check if the problem cell and its adjacent cells operate normally; check the TCH usability to locate the unstable equipment. If adjacent cells work abnormally, the problem cell will have to bear their traffic besides its own load. Check the MS mobility to see if the TCH congestion is caused by excess incoming handovers. It its true, optimize the handover parameters (increasing the HO_ Margin parameter) to reduce number of handovers from adjacent cells to the congested cell, so as to ease the cell from congestion. Check setting of radio parameters. The unreasonable setting of these parameters (such as delay of cell reselection, handover tolerance limit, and level of outgoing handover trigger) can result in pingpong location renewal and pingpong handover. Through test of field strength, analyze if coverage is too large and if the isolated-island effect exists. When the isolated-island effect happens to one cell in an area, where predefined adjacent cells cannot be detected, the MS will constantly stay with the serving cell; and normal handovers cannot be triggered, in spite of any changes on signals, and finally call drops will be caused. To avoid this case, two methods can be adopted. The first one is adjusting the antenna of the isolated cell to eliminate the effect. However, due to the complexity in electric wave transmission, it takes several tests to abate the effect, and it is really difficult to completely eliminate the effect due to high buildings. The second method is defining new adjacent cells for the isolated cell. The principle for defining related parameters is that handovers/LAC renewal from the isolated cell to normal cells has priority over the reversed ones. Congestion due to high traffic density Check if the BTS capacity configuration reaches the max. If not, expand it with enough TRXs. The general flow for handling TCH congestion is shown in the following figure.
2.
3.
4.
5.
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Figure 3-8 Flow of Handling TCH Congestion

The TCH congestion of one cell is too high.
Check the channel availability rate of the cell
Low
Troubleshoot the hardware fault.
Check whether the neighbor cell is faulty.
Yes
Troubleshoot the neighbor cell fault.
Check whether the fault is caused by excessive handovers.
Yes
Optimize the handover parameter and reduce the handovers.
Check the radio parameter setting.
Improper
Set the parameters properly.
Check whether the coverage is too large and the isolated-island effect exists.
Yes
Reduce the coverage and eliminate the isolated-island effect.
The congestion is caused by the high traffic density.
Check whether the BTS has the maximum configuration.
Yes
Reduce the BTS power and increase the downtilt, so as to reduce the congestion.
Plan enough TRXs for the expansion.
End
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4
4.1
Call Connection Process

Signaling Flow of the Call Connection Process
After the TCH allocation, the call connection process starts. The signaling process is described as follows.
Figure 4-1 Call Connection Process
MS
BTS
BSC
Alerting
MSC
IAI ACM
GMSC
RF Channel Release RF Channel Release ACK Alerting SDCCH)
ANSWER Connect Connect (SDCCH)
Connect ACK (FACCH) Connect ACK Measurement Report (SACCH) Measurement Report
When the MS informs the network that it has occupied the TCH and it is unnecessary to build the SDCCH for occupation for this call. The SDCCH is released through the channel release program. The MSC receives an ADDRESS COMPLETE message from the terminating end and sends an ALERTING message to the MS. At this time, the originating user can hear the alerting, which means that the terminating user is in alerting. After the terminating user answers the call, the terminating end will send an ANSWER message to the originating MSC. At this time, the link between the originating end and terminating end is connected and the MS send a CONNECT message to the MS. After the MS receives a CONNECT message, it sends one connection confirmation message. All the local alerting indications are stopped and
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the billing starts. At this time, the call is set up and the two ends enter the conversation stage. After the main signaling channel is built, the MS sends the measurement report about the voice quality twice per second.
4.2
Counters in the Call Connection Process

Table 4-1 Counters in the Call Connection Process
Counter Name Number of voice TCH/F drops due to radio link failure Number of voice TCH/H drops due to radio link failure Number of voice TCH/F drops due to LAPD link failure Number of voice TCH/H drops due to LAPD link failure Number of TCH/F link failures Number of TCH/H link failures
Counter ID
C900060244 C900060245 C901070017 C901070038 C900060054 C900060055
C900060244 (C900060245) Description This counter counts the number of voice TCH/F drops due to radio link failure. After MS applies for TCH/F voice channel, call drops. If this problem is caused by radio link failure, then this counter increments. Measurement point On TCH/F voice channel, when BSC receives a CONNECTION FAILURE INDICATION message at Abis interface, this counter counts. The measurement point is A, as shown in the following figure.
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Figure 4-2 Call Drop Caused by the Radio Link Fault
C901070017 (C901070018) Description This counter counts the number of call drop due to LAPD link failures (on TCH/F voice channel). The counter increments if the phenomenon that the call drop after MS has obtained TCH/F voice channel is caused by LAPD link failures. Measurement point The counter increments when BSC receives a DLREL_IND message from LAPD on TCH/F voice channel.
C900060054 (C900060055) Description This counter counts the number of call drops on TCH/F channel due to radio link failure, LAPD link break, or handover failure. Call drop occurs after MS requests for TCH/H channel successfully. The counter increments if call drop is due to the above causes. Measurement point This counter increments when call drop occurs on TCH/F channel due to radio link failure, LAPD link failure, or handover failure.
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4.3
Call Drop During the Call Connection Process

In the mobile communication, the call drop indicates the call loss or interruption due to a certain cause after the TCH allocation. The call drop causes a lot of inconveniences for the user and it is a hot spot for users complaint. The call drops fall into the following categories. Call drops due to radio link fault (RF loss call drop) Call drops due to handover failure LAPD call drops
In this chapter, only the call drops due to radio link fault and LAPD call drops during the call connection are described.
4.3.1
Causes of Call Drops due to Radio Link Fault

The radio link fault is divided into UL failure and DL failure. The DL failure According to the GSM protocol, one initial value is given to the timer S (T100) in the MS, which is the value of the radio_link_timeout parameter. This value is broadcasted on the BCCH. When the MS cannot decode one SACCH message (four SACCH congestion times) correctly, the S will be reduced by 1.When the MS decodes one SACCH message correctly, the S will be increased by 2.But the value of S is no larger than the initial value of the radio_link_timeout parameter. When the value of S is 0, the MS will give up the radio resource connection and enter the idle mode. As a result, one call drop will happen. The UL failure The parameter for the system monitoring the UL link failure is the link_fail parameter. When the BTS cannot decode one SACCH message correctly, the counter in the HDPC (the maximum value is decided by the link_fail parameter.) will be reduced by 1. When the BTS decodes one SACCH message correctly, the counter will be increased by 2 (The value of the counter cannot exceed the value decided by the Link_fail parameter.)When the value of the counter is 0, the BTS will stop transmitting the DL SACCH and start the rr_t3109 (rr_t3109 > T100).When the T100 of the MS expires, the MS will return to the idle mode and the call drop happens. When the rr_t3109 expires, the BTS will release the radio channel. And the BSC needs to send one CLEAR REQUEST message to the MSC. Either the UL failure or the DL failure can stop the SACCH transmission. Then the radio resource release is triggered. If one link failure (link_fail) happens on the TCH, one RF_LOSSES_TCH will be counted. The main causes of call drops due to radio link fault are listed as follows.
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The weak coverage area exists and the radio signal is poor. The interference exists, such as the internal interference due to improper frequency planning and external interference. Improper configuration of radio parameters The minimum access level is set to be too low and the MS makes calls in the weak coverage area and the call drop happens easily. The NCC Permitted parameter is improperly set. In some network, the serving cell and neighbor cells may use different NCCs. It is necessary to add the NCCs used by the corresponding neighbor cells to the NCC Permitted parameter. Once the setting is improper, the MS will not detect the neighbor cells with a certain NCC, which leads to the handover failure. Then the RF loss and call drop happen. If the radio link fault timer is set to be too low, the call drop may happen due to expiration in the condition of sudden deterioration. If the timer is set to be too high, the radio resource utilization rate will decrease. The setting of power control parameter is unreasonable, such as the level and the quality power control threshold. As a result, the MS may have poor signal and quality and the power may become weaker. The setting of frequency-hopping parameter is unreasonable, such as the MAIO configuration. Then the co-frequency and neighbor-frequency interference exists in the same site. The incomplete neighbor cell data definition or configuration error leads to the signal improvement through the handover and then the call drop happens due to the signal deterioration. The handover parameter setting is improper and the MS cannot make the handover in time in the condition of poor quality to improve the radio quality. As a result, the call drop happens. The handover parameter setting is improper and the MS cannot make the handover in time in the condition of poor quality to improve the radio quality. As a result, the call drop happens. The neighbor cell congestion problem should be solved.
Hardware fault, such as the too low power amplifier output power, great difference between the transmission power of different TRXs, and the fault of TRX transmitter, combiner, and divider. Antenna and feeder system fault, such as different tilts and azimuths of two antennas in the cell, large SWR, too high antenna or improper downtilt, can lead to
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too large coverage range and the overshooting. Then the remote isolated-island effect and then the call drop happen. User factor For example, the contact of the battery of the MS is poor.
4.3.2
Causes of Call Drops Due to LAPD Link Failure

BTS transmission problem, such as unstable transmission or transmission interruption BTS hardware malfunction, such as unreliable E1 cable and CMM board or back board connection fault. BSC hardware problem, such as the LAPD handling board fault.
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Signaling Flow and Relevant Counters and KPIs During the Terminating Paging Stage
Paging Principle
Radio paging is a communication process in which the MSC finds out the MS through paging. Only when the mobile subscriber has been found out can the MSC carry out next call connection.
5.1
Figure 5-1 Paging Message Delivery
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5.2
Basic Signaling Flow of the Radio Paging

Figure 5-2 Basic Signaling Flow of the Radio Paging
MS
3 Paging Request 4 Channel Request(RACH)
BTS
2 Paging Command
BSC
1 Paging
MS
5 Channel Request 6 Channel Activation 7 Channel Activation ACK 8 Immediate Assigment Command
9 Immediate Assigment (AGCH) 10 SABM Paging Response(SDCCH)
11 Paging Response(SDCCH) Establish Indicationg 13 UA(SDCCH)
12 Paging Response
As shown in the above figure, the basic paging signaling flow is described. 1. The MSC sends, after getting the current LAC information of the MS from the VLR, paging messages to all BSCs in the LAC. After receiving the paging message, the BSC will send out the paging command messages to all the cells within this LAC. After the BTS receives the paging command, it will send out, on the paging sub-channel of the paging group where the IMSI stays, a PAGING REQUEST message, which carries the IMSI or TMSI number of the paged subscriber. After receiving the PAGING REQUEST message, the MS will request through the RACH for the SDCCH allocation. And the BSC will assign this SDCCH to the MS through an IMMEDIATE ASSIGNMENT message on the AGCH after it confirms the activation of the needed SDCCHs made by the BTS. And MS will use this SDCCH to send a PAGING RESPONSE message.BSC will then forward this PAGING RESPONSE message to the MSC and one radio paging will be completed successfully.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Now, the switch in GSM network usually adopts second paging with a paging interval of 5 seconds. After the MSC acquires the LAC of the MS from the VLR, it will send the paging messages to all the BSCs in the LAC where the MS stays. If the MSC cannot receive the PAGING RESPONSE message in five seconds after it sends the paging message, the MSC will send the paging message again. For the second time, the MSC sends the
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paging messages to all the BSCs in the LAC where the MS stays. If the MSC still cannot receive the PAGING RESPONSE message in five seconds, this radio paging fails. At the same time, the MSC will send the record notice of The number you dialed cannot be connected for the moment to the originating user.ZTE switch usually adopts second paging (It can be set as third paging.).
5.3
Paging Counters of ZTE BSS

C900060001: number of MTC random access attempts Description This counter counts the number of channel requests due to the MTC random access. When the MS sends the CHL_REQ message to the BSC through the BTS to request for radio channel, if the TA does not exceed the cell range and the access reason is MTC, the counter increments. Measurement point The counter counts when the MS requests for channel from the BSC and the TA does not exceed the cell range. The measurement point is A1, as shown in the following figure.
Figure 5-3 Radio Access Process

MS CHL_REQ CHL_RQD A1 CHL_ACT CHL_ACT _ACK A3 IMM_ASS_ CMD IMM_ASS SABM EST_IND A4 A2 BTS BSC
C901110006: number of MTC access success for process Description
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This counter counts the number of MTC access success for processes. The counter increments when the BSC allows the MS to be accessed into the network due to the MTC attempts and accepts channel request sent by the MS and allocates and activates channel successfully. Meanwhile, the BSC sends an IMM_ASS message to MS. Measurement point The counter increments when channel is activated successfully. The measurement point is A3 in Figure 5-3. C900060002: number of MTC access success Description This counter counts the number of the MS successfully accessing the channel assigned in the immediate assignment message (the access reason is due to the MTC). The counter increments when the following two conditions are satisfied: the MS receives the IMM_ASS message from BSC and successfully accesses the channel. The BSC receives the EST_IND message from the MS. Measurement point The counter counts when the BSC receives the EST_IND message. The measurement point is A4, as shown in Figure 5-3 Radio Access Process. C900060137 number of wireless access due to paging responses Description This counter counts the number of accesses due to paging responses. After BSC receives the EST_IND message, if the access cause in the layer-3 information in this message is "paging responses, this counter increments. Measurement point The counter counts when the BSC receives the EST_IND message. The measurement point is A4, as shown in Figure 5-3 Radio Access Process. C900060152: number of ABIS interface paging command messages Description This counter counts the number of paging command messages from A-interface. These messages are part of Abis interface messages sent from BSC. Measurement point
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When the BSC sends an ABIS_INTER_PAGING_CMD message to the BTS, this counter increments. The measurement point is A in the following figure.
Figure 5-4 Measurement Point of the BSC Sending the Abis Message to the BTS
Formulae of calculating the paging success rate at the BSS side are displayed as follows. V2: Paging success rate (BSC)=C10022/C20064 V3: Paging success rate (BSC)= C900060002 / C900060152
5.4
Paging Success Rate KPI Definition

Table 5-1 KPI Definition Counter formula V2 V3 V4 Remarks Paging Success Rate KPI Definition Paging Success Rate (%) Number of paging responses 100%/Number of paging requests C10022/C20064 100% C900060002/C900060152 C900060002/C900060152
The BSC can provide this KPI indirectly. But the statistical point is different from that of the MSC statistics. The main difference is whether one BSC has only one LAC and whether one LAC belongs to only one BSC for the call on the A interface.
The number of paging requests is defined as the sum of PAGING messages sent out by all the MSCs in the local area, not including the second paging messages. The measurement point is the MSC. The number of paging responses refers to the sum of PAGING RES messages received by all the MSCs in local area, including the second response messages. The measurement point is the MSC. The paging success rate, one important network quality KPI of the GSM network, can affect the call completion rate and radio system connection rate directly. The sound paging performance is quite important for being the terminating party successfully of all the users. Therefore, the paging success rate optimization analysis is quite necessary.
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5.5
Factors Affecting the Paging Success Rate

The PAGING message fails to be sent on the radio channel. The heavy link load leads to the loss of bottom layer SCCP message. MSC/VLR and BSC flow control leads to the message discarding. The heavy load results in longer queuing time of messages and delay in receiving messages of the MS. The poor transmission link quality leads to the loss of bottom LAPD message. The T3212 parameter is set unreasonably. Too many paging messages results in the loss of message on the radio interface (group sending of short messages). Abnormal number of sending paging message times in BSC is caused by the redundant cell data in MSC. The MS fails to receive the PAGING message. Coverage issues, including the coverage blind area, poor general coverage rate, the user not staying in the coverage area, network coverage loophole, and individual coverage blind point. Frequent MS reselections Frequent location update The MS cannot monitor the messages on the BCCH when it is in GPRS service. The paging group is set unreasonably, which leads to long paging time or paging lost. Sometimes, the paging groups of two adjacent cells are different. The time of the seconding paging is set improperly, so the second paging does take effect. Besides, the system load also is increased. When the large difference between adjacent cells causes frequent reselections, the monitoring time will be different, tending to cause paging lost. The relevant messages fail to reach the MSC when the MS is responding to the PAGING message. SDCCH congestion SDCCH assignment failure UL and DL imbalance, with weak UL
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Poor transmission link leading to the message loss The special case: when two MSs call the same MS simultaneously, the MSC will connect to only one caller and reply no paging response to another. The time of sending the MSC paging message is improper. Before the MS ends the call release, the MSC finishes the release and delivers the new paging, but it is replied with no paging response.
5.6
Procedure and Method of Low Paging Success Rate Optimization

Step 1: Exclude the abnormal phenomena caused by the system Check the flow control alarm and see whether flow control alarms exist in the MSC, VLR, or BSC. Keep the trunk link on the A interface or Abis interface in good maintenance, pay close attention to signaling load on the A interface or Abis interface, and add signaling link timely, so as to reduce paging failure caused by too heavy signaling load. Check whether there is transient transmission interruption alarm in the BTS. The unstable link between systems (such as the LAPD link on the Abis interface, and interface link between different entities at the network side) and within a system (such as the MEM link between the MSC and VLR and links between BSC or MSC modules) will cause the message loss, leading to the low paging success rate. This kind of problems can be discovered by checking alarms. Check whether there is redundant data in MSC database. As a result of continuous network expansion and cutover, the cell data in the MSC may differ from that in the BSC. Therefore, it is necessary to check the cell data and delete the redundant data timely. In some areas, network expansion adopts the "dot-distributed network" (such as inserting some ZTE BTSs in the area under the MOTO BTS coverage), leading to the possibility that there are many LACs under one BSC. In this case, this BSC will receive paging messages from many different LACs, resulting in heavier paging load of the BTS in this BSC.
Step 2: Check the latest status of the MS. At present, the VLR probe is the only tool for checking the latest status of the MS. In test, the status of the MS can be judged through the recording signaling on the SGSN, MSC, and Abis interfaces.
Step 3: Exclude the influence from the GPRS.
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Check whether the GPRS routing area is set correctly. Set the same routing area for the same site and the routing area of the cells with frequent reselection should be the same. Check whether the routing area update cycle is set reasonably. Use a mobile phone without GPRS function to test. Step 4: Analyze the KPIs. Check the SDCCH congestion condition. The SDCCH congestion rate in the traffic statistics should be 0 or nearly 0.The condition of no paging response caused by the SDCCH congestion should be eliminated. Analyze whether the MTC success rate is abnormal. Analyze whether the number of cell location update times is abnormal. Analyze the average TA and the maximum TA to judge whether there is overshooting.
Step 5: Check and optimize the radio parameters. Check the parameter setting relevant to the paging, access, and immediate assignment. Check the traffic statistics and alarms to see whether there are messages about RACH, PCH and SDCCH overload. Improper configuration of the BS-AG-BLKS-RES parameter and BS-PA-MFRMS parameter tends to cause the PCH congestion or low paging speed. The large value of the BS_PA_MFRMS parameter is at the expense of average time delay on radio channel, that is to say, the larger the value of the BS_PA_MFRMS is, the longer time delay the paging messages will spend in the air section. Thus, the average service performance of system will also deteriorate and there will be a longer time for the MS to wait for being paged. On the one hand, reducing the value of the BS-PA-MFRMS parameter helps to shorten the user response time, increasing the overall service capability; on the other hand, when the BS-PA-MFRMS parameter of ZTE BTS <=3, paging messages can be sent twice, increasing the number of resending paging messages, so as to increase the paging response rate of MS, which increases the paging success rate. If the parameters, such as the MAX retrans parameter and TX-integer parameter, are set improperly, channel requests may collide or cannot be detected. Check whether T3212 (periodic location updating timer) and IDETTIM (implicate detach time) are set properly. One of the paging failures may be caused by the MS entering into coverage hole or MS power-down. If the
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IDETTIM of the switch does not expires, (The MSC will check the ATTACH users regularly and set the MS that has no contact with system to the implicate detach status.), the MSC will still send the paging message to this user but the MS cannot respond. At the BSC side, each BTS is set with a timer T3212 to make MSs contact the system regularly; only in this way will there be the latest user information in the VLR.T3212 in the BSC and IDETTIM in MSC should meet the condition of T3212 < IDETTIM. Check whether the LAC is divided properly and whether the overlapping area between LACs is configured properly. Please pay attention to the following points in the LAC configuration. A LAC should be within the same MSC and MSC crossing is not permitted. Paging capacity and the number of location update must be balanced. The most important principle for LAC configuration is that the maximum paging capacity of BTS should not be exceeded. Once it is exceeded, the LAC splitting should be taken into account.
Step 6: Analyze the MSC paging strategy. Check whether the system capacity allows the multi-paging. If it does, analyze the influence upon the system from multi-paging. The MSC forms paging messages and can resend the paging message in the condition of receiving no response. The interval between two paging is a vital parameter. From the radio aspect, the longer the interval between two paging is, the less the MS is correlated with the radio environment when it is responding paging message, and the more easily the MS will respond to paging messages successfully. But too long the interval will make MOC subscriber wait for a long time that he or she tends to hang up. In optimization, paging interval needs to be adjusted gradually according to paging success rate and subscriber hang-up ratio. Prolonging the paging interval properly can enhance the paging success rate. The disadvantage is that the time of waiting for the record notice of the originating user becomes longer if the terminating user is out of the service. Some vendors may adopt global paging in the second paging, that is to say. paging the MS within the whole MSC. However, devices of some vendors do not support this function. It is recommended that this function should be enabled in the switch that has the function. This function helps a lot for enhancing the paging success rate of the MSC that has two or more LACs.
Step 7: Make the field test. Field test is the most important step, through which the actual phenomenon can be captured. When the problem is easily to be reproduced by common mobile phones rather than the testing handset, it is necessary to use two SIM cards belonging to the same paging group to conduct the test. Thus, it can be possible to judge whether common mobile phones respond correctly to paging messages that have been sent normally.
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Check whether frequent reselections occur. If any, modify the reselection parameters (such as the CRO parameter, TMO parameter, and PT parameter).Check whether there is any coverage blind area.
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Signaling Flow of the Terminating Connection Stage

After the paging, authentification, identity appraisal, and encryption, the terminating connection stage starts.
6.1
Signaling Flow of the Terminating Connection Stage

Figure 6-1 Signaling Flow of the Terminating Connection Stage
MS
Setup(SDCCH) Call Confirm(SDCCH)
BTS
BSC
Setup Call Confirm Channel Activation
MSC
Assignment Request
Channel Activation ACK Assignment Command(SDCCH) SABM(FACCH) Establish Indication UA(FACCH) Assignment Complete(FACCH) Assignment Complete RF Channel Release RF Channel Release ACK Alerting (SDCCH) Alerting Connect (SDCCH) Connect Connect ACK Connect ACK (FACCH)
The call connection signaling flow is described in the above figure. The MSC sends a SETUP message to the MS and this message includes all the necessary details of the call (such as the required service type and the originating number.
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The terminating MS receives the SETUP message. And it sends a CALL CONFIRMED message to the MSC after the test of call capabilities of all the compatible equipment is completed. This message indicates that all the necessary information for the call connection setup has been received. No more information is needed. After the MSC receives the CALL CONFIRMED message, it will send a Assignment Request to the BSC, so as to allocate the TCH for this call. The terminating TCH assignment is similar to the originating TCH assignment. After the assignment, the terminating MS sends an ALERTING message to the network. After the terminating MSC receives this message, it sends an ACM message to the originating end. The originating end sends the ALERTING message to the originating user after receiving the ACM message. After receiving the ALERTING message, the terminating user sends a CONNECT message to the MSC. Then the MSC sends an ANSWER message to the originating end and sends a CONNECT message to the terminating end. Then all the transmission links are connected to the network and the end-to-end transmission of the user is set up.
6.2
Relevant KPIs of the Terminating Connection Stage

The terminating connection stage is corresponding to the originating call setup stage and TCH assignment stage. The relevant KPIs are displayed as follows. SDCCH congestion rate SDCCH assignment success rate TCH congestion rate TCH allocation success rate KPIs described in the originating signaling flow
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7
7.1
Features of the V4 Allocation Process Statistics

Change of the Allocation Flow
Pre-application: applying for the ITC resources (external TC) > selecting the board > making pre-application Allocation: acceptation on the A interface and Abis interface > channel activation > connection
7.2
7.2.1
Change of Allocation Statistics

Counter Adding
TCH/F measurement 2 TCH/H measurement 2 The counters reflect the success or failure statistics of all the stages of resource application.
7.2.2
Counter Deleting
The statistics of the allocation related to the service handling flow is adjusted and the original counters relevant to the allocation are deleted.
7.2.3
Modification and KPI Change

The statistical counters are configured. First, the counter information is acquired from the configuration table of the OMC. After the MO, the counter information can only be acquired from the BSC. The content should be consistent to that of the V3 (non-MO). The KPI formula adjustment principle is that the formula should be applicable for the V3 non-MO and V3 MO. Suppose the original formula is KPI = A + B After the MO, the formula is KPI = A + C A means the counters existing in all the versions.
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B means the counters existing in the non-MO version (not included in the statistics in the MO version). C means the newly-added counters in the MO version (not existing in the non-MO version) Finally, the KPI formula is KPI = A + B + C
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8
8.1
8.1.1
8.1.1.1
Cases
Cases of SDCCH Assignment Failure
SDCCH Assignment Failure Due to the LAPD Time Delay
LAPD Time Delay Due to Large Paging Traffic
Fault description On a certain field, the engineers found that the SD assignment success rate of ZTE BSC3 was low, especially in the busy hours at night, through the performance KPI analysis. The rate was only about 60%. Fault analysis The engineers checked the statistical data and found that the high SD assignment failure existed in each cell. Therefore, the poor assignment due to radio parameter of the cell was excluded. Judging from the statistical data, the congestion rate of SD channel was only 0.02%. The SD assignment success rates of ZTE BSC 1, BSC 2, and BSC 4 were higher than 95%, which was normal. Only the BSC 3 was abnormal. Because the BSC 3 was under the MSC 7, being isolated, the engineers contacted the China Unicom personnel and found that the SD assignment success rates of all the BSCs (including the BSC of Siemens) under the MSC 7 were about 60%. And the paging success rate of MSC 7 was quite low. According to the China Unicom personnel, there was only one LAC under the MSC 7. Because all the cells under the LAC were included during the paging, the larger the traffic was, the larger the paging traffic was.
Solution The engineers communicated with the engineers from Siemens and asked them to add one LAC for MSC 7 and change the LAC IDs to the new IDs for the cells of some BSCs of Siemens. After the modification, the SD assignment success rate of BSC 3 was normal, higher than 95%.
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8.1.1.2
Satellite Transmission Time Delay

Fault description All the four sites, TBT-G, TBT-D, GWD-G, and GJR-G, were under BSC 01 but they belong to different peripheral modules. Judging from the performance KPIs, the SD assignment failure rate of these sites were above 50%. Fault analysis The engineers recorded the signaling on the Abis interface of TBT 1, TBT 4, TBT 5, TBT 6, GAR, and GWD. Take the TBT 5 signaling as an example to describe the signaling analysis. Judging from the time stamp, the average time of successful channel activation was 0.58 s.
Figure 8-1 Time Stamp Checking
Judging from the signaling below, the engineers checked whether the two pieces of signaling were the CHANNEL REQUIRED messages sent by the same MS.
Figure 8-2 Signaling Flow Checking 1
The engineers can calculate the FNs of T1, T2, and T3. The formula is FN = T1 26 51 + ((T3 - T2)mod 26) 51 + T3 The difference of FN between two messages is 32454 - 32227 = 227 (frames).
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The engineers traced the whole process of the first channel request and found it was a complete signaling process of power-off. And they traced the second channel request and found the immediate assignment failure. The BSC cannot receive the ESTABLISH INDICATION message and the channel was released after the T3101 expiration.
The two pieces of signaling had the same access delay. The maximum number of retransmission times was 4 and TxInteger was 14 (T = 32 and S =217). The interval between two CHANNEL REQUIRED messages sent by a MS in one call was a random time slot among 217 ~ 248. That is to say, the shortest time of the MS sending two CHANNEL REQUIRED message was 1001 ms and the longest time was 1144 ms. The time interval of the BSC receiving the two CHANNEL REQUIRED messages was 1.031 s (1.906 - 0.875). For the BTS and BSC signaling transmission time delays, suppose the UL and DL signaling delays were consistent, the time length of total immediate assignment signaling was 1.16 s (0.58 2), similar to 1.031 s. According to the frame ID calculation, the actual interval of the two messages was 227 frames (1048). Therefore, the two messages were sent by one MS in one service call attempt.
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Conclusion Because these sites were far away from the urban area, the satellite transmission was adopted. The time delay of the one-way transmission of the satellite transmission is about 260 ms. Therefore, the transmission time delay of four pieces of signaling is 1040 ms, which is consistent with the above signaling analysis.
8.1.2
8.1.2.1
High SDCCH Assignment Failure Rate Due to Co-BCCH and Co-BSIC

Interference of the Co-BCCH and Co-BSIC Coverage Overlapping Area
Fault description On a certain field, the high SDCCH assignment failure problem was not solved. The SDCCH assignment failure rates of many cells in the whole network were over 25%. Handling process The engineers changed all the hardware and the problem was still not solved. Then the engineers traced the signaling and found that the co-BCCH and co-BSIC signals of another cell were received at the time of TA = 20, which led to the SDCCH assignment failure. According to this point, the engineers planed the BSICs of more than ten cells in the whole network again. After the replanning, the KPIs of all the cells with BSIC modification became normal. Fault analysis and conclusion If one MS stays in the area covered by two co-BCCH and co-BSIC cells, the SDCCH assignment failure may happen. The triggering condition of this possibility is that the time slots of the SDCCHs of the two co-BCCH and co-BSIC cells are synchronized. After the MS and BTS are synchronized, if the MS selects one cell for access, another cell will be interfered. Therefore, for the SDCCH assignment failure (the high SDCCH assignment failure rate due to co-BCCH and co-BSIC cells within a certain multiplexing distance), there are two solutions. Reset the CMM of the cell with high failure rate, so as to reset the clock. Then the SDCCH time slots were misaligned and the influence can be reduced. This is a temporary solution. For the field, the engineers should modify the parameter and restore them. Avoid the co-BCCH and co-BSIC condition, which is the fundamental solution.
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8.1.3
8.1.3.1
Noise Signal Access

The Rxlev Lower Than the BTS Rev Sensitivity
Fault description The SDCCH assignment failure rate of a certain cell was high but the TCH assignment success rate was normal. Fault analysis The EDGE TRX was adopted in this cell and the Rxlev of the random access can be reported in the physical context in the CHANNEL REQUEST message. The engineers observed the signaling tracing data of this cell and found a large number of CHANNEL REQUEST message with Rxlev being 135 dBm (0 87). These messages led to a lot of SDCCH assignment failures.
Figure 8-5 Signaling Tracing Data Observing 1
The engineers judged that most of these CHANNEL REQUEST messages were noise interference signals. This problem can be solved through the RACHMin parameter setting.
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8.1.4
SDCCH Assignment Failure Due to Co-BCCH and Co-BSIC Handover
Note: The co-BCCH and co-BSIC means that the ARFCN of the target channel of the handover is the same with the BCCH of the faulty cell and the BSIC of the target cell is the same with that of the faulty cell. Fault description The signaling of a certain faulty cell is shown in the following figure. Judging from the signaling, the engineers found out continuous CHANNEL REQUEST messages, with the same RA and TA and continuous frame IDs. The SDCCH assignments corresponding to these CHANNEL REQUEST message all failed. What is more, in the basic measurement, the number of other access request attempts was high. Therefore, the continuous CHANNEL REQUEST messages indicated the false access caused by the handover access of the co-BCCH cells.
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8.1.5
SDCCH Assignment Failure Due to Poor Network Coverage

Fault description In a certain cell, the SDCCH assignment failure rate and the TCH assignment failure rate were high. The out-going handover attempts were frequent and the call drop rate was high, with complaints. The reset TRX or site cannot be restored. Fault analysis Judging from the basic measurement of this cell, the access causes corresponding to the SDCCH assignment failures were various, including the originating access and terminating access. The number of samples with UL RQ larger than 3 was large. The UL quality was poor. Therefore, the UL signals of this cell were affected by the interference or poor coverage.
Table 8-1
Cell Basic Measurement Data 1 116 44 (Nu mbe r of SDC CH Assi gnm ent Suc ces s Tim es) 68 11 61 14 (N um ber of Sa mp les wit h UL RQ = 0) 15 80 29 06 25 73 25 59 11 61 15 (N um ber of Sa mp les wit h UL RQ = 1) 73 14 4 12 3 18 0
Time
116 45 (Nu mbe r of SDC CH Assi gnm ent Fail ures )
11611 6(Nu mber of Samp les with UL RQ = 2)
20079-28 16:15 20079-28 16:30 20079-28 16:45 20079-28 17:00
11
106
100
89
140
95
102
65
12
192
168
185
185
122
120
50
12
167
166
132
105
51
58
67
256
226
206
142
81
76
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8.1.6
SDCCH Assignment Failure Due to Continuous Location Update Requests

Fault description In some boundary sites and suburban sites of City A, the SDCCH assignment failure rate was increased abruptly and irregularly, but other KPIs of the cells were normal. The recorded signaling and basic measurement at the time of high SDCCH assignment failure rate are shown in the following figure. Judging from the signaling, one MS initiated the channel request with the access cause being location update continuously but all the requests failed.
Table 8-2
Cell Basic Measurement Data 2 116 36 (Nu mb er of MO C Acc ess Suc ces s Tim es) 4 116 37 (Nu mb er of MT C Acc ess Suc ces s Tim es) 0 1164 4 (Num ber of SDC CH Assi gnm ent Succ ess Time s) 13
SI T E ID
C E L L ID
Time
11638( Numb er of LOC Acces s Succe ss Times )
11645 (Number of SDCCHA ssignme nt Failures)
116 84 (Nu mbe r of MO C Acc ess Atte mpt s)
11685( Numb er of MTC Acces s Attem pts)
11686( Numb er of LOC Acces s Attem pts)
3 2 3 2 3 2 3 2 3 2 3 2 3 2
2007-8 -31 4:15 2007-8 -31 4:30 2007-8 -31 4:45 2007-8 -31 5:00 2007-8 -31 5:15 2007-8 -31 5:30 2007-8 -31
192
202
10
10
155
165
16
16
206
223
15
17
172
188
12
15
174
187
3 3
7 4
2 2
13 18
22 24
188 208
7 4
1 2
187 198
77
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SI T E ID
C E L L ID
Time
116 36 (Nu mb er of MO C Acc ess Suc ces s Tim es)
116 37 (Nu mb er of MT C Acc ess Suc ces s Tim es)
11638( Numb er of LOC Acces s Succe ss Times )
1164 4 (Num ber of SDC CH Assi gnm ent Succ ess Time s)
11645 (Number of SDCCHA ssignme nt Failures)
116 84 (Nu mbe r of MO C Acc ess Atte mpt s)
11685( Numb er of MTC Acces s Attem pts)
11686( Numb er of LOC Acces s Attem pts)
5:45 3 2 3 2 3 2 3 2 3 2007-8 -31 6:00 2007-8 -31 6:15 2007-8 -31 6:45 2007-8 -31 7:00 1 2 17 20 170 1 2 187
14
14
32
160
14
198
10
23
196
209
15
21
237
249
78
Internal Use Only
8.1.7
Improper Setting of the Tx-Integer Parameter

Fault description In a certain cell, the common SDCCH assignment failure rate was about 20% and it was 30% in the busy hours. But other KPIs (such as the TCH assignment failure rate and in-coming success rate) were normal.
Table 8-3 DATET IME 13-Dec -07
Site Information BSC_NAME JAYANAGA R-BSC BSC ID 102 CELL _ID 12282 SITE_NAME THAYAGRAJNA GAR-2-s MYHO UR 21 SD_ASSN_FAI L_RATE 30.21
Fault analysis The engineers traced the signaling of the cell and found that the pair of CHANNEL REQUEST messages (same TA and channel request cause) always appeared in this cell. The IMM Assign corresponding to the first CHANNEL REQUEST message was successful, but the one corresponding to the second CHANNEL REQUEST message was a failure.
As shown in the above figure, the FN of the first CHANNEL REQUEST message was 964 and the FN of the second CHANNEL REQUEST message was 1086, with
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the difference being 124 frames, corresponding to the Tx-Integer parameter (12) set by the OMC. Therefore, the two CHANNEL REQUEST messages are sent by one MS. Because of the delay of the transmission link, the MS resent the CHANNEL REQUEST message. The engineers modified the TX-Integer parameter to 14 and the SDCCH assignment failure rate of the cell was lower than 10%.
8.2
8.2.1
SD\TCH Channel Congestion Cases

SD congestion due to LAPD Delay Caused by Transmission Fault
The performance report shows that the number of SDCCH allocation failures was high during SD congestion (SDCCH occupancy failure counter).
Figure 8-9 SD Channel Congestion Report Analysis (Case 1) Numbe r of SDCC H Occup ation Attem pts (for Assign ment) 1782 1455 1542 1759 1606 1628 2053 2409 1563 1650 1784 1903 873 Numbe r of SDCC H Occup ation Succe ss Times (for Assign ment) 1791 1441 1524 1648 1583 1582 1905 2215 1467 1628 1752 1878 852 Numbe r of SDCC H Occup ation Failure s (for Assign ment) 63 14 18 111 23 46 148 194 96 22 32 25 21 Numb er of SDCC H Occup ation Attem pts (for Hando ver) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Numb er of SDCC H Occup ation Succe ss Times (for Hando ver) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Numb er of SDCC H Occup ation Failur es (for Hando ver) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Numbe r of SDCC H Allocat ion Attem pts (for Assign ment) Numbe r of SDCC H Allocat ion Succe ss Times (for Assign ment) 1062 908 928 1009 957 1004 1068 1111 758 858 856 947 381 Numbe r of SDCC H Allocat ion Failure s (for Assign ment) 658 533 596 636 631 578 863 1103 711 764 898 932 474
1720
1441 1524 1645 1588 1582 1904 2214 1469 1622 1754 1879 855
80
Internal Use Only
The signaling flow shows that BTS did not respond to the CHANNEL ACTIVATION message sent by BSC.
Figure 8-10
No Response From the BTS (Case 1)
The engineers found the transmission alarm at the time of the fault. After the BTS was reset, the problem disappeared. After the transmission was adjusted, the problem was completely solved.
8.2.2
SD Congestion due to Strong Interference

Fault description On one night, large amount of SD congestion occurred in one cell, which lasted for a long time. Normal condition didnt return even after the reset of CMM and TRM. The congestion disappeared after adjustment of the ARFCN and the BCC. The congestion phenomenon appeared again after the ARFCN and BCC were changed back. The congestion finally disappeared 30 minutes after the adjustment of the TA access threshold.
The engineers observed the signaling and found that the SD congestion was caused by a large quantity of the abnormal CHANNEL REQUEST messages. All
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the Imm Assign generated from these CHANNEL REQUEST messages ended in failure. The abnormal CHANNEL REQUEST messages appeared once every four frames; all the RAs were 01; the TA diminished from 63 to 0 and then restarted from 63 after 815 frames; the level value remained 63, as shown in the following figure.
Figure 8-11 A Large Number of CHANNEL REQUEST Messages (Case 3)
The normal condition did not return even after the reset of the CMM and TRM, which indicated that the problem was irrelevant to the BTS hardware and software. The problem disappeared after the adjustment of the ARFCN and BCC, but reoccurred when the ARFCN was changed back, which indicated that the problem was relevant to the ARFCN. Considering the rule of the CHANNEL REQUEST messages, the engineers confirmed that there was a kind of interference signals were co-BCCH with the site and the signals just contained all the training sequence of AB frame. The interference signals were periodical and it created periodical deviation to the window with Time slot 0.Just because of this deviation, the TX changed periodically. Besides, the interference signal just affected Time slot 0.Therefore, the adjustment on the TA access threshold can only relieve the problem, but cannot solve it completely.
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There was army garrisoning in the area and the interference signals were probably sent from the army.
8.3
8.3.1
Paging Cases
No Paging Response due to the SDCCH Congestion
Table 8-4 SDCCH Congestion Information CELL 1 2 3 1 Time 2006-3-14 16:30 2006-3-14 16:30 2006-3-14 16:30 2006-3-14 16:30 Alias POF1 POF2 POF3 POF7 11603 (SDCCH Attempt Total Number) 271 293 345 100 11604 (SDCCH Overflow Total Number) 0 0 0 61
BSC SITE 80 11 80 11 80 11 80 611
Notes: Site 611 was commissioning and the signal of the site was very strong 1
Fault description No paging response occurred continuously in an office in XX country on XX date.
Fault analysis After the check, it was found that a micro cell debugging was being conducted and the signals at this site were too strong, which led to many mobile phones staying within the site. The serious SDCCH congestion led to no paging response.
8.3.2
Call Failure due to the MSC Flow Control

Fault description The call complete rate was low (about 60%) in the busy hours in a certain location. Fault analysis According to the signaling analysis recorded in the CQT on site, it was found that no PAGING message was sent by the MSC. The signaling flow is shown in the following figure.
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According to the above figure, the MSC sent less PAGING messages than it should do. Due to the MSC flow control in busy hours, the flow control of messages happened, leading to no paging response.
8.3.3
No Paging Response due to Wrong T3212 Setting

Fault description In XX city, it occurred suddenly that many MSs under a BSC cannot be paged. After the power on/off operation, the paging became normal. Fault description The signaling tracing showed that the MSC did not send the PAGING messages. After checking, it turned out the location update time in MSC was changed from 2 hours to 1 hour, but that in BSC was set to one hour. Thus, many MSs, before the periodic location update, had been marked as inactive status at the MSC side. Therefore, the MSs could not be paged.
8.3.4
Low Paging Success Rate due to Location Area Division

Fault description
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After the original 3 location areas under a BSC of the ISB were divided into 8 ones, the paging success rate calculated in the MSC decreased by about 5%. Fault analysis Due to the location area division, the location update became more frequent. According to the following figure, the number of location update times doubled, which indicated serious cross location area. As a result, the paging failure happened.
Figure 8-13
Number of Location Update Times
70000 60000 50000 40000 30000 20000 10000 0
8.3.5
GSM Paging Success Rate Optimization of a China Unicom Branch

Fault description In a certain area, all the BTSs in XX area were ZTE equipment, in which there were two BSCs and a location area LAC 21088. Under BSC1, there were four isolated sites in a forest which were set as separate location area, LAC21136 and the Ericsson switch was used. In this area, the paging success rate of LAC 21088 remained as 92%, being middle-level or below in the whole province. And the provincial company requires the KPI to be increased to the maximum score of 94%. Fault analysis
03 -0 103 200 -0 6 303 20 -0 06 503 200 -0 6 703 200 -0 6 903 200 -1 6 103 200 -1 6 303 200 -1 6 503 20 -1 06 703 200 -1 6 920 06
Times of general location update Times of periodic location update
2014 ZTE CORPORATION. All rights reserved. 85
20 :0 0 20 :0 0 20 :0 0 20 :0 0 20 :0 0 20 :0 0 20 :0 0 20 :0 0 20 :0 0 20 :0 0
Internal Use Only
According to MSC SY01 statistics, LAC 21088 uses the TMSI paging and the second paging mode with an interval of 8 s. In the existing network, the number of the first paging times in the busy hours was 53653, with 49192 succeeded and 4461 failed; the number of the successful second paging times was 1009. The statistical analysis indicated the second paging success rate was only 1009/4461 100% = 22.61%, being relatively low. Through a systematical DT in the urban district in this area, it was found that this area was a typical mountainous area, in which there were coverage holes even in urban areas due to lack of sites. Now, there were totally 211 sites in this area, with about 70 sites in urban areas, and many other sites are marginal isolated ones. Therefore, weak coverage was one of the main reasons resulting in lower paging success rate. Fault handling Adjusting the BS_AG_BLK_RES parameter Currently, this parameter was set to 2, combined with the CCCH_CONF parameter (0 indicates the CCCH used a basic physical channel and was not combined with the SDCCH; there were nine blocks of CCCH messages in a 51 multi-frame), that is to say. Two blocks were reserved for the AGCH in each BCCH multi-frame. Correspondingly, the number of PCH blocks was 9-2=7; According to the KPIs in the existing network, the maximum number of SDCCH requests in busy hours was below 2,500. If it was taken as 3,000, the number of SDCCH allocation requests in each paging period was (3000/3600) 0.2354 = 0.2, less than one user. Therefore, the engineers modified the value of the BS_AG_BLK_RES parameter from 2 to 1 and then the number o f PCH blocks may reach 8 accordingly. Adjusting the BS_PA_MFRAMS parameter Currently, this parameter was set to 3, that is to say the same paging group was transmitted every 3 51 multi-frames, hence the following calculation can be made. The number of paging blocks in a paging period: 8 3 = 24 The maximum number of subscribers in each paging block: 1000/24 = 42 According to statistics at the MSC side, the number of radio paging times in LAC 21088 was 53653 + 4461 = 58114, thus, in the existing network the number of subscribers in each paging period was 58114/3600 0.2354 = 3.8. In the existing network, the TMSI paging was adopted. The maximum number of each paging block in the TMSI paging was 4. As 3.8 was close to 4, it was suggested to increase the value of the BS_PA_MFRAM parameter from 3 to 5.
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Then, the maximum number of subscribers carried in each paging blocks would change to 1000/(8*5) = 25. Though paging messages would delay longer in the air section, users in each paging sub-channel would be decreased, paging channel would be strengthened in bearing capacity, and interruptions will also be reduced in probability of happening. Adjusting the TX_INTEGER parameter Currently, this parameter was set to 14, indicating that the number of time slots was 32 and the value of S was 217; in existing network the MAX_RETRAN parameter was set to 7, hence the following calculation can be made. The maximum number of time slots for sending messages was 32 1 = 31, the maximum resending interval was 217 + 32 1 = 248; and the time consumed for resending seven times was (31 + 217) 4.615/1000 7 + 31 4.615/1000 = 8.154705 s. At the switch side, the second paging mode was adopted. If the paging period was 5 0.2354 = 1.177S, it could be concluded that the maximum time consumed in radio paging was 8.154705 + 1.177 = 9.331705s. As the interval between two paging defined at switch side was 8 s < 9.331705 s, the TX_INTEGER parameter would be reduced to 12. The value of 12 indicated that the number of time slots was 20 and the value of S was 109. Through the recalculation, the maximum time consumed in radio paging was (19 + 109) 4.615/1000 7 + 19 4.615/1000 + 1.177 = 5.399725S < 8s. But this parameter should not be configured too samll; otherwise, the waiting time may be too short, increasing both the possibility of collision and the network load, and then the KPIs would be worsened. Slight modification was needed to be made according to actual KPIs after the calculation. Adjusting the RXLEV_ACCESS_MIN parameter In the existing network, this parameter was set to 10, indicating the RXLEV_ACCESS_MIN parameter was 100 dBm. If the threshold was lowered to 8, the RXLEV_ACCESS_MIN parameter was 102 dBm.
Note: This parameter helps to enlarge the BTS coverage and increase the paging success rate, but it can affect the KPIs such as the call drop negatively.
Adjusting T3212
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This timer is set to 72 min at the switch side and 10 (60 min) at the radio side. The engineers modified it to 8 (48 min) at the radio side.
Note: This parameter should not be configured to be too small; otherwise, the network signaling flow would be increased and the stand-by time of MS would be shortened. After adjusting the above parameters on June 23th, the paging success rate in this area was increased by about 1%, close to 94%, as shown in the following figureError! No bookmark name given. .
Figure 8-14 Paging Success Rate
8.4
V4 Cases
Fault description In a certain area, during the V4 BSC and the SDR BTS swap, the TCH congestion happened and the service cannot be made normally. Version information: iBSCV6.50.100f SDR V4.11.10.14P05 Networking condition:
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ABIS: IPOE A: STM-1 Gb: IP After the swap, according to the KPI condition, the traffic was not large, but the TCH congestion rate was quite high.
Table 8-5
TCH Congestion KPIs SUBNETWORK Name PSH751_ZXB01 (3) PSH751_ZXB01 (3) PSH751_ZXB01 (3) PSH751_ZXB01 (3) PSH751_ZXB01 (3) PSH751_ZXB01 (3) PSH751_ZXB01 (3) Call Setup Success Rate 80.66% 84.31% 85.63% 85.46% 83.15% 80.31% 84.21% Call Setup TCH Blocking 13.80% 12.68% 12.60% 12.58% 13.31% 14.51% 13.29% TP2-SDCCH Blocking 5.35% 2.04% 0.41% 0.62% 2.61% 4.51% 1.11% 306024:TCH Total Traffic Number (erl) 231 227 207 203 225 150 138
Start Time 2012-10-19 14:00:00 2012-10-19 15:00:00 2012-10-19 16:00:00 2012-10-19 17:00:00 2012-10-19 18:00:00 2012-10-19 19:00:00 2012-10-19 20:00:00
In the field test, the engineers found that it was difficult to complete the call. Fault analysis The engineers made the CQT on the field and found that it was difficult to occupy the channel. However, many idle channels existed according to the channel occupation dynamic observation from the OMC. All the swap cells had this problem and there was no alarm. The RQ and interference were normal. There was no wrong configuration of the swap data. The engineers found the following abnormalities in the TCH measurement analysis.
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Table 8-6
TCH Measurement Analysis Numbe r of TCH/F Allocat ion Failure due to Apply Abis Resour ce Failure for Assign ment (Speec h Versio n3) (Times ) 74701 73667 51398 48746 52048 35065 35029 Numb er of TCH/F Alloc ation Failur e due to Apply Abis Reso urce Failur e for Hand over (Spee ch Versi on2) (Time s) 613 709 706 442 653 795 762 Numbe r of TCH/H Allocat ion Failure due to Apply Abis Resour ce Failure for Assign ment (Speec h Versio n1) (Times ) 0 0 362 353 464 245 151 Numbe r of TCH/H Allocat ion Failure due to Apply Abis Resou rce Failure for assign ment (Speec h Versio n 3)(Tim es) 0 0 14965 16523 20316 12885 9503 Numb er of TCH/ H Alloc ation Failur e due to Apply Abis Reso urce Failur e for Hand over (Spee ch Versi on 1)(Ti mes) 0 0 152 113 131 126 15 Numb er of TCH/ H Alloc ation Failur e due to Apply Abis Reso urce Failur e for Hand over (Spee ch Versi on 3)(Ti mes) 0 0 3863 3786 4811 4437 2329
Start Time
Numbe r of TCH/F Allocat ion Failure due to Apply Abis Resour ce Failure for Assign ment (Speec h Versio n 2)(Tim es) 2449 2598 2331 2088 2277 1532 1162
Number of TCH/F Allocation Failure due to apply Abis resource failure for handover (speech version3)( Times)
14:0 0:00 15:0 0:00 16:0 0:00 17:0 0:00 18:0 0:00 19:0 0:00 20:0 0:00
11278 15269 10612 8670 8840 9933 9314
The counters in the above tables are the newly added V4 counters (TCH2/F and TCH2/H). And the engineers found that the problems were mainly the Abis resource application failure. It was necessary to troubleshoot the configuration of the acceptance and control. The field BSC engineers made further troubleshooting and found that the IP address configuration of the transmission path at the BSC side was wrong. Then the transmission path matching the IP address cannot be found in the corresponding office according to the BTS service address at the time of bandwidth acceptance.
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On the field, the temporary avoiding measure was adopted. After the bandwidth acceptance switch was turned off temporarily, this problem disappeared. Then, the engineers modified the wrongly configured IP address and the problem was solved.
Solution: After the acceptance control adjustment, the field test became normal and the KPIs in the OMC statistics were restored, as shown in the following table.
Table 8-7
KPIs in the OMC Statistics Call Set up Success Rate 80.66% 84.31% 85.63% 85.46% 83.15% 80.31% 84.21% 88.62% 96.59% 98.37% Call Setup TCH Blocking 13.80% 12.68% 12.60% 12.58% 13.31% 14.51% 13.29% 8.30% 0.38% 0.47% 306024:TC H Total Traffic Number (erl) 231 227 207 203 225 150 138 328 545 404
Start Time
Sub-Network Name PSH751_ZXB01( 3) PSH751_ZXB01( 3) PSH751_ZXB01( 3) PSH751_ZXB01( 3) PSH751_ZXB01( 3) PSH751_ZXB01( 3) PSH751_ZXB01( 3) PSH751_ZXB01( 3) PSH751_ZXB01( 3) PSH751_ZXB01( 3)
TP2-SDCC H Blocking
2012-10-19 14:00:00 2012-10-19 15:00:00 2012-10-19 16:00:00 2012-10-19 17:00:00 2012-10-19 18:00:00 2012-10-19 19:00:00 2012-10-19 20:00:00 2012-10-19 21:00:00 2012-10-19 22:00:00 2012-10-19 23:00:00
5.35% 2.04% 0.41% 0.62% 2.61% 4.51% 1.11% 2.16% 2.64% 0.75%
The TCH 2 measurement is displayed as follows.
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Figure 8-15
TCH 2 Measurement Numbe r of TCH/F Allocati on Failure due to Apply Abis Resour ce Failure for Assign ment (Speec h Version 3) (Times) 74701 73667 51398 48746 52048 35065 35029 11672 0 0 Numb er of TCH/F Alloca tion Failur e due to Apply Abis Resou rce Failur e for Hando ver (Spee ch Versio n 2) (Time s) 613 709 706 442 653 795 762 325 0 0 Numb er of TCH/F Alloca tion Failur e due to Apply Abis Resou rce Failur e for Hando ver (Spee ch Versio n 3) (Time s) 11278 15269 10612 8670 8840 9933 9314 5375 0 0 Numbe r of TCH/H Allocati on Failure due to Apply Abis Resour ce Failure for Assign ment (Speec h Version 1) (Times) 0 0 362 353 464 245 151 51 0 0 Numbe r of TCH/H Allocati on Failure due to Apply Abis Resour ce Failure for Assign ment (Speec h Version 3) (Times) 0 0 14965 16523 20316 12885 9503 2954 0 0 Numb er of TCH/H Alloca tion Failur e due to Apply Abis Resou rce Failur e for Hando ver (Spee ch Versio n 1) (Time s) 0 0 152 113 131 126 15 38 0 0 Numb er of TCH/H Alloca tion Failur e due to Apply Abis Resou rce Failur e for Hando ver (Spee ch Versio n 3) (Time s) 0 0 3863 3786 4811 4437 2329 1212 0 0
Start Time
Numbe r of TCH/F Allocati on Failure due to Apply Abis Resour ce Failure for Assign ment (Speec h Version 2)(Time s) 2449 2598 2331 2088 2277 1532 1162 374 0 0
14:00 :00 15:00 :00 16:00 :00 17:00 :00 18:00 :00 19:00 :00 20:00 :00 21:00 :00 22:00 :00 23:00 :00
Summary: For V4, when the TCH congestion and occupation are abnormal in the condition of service channel resource sufficiency, it is necessary to troubleshoot the measurement of the newly-added counter TCH 2, so as to judge whether the congestion is caused by the Abis interface resource application failure.
92
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On the field, the engineers can adopte the method of turning off the acceptance and control switches for observation and problem avoiding. At the same time, they should check whether the IP setting is wrong.
93

GSM RNO Subject-Troubleshooting of Problems in Stages of Call Setup - R1.0 - 20130311

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Troubleshooting of Problems in Stages of Call Setup

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Troubleshooting of Problems in Stages of Call Setup

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GSM Network Optimization Engineers

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About This Document

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Troubleshooting of Problems in Stages of Call Setup

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Causes of Call Drops Due to LAPD Link Failure ........................................... 55

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Troubleshooting of Problems in Stages of Call Setup

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4 Channel Activationg ACK 5 Immediate Assigment Command

6 Immediate Assigment (AGCH)

7 CM Service Requst(SDCCH) 8 CM Service Requst Establish Indicationg 10 UA(SDCCH) 9 CM Service Requst

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Channel Mode Changing Program

Figure 1-2 Channel Mode Changing Program

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Troubleshooting of Problems in Stages of Call Setup

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Counter List of the Random Access Stage

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Troubleshooting of Problems in Stages of Call Setup

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Counter ID C901270007 C901270008 C901270013

SDCCH Congestion Description, Cause, and Handling Flow

Immediate Assigment Reject