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Table of Contents
1.1 Objective
The Market Technology Guide to Handover Decision Algorithm is for internal use only. Its
objective is to guide the marketing and selling action of GSM BSS 3.2. It is the essential
part of technology provided for the marketing department by the BSC R&D department,
which presents the actual situation and technology limitation of the GSM BSS 3.2
handover decision algorithm.
1.2 Range
Application range of the document: personnel related to the marketing, commercial and
planning department etc.
2 Overview
Huawei has developed the first and second generation (Huawei I and Huawei II)
algorithm of the handover decision successively. Huawei II handover decision algorithm
is most prevalent online at present, which is also recommended by Huawei. All the
characteristics of the handover decision algorithm described in this document are based
on Huawei II handover decision.
Huawei II BSC handover decision algorithm is a kind of functional software in the GSM-
BSS system. The handover decision algorithm is used to decide when to perform
subscriber handover and how to select the target cell of the handover.
3 Architecture
The following diagram shows the position of the handover decision algorithm module in
the BSS system. The data to be configured in the handover decision algorithm are
obtained from OMC through the DB module of BSC; the timing task used in the handover
decision is obtained from the bottom of BSC LAPD software ; and the input data in the
handover decision are obtained from the module of measurement report preprocessing.
The module of measurement report preprocessing can function either in BTS or in BSC,
which depends on the data configuration. Please refer to Market Technology Guide to
Measurement Report Preprocessing for more details. The handover module will
BTS BSC
FUC L3 module
OMC
preprocessed MR
Huawei handover algorithm is mainly composed of two parts: cell sequencing and
handover decision. The cell sequencing is further divided into the basic cell sequencing
and network characteristic adjustment. And the handover decision can be further divided
into forced handover decision, directed retry decision, handover candidate query
decision, emergency handover decision, normal handover decision and the performance
handover decision, in which the emergency handover decision, normal handover
decision and the performance handover decision are the essential part. The architecture
of Huawei handover decision algorithm is shown in the following diagram:
Initialization
HO Penalty of data needed
processing in handover
decision
HO decision
handover
command to the
call processing
module Call control
HO result
processing
4.1 Sequencing
The cell sequencing includes two parts: the basic cell sequencing and network
characteristic adjustment.
The basic cell sequencing of Huawei II handover algorithm is designed with the M rule
and K rule based on level comparison instead of the L rule based on path loss. Through
the M rule and K rule, the service cell and all adjacent cells can be sequenced based on
their levels. In this way, a list of cell candidates based on different levels can be obtained.
The detailed information of the M and K rule is as follows:
M rule:
It is used to determine whether the downlink receiving level of the adjacent cell is higher
than the minim receiving level. Moreover, the balance compensation of the
uplink/downlink will be taken into consideration. Only those cells with levels higher than
the lowest receiving level (i.e. RXLEV > MSRXMIN + MAX (0, Pa), in which Pa =
MS_TXPWR_MAX - P) are allowed to enter the cell candidate list.
RXLEV is the MS receiving level of the cell;
MSRXMIN is the lowest receiving level of MS required by the cell;
MS_TXPWR_MAX is the maximum transmission power of the mobile phone allowed by
BSS;
P is the maximum transmission power that can be reached by the mobile phone itself.
K rule:
K_rank (n) = RXLEV (n) - RXLEV (o) - K_BIAS (o, n)
K_BIAS (n) = RXSUFF (n) - (RXSUFF (o) - KOFFSET - KHYST)
With KOFFSET (offset) and KHYST (hysteresis) removed, the calculation formula of K
sequencing is as follows:
K_rank (n) = (RXLEV (n) – RXSUFF (n)) - (RXLEV (o) – RXSUFF (o))
In the formula, (RXLEV (n) – RXSUFF (n)) indicates the degree by which the receiving
level of the adjacent cell RXLEV (n) is higher than the threshold of lowest receiving level
RXSUFF (n) of the adjacent cell. While (RXLEV (o) – RXSUFF (o)) indicates the degree
by which the receiving level of the service cell RXLEV (o) is higher than the threshold of
the lowest level of the service cell RXSUFF (o). The difference between the two values
determines the position of an adjacent cell in the cell candidate list.
The M rule used by Huawei is consistent with that of Ericsson. The difference between
the K rule and that of Ericsson is: the value of K_BIAS (o) of Huawei II handover
algorithm is 0, i.e. the sequencing is based only on the absolute value of each level
instead of the "degree of suitability" of the level.
The network characteristic adjustment means to use network information other than the
degree of level to determine the position of each cell in the cell candidate queue, thus
provide the final cell candidate list for the handover decision.
1) Adjustment based on the load of the cell. The cell with the lower load has higher
priority.
2) Adjustment based on whether the cells share BSC/MSC. Those cells within the same
BSC or M SC have higher priorities.
3) Adjustment based on the hierarchical setting of the cell. The cell at lower layer or
hierarchy has higher priority.
In the three adjustments listed above, the second one is the particular handover decision
algorithm of Huawei.
Through the basic cell sequencing and structure adjustment of the network characteristic,
a generalized optimum cell list can be obtained . That is to say, no matter what has
triggered the handover, the cells ranked first after being cut down according to the
handover cause are optimum cells derived from a certain rule.
Umbrella Layer 4
Cell GSM 900
4.3.1 TA Handover
The timing advance can be taken as a standard for restricting the size of the cell. BSC
will decide whether the current TA value of MS has exceeded the defined maximum TA
threshold of TALIM (Timing Advanced LIMit). If the value has been exceeded, it will
initiate an emergency handover caused by exorbitant TA value. TA is ranging between 0
and 63 steps, in which every unit step is 553.5m and 63 steps=35km. If the service cell
meets the conditions for TA emergency handover, the original cell will be given penalty
after successful handover. This can avoid the subscriber being handed over again to that
cell due to other causes.
The following table is the configuration of data related to TA emergency handover:
The transmission quality of the link is measured with BER (Bit Error Ratio). BSC
measures the quality of the wireless link based on the quality level in the measurement
report. The following table shows the correspondence between the quality level and the
actual bit error ratio.
The increase of BER may be caused by too low signal power or channel interference.
When the receiving quality of the service cell is lower than the BQ handover threshold,
the network should start the handover algorithm to trigger BQ handover so that the
mobile station can maintain certain communication quality. If the service meets the
condition of BQ emergency handover, penalty will be given to the original cell after
successful handover. This can avoid the subscriber being handed over again to that cell
due to other causes.
The following table is the data configuration of the BQ emergency handover:
Fast response is needed for rapid signals falling. Since average filtering and P/N
decision have been applied in the border handover and PBGT handover etc., the
sensitivity to short-term and rapid fall of level is rather low. Therefore, FIR (finite impact
response) filtering of the original receiving level signal is adopted to ensure quick
response to short-term fast falling level according to the falling slope of the original
receiving level signal.
There are two methods of selecting the target cell for the handover due to rapid fall of the
level. To use the optimum cell obtained from the normal handover decision flow directly
or obtain the target cell with the associated cell strategy. The adjacent cell whose level
increases rapidly when the receiving level of the service cell falls rapidly is called the
associated cell of the handover due to rapid fall of the level of the service cell. The
associated cell can be obtained either through the parameter setting or from the
calculation of the level queue of the adjacent cell reported in the measurement report. At
present, the optimum cell obtained from the normal handover decision flow is taken as
the target cell of the handover due to rapid fall of the level. In the future, target cell can
be obtained by adopting the associated cell policy.
Since the parameter setting of the algorithm of the handover due to rapid fall of the level
is rather complex, the experience value is difficult to be obtained. Therefore, this function
is deactivated normally.
The following table shows the data configuration of the handover due to rapid fall of the
level:
Table 4 Data configuration of the handover due to rapid fall of the level
Data table Data item Meaning Range and unit Suggest
ed value
Handover/handove RXLEV drop HO It indicates whether to use the algorithm of Yes, No No
r control data table algorithm allowed emergency handover due to rapid fall of the
receiving level. This algorithm can only be
used after appropriate conditions have been
selected. It is normally deactivated. It will not
be started in any case when the transmission
of the original measurement report is set as
“No”.
Handover/emergen Filter parameter: A1 They are used in the configuration of the 0 to 20 10
cy handover data to A8 filter . Together with filter parameter B, they Unit: none
table form the 9 parameters of a filter.
Handover/emergen Filter parameter B It is used in the configuration of the filter . 0 to 255 0
cy handover data Refer to the explanation of filter parameter A1 Unit: none
table to A8.
When the receiving level of the service cell is suitable but the receiving quality has
deteriorated to a certain degree, interference handover will be triggered to make the
mobile station maintain certain communication quality. The difference between the
interference handover and the bad quality handover that in the case of interference
Receiveing
quality
(dtqu)
Qual_Thr
Lev_Thr
0 Receiveing
level(dBm)
The following table shows the data configuration of the interference handover:
The PBGT handover is also called the better cell handover, which is based on the path
loss. PBGT handover algorithm searches in real time whether there exists a cell with
lower path loss and meeting some system requirements and decide whether to carry out
handover. The difference between this algorithm and other handover algorithms is that
the handover triggering condition is based on path loss rather than the receiving power.
The rule of the PBGT handover triggering is: the PBGT handover is triggered when the
path loss of the adjacent cell is a certain threshold lower than the path loss of the service
cell and it conforms to the P/N rule within a certain statistics time.
More specifically, the condition of PBGT (n) > PGBT_Ho_Margin (n) is met in P times of
N times of statistics.
In the above formula, P, N and PBGT_Ho_Margin (n) are set at the data management
console; while PBGT (n) is calculated based on the parameter set at the data
management console and the information obtained from the measurement report
reported by BTS.
The calculating method of PBGT (n) is as follows:
PBGT (n) = (Min (MS_TXPWR_MAX, P) - RXLEV_DL - PWR_C_D)
- (Min (MS_TXPWR_MAX (n), P) - RXLEV_NCELL (n))
The meaning of each parameter is as follows:
MS_TXPWR_MAX: maximum MS transmission power permitted by the service cell
MS_TXPWR_MAX (n): maximum MS transmission power permitted by the adjacent cell
(n)
RXLEV_DL: downlink receiving power of the service cell
RXLEV_NCELL (n): downlink receiving power of the adjacent cell (n)
PWR_C_D: difference between the maximum downlink transmission power of the
service cell due to power control and the actual downlink transmission power of the
service cell.
P: maximum transmission power capability of MS
Huawei PBGT handover algorithm can only be enabled in the cells at the same layer and
level, since the layer and level are transformed to priorities uniformly. The handover is
also possible between cells at the same layer but different levels. Therefore, to avoid the
ping-pong handover between PBGT and the layered and hierarchical handover, PBGT
can only be carried out between cells at the same layer and level.
The following table shows the data configuration of the PBGT handover:
The border handover is a kind of remedy handover based on the level. When the border
handover is triggered, the level of the target cell is required to be higher than that of the
serve cell. Moreover, the difference between them should be larger than a hysteresis
value (inter-cell handover hysteresis) at least.
The rule of border handover triggering : the border handover is triggered when the
receiving level of the service cell is lower than the border handover threshold and
conforms to the P/N rule within a certain statistics time so that the mobile station can
maintain a certain communication quality.
The following table shows the data configuration of the border handover:
In the network, some cells are overloaded, while the overlapped up-layer cells and
adjacent cells are underloaded. To balance the load among the cells, overload handover
needs to be adopted. The overload handover transfers some traffic of overloaded cells to
underloaded cells, and prevent the traffic of adjacent cell from being handed over to that
cell.
The overload handover can be carried out between cells at different layers. However,
loading sharing is only permitted in the same BSC.
The load sharing is realized by increasing the border handover threshold. In this way; the
border handover threshold will shrink towards the center of the serving cell gradually so
that the traffic at the border of the cell is switched over to the adjacent underloaded cells.
The degree of traffic load of the cell is determined through the comparison between the
cell flow of each cell (i.e. TCH seizure ratio) and the preset threshold. If the flow of a
certain cell is higher than the heavy threshold of the traffic load (threshold of overload
handover starting), the traffic load of the cell will be considered to be heavy and the
overload handover algorithm needs to be started; if the flow of a certain cell is lower
than the light threshold of the traffic load (receiving threshold of overload handover), the
traffic load of the cell will be considered to be light and the cell can receive the traffic
from the cell with heavier traffic load.
The overload handover may trigger many handovers. Therefore, the load on the system
CPU (i.e. flow level of the system) should be considered before the overload handover is
triggered. In addition, to avoid too many subscribers are handed over in one time, the
overload handover should be performed gradually. That is to say, the border handover
threshold is increased based on a certain step (CLS_RAMP) and period (CLS_PERIOD)
which stops after the bandwidth of the overload handover (CLS_OFFSET) has been
increased. It is shown in the following diagram.
Normal HO boundary
Overload HO area
cell A cell B
CONF_HO_RXLEV+CLSOFFSET CONF_HO_RXLEV
CONF_HO_RXLEV+CLSRAMP
When the station is rather small, the overload handover may lead to the ping-pong effect
of the load. However, the ping-pong effect of the load can be avoided basically through
rational parameter setting. Moreover, enhancing the overload handover algorithm can be
considered.
The following table shows the data configuration of the overload handover:
The objective of demultiplexing the GSM network hierarchically is to guide the traffic
volume flexibly to adapt to requirements of different networking modes.
In layered and hierarchical handover, if there is a cell with higher priority complying with
the P/N rule and the signal strength of it is higher than a threshold (inter-layer handover
threshold), then the service cell shall be handed over to the cell with higher priority, even
through it can provide good services. The layered/hierarchical handover can introduce
MS to the cell with higher priority so as to distribute the traffic more reasonably.
The following table shows the data configuration of the layered and hierarchical
handover:
The handover based on the relative speed of the mobile station can reduce the times of
handover and the call drop ratio.
If the mobile station moves fast in a microcell, hand it over to the macrocell; then the fast
mobile station registered in the macrocell will enter the microcell and impose time
penalty on it. In this way, the fast mobile station will stay in the macrocell.
In conclusion, the two principles for the handover of fast mobile microcell are as follows:
Principle 1: if the mobile station moves fast in contrast with the microcell network,
transfer it to the macrocell network.
Principle 2: to avoid the fast mobile station registered in the macrocell from entering the
microcell network, impose time penalty on the microcell.
At present, the products of Huawei do not support the monitoring of MS speed through
the hardware. Instead, BSC is responsible for estimating whether MS moves fast based
on a certain algorithm. When the time in which MS stays in a certain cell is shorter than
a certain threshold (fast moving time threshold), it is considered that the MS moves
faster in contrast with the cell. To avoid deviation, P/N statistics can be performed to
several cells. If the MS meets the conditions for fast moving, it should be transferred to
the macrocell. For MS registered in the macrocell, “timer + penalty” is adopted, i.e.
imposing penalty on the receiving level of the microcell before the time out of the speed
sensitivity timer of a certain adjacent cell to reduce the position of this microcell in the
cell sequencing.
4.6 Others
As the technical resolution for marginal network, IUO cell handover is applied in wide
coverage communication. Refer to Market Technology Guide to IUO handover for more
details.
If MS is very close to the base station during handover, the maximum transmitting power
permitted by the system may not be adopted when MS is accessing the new channel.
5 Analysis of Competitors
The most prominent advantage of Huawei handover algorithm over its competitors’ is the
complete categories. Huawei provides all kinds of algorithms available, which have
difference in specific applications. The following table is the comparison of six
manufacturers.. The item marked with “√” indicates the manufacturer enjoys advantage
in that aspect.
Note:
1. The structure of Nokia handover is to trigger the handover before performing
sequencing, which increases the efficiency.
2. The preprocessing of the measurement report of Nokia is more comprehensive. .
3. The M, K and L rule of the basic sequencing of the cell provided by Ericsson is rather
complete.
4. In respect of the network characteristics adjustment, Huawei has put forward some
options of its own characteristics (such as sharing BSC/MSC adjustment) based on
networking practices.
5.The extended cell has been put forward in the TA handover of Nokia. In addition,
different processing measures are provided in solving too large TA.
6. Huawei enjoys advantages in the filtering measure aimed at rapid fall of the level.
However, it is not so good as that of Motorola on the aspect of selecting the target cell.