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Optimisation and Performance Measurement

of GSM/GPRS networks

Telemanagement World Conference

Las Vegas, 29th-31st October 2002

SANDEEP RAINA
GSM & GPRS Consultant
TELSIM,TURKEY
sandeep.raina@telsim.com.tr

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 Telsim

Telsim - GSM 900 operator in Turkey

GSM network operations since 1994

First GPRS network in Turkey in 2000

Third GPRS network in World in 2000

GSM world award winner (community category), 2000

41 % market share

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 Content

Issues in GSM and GPRS performance data collection

Performance Indicators for GSM - Coverage, Capacity, Quality
How Performance Indicators for GPRS are different
KPIs for GPRS
Benchmarking GPRS KPIs
Optimising GPRS - Coverage, Capacity, Quality

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 Issues in collecting performance data

Multi-vendor environment increases volume of performance data

Matching multi-vendor info. for the simplest analysis
OMC, the main contributor, is a vendor specific device

Establishing relationship between network elements for a fault

(Contribution of each network element in providing fault info.)
Establishing correlation between faults - Symptoms, After-effects

Lack of standardisation on many interfaces ( PSTN, IN...)

A-bis (Source of Level, Quality and Interference analysis) is customised
A-interface(Source of LU, Call Setup, Handovers) has no details of
radio link info. , measurements from BTS or Mobiles

Bad Performance could be due to Inherent / Genetic defect

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Issues in collecting performance data

Too many configuration parameters

Missing link between field changes and planning specs.

One-stop controller of configurations not available

How to set a threshold ?not enough documentation, standards

Hundreds of indicators available...how to make a choice ?
Operator experience is not shared
Inflexibility of setting thresholds of operator-interest on Abis, Gn, Gb

Validity of extracted data / statistics

Sufficiency of extracted data / statistics
OMC-G does not tap Gb or Gn
Tool unavailable for MS to IP layer monitoring
Drive test is still a snapshot , not the complete picture
Ascertaining the intensity of problem ; Irregular or no Customer feedback

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 Key Performance Indicators

PRIORITY ASSIGNED TO PERFORMANCE ISSUES : OPERATOR VIEWPOINT

Set up time Call success

rate
RxLevel

Handover

Cell
interference
Call drop rate
Cell
congestion

The operator concentrates on many varied performance indicators

assigning assumed / theoretical priorities...
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Key Performance Indicators

...while the subscriber judges the network on the basis of

a few basic indicators of performance

Call set up
Call Drops time
Coverage
No (outdoor)
connection

Speech
Quality

Coverage
(Indoor)

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Key Performance Indicators

It is very important to align our KPI definition

according to
what quality and performance means to

The Subscriber

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Performance Indicators for GSM :
Coverage

Signal Strength - outdoors

In building, In-Car penetration signal levels
Uplink Voice Quality
Downlink Voice Quality
Call Drops
Cell Power control

Start from the gross issues....

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Performance Indicators for GSM :
Capacity

Erlangs per Cell

TCH success
TCH assignment failures
TCH Drop calls
TCH Blocking
Cell congestion
Congestion Relief Usage
BHCA against rated MSC limit
mErl/subs. against rated MSC limit
SMS/subs. Against MSC limit
MM values(HO,LU,Paging) against limits
Overload : Voice/Signalling/Processor

...to more detailed...

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Performance Indicators for GSM :
Quality

RxLev
Handovers TCH success
Call Drops TCH assignment failures
Call Success Rate TCH Drop calls
Call set up success rate SDCCH traffic blocking
Call completion rate SDCCH drop calls
Call set up time SDCCH Success rates
Voice quality(MOS) Location Area Paging
RxQual Paging per MSC
Echo PSTN availability and quality

...and finally micro fine-tuning of the network

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Why GPRS benchmarking is different

Multi QoS introduces layered approach to setting benchmarks

Multi handset classes makes the situation a bit more complex
Low Transmission rates on Air Interface
High Radio Link Error on Air Interface
WWW is low volumes of data and frequent transmissions
FTP is high data volume and infrequent transmissions

TCP layer performance influences GPRS performance

IP layer performance also influences GPRS performance
Data Queuing is a new concept

Sequencing of Data is a new concept

Blocking probability not easy to define
Different throughput requirements for different applications
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 0
2
4
6
8
10
12
h.o. /
reselection

GSM
Importance level

capacity

congestion

call /

GPRS
session

14
erl / by tes

interference

cov erage

time to
connect
How GPRS Benchmarking is different

concurrency
GPRS vs GSM - Shift in importance of common indicators

traffic
distribution
 KPI sources

Performance should be measured end to end, element by element

KPI Sources in GSM

Air Interface Switching network PSTN

KPI Sources in GPRS

Air Interface Core Network IP network

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 KPIs for GPRS

GPRS KPIs can be tapped from :

AIR INTERFACE
Voice Quality
Interference
BLER
RACH Load
UL/DL PDTCH Blocking Rate
Retransmissions on TCP layer
( http, ftp, smtp, pop, wap...)
Network Congestion
Data Compression rate
GPRS contenders per Cell
Cell UL/DL throughput
Can be measured
SESSION STATISTICS
Session Set up success Rate
Session Completion Rate
Dropped packets
Cell Reselections
Processor Loads
Data Traffic transferred
Data blocks erroneously decoded
Data blocks retransmitted
Should be measured

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 KPIs for GPRS

GPRS KPIs can be tapped from :

CORE COMPLEX IP NETWORK

SS7 links congestion
D/L TBF set up success
U/L TBF releases
U/L D/L TBF set up time
Throughput on UL /DL
Data Compression Rates
PDP Context activations
RA updates (subscriber mobility)
Timeslot usage UL and DL
Internet Congestion (Beyond Gi)
Internet Delay (Gi and beyond)
IP traffic per APN
IP traffic on different services
End to end application delays
Round Trip Time
Delays due to Routers and Switches

Can be measured Should be measured

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 Tools to collect GPRS KPIs ?

Collect info. from L2 and L3 layers :

RR, MM, MAC, RLC, LLC, GMM, SM, SNDCP
Pick up relevant indicators
Analyse causes and reasons for below-standard
performance

C-Value variance vs RLC DL Throughput

(non-hopping)

Graphical ,tabular interpretation -50

Combinations of indicators -60

Mean C-Value (dBm)

Cross-relationship between GPRS indicators -70

-80
Relationship between GSM and GPRS indicators
-90

-100
0 10000 20000 30000 40000

Throughput (bps)

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 Tools to collect GPRS KPIs ?

K1205 Gb protocol tester

Drive Test measurements, RTT measurements

Delay over Rx level FTP throughput over Rx level

Rx level Delay in dsec Rx level FTP Throuhput

Rx le ve l, de lay in

100 100

Rx le ve l, FTP
throughput
80 80
ds e c

60 60
40 40
20 20
0 0
1

11

13

15

17

19

21

23

11

13

15

17

19

21

23
Test number Test Number

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 How to use GPRS KPIs ?
Some calculations derived from basic KPIs

What is available ?
U/L and D/L bandwidth (CS1 and CS2) available per cell

What is consumed ?
U/L and D/L Channel Loading Factor
GPRS Channel Occupancy
No. of PDP context activations / subs.
- Percentage of the available bandwidth in use
Air Interface Data blocks / Total Available air bandwidth
- Total data transmit time of GPRS channels of cell/
Total time a channel can be used
- Calculated from GGSN statistics

U/L and D/L Radio Bandwidth - Cell throughput indicator

What is the frequency of access ?

GPRS Access per AGCH - Assignment messages sent on the AGCH of a cell,calculated at OMCR

GPRS Access per PCH - Paging Request messages sent on the PCH of a cell, calculated at OMCR

GPRS Access per RACH - Channel Request messages sent on the RACH of a cell, calculated at OMCR

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 How to use GPRS KPIs ?
Some calculations derived from basic KPIs

What is the usage pattern?

U/L and D/L RLC Throughput - Total RLC data transmitted / time the GPRS channels were used

Coding Scheme Usage Ratio - Percentage of coding scheme usage per cell (RLC CS1 / RLC CS2)

What is the rejection ?

PDP activation reject rate - Calculated from stats at GGSN

GPRS Attach reject rate - Calculated from stats at SGSN

Total no. of lost packets in the network - Calculated from statistics at SGSN and GGSN

What is the external influence ?

Network IP traffic figure at GTP layer - Directly related to the IP traffic per SGSN/GGSN

Application Overhead Factor - IP Data size in Bytes / IP data actually sent in bytes

Application Throughput - IP Throughput * Application Overhead Factor

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 GPRS Benchmarking

GPRS BENCHMARK VALUE SOURCE

RxQual (CS2) 0.5 uM

C/I for CS1 9 dB uM
C/I for CS2 12 dB uM
BLER (CS2) 10 % uM
UL PDTCH Blocking Rate < 2% uM
DL PDTCH Blocking Rate <2% uM
TCP Retransmissions <10% uM
RLC/MAC Retransmissions <10% uM
Network Congestion <2% uM
GPRS users per cell(4 ts, CS2) 4 uM
Data Compression Rate 50 % uM
Session set up time 900ms. uM,Core

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 GPRS Benchmarking

GPRS BENCHMARK VALUE SOURCE

Session set up success rate 98 % uM,Core

(PDP context activation success)
Session drop rate 2% uM, Core
SS7 link congestion 0.1% Core
DL set up success rate 98 % Core
UL TBF release 2% Core
UL TBF set-up time 200 ms uM
DL TBF set-up time 400 ms uM
UL throughput (1 ts,CS2) 9 kbps uM
DL throughput (4 ts,CS2) 40 kbps uM
RA updates per subscriber network design value PCU,Core
GPRS pages per subscriber network design value Core
Dropped packets 2% uM,Core,IP

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 GPRS Benchmarking

GPRS BENCHMARK VALUE SOURCE

Cell reselections Core

Data blocks retransmitted uM
Internet (ISP) Congestion < 3% IP
Internet (ISP) delay < 25 ms(local),<400ms(ext.) IP
Peak data traffic per subscriber network design value
(100 KB/hr.) uM,SGSN
End to end application delay
Round trip latency 900 ms uM,Core,IP

Router/switch delays < 5 ms Core,IP

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 GPRS Optimisation-
Capacity

Staggered peaks of GSM and GPRS traffic

Free Channel Capacity

TRAFFIC

7:30
2400 1200 2300 hours
GSM + GPRS channel utilisation

GPRS Channel utilisation GSM channel utilisation Radio channel capacity

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 GPRS Optimisation-
Capacity

Concurrent peaks of GSM and GPRS traffic

Free Channel Capacity

TRAFFIC

23:00
22:00
2400 1200 2300
GSM + GPRS channel utilisation

GPRS Channel utilisation GSM channel utilisation Radio channel capacity

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 GPRS Optimisation-
Capacity

Accelerator Softwares : Reduction in Data Volume

Data
in
120
bytes

100

Application Type
80

60 1. Email (SMTP)
2. Text file transfers
40 3. Zip file transfers
Without
Acceleration 4. JPEGs,GIFs transfers
20 With 5. Heavily animated webpages
Acceleration
6. Normal HTML webpages
0
1 2 3 4 5 6
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 GPRS Optimisation
Throughput

Accelerator softwares : Test results

Internet webpage downloads faster

msn.com : 2.2 times faster
nasa.com : 3 times faster
nytimes.com : 3.4 times faster
heavily animated pages : 10 times faster

FTP transfers faster

jpeg file transfer : 2.7 times faster
exe file transfer : 2.7 times faster
zip file transfer : 1.6 times faster

E-mail faster
Uplink Email : 2.3 times faster
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GPRS Optimisation
General

Expand GPRS in areas that promise high traffic

No need to reserve timeslots across the network for GPRS

Introduce CS3 and CS4 coding schemes to conserve

GSM/GPRS capacity

Reduce Interference to support higher coding schemes

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 Summary

1. In complex GSM/GPRS networks the role of OSS for management is key

2. OSS devices for GSM and specially GPRS need to be more analytic

3. GPRS network management and performance indicators require different

treatment and analysis from those of GSM

4. Performance measurement / Optimisation of GPRS is a vital learning exercise

for 3G network management

5. QoS is a big question mark for GPRS and therefore for 3G too

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 Challenge

Current Performance/Optimisation methods provide Best effort services

So, how shall we improve our methods

to provide Guaranteed performance ?

And what will be the performance standards for

MMS, Audio/Video Streaming formats ?

THATS THE REAL CHALLENGE NOW !

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 THANK YOU

SANDEEP RAINA
GSM & GPRS Consultant
TELSIM
TURKEY
sandeep.raina@telsim.com.tr

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