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Contents

Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
1.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
1.2 BSS Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
1.2.1 Call Set Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
1.2.2 Call Handling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
1.2.3 Call Release . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
1.2.4 Operations & Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . 21
1.3 BSS Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
1.3.1 Features Defined in the GSM
Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
1.3.2 Alcatel BSS Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
1.3.3 New Service Improvement Features . . . . 25
1.4 BSS Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
1.4.1 Base Station Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
1.4.2 Base Transceiver Station . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
1.4.3 Transmission Subsystem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
1.5 External Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
1.5.1 Network Subsystem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
1.5.2 Mobile Stations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
1.5.3 Operations and Maintenance
CenterĆRadio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
1.6 Network Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
1.6.1 Telecommunications Management
Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
1.6.2 Q3 Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
1.7 BSS Telecommunications Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
1.7.1 Call Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
1.7.2 Mobility Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
1.7.3 Radio Resource Management . . . . . . . . . 40
1.7.4 The A Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
1.7.5 The Abis Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
1.7.6 The Air Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
2 Call Set Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
2.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
2.2 Mobile Originated Call . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
2.2.1 Radio and Link Establishment . . . . . . . . . 50
2.2.2 Authentication and Ciphering . . . . . . . . . 55
2.2.3 Normal Assignment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

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2.3 Mobile Terminated Call . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

2.3.1 Radio and Link Establishment . . . . . . . . . 61
2.3.2 Authentication and Ciphering . . . . . . . . . 62
2.3.3 Normal Assignment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
2.3.4 IMSI Attach-Detach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
2.4 Paging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
2.5 Congestion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
2.5.1 Queueing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
2.5.2 InĆqueue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
2.6 Classmark Handling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
2.6.1 Classmark IE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
2.6.2 Classmark Updating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
2.6.3 Location Updating with Classmark
Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
2.7 Authentication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
2.8 Ciphering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
2.8.1 Ciphering Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
2.8.2 Ciphering Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
3 Call Handling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
3.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
3.2 InĆCall Modification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
3.2.1 InĆCall Modification Procedure . . . . . . . . 86
3.2.2 Group 3 Fax Data Rate Change . . . . . . . 87
3.2.3 Error Handling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
3.3 Handover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
3.3.1 Radio Measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
3.3.2 Handover Detection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
3.3.3 Target Cell Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
3.3.4 Synchronous and Asynchronous Handover 100
3.4 Overload Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
3.4.1 BTS Overload . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
3.4.2 BSC Overload . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
4 Call Release . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
4.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
4.2 Call Release Procedures in Normal Service . . . . . . . 114
4.2.1 Normal Release . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
4.2.2 Calls Terminated Following a Channel
Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
4.3 Call Release - Special Cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
4.3.1 Call Release Following Reset . . . . . . . . . . 120
4.3.2 BSCĆInitiated Release . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
4.3.3 BTSĆInitiated Call Release . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

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4.3.4 MSĆInitiated Call Release . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

4.3.5 Remote TC Alarms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
5 Service Improvement Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
5.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
5.2 Features Defined in the GSM Recommendations . . . 131
5.2.1 Cellular Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
5.2.2 RPC Uplink and Downlink . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
5.2.3 Frequency Hopping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
5.2.4 Discontinuous Transmission . . . . . . . . . . . 138
5.2.5 Discontinuous Reception . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
5.2.6 Phase 2 Mobile Support in a Phase 1 InfrastrucĆ
ture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
5.2.7 Call ReĆestablishment by the MS . . . . . . . 143
5.2.8 Short Message Service Ć Cell Broadcast . 144
5.2.9 Enhanced FullĆRate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
5.3 Alcatel BSS Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
5.3.1 Types of Cell Environments . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
5.3.2 Antenna Diversity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
5.3.3 Multiple HumanĆMachine Interface . . . . . 149
5.3.4 Night Time Concentration . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
5.3.5 Secured X.25 Connection From BSC to
OMCĆR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
5.3.6 Usage State on Demand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
5.3.7 BSC Alerter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
5.4 New Service Improvement Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
5.4.1 Power Control due to Radio Link Failure 158
5.4.2 Q3 Multimanager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
5.4.3 OMCĆR Connection to TSC through BSC 158
5.4.4 Abis Signaling Links Static Multiplexing . 159
5.4.5 Transcoder Pools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
5.4.6 Automatic PowerĆDown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
5.4.7 Auto Identification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
5.4.8 Automatic Paging Repetition . . . . . . . . . . . 161
5.4.9 Access to PM Raw Counters via Binary
Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
6 Handling User Traffic Across the BSS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
6.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
6.2 Speech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
6.3 Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
6.3.1 Transparent Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
6.3.2 NonĆTransparent Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
7 Cell Environments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
7.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172

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7.2 Concentric Cell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174

7.3 Sectored Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
7.4 Extended Cell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
7.5 Umbrella Cell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
7.5.1 Mini Cell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
7.5.2 Microcell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
8 Operations & Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
8.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
8.1.1 BSC O&M Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
8.1.2 BTS O&M (G1 and G2 BTSs) . . . . . . . . . . 186
8.1.3 BTS A9100 O&M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
8.1.4 BTS O&M Functions (All Generations) . . 188
8.1.5 TSC O&M Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
8.1.6 OMCĆR in O&M Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
8.2 O&M Communication Mechanism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
8.2.1 O&M Command Flows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
8.2.2 Spontaneous Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
8.3 Alarms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
8.3.1 Alarm Generation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
8.3.2 BSC Alarms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
8.3.3 BTS Alarms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
8.3.4 TSC Alarms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
8.4 Status Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
8.4.1 Phases of Board Operations . . . . . . . . . . . 201
8.4.2 State Change Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
8.4.3 States In Traffic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
8.4.4 States Not In Traffic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
8.4.5 BSS SBL Operator Commands . . . . . . . . . 205
8.4.6 Recovery Example: CU Failures with
BCCH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
8.4.7 Reset Example: TSC RESET . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
8.5 Tracing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
8.5.1 Call Tracing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
8.5.2 IMSI Tracing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
8.6 Measurement Jobs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
8.6.1 OMCĆR Measurement Job Classes . . . . . 213
8.6.2 Measurement Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
8.6.3 Counters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
8.6.4 Data Collection on the BSC . . . . . . . . . . . 216
8.6.5 Counter Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
8.7 Audits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
8.8 Modifying Telecom Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223

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Appendix A Air Interface Channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229

Index .......................................... 231

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Figures
Figure 1 BSS in the PLMN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Figure 2 Base Station Subsystem Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Figure 3 Transmission Subsystem Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Figure 4 Logical Position of External Components Associated with BSS 31
Figure 5 Location Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Figure 6 TMN System Hierarchy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Figure 7 General Telecommunication Layers within GSM . . . . . . . . . . 39
Figure 8 BSS Application, Transmission Layers and Interfaces . . . . . . 40
Figure 9 Time Slot 4 of a TDMA Frame Supporting AGCHs . . . . . . . . 44
Figure 10 Radio and Link Establishment for Mobile Originated Call . . 51
Figure 11 SDCCH Channel Activation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Figure 12 Immediate Assignment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Figure 13 Connection for Mobile Originated Call . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Figure 14 Normal Assignment for Mobile Originated Call . . . . . . . . . . 56
Figure 15 TCH Channel Activation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Figure 16 TCH Channel Assignment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Figure 17 Call Connection for Mobile Originated Call . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Figure 18 Radio and Link Establishment for Mobile Terminated Call . . 62
Figure 19 Normal Assignment for Mobile Terminated Call . . . . . . . . . . 63
Figure 20 CCCH with Three Blocks Reserved for AGCH . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Figure 21 Four TDMA Frame Cycles Providing 24 Paging SubĆchannels 66
Figure 22 Paging Message Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Figure 23 Location Update with Classmark Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Figure 24 Location Update with MS Sending LAI of Previous VLR . . . . . 77
Figure 25 Ciphering Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Figure 26 Quality and Level Handover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Figure 27 Better Zone Handover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Figure 28 Better Cell Handover (Power Budget) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Figure 29 Distance Handover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Figure 30 Umbrella Cell Load in Mobile Velocity Dependent Handover 98
Figure 31 Synchronous Internal Handover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Figure 32 Asynchronous External Handover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Figure 33 MS Disconnecting a Call . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Figure 34 Normal Call Release . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Figure 35 Initiation of Normal Release by MSC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Figure 36 BSC/BTS/MS interactions in Normal Call Release . . . . . . . . . 117
Figure 37 Normal Release Final Steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Figure 38 Call Release Following a Channel Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Figure 39 Call Release Following Reset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Figure 40 BSCĆinitiated Call Release toward the MSC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Figure 41 BTSĆinitiated Call Release following LAPD failure . . . . . . . . . 125
Figure 42 Call Release due to MS initiated Radio Link Failure . . . . . . . 126
Figure 43 Call Release due to Communication Failure detected by TC 127
Figure 44 Power Control Flow of Measurement and Decision Action . . 134

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Figure 45 Power Output Balancing Based on Received Quality and Signal

Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Figure 46 Frequency Hopping within an FHS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Figure 47 Different Forms of Discontinuous Transmission . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Figure 48 Short Message Service Ć Cell Broadcast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Figure 49 Antenna Diversity on G1 and G2 BTSs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Figure 50 Antenna Diversity on the BTS A9100 (1 Sector, 3X4 Transceiver
Configuration) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Figure 51 Multiple HMI Access to OMCĆRs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Figure 52 Night Time Concentration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Figure 53 X.25 Without Redundancy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Figure 54 X.25 With Redundancy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Figure 55 Encoded Speech Transmission Across the BSS . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Figure 56 Multiplexed Ater Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
Figure 57 Data Transmission Across the BSS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Figure 58 Example: Cell Configurations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
Figure 59 Sectored site configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Figure 60 Example of Extended Cell Topology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Figure 61 Umbrella Cell with Mini Cells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
Figure 62 Example: Handovers due to Threshold Triggering . . . . . . . . . 180
Figure 63 BSC O&M Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Figure 64 O&M Components and Data Flow in the G1 and G2 BTS . 186
Figure 65 O&M Components and Data Flow in the BTS A9100 . . . . . . 187
Figure 66 Transmission System O&M Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Figure 67 Example: Message Flow Using CMISE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Figure 68 Example: BSC Command Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
Figure 69 RSL Correlation on the Abis Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
Figure 70 Example: Alarm Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
Figure 71 States and Phases of Board Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
Figure 72 Relationship Between SBL States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
Figure 73 Example: Loss of CU Holding BCCH. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
Figure 74 TSC Reset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
Figure 75 Counter Object Tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
Figure 76 Data Collectors within the BSC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Figure 77 Example: Counter Object Tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
Figure 78 Channels and Their Direction of Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230

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Tables
Table 1 System Information Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Table 2 Types of Calls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Table 3 Call Set Up Phases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Table 4 Cell List Identifier and Paging Performed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Table 5 Paging Request Message and MS Identification . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Table 6 Classmark Handling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Table 7 Classmark Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Table 8 MS Ciphering Capabilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Table 9 Radio Link Measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Table 10 MS Maximum and Minimum Power Ranges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Table 11 Downlink DTX Status in Channel_activation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Table 12 Operator DTX Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Table 13 BSC Alerter Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Table 14 Data Rate Conversions Across the Air Interface . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Table 15 O&M Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Table 16 Functional Unit States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Table 17 SBL O&M Operator Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
Table 18 Measurement Job Classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
Table 19 Audit Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220

10 / 240 3BK 02974 AAAA TQZZA Ed. 07

 Preface

Preface

 This document provides detailed descriptions of the functions and
features of the Alcatel 900/1800 Base Station Subsystem (BSS).
Some functions and features may not be available on the system
installed at your location.
The technical information in this document covers:

Mobile Communications Support
These areas describe how the BSS handles communications
between a Mobile Station (MS) and the Network
Subsystem (NSS). It follows a call through the Alcatel BSS, and
describes how each element in the system functions
individually and with other elements. This shows how the BSS
and its units react as a system.

Operations and Maintenance
These areas describe the Operations and Maintenance (O&M)
functions within the system. It describes both local and
distributed O&M functions in a BSS.

 This manual is for people requiring an inĆdepth understanding of
the functions of the Alcatel BSS:

Network decision makers who require an understanding of
the underlying functions of the system, including:
 Network planners
 Technical design staff
 Trainers.

3BK 02974 AAAA TQZZA Ed. 07 11 / 240

Preface

Operations and support staff who need to know how the

system operates in normal conditions, including:
 Operators
 Support engineers
 Maintenance staff
 Client Help Desk personnel.
    
The document assumes that the reader has an understanding of:

Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM)

Mobile Telecommunications

Network Management concepts and terminology.
     Refer to the following O&M and descriptive documentation for
more information about the Alcatel 900/1800 BSS/Operations
and Maintenance CenterĆRadio (OMCĆR) and the BSS units:

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12 / 240 3BK 02974 AAAA TQZZA Ed. 07

 Preface


 
This section describes the type fonts and character styles used in
the document to indicate different types of messages.

Convention Type Meaning


  Messages are shown in lower case bold
italic type.
   
Parameters which are part of a message or
protocol are shown in upper case italic
characters.
COMMANDS Commands are shown in upper case
characters.
{} These brackets indicate a message pair
consisting of a message followed by an
acknowledgement for that message.

  
This section provides a brief description of the contents of each
chapter.

Chapter 1  provides a brief overview of the

Alcatel BSS, its functions and features. It
describes:

The internal and external components and
interfaces

An MS and its interaction, in idle mode,
with the BSS

The distribution of telecommunications
software in the BSS.
Chapter 2 
 , provides an overview of how a call
is set up between the NSS and the MS. It details
the various kinds of calls that can be set up. The
type of teleservice and bearer service required
are also explained.
The chapter further describes the following parts
of the call procedure:

Mobile Originated Call

Mobile Terminated Call

Paging

Congestion

Classmark Handling

Authentication

Ciphering.

3BK 02974 AAAA TQZZA Ed. 07 13 / 240

Preface

Chapter 3  

 , provides an overview of Call
Handling and explains the supervision of a call
in progress. It describes:

InĆcall modification, i.e. the process of
changing from and to data and speech,
and the implications for the system.

Handover procedures, the underlying
reasons for handover, and the
measurements used to detect the need for
handover.

Overload conditions.
Chapter 4  , provides an overview of Call
Release and describes the procedures which
ensure resource allocation to a call. It
specifically describes Call Release procedures in
normal service plus the following special cases:

Following Reset

BSC initiated

BTS initiated

MS initiated.
This chapter also describes Remote TC Alarms,
and the processes used to break a connection
and disconnect the resources, depending on the
nature of radio transmission.
Chapter 5    , provides an
overview of the BSS Service Improvement
Features. It describes how these features
improve the quality of service between the MS
and BSS, maximize the BSS and MS resources or
increases operator efficiency. The service
improvement features in the Alcatel BSS are
classed as follows:

Features defined in the GSM recommendaĆ
tions

Alcatel BSS Features.
In addition, service improvement features which
are new with the current BSS are described in a
separate section.

14 / 240 3BK 02974 AAAA TQZZA Ed. 07

 Preface

Chapter 6  

     , describes
the flow of speech and data traffic across the
BSS. It describes:

How speech is encoded and rate adapted
throughout the BSS

What types of data can be transferred
across the BSS

Where data error correction is performed

How the data rate is adapted.
Chapter 7  , describes the cell
environments available in the Alcatel 900/1800
BSS. The following cell environments are
described:

Single Cell

Concentric Cell

Sectored Site

Extended Cell

Umbrella Cell

Mini Cell

Microcell.
Chapter 8    , provides an
overview and explains O&M functions in the
context of an operational network. It describes:

O&M Communication Mechanism

Alarms

Status Changes

Call and International Mobile Subscriber
Identity (IMSI) Tracing

Measurement Jobs

Audits

Modifying Telecom Parameters.
Abbreviations Abbreviations are defined at their first use, and
listed after the last chapter.

3BK 02974 AAAA TQZZA Ed. 07 15 / 240

Preface

Appendix A 
   , provides an overview of
the different channels used in the Air Interface:

Traffic channels

Broadcast channels

Common Control channels

Dedicated channels

Associated channels.
Index An Index is included at the end of the
document.

16 / 240 3BK 02974 AAAA TQZZA Ed. 07

 1 Introduction

1 Introduction
This chapter gives a brief overview of the Alcatel BSS, its functions
and features. It describes:

The internal and external components and interfaces

An MS and its interaction, in idle mode, with the BSS

The distribution of telecommunications software in the BSS.

3BK 02974 AAAA TQZZA Ed. 07 17 / 240

1 Introduction

1.1 Overview
The BSS provides radio coverage for GSM subscribers in a defined
area. Its principal role is to provide and support signaling and
traffic channels between MSs and the NSS.
Figure 1 shows the BSS within the Public Land Mobile
Network (PLMN).

PLMN

Mobile Base Station Subsystem Network Fixed

Stations Subsystem Network

BTS TSS BSC TSS MSC PSTN

OMCĆR

PSTN = Public Switched Telephone Network

OMCĆR = Operations & Maintenance
Center Ć Radio
NMC NMC = Network Management Center
TSS = Transmission Subsystem

 
   



    To respond to the swiftly evolving needs in BSSs, Alcatel offers the
  EVOLIUM Radio Solutions.
The Alcatel EVOLIUM Radio Solutions includes the following BSS
equipment described in this document:

G2 Base Station Controller (BSC)

G2 Transcoder (TC)

BTS A9100 Base Transceiver Station

Micro Base Transceiver Station (MicroĆBTS) M1M and M2M.

18 / 240 3BK 02974 AAAA TQZZA Ed. 07

 1 Introduction

1.2 BSS Functions

Functions are defined by the International Telecommunications
Union (ITU) and European Telecommunication Standards
Institute (ETSI) recommendations.
This section describes the BSS functions with a systemĆwide view;
that is, how the BSS functions work together within the system. The
functional units are indicated where applicable, but are not
described. For more information, refer to the specific unit
description manuals, such as the  
  

.
The BSS provides signaling and traffic channels between the MS
and the NSS. To ensure a high level of service to the subscribers,
the BSS offers the following functions:

Call Set Up

Call Handling

Call Release

Operations & Maintenance.

1.2.1 Call Set Up

The Call Setup function is used for speech and data calls. The
three basic types of call are:

Mobility Management

Supplementary service

User traffic.
   

 Mobility Management calls, such as location update, are used by
 the system to gather Mobile Station information. The exchanges
are protocol messages only. Therefore, only a signaling channel is
used.


 

Supplementary service calls, such as Short Message Service (SMS)
 allows the Mobile Station to send and receive messages to and
from the BTS. These calls pass small amounts of information.
Therefore, only a signaling channel is used.

   User traffic calls, such as speech or data calls to a correspondent,
can pass large amounts of information. Therefore, they require
greater bandwidth than a signaling channel. These calls use traffic
channels.

3BK 02974 AAAA TQZZA Ed. 07 19 / 240

1 Introduction

Call set up processes include:

Radio and Link Establishment to assign a signaling channel
between the MS and the NSS

Classmark handling to manage different MS power and
ciphering capabilities

Ciphering to ensure data security on the Air Interface

The normal assignment process to assign a traffic channel
between the MS and the NSS.
Refer to Chapter 2 for more information on call set up.

1.2.2 Call Handling

The call handling function is used when a call moves to another
cell, or moves to and from data and speech. Call handling
involves:

InĆcall channel modification during a call

Handover to change channels when an MS moves from one
cell to another

Handover when the quality of the current channel drops
below an acceptable level

Ciphering to ensure data security on the Air Interface

Overload control to manage the call load on the system.
Refer to Chapter 3 for more information on call handling.

1.2.3 Call Release

The call release function ensures that resources allocated to a call
are free for reuse when they are no longer required by the current
call.
Specifically the Call Release function includes:

Call Release in normal service:
 Calls terminated by call management
 Calls terminated following a channel change.

Special Cases:
 Call release following a reset
 BSC initiated release
 BTS initiated release
 MS initiated release.
Refer to Chapter 4 for more information on call release.

20 / 240 3BK 02974 AAAA TQZZA Ed. 07

 1 Introduction

1.2.4 Operations & Maintenance

O&M provides the operator interface for the management and
control of the BSS, and its interconnection to the NSS. O&M is
divided into three principal areas:

Configuration Management

Fault Management

Performance Management.
Refer to Chapter 8 for more information concerning O&M.

1.3 BSS Features

There are two categories of Features in the Alcatel BSS:

Features defined in the ITU and ETSI GSM recommendations

Alcatel BSS Service Features.

 Some of these features may not be available on your system.

1.3.1 Features Defined in the GSM Recommendations

The Alcatel BSS supports the following features, defined in the ITU
and ETSI GSM recommendations:

Cellular environment

Radio Power Control (RPC) uplink and downlink

Frequency Hopping (FH)

Discontinuous Transmission/Voice Activity Detection (DTX/VAD)

Discontinuous Reception (mechanism) (DRX)

Call reĆestablishment by the MS

Short Message Service Cell Broadcast (SMSĆCB)

Enhanced FullĆRate (EFR).

   
  The standard developed by the Groupe Speciale Mobile specifies
a digital cellular network, as described in the    
 

document.
For details on cell environments offered in the Alcatel BSS, refer to
Chapter 7.

3BK 02974 AAAA TQZZA Ed. 07 21 / 240

1 Introduction

RPC Uplink and This feature ensures the dynamic balance between the quality of
Downlink the radio link in the uplink and downlink directions. It protects
against interference with other cells and contributes to power
conservation. The balance is maintained by controlling the power
output level to balance the reception power level and reception
quality.
Frequency Hopping FH is implemented within the system to reduce the limiting factor
that frequency reuse can introduce. This feature improves the
capability of coping with adjacent channel interference and
improves security. FH provides Frequency Diversity and Interface
Diversity. Two types of Frequency Hopping are available:

Baseband Frequency Hopping

Synthesized Frequency Hopping
Discontinuous DTX/VAD is used to decrease the average interference level
Transmission/Voice generated by the network in both the uplink and downlink
Activity Detection directions. This feature, in association with frequency hopping,
significantly improves spectrum efficiency without jeopardizing the
quality of the telephony service.
Discontinuous DRX is used to conserve battery power. It allows the MS to switch
Reception off its receiver and data processing while in the idle mode. The
receiver and data processing of the MS is only switched on for a
short time when the MS expects a message from the BTS. Instead
of the MS listening continually on the Paging Channel (PCH)
subĆchannel Common Control Channel (CCCH) for a paging
message, it only listens to that part of the PCH which corresponds
to its paging group. Power conservation is achieved by
implementing an off/on ratio of 98 to 2.

Call ReĆestablishment Call ReĆestablishment by the MS allows an MS to resume a

by MS connection in progress after a radio link failure. This is possible
only if there remains at least one active call control connection
between the MS and MSC.

Complete redundancy

OMCĆR side redundancy

BSC side redundancy.

Short Message Service SMSĆCB allows messages to be broadcast to the MSs. This service
Ć Cell Broadcast can be used for a number of reasons, e.g. to transmit taxation
information, road traffic information, etc. An SMSĆCB message
can be transmitted to all the cells connected to the BSC, or to
selected cells only, as required.

/ 240 3BK 02974 AAAA TQZZA Ed. 07

 1 Introduction


  
 EFR allows the use of codecs with an improved speech encoding
algorithm, which provides enhanced speech quality on fullĆrate
channels.

1.3.2 Alcatel BSS Features

This section provides an outline of features provided in the Alcatel
BSS. These features are designed to:

Improve the quality of service between the MS and BSS

Maximize resources

Increase operator efficiency.
Features supported include:

Types of cell environments

Antenna diversity

Antenna preĆamplifier

Improved Multipath Delay Equalization

Minimum Frequency spacing

Multiple Human Machine Interface (HMI) access to OMCĆRs

Night Time Concentration (NTC)

Secured X.25 connection from BSC to OMCĆR

Usage state on demand

BSC alerter.
     Several types of cell environments are available in the Alcatel BSS.
  This availability means that cells can be configured to meet the
requirements of geography and the strategies of the Network
Operator.
Refer to Chapter 7 for more information concerning Cell
Environments.
 
  Antenna Diversity is used to improve the performance of the radio
path in the uplink direction in large cell configurations. Protection
against multipath fading is achieved by duplicating the receive
antenna and receive path up to the Frame Unit (FU) of the BTS (or
the Transceiver Equipment (TRE) for a BTS A9100). The FU (or TRE)
uses the data burst which has the fewest errors. This increases the
lowĆpower MS range, therefore allowing larger cells.
 
   Antenna preĆamplifier equipment is used to improve the sensitivity
  of the BTS, which results in better coverage. The use of this
equipment allows the adaptive power control to reduce the output
power of the MSs. This results in a reduced overall interference
level in the network.

3BK 02974 AAAA TQZZA Ed. 07 23 / 240

1 Introduction

Improved Multipath This feature is used to capture more signal content in the signal
Delay Equalization received by the BTS. This improves the system sensitivity of the BTS.
Minimum Frequency This feature prevents the limitation of frequency assignment by
Spacing keeping the frequency spacing between two carriers as small as
possible.
Multiple Human With a multiple HMI workstation, one operator performs network
Machine Interface management actions usually done from several OMCĆRs. This
feature is mainly intended to provide offĆduty hours access to the
network. The connection between the multiple HMI workstation
and the other OMCĆR hosts is made via an X.25 network.
Night Time The NTC feature is a process within the HMI server. The feature
Concentration allows an operator to perform alarm management operations for
a complete network, where the network consists of more than one
OMCĆR.
Secured X.25 Link failures can occur on either the OMCĆR or BSC side. The
Connection from BSC Secured X.25 Connection feature provides redundant links in the
to OMCĆR event of a link failure. When a link failure occurs the initiator
system involved must process the change over.

Usage State on The OMCĆR operator can display information on the current
Demand resource usage at the BSC. A request for overall information gives
the availability and ratio of busy/available resources for each cell
and Digital Trunk Controller (DTC) of the BSS. This display is
refreshed periodically. A request for detailed information gives the
ratio of busy/available resources for a restricted number of cells
and DTCs. This information is presented as a single snapshot of
resource usage.

BSC Alerter The BSC Alerter is a supervision function generating an alarm

event when the system suspects abnormal behavior of a resource.
An Alerter, activated in a BSC, functions by monitoring and
computing the levels of specific Performance Management
counters. If a count exceeds predefined parameters, the Alerter
generates a single alarm, which is sent to the operator.

24 / 240 3BK 02974 AAAA TQZZA Ed. 07

 1 Introduction

1.3.3 New Service Improvement Features

Alcatel has introduced the following new service improvement
features with the current BSS:

Power control due to radio link failure

Q3 Multimanager

OMCĆNSS Session from OMCĆR Terminal

OMCĆR connection to TSC through BSC

Abis signaling links static multiplexing

Transcoder pools

Automatic powerĆdown

Auto Identification

Automatic paging repetition.

Access to PM raw counters via binary files.

Power Control due to This feature provides an automatic attempt to recover the Air
Radio Link Failure Interface after an interruption of the SACCH.
For more information, see Section 4.3.4.

Q3 Multimanager The Q3 Multimanager feature permits the OMCĆR to

communicate over the Q3 Interface with multiple Network
Management Centers (NMCs). Refer to Section 1.6.2 for more
information.

OMCĆNSS Session from
OMCĆR Terminal
In this feature, a remote terminal interface allows access to
OMCĆNSS functions from the OMCĆR terminal. This means that
from the same terminal, an operator can open two simultaneous
windows, one connected to the OMCĆR and the other to the
OMCĆNSS. Each window provides commands and messages
specific to the OMCĆR with which it is associated.

OMCĆR Connection to This feature allows the OMCĆR operator to remotely configure
TSC through BSC certain TSC supervision devices using the existing OMCĆR - BSC
X.25 link. This permits a new transmission scheme corresponding
to a new Abis configuration to be set up before onĆsite
modifications are made, with corresponding time gain. Testing
can be carried out immediately after the onĆsite operation.

Abis Signaling Links This feature increases the maximum number of TRXs connected to
Static Multiplexing the same link from 9 to 12. This feature is used with the G2 BTS
and Evolium BSSs.

3BK 02974 AAAA TQZZA Ed. 07 25 / 240

1 Introduction

   The demands of GSM subscribers for new services is constantly
evolving. At the same time, GSM operators need to protect their
investment in capital equipment. The Transcoder Pools feature
serves both needs. It permits the grouping of Transcoders having
the same capacities into pools on the A Interface, as defined in the
GSM phase 2 recommendations. This permits efficient use of
existing infrastructure, without having to replace or redeploy older
TCs when a new feature is added.

  This feature is for batteryĆequipped, BTS A9100s, most usually
installed outdoors. It allows the BTS A9100 to continue operating
in degraded mode in the event of a main power supply failure,
and effects an orderly shutdown of TRE units, keeping the cell alive
for up to one hour.

   Auto Identification gives the BTS A9100 the capacity to recognize
its own hardware configuration, and to provide this information to
the BTS Terminal.

  If an idle MS performs a cell reĆselection at the same time that it is

 paged, or if a paging message is lost on the Air Interface, the MS
may not receive a paging message. Automatic Paging Repetition
ensures that paging messages are not lost by automatically
repeating an unanswered page on the PCH.
For more information about paging, refer to Chapter 2.

   
 This feature provides a facility to export Performance
   Management (PM) raw counters to an external PM processing
 system.

26 / 240 3BK 02974 AAAA TQZZA Ed. 07

 1 Introduction

1.4 BSS Components

There are three main units in the BSS:

The BTS, which provides the radio transmission and reception
functions for a cell.

The BSC, which acts as the controller of the BSS. The BSC
provides control of the BTSs and their resources, and performs
switching functions within the BSS.

The Transmission Subsystem (TSS), which links the BTS and the
BSC. The TSS also provides the physical layer, and support of
the data link layer, for the internal interfaces.
The BSS shown in Figure 2 is supervised by the OMCĆR. In a large
network, one or more highĆlevel supervisors, a Network
Management Center, can exist to centralize network management
activities. The NMC has the authority to send directives to the
OMCĆR.
For more information about the NMC, refer to   

, and to documentation supplied with the NMC.

Mobile Base Station Subsystem Network

Stations Subsystem

BTS TSS BSC TSS MSC

To/from
PSTN

OMCĆR NMC

      

3BK 02974 AAAA TQZZA Ed. 07 27 / 240

1 Introduction

1.4.1 Base Station Controller

The BSC provides control of the BTSs and manages radio
resources and radio parameters. From a transmission point of
view, the BSC also performs a concentration function if more radio
Traffic Channel (TCH) than terrestrial channels are connected to
the MSC. A single BSC can control a large number of BTSs. The
exact number is a function of the BSC equipment and the
configurations used.
The BSC provides:

Resource management

Database management

Radio measurement processing

Channel management

Operations and maintenance functions within the BSS

Communication with the OMCĆR

Switching between the Air Interface channels (and their
associated Abis channels), and the A Interface channels.
Further information concerning these interfaces can be found
in Sections 1.7.4, 1.7.5 and 1.7.6.
For a more detailed description of the BSC, refer to the  

  and  
 
documents.

1.4.2 Base Transceiver Station

The BTS provides radio transmission, control and baseband
functions for a cell. The BTS also supports the Air Interface with the
MSs.
The BTS performs the following functions under the control of the
BSC:

Transmit and receive functions

Antenna diversity

Frequency hopping

Radio channel measurements

Radio frequency testing.
For a more detailed description of the BTS, refer to the  

  or   
 
documents.

28 / 240 3BK 02974 AAAA TQZZA Ed. 07

 1 Introduction

1.4.3 Transmission Subsystem

The main function of the TSS is to provide efficient use of the
terrestrial links between the equipment of the BSS. The
components of the TSS are shown in Figure 3.
Each TSS component provides a specific set of functions:

The Base Station Interface Equipment (BIE) performs signaling
and submultiplexing on the Abis Interface

The Submultiplexer (SM) performs submultiplexing on the Ater
Interface

The Transcoder (TC) provides O&M control of the
Transmission System. It also provides:
 Conversion between AĆlaw and Radio Test
EquipmentĆLong Term Prediction (RTEĆLTP) encoded traffic
(speech)
 Conversion between AĆlaw and Algebraic Code Excited
Linear Prediction (ACELP) encoded traffic (speech)
 Rate adaptation (data).
The TC is normally located next to the MSC. If submultiplexing
is required on the MSC to BSC link, an SM is located at each
end of the link.

The Transcoder Submultiplexer Controller (TSC) collects and
processes transmission data. It also provides an operator
interface to control the equipment of the TSS.

3BK 02974 AAAA TQZZA Ed. 07 29 / 240

1 Introduction

TSC

OMCĆR

BTS BIE BIE BSC SM SM TC

MSC

BTS BIE BIE BSC TC

TSC
BTS

BIE = Base Station Interface Equipment TSC = Transcoder Submultiplexer Controller

SM = Submultiplexer TC = Transcoder

       

30 / 240 3BK 02974 AAAA TQZZA Ed. 07

 1 Introduction

1.5 External Components

The BSS communicates with three external components, they are:

The NSS on the A Interface

The MS on the Air Interface

The OMCĆR on the BSS/OMCĆR Interface.
Figure 4 shows the logical position of the the External
Components.

PLMN

Mobile Base Station Subsystem Network Fixed

Stations Subsystem Network

BTS TSS BSC TSS MSC PSTN

HLR
VLR
AuC
EIR

OMCĆR

HLR = Home Location Register AuC = Authentication Center

VLR = Visitor Location Register EIR = Equipment Identity Register
         

1.5.1 Network Subsystem

Managing communication within the PLMN and external networks
is the primary role of the NSS. The NSS manages the subscriber
administration databases, it contains the following components:

MSC

Home Location Register (HLR)

Visitor Location Register (VLR)

Authentication Center (AuC)

Equipment Identity Register (EIR).

3BK 02974 AAAA TQZZA Ed. 07 31 / 240

1 Introduction


 Performs and coordinates the outgoing and incoming Call Set Up
function. The MSC is a large capacity switch used for passing
mobile traffic to mobile subscribers, or to subscribers of external
networks. This part of the NSS Interfaces with the BSS.
   The HLR is the central database within a given network for mobile
 subscriber specific data. It contains static data such as access
authorization, information about subscribers and supplementary
services. It also controls the dynamic data about the cell in which
the MS is located.
   The VLR temporarily stores information about MSs entering its
 coverage area. Linked to one or more MSCs, the VLR transmits
data to a new VLR when an MS changes areas.
   The AuC manages the security data used for subscriber
authentication.
  The EIR contains the lists of mobile station equipment identities.


1.5.2 Mobile Stations

MSs provide radio and processing functions which allow
subscribers to access the mobile network via the Air Interface.
Subscriber related information is stored on a specific device called
a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM).
The SIM is a removable smartĆcard that conforms to
internationally recognized standards specified by the International
Standards Organization (ISO). It contains the International Mobile
Subscriber Identity (IMSI). This is used by the Network Operator to
identify the subscriber in the network and to provide security and
protection against misuse.
Each MS has its own International Mobile Station Equipment
Identity (IMEI). The IMEI is used by the Network Operator to
prevent stolen, or nonĆtype approved MSs from accessing the
network.
There are three types of MS in GSM:

Phase 1

Phase 1 extended

Phase 2.
MSs have different capabilities according to the the class of MS
and the purpose for which the MS was designed. These
differences include power output and ciphering.

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Only phase 2 MSs can turn off ciphering, or change the ciphering
mode, during a channel change procedure such as a handover.
The ciphering capability of an MS is signalled to the BSS in the MS
Classmark.
Ciphering is used to protect information transmitted on the Air
Interface. This is performed between the BTS and the MS (i.e. Air
Interface). Transmission ciphering does not depend on the type of
data to be transmitted (i.e. speech, user data, signaling), but to
normal transmission bursts. See Section 2.8 for further information
concerning MS ciphering capabilities.
  

An MS is in idle mode when it is switched on, but not
communicating with the network on a StandĆalone Dedicated
Control Channel (SDCCH) or a TCH. The BSS supports three idle
mode functions:

Cell selection and cell reselection

Location updating

Overload control.
 
 

  An MS monitors the broadcast messages from the BTS. This



 includes monitoring the Frequency Correction Channel (FCCH)
and Synchronization Channel (SCH).
The MS chooses the best cell on which to camp. If this cell is in a
location area other than that stored in the MS memory, then the
MS initiates a location update procedure. For an MS to camp on a
cell, it has to synchronize with the cell.
The BTS broadcasts an FCCH and a SCH at a defined time in the
Broadcast Control Channel (BCCH) cycle. These channels are
used as reference points for the MS to synchronize with the BCCH.
Once synchronized, the MS continues to monitor these channels to
stay synchronized.
This type of synchronization, along with cell configuration and
channel frequency information, enables the MS to calculate where
channels occur in the multiframe sequences.
Timing advance information is sent to the MS when an SDCCH is
assigned. The MS uses the channel configuration information to
calculate which part of the CCCH contains its paging message,
and therefore which Time Slot to monitor for paging messages.
When the MS is camped on a cell, it continues to monitor the
BCCH transmissions from neighboring cells. The BCCH
frequencies of the neighboring cells are transmitted on the BCCH
of the home cell (sys_info 2). It can decide to camp on a new cell
if it receives a better signal from an adjacent cell.

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1 Introduction

Reasons for moving to a new cell include:

A problem in the existing cell

The MS moving.
If the MS moves to a new cell which is in the same location
area as the one currently in its memory, it does not initiate a
location update. It recalculates its paging group and monitors
the new paging channel. Paging messages are broadcast
from all cells in a particular location area.


  The location update procedure is always initiated by the MS.
Location update is performed after the call has finished (cell
reselection). Reasons for location updates include:

A periodic update

A handover to a cell in a new location area.
The MS camps on a cell with a different location area code to the
one in the MS memory. Periodic location update is performed by
the MS after a lack of signaling activity for a specific time. If the
timer expires, the MS initiates a location update, even if it has not
changed Location Area (LA).
The duration of the MS timer is defined by the network and sent to
the MS as system information messages on the BCCH. The time
can be between six minutes and 25 hours. When an MS is handed
over to a cell in a new location area, there is no automatic
location update in the network.
A new Location Area Identity (LAI) in the BCCH (sys_info 3 and
sys_info 4) is detected by the MS when the current call has
finished, and initiates the location update procedure. This saves
the system performing several location updates if the MS is
handed over several times during a call. The MS initiates the
location update procedure by sending a channel_request
message indicating that the call is for a location update. The BSS
assigns a dedicated signaling channel and establishes a signaling
path between the MS and MSC. See Section 2.2 for more
information.
When a signaling path is established, the MS sends the LAI of the
old cell on which it was camped to the MSC. The new VLR
interrogates the old VLR for authentication and subscriber
information. For further information see Sections 2.6.3 and 2.7.
The LAI is made up of:

Mobile Country Code (MCC)

Mobile Network Code (MNC)

Location Area Code (LAC).

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The BSS adds the cell identity of the MS current location to the
message sent to the MSC. This information is sent in an Mobility
Management (MM) subĆlayer message and is transparent to the
BSS. The NSS stores this information in either its HLR or its VLR.
Following a location update procedure, the VLR can assign a new
Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity (TMSI) to the MS. See
Section 2.7 for more information about the TMSI. Figure 5 shows
an MS as it moves to a new location area.

BTS BSC MSC VLR

MS

MS moving and connecting

in a new location area

Protocol Messages MSC VLR

BTS BSC

MS


     


   
 To protect the system against overload, the system can bar access
to MSs, by changing the Random Access Channel (RACH) control
information in the system information messages described in
Table 1. For further information, see Section 3.4.

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1 Introduction

1.5.3 Operations and Maintenance CenterĆRadio

The OMCĆR supervises one or more BSSs. It performs the
following functions:

Manages the BSS software versions

Acts as the central repository for configurations

Manages fault and performance measurement reports

Handles supervision of alarms and events.
The reported data is available to the operator from the OMCĆR's
central database. The OMCĆR only performs O&M activities. It
does not perform user traffic processing or call establishment and
control activities. Refer to the  
  
 
  
for more information.
Operator actions via the terminal interface trigger commands
throughout the BSS. The OMCĆR provides objectĆoriented
management information, and supports a Manager/Agent
scheme to perform and control management activities. The
terminal interface supports different user profiles with different
access rights.
For further information about Manager/Agent communications,
see the 
    document.

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1.6 Network Management

Normally the OMCĆR provides all the network management and
control functions required by the BSS. However, the management
and control functions are proprietary to the system supplier. In
keeping with ITU and ETSI recommendations, the Network
Management function is supported. Network Management is
compatible with all equipment, even that of different
manufacturers. Network Management is controlled from one or
several NMCs.

1.6.1 Telecommunications Management Network

The ability to transfer management information across the
Telecommunications Management Network (TMN) environment is
defined by a protocol suite, the Q Interfaces. Figure 6 shows the
hierarchical structure of the TMN. It graphically defines the
respective management responsibilities in the three main levels of
the Management Information Tree (MIT).

NMC Operator Network Management

(Resource Management) &
NMC OSS
Network Element
Q3 Management

OMCĆR Operator OMCĆR

Mediation Function
(Resource and Equipment
Management)

Network Element
Security Block (SBL) BSC BSS
Management

BTS
BTS
BTS

OSS = Operation Support System

     


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1 Introduction

1.6.2 Q3 Interface
Communication between the NMC and the OMCĆR takes place
across the Q3 Interface (see Figure 6). The Q3 protocols can be
divided into the following main areas:

Association connection and disconnection mechanisms

Message format and structure

Command types.

  
 The Q3 Multimanager feature allows the OMCĆR to communicate
over the Q3 Interface with multiple NMCs, permitting the network
operator to concentrate specific functions on each of several
NMCs. For example, in a large network, one NMC might be
dedicated exclusively to Performance Management, and another
to Fault Management, etc.
For further information on Network Management and the Q3
Interface see the    
  document.

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 1 Introduction

1.7 BSS Telecommunications Layers

The telecommunications functions of a GSM network are split into
layers. These layers are split into two basic categories:

The Application layer is split into subĆlayers, to control:
 Call Management (CM)
 Mobility Management (MM)
 Radio Resource Management (RRM).

The transmission layers which provide transmission between
the various components.

 These transmission layers relate to the OSI layers, that is, the
Physical Layer (i.e. Layer 1) and the Data Layer (i.e. Layer 2). The
protocols used for these layers are standard.
Figure 7 shows the general distribution of the telecommunication
functions within a GSM network.

MS BTS BSC NSS

CM
GSM
MM Application
Layers

RRM

TRANSMISSION

    

     

1.7.1 Call Management

The Call Management subĆlayer performs Call Control (CACO) to
establish, maintain and release calls. SMS within Call
Management allows the MS to send and receive messages of up
to 160 characters. The Supplementary Service (SS) functions are
also provided to the MSs as part of Call Management.

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1 Introduction

1.7.2 Mobility Management

The MM subĆlayer is used by the NSS to manage the subscriber
database, including information on subscriber location and
authentication. It is also used by the MSs to send location updates
when they move to new location areas.

1.7.3 Radio Resource Management

The RRM subĆlayer establishes, maintains and releases stable
connections between the MS and MSC for the duration of a call.
This includes functions such as managing the limited radio
resources, to ensure high service availability. It also performs
handovers when an MS moves during a call, or the channel
quality falls below an acceptable level. RRM functions occur mainly
between the MS and the BSC.
Figure 8 shows the application layers, transmission layers and
Interfaces of the BSS.

MS BTS BSC MSC

CM
GSM
MM Application
Layers
RRM

BSSAP BSSAP BSSAP

SCCP SCCP
LAPDM LAPDM LAPD LAPD
Layer 2
SS7 SS7

LayerĂ1 L1 L1 L1 L1 LayerĂ1

08.60 TC
Air Interface Abis Interface A Interface
BSSAP = BSS Application Part
LAPD = Link Access Procedure on the D Channel
LAPDM = Link Access Protocol on the D Mobile Channel
SCCP = signaling Connection Control Part
SS7 = ITU signaling System No. 7

   

   

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1.7.4 The A Interface

The A Interface is used for communication between the BSC and
the MSC. The connection between the BSC and MSC can be via
one of the following:

Terrestrial lines

Satellite link.
The A Interface comprises the:

Physical layer 1

Data Link layer 2

RRM subĆlayer 3 of the application layer

    The physical layer provides a physical connection to transport the
signals. It supports a 2 Mbit/s link divided into 32 x 64 kbit/s
channels by Time Division Multiplex (TDM). The actual physical
link used depends on Network Operator implementation.

    Layer 2 provides the frame handling functions for the interface. It
is also used to pass signaling messages using the ITU signaling
System No. 7 (SS7) protocol. This comprises:

Message Transfer Part (MTP), which provides the mechanism
for reliable transfer of the signaling messages.

signaling Connection Control Part (SCCP), which provides the
mechanism to identify transactions relating to a specific
communication.

 
 To transfer layer 3 messages relating to a transaction, the SCCP
 uses the BSS Application Part (BSSAP). This is divided into two
parts:

Direct Transfer Application Part (DTAP), which transfers
messages directly between the MSC and the MS. These
messages are not interpreted by the BSS. The BSS must read
and recognize the initial message as a DTAP message.

BSS Management Application Part (BSSMAP) to support
procedures between the MSC and the BSC, such as resource
management and handover control.
On the A Interface, the process is terminated at the BSC.
Messages for the BSS, passed by the BSSMAP, are interpreted
by the BSC layer 3.

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1 Introduction

  The part of the A Interface between the TC and BSC is known as
the Ater Interface. If SMs are placed between the TC and BSC
there is also an AterĆmux Interface. The AterĆmux Interface is the
result of multiplexing three Ater Interfaces. Transcoding is a layer 1
process, therefore the difference between the two interfaces is at
the physical level.

1.7.5 The Abis Interface

The Abis Interface is used for communication between the BSC
and the BTS.
The Abis Interface comprises:

Physical layer 1

Data Link layer 2

BTS management subĆlayer 3 of the application layer

   The physical layer provides a physical connection to transport the
signals. It supports a 2 Mbit/s link divided into 32 x 64 kbit/s
channels by TDM.
The physical link used depends on the Network Operator
implementing the interface.

    The data link layer provides frame handling and signaling
functions using the Link Access Procedure on the D Channel
(LAPD).
This layer supports three types of signaling links:

The Radio signaling Link (RSL) for signaling to the MS
(including SMS)

The Operations and Maintenance Link (OML) for O&M
information

The Layer 2 Management Link (L2ML) for the layer 2
management functions such as frame checking and error
correction.


  The BTS management layer is used for layer 3 messages between

the BSC and the BTS. Some of these messages are transparent to
the BTS. These are passed directly to the MS using the BTS RR
management subĆlayer 3 on the Air Interface. NonĆtransparent
messages include messages for radio link layer control and
channel management.

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 1 Introduction

1.7.6 The Air Interface

The Air Interface is the radio interface between the BTS and the
MS.
The Air Interface comprises:

Physical layer 1

Data Link layer 2

RRM subĆlayer 3 of the application layer
'

Physical Layer 1 The physical layer is a radio link where channels are divided by
time and frequency.

Data Link Layer 2 The data link layer provides frame handling and signaling
functions, using a modified version of the Link Access Protocol on
the Dm Channel (LAPDm).

Application SubĆlayer On the Air Interface, most of the layer 3 messages are transparent
RRM to the BTS. The BTS uses layer 3 to extract certain information from
some messages before passing on the equivalent message.
For example, when the BTS receives an encryption_command
message from the BSC, it reads the Ki value and the algorithm to
be used, before passing on the cipher_mode_command
message. This procedure is explained in detail in Section 2.8.
Air Interface Channels The Air Interface is divided by frequency and time, using
FrequencyĆDivision Multiplex Access (FDMA) and Time Division
Multiple Access (TDMA). This provides frames of eight Time Slots
for each frequency supported by the cell. The channels of the cell
are then assigned to specific Time Slots within the TDMA frames.
However, not all channels require the full capacity of a Time Slot
at each occurrence of a frame. Channels are configured to share
Time Slots by only using certain occurrences of the frame. The
cycle of frame occurrences is known as a multiframe. A multiframe
can be 26 or 51 occurrences of a frame, depending on the
channels configured within it. Within a multiframe, the same
physical channel can support more than one logical channel.

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1 Introduction

Figure 9 shows Time Slot four of a TDMA frame supporting Access

Grant Channels (AGCHs).

A A A A A
G G G G G
C C C C C
H H H H H

Frame 1 Frame 2 Frame 3 Frame 4 Frame 5

      
     

Channels can be divided into traffic channels and control

channels.
   
 A TCH can be used for speech or data. The Alcatel BSS supports
the following types of traffic channels:

Speech:
 A Full Rate Speech TCH (TCH/FS)
 An Enhanced Full Rate Speech TCH
 A Half Rate Speech TCH (TCH/HS).

Data:
 A Full Rate Data TCH (9.6 Kbit/s) (TCH/F9.6)
 A Full Rate Data TCH (4.8 Kbit/s) (TCH/F4.8)
 A Half Rate Data TCH (4.8 Kbit/s) (TCH/H4.8)
 A Full Rate Data TCH (<2.4 Kbit/s) (TCH/F2.4)
 A Half Rate Data TCH (<2.4 Kbit/s) (TCH/H2.4).
 

 Control Channels (CCHs) control communications between the
BSS and the MSs. There are three types of CCH:

The BCCH broadcasts cell information to any MS in range.
Three channels use the BCCH Time Slot:
 FCCH
 SCH
 BCCH.

The CCCH communicates with MSs in the cell before a
dedicated signaling channel is established. Three channels
use the CCCH Time Slot:
 RACH
 PCH
 AGCH.

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 1 Introduction

The Dedicated Control Channel (DCCH) and Associated

Control Channel (ACCH) pass signaling information for a
specific MS transaction. Two channels use the DCCH Time
Slot:
 SDCCH
 Cell Broadcast Channel (CBCH).
Two channels use the ACCH Time Slot:
 Fast Associated Control Channel (FACCH) which can also
steal TCH Time Slots
 Slow Associated Control Channel (SACCH).
An ACCH channel is always associated with a TCH.
For a complete description of the Air Interface channels, see
Appendix A.

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1 Introduction



  System information messages transmit information about the cell
 to the MS. There are six system information messages. Four are
sent on the BCCH as a general broadcast to any MSs in the cells,
and two sent on the SACCH to MSs in communication with the
BSS. Table 1 shows the system information messages, the channel
on which they are transmitted and the type of information in each.

    
   
Message Channel Information

Sys_info 1 BCCH Cell channel description

RACH control information.
Sys_info 2 BCCH Neighbor cell BCCH frequency list
RACH control information.
Sys_info 3 BCCH Cell Identity (CI)
Location Area Identity
Control channel description
Cell options:

Power central information

Discontinuous Transmission
(mechanism) (DTX) information

Radio link timeout.
Cell selection parameters:

Max transmit power allowed in cell

Min receive level to access cell.
RACH control information.
Sys_info 4 BCCH LAI
Cell selection parameters:

Maximum transmit power allowed in cell

Minimum receive level to access cell.
RACH control information
CBCH channel description.
Sys_info 5 SACCH Neighbor cell BCCH frequency list.
Sys_info 6 SACCH LAI
Cell options:

Power control information

DTX information

Radio link timeout.

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 2 Call Set Up

2 Call Set Up
This chapter provides an overview of how a call is set up between
the NSS and the MS. It describes the various kinds of calls that can
be set up. The type of teleservice and bearer service required are
also described.
This chapter also describes the following parts of the Call Set Up
procedure:

Mobile Originated Call

Mobile Terminated Call

Paging

Congestion

Classmark Handing

Authentication

Ciphering.

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2 Call Set Up

2.1 Overview
Call set up is required to establish communication between an MS
and the NSS. The NSS is responsible for establishing the
connection with the correspondent. Different types of calls require
different teleservices. These teleservices are defined in the GSM
specifications. The type of teleservice and bearer service to be
used is negotiated before the normal assignment procedure; see
Section 2.2.3 for more information.
   Table 2 shows the three basic types of call:

    
  
Type of Call Description

Mobility Management Calls These calls, e.g. location update, are used by the system to gather
MS information. The exchanges are protocol messages only; thereĆ
fore, only a signalling channel is used. Figure 5 illustrates the locaĆ
tion update procedure.
Service Calls These calls, e.g. SMS and SS calls, pass small amounts of informaĆ
tion. Therefore, only a signalling channel is used.
User Traffic Calls These calls, e.g. speech or data calls to a correspondent, can pass
large amounts of information. Therefore they require greater bandĆ
width than a signalling channel. These calls use traffic channels.

The channels used for calls are the SDCCH for signalling and the
TCH for user traffic (see Section 1.7.6 for more information).
These channels are associated with FACCH/SACCH. An SDCCH is
always assigned for call set up, even if a TCH is later required for
the call.
The role of the BSS in call set up is to assign the correct channel
for the call, and to provide and manage a communications path
between the MS and the MSC.

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 2 Call Set Up

  
 Table 4 shows the phases involved in call set up:

    

Phase Composition

Radio and Link Paging (for mobile terminated calls only)

Establishment
If   is activated, the MS
IMSI_detach message can eliminate the need for
paging. See Section 2.3.4.
Immediate assignment procedure to assign an
SDCCH
A interface connection, to assign a SCCP signalling
channel between the BSC and MSC
Assignment of a switching path through the BSC.
Authentication and Classmark handling
Ciphering
Authentication
Ciphering.
Normal assignment Teleservice/bearer service negotiation
Channel allocation
Physical context procedure
Assigning a TCH, if required
Connecting the call.

The phases are described in Sections 2.2 and 2.3.

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2 Call Set Up

2.2 Mobile Originated Call

A call initiated by an MS can either be a subscriber call, where
speech and/or data is passed across the network, or a location
update call from an MS in idle mode. Location update information
is passed on the signalling connection. Therefore, the initial call
set up procedure is similar to a subscriber call. The location
update does not require allocation of a TCH.

2.2.1 Radio and Link Establishment

The radio and link establishment procedure establishes signalling
links between:

The BSS and the MS via the SDCCH channel

The BSS and the MSC via the SCCP link.
These links pass the information for call negotiation, and set up a
TCH, if required.
Figure 10 shows radio and link establishment for a mobile
originated call.
  
 The MS initiates a call by sending a channel_request message,
with a Random Access Information Value (REF). The REF includes
an establishment cause and a Random Number (used for
authentication) (RAND). It is transmitted on the RACH channel.
The RACH channel is associated with the CCCH channel which the
MS is monitoring while in idle mode. The establishment cause field
of the REF specifies:

An emergency call

Call reĆestablishment

Response to paging

MS originating speech call

MS originating data call

Location update

Service call (SMS etc.).
The MS notes the random number and frame number associated
with each channel_request message. These are used by the MS
to recognize the response sent from the BSS. This response is sent
on the AGCH, which can be monitored by many MSs. The MS
decodes all messages sent on this AGCH, and only accepts a
message with a random number and frame number matching one
of the last three requests sent.

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 2 Call Set Up

MS BTS BSC MSC

REF stored
in MS SDCCH
memory Allocation

MS compares
message with
REF in memory

Switch to
SDCCH

Service Request must

match original sent
by MS in the SABM

REF = Random access information value

RFN = Reduced frame number
TA = Timing Advance
cm = Classmark
ID = Mobile Identity
power = MS power, BTS power
SDCCH = Description of the allocated SDCCH channel
Service Request = Initial layer 3 message including the MS identity and classmark
UA = UnĆnumbered Acknowledgement

 
        

The MS continues to transmit channel_request messages until it

receives a response. If no response is received before the MS has
transmitted a predefined number of retries, the MS:

Displays a network error message for all calls except location
updates

Performs automatic reselection for location update calls. This
means that the MS attempts random access on a different cell.

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2 Call Set Up

On receipt of the channel_request message from the MS, the BTS

sends a channel_required message to the BSC. This message
contains the random number sent by the MS, and the timing
advance measured by the BTS.
 
  The BSC checks the channel_required message to ensure it can
 accept the request. It allocates an SDCCH channel if one is
available. The resource management software of the BSC
allocates the SDCCH on the basis of which TCH has the most
available SDCCHs. This ensures the load is spread between the
TCHs.
The BSC then sends a channel_activation message to the BTS. It
also sets a timer to wait for an acknowledgment from the BTS,
indicating that it is ready to activate the channel. The
channel_activation message contains:

A description of the SDCCH to be used

The timing advance

MS and BTS power commands. The MS and BTS power are
set to the maximum allowed in the cell.
The BTS initiates the physical layer resources for the channel and
sets the LAPDm contention resolution ready for the first MS
message on the SDCCH. It then sends a
channel_activation_acknowledgement message to the BSC.
The BSC stops its guard timer.

 Contention resolution prevents two MSs connecting to the same

SDCCH.
Figure 11 shows the Channel Activation procedure.

MS BTS BSC MSC

SDCCH
Allocation

TA = Timing Advance
power = MS power, BTS power
SDCCH = Description of the allocated SDCCH channel
     
 

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 2 Call Set Up

    The BSC builds and sends an immediate_assign_command

message reiterating the information given in the
channel_activation message. This message also includes the
random number and frame number of the original MS request to
which the BSC is replying. It also instructs the BTS to inform the MS
of the SDCCH channel assignment. The BSC starts a guard timer
for the MS to respond.
Figure 12 shows the Immediate Assignment procedure.

MS BTS BSC MSC

Switch to
SDCCH

REF = Random access information value

RFN = Reduced frame number
TA = Timing Advance
SDCCH = Description of the allocated SDCCH channel

    
 

The BTS sends the immediate_assignment message to the MS on

the AGCH.
The MS checks the random number and frame number in the
immediate_assignment message. If it matches those from one of
its last three channel_request messages, the MS switches to the
indicated SDCCH and sets its timing advance to the value
indicated in the immediate_assignment message.
 
 The first layer 2 frame sent on the SDCCH is a standard LAPDm
  
  type frame, known as the Set Asynchronous Balanced
Mode (SABM). This is equivalent to the Set Asynchronous Balanced
Mode Extended (SABME) frame in the Link Access Procedure on
the D Channel (LAPD). On the Air interface, it establishes the
LAPDm connection with the BTS. This frame can also contain layer
3 messages.
  The MS starts its LAPDm connection and sends a layer 3 message
in its first frame. The BTS uses this message for contention
resolution. The BTS sends an acknowledgement to the MS
containing the same layer 3 message. Therefore, only the MS that
sent the message can accept the acknowledgement from the BTS
and consider itself connected.

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2 Call Set Up

Figure 13 shows the establishment of the connection for a mobile

originated call.

MS BTS BSC MSC

cm = Classmark
Service Request = Initial layer 3 message including the MS identify and classmark
UA = UnĆnumbered Acknowledgement

  
     

For an MS originated call, the layer 3 message from the MS

contains:

An Information Element (IE) indicating:
 CM service request (speech/data, SMS, emergency call)
 Location updating request (location updating procedure)
 CM reĆestablishment request ( after a failure)
 IMSI detach indication (MS power off - see section 2.3.4
for more information).

The MS identity (see Section 2.7 for more information)

The MS classmark (see Section 2.6 for more information).
The network uses this message to decide which call negotiation
procedures are required and whether to assign a TCH.
  
  The BTS sends an establish_indication message to the BSC to
indicate that the MS has connected. The BSC stops the guard
timer, extracts the classmark information and initiates an SCCP
connection with the MSC.
    The BSC sends an SCCP_connection_request message to the
MSC. The MSC replies with an SCCP_connection_confirm
message. This message can contain a classmark request or a
cipher mode command.
The signalling link is established between the MS and the MSC.

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2.2.2 Authentication and Ciphering

   The content of the classmark IE sent during radio and link
establishment depends on the type of MS. The classmark
information is used for MS power control and to set ciphering. The
MSC can request a classmark update to ensure that it has the
correct information. Classmark procedures are described in
Section 2.6.

 The authentication procedure:

Authenticates the MS identity

Checks the MS has the correct Individual Subscriber
Authentication Key (Ki) value on the SIM for the ciphering
procedure

Sends the Random Number for the ciphering and
authentication procedures.
This procedure is described in Section 2.7.

 Information passed on the Air interface must be protected. The
MSC can request that the BSS set the ciphering mode before
information is passed on the SDCCH. Ciphering is described in
Section 2.8.

2.2.3 Normal Assignment

If the call requires a TCH to communicate with a called party, the
MS sends a setup message. This indicates the teleservice and
bearer service required, and the called party number. The
information is sent transparently through the BSS. This message
can contain more than one bearer service element, and a
parameter indicating that the subscriber may request a change of
service (InĆCall Modification) during the call. See Section 3.2 for
information concerning InĆCall Modification.
The MSC sends a call_proceeding message to the MS. This
indicates that the call parameters have been received, and that
attempts to establish communication with the called party are
under way.
Figure 14 shows the normal assignment process for a mobile
originated call.

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MS BTS BSC MSC

TCH
allocation

release
SDCCH

Set
transcoder

Set switching
path

initiate SDCCH
release

cm = Classmark
TA = Timing Advance
cipher = Encryption algorithm + ciphering key
DTX = Discontinuous transmission flags
  
     
  


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   The MSC initiates the assignment of the TCH by sending the
assignment_request message and sets a timer to supervise the
response from the BSC.
The BSC checks the message which must contain a channel type
(for TCH this is  or 
 plus 
 
). This message also
contains the MS classmark which the BSC uses if it has not
received the classmark from the MS. If the BSC finds an error in
the assignment_request message, it sends an
assignment_failure message. If no error is detected, it starts the
normal assignment procedure towards the MS.
  
  The BSC ensures that it is not running any other procedures for
 the MS and then allocates resources for the TCH. The resources
allocated are calculated using an algorithm in the BSC. The BSC
can receive an assignment_request message in various
situations. Therefore, it has TCH resource allocation algorithms
for:

Normal assignment

InĆcall modification

Intercell handover

Intracell handover

Directed retry

Concentric cells

Microcells.
In normal conditions (MS originated call, normal assignment), the
normal assignment algorithm is used. The BSC keeps a table of
idle channels in which the channels are classified by their
interference level (1 = low, 5 = high).
The interference level of all free channels is monitored by the BTS.
This information is periodically sent to the BSC in the
RF_resource_indication message. The BSC does not
automatically allocate a channel from the lowest interference level,
as a number of channels can be reserved for handover. After all
reserved channels are accounted for, the channel allocated is from
the lowest interference level. If the number of reserved channels
exceeds the number of free channels, then the BSC allocates a
channel from the highest interference level. If no channels are
available, the BSC sends an assignment_failure message to the
MSC indicating the cause of the failure.

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 The BSC sends a physical_context_request message to the BTS,
to find out the current power and timing advance being used by
the MS on the SDCCH. The BTS responds with a
physical_context_confirm message, containing the relevant
information.
Figure 15 shows the TCH channel activation process.

MS BTS BSC MSC

TCH
allocation

TA = Timing Advance
cipher = Encryption algorithm + ciphering key
DTX = Discontinuous transmission

     
 

The BSC sends a channel_activation message to the BTS. This

contains:

A description of the TCH to be used

The MS timing advance to be applied

The encryption algorithm and ciphering key (same as for
SDCCH assignment)

A Discontinuous Transmission (DTX) indicator for uplink (not
used) and downlink (see Section 5.2.4 for more information)

The MS power to be used (see Section 5.2.2 for more
information)

The BTS power to be used.
The BSC starts a timer, and waits for the BTS to acknowledge that
it has activated the channel.

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The BTS initializes its resources for the TCH, sets the ciphering
mode, sends timing advance and power information to the MS on
the SACCH associated to the TCH, which is constantly monitored
by the MS. At the same time, the BTS sends a
channel_activation_acknowledgement message to the BSC.
The BSC stops its timer and sends an assignment_command
message on the SDCCH to the MS. This instructs the MS to change
to the TCH.
When the MS receives the assignment_command message, it
disconnects the physical layer, and performs a local release to free
the LAPDm connection of the SDCCH.
Figure 16 shows the TCH channel assignment process.

MS BTS BSC MSC

release
SDCCH

Set
transcoder

Set switching
path

 
   
  


The MS then establishes the LAPDm connection (via the SABM on

the FACCH) for the TCH. The BTS sends an establish_indication
message to the BSC. It also sets the transcoder and its radio link
failure detection algorithm. The BTS sends a layer 2
acknowledgement to the MS. The MS sends an
assignment_complete message to the BSC.
When the BSC receives the establish_indication message, it
establishes a switching path between the allocated Abis and A
interface resources. When it receives the assignment_complete
message, it sends an assignment_complete message to the MSC
and initiates release of the SDCCH (see Chapter 4 for more
information).

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   Once communication with the called party is established (but
before the call is answered), the MSC sends an alerting message
to the MS. The MS generates a ring tone.
When the called party answers, the MSC sends a connect
message to the MS. The MS responds with a
connect_acknowledgement message. The call is established.
Figure 17 shows the call connection process for a mobile
originated call.

MS BTS BSC MSC

initiate SDCCH
release

   

     

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2.3 Mobile Terminated Call

A call from the NSS to an MS can be either a call routed through
the NSS from a calling party, or it can be initiated by the NSS for
mobility management.
A mobile terminated call set up follows the same basic procedures
as a mobile originated call. This section describes only those
procedures which are different. Figure 18 shows radio and link
establishment for a mobileĆterminated call.

2.3.1 Radio and Link Establishment

 Before the BSS sets up a signalling link, the MS has to be paged.
This procedure is initiated by the MSC. It sends a paging message
to the BSC controlling the location area from which the MS last
performed a location update. This message is sent in
connectionless mode and contains:

The MS identity (TMSI or IMSI of the MS to be paged).

A cell identifier list which identifies the cells where the paging
request is to be sent. This could be all cells or a group of cells.
The MSC sets a timer to wait for a paging_response message
from the MS.
The BSC checks the paging message and, if valid, calculates the
MS paging group and the CCCH timeslot for the paging group.
The BSC sends a paging_command message to each BTS,
indicating the TMSI or IMSI, the paging group and the channel
number.
Each BTS formats the information and broadcasts a
paging_request message on the Paging Channel (PCH).
The MS listens to messages sent to its paging group. When it
receives a paging message with its MS identity, it sends a
channel_request message on the RACH to the BTS, indicating
that the request is in response to a paging_request message.
The BSS then performs the radio and link establishment procedure
described in Section 2.2.

 When the MS sends the SABM, it indicates that the connection is in
response to a paging request. For more information about
paging, see Section 2.4.

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MS BTS BSC MSC

RADIO AND LINK ESTABLISHMENT PROCEDURE

Refer to Figure 10

        

 

2.3.2 Authentication and Ciphering

The system handles authentication and ciphering for a mobile
terminated call in the same manner as a mobile originated call,
see Section 2.2.2. Refer to Section 2.6 for more information about
the classmark, Section 2.7 for more information about
authentication, and Section 2.8 for more information about
ciphering procedures.

2.3.3 Normal Assignment

The normal assignment procedure for an MS terminated call is
initiated by the MSC. This is shown in Figure 19.
The MSC sends a layer 3 Call Control (CC) set_up message to
the MS, indicating the bearer service and teleservice to be used for
the call. The MSC can indicate more than one bearer service.
The MS checks this message. If it can accept the call, it sends a
call_confirmation message which can contain a bearer capability
parameter indicating which bearer service is preferred.

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The BSS performs the physical context and channel assignment.

This is described in Section 2.2.3. Once the TCH is assigned, the
MS alerts the user and sends an alerting message to the MSC.
When the MS user answers, the MS sends a connection message
to the MSC. The MSC sends a connection_acknowledgement
message to the MS and connects the call.
All these messages are layer 3 CC messages, and are transparent
to the BSS.

MS BTS BSC MSC

NORMAL ASSIGNMENT PROCEDURE FOR TCH

Refer to Figure 14

ring
tone

user
answer

  
     
  


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2.3.4 IMSI Attach-Detach

IMSI AttachĆDetach is a mobility feature which primarily concerns
the MSC and the MS. Used together with the periodic location
update procedure, IMSI AttachĆDetach allows the network to
provide more efficient control and use of resources.
For example, if a mobileĆterminated call arrives for an MS which is
detached," the MSC knows that the MS is not active and does not
need to start a paging request. For the BSS, this can reduce load
on the PCH.
Initiation of the IMSI AttachĆDetach procedure is controlled by a
parameter in the BSS,   
. When this
parameter is set, the BSS broadcasts system information on all
cells indicating that the network supports IMSI AttachĆDetach.
MSs which have successfully connected and logged themselves
onto the network are then obliged to perform IMSI AttachĆDetach
procedures.
Refer to documentation supplied with MSs which support this
function
For more information about    

parameter, see
   
IMSI AttachĆDetach is also used for other functions at the MSC.
Refer to documentation for your network's MSC equipment.

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2.4 Paging
Paging is the procedure by which the network contacts an MS. For
example, if the network needs to inform the MS of an incoming
call, it pages the MS to prompt it to request a channel. After the
immediate assign procedure, the service_request message from
the MS indicates that the connection is in response to a paging
message.
Paging messages are sent on the CCCH. The downlink CCCH
carries the AGCH and the PCH.
The PCH is divided into subĆchannels, each corresponding to a
paging group. To save the MS from monitoring every occurrence
of the PCH, each MS is assigned a paging group calculated from
the IMSI. Each MS calculates its paging group and monitors only
that PCH subĆchannel. This saves MS battery power.
The number of paging groups and the CCCH organization varies
for each configuration. The MS knows the CCCH organization
from the information passed on the BCCH (sys_info 3).
The AGCH sends the immediate_assignment message to the
MS. A number of blocks can be reserved for the AGCH using the
  parameter. If this parameter is set to 0, then the
immediate_assignment message is sent on the PCH. Figure 20
shows a TDMA frame with nine CCCH blocks, three of which are
reserved for the AGCH and the rest are for the PCH. The
parameter to reserve these blocks is set to   = 3.

TDMA Frame Cycle

CCCH0 CCCH1 CCCH2 CCCH3 CCCH4 CCCH5 CCCH6 CCCH7 CCCH8

Reserved for AGCH Available for PCH channels
   
"   !   

In the example in Figure 20,   is set to three.

Every occurrence of the TDMA frame cycle carrying the CCCH has
three AGCHs and six PCHs. However, more than six paging
groups can be defined by assigning a different group of six PCHs
to a number of TDMA multiframe cycles. This is specified using the
parameter   , as shown in Figure 21.

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First TDMA Frame cycle

AGCH AGCH AGCH PGR0 PGR1 PGR2 PGR3 PGR4 PGR5

Second TDMA Frame cycle

AGCH AGCH AGCH PGR6 PGR7 PGR8 PGR9 PGR10 PGR11

Third TDMA Frame cycle

AGCH AGCH AGCH PGR12 PGR13 PGR14 PGR15 PGR16 PGR17

Fourth/1 TDMA Frame cycle

AGCH AGCH AGCH PGR18 PGR19 PGR20 PGR21 PGR22 PGR23

These four TDMA frames represent 24 PCHs. The parameter

to reserve these is  

= 4

   
       !

  
 The MSC has to initiate the paging procedure, as it holds the
information on the last MS location update.
The MSC sends the paging message to the BSC(s) and sets a
timer for the paging_response from the MS, which is sent as part
of the service_request message after the immediate assign
procedure.
The paging message from the MSC contains a cell list identifier
IE, identifying the cells in which the paging message is to be
transmitted.
The BSC checks the cell identifier list and builds a
paging_command message for the relevant BTSs. Table 4 shows
the different cell identification lists and the paging performed by
the BSC.

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Cell List Identifier Paging Performance

No IE present Paging performed in all cells conĆ

IE indicates all cells
Error in IE
IE indicated specific cell(s)
IE indicates specific location area(s)
trolled by BSC
Paging performed in all cells conĆ
trolled by BSC
Paging performed in all cells conĆ
trolled by BSC
Paging performed in only those cells
specified
Paging performed in all cells of each
location area specified

The BSC calculates the paging group of the MS for each cell and
the CCCH timeslot. It then sends a paging_command message to
each BTS, indicating the CCCH timeslot number, MS paging
group and the MS identity (IMSI/TMSI).
The BTS builds a paging_request_type_x message to send to the
MS. There are three types of paging request messages, as the BTS
can page more than one MS at a time. Table 5 shows the
relationship between the paging message type, the number of
MSs to be paged and the MS Identification (ID) used.

       


Paging Request MS Identification
Message

Type_1, identifying up to IMSI or TMSI (for 1 MS)

two MSs
IMSI, IMSI or TMSI, TMSI or IMSI, TMSI (for two
MSs)
Type_2, identifying three TMSI, TMSI, TMSI or
MSs
TMSI, TMSI, IMSI
Type_3, identifying four TMSI, TMSI, TMSI, TMSI
MSs

By using a combination of paging message types, several MSs can

be simultaneously paged. This is done even if some MSs are
paged using the IMSI and others are paged using the TMSI.
The paging_request messages are stored in a buffer, while
waiting to be sent on the relevant PCH subchannel. If this buffer
becomes full, the next paging_command message is discarded.

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When the MS receives the paging_request message, it sends a

channel_request message to initiate the immediate assign
procedure. The service request message following the immediate
assign procedure indicated that the channel_request is in
response to a paging request message. This is shown in
Figure 22.

MS BTS BSC MSC

IMMEDIATE ASSIGNMENT PROCEDURE

Refer to Figure 14

REF = Random access information value

RFN = Reduced frame number
TA = Timing Advance

  

 
  

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2.5 Congestion
To prevent an assignment_request or an external
handover_request message being rejected, the BSS allows
queueing of TCH requests. Congestion occurs when all TCHs are
busy for a particular cell and the message arrives at the BSC.
Queueing is allowed if indicated by the MSC in the request
message.

2.5.1 Queueing
Queueing is used to achieve a higher rate of successful call set up
and external handover completion in cases of TCH congestion.
This is achieved by queueing the request for a defined period of
time. During this time a TCH can become available and the TCH
assignment can then be completed.
When all TCHs of a cell are busy, assignment and external
handover requests for TCH allocation can be queued, if:

Requested by the MSC
If the MSC allows queueing, this information and the priority
of the request for queueing are sent in the Priority Information
Element of the request.

Configured in the BSC
The BTS can perform queueing if specified in the BSC
configuration. BTS queueing can be enabled/disabled by an
operator command through the OMCĆR. Setting the



  parameter to 0 disables the queueing.
If either the MSC or BSC does not allow the request to be queued,
the request is immediately rejected and an assignment_failure
message is sent to the MSC.

2.5.2 InĆqueue
If queueing is allowed, the request cannot be queued if one of the
two queue limits is exceeded. These limits are:

The maximum number of requests that can be queued per
BTS if defined by the O&M parameter


 . The
range is from 1 to 64. This can be individually set for each
BTS.

The global limit of 64 queued requests in the BSS. The sum of
all BTS queue lengths cannot exceed 64.

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When one of the queue limits is exceeded, the request may still be
queued if there is a lower priority request in the queue. If the
priority of the inĆcoming request is higher than the lowest in the
queue, the inĆcoming request is queued and the oldest lowest
priority request is then rejected.
Once a request is queued, the BSC informs the MSC by sending a
queueing_indication message.
A timer is activated when the request is queued. If the timer
expires or the request is preĆempted by a higher priority request,
the request is rejected.
Once in the queue, the request waits to be either accepted or
rejected due to one of the following events:

TCH availability

Forced Directed Retry.
  
 If another TCH disconnects within the cell, the request at the top of
the queue is assigned to the newly available TCH. The request is
removed from the queue. An assignment_complete message is
sent to the MSC notifying it of the successful assignment of a TCH.
       Forced Directed Retry; the BSC detects that the call can be
supported on another cell.
If the BSC detects the possibility of a handover for the queued
request, it generates an internal or external handover alarm and
initiates the appropriate handover procedure. A handover from an
SDCCH in the serving cell to a TCH in a target cell is known as
directed retry. This is described in Section 3.3.
On detection of the handover alarm, the BSC cancels the queued
request, stops the timer and selects a neighbor cell in the target
cell list. The target cell must be able to support the ciphering
requirements of the call. Once a cell is selected, a TCH is chosen
and a handover is attempted (SDCCH->TCH). If the handover
fails, another cell is chosen from the target cell list. This procedure
continues until a successful handover or the handover limit
(number of handover attempts allowed) is exceeded.
The MSC is notified of a successful handover by an
assignment_complete message. The direct retry finishes if the
number of handover attempts is exceeded, or there are no more
cells left in the target cell list. Finally an assignment_failure
message is sent to the MSC indicating that there are no radio
resources available.

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A higher priority request arrives in the queue
If one of the queue limits is exceeded and the request is the oldest
of the lowest priority requests in the queue, the request is rejected.
An assignment_reject message is sent to the MSC indicating that
there are no radio resources available.
  If the timer expires, the request is deĆqueued and rejected. An
assignment_reject message is sent to the MSC indicating that
there are no radio resources available.

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2.6 Classmark Handling

The MS classmark contains information about the MS type and
capabilities. This information is used by the BSS when
implementing procedures which affect an MS, such as:

Handover

Power Control

Ciphering

Overload Control

Location Updating.
MSs of different types have different capabilities within the
network. It is essential that the network knows the MS classmark
when initiating procedures for a specific MS.
There are three entities which provide classmark handling as
shown in Table 6.

     

Entity Classmark handling

BSS Performed by the BSC which is responsible for

collecting the classmark data needed to perform
procedures on the MS.
MSC Indicates the MS classmark data to the BSC for
MSC initiated procedures.
MS The BSS is informed of any classmark changes and
information is sent on request from the BSS.

 The BSS can receive MS classmark information from both the MSC
and the MS. The information from the MS overrides information
from the MSC.

2.6.1 Classmark IE
The Alcatel 900/1800 BSS supports classmark 1 and classmark 2
IEs. The classmark 1 IE is always sent to the BSS when the MS tries
to establish communication.

   The classmark 1 IE contains:

The revision Level

The RF Power Level

Support of A5/1 Encryption.

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Classmark 2 The classmark 2 IE is defined in GSM to allow the coding of phase

2 capabilities such as the A5/2 ciphering algorithm. The
classmark contains the same elements as the classmark 1 IE, plus
support of A5/2 encryption.

Revision Level The revision level indicates either a phase 1 or phase 2 MS. It
does not distinguish between phase 1 and phase 1 extended MSs.
If there is an error in this field, then a default phase 1 is assumed.

RF Power Level The RF Power Level indicates the MS power capability.

For Alcatel 900:

Class 1 = 20W

Class 2 = 8W

Class 3 = 5W

Class 4 = 2W

Class 5 = 0.8W.
For Alcatel 1800:

Class 1 = 1W

Class 2 = 0.25W.
The value is not permitted if there is an error in this field. The
result of this is that the MS power capability is assumed to be the
same as the maximum transmit power allowed in the cell.

Support of A5/1 This field indicates whether or not the MS supports the A5/1
Encryption encryption algorithm. If the A5/1 encryption algorithm is not
supported, there is no indication of other algorithms being
supported.

Support of A5/2 This field indicates whether or not the MS supports the A5/2
Encryption encryption algorithm. If the A5/2 encryption algorithm is not
supported, there is no indication of other algorithms being
supported.

Impact on BSS and MSC
The main difference between classmarks for the BSS or MSC is the
support of the encryption algorithms. For procedures that require
ciphering, the BSS and MSC can not know the MS ciphering
capability if only the classmark 1 IE has been received. Therefore,
there is a classmark updating procedure.

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2.6.2 Classmark Updating

Further classmark information may be required by the BSS or MSC
when initiating a procedure which needs to encrypt information.
The MS can also send updated information if, for example, its
power capability changes. This means that the updating of
classmark information can be initiated from the:

MS by sending a classmark_change message to the BSC
which sends a classmark_update message to the MSC.

BSC by sending a classmark_enquiry message through the
BTS to the MS. The MS responds with a classmark_change
message.

MSC by sending a classmark_request message to the BSC.
This prompts the BSC to send a classmark_enquiry message
to the MS which responds with a classmark_change
message.
The classmark_change message from the MS is passed through
the BTS to the BSC. The BSC stores the information for its own use
and forwards the information to the MSC. Depending on the
network type and configuration, the classmark update is not
always required. Therefore, the Alcatel 900/1800 BSS has a
parameter in the BSC (Parameter:  
)
which can be configured. Table 7 shows the possible
configurations.

   

Parameter Value Action

0 The classmark_enquiry message is never initiated

by the BSC.
1 The BSC always initiates a classmark update when it
receives a location update request.
2 The BSC only initiates a classmark update on recepĆ
tion of a location update request if A5/1 is not availĆ
able. This is worked out from the classmark 1 IE.

If the system requests a classmark update to a phase 1 MS, the

MS is not able to respond. It considers the message an error and
sends an RR_status message. This message is ignored by the BSS
and is not passed to the MSC.

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2.6.3 Location Updating with Classmark Procedure

If the MS is a phase 1 extended or phase 2 MS, it can send
classmark update information on request from the BSS or MSC.
Because the BSS does not know the MS ciphering capability from
the classmark 1 IE, updating is required. This is received when the
MS establishes the LAPDm connection, as shown in Figure 23.

MS BTS BSC MSC

IMMEDIATE ASSIGN PROCEDURE

Refer to Figure 12
switch to
SDCCH

AUTHENTICATION AND CIPHERING PROCEDURES

Refer to Sections 2.7 and 2.8

cm = Classmark

    
   


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The MS initiates a location update procedure by sending a

channel_request message on the RACH.
The BSS performs the immediate assign procedure, as described
in Section 2.2.
The MS establishes the LAPDm link and sends the location update
request and classmark 1 IE. The BTS sends an
establish_indication message to the BSC, containing the location
update request and classmark 1 IE.
The BSC uses the classmark to send MS power control information
to the BTS to start power control. It stores the classmark
information and requests an SCCP connection with the MSC.
When the BSC receives an SCCP_connection_confirm message,
it sends a classmark_enquiry message to the MS.
The MS responds with a classmark_change message containing
the classmark 2 IE. This information is passed to the MSC in a
classmark_updating message. If the MS is a phase 1 MS, it
responds with an RR_status message which is ignored by the BSS.
In this case, the BSS sets ciphering with the information available
from the classmark 1 IE.
The MSC initiates the authentication procedure and on receipt of
the authentication response message, initiates the ciphering
procedure. Refer to Section 2.8 for more information about
ciphering.
When ciphering is set, the MSC can accept the location update.

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2.7 Authentication
The authentication procedure ensures that the subscriber
identification (IMSI, TMSI) and the IMEI are valid. The system
behavior for nonĆvalid identifications is at the discretion of the
Network Operator. The procedure also validates the Ki value in
the MS, and sends the RAND which is used to calculate the
ciphering key.

 When the subscriber accesses the network for the first time, the
subscription is identified by the IMSI sent in the
location_updating_request message. When the NSS has
performed authentication and set the ciphering mode, the VLR
assigns a TMSI, in an encrypted format over the Air interface.
The next time the subscriber connects to the system, it uses the
TMSI as its identification. If the MS has changed location area, it
includes the old LAI. The new VLR interrogates the old VLR for the
authentication information (IMSI and Ki value). The new VLR then
assigns a new TMSI. This is shown in Figure 24.
New TMSIs can be assigned by the serving VLR at any time. The
subscriber identity is secure because the TMSI is always ciphered
and changed regularly.

BTS BSC MSC VLR

MS

MS moving and connecting info IMSI +

in a new location area request KG

service request + TMSI + old LAI

new TMSI MSC VLR

BTS BSC

MS

          

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2 Call Set Up

 
The authentication procedure is initiated by the NSS. It sends an

  authentication_request message to the MS and sets a guard
timer. This message contains:

Parameters for the MS to calculate the response

A ciphering key sequence number.
The ciphering key is calculated from the Ki value assigned to the
IMSI or TMSI and the value RAND.
The MS responds using the RAND and the value Ki assigned to its
TMSI or IMSI.
For MS originated calls, the MS uses:

The TMSI, if available

The IMSI, if no TMSI is assigned.
For MS terminated calls, the MS uses the TMSI or IMSI as
requested in the paging message from the network.
For emergency calls, the MS uses:

The TMSI, if available

The IMSI, if no TMSI is assigned

The IMEI, if there is no TMSI or IMSI. This can happen when
there is no SIM in the MS.
When the MS sends the authentication_response message, the
NSS stops its guard timer and validates the response.
If the MS response is not valid, the network response depends on
whether the TMSI or IMSI was used:

If the TMSI was used, the network can request that the MS
sends its IMSI.

If this is a valid IMSI, but is different from the the IMSI that the
network associated with the TMSI, the authentication
procedure is restarted with the correct parameters.

If the IMSI is invalid, the network sends an
authentication_reject message to the MS.

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 2 Call Set Up

2.8 Ciphering
Ciphering is supported in the Alcatel 900/1800 BSS to protect
information transmitted on the Air interface. This includes:

Subscriber information such as the IMSI

User data

SMS and SS data

Information such as called and calling party numbers.
Ciphering protects the information by using encryption. There are
three different ciphering modes, the use of which depends on the
MS classmark and the capability of the BTS. These modes are:

Encryption using algorithm A5/1

Encryption using algorithm A5/2

No encryption.
The two encryption algorithms are defined in GSM. If either is to
be used, both the MS and BTS must have the same encryption
capability.
  
 The MS ciphering capability depends on whether it is a phase 1
MS, a phase 1 extended MS, or a phase 2 MS. Table 8 shows the
different MS ciphering capabilities.

    
  
MS Type Capability

Phase 1 No encryption and A5/1

Phase 1 Extended No encryption and A5/1 and A5/2
Phase 2 No encryption
No encryption and A5/1
No encryption and A5/2
No encryption and A5/1 and A5/2

Only phase 2 MSs can turn off ciphering or change the ciphering
mode during a channel change procedure such as a handover.
The ciphering capability of an MS is signalled to the BSS in the MS
Classmark.

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2 Call Set Up

  
 The Alcatel 900/1800 BSS supports both uniform ciphering
network configurations and mixed ciphering network
configurations.
A cell can be configured to support one of the following:

No encryption

No encryption and the A5/1 algorithm

No encryption and the A5/2 algorithm.
A uniform ciphering network configuration is where all cells have
the same ciphering capability.
A mixed ciphering network configuration is where the cells have
different ciphering capabilities.

2.8.1 Ciphering Keys

The encryption used on the Air interface is provided by the
physical layer hardware. This means that it does not distinguish
between signalling and user traffic; therefore, the entire bit stream
is encrypted.
The encryption pattern added to the bit stream is calculated by the
algorithm A5/1 or A5/2, using a ciphering key.
For maximum security, the value of the Ciphering Key (Kc) is not a
fixed value. It is calculated separately by the Home Location
Register, BSC and the MS for each call. This means that the value
Kc is never transmitted on the Air interface.
The value Kc must be the same in the HLR, BSC and the MS. It is
calculated using:

A value Ki, which is assigned to the IMSI when the user
subscribed to the service

A RAND, sent from the MSC during the authentication
procedure.
The resulting value Kc is used to decipher the encrypted bit stream
on the downlink, by the MS, and on the uplink, by the BTS.

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 2 Call Set Up

2.8.2 Ciphering Procedure


   
 The ciphering chosen by the BSC for a call depends on:

The algorithms that the Network Operator allows in the
network. This information is sent in the permitted_algorithm
message from the MSC during ciphering or external handover
procedures.

The ciphering capability of the MS. This information is sent to
the BSC in the MS classmark.

The ciphering capability of the BTS being used to set up the
call.
If the MS capability is not compatible with that of the BTS or is not
allowed by the Network Operator, then the BSC sets ciphering
with no encryption.

   
 Ciphering is initiated by the MSC by sending a cipher_mode
 command to the BSC. This command contains the
permitted_algorithms message.
The BSC compares the permitted algorithms with the MS
classmark and the BTS capability. If they match, the BSC sends an
encryption_command message to the BTS containing the value
Kc and the algorithm to be used. If there is no match and 'no
encryption' is permitted, the BSC sends the encryption_command
to the BTS indicating 'no encryption'.
If the BTS and MS capabilities are not compatible and the MSC
does not allow the 'no encryption' option, then the BSC sends a
cipher_mode_reject message to the MSC.
The BTS sends the ciphering_mode command on the SDCCH to
the MS indicating the algorithm or 'no encryption'. If encryption is
to be used the BTS sets its decryption mode ready to receive
encrypted frames from the MS.
The MS either:

Starts the encryption and sends an encrypted layer 2
acknowledgement message to the BTS. This prompts the BTS
to start encryption mode for frames sent to the MS.

Sends an unencrypted level 2 acknowledgement to the BTS.
The MS sends a ciphering_mode_complete message to the BTS
which is passed transparently to the BSC. The BSC sends a
cipher_mode_complete message to the MSC.

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2 Call Set Up

This process is shown in Figure 25.

MS BTS BSC MSC

algorithm or
no encryption


   
 



 
 Only phase 2 MSs can change ciphering mode during a
 handover. If a phase 2 MS using the A5/1 algorithm is handed
over to a cell which supports A5/2 and 'no encryption', the BSC
instructs the target BTS to set the new ciphering algorithm and
sends the value Kc.
If a phase 1 MS using the A5/1 algorithm needs to be handed
over, the target cell must support A5/1, as the phase 1 MS cannot
change ciphering mode. For mixed ciphering networks, it is
normal that the initial cipher_mode command from the MSC only
allows a phase 1 MS to use the 'no encryption' option, as this is
supported by all cells.

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 3 Call Handling

3 Call Handling
This chapter provides an overview of Call Handling and describes
the supervision of a call in progress. The following specific areas
are described:

InĆcall modification
The process of changing from and to data and speech, and
the implications for the system.

Handover procedures
Handover procedures, the underlying reasons for handover,
and the measurements used to detect the need for handover.

Overload conditions.

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3 Call Handling

3.1 Overview
The Call Handling function is used for the supervision of calls in
progress. Call Handling uses the InĆCall Modification, Handover
and Overload Control processes to implement (inĆcall
modification) possible changes in the required teleservice. It also
performs changes from one channel to another for active calls as
the MS moves from cell to cell. Another area of supervision is the
monitoring of the BTS and BSC for signalling saturation (Overload
Control).

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3.2 InĆCall Modification

InĆcall modification allows the teleservice to be changed during a
call. This means that a call does not have to be cleared, and a
new call established, if more than one teleservice is to be used.
The different types of inĆcall modification are:

Alternate between speech and a transparent data service

Alternate between speech and a nonĆtransparent data service

Change from speech to a transparent data service

Change from speech to a nonĆtransparent data service

Alternate between speech and transparent fax group 3

Alternate between speech and nonĆtransparent fax group 3

Data rate change for transparent fax group 3

Data rate change for nonĆtransparent fax group 3.
Calls requiring a change of service have to negotiate a
'dualĆservice' before the normal assignment procedure. This is
indicated in the 
 message, which is described in Chapter 2.

 Changing the data rate of a fax call is not a true inĆcall
modification procedure, as the teleservice is not changed (no
dualĆservice negotiation).
The main difference between the inĆcall modification procedure
and a change of data rate for fax are as follows:

The inĆcall modification procedure is triggered by a message
from the MS

The data rate change for fax is triggered by inĆband
signalling from the fax machine to the MSC.
Both procedures use existing resources, therefore no new
resources need to be allocated. All fullĆrate traffic channels can be
used for speech or data at any of the defined data rates.
Both procedures use the mode 'modify procedure' to change the
transmission mode. This is basically a normal assignment
procedure but instead of a new channel being assigned, a new
mode is assigned.

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3.2.1 InĆCall Modification Procedure

InĆcall modification is initiated from an MS. This can occur during
a call to a correspondent on the public telephone network or to an
MS.
    For an MS to MS call, both MSs must negotiate a dual service
during call establishment.
The MS initiates the procedure by sending a layer 3 CC modify
message to the MSC, indicating the new mode. If the data call
direction is different to the original call set up, then this message
contains an indicator to reverse the call direction. The MS starts a
guard timer for the procedure.
The MSC checks the modify message. If it can accept the mode
change, it starts the normal assignment procedure by sending an
assignment_request message and starting a guard timer. This
message contains a channel type (  or 
 plus 
 
).
The BSS handles the normal assignment procedure as if assigning
a TCH during call set up (described in Chapter 2), with the
following exceptions:

When the BSC has checked and accepted the
assignment_request message, it does not assign a new TCH.
This is because it already has a TCH assigned for the
transaction. The transaction is identified by the SCCP
connection on which the assignment_request message was
received.

The channel_activation and
channel_activation_acknowledge messages are replaced
by the mode_modify and mode_modify acknowledge
messages.
When the MSC receives the assignment_complete message from
the BSC, it sends a layer 3 CC modify_complete message to the
MS. This informs the MS that the procedure is successfully
completed, and the MS can start transmitting in the new mode.

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 3 Call Handling

3.2.2 Group 3 Fax Data Rate Change

Group 3 facsimile equipment can change the data transmission
speed to reduce the error rate. Fax data rates can be:

9600 bit/s

4800 bit/s

2400 bit/s

1200 bit/s.
The Alcatel 900/1800 BSS supports both transparent and
nonĆtransparent fax transmission. The BSS supports the Group 3
fax data rate change by:

InĆband signalling for nonĆtransparent fax

The mode modify procedure for transparent fax.

   For nonĆtransparent fax transmission, the data rate change is

   handled within the BSS, using inĆband signalling. This means that
the frame size is signalled in the frame by a "frame delimiter"
field. The Radio Link Protocol (RLP) in the BTS uses this information
to control the data flow on the Air interface. The BSS does not
need to change the channel mode.
   Transparent fax frames are passed transparently through the BSS.

   Therefore, inĆband signalling cannot be used within the BSS. The
Group 3 fax equipment informs the MSC of a data rate change
using inĆband signalling. The MSC then initiates a mode modify
procedure using the assignment_request message.
This procedure is the same as the mode modify procedure for
inĆcall modification, except that the MSC does not send a layer 3
Call Control mode_modify_complete message. This is because
the procedure was not triggered by a layer 3 CC modify message
from the MS. When the MSC receives the assignment_complete
message from the BSC, it sets the new data rate to the
correspondent.

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3.2.3 Error Handling

The Alcatel 900/1800 BSS tries to provide the highest level of
service at all times. In general, if errors occur during an inĆcall
modification, the BSS tries to revert to the old mode to keep the
call active.
 
 For example, if the MS does not reply to the
  channel_mode_modify message from the BSC, it is assumed that
it is still active but in the old mode. The BTS, however, has set the
new mode. The BSC sends a mode_modify message to the BTS
indicating the old mode. If the BTS acknowledges that it has
reverted to the old mode, the call is kept active.

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 3 Call Handling

3.3 Handover
A handover changes an active call from one channel to another.
The new channel can be in the same cell or in a neighbor cell.
The types of handover are:

Internal

External

Directed retry
 Internal
 External.
Handovers ensure a high level of call quality. They are performed
when the BSS detects that the call quality has dropped below a
defined level, and the call can be better supported by a different
channel.
The call quality can drop due to problems in the cell, such as an
interface or an equipment problem. Call quality can also be
affected simply because the MS has moved to an area where the
radio coverage from another cell is better.
The BSS detects the need for a handover by:

Measuring the Air interface channel quality, MS and BTS
power outputs and the timing advance

Using an algorithm to see if the received information
conforms to the criteria for handover

Selecting a more suitable channel from a list of target cells
and their available channels.
If the BSS decides that a handover is required, the exact sequence
of events depends on the type of handover to be performed. In all
cases:

A new channel is assigned, ready to support the call

The MS moves over to the new channel

On successful completion of the handover, the system clears
the resources for the old channel.

 Internal handovers take place between cells controlled by the

same BSC. This can include channel changes within the same
cell. More details about these handover cases is given in
Section 3.3.3.

 External Handovers take place between cells controlled by

different BSC's. These can be under control of the same MSC or
of different MSCs. See Section 3.3.3 for more details about these
handover cases.

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3 Call Handling

   
Handovers can also be performed when there is congestion in a
cell. If congestion exists, the TCH assignment can be queued. For
more information about congestion management, refer to
Section 2.5.
If there is no available TCH for the normal assignment procedure,
a Directed Retry can be performed. A Directed Retry is an attempt
to assign an MS to a TCH in a cell other than the serving cell.
There are two types of Directed Retry:

An Internal Directed Retry without queueing attempts to
handover the call to a TCH of a neighbor cell controlled by
the same BSC.

An External Directed Retry attempts to handover the queued
call to a TCH of a neighbor cell which is controlled by a
different BSC.
For more information on Directed Retry, refer to the   


 document.

3.3.1 Radio Measurements

The BTS constantly monitors the radio link by:

Measuring the received signal strength for active channels

Measuring the received signal quality for active and inactive
channels

Measuring the received signal timing for active channels

Collecting signal strength and quality measurements from the
MS for the active channel

Collecting adjacent cell BCCH signal strength measurements
from the MS (adjacent cell BCCH frequencies are sent to the
MS in the sys_info 5 message on the SACCH).
The MS sends its measurements to the BTS in a layer 3 Radio
Resource (RR) measurement_report message on the SACCH. The
MS and BTS measurements are passed to the BSC in a layer 3 RR
measurement_result message. These messages are sent once
per multiframe and are processed by the BSC. The BSC uses this
information to:

Perform power control for the BTS and MS

Calculate whether a handover is needed

Make TCH quality tables

Make the target cell list

Make a handover decision.

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 3 Call Handling

  BTS and MS power control is described in Section 5.2.2. From a
handover point of view, no handover decision is taken because of
signal quality until the power levels have been set to maximum.

  
  The BSC calculates the need for a handover using an algorithm,
the use of which is described in Section 3.3.2.

 

 The BSC uses the uplink idle channel measurements made by the
BTS to make a table of TCH channels, classified by interference
levels. This table is used to select a channel for assignment.

   A target cell list can be made by the BSC using the neighbor cell
BCCH measurements sent by the MS. This is used to evaluate
whether a neighbor cell can provide a better channel than the
existing one.


   Handover decision is based on averaged measurements and the
results are averaged over a period of time. For example, the BSC
detects the need for a handover, based on one measurement that
may have been caused by freak conditions changing the signal
propagation for a short period. This measurement is averaged
with other measurements and a handover decision may or may
not result, depending on the other measurements.

3.3.2 Handover Detection

Each time the BSC processes a set of Air interface measurements,
it checks whether a handover is needed. If the need for a
handover is detected, it triggers the target cell evaluation process,
see Section 3.3.3.
If the handover algorithm in the BSC detects the need for a
handover, it produces a handover alarm. As the target cell
evaluation is handled by the BSC, this alarm is also handled
internally by the BSC. The alarm includes a cause value used by
the BSC to evaluate which type of handover is required. There are
five basic categories of handover:

Quality and Level Handover

Better Zone Handover

Better Cell Handover (Power Budget)

Distance Handover

Mobile Velocity Dependent Handover.

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3 Call Handling

Quality and Level Handover

These handovers are used to keep an active call connected when
the signal quality falls below a defined threshold. If a handover is
not performed, a radio link failure may be detected and the call
cleared. This type of handover can be caused by the following
events:

Quality level too low on the uplink or downlink

Signal level too low on the uplink or downlink

Interference level too high on the uplink or downlink

Signal level too low on the uplink or downlink compared to
low threshold (microcells only)

Signal level too low on the uplink or downlink compared to
high threshold (microcells only)

Several consecutive bad SACCH frames received (microcells
only)

Signal level too low on the uplink or downlink inner cell
(concentric cells only).
Microcell handovers are described in detail in Section 7.5.2. Refer
to Section 7.2 for more information on concentric cells.
If the received signal level or the received signal quality is too low,
the BSC performs BTS and MS power control to try and achieve
the optimum level/quality ratio. This is described in Section 5.2.2.

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 3 Call Handling

Figure 26 shows a graph of received signal level and received

signal quality. The hatched areas show where power control is
successful. The solid gray shaded areas show where power
control fails to achieve the desired level/quality ratio. These areas
are where the BSC detects the need for a handover.

High Quality

ÉÉÉÉ
ÉÉÉÉ ÈÈÈÈÈÈ
ÈÈÈÈÈÈ
Level
ÉÉÉÉ
ÉÉÉÉ ÈÈÈÈÈÈ
Power

ÈÈÈÈÈÈ
Desired
Intercell Increase Quality
Power
Decrease to

ÉÉÉÉ ÈÈÈÈÈÈ
Handover to and Level Conserve

ÉÉÉÉ ÈÈÈÈÈÈ
Received Improve Balance Resources
Signal Level (no action and Minimize
Quality
ÉÉÉÉ
ÉÉÉÉ ÈÈÈÈÈÈ
ÈÈÈÈÈÈ
needed) Interference

ËËËËËËËËËË
ÉÉÉÉ ÈÈÈÈÈÈ
ËËËËËËËËËË
ÉÉÉÉ Power Increase to

ËËËËËËËËËË
ÉÉÉÉ improve quality

Quality Intercell Quality Intracell

Handover Handover
Low Quality High
Low Level Level
Received Signal Level

    

 


 
 The Level Intercell Handover area represents the range of

 measurements where the received signal quality is acceptable, but
the received signal level is too low. If the power output levels are
already set to the maximum allowed in the cell, the BSC generates
a handover alarm with a cause value indicating the reason for
handover. Although the quality of the signal is acceptable (and
may be very good), the call is in danger of being lost if the signal
level drops rapidly, causing a radio link failure.
The handover is an intercell handover, as the serving cell cannot
support the call at the required power level. The call is handed
over to a channel in a cell which can support the call at the
required level and quality.

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3 Call Handling


  

The Quality Intercell Handover area represents the range of

 measurements where both the receive signal quality and the
received signal level are too low. If the power output levels are
already set to the maximum allowed in the cell, the BSC generates
a handover alarm with a cause value indicating the reason for the
handover.
The handover is an intercell handover, as the serving cell cannot
support the call at the required quality and power level. The call is
handed over to a channel in a cell which can support the call at
the required quality and level.


  

The Quality Intracell Handover area represents the range of

 measurements where the received signal quality is too low, but the
received signal level is acceptable. This situation is caused by
interference on the channel, so the call is handed over to another
channel in the same cell.

Better Zone Handover

This is used in concentric cell configurations when the MS moves
into the inner zone. If the inner zone has a free channel, an
interzone handover is triggered. This enables the MS to be
supported on a channel requiring a lower power level, therefore
creating less interference in the cell. The detection of this type of
handover is performed on signal level measurements only
(SACCH of serving cell, BCCH of adjacent cells). This is shown in
Figure 27. This type of handover can be caused by the signal level
being too high on the uplink and downlink outer zone (concentric
cells only).

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 3 Call Handling

High Power
Outer Zone

Low Power
Inner Zone

MS Handed
Over to
Low Power
Zone

 

 
 


Better Cell Handover

This is used to handover the MS to a cell which can support the
call using lower BTS and MS power levels. The algorithm in the
BSC calculates the power levels for the current cell, and the power
levels required by adjacent cells from the adjacent cell information
sent by the MS. This is shown in Figure 28.
This type of handover is often referred to as a power budget
handover, as it uses the Power Budget (PBGT) parameter to detect
whether an adjacent cell can be used. If the PBGT for an adjacent
cell gives a 'better' reading for a certain amount of time (a
defined number of SACCH frames), then a handover alarm is
produced. This type of handover can be caused by the following
events:

Power budget is greater than handover margin threshold

High signal level in neighbor microcell (macrocell to microcell
handover).

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3 Call Handling

BSS 1 = Best Cell BSS 2 = Best Cell

Serving Cell Target Cell

BSS 1 BSS 2

Zone for Power Budget Handover

from BSS 1 to BSS 2
         
   

Distance Handover
This handover occurs when the propagation delay between the
BTS and the MS is considered excessive. The MS is considered to
be too far from the BTS and needs to be served by a closer BTS.
This is shown in Figure 29.
Under normal circumstances, as the MS moves away from a BTS,
a Quality and Level or Better Cell handover takes place. However,
under certain conditions which change the propagation qualities
of a signal, a cell can provide a very high quality signal outside of
the normal operating range of the serving cell. These propagation
qualities are often due to climactic conditions which can change
suddenly. If the high quality signal 'disappears' due to a change
in the weather, the call would be lost. The distance handover
ensures that this does not happen by handing the MS over to a
'closer' cell once a distance limit is exceeded. This type of
handover is caused by too great a distance between the MS and
the Base Station (BS).

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 3 Call Handling

ÎÎÎÎÎÎÎ
ÎÎÎÎÎÎÎ
ÎÎÎÎÎÎÎ
ÎÎÎÎÎÎÎ
ÎÎÎÎÎÎÎ
ÎÎÎÎÎÎÎ
BSS 1
ÎÎÎÎÎÎÎ BSS 2

ÎÎÎÎÎÎÎ
ÎÎÎÎÎÎÎ
ÎÎÎÎÎÎÎ
ÎÎÎÎÎÎÎ

Area of Normal Distance Handover

Cell Boundaries Area from BSS1 to BSS2

  
 


Mobile Velocity Dependent Handover

In a hierarchical cell structure, where mini or microcells are
overlaid by an umbrella cell (macrocell), fast moving MSs are
handled by the upper layer cell.
Discrimination of the speed of an MS is based on the dwell time of
that MS in a lower layer cell. Depending on the time elapsed in
the serving cell, the call is transferred to the lower layer cell or the
umbrella cell.
If the dwell time in the serving cell is above the threshold, the MS
is considered slow moving and is sent to the lower layer cell that
triggered the handover.
If the dwell time is below the threshold, the MS is considered fast
moving. To prevent a high number of handovers between the
smaller lower layer cells, the call is sent to the umbrella cell.
Dwell time is only calculated if there has been a power budget
handover from another lower layer cell. This is to avoid sending a
call to the umbrella cell in the following cases:

A call initiated at the limit of the lower layer cell

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3 Call Handling

A call transferred from the umbrella cell to the lower layer

cell, just before reaching the limit of that cell

After an external handover, when there is no information on
the preceding cell and handover cause.
Whatever the dwell time, any emergency handover sends the call
to the umbrella cell, which acts as the rescue cell.
The load on the umbrella cell is taken into consideration when
determining the threshold at which handovers are performed.
Saturation of the umbrella cell can cause the loss of calls, when a
handover is required from another umbrella cell or a lower layer
cell.
As the load on the umbrella cell increases, the dwell time
threshold is increased, keeping some MSs in the lower layer cells.
When the load on the umbrella cell is very high, speed
discrimination is disabled, and priority is given to the load in the
umbrella cell. Figure 30 shows a graph of umbrella cell load and
minimum dwell time.

Load in Umbrella Cell

Speed
Macrocell discrimination
saturated disabled
High load
Traffic
regulation

Low load
Max speed
Macrocell with
discrimination
little traffic
in force

Minimum Dwell Time

Low minimum High minimum
dwell time dwell time

 
        


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 3 Call Handling

3.3.3 Target Cell Evaluation

Cell evaluation is performed by the BSC. Once a handover alarm
is detected within the BSC, it evaluates the neighbor cells and
compiles a list of possible target cells. The serving cell can be on
the target cell list.
The cells are evaluated and ranked by preference, calculated by
one of the two algorithms, ORDER or GRADE. The Network
Operator chooses which algorithm is to be used on a cellĆbyĆcell
basis.
The BSC tries to handover to the most suitable cell. If this cell is
controlled by the BSC, the BSC handles the handover procedure.
If the target cell is controlled by another BSC, the serving BSC
sends a handover_request message to the MSC.
  The exact calculation performed to choose the target cell depends
on the algorithm used and the cause of the handover alarm.
The target cell is chosen taking into account the following criteria:

Received signal level

Power budget

Number of free channels

Relative load on the traffic channel of the cell

Maximum power allowed in cell


 parameter

MS distance from target BTS

Handover cause.
The 
 parameter is an O&M parameter set by the
Network Operator. It is used to prevent a call being continually
handed over between two cells. For example, following a power
budget handover, the new cell immediately starts power budget
calculations for its neighbor cells. It may find that the original cell
is giving a better power budget reading and try to hand back
immediately. This effect can be caused by slight climactic changes
which affect the propagation of signals. It is known as the
'pingĆpong' effect. The 
 parameter stops a call being
handed back to a cell from which it has just been handed over.
There is also an O&M parameter, 
which can be set
by the OMCĆR operator, to add a weighting for the power budget
parameters of cells controlled by another BSC. Refer to

   for more information.
The target cell chosen also depends on the MS classmark (see
Section 2.6) and its compatibility with the BTS's ciphering
capabilities (see Section 2.8).

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3 Call Handling

The procedures initiated to handover a call depend on which cell

has been chosen as the target cell.
    If the target cell and the serving cell are the same, the call is
handed over to a channel in the same cell. This is an intracell
handover. This type of handover is most commonly due to
interference in the cell. It is controlled by the BSC.
  

 If the target cell is not the same as the serving cell but is controlled
   by the same BSC, this is called an intercell intraBSS handover. This
handover is normally controlled by the BSC. However, the
Network Operator can specify that this type of handover is
controlled by the MSC.
   

 If the target cell and the serving cell are not controlled by the

 same BSC, but the two BSC are controlled by the same MSC, this
is called an interBSS intraMSC handover. This handover is
controlled by the MSC.
   

 If the target cell and the serving cell are controlled by different
 
 BSCs and the two BSCs are controlled by different MSCs, this is
called an interBSS interMSC handover. The control of this
handover is shared between the MSCs.
Handovers controlled by the BSC are called internal handovers.
Handovers controlled by the MSC are called external handovers.

3.3.4 Synchronous and Asynchronous Handover

The handover to the target cell can be synchronous or
asynchronous. A synchronous handover can be performed if the
master clocks of the serving cell and the target cell are
synchronized. This is the case when:

The serving cell and the target cell are the same cell

The BTSs of the serving cell and the target cell are in a
collocated configuration.
BTSs in a collocated configuration take the clock pulse from one
BTS in the configuration.
For a synchronous handover, the MS does not have to
resynchronize with the target BTS. Therefore, the physical context
procedure for power levels and timing advance does not have to
be performed after the MS accesses the target cell.
For an asynchronous handover, the MS has to synchronize with the
target cell before transmitting any user traffic.

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 3 Call Handling

Synchronous Internal Handover

This Section describes the message flow for a synchronous internal
handover. The example in Figure 31 is for a handover of a TCH
between two separate cells controlled by two BTSs in a collocated
configuration.

 The MS and BTS take measurements on the Air interface as

 described above. The MS sends measurement information to the
BTS in a measurement_report message. The BTS sends MS and
BTS measurements to the BSC in a measurement_results
message.


   The BSC detects the need for a handover and creates a handover
alarm indicating the reason for the handover. The BSC evaluates
possible target cells and creates a cell list. For this example, the
first cell on the list (target cell) is a cell controlled by this BSC and
the BTSs of both serving and target cell are collocated. Once this
cell is chosen, the BSC initiates the synchronous internal handover
procedure.
The BSC sends a physical_context_request message to the
serving BTS, requesting current timing advance and power level
information. This information is passed to the target BTS.
The serving BTS responds with a physical_context_confirm
message.

    When the BSC receives the physical context information, it sends a
channel_activation message to the target BTS, indicating:

The channel to be used

The MS timing advance to be applied

The encryption algorithm and ciphering key

A Discontinuous Transmission (DTX) indicator for uplink (not
used) and downlink (see Section 5.2.4)

The MS power to be used

The BTS power to be used.
The target BTS sets its resources to support the channel. It then
uses a channel_activation_acknowledgement message to reply
to the BSC. This lets the BSC know that the target BTS is ready. The
target BTS also starts transmission of SACCH/Fast Associated
Control Channel (FACCH) frames so that when the MS accesses
this BTS, it receives sys_info 5 and sys_info 6 messages. The MS
also receives the timing advance and power control updates.

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3 Call Handling


   
 The BSC sends the handover_command message transparently
through the BTS to the MS. This message contains:

The new channel and its associated control channel

The target cell description

A power level indication for the MS initial access to the target
cell

A handover reference

The timing advance to be used in the target cell

Any cipher mode information (phase 2 MSs can change
cipher mode during a handover procedure).

 
  The MS releases its connection with the serving BTS and sends four
consecutive access bursts to the target BTS on the uplink SACCH.
These bursts include the handover reference and use a timing
advance of 0.
The BTS calculates the timing advance (it may have changed since
the physical context procedure). It sends a handover_detection
message to the BSC indicating the timing advance measured for
the access burst. If the MS timing advance needs to be updated,
the BSC sends this information in the physical_information
message on the FACCH channel associated with the TCH.
The MS then sets ciphering (as required). It sends its first frame,
SABM, using the timing advance information either as sent in the
handover_command message, or as updated in the FACCH
frames.
When the BTS receives the frame from the MS, it sends an
acknowledgement frame to the MS and an establish_indication
message to the BSC. This informs the BSC that the radio link has
been established. The BSC starts BTS and MS power control.
On receipt of the acknowledgement frame, the MS sends a
handover_complete message to the BSC. The MS can now start
transmitting on the new channel.
The BSC informs the MSC of the handover in a
handover_performed message and initiates the release of the
old channel.

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 3 Call Handling

Target Serving
MS BTS BTS BSC MSC

HO detect
HO alarm
cell evaluation

release with
serving BTS

     



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3 Call Handling

Asynchronous External Handover

This section describes the message flow for an asynchronous
external handover. The example in Figure 32 is for a handover of
a TCH between two separate cells controlled by two different
BSCs.

 The MS and BTS take measurements on the Air interface as

 described above. The MS sends measurement information to the
BTS in a measurement_report message. The BTS sends MS and
BTS measurements to the BSC in a measurement_results
message.


   The BSC detects the need for a handover and creates a handover
alarm indicating the reason for the handover. The BSC evaluates
possible target cells and creates a candidate cell list.
To initiate the external handover procedure, the BSC sends a
handover_required message to the MSC including the candidate
cell list. It also starts a timer to prevent it sending the same cell list.
It can only reĆsend the cell list when the timer times out, or if it
receives a handover_request_reject message from the MSC.
The MSC chooses the target cell from the cell list. It sends a
handover_request to the target BSC to inform it that an MS is
going to be handed over. This message contains:

Channel type required

Cipher mode information

MS classmark information

Serving cell identification

Target cell identification

Downlink DTX flag

Handover cause.

    The target BSC initiates the channel activation for the new channel
with the channel_activation .
The target BTS sets its resources to support the new channel, starts
sending the SACCH/FACCH and sends a
channel_activation_acknowledgement message to the target
BSC.


 
The target BSC builds a handover command. This command is
sent to the MSC in the handover_request_acknowledgement
message. The handover command contains:

The new channel and its associated control channel

The target cell description

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 3 Call Handling

A handover reference

Any cipher mode information (phase 2 MSs can change
cipher mode during a handover procedure).
The MSC forwards the handover_command message to the
serving BSC.
The serving BSC sends the handover command message to the
MS.

  
The MS releases its connection to the serving BTS. It synchronizes
with the target BTS using the FCCH and Synchronization
Channel (SCH) information. Once synchronized, the MS
continually sends access burst on the uplink SACCH until it
receives the physical_information message on the FACCH from
the target BSC.
When the target BTS receives an access burst, it checks the
handover reference and calculates the timing advance. This is sent
to the target BSC in the handover_detect message.
The target BSC informs the MSC of the handover detection and
establishes a switching path between the allocated Abis and A
interface resources.
When the MS receives the physical_information message, it
sends its first frame on the new channel using the timing advance
sent in the physical_information message.
The target BTS acknowledges the MS's first frame and sends an
establish_indication message to the target BSC, and an
acknowledgement to the MS. On receipt of the acknowledgement,
the MS sends a handover_complete message on the uplink
FACCH to the target BSC.
The target BSC informs the MSC that the handover has been
performed.
The MSC initiates the call clearing procedure towards the serving
BSC.

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3 Call Handling

Target Serving Target Serving

MS BTS BTS BSC BSC MSC

HO detect
HO alarm

release with
serving BTS



 

set up switching
path between Abis
& A interfaces

CALL CLEARING PROCEDURE ( old connection )

Refer to Chapter 4

     



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 3 Call Handling

3.4 Overload Control

A lot of telecommunications signalling is required for the BSS to
support communication between MSs in the cells under its control
and the MSC. Telecommunication processors in the BTS or BSC
can become overloaded. To avoid a sudden loss of
communication when a processor becomes saturated, the BSS
controls the load on these processors in the following steps:
1. Taking local action to reduce the load.
2. Taking global BSS action to further reduce the load.

Note The telecommunications processors of the MSC can also become

overloaded. However, MSC overload control is not the domain of
the BSS.

3.4.1 BTS Overload

The BTS Frame Unit (or TRE for a BTS A9100) handles all the
telecommunications signalling on the Air interface. If the FU or
TRE becomes saturated, this can result in the loss of calls.
Therefore, the BTS monitors the load and takes action where
appropriate. On initial detection of the overload condition, the
BTS takes local action to reduce the load. If the BTS local action
does not reduce the load, the BTS sends overload messages to the
BSC, which can decide to take global action.
The different stages of BTS overload, from detection to resolution,
are described below.
  
  The BTS monitors the load on the FU or TRE by measuring the free
time on the FU or TRE's Signalling Control Processor (SCP) and the
free message space on the associated buffers. If either of these
passes a set threshold, a counter is incremented. If a threshold is
not passed again within a given time, the counter is decremented.
The counter has two thresholds. If the first of these is passed, the
BTS takes local overload action. If the second of these is passed
the BTS sends overload messages to the BSC.
  
  When local action is triggered in the BTS, it discards low priority
messages such as the establish_indication message to reduce
the load on the SCP.

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3 Call Handling

3.4.2 BSC Overload

The BSC has two entities handling telecommunications signalling:

The TCU handles telecommunications signalling for the Abis
interface

The DTC handles telecommunications signalling for the A
interface.
The different stages of BSC overload, from detection to resolution,
are described below.
   For the BTS, overload is calculated on the processor free time and

  the free message space of the associated buffers. As the BSC
handles more signalling traffic than the BTS, the detection of an
overload, and whether to trigger local or global defense actions,
is more complicated. The BSC uses an algorithm that takes into
account which processors are affected, the level of overload, and
which buffers are affected. Each processor has a local overload
controller. The BSC's centralized overload controller is responsible
for global overload defence actions.
 
   Local action in the BSC is taken by the local overload controller on

  each processor. Local actions reduce the load on an individual
board. The local actions are:

TCU Action
The TCU discards a percentage of the 



messages received from the BTS. The percentage of discarded
messages is increased and decreased in steps, under the
control of the local overload control. This only affects the
handover and power control algorithms which still function
but with less information.

DTC Action
When the DTC detects an overload, its state is set to
congested on the BSC database. This means that it cannot be
selected by the resource management software to provide a
new SCCP connection. Also, the DTC cannot send
connectionless messages to the MSC.

BSC Global Overload Action
The BSC controls global actions for the whole BSS. Global
action reduces the amount of telecommunications signalling
traffic in the BSS by inhibiting new calls. The BSC bars MS
access classes either in one cell if the global action is
requested by a BTS or TCU, or in several cells if a DTC or
MSC are overloaded.

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 3 Call Handling

 

    When the BSC receives a request for global overload action from
a BTS, from the MSC, or from one of its local overload control
processors, it checks the message for errors. If it can accept the
request, it builds new system information messages (1 to 4). These
messages are sent on the BCCH. They bar certain MS classes from
sending channel_request messages on the RACH.
If the overload condition persists, the BSC can change the system
information messages to bar more MS access classes from using
the RACH.
When the BTS is barring access classes, its behavior can be
modified from the OMCĆR by modifying the following parameters:




 enables/disables the automatic banning of cells
after all access classes have been barred. This forces the MS
to camp on another cell.

 
 enables/disables the automatic barring of emergency
calls.

   

 enables/disables the ability of the
BSC to perform global action for BTS to BSC overload
conditions.
The number of access classes that can be barred and unbarred in
one step can also be configured from the OMCĆR.
 

  When an overload message is received from the BTS or when an

   overload is detected in the BSC, a timer is set. If no overload
message is received from the BTS, or no overload detected in the
BSC during the period of the timer, the timer expires. When the
timer expires, the BSC unbars some access classes according to a
defined algorithm.

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3 Call Handling

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 4 Call Release

4 Call Release
This chapter provides an overview of Call Release and describes
the procedures which ensure resource allocation to a call. It
specifically describes Call Release procedures in normal service
plus the following special cases:

Following Reset

BSC initiated

BTS initiated

MS initiated
This chapter also describes Remote TC Alarms, and the processes
used to break a connection and disconnect the resources,
depending on the nature of radio transmission.

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4 Call Release

4.1 Overview
The Call Release procedures ensure that resources allocated to a
call are free for reuse when they are no longer required by the
current call.
Call Release procedures are required when:

A call is finished and either the called or calling party hang up

An MS is turned off

A call is handed over and the resources for the original call
are released

A call is modified and the resources for the original channel
are released

There is operator intervention, such as a channel being
blocked

There is a failure

There is a radio link failure

The system detects a LAPDm failure.
If a call is terminated normally, the Call Release procedures are
triggered automatically. If the call is terminated abnormally, the
system has to detect that the resources are no longer required and
release them.
For a complete Call Release, the following resources must be
released:

A interface resources

Abis interface resources

Air interface resources

MSC resources:
 Layer 3 for the A interface
 SS7 signalling for the A interface
 Layer 1 physical resources for the A interface.

BSC:
 Layer 3 for the A, Abis and Air interface
 Layer 2 SS7 for the A interface and LAPD for the Abis
interface
 Layer 1 physical resource for the A and Abis interface.

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 4 Call Release

BTS:
 Layer 3 for the A, Abis and Air interface
 Layer 2 LAPD for the Abis interface and LAPDm for the Air
interface
 Layer1 physical resources for the Abis and Air interface

MS:
 Layer 3 for the Air interface
 Layer 2 LAPDm for the Air interface
 Layer 1 for the Air interface.

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4 Call Release

4.2 Call Release Procedures in Normal Service

The Call Release procedures, and the order in which they are
triggered, depend on the reason for the release. This section
describes the following Call Release scenarios, which occur during
normal service:

Normal Release (Calls terminated by Call Management)

Calls terminated following a channel change.
Special cases, including detailed behavior of the MSC, BSC, BTS
and MS are described later in this chapter.

4.2.1 Normal Release

Call termination initiated by Call Management is considered to be
a normal reason for Call Release. In this type of Call Release, the
MSC initiates the release. Before this can happen, the MS must
inform the MSC that it has disconnected the call. This is done with
layer 3 messages passed transparently through the BSS between
the MS and MSC, as shown in Figure 33.

MS BSS MSC


   
  

Once the MSC has confirmation that the MS wants to disconnect

and no longer requires the connection, it initiates the release
procedure towards the BSC. This procedure:

Releases the circuit (if applicable)

Releases the SCCP connection.
The BSC responds to the MSC to clear the connection on the A
interface, and initiates the Call Release procedure toward the BTS
and MS. This procedure releases the radio resources.

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 4 Call Release

This action triggers the MS to release the LAPDm connection (

message) and the BSC to release physical resources allocated to
the call.
This is shown in Figure 34.

MS BTS BSC MSC

release of A
interface resources
Timer start (SCCP release)

disable remote Timer start (release indication)

TC alarm detect

Timer

Timer


       

  
The MSC initiates Call Release at the end of the MS transaction.
The MSC can be informed of the end of the MS transaction:

By a level 3 

 message from the MS (Figure 33)

By a 

 message from the Network Operator if
the correspondent terminates the call

At the end of a service call (i.e., SMS or location updating).
The normal release procedure of the MSC releases both the A
interface resources used for the call, if any, and the SCCP
connection used for the signalling which controls the connection.

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4 Call Release

The MSC initiates the release procedure by sending a

clear_command message to the BSC. This command can include
a cause value in the Mandatory Information Element (MIE).
The BSC accepts the command even if no cause value is included.
It immediately releases the A interface resources for the call and
replies to the MSC with a clear_complete message. This is
shown in Figure 35.

MS BTS BSC MSC

release of A
interface resources
Timer start (SCCP release)

Timer start (release indication)

        



The BSC initiates the release of the Abis and Air interface
resources. It also sets a timer to ensure that the MSC releases the
SCCP signalling resources.
On receipt of the clear_complete message from the BSC, the
MSC releases the resources associated with the A interface and
initiates the release of the SCCP signalling resources by sending
the SCCP_released message to the BSC.
The BSC stops its timer and sends the SCCP_release_complete
message. The SCCP resources are now released and can be used
for another call.
If the BSC timer expires before the SCCP_released message is
received, then the BSC force releases the SCCP connection.


 The normal Call Release procedure towards the MS/BTS releases:

  
The radio resources associated with the call

The Radio Frequency (RF) channel.
The BSC initiates the release of the radio resource by sending:

A channel_release message to the MS via the BTS

A deactivate_SACCH message to the BTS.

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 4 Call Release

The channel_release message prompts the MS to send a disc

message to the BTS to release the LAPDm resource. When this is
received, the BTS acknowledges this with a ua message to the MS
and sends a release_indication message to the BSC. This
procedure is supervised by a timer in the BSC. The BSC considers
the MS disconnected and starts the RF channel release when:

The timer expires

The BSC receives the release_indication message and stops
the timer.
When the BTS receives the deactivate_SACCH message, it stops
sending SACCH information and disables the remote transcoder
alarm detection. This stops the sending of Transcoder (TC) alarms
to the BSC when the TC detects inactivity on the channel. This is
shown in Figure 36.
If the MS does not receive the channel_release message, it
considers the stopping of SACCH information as a radio link
failure and performs a local release.

MS BTS BSC MSC

release of A
interface resources
Timer start (SCCP release)

disable remote
TC alarm detect Timer start (release indication)

         

 

Once the BSC considers the MS disconnected, it initiates release of

the RF channel from the BTS. In a normal call release procedure,
this occurs following the release of the MS from the Air interface
(as described earlier in this section).

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4 Call Release

Before releasing the RF channel, the BSC sends a

physical_context message to the BTS and starts a timer to
supervise the response. The response from the BTS is a
physical_context_confirm message which contains the last
LAPDm performance measurements for the RF channel.
On receipt of the physical_context_confirm message, or after
the timer has timed out, the BSC sends an RF_channel_release
message to the BTS and starts a timer to supervise the release. The
BTS releases the level 1 and 2 resources for the channel and
replies with an RF_channel_release_ack message.
On receipt of the acknowledgement, the BSC releases all
resources for the RF channel. This is shown in Figure 37.

MS BTS BSC MSC

Timer

Timer


         

If the timer supervising the release times out, the BSC sends the
RF_channel_release message again and restarts the timer. If the
timer times out again, the BSC releases all resources locally. It also
sends an O&M error report to the OMCĆR with a cause value
indicating that the RF channel release procedure has failed.

 The RF channel can be released locally by the BTS and still be
active. If the RF channel is still active, it is released when the BSC
attempts to assign it to another call with a channel_activation
message. The BTS replies with a channel_activation_nack and
the BSC releases the channel (refer to Chapter 3 for more
information).

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 4 Call Release

4.2.2 Calls Terminated Following a Channel Change

This section describes the Call Release procedure following a
successful channel change procedure. The case presented is an
external intercell handover. For an internal channel change, the
serving and target BSCs are the same, and in some cases, the
serving and target BTSs are the same.
The target BSC receives confirmation of the successful handover
from the MS when the MS sends the handover_complete
message. This message is passed transparently through the target
BTS. Refer to Section 3.3 for more information about handovers.
The target BSC informs the MSC of the handover and initiates the
Call Release procedure towards the serving BSC, by issuing a
clear_command message. The serving BSC issues a
channel_release message to the MS and a deactivate_SACCH
message to the serving BTS. The normal Call Release procedure
described in Section 4.2.1 continues between the serving BSC, the
serving BTS, the MSC and the MS. This is shown in Figure 38.

Target Serving Target Serving

MS BTS BTS BSC BSC MSC

NORMAL CALL RELEASE PROCEDURE continues on the

old connection - refer to Figure 34

       
  
 

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4 Call Release

4.3 Call Release - Special Cases

Call Release can occur for reasons outside normal service. This
section treats the following special cases in which Call Release
happens:

Call Release following Reset

BSCĆinitiated Call Release

BTSĆinitiated Call Release

MSĆinitiated Call Release

Remote TC Alarms.

4.3.1 Call Release Following Reset

Resets are used in software/hardware failure situations, or when
the database is corrupted and recovery procedures have failed.
The MSC can reset all calls within a BSC or an individual circuit.
For example, if the MSC loses dynamic information regarding calls
(i.e. preventing it from providing such services as accounting), it
can send a reset or reset_circuit message to the BSC.
 The MSC initiates Call Release when it has to release all calls
associated with the BSS (Reset).
The MSC sends a reset message containing a cause value to the
BSC. The BSC then:

Sends an alarm to the OMCĆR

Sends a block message to the MSC to block circuits

Starts to clear all calls in the BSS. For each call, the
procedure in Section 4.2.1 is repeated.
For each SCCP connection on the A interface, the BSC can send
an SCCP_release message and release any A interface resources
associated with the SCCP.
A timer allocates a certain amount of time for the calls to clear.
When the timer expires, the BSC sends a reset_ack message to
the MSC. Figure 39 shows the Call Release process after a reset is
initiated.
 
 The reset circuit procedure is initiated from the MSC. The
procedure informs the BSC that an individual circuit is no longer
active in the MSC. This triggers the call clearing procedure if the
circuit has an active SCCP connection.

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 4 Call Release

The MSC sends a 
 message to the BSC for each

circuit to be reset. Depending on the resources allocated, this can
trigger the BSC to:

Release the A interface resources

Initiate the release of the SCCP

Initiate Call Release towards the BTS and MS.

MS BTS BSC MSC

send alarm to OMCĆR

circuits blocked

timer


      
 

 If this procedure is invoked due to SCCP problems, then messages

on the A interface may not be passed. The MSC and BSC locally
release resources for the A interface connections. Refer to Section
4.3.2 for more details.

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4 Call Release

4.3.2 BSCĆInitiated Release

The BSC is involved in Call Release for both the A interface and
Abis/Air interfaces.
The BSC initiates Call Release on the A interface when events
internal to the BSS terminate communication with the MS.
The Call Release towards the MS may already be in progress or
have finished when the BSC initiates a release on the A interface.
If the MS is still connected when the BSC initiates a release on the
A interface, the release towards the MSC is triggered by the clear
message from the MSC to the BSC.

   The BSC initiates the release towards the MSC by sending a
clear_request message. It also starts a timer to supervise the
procedure. The MSC releases resources for the A channel and
sends the clear_command message to the BSC. This command
contains a cause value indicating that the BSC initiated the
release.
From this point, the Call Release follows the procedure described
for normal Call Release (refer to Section 4.2.1). The procedure
starts with the BSC releasing A channel resources. It initiates the
release procedure towards the MS (if still attached), and returns a
clear_complete message to the MSC. This sequence is shown in
Figure 40.

MS BTS BSC MSC

NORMAL CALL RELEASE PROCEDURE continues

refer to Figure 34

    
 
 
 
   

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 4 Call Release


    The Call Release procedure towards the MS/BTS releases:
" The radio resources associated with the call
" The RF channel.
The BSC initiates the release of the radio resource by sending:
" A channel_release message to the MS via the BTS
" A deactivate_SACCH message to the BTS.
This is the Normal Release procedure described in Section 4.2.1.

Note In this process, once the BSC considers the MS disconnected, it

initiates release of the RF channel from the BTS. This can occur
following:
G The release of the MS from the Air interface (as in the Normal
Release procedure)
G A handover, when the BSC is sure that the MS has successfully
changed to the new channel. Refer to Section 4.2.2.
G An immediate assign procedure failure. This ensures that the
SDCCH is available for reuse as quickly as possible.
G A normal assignment failure or handover failure. This ensures
that the TCH is available for reuse as quickly as possible.

BSCĆInitiated SCCP Release

The BSC initiates an SCCP release when:
" A release procedure has failed
" Inactivity is detected in the BSC SCCP entity.


   
 If there are no resources allocated to a call and the normal
  release of the SCCP connection has failed, the BSC forces the
release of the SCCP connection:
" Internally by sending a level 3 command to its SCCP entity
" Externally by sending an SCCP_released message to the
MSC.
The BSC does not wait for a reply from the MSC before releasing
the SCCP connection.
If the original failure is due to a problem on the SCCP connection
or in the BSC SCCP entity, the SCCP_released message may not
be sent. If the message is sent, the MSC replies with an
SCCP_release_complete message and releases any allocated
resources.

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4 Call Release

   
 The BSC performs an inactivity procedure for each SCCP
connection. If the BSC detects inactivity, it assumes that the
associated transaction is no longer active and therefore:

Performs Call Release on the Air and Abis interfaces

Initiates a reset circuit procedure if an A channel is active

Initiates the release of the SCCP connection.

4.3.3 BTSĆInitiated Call Release

The BTS initiates a Call Release only if it detects a LAPD failure or
when O&M requests a restart of the BTS. Otherwise the role of the
BTS in Call Release is to:

Relay channel release messages to the MS

Deactivate the SACCH under control of the BSC

Send a release_indication message to the BSC when the MS
releases the LAPDm connection.

   When the BTS detects a LAPD failure on a link between one of its
frame units and the BSC, it forces the release of all MSs on active
channels associated with that FU (or TRE for a BTS A9100).
The BTS stops SACCH frames and sends a layer 2 disconnect
message to each affected MS. It also starts a timer to supervise
each LAPDm disconnection. The LAPD connection cannot be
reĆestablished until the BTS receives an acknowledgement, or the
timer expires for each LAPDm connection.
If an MS sends an acknowledgement, the BTS releases the RF
resources.
If an MS does not respond, the BTS continues to send layer 2
disconnect messages up to a predefined number. It then waits for
the timer to expire and the BTS releases the RF resources.

 If the maximum number of disconnect retries is reached, the BTS

LAPDm entity sends an error report to the BSC. This does not stop
the timer supervising the disconnection.
When all MSs are disconnected, the BTS attempts to reĆestablish
the LAPD connection. The BTS then sends an error report to the
BSC with a cause value indicating O&M intervention. This cause
value indicates that the FU or TRE has cleared all calls.
The BSC reinitializes the link with the frame unit and starts Call
Release for the affected calls with the MSC. This sequence is
shown in Figure 41.

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 4 Call Release

MS BTS BSC MSC

Detection of LAPD
failure. BTS stops
sending SACCH frames.

timer

timer

timer

release RF resources

release RF resources

release RF resources
ReĆestablish LAPD connection

ReĆinitialize FU or TRE link

NORMAL CALL RELEASE PROCEDURE continues

refer to Figure 34

       

 

 
  The BTS initiates a Call Release if its O&M entity requests a restart
of an FU (or TRE for a BTS A9100).
The FU or TRE's response to a restart request is to stop sending
frames on the Air interface. The BTS starts a timer to supervise the
disconnection of the MSs. The timer allows enough time for the
MSs to detect a radio link failure due to the lack of SACCH
frames. The BTS RF performs a local release.
The BTS resets the FU or TRE and waits for the timer to expire.
When the timer expires, the FU or TRE attempts to reestablish the
LAPD link with the BSC. The BTS sends an error report to the BSC
with a cause value indicating O&M intervention.
The BSC releases the RF resources and initiates a Call Release with
the MSC.

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4 Call Release

4.3.4 MSĆInitiated Call Release

The MS can initiate a Call Release by:

Initiating a radio link failure

Disconnecting the LAPDm connection.


  If SACCH frames are no longer received from the MS, the BTS
  
starts to count the number of missing frames. When the BTS has
counted a certain number of missing SACCH frames, it considers
that the radio link has failed.
This happens when the MS 'disappears' from the Air interface
(adverse radio conditions, MS switched off, fatal error, etc.).

 There is an optional feature where, after a number of missing

SACCH frames, the BSC sets both MS and BTS power to maximum
in an attempt to regain the Air Interface. If the BTS continues to
register missing frames, the radio link fails as described herein.

The BTS sends a connection_failure_indication message to the

BSC with a cause value indicating that the radio link has failed.
The BSC initiates Normal Call Release procedures to the BTS by
sending an RF_channel_release message to the BTS and a
clear_request message to the MSC. This is shown in Figure 42.

MS BTS BSC MSC

Interruption of SACCH frames

start counter

NORMAL CALL RELEASE PROCEDURE continues

refer to Figure 34

   
 
    
 
  


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 4 Call Release

    If the MS has an error which unexpectedly terminates the call, it
 

  sends a disconnect message to the BTS. The system reaction to
the disconnect message in this instance is the same as when the
disconnect message from the MS is prompted by a
channel_release message from the BSC (as explained in
Section 4.3.2).

4.3.5 Remote TC Alarms

If the TC detects a break in communication with the BTS, it sets a
timer. This timer is defined by GSM standards. On expiry of this
timer, the TC sends an alarm to the BTS. If the BTS remote TC
alarm detection is active, a connection_failure_indication
message is sent to the BSC with a cause value indicating a remote
TC alarm.
If the BTS detects a break in communication with the TC, it sends a
connection_failure_indication message to the BSC with a cause
value indicating a remote TC alarm. See Figure 43.
During an internal handover, this can cause remote TC alarms to
arrive at the BSC, as the connection is still active but the call has
been handed over. The BSC ignores these alarms for a guard
period on new and old channels during handover.

MS BTS BSC MSC

TC detects a communication
break and times out

NORMAL CALL RELEASE PROCEDURE continues

refer to Figure 34

       
  
  

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4 Call Release

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 5 Service Improvement Features

5 Service Improvement Features

This chapter provides an overview of the BSS Service Improvement
Features. It describes how these features improve the quality of
service between the MS and BSS, maximizes the BSS and MS
resources, or increases operator efficiency. The service
improvement features in the Alcatel BSS are classed as follows:

Features defined in the GSM recommendations

Alcatel BSS Features.
In addition, service improvement features which are new with the
current BSS are described in a separate section.

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5 Service Improvement Features

5.1 Overview
The following environmental factors affect the quality of service
between the MS and the BSS:

MS Power Drain
Because the MS is in constant contact with several cells, even
while in idle mode, power drain can occur. This happens
when the MS moves or changes its condition. This continual
contact between an MS and the BTS limits the autonomy of
the MS. Power saving extends the limited life span of MS
batteries.

Interference
Interference occurs in a mobile cell configuration where other
cells located nearby use the same frequency. Interference can
also occur as a result of meteorological and atmospheric
conditions.
Alcatel provides a variety of features to improve quality of service,
to increase MS autonomy and to contribute to operator efficiency.
These are described in the following pages
There are two categories of Features in the Alcatel BSS:

Features defined in the ITU and ETSI GSM recommendations

Alcatel BSS Service Features.

 Some of these features may not be available on your system.

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 5 Service Improvement Features

5.2 Features Defined in the GSM Recommendations

The following features, defined in the GSM recommendations, are
supported in the current Alcatel BSS:

Cellular environment

RPC uplink and downlink

Frequency hopping

Discontinuous transmission

Discontinuous reception

Phase 2 mobile support in a Phase 1 infrastructure

Call reĆestablishment by the MS

Short Message Service Ć Cell Broadcast

Enhanced FullĆRate.

5.2.1 Cellular Environment

The standard developed by the Groupe Speciale Mobile specifies
a digital cellular network, as described in the    
 

document. This includes the capacity to define different types of
cell configurations to meet the requirements of geography and the
strategies of the Network Operator.
For details on cell environments offered in the Alcatel BSS, refer to
Chapter 7.

5.2.2 RPC Uplink and Downlink

Radio Power Control ensures the dynamic balance between the
quality of the link against interference with other cells. It
contributes to power conservation. The balance is maintained by
controlling the power output level to balance the reception power
level and reception quality.
Both directions of the radio link between the MS and the BTS are
subject to continuous power adjustments. The power adjustment of
the BTS and the MS are under the control of the BSC, see
Subsection 3.3.1. RPC improves spectrum efficiency by limiting
intraĆsystem interference. It also increases the autonomy of the MS
by saving battery power.
The reasons for changing the MS power level are:

Uplink power level too high or too low

Uplink link quality too low, or using power resources beyond
quality requirements of the call.

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5 Service Improvement Features

Similarly, the reasons for changing the BTS power control are:

Downlink power level too high or too low

Downlink link quality too low, or using power resources
beyond quality requirements of the call.

BTS Radio Power Control

The MS performs power measurements of radio signals being
transmitted by the BTS. The MS, via the SACCH, regularly sends a

 
  message to the BTS indicating the quality
and strength of the downlink plus measurements of neighboring
cells. This information is combined with uplink measurements
taken by the BTS and sent to the BSC in the 
 


message.
The BSC then alters the BTS power, based on the measurement
information it receives from the MS. The maximum power level is
limited by the maximum power of the BTS, and also by the
maximum power allowed in the cell.

MS Radio Power Control

The BTS measures the signal power transmitted by the MS. The
resulting measurements are combined with the

 
  message from the MS and are sent to the
BSC in the 
 

 message. The BSC sends
commands to change the power level of the MS as needed. The
maximum power level is limited by the maximum power of the MS,
and also by the maximum power allowed in the cell.
Power control can be applied to TCHs and StandĆAlone Dedicated
Control Channels.

Radio Link Measurements

Due to interference and signal quality problems on the Air
Interface, the uplink and the downlink transmissions are constantly
measured to maintain maximum efficiency of the airĆwaves. A
balance is maintained between the transmission power, which can
interfere with other cells using the same frequency, and the quality
of the actual link.

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 5 Service Improvement Features

Table 9 shows the measurements used to achieve this balance.


    



Measurement Description

Signal strength Signal strength is calculated on both active and

inactive channels.
On active channels, this measurement is used to
provide the actual strength of the signal received
from the transmitter.
Inactive channel strength provides measurement of
interference levels.
Signal quality The signal quality of a channel is calculated on the
average Bit Error Rate (BER) on a particular chanĆ
nel. BER is a standard quality calculation in radio
transmission.
Absolute MSĆBS distance This is estimated by measuring the Time Of
Arrival (TOA) of the received burst at the BTS for
each allocated timeslot. The TOA is based on
transmission distance and not the actual ground
distance travelled. The calculation of one bit period
(3.69µs) corresponds to 550m.


   The statistical parameters of signal level and quality are obtained
over a measurement period. This period is called the 'Reporting
Period'. The reporting period for a TCH is 104 TDMA frames
(480ms). The information is transmitted in the SACCH frames.

Power Control Decision and Handover

At every measurement interval, the BSC receives:

PreĆprocessed power measurement information (uplink and
downlink)

Timing advance (distance information)

Power level information about neighboring cells (only the best
six are transmitted).
The BSC uses this information to perform power control by:

Lowering the power level in the uplink or downlink, as this
has little effect on the quality of the link

Increasing the power on the uplink or downlink if the link
quality/level is low

Producing a handover alarm (refer to Section 3.3.2 for more
information)

Taking no action, if the quality/level balance is acceptable.

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5 Service Improvement Features

Figure 44 illustrates the measurements described previously, as

well as powerĆcontrol flow. Figure 45 shows how power control
tries and maintains optimum quality and power levels.

MS BTS BSC

Measurement of downlink, BTS power and neighbor cells

(by MS)

measurement_report message

Measurement of uplink, MSĆBTS distance and MS power

(by BTS)

Collated and preĆprocessed meaĆ

surement_result message

Power Control Decision

Handover Decision

Change MS TX power Change BTS TX power

MS BTS BSC

  !  ! 

   

 The signal and quality levels are converted into the ranges
Received Signal Level (RXLEV) and Received Signal
Quality (RXQUAL) respectively. Each range is classed from 0Ć63
(RXLEV where 63 is high) and 7Ć0 (RXQUAL where 7 is poor).

High Quality

Signal level low

Desired
Increase power Signal level too high
balance
R output Decrease power output
no
X
change
Q
U
A
L Signal level too high
Quality bad
Quality bad
Increase power output
Handover desired

Low Quality High Signal Level

RXLEV
Low Signal Level
  !       "
   

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 5 Service Improvement Features

Change Power Levels

The BSC controls the power levels of the BTS and the MS.
The BTS power level can be altered down from its maximum
power. This is done in 2 dBm steps to a minimum of Ć30 dBm
from the maximum level. The BSC informs the BTS of the new
power level via a BS_power_control message.
The MS power level can be altered in steps of 2 dBm. Table 10
shows the maximum and minimum power ranges of MSs.


          
MS Phase GSM 900/1800 Max Power Min Power

MS Phase1, GSM 900 43 dBm (20W) 13 dBm

MS Phase1, GSM 1800 30 dBm (1W) 10 dBm
MS Phase2, GSM 900 39 dBm (8W) 13 dBm
MS Phase2, GSM 1800 30 dBm (1W) 4 dBm

The maximum power setting of an MS is based on two factors, its

classmark (its physical maximum power rating), and the maximum
MS power setting for the cell.
Each cell can limit the maximum power level for all MSs in the cell.
For example, a 20 W MS can be limited to 5 W maximum power
if that is the maximum MS power level allowed in the cell.
However, a 1 W MS can never exceed 1W, and can therefore
never reach the 5 W maximum allowed in the cell.
The BSC informs the BTS of the new power levels via the
BS_power_control message. The BTS in turn transmits a
power_command to the MS over the SACCH.
Changing power from one power level to another happens
gradually. The power level changes by 2 dB every
60 milliseconds (ms), until the desired level is reached.

5.2.3 Frequency Hopping

FH changes the frequency of a TCH time slot from one TDMA
frame to another. The change occurs across a group of
frequencies known as the Frequency Hopping System (FHS). Each
data burst is transmitted on a different frequency within the FHS,
controlled by a hopping algorithm.
The FH algorithm can be either random or cyclic. Associated (i.e.
paired) uplink and downlink frequencies are always ±45 MHz.

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5 Service Improvement Features

Frequency Hopping improves BSSĆMS performance by providing

two types of diversity:

Frequency diversity

Interference diversity.
   Frequency Diversity averages the effects of signal fading by using
several frequencies to improve transmission performance.
Obstacles such as buildings produce fading by reflecting the
signal out of phase with the main signal. Each frequency is
affected differently by fading.
After error correction information is added to the data, it is
encoded so that the data is split into packets and the information
is repeated. This creates redundant information which is
transmitted in bursts on the Air Interface. With FH, each redundant
information burst is transmitted on a different frequency. This
enables the original data to be reconstructed from the received
flow, even if errors occur due to fading.
In this way FH improves transmission performance.
   Interference Diversity spreads the coĆchannel interference between
several MSs. In high traffic areas, the capacity of a cellular system
is limited by its own interference; that is, the interference caused
by frequency reĆuse. Interference Diversity minimizes the time
during which a given user on a given MS will experience the
effects of such interference.

Types of Frequency Hopping

There are two major types of frequency hopping:

Baseband Frequency Hopping

Synthesized Frequency Hopping.

  A Mobile Allocation (MA) is a set of all the frequencies available
 for frequency hopping. When the FH procedure is implemented a
group of MSs is assigned to an MA.
When a TCH is set up in a cell where FH is active, the TCH is
assigned:

A particular time slot

An FHS. An FHS is defined as the subset of frequencies within
the MA to be used by a given cell for FH.

A Mobile Allocation Index Offset (MAIO). The MAIO indicates
the initial hopping frequency of the TCH within the FHS. Use
of the MAIO ensures that each TCH is assigned a different
frequency during hopping.

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A Hopping Sequence Number (HSN). The HSN supplies the

identifying number of an algorithm which is used to calculate
the next frequency in the FHS on which the TCH transmits.
There can up to 63 different HSN algorithms, all of which are
pseudo random. Within a given FHS, only one algorithm is
used to avoid collisions. An HSN of zero means a cyclic use of
the frequencies.
An example of FH is shown in Figure 46. Because the HSN = 0,
hopping occurs in a sequential manner. With a nonĆzero HSN,
each of the 3 TCHs would hop in a random fashion determined
by the algorithm corresponding to the HSN.

Within this FHS

the HSN=0
Frame Frame Frame Frame
n n+1 n+2 n+3
Assignment
for TCH 1:
TS=1 TCH1 on TS1 İ1 İ2 İ3 İ1
MAIO=0 MAIO=0
HSN=0

TCH2 on TS2 İ2 İ3 İ1 İ2
MAIO=1

TCH3 on TS3 İ3 İ1 İ2 İ3
MAIO=2

İ = Frequency


     
  

 
  Synthesized FH functions in a similar fashion to Baseband FH, but

 is performed at a different location. Instead of switching each
time slot between TCHs, the channel assigned to a time slot is
assigned to a fixed CU (or TRE).
The CU/TRE changes frequency with each TDMA frame in
accordance with the HSN algorithm selected, in the same manner
as above. Thus, instead of the channel hopping from one fixed
transceiver to another, the transceiver itself hops from one
frequency to another, in both cases, according to the algorithm
and parameters selected.
Synthesized FH has the advantage of allowing an FHS to contain
one more frequency than the number of CUs/TREs in the system.

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5 Service Improvement Features

This is particularly useful in some microcellular applications where

only one transceiver is available for FH.

 Normally, in both FH schemes (Baseband and Synthesized), Time

Slot 0 (TS0) is not available for FH. This is because it carries the
BCCH, which must always be at maximum power and on a
frequency known to MSs in Idle mode in the cell.

5.2.4 Discontinuous Transmission

Speech is transmitted over the air in the following ways:

Continuous transmission of speech

Discontinuous Transmission

  Sound is continuously encoded into digital information even when


  no one is talking.
In normal conversation, only one participant at a time talks. This is
used by the system to its advantage, by transmitting only when
someone is speaking.

   Only actual speech is digitally encoded and transmitted. During


  the nonĆspeech phase (silent periods), noise/comfort mode
information is sent once every 480 ms instead of once every
20 ms for speech. In this way the system:

Improves spectral interference

Increases power savings
By transmitting at a reduced rate of 1 in 24 during the silent
phases, the power autonomy of the MS improves.
DTX does not occur during half rate speech or data modes.
DTX can be activated for either the uplink or the downlink or both.
The receivers of DTX information can automatically detect that the
transmitter is in DTX mode by the reception of Silence
Indication (SID) messages.
During quiet periods SID messages are sent instead of speech
bursts. SIDs carry noise information about background noise. This
information is used to:

Let the receiver know that the link is still open.

Provide comfort noise. Users of telephones prefer to hear
background noise rather than silence; complete silence
disturbs the listener.

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 5 Service Improvement Features

Provide measurements of the link quality and timing advance.

If there are no bursts of data over the Air Interface for a
particular channel, no power level control and quality can be
performed.

Voice Activity Detection

Voice Activity Detection (VAD) is used to detect when there is
speech, silence or just background noise. The VAD device is
located in the TC. Once the VAD detects speech, it starts
transmitting speech bursts. After four bursts of detected silence,
the VAD goes back into silent mode, and SID information frames
are transmitted (i.e. the comfort noise generation is activated).

BSS DTX Towards MS

Downlink DTX is activated on a per call basis by combining
information from the MSC and the OMCĆR.
The MSC informs the BSC about its downlink DTX preference. It
does this via the Downlink DTX flag in the assignment_request or
handover_request messages on a per call basis.
The OMCĆR can enable or disable the possibility of downlink DTX
per cell via the  


  parameter. This is a
static parameter which can be set via the Common Management
Information Service Element (CMISE) command
M_LOGICAL_PARAM_MODIFY. The overall system reaction is
shown in Table 11.

       Channel_activation

OMCĆR MSC Result
 


  Downlink_DTX flag DTX flag
(per cell basis) (per call basis)

True Allowed ON
True Unavailable/not OFF
allowed
False Allowed OFF
False Unavailable/not OFF
allowed

The MSC requests no downlink DTX during MS to MS calls, where

double clipping can occur if both ends perform DTX. This can
have a staccatoĆlike effect on speech.
The BTS tells the TC to perform DTX by setting the DTX bit in the
speech frame.

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5 Service Improvement Features

In the BSS, the TC is responsible for DTX operation. In the BTS, the
information is processed in the FU in the following way:
1. When the TC detects voice activity it informs the FU, using
inband signaling. The speech signaling flag is set in the
speech frame.
2. Every 20 ms the FU receives either speech frames or SID
frames containing background noise characteristics.
3. At the end of the speech period (four bursts of detected
silence) the FU sends a SID frame over the Air Interface.
4. During speech inactivity, the last received SID frame is sent at
regular 480 ms intervals rather than at 20 ms. Otherwise
dummy bursts are sent. These dummy bursts are:

Transmitted for TCHs on the Broadcast Control Channel
(BCCH) frequency, due to the need for constant
transmission on the BCCH frequency

Not transmitted for TCHs on other frequencies.

Note The BTS uses the measurement_result message to inform the

BSC that DTX is operating. The BSC compensates for DTX when
calculating power control and handover.

MS DTX Towards BSS

The OMCĆR operator controls whether an MS can perform DTX
towards the BSS per cell. This information is sent in cell_options
information (sys_info 3, and sys_info 6 on the Air Interface
Table 12 shows the available operator options.


  
   
Option Description

Will perform DTX This forces the MS to use DTX. It reduces the call
quality but also reduces interference in the cell and
saves MS battery power. During silent phases only
1 in 24 bursts are sent, which greatly reduces interĆ
ference.
Can perform DTX This allows the MS to choose either quality by not
using uplink DTX, or powerĆsaving by using uplink
DTX.
Cannot perform DTX The OMCĆR operator has decided, due to low
interference, to have improved speech and meaĆ
surement control on the uplink side.

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 5 Service Improvement Features

The TC detects that the MS is in DTX mode by the reception of

SIDs.

 There is a small quality reduction due to the fact that VAD only
starts sending speech when a user starts to talk. This can cut the
start of each speech activity. Power control and handover are also
affected, as the BTS has fewer incoming messages with which to
calculate power and interference.
Figure 47 shows the different forms of transmission.

Sound continuously encoded DTX during 'Silence' in uplink

DTX during 'Silence' in downlink DTX during 'Silence' in up and downlink

Key

Continuous Transmission
Discontinuous Transmission
  

    
  

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5 Service Improvement Features

5.2.5 Discontinuous Reception

Discontinuous Reception provides power savings when the MS is in
idle mode. Instead of the MS listening continually on the PCH
subĆchannel CCCH for a paging message, it only listens to that
part of the PCH which corresponds to its paging group. The PCH
is split into a number of paging subĆchannels, each of which
serves the MSs of a particular paging group.
The MS calculates its paging group and the part of the PCH it has
to monitor. It gets the information from its IMSI, and from the
Control Channel description sent on the BCCH (
 3). The
paging information is transmitted at predefined regular intervals.
The MS only turns on its receiver to listen to its paging group and
then turns itself off again. This occurs cyclically, between 0.95
seconds and 4.25 seconds, depending on the configuration of the
cell.
Apart from listening to the PCH, the MS monitors the home cell's
BCCH up to once every 30 seconds, and the top six neighbor cells
up to once every five minutes. For more information about
Paging, refer to Section 2.4.

5.2.6 Phase 2 Mobile Support in a Phase 1 Infrastructure

The Alcatel 900/1800 BSS supports the use of Phase 2 MSs in a
phase 1 infrastructure network. It conforms to the updated Phase
1 infrastructure as defined in the GSM recommendations.
The BSS functions as Phase 2 on the Air Interface and has the
capability of functioning as Phase 1 or Phase 2, depending on the
MSC capabilities. The infrastructure (BSS and MSC) remains
Phase 1.
The problems of using Phase 2 MSs on a Phase 1 network are:

The implementation rules for Phase 1 are not strictly defined.
Therefore some implementations cannot function with Phase 2
mobiles.
For example, some of the spare bits in Phase 1 are now used
by the Phase 2 protocol. However, some Phase 1
infrastructures reject the message as spare bits are used.

Some protocol changes in Phase 2 changed/replaced a
Phase 1 protocol.
For example, power and quality measurements sent by Phase
2 MSs have a finer range of power control, which Phase 1
infrastructure must process.

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Phase 2 MSs send some Phase 2 messages even though they

are in a Phase 1 environment.
For example, Phase 2 MSs send either new messages or new
elements in messages, which the Phase 1 infrastructure could
reject. This blacklists the MS due to an invalid protocol
message for Phase 1. Depending on what these messages
are, the updates to the Phase 1 infrastructure would accept
these message/elements. The messages can be either ignored
or only partly treated. This is based on information contained
within the messages or elements.

5.2.7 Call ReĆestablishment by the MS

The Call ReĆestablishment procedure allows an MS to resume a
connection in progress after a lower layer failure, possibly in a
new cell.
The MS initiates the procedure when there is already a speech or
data call in a stable state (TCH path connected) and the MS
detects a radio link failure. The MS waits a predetermined time for
a response from the network. If there is no response the MS
performs a cell reselection procedure.
If the new cell allows the reĆestablishment procedure to be
performed, the MS initiates the channel request procedure (RACH)
and awaits the immediate_assignment message. The MS then
performs the contention resolution procedure using the
cm reĆestablishment request message.
The radio and link establishment procedure continues as
described in Section 2.2.
The network may not allow the MS to perform the channel request
procedure, due to inhibition of the MS access class broadcast in
the sys_info 1 to 4 messages. If this is the case the MS radio
resource entity reports the failure of the radio and link
establishment procedure to the higher layer entities in the MS.
When the MSC receives the cm reĆestablishment request
message it initiates the procedures necessary to establish a new
radio resource connection and continue the call management
connection.

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5.2.8 Short Message Service Ć Cell Broadcast

There are two types of SMS. The pointĆtoĆpoint SMS allows a short
message to be sent to, or received from, an MS. The SMSĆCB
allows messages to be broadcast to the MSs. This service can be
used for a number of reasons, e.g. to transmit taxation
information, road traffic information, etc. An SMSĆCB message
can be transmitted to all the cells connected to the BSC, or to
selected cells only, as required.

HMI

Broadcast Broadcast
Message to Message
Selected set up by
MS Cell(s) Operator
BTS BSC OMCĆR
Message
broadcast Transmission SMSĆCB
to all MSs Request commands
MS and
signaling

      
    


The operator inputs the cell broadcast message at the OMCĆR via
the HMI identifying the broadcast text and the selected cell
identities. Only one broadcast message per cell or cells is allowed.
Any subsequent message simply replaces the message being
broadcast.
The message is sent from the OMCĆR to the BSCs handling the
selected cells. The BSC then sends the message to the individual
BTSs of the selected cells.
On receipt of the transmission request message from the BSC the
BTS broadcasts the message to the MSs in the cell over the Cell
Broadcast Channel of the Air Interface.

5.2.9 Enhanced FullĆRate

The EFR feature provides advanced encoding of speech on a
FullĆRate TCH, for improved voice quality and user comfort.
EFR uses a codec with ACELP coding.

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 5 Service Improvement Features

  

EFR is enabled in the BSC, on a cellĆbyĆcell basis, by the O&M

parameter 
. When an EFR call is set up, the
following processes occur:

The MS makes a call requiring speech, in which it announces
its codec preferences to the MSC in the setup message.

The MSC passes appropriate assignment_request and
handover_request messages to the BSC.

The BSC uses the codec list supplied by the MSC to choose
the correct codec, based on the support for the codec in the
BTS and A Interface Transcoder Rate Adapter (TRAU)
equipment.

The BSC activates the selected channel in the BTS, giving the
indication of codec type.

The BTS configures itself to handle the correct channel coding,
and starts sending TRAU frames to the TRAU, in order to
configure the TRAU.

The BSC builds either an assignment_command message or
a handover_command message, indicating to the MS which
codec it should use when accessing the new channel.

Once the MS is attached, the BSC reports the selected codec
type to the MSC.

In the case of subsequent handover if the BSC has had to
change the codec the BSC informs the MSC of the change.
For further information concerning Enhanced FullĆRate, refer to
  !    and # ! 
 ".

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5.3 Alcatel BSS Features

This section provides an outline of features provided in the Alcatel
BSS. These features are designed to:

Improve the quality of service between the MS and BSS

Maximize resources

Increase operator efficiency.
Alcatel BSS Features include:

Types of cell environments

Antenna diversity

Multiple HMI access to OMCĆRs

Night time concentration

Secured X.25 connection from BSC to OMCĆR

Usage state on demand

BSC alerter.

5.3.1 Types of Cell Environments

Several types of cell environments are available in the Alcatel BSS.
This availability means that cells can be configured to meet the
requirements of geography and the strategies of the Network
Operator.
A specific application of cell environments is the Extended Cell
feature. It uses two synchronized, coĆlocated G2 BTSs to create a
cell environment for rural areas covering up to 70 km.
Refer to Chapter 7 for more information concerning Extended Cell
and other Cell Environments.

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5.3.2 Antenna Diversity

Antenna diversity provides protection against multipath fading. It is
used to improve the performance of the radio path on the uplink
in large cell configurations.

 
  Antenna diversity on G1 and G2 BTSs duplicates the receive
antenna and receive path up to the FU. The FU uses the data burst
which has the fewest errors. This increases lowĆpower MS range,
thus allowing larger cells and lowering infrastructure investment.
Figure 49 shows the antenna diversity path through the G1 and
G2 BTS.

TRANSMISSION
OTHER ANTENNAS

Tx
C
O
U
P
L
I
B F N
I H G
FU CU
E U a
U RX
a N
a a I
T
ab
best of a&b

b b
b RX b
(option)

OMU

CONTROL BASEBAND BASEBAND RADIO COUPLING

CONTROL

    

 
 

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5 Service Improvement Features

  Antenna diversity on the BTS A9100 follows the same principle as
in the G1 and G2 BTSs. The antennas are used for both transmit
and receive, and the receive path is duplicated up to the TRE,
providing the same gain in efficiency and lowĆpower MS range.
Figure 50 shows the antenna diversity path through the
BTS A9100.

TRANSMISSION

TRE 1
best of a a
ab a&b
b ANT a
Tx / Rx

TRE 2
a
best of a
B S ab a&b b
I U b
E M

TRE 3
best of
ab ab b
a&b
ab a

TRE 4 b b
best of b ANT b
ab a&b a Tx / Rx
a
ANy ANx

CONTROL BASEBAND BASEBAND RADIO RADIO

CONTROL COMBINING DUPLEXING

    !    

      

 The configuration shown above is one example only. Other

combinations of Antennas and TREs are possible. The ANy is not
needed if the sector has two TREs.

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5.3.3 Multiple HumanĆMachine Interface

The HMI feature allows an operator located centrally, who is using
a multiple access workstation, to perform network management
actions. These actions are usually performed by different OMCĆRs.
The feature is mainly intended to provide offĆduty hours access to
the network. The connection between the multiple access
workstation and the other OMCĆR hosts is made via an X.25
network. Figure 51 illustrates the principle of operation.

Central Site

Additional
Printer
Workstation

HMI
Multiple Access
Server
Workstation

X.25 Network

OMCĆR OMCĆR
Host 1 Host n

OMCĆR
Host 2

       


The implementation of this feature takes advantage of the

distributed configuration of the OMCĆR which usually consists of a
host machine and distinct local or remote HMI servers.

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   The site used for multiple access contains the following:
  
Printing facilities

Additional workstations which connect to the multiple access
workstation, but only connect to the same OMCĆR

Configuration of each OMCĆR is specific to the multiple access
workstation and its peripherals.

  The switching operation corresponds to the restart of the
workstation inside a different OMCĆR environment.
Beginning at the UNIX level the operator activates a script which
performs the following:

Selection of an OMCĆR host from a configuration file
describing the accessible OMCĆRs and their addresses

Restart of communication software

Network information service and network file system
reĆinitialization

HMI server application startup, which includes the data
distribution for access control, help and Graphical Network
Display.

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5.3.4 Night Time Concentration

The NTC feature appears as a process within the HMI server. The
feature allows an operator to perform alarm management
operations for a complete network, where the network consists of
more than one OMCĆR.
The primary use of the NTC feature is during offĆduty hours, when
the supervision of a large network must be performed from a
single location. The feature can be started and stopped from any
OMCĆR or any operator having access to the feature.
To retrieve alarms from the complete network, the OMCĆR from
where the NTC feature was activated must be connected to all the
other OMCĆRs in the network. These links are used to transfer
alarm notifications from the controlled OMCĆRs to the NTC
OMCĆR.
Figure 52 illustrates the NTC feature.

NTC OMCĆR

Workstation

OMCĆR 3

Area 3
OMCĆR 1

Area 1

OMCĆR 2

Area 2

 
    

 

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The functions provided by this feature are:

Configuring the NTC feature
Provides a name and address list of the OMCĆRs being
supervised from a central location.

Starting the NTC feature
Operators having authorized access to the NTC feature can
perform this function. Upon start up, an alarm window is
displayed. It shows the list of alarm notifications, including
alarms originated in the local OMCĆR and all the controlled
OMCĆRs.

Displaying the OMCĆR Status
During an NTC session the operator can open a window
showing the access status of the OMCĆR, which is part of the
NTC configuration.

Printing Alarm Reports
The operator can print a report containing all incoming
alarms from the selected OMCĆR, or print an alarm and all
the preceding alarms immediately. In each case the number
of alarms collected for printing is displayed.

Stopping the NTC feature
This function allows the operator to stop the NTC. It stops the
sending of notifications.

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5.3.5 Secured X.25 Connection From BSC to OMCĆR

The configuration for the X.25 links consisted of two physical links,
one for Common Management Information Service Elements
(CMISE), and one for File Transfer Access and
Management (FTAM). Figure 53 illustrates the configuration
without redundancy.

OMCĆR
X.25 Network
BSC A
CMISE BSC A CMISE
HSI 0 OSI CPRA 1
BOARD
1
2 FTAM BSC A FTAM
3 OSI CPRA 2

HSI = High Speed Interface

CPRA = Central Processor Type A

     



Link failures can occur on either the OMCĆR or BSC side. The
Secured X.25 Connection feature provides redundant links in the
event of a link failure. When a link failure occurs, the initiator
system involved must process the change over.
Definition of the primary and the secondary links based on their
hardware configuration can achieve various types of redundancy,
such as:

OMCĆR side redundancy

BSC side redundancy

Complete redundancy.

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Figure 54 illustrates these redundancy types.

OMCĆR
X.25 BSC
Network Primary Link
OSI CPRA 1
HSI 0
Board
1 1

2 2
OSI CPRA 2
3 3 Secondary
Link

Secondary Link Configurations

1. OMCĆR side redundancy
2. BSC side redundancy
3. Complete redundancy
     


     When the OMCĆR or the BSC sets up a CMISE or FTAM


   association, the subsystem chooses the active link. The active link
is the primary link if it is in traffic, otherwise it is the secondary
link. The following events occur:

The transfer is performed on the primary link if the association
is successful. The association is attempted three times.

The primary link is set out of service if the association is
unsuccessful after the third try.

If the secondary link is in traffic, it becomes the active link and
the association is tried on this link.
If the secondary link is out of service, the application is impossible.
Links are periodically tested for availability. When the primary link
is recovered it becomes active and in traffic. Loss of one link (i.e.
primary or secondary) triggers an alarm and the recovery triggers
the end of alarm.

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5.3.6 Usage State on Demand

The Usage State on Demand feature allows an OMCĆR operator
to have a snapshot of the current resource usage at a BSC. This is
displayed on the OMCĆR terminal. Two levels of information are
available:

Overall BSS information

Specific cell or DTC information.

   An overall request allows the operator to monitor the total

resource usage of a BSC. The information displayed, which is
refreshed every 1 to 3 minutes, is:

Identification of each cell and DTC

State of each cell and DTC

Ratio of busy/available TCH

Ratio of busy/available SDCCH

Number of SCCP connections

Number of available SCCP connections

Ratio of busy/available A channels.


    A cell or DTC request displays a snapshot of resource usage for up
to five cells or DTCs. The operator selects the required cells or
DTCs from a list of those available.
The information collected for each of the selected cells is:

Cell state

Barred status and access classes

Number of TRXs defined

Number of TRXs available

Terminal Endpoint Identifier (TEI)

Number of Carrier Units (CUs) configured

Number of CUs available

Number of SDCCHs available

Number of SDCCHs busy

Number of TCHs available

Number of TCHs busy

Number of free TCHs/interference board

TRX time slot state (8 x 8)

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The information collected for each of the selected DTCs is:

DTC identification

AĆtrunk Security Block (SBL) state

Number of Circuit Identification Codes (CICs) available

Number of CICs busy

No. 7 signaling Link SBL number

No. 7 signaling Link SBL state

Number of busy SCCP connections over No. 7 signaling Link

BSSAP handled

Number of SCCP connections available

Number of SCCP connections busy

State of A Interface pulse code modulation time slots (0 Ć 31)

5.3.7 BSC Alerter

The BSC Alerter is a telecom supervision function which generates
an alarm event when the system suspects abnormal behavior of a
resource. This is system defined and not dependent on site
configuration or traffic conditions in a particular cell.
Alerters are a background function in the BSC, passively collecting
data, and do not interfere with any Telecom activity. An Alerter,
activated in a BSC, functions by monitoring and computing the
levels of specific Performance Management counters. If, during the
Alerter observation period, the count exceeds the operatorĆdefined
parameters, the Alerter generates an alarm for the BSC resource.
This alarm is sent to the OMCĆR operator.
There is a one to one relationship between an Alerter and the
alarm generated by it, and only a single alarm is generated when
the conditions have been triggered.
Alerter counters are maintained regardless of whether an Alerter
is activated or not. It is only when an Alerter is activated, that its
counters are used to determine whether an alarm should be
generated. The OMCĆR operator has control of the Alerters, being
able to not only activate or deactivate them on a BSC basis, but
also set the parameter levels which determine when the Alerter
generates an alarm.
Other parameters (such as reĆarming delay, and observation
period) may be modified for each Alerter. A single formula is used
for a specific Alerter type wherever it is activated. The formulae
are systemĆdefined and are not operatorĆmodifiable. Depending
on its type, an Alerter may be activated with different parameters
on a per cell or BSS basis, giving flexibility of control to the
operator. The four types of Alerter are shown in Table 13.

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 5 Service Improvement Features

    

Alerter Type Description

Alerter 1 Abnormally low traffic on SDCCH compared to other BSS

cells
Alerter 2 Inconsistency in terrestrial channel states (A Interface)
Alerter 3 TCH Ć Average occupancy time too long
Alerter 4 TCH Ć Average occupancy time too short

 For performance reasons, each alerter type has a maximum limit
of 16 alarms.

For further information concerning BSC Alerters, refer to !

   and the  .

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5.4 New Service Improvement Features

Alcatel has introduced the following new service improvement
features with the current BSS:

Power control due to radio link failure

Q3 Multimanager

OMCĆR connection to TSC through BSC

Abis signaling links static multiplexing

Transcoder pools

Automatic powerĆdown

Auto Identification

Automatic paging repetition

Access to PM raw counters via binary files.

5.4.1 Power Control due to Radio Link Failure

This feature provides an automatic attempt to recover the Air
Interface after an interruption of the SACCH.
For more information, see Section 4.3.4.

5.4.2 Q3 Multimanager
The Q3 Multimanager feature permits the OMCĆR to
communicate over the Q3 Interface with multiple NMCs. Refer to
Section 1.6.2 for more information.

5.4.3 OMCĆR Connection to TSC through BSC

When reĆconfiguring a system, PLMN operators naturally want to
minimize onĆsite intervention time and costs. This feature saves
time when reconfiguring the Abis Interface.
The OMCĆR can configure certain TSC supervision devices directly,
using the existing OMCĆR - BSC X.25 link. Communication is
passed transparently through the BSC to the TSC, regardless of
where in the system the TSC is physically positioned. This permits
a new Abis transmission scheme to be set up before onĆsite
modifications are made, with corresponding time gain. Testing
can be carried out immediately after the onĆsite operation.

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5.4.4 Abis Signaling Links Static Multiplexing

This feature is available on the G2 BTS and with Evolium BSSs.
It permits a maximum of 12 TRXs connected to the same link,
increased from 9.
The RSL of a TRX supports two signaling rates:

64 kbit/s

16 kbit/s.
With this feature, a TRX operating in FullĆRate mode can multiplex
up to four RSL channels belonging to TRXs of the same BTS onto
one 64 kbit/s time slot.
This has the advantage of reducing the number of time slots used
by a single BTS on the Abis Interface.
This feature is required for certain configurations on the
BTS A9100. See your Alcatel representative for more information.

5.4.5 Transcoder Pools

This feature permits the grouping of Transcoders having the same
capacities, into pools on the A Interface. This permits efficient use
of existing infrastructure, without having to replace or redeploy
older TCs when a new feature (such as Enhanced FullĆRate) is
added.
Combined with the Abis Signaling Links Static Multiplexing
feature, TRAUs can be grouped according to their data rate and
encoding algorithm capacities.
Two types of Transcoder pooling are available in the Alcatel BSS:

Fixed Transcoder pools follow phase 2 GSM
recommendations. This involves TRAUs which have fixed
submultiplexing schemes on the Ater Interface. There are four
Transcoder types supported in this scheme.

Complex Transcoder pools are an Alcatel enhancement. They
allow an Alcatel MSC to have detailed knowledge of the Ater
transmission schemes used by an Alcatel BSC. This permits
the MSC to map the circuits for an A Interface trunk
dynamically, according to traffic demand.
Transcoder pooling is enabled by a BSC parameter,
EN_TC_POOL. Fixed or Complex pooling is set by the O&M flag,
EN_COMPLEX_TRAU.

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5.4.6 Automatic PowerĆDown

This feature is available only on the BTS A9100. It is used typically
in an outdoor installation where the BTS has a backĆup battery
power supply.
In case of main powerĆsupply failure, the BTS A9100 is
automatically switched to battery power (until the main power is
restored or the battery is drained, whichever happens first).
To extend the time during which the BTS A9100 can function
under battery power, the BTS is reduced to a minimum
configuration to reduce power consumption.

   
 Once a powerĆsupply failure alarm arrives, the OMU starts a
   timer. If, once the timer expires, the alarm is still active, the OMU
switches off all TREs except the BCCH TRE (one per sector for a
sectored site), by placing the TREs to be powered down in FOS
state.
If, in a given sector of a sectored site, the BCCH TRE is configured
without a TCH, another TRE (which carries the SDCCH) is kept
powered on, so that calls are still possible in this sector, though
limited to one TRE.
When the powerĆsupply failure alarm disappears, the OMU starts
a timer. If the alarm reĆoccurs before the timer expires, the OMU
takes no further action. This is to guard against a possible
unstable restoration of power.
If the BTS powerĆsupply remains stable until the timer expires, the
OMU performs an autonomous auto reset with BTS activation.
This reĆinitializes all available TREs.
For more information on this feature, refer to the 

    and the 
   
documents.

5.4.7 Auto Identification

Auto Identification gives the BTS A9100 the capacity to recognize
its own hardware configuration, and to provide this information to
the OMU and the BTS Terminal.
The auto identification procedure is triggered by the OMU in the
following situations:

BTS/Station Unit Module (SUM) power up

BTS reset

OMU reset/auto reset

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 5 Service Improvement Features

Module initialization (on maintenance operator command, or

during a Local Recovery Action or Hardware Extension, the
auto identification takes place only for the module(s)
concerned by the operation).
The BTS A9100 capabilities received by the OMU at auto
identification are stored and can be used internally by the OMU
software or sent to the BSC at Hardware audit.
Auto identification has two components:

Remote Inventory

RF Cable Identification.




 Remote inventory identifies the following:

RIT type of each managed module

Hardware capabilities of each RIT.

 

    RF Cable Identification provides the following information:

Location of each RIT (subrack and slot)

Sector to Antenna Network (AN)x mapping

TRE to ANx mapping.
For more information, refer to the     
document

 
 
 When a new Configuration Data Message (CDM) is received from
the BSC, the BTS A9100 performs a consistency check of its
capabilities against the CDM. It also does this at module
initialization due to maintenance operator command or to a
Hardware Extension operation. The BTS A9100 also checks that
the received OMU Configuration Parameter Data File (CPF) is
valid for this generation of BTS.
For more information, refer to  
 
    and    


5.4.8 Automatic Paging Repetition

If an idle MS performs a cell reĆselection at the same time that it is
paged, or if a paging message is lost on the Air Interface, the MS
may not receive a paging message. Automatic Paging Repetition
ensures that paging messages are not lost by automatically
repeating an unanswered page on the PCH.
For more information about paging, refer to Chapter 2.

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5.4.9 Access to PM Raw Counters via Binary Files

This feature provides an export facility for PM raw counters. Two
files stored in the OMCĆR are exported using FTP or RPC protocols
to an external PM processing system. The external system can
then read them directly, and process their data. The two files are:

A configuration file from which the topology of the BSS can be
read

A binary format file to retrieve the PM raw counters.

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 6 Handling User Traffic Across the BSS

6 Handling User Traffic Across the BSS

This chapter describes the flow of speech and data traffic across
the BSS. It describes:

How speech is encoded and rate adapted throughout the BSS

What types of data can be transferred across the BSS

Where data error correction is performed

How the data rate is adapted.

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6 Handling User Traffic Across the BSS

6.1 Overview
The BSS performs traffic handling in the uplink and downlink
directions for speech and data.
The BSS uses the BSC and BTS to perform the required radio
transmission, control and baseband functions of a cell and to
control the BTSs in its domain.
The TSS provides the efficient use of the terrestrial links between
the BSS components.
Together these components perform the required encoding and
rate adaptation procedures.

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 6 Handling User Traffic Across the BSS

6.2 Speech
Speech is passed from the MS to the Public Switched Telephone
Network (PSTN) and from the PSTN to the MS. This section
describes how speech is encoded from the MS to the PSTN.
Speech in the opposite direction follows the reverse process and
so is not described.

Full Rate Speech TCH

A 13 kbit/s CIM 13 kbit/s 64 kbit/s A/D

BTS BIE BIE BSC SM SM TC MSC PSTN

MS

A 6.5 kbit/s CIM 6.5 kbit/s 13 kbit/s 64 kbit/s A/D

Half Rate Speech TCH

A Analog
CIM Channel Encoded, Interleaved, and Modulated
A/D Analog/Digital

   
 
   
  

  The microphone converts speech to an analog signal. The analog

signal is encoded into a 13 kbit/s (6.5 kbit/s for HalfĆRate) digital
signal, then transmitted on a 16 kbit/s (8 kbit/s) radio timeslot.
3 kbit/s (1.5 kbit/s) are used for signalling.


  To pass speech over the Air interface, error checking and
  redundancy are included to make sure speech information is

 correctly transmitted. This ensures that valid continuous speech is
passed through the BSS.
Error correction is based on high redundancy with complicated
parity and cyclic redundancy methods. This is done to ensure that
many types of parasitic and sporadic errors are detected and to
some degree, corrected. In the case of speech, there is cyclic
coding, convolutional and parity error encoding of the data. The
speech data starts as 260 bits (112 bits) and, after forward error
checking, is encoded as a 456 bit block (228 bit block).

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6 Handling User Traffic Across the BSS

These blocks are then split into eight (four for Half Rate), and
interleaved with adjacent blocks into TDMA frames to be
transmitted as radio wave bursts. This means that if some of the
blocks are lost during transmission, there is a high chance that the
other blocks hold enough redundancy to still have a valid speech
block.
    The interleaved blocks are transmitted over the Air interface and
are then reassembled in the BTS. As described above, when the
interleaved blocks are reassembled and checked for parity errors,
there is a high chance that the data can be recovered. In speech
data the most significant bits are heavily protected and are always
transmitted at the start of a TDMA frame. This ensures that even if
the speech block cannot be reassembled, at least the most
significant speech data can be used to provide a close
approximation.


  Speech bursts are returned to digital speech blocks in the BTS.
They are sent to the TC as 13 kbit/s digital speech, plus 3 kbit/s
for inĆband signalling if they are full rate speech. The channels on
the Abis and Ater interfaces are 64 kbit/s. The speech blocks to be
multiplexed on to these links. This is shown in Figure 56.
Half rate speech is sent to the BSC on the Abis interface as
6.5 kbit/s, plus 1.5 kbit/s signalling. Two half rate 8 kbit/s
channels are associated together into a 16 kbit/s channel. On the
Ater interface a 16 kbit/s submultplexing scheme is used for all
types of traffic. The two mated 8 kbit/s Abis channels are
independently switched by the BSC onto two 16 kbit/s Ater
channels.

Ater Interface AterĆmux Interface Ater Interface A Interface

BSC SM SM TC MSC

30 x 16 kbit/s user 90 x 16 kbit/s user 30 x 16 kbit/s user 30 x 64 kbit/s user

traffic channels traffic channels traffic channels traffic channels
per link per link per link per link
   
  

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 6 Handling User Traffic Across the BSS

   
   The TC converts the 13 kbit/s digital speech to the 64 kbit/s AĆlaw
    encoding. This is a standard digital speech interface for Integrated
Services Digital Network (ISDN) and PSTN exchanges. The
information passes through the MSC and is sent to the PSTN.
The TC performs rate adaptation in both directions.

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6 Handling User Traffic Across the BSS

6.3 Data
There are two types of data modes:

Transparent

NonĆTransparent.

 
The transparent data mode is based on the V.110 protocol.
V.110 is an ITU recommendation. It specifies how ISDN supports
Data Terminal Equipment (DTE). It also specifies the transport of
synchronous/asynchronous data over a synchronous link.
Data is packaged and sent to the TC in the same way as speech. It
is converted to the 64 kbit/s ISDN format for data transmission.
Error handling is dealt with by the Air interface.

 

The nonĆtransparent data mode is similar, although data is
transmitted as packets from the modem on the MS to the modem
in PSTN. Error handling is handled endĆtoĆend.
Refer to Subsection 6.3.1 for more information about the
transparent mode and to Subsection 6.3.2 for more information
about the nonĆtransparent mode.
Figure 57 illustrates data transmission across the BSS.

BTS BIE BIE BSC SM SM TC MSC PSTN

MS

V.110 data blocks ISDN

/Analog
A 13 kbit/s CIM 13 kbit/s 64 kbit/s A/D
A Analog
CIM Channel Encoded, Interleaved, and Modulated
A/D Analog/Digital

   


   

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 6 Handling User Traffic Across the BSS

6.3.1 Transparent Mode

Transparent mode implies that the following functions are
performed by the BSS:

Interleaving and Channel Coding

Rate adaptation.


  Interleaving for data is more complicated than for speech. The
   
 data block is split into 22 parts for interleaving 9.6 kbit/s and 4.8
kbit/s data rates. For 2.4 kbit/s, the interleaving is the same as
speech. The lower the data rate, the more space can be used for
redundancy and error detection. This lowers the error rate.
The Air interface performs the error handling. The V.110 data
packets are grouped together and transmitted across the Air
interface exactly like speech. Table 14 shows the data rate and
error rate. A low data rate provides more space for a better
forward error correction scheme, in turn reducing the number of
errors.

 
 Data is packaged differently in V.110 for different data rates. The
bandwidth is reduced and therefore the rate is lower. See Table 14
for the rate conversions. The TC plays the final role in the rate
adaptation when the data stream is adapted to 64 kbit/s packets.
There is a difference between data and speech rate adaptation.
Speech is encoded to AĆlaw, while data is transposed to the first
bit, and if required the second bit of a Pulse Code
Modulation (PCM) byte. PCM transmission is at 8 000 bytes
(64 kbit/s). The 8 kbit/s and 16 kbit/s intermediate rates (before
the TC) are transposed as 1 or 2 bits per byte respectively.

  


       

User Rate Intermediate Radio Interface Error Rate
Rate (at Full Rate)

9600 16 kbit/s 12 kbit/s 0.3%

4800 8 kbit/s 6 kbit/s 0.01%
<=2400 8 kbit/s 3.6 kbit/s 0.001%

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6 Handling User Traffic Across the BSS

6.3.2 NonĆTransparent Mode

The NonĆTransparent data mode is a data transmission protocol. It
is based on sending RLP packets as four V.110 frames. This is the
same process used in transparent mode. Interleaving and channel
coding are still used, as they are in the Transparent mode. The RLP
adds extra protection and also allows the reĆtransmission. Packing
RLPs in four V.110 frames ensures transparency over the network.
RLP packet size is the same as a radio block size, so it is
transmitted as one radio block.
The NonĆTransparent data mode uses a 12 kbit/s radio interface
rate. Interleaving and channel coding are at 9.6 kbit/s (same as in
the Transparent mode). The only difference between Transparent
and NonĆTransparent modes for the BSS is the processing of the
four V.110 frames of an RLP packet.
  
 The NonĆTransparent data mode has a better error rate as there is
no forward error checking or interleaving. Therefore, the size of
packets remains small and less prone to errors. There are
however, some cyclic redundancy bytes and the protocol is very
similar in principle to Link Access Procedure on the D Channel
(LAPD).
 
 There is no rate adaptation in NonĆTransparent mode. The rate
can only be adapted by physically transmitting less than the full
bandwidth available. The data rate is also limited by the number
of errors, as packets have to be retransmitted. The difference
between Transparent and NonĆTransparent mode data links is
transparent to the TC, but not to the BTS. The TC, as described in
Transparent mode, puts the data in the first bits of a PCM byte.
The BTS must ensure that an RLP packet maps into four V.110
frames numbered 0, 1, 2, 3. These must be sent in one block on
the Air interface.

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 7 Cell Environments

7 Cell Environments
This chapter describes the cell environments available in the
Alcatel 900/1800 BSS. The following cell environments are
described:

Single Cell

Concentric Cell

Sectored Site

Extended Cell

Umbrella Cell

Mini Cell

Microcell.

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7 Cell Environments

7.1 Overview
The Alcatel BSS provides coverage suited to the needs of urban,
rural and coastal areas by offering a variety of possible cell
environments.

 
 
In the rural and coastal environment coverage is principally a
   function of cell planning. Standard cell layouts, providing
coverage of up to 35 km, include:

Single cells

Concentric cells.
Extended cells, which have two coĆlocated antennae, provide
options covering traffic density and ranges up to 70 km.

     In the urban environment the coverage is determined by the

location of the BTS antennae. Two types of cells are normally used:

Macrocells Ć where the antenna is located above the roof tops
and propagation occurs in all directions. These cells can be
sectored by using specific antenna patterns.

Microcells Ć where the antenna is located below roof top level,
on building facades or street lights. Propagation occurs mainly
as line of sight along the street, with strong attenuation at
street corners.
These two cell types can be used in a hierarchical cell environment
where continuous coverage is provided by the macrocell (umbrella
cell) and locations of increased traffic density are covered by
dedicated microcells.
Figure 58 shows various configurations of the normal GSM 900 or
GSM 1800 cell type. Each of the following sections explain the
functional differences between the cell described and the single
cell configuration.

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 7 Cell Environments

Inner Zone

Outer Zone
Single Cell Concentric
Cell

Sectored Site

Umbrella Cell

Microcell
Microcell
Umbrella &
Microcell Concentric
Cell

Inner Cell Outer

Limit Microcell
Microcell

Microcell

Extended Cell

Inner Cell

Outer Cell

Overlap Zone
Outer Cell Inner
Limit

     


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7 Cell Environments

7.2 Concentric Cell

The goal of concentric cells is to increase the frequency economy
of the network. This is done by reducing the interference levels of
some BTS carriers. These carrier frequencies can be reĆused for
smaller distances.
The inner zone serves a high concentration of MS calls in a small
area, with a reduced maximum power output limit. The outer zone
performs call handling for a greater radius with a normal
maximum power output limit. A nonĆconcentric cell has all the
frequencies serving all of the 35km radius area. This causes
interference problems due to the large number of frequencies
being used.
The BCCH, CCCH and SDCCH in concentric cells are put on the
outer zone frequencies. TCH assignment during call connection
can be allocated to either the outer or inner zones. It depends on
the location of the MS at that time.
The inner and outer zones are part of the same cell, and a
frequency carrier is assigned either to the inner or outer zone. This
is signalled by the 

flag of 1 or 0, (1=inner, 0=outer).
The outer zone maximum power limit is the same as normal
zones. The inner zone is controlled by two maximum power limit
values. One maximum power limit value for the MS and one
maximum power limit value for the BTS.

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 7 Cell Environments

7.3 Sectored Site

A sectored BTS site uses a single physical BTS equipped with up to
three antennae illuminating three sectors, each covering a
separate single macrocell as shown in Figure 59.
The BTS in a sectored site contains up to three transceivers which
are each allocated to different given sectors. Each sector and its
associated cell are managed independently and are seen
functionally, by the OMC and BSC, as separate BTSs connected in
chain mode.
Within the physical BTS site, there is a master BTS and up to two
slave BTSs. Each BTS generates its own clock locally, but the slave
BTSs are synchronised to the master BTS.

Sector
1

Cell 1

BTS

Cell 2 Sector
2

Cell 3

Sector
Antenna
3

      


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7 Cell Environments

7.4 Extended Cell

An extended cell is made up of two cells, an inner and an outer,
see Figure 58. The inner cell handles calls up to a distance of 35
km (the same as a normal cell), while the outer cell handles traffic
from 33 km up to a maximum range of 70 km.
The inner and outer cells are covered by two synchronized,
coĆlocated G2 BTSs. The reception (uplink) of the outer cell is
delayed to correspond to a 33 km shift in range. Radio continuity
between the two cells is ensured by the overlap zone.
The inner cell uses two carrier units:

CU BCCH Inner: at the inner cell BCCH frequency

CU RACH Catcher: at the outer cell BCCH frequency, but with
transmission switched off.
Because the outer cell can have areas of strong signal within the
inner cell's coverage area, it is necessary to prevent an MS in such
a region from camping on the outer cell frequency. This could
lead to sudden signal degradation as conditions change, and
eventual loss of the call.
The RACH Catcher receives channel_request messages from MSs
which are synchronized on the outer cell BCCH frequency, but are
within 33 km of the BTS. The BTS knows, from the timing advance
sent by the MS, that it is actually in the inner cell, and assigns the
MS to an inner cell SDCCH frequency.
The outer cell uses one CU with reception delayed by 60 bits. This
effectively shifts the logical position" of an MS 33 km nearer than
its actual position and allows it to be handled in the standard
GSM 0Ć63 bit timing advance range.
The handover procedure is controlled normally, with the settings
ensuring that the necessary distance has been reached before
handing a call over to the outer or inner cell.

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 7 Cell Environments

Different types of coverage are possible depending on the type of

antenna used for the inner and outer cells. The example in
Figure 60 shows an extended cell with an omnidirectional inner
cell and directional outer cell.

Inner Cell

Highway
Urban Area
70 km
max
Outer Cell

35 km
max

 
 
 


 

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7 Cell Environments

7.5 Umbrella Cell

In much denser traffic areas, depending on the required traffic
capacity, a hierarchical network is used, where continuous
coverage is provided by an umbrella cell (macrocell), and traffic
hotĆspots are covered with dedicated lower layer cells of limited
range. Fast moving mobiles are kept in the upper layer cell to
avoid a high rate of handovers.
For medium density areas small macrocells (called mini cells) are
overlaid with one umbrella macrocell, see Section 7.5.1.
For higher traffic densities microcells are installed in all the streets
where very dense traffic occurs. Umbrella macrocells provide
continuous coverage for level and quality handovers, and
saturated overlaid cells.
Refer to Section 7.5.2 for more information about the relationship
between umbrella cells and microcells.

7.5.1 Mini Cell

Mini cells are used for dense urban areas where traffic hotĆspots
are covered by very small macrocells (500 m to 1 km radius) and
continuous coverage is provided by an overlaid macrocell (5 to
10 km radius). The lower layer mini cells handle pedestrian traffic
while the umbrella cell handles the faster moving mobiles. As only
macrocells are used there is no street corner effect.
Figure 61 shows the application of the twoĆlayer hierarchical
network, with macrocells for both layers, in a small town.

Umbrella Cell

Pedestrian area

Mini Cells

Urban area

 
  
 
     


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 7 Cell Environments

7.5.2 Microcell
Microcells have a small coverage area (less than 300 m radius).
These cells are usually situated indoors or along streets in builtĆup
areas. Microcells have an umbrella cell (1 to 2 km radius) to
minimize the risk of losing calls by providing maximum coverage.
The microcell's small radius is created by limiting the maximum
power output strategically to cover a preĆdefined microcell area.
Handover occurs more frequently in a microcell environment due
to the small radius sizes. Microcell handovers occur:

To handle stationary MSs (especially MSs used indoors).

When an MS moves in a street covered by microcells.

To avoid losing calls. Whenever there is a risk of losing a call,
a handover is triggered to the umbrella cell.
Fast moving mobiles are handled by the umbrella cell. A mobile
handled by a microcell is sent to the umbrella cell if the delay
between handovers becomes too small. Conversely a mobile is
sent to a microcell if it receives a high level of signal for a
sufficient time.
Call quality/control is achieved by providing four thresholds for
microcell handover and one handover threshold for macrocell
handover.

Micro to Micro Handover

Microcell to microcell handover occurs due to the proximity of the
two cells. When the power budget is better in another cell, the MS
is handed over to the cell which will serve the call more efficiently.
This normally occurs in microcells serving in the same street.

Micro to Macro Handover


    This type of handover occurs when the signal strength has
  dropped below the theoretical signal level at the radius of the cell.
This would normally mean that the MS has turned a street corner.
     This type of handover occurs when the MS level is under the high
  threshold and the signal level has dropped below the low
threshold. The handover is to the umbrella/macrocell, which
supports the call until the MS moves into another cell. When the
macro to micro threshold is exceeded in the umbrella/macrocell,
the MS is passed to a new microcell.

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7 Cell Environments



 
 The MS is forced to handover to the umbrella cell when no
measurement reports are transmitted. This occurs after a number
of consecutive SACCH reporting periods.

Macro to Micro Handover

 
 This occurs when the MS signal level in a microcell is above the
 
 M_to_m threshold for a certain period. This threshold value must
always be higher than the low threshold value of the cell.
Otherwise, a handover pingĆpong effect can occur between the
umbrella and the microcell.

Note If the low threshold is not used, the M_to_m Threshold value must
be above the high threshold value.

Threshold Handover Example

The example in Figure 62 shows two typical cases of handover in
microcells:

MicroĆmicro handover along a street (Case 1 in Figure 62)

Signal levels rising and dropping, causing macro/micro
handover (Case 2Ć6 in Figure 62). This example shows the
use of the two levels of MacroĆmicro handover (strong to
weak signal, and weak to weaker signal). This is represented
by the high and low threshold handovers. This example also
shows the macrocell handing back to a microcell once a
stronger signal level is received.

High Signal Level

1 MicroĆMicro
Handover
2
High Threshold
d 3 4 6
B M_to_m Threshold
m
Low Threshold
5

Low Signal Level

     

    


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 7 Cell Environments

  An MS is moving along a street.

As it moves along a street, the MS is handed over from microcell
to microcell (1).

   An MS turns a corner then moves indoors.

1. Call starts at (2). The signal level is normal.
2. The MS signal level drops below the high threshold level (3),
e.g. when turning a corner. To protect the call, it is handed
over to the macrocell until a better microcell is found. The call
remains with the macrocell until a strong signal from another
microcell is received (normal case).
3. If a strong signal from a microcell cannot be found, a weaker
signal from a microcell with enough strength to be above
M_to_m threshold level, but remain below the high threshold
is found (4).
In this case, as long as the signal strength remains above the
low threshold and there is not a better microcell, the call
remains with that microcell (e.g. the MS is indoors).
4. The signal level drops below the low threshold (5). The MS is
again passed to the macrocell (e.g. the MS moves further
inside a building). The macrocell is used to ensure call quality.
5. The MS moves into a position whereby the MS reports a
microcell signal level above M_to_m threshold (6). The call is
handed over to that microcell, e.g. the MS is still indoors, but
has a stronger signal from a microcell.

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7 Cell Environments

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 8 Operations & Maintenance

8 Operations & Maintenance

This chapter provides an overview and describes O&M functions
in the context of an operational network. It describes:

O&M Communication Mechanism

Alarms

Status Changes

Call and IMSI Tracing

Measurement Jobs

Audits

Modifying Telecom Parameters.
This chapter does not describe the principles of O&M. For more
information about O&M, refer to the      
 
 document.

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8 Operations & Maintenance

8.1 Overview
To ensure that the BSS functions correctly, O&M actions are
implemented at all levels within the BSS. All of the BSS
components perform O&M functions, as follows:

The BTS monitors the condition of the hardware modules it
manages, and reports any change in status to the BSC.

The BSC supervises its own hardware modules and reports
changes in status to the OMCĆR.

The TSS provides a set of O&M functions to ensure a high
level of fault tolerance and reliability. It provides efficient use
of the terrestrial links between the equipment of the BSS.

 The OMCĆR is an external component of the PLMN. Although, it is

technically not a BSS component, it functions directly with the BSC
for O&M purposes.
The OMCĆR O&M functions of the BSS mainly involve operation
and control actions. The BSC O&M functions mainly involve the
routing, control and filtering of O&M messages.
The hardware and software within the BSS are grouped into
functional blocks. Each block, SBL, performs a set of associated
functions. Functional redundancy based on autonomous recovery
is provided in the SBL hierarchy to maintain an operational level
within the system when faults occur.

8.1.1 BSC O&M Functions

The System Common Processor Type A (SĆCPRA) module of the
BSC controls the O&M functions shown in Table 15. A BSC
terminal allows an operator to perform Configuration and Fault
Management functions on the BSC components.

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 8 Operations & Maintenance

  


Management Area Function

Configuration Management
Fault Management
Performance Management

Configuring local date and time

Software and database replacement

Reading and modifying logical parameters.

Fault detection, fault correlation and fault localization on all
devices controlled by the processor

BSC reconfiguration in case of loss of the BCCH, Terminal ConĆ
trol Unit (TCU)/FU or a CU (G1 or G2 BTS).

BSC reconfiguration in case of loss of the BCCH, TCU/TRE (BTS
A9100).

Result collection and collation

X.25 related counters

Traffic measurements on radio channels

Performance Measurement result reporting

Trace invocation result reporting.

Figure 63 shows a simplified block diagram of the BSC O&M

components.

TCU DTC

To the MSC
TCU DTC

To Remote Digital
BTS Switching
Network
TCU SĆCPR To the BSC
Terminal

TCU OSIĆCPR To the

OMCĆR

BSC
   


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8 Operations & Maintenance

8.1.2 BTS O&M (G1 and G2 BTSs)

The BTS is designed to ensure redundancy of the central and most
important components in the BTS. This ensures that system
integrity and availability are maintained at all times. Figure 64
illustrates the central BTS O&M components and data flow.

Air Interface

BSI

F
H
FU CU
S
W
I COMBINER
T
C
H

FHI RTE
FU CU

Diagnostic and Diagnostic and

Control Link 1 Control Link 2
(Token bus) (Q1 bus)

EXTERNAL
OMU ALARMS
& CONTROL

Legend

Operations and Maintenance data

Signal flow
BTS Terminal

FHI = Frequency Hopping Interface BSI = Base Station Interface

     

      

The Operations and Maintenance Unit (OMU) controls and

monitors all equipment connected to the BTS internal diagnostics
and control links. This includes the Diagnostic and Control Link 1
Token Bus and the Diagnostic and Control Link 2 Q1 Bus. A BTS
terminal allows an operator to perform Configuration and Fault
Management functions on the BTS components.

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 8 Operations & Maintenance

8.1.3 BTS A9100 O&M

The design of the Alcatel BTS A9100 provides enhanced reliability
by reducing the number of Functional Units. These are each
subdivided into Functional Entities. There are three primary
Functional Units in the BTS A9100:

TRE

AN

SUM
Figure 65 illustrates the O&M components and data flow in the
BTS A9100.

Air Interface

ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
SUM
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
ËËËËË ÈÈÈÈÈ ÈÈÈ
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
BSII

•
BSII Switch
AN
ËËËËË ÈÈÈÈÈ
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
TRANS & and Timing ANX
•
CLOCK
•
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÈÈÈÈÈ ÈÈÈ
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
Abis interface to BSC
BSII ANY

ÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉ
É•
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÈÈÈÈÈ ÈÈÈ
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
É ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÈÈÈÈÈ ÈÈÈ
RI

BCB

É ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÈÈÈÈÈ ÈÈÈ
É
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÈÈÈÈÈ ÈÈÈ
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
ÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉ
OMU

É
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
BTS Terminal
ÈÈÈÈÈ ÈÈÈ
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
ÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉ
É•
ÈÈÈ
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
É ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
MMI
• BCB

ÈÈÈÈÈÈÈÈÈÈÈÈÈÈ ÈÈÈÈÈÈ
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
É
ÈÈÈÈÈÈÈÈÈÈÈÈÈÈ ÈÈÈÈÈÈ
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
É
TRE
TRED TREA

ÈÈÈÈÈÈÈÈÈÈÈÈÈÈ ÈÈÈÈÈÈ
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
BSII

ÈÈÈÈÈÈÈÈÈÈÈÈÈÈ ÈÈÈÈÈÈ
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
ÈÈÈÈÈÈÈÈÈÈÈÈÈÈ ÈÈÈÈÈÈ
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
ÈÈÈÈÈÈÈÈÈÈÈÈÈÈ ÈÈÈÈÈÈ
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ TREA = TRE - Analog part

ÈÈÈÈÈÈ
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
TRED = TRE - Digital part
RI = Remote Inventory

Legend

ÉÉÉÉ
O&M Data on the BSSI (Base Station Internal Interface)
O&M Data on the BCB (Base station Control Bus)
Signal flow

NOTE: This diagram does not show all elements nor all interfaces. Refer
to      for details of functional entities.

   
   !    

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8 Operations & Maintenance

The OMU is a Functional Entity in the SUM. It controls and

monitors all equipment connected to the BTS internal diagnostics
and control links. This includes the Base Station Internal
Interface (BSII) and the Base Station Control Bus (BCB). A BTS
terminal allows an operator to perform Configuration and Fault
Management functions on the BTS components.
For specific information about the architecture and interfaces of
the BTS A9100, refer to 
    
For specific information about the configuration of the BTS A9100,
refer to 

  .

8.1.4 BTS O&M Functions (All Generations)

The BTS O&M functions are:

Supervision of the BTS equipment. This includes initializing
and configuring of the BTS.

Testing of the equipment. This includes collecting alarms and
reporting to the BSC.

Diagnosis and fault reporting for the system.

Access provision for the local diagnostics and configuration of
the BTS.

Transfer of software and data files to the FUs (G1/G2) or TREs
(BTS A9100).

Management of equipment states. This includes triggering
BTS channel configuration in case of a failure.

Control of the Auto Identification feature (BTS A9100 only).

Application of the logical configuration of the BTS.

Event report management. See Section 8.3.1 for further
information concerning events.

8.1.5 TSC O&M Functions

The O&M functions of the BIE, SM and TC are monitored by a
dedicated TSC. A TSC terminal allows an operator to perform
Configuration and Fault Management functions on the TSS
components. Alarm situations are monitored at the OMCĆR, and
fault localization is based on information received by the OMCĆR.

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 8 Operations & Maintenance

The primary O&M functions of the TSC are:

Communication through the Q1 interface with the TC, SM
and BIE modules

Communication through the LAPD link with the BSC

Status monitoring of the TC, SM and BIE modules

Permission for configuration and reĆconfiguration of the TC,
SM and BIE modules

Access provision to the fault localizing features of the TSC

Local access provision to configuration of the TC, SM and BIE
modules.
Figure 66 shows transmission modules that perform O&M
functions.

X.25 Link to OMCĆR

ÄÄÄÄ
ÄÄÄÄ
ÄÄÄÄ
ÄÄÄÄ
BIE BIE SM2M SM2M TRCU

ÄÄÄÄ
BSC

ÄÄÄÄ
ÄÄÄÄ A Interface to

ÄÄÄÄ the MSC

ÄÄÄÄ
LAPD Link to BSC
Q1 Bus
Q1 Bus
TSC

TSC Terminal

   
     

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8 Operations & Maintenance

8.1.6 OMCĆR in O&M Functions

The O&M functions of the OMCĆR are:
" Providing the operator with an interface to the system to:
D Configure the network
h Perform software configuration management (files,
version downloading)
h Provide configuration functions for logical
parameters.
D Supervise the network
h Display alarm status and history
h Display equipment and resource states
h Perform Performance Management jobs (scheduling,
raw counter management, virtual counter definition)
h Snapshot management
h Definition and supervision of counter thresholds
(Quality of Service alarms).
D Maintain the network:
h Access to equipment management functions (test)
h Access to resource equipment state management.
" Keeping track of hardware and software configurations in the
system and managing software versions
" Providing mediation between the Alcatel BSS and one or more
NMCs. This uses the Q3 interface.

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 8 Operations & Maintenance

8.2 O&M Communication Mechanism

This section explains how:

O&M functions communicate within the BSS

Messages are passed amongst the OMCĆR, BSC, BTS and the
TSC.
The communication mechanism transports alarm, event, audit and
operator command messages throughout the BSS.

8.2.1 O&M Command Flows


 OMCĆR information is passed between the OMCĆR and the BSC,
using the CMISE protocol. The CMISE protocol is the OSI network
management protocol over X.25.
The majority of OMCĆR related commands are based on the four
message scenarios:

M_ACTION

M_ACTIONcnf

M_EVENT_REPORT

M_EVENT_REPORTrsp.
These message scenarios are shown in Figure 67. The OMCĆR
requests an action from the BSS via the CMISE command
M_ACTION. Specific commands are used for each action. For
example, to demand an alarm list, the OMCĆR issues the
command:

– M_ALARM_LIST
The word ACTION in the table above and in the illustrations which
follow is replaced by the real command, in this case ALARM_LIST.

OMCĆR BSC

ACTION

        



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8 Operations & Maintenance



 The O&M protocol between the BSC, the BTS and the TSC uses
the GSM standard 08.59 (O&M signalling transport layer) header.
This header handles the sequencing and encapsulation of data.
The O&M command/message is stored with its channel identity,
reference and parameters. For more information about the alarm
and measurement observation parameters, refer to the  
# and the      .
The command sequence between the BSC and its corresponding
BTSs and TSCs uses a similar command flow to the CMISE. This is
shown in Figure 68.

OMC BSC BTS

ACTION

  
"   !

 There are also other, less common message exchanges. They are
based either on one pair of the four message sequence, or several
replies to the original M_ACTION pair, i.e. M_ACTION and
M_ACTIONcnf.

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 8 Operations & Maintenance

8.2.2 Spontaneous Messages

Messages such as alarms and event changes are spontaneous.
Alarms are generated due to changes in the operation of the
system. They are not in response to an action invoked by the
OMCĆR. This means that there is no M_ACTION pair.
There are two message scenarios for spontaneous messages:

M_EVENT_REPORT which is an event_report (i.e. from the BSC
to the OMCĆR)

M_EVENT_REPORTrsp which is a response to the event_report
(i.e. from the OMCĆR to the BSC).
 
AlarmĆstart and alarmĆend commands use two messages. The
alarm arrives at the OMCĆR as an alarm report. The OMCĆR
sends an acknowledgement.
  Event messages are spontaneous. They inform the OMCĆR of
changes to the SBL state. See Section 8.3.1 for further information
concerning events.

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8 Operations & Maintenance

8.3 Alarms
The BSS generates alarms to signal a change in the behavior of a
particular function within the system, such as a potential problem
or a confirmed failure in the system.
This section describes the alarm generation process. It describes
the alarms and their effects on the system.

8.3.1 Alarm Generation

When an Alarm is generated, it is indicated as either:

Fault (begin or end)
If a fault arises, the related alarm is stored in an
AlarmsĆInĆForce List (AIFL) in the relevant BSS unit, and also in
the OMCĆR. The alarm begin message signals that a
particular system activity has stopped due to an error. When
the error is corrected, an alarm end message is sent to
indicate that the condition no longer exists, and the alarm is
taken out of the AIFL.

Event
An Event occurs when an unexpected situation arises during
system operation.
Alarms can be generated as a result of previous alarms or events
which influence other parts of the system. For example, when the
CU produces an alarm to signal an internal fault, the FU and the
Radio Signalling Link produce alarms to signal that no information
is being received from the CU. Fault correlation and filtering
actions are performed by the O&M modules in each unit, so that a
single fault is sent as an alarm. In the case of the faulty CU, an
alarm is sent signalling a CU fault. In this example, the loss of the
RSL link is signalled from the BSC but is not correlated.

  Correlation refers to the collection and analysis of all available
fault indications for a particular problem. Fault correlation is
performed to define where and why the fault occurred.
An example of correlation is as follows:

When several boards in the BTS report clock problems, these
reports are correlated by the OMU.

The 'clock generator is faulty' alarm is sent to the OMCĆR.

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 8 Operations & Maintenance



Alarms are filtered to minimize the number of fault alarms
reported and displayed to the operator. Alarms are displayed in
order of severity.

  A fault is signalled only if there is no recovery after the timer
expiration. For example, in the case of a LAPD failure of an RSL
link, an alarm is sent only if the LAPD link has not recovered
before the persistency timer has expired.


 Each BSS component keeps an AIFL, so that the system knows that
an alarm has begun. This list ensures synchronization of alarms
throughout the BSS components. This makes the alarm situation
visible at all times. The OMCĆR also keeps track of all the AIFLs for
each BSS component.

8.3.2 BSC Alarms

BSC detects alarms on the Abis and A trunk via the TCU and the
DTC. It also detects alarms from each functional unit of the BSC.
 The active SĆCPRA creates a daisyĆchain map of all the processors
in the BSC. Every ten minutes, the SĆCPRA sends the map to the
next processor. This processor sends the information to the next
processor in line, until the SĆCPRA receives the daisyĆchain map.
The daisyĆchain map can be modified by an intermediary
processor when that processor cannot send the map to the next
processor in line. In this case, the intermediary processor skips the
processor and removes that processor from the daisyĆchain map.
When the SĆCPRA receives the map with the same processor
missing twice in a row, it tries to recover the processor. If the
processor cannot be recovered, the SĆCPRA places the processor
in the Faulty (FLT) state.
The SĆCPRA signals the event change and alarm to the OMCĆR as
follows:

If a TCU fails, recovery only takes place to ensure BCCH
functionality.

If a DTC fails, the BSC tries to inform the MSC, so that MSC is
aware that the SS7 link is now out of service. This implies:
 The loss and, if possible, the changeĆover of the SS7
 The blocking of circuits.

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8 Operations & Maintenance


     The TSC supervises its trunks and their links between the TSC, BTS,

 and MSC.
Failure of the Abis interface is signalled to the BSC by all of the
RSLs of the associated BTS. A single RSL failure reflects the status
of the corresponding LAPD and FU.
All A interface faults are controlled by the TSC and the MSC.
However they are also monitored by the BSC, in order to define
the status of each "endĆtoĆend" AĆtrunk. Figure 69 shows RSL fault
correlation on the Abis interface.

 The BTS_TEL SBL describes the status of the GSM defined BTS
telecom functions. Its state is defined by operator commands, and
correlation of the LAPD RSL states or of the different CUs.

Fault Start CPR Informed RSL State Change

Alarm begin BTS_TEL
RSL-1

ACTIVE
Persistency Correlation
INACTIVE
Fault Start

RSL-2

Fault Start
RSL-N (last RSL)

 
      

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 8 Operations & Maintenance

The BSC monitors the A interface faults as follows:

1. The BSC detects the first LAPD RSL link failure of the BTS. The
BSC starts a persistency timer. It puts the SBL of the RSL into a
Maintenance Seized (MSD)ĆAuto state while the following
actions occur:

The Replaceable Items (RITs) are now in the Software Out
of Service (SOS) state. This is because the Radio Time
Slot (RTS) belonging to the RSL still functions, but cannot
communicate with the BSC.

Telecoms resources are blocked to prevent new activity at
the BSC end of this link.

The RSL SBL is put into the FLT state, reflecting the loss of
the RSL.
2. The persistency timer expires and the Common
Processor (CPR) is informed of the fault. If the link recovers
during the persistency period, nothing is reported. Otherwise
a correlation timer starts and waits for further RSL link failures
belonging to the same BTS.
3. Once the correlation timer expires the BSC informs the
OMCĆR of each RSL failure by changing its state to the FLT
state.
4. The OMCĆR is then informed about the state of the BTS_TEL. If
all the RSLs belonging to the BTS have failed, then an alarm is
sent to the OMCĆR signalling the loss of the cell. When an
AIFL begins it puts the BTS_TEL in an FLT state.
5. When the BSC detects a DTC failure, the BSC puts the DTC
SBL in the MSDĆAuto state. This prevents new MS originated
calls from using the failed link of the DTC. It then changes the
DTC SBL to the FLT state. This is then signalled to the OMCĆR.
The TSC also detects a failure of the Ater link and signals the
failure to the OMCĆR.

Note The A channel is allocated only by the MSC.

  
 
 Software throughout the BSC detects error and alarm conditions. It
reports these conditions to the alarm handling software. The
alarm handling software performs persistency, filtering and
correlation actions on the received alarm indicators, and
determines the required action (e.g. to isolate a faulty SBL).
Figure 70 shows an example alarm report.

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8 Operations & Maintenance

If one or more RSL links remain for the failed BTS, an event
change is sent. An AIFL begins putting the BTS_TEL in a Faulty In
Traffic (FIT) state, as some channels for that cell are in operation.
The BSC marks the cell as degraded in service and reconfigures
the BTS.

Alarm Class, Number and Name Alarm Type, Number and Name

==Alcatel 900 BSS REPORT==============================125===

Event-time : 1995:11:15 10:43:42:09 Job-id : 44
Event-type : UNSOLICITED ALARM REPORT
Object-class : SBL
Object-instance : unit-type : BTS nbr : 1
: SBL-type : FU nbr : 2

Alarm-info :
alarm-class : 07 – FRAME UNIT
alarm-type : 006 – BOTH-BSI-LINKS
alarm-nbr : 1
alarm-cat : PMA
alarm-cond : BEGIN

Prev-state : IT

Curr-state : FOS

Rit-list
unit-type nbr rack shelf slot rit-type
BTS 1 2 3 5 FUPS
BTS 1 2 3 21 FUCO
BTS 1 2 3 33 FUIF
BTS 1 2 3 15 CECC
BTS 1 2 3 17 CDCC
BTS 1 2 3 19 CDCC
BTS 1 2 3 25 DMDT
BTS 1 2 3 27 DMDT

Defence-action : NO ACTION

Suspected-rit
unit-type nbr rack shelf slot rit-type
BTS 1 2 3 33 FUIF
Addition-data : 223 53 6 35 8
2 0 48 0 223
61 42 0 2 0
48 1 51 130 0
Addition-data : 0 255 255 0 0
0 1 0 1 0
0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
Addition-data : 1 0 1 0 8
0 8 0 0 0
0 0 8 0 255
255 255 255 255 255

Flt-loc-unit-type : BTS
Flt-loc-unit-nbr : 1

Timestamp : 1995:11:15 10:43:42:09

===========================================================================

Suspect RIT Additional information List of RITs belonging to SBL


  
   


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 8 Operations & Maintenance

8.3.3 BTS Alarms

Alarms in the BTS are tracked by the OMU.

G1/G2 Alarm Buses In G1 and G2 BTSs, the OMU has a Q1 interface to the CUs,
Master Clock Unit (MCLU), External Alarm Collection
Board (EACB), and Frequency Hopping Unit (FHU) modules in the
system and a Token Bus interface with all of the FU modules.

BTS A9100 Alarm Buses In the BTS A9100, the BSII provides the OMU with an interface to
the TRE functional unit, and to the ANx and TRANS & CLOCK
functional entities, which have their own onĆboard controllers.
The BCB provides an interface to all the functional entities in the
BTS.
Q1 Interface On the Q1 interface, a system of double polling takes place. The
(G1/G2 BTS) OMU polls each subsystem individually to find out if there is an
error. If there is an error, the OMU demands an error report from
that board. Normally, the information from the error report is used
as an alarm or an event notification.
Token Bus Interface On the Token Bus interface, the OMU is informed by the FU about
(G1/G2 BTS) the type of error that has occurred. The OMU sends the alarm
information to the BSC.
BSSI On the Base Station Internal Interface, each module
(BTS A9100) spontaneously reports errors to the OMU, which processes the
report as an alarm or an event notification.

BCB The Base station Control Bus operates in a master/slave

(BTS A9100) configuration where the SUM functions as Pilot (master) and the
functional entities function as Terminals (slaves) in normal
conditions. The OMU collects alarm information on the BCB and
sends it to the BSC.

Alarm Collection The mechanism for BTS alarm collection on all buses is as follows:

The alarm is added to the AIFL.

The OMU enters alarm information in a queued buffer. In this
way, alarms are queued even if the link between the BTS and
the BSC is temporarily unusable. If the buffer becomes full
(over 100 messages):

All fault/state change messages are deleted

No more messages are sent until a state and alarm audit
takes place to synchronize the BSC and the OMCĆR. An
audit BTS request is transmitted on a regular basis until
an audit occurs.

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8 Operations & Maintenance

3. The alarm messages are transmitted at level 3, over the Abis

link to the BSC. The message format uses the GSM standard
08.59, which contains the alarm information. This is
described in the 

  and the  

   .
4. The message is sent to the System Common Processor Type
A (CPRA), where it is date and time stamped.
5. The BSC performs one of two activities:
 If possible, it processes the alarm, performs an action
and sends a different alarm/event to the OMCĆR, via the
alarm queue
 Otherwise, it reĆtransmits the message to the OMCĆR, via
the alarm queue.
6. The message is put in the alarm queue. If the queue
overflows, the BSC performs an AlarmsĆinĆForce audit on all
the modules in the BSC. This signals that information was
received and lost when the queue overflowed, and that
resynchronization is required.
7. The OMCĆR receives the alarm over the CMISE link. It logs the
alarm in the AIFL and on the console.

8.3.4 TSC Alarms

TSC O&M activities are similar to those performed by the BTS. The
TSC has a Q1 interface to the transmission equipment. A system
of double polling occurs on the Q1 interface:

The first poll checks if there was a change in states

The second poll occurs only if the state has changed, in order
to obtain more information about the changes.
The loss of the link between the BSC and TSC is the only
indication the TSC receives that a failure has occurred.

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 8 Operations & Maintenance

8.4 Status Changes

Status changes show the interaction between:

SBL states

Operator commands

The status of functional units.
This section describes possible changes in SBL status, and the
effect such changes have on the rest of the system. It lists the
operator commands that can be used in each SBL state. The
impact of operator commands on the operation of the unit and on
its SBL state are also described.

8.4.1 Phases of Board Operations

A functional unit (i.e. 1 SBL = n RITs = n boards) such as a TC
passes through several states before becoming operational:

   
  
State Action

Bootstrap Bootstrap enables the functional unit to be

initialized, and to perform functions including self
tests and downloads.
SelfĆtests Extensive selfĆtests take place to ensure that the
functional unit is physically functional.
Software Download Software download of programs occur if the SBL is
able to load software.
Software Start Software starts and is in operation.
Tests NonĆdestructive selfĆtests (memory checksum,
program id verification, compatibility, etc.) are
initiated to ensure that the hardware and software
can function as a complete unit.
Download This function ensures the download of configuration
Configuration data. It also ensures synchronization.
Start The board is now functional.
In Operation The board is functioning, but could be in a state of
degraded service. Degraded service can be due to
hardware/software problems. The board can still
operate, but at less than maximum service or
reliability.

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8 Operations & Maintenance

8.4.2 State Change Operations

Maintenance commands ensure the control of system entities and
functions, either by returning them to a known active mode, or by
deactivating them.
Figure 71 shows the tasks performed for each maintenance
command. The tasks are shown as they occur in the system boards
during initialization phases.

COMMANDS Tasks performed by SBL as a result of each command STATES

DISABLE WAIT
RESET OPR,FOS,FLT
Bootstrap
(loadable units only)
INIT
SelfĆTests

SW Download
MSD, MSDĆauto
RESTART SW Start

(loadable units only)

Tests

Download Config

Function Start IT, FIT,

WTC
Operational

     
    
 

The operational states show how the RESET, INIT, DISABLE and
RESTART commands affect functional units and its SBL state.

 The status of a board (active, inactive or faulty) has a direct

relation with the state of the SBL.

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 8 Operations & Maintenance

8.4.3 States In Traffic

The following states are all active SBL states:
IT An SBL in the In Traffic (IT) state performs all its
functions. It is set into traffic by the operator and no
problems are detectable.
FIT An SBL in the FIT state performs its functions in a
degraded mode. A RESET or RESTART can be
performed as a recovery measure. The disabled SBL
states FLT and Operator Out of Service (OPR) can exist
only when a board is:

Not operational and is waiting for a bootstrap start

Already in selfĆtest mode.
WTC An SBL in the Wait Traffic Clear (WTC) state waits for
the traffic to clear (i.e. a transitional state). When there
is no traffic, the SBL state changes to OPR. This SBL
state signals that no new traffic will be accepted by this
SBL/equipment.
The WTC state is used in two ways:

As a time out action in cases where existing traffic
can be active until the timer expires

To wait until all traffic disappears before changing
the state.
EF An SBL in the External Fault (EF) state cannot perform its
function because another coĆoperating item is not
operational.
Figure 72 illustrates the relationships between SBL states.

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8 Operations & Maintenance

WTC OPR FIT SOS

EF MSD IT

FU Only

UT NEQ
FOS FLT

 
 
    


   


8.4.4 States Not In Traffic

The following states are all disabled states except for MSD and
Under Test (UT) which are transitory states due to some automatic
function:
OPR An SBL in the OPR state has been disabled by the
operator. The SBL cannot perform its functions until the
operator takes action.
FLT A fatal error has been detected. The FLT state means
the service is unavailable but the SBL has the capability
to recover autonomously without operator intervention.
FOS A fatal error has been detected. The Faulty Out of
Service (FOS) state means the service is unavailable
and the SBL does not have the capability to recover
autonomously. Maintenance action is required. The
operator must use the INIT command to recover the
SBL.
NEQ An SBL in the Not Equipped (NEQ) state is not handled
by the system because it has not been configured.

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 8 Operations & Maintenance

MSD MSD is a transitional state which takes effect while a

board is going through the software and configuration
load process. For example, when a fault is detected
while the SBL is in the IT state, the SBL state changes to
MSD. It remains in the MSD state while the system
determines the effect of the fault and chooses one of
the following final states:
 FLT
 FIT
 FOS
 EF.
UT The SBL is being tested using automatic procedures.
The service is temporarily unavailable. It is possible that
due to the test actions, the previous level of service may
change. This state is only valid for the Frame Unit Time
Slot (FU_TS) SBL when the RTE Loop test is running
(G1/G2 BTS only).
SOS An SBL in the SOS state cannot perform its function
because a parent SBL is not operational.
The transitions from one state to another are controlled. The
board state of the SBL changes from an active state to another
state.

8.4.5 BSS SBL Operator Commands

The O&M operator commands, described in Table 17, which
affect the state of the SBLs are as follows:

DISABLE

INIT

RESET

RESTART.

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8 Operations & Maintenance


 
   
Command and Description
DISABLE
Places an active SBL into a
disabled state.
INIT
Reactivates a component
which had been previously
disabled. Once initialised, the
component is operational
and active.
RESET
Acts as a combination of the
DISABLE and INIT comĆ
mands. It allows the SBL to
recover from a situation
where the behavior is suspiĆ
cious. It initiates selfĆtests and
returns the SBL to a known
state. This command applies
to loadable components (i.e.
processor SBLs), or to the
BSC, the BTS, the TSC, and
the BSS.
RESTART
Allows the software to restart (under normal
without a download (unlike
RESET), and without losing the FIT or the IT SBL state.
context (in most cases). This
helps keep downtime to a
minimum for active systems.
This command applies to
processor SBLs, BSC, BTS,
TSC, and the BSS.
206 / 240
Previous State Action Taken New State
The board can be in The board is The OMC ĆR is
any known or unknown deactivated. informed over the
state. DISABLE puts the CMISE link. The SBL is
board out of active set to the OPR state. The
service for maintenance unit is isolated from the
purposes. rest of the system
The board was The board passes The unit is in an active
previously in a wait through all phases: state (In Traffic (IT)) and
state, or performing all previous active faults

SelfĆtests
bootstrap or selfĆtests. related to this SBL are

SW download removed from the AIFL.

SW start The OMCĆR is informed

Tests over the CMISE link.

Configuration

Operation.
The board was The board passes The logical flow
operational, but usually through all phases: described above is
with a malfunction. initiated. The unit is in

SelfĆtests an active state (IT) and

SW download all previous active faults

SW start related to this SBL are

Tests removed from the AIFL.

Configuration

Operation.
The board was The board passes The logical flow
previously operational through these phases: described above is
initiated. The unit is in
conditions), in either the
SW start an active state (IT) and

Tests all previous active faults

Configuration related to this SBL are

Operation. removed from the
active AIFL. The OMCĆR
is informed over the
CMISE link.
3BK 02974 AAAA TQZZA Ed. 07
 8 Operations & Maintenance

8.4.6 Recovery Example: CU Failures with BCCH

As an example, this section describes the system's reactions when
a CU (or TRE for the BTS A9100) which has the BCCH channel
fails.

Note In the BTS A9100, the SBLs FU and CU have been merged into
one indivisible SBL, called the TRE. At the BSC, however, all BTS
A9100 TRE faults are mapped to the CU to provide compatibility
with G1 and G2 BTSs. Thus, at the BSC all such errors are
displayed as CU faults. That is how they are presented in this
example.
FU faults in G1 and G2 BTSs continue to be reported as such.

  The recovery mechanism in the BSS allows a failed unit to switch to
 
 a replacement unit, such as:

Redundant hardware

A similar unit which had lower priority active use than the
failed unit. (For example, the BCCH has to exist for the cell to
function, so another CU/FU pair (TRE in the BTS A9100) is
expendable to replace the failed CU).
The recovery mechanism of the BSS recognizes that the CU can
change to its twin CU.

Note One CU is used for BCCH channel handling, another is used for
normal traffic. If the CU holding the BCCH fails, it is switched out
and the second CU takes the place of the first.
Below is a step by step scenario of CU recovery.

 
 1. The CU holding the BCCH fails.
2. The BTS sends the BSC a recovery request, reporting that the
CU is faulty and is out of service, and that a recovery is
required. The BTS also suggests a new CU to the BSC, to be
used to carry the BCCH. When the recovery request is
received, the BSC temporarily blocks the resources while it
checks if reconfiguration is available. If reconfiguration is
available, the BTS_TEL SBL becomes FIT and all calls on the
CU are immediately released. The RSL is blocked and their
SBLs are changed to RTS=EF. All calls on the CU are
immediately released.
3. The BSC sends an alarm to the OMCĆR, signalling the loss of
BCCH.
4. The BSC attempts a recovery. The recovery command is
BTSĆCONFĆDATA(2).

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8 Operations & Maintenance

5. The BTS receives and acknowledges the recovery message. It

then switches off the faulty CU and switches on the second
CU. The second CU adjusts its frequency to the BCCH
frequency.
6. If the configuration was successful, the BTS sends a
confirmation to the BSC. The BSC then sends the new
SYS_INFO (1Ć6).
7. The BCCH is now broadcasting on the same frequency as
before, via the newly configured CU.
8. The BTS sets its BTS_TEL SBL to FIT and informs the OMCĆR by
sending an end of alarm. The BTS_TEL remains FIT due to the
loss of a channel.
9. If the new CU was previously IT, then all resources are lost. An
alarm start is sent towards the OMCĆR for each channel lost.
Figure 73 shows the redundancy process for a failed CU with
BCCH.

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 8 Operations & Maintenance

OMC BSC BTS

1
CU Fault
 
2
Resources
blocked, BCCH
reconfiguration
possible
3  


5
 
 BTS performs the reconfiguration

 


       

Note BTS_TEL SBL describes the status of the GSM defined BTS telecom
functions. Its state is driven by operator commands, or by
correlation of the LAPD RSL states or of the different CUs.

8.4.7 Reset Example: TSC RESET

As an example, this section describes the system's reactions when
the TSC is reset by the operator:


    1. The operator invokes the RESET command. The OMCĆR
accepts the command and places the TSC in the MSD state.
The TSC remains in the MSD state while transmitting the reset
to the BSC.
2. The BSC passes the RESET command to the TSC. It receives
the ACK acknowledgement message from the TSC, disables
the TSC LAPD Signalling Link (TSL) to the BSC, and starts the
persistency timer.
3. The TSC accepts the command and places itself in the MSD
state. The TSC disables the TSL from its end, and performs a
selfĆtest. After ten seconds the TSL becomes active again.
4. The persistency timer starts the BSC, and sends a state change
message to the OMCĆR.

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8 Operations & Maintenance

5. The TSL is reĆestablished and the TSC resets and reconstructs

its alarm list. Once this is done the TSC sets its status to IT and
sends the BSC a reset report.
6. The reset report is acknowledged. It is converted to a CMISE
message which is sent to the OMCĆR. The OMCĆR resets its
view of the TSC to the IT state, and clears alarm lists for all
SBLs for that TSC.
7. The TSC then sends a fault indication message to the BSC.
The BSC acknowledges the message. The BSC packages the
information as a alarm report in CMISE and sends the
information to the OMCĆR.
8. The OMCĆR requests a state audit and an AlarmsĆInĆForce
audit. These are performed at the same time so the OMCĆR
and TSC are synchronized.
9. The TSC is now in operation and therefore in the ACTIVE
state.
Figure 74 shows the TSC Reset process.

OMC BSC TSC

1 
    

 
 2
3
TSL DOWN  

SELFĆTEST
TSL UP
reconstructs
BSC detects TSL   
alarm list

 

audit

  

    

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 8 Operations & Maintenance

8.5 Tracing
Within the BSC there are two types of tracing:

Call tracing which can be initiated from a GSM phase 1 MSC,
the OMCĆR or the BSC Terminal.

IMSI traces (based on mobile identity) which can be initiated
from a GSM phase 2 MSC.
The trace data collected in the BSC is formatted into files and
transferred, using FTAM, to the OMCĆR or to the BSC Terminal (if
the trace was initiated there). The file formats, and contents, for
call and IMSI traces are different.
The BSC performs error checking on the message initiating the
trace procedure and verifies that trace data can be collected and
stored in the BSC. Separate trace record structures are created in
the BSC to differentiate between call and IMSI trace records.

8.5.1 Call Tracing

Call tracing allows the operator to trace call events on a particular
channel and timeslot on a BTS. These trace jobs are initiated from
the OMCĆR. The NMC initiates call tracing jobs on specified
transactions (subscriber call, location update, short message, etc).
In this way, an operator can trace and analyze call anomalies in a
particular cell when:

Intermittent fault alarms appear

There is low frequency of successful handovers

Customers complain about a particular cell.
The current implementation of call tracing provides mainly
performance measurement and handover event information.
The following menus are available to the operator:

Performance Management

BSC Call Management

Trace Job Management.
When a trace exceeds 20K bytes, a new trace file is created and
the previous file is subsequently transferred to the OMCĆR (using
FTAM). The trace is a continuous process and many 20k files are
transferred to the OMCĆR.
The BSC is limited to 99 concatenation files. These files are shared
between trace jobs and measurement jobs, so care must be taken
not to exceed this limit. This can be achieved by limiting the traces
and measurements jobs running on the same BSC.

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8 Operations & Maintenance

On completion of the file transfer, the OMCĆR informs the BSC

that the file has been read.
The operator can then archive and analyze the trace file offĆline.
(If more than one trace is produced for a job, the files are
concatenated in the archived file).
Trace jobs can also be created from the local BSC Terminal. The
trace files that result from these jobs are not transferred to the
OMCĆR. When the trace data is ready for collection, the BSC
notifies the local terminal. The trace data is then retrieved from the
BSC, by the operator, using a copy file command. For further
information refer to the  
  
 
document.

8.5.2 IMSI Tracing

IMSI tracing allows the operator to obtain call path information on
a specific MS's connection, based on the mobile identity. This
information is gathered from different network elements, together
with traffic data and other events related to the call, independent
of performance measurement functions.
The mobile identity used may be the IMSI, IMEI or neither,
depending on the trace invocation received from the MSC. The
MSC controls the trace activation towards the BSC by using the
MSC_INVOKE_TRACE message.
The trace is not restricted to speech but includes any information
which requires the setup of a connection to the MS. This
information can include location updating, short messages and
supplementary service operations.
Trace record information can be used in the analysis of:

Cell footprinting

Network integrity

Network Quality Of Service

Equipment used for mobile originated or terminated call
connections

Destination, forwarded to, and translated numbers used on
call connections.
IMSI trace files include additional data supplied in the message
from the MSC. This information is transparent to the BSC and is
used by network management personnel to correlate trace data
from different BSCs and MSCs. IMSI trace files are always
collected by the OMCĆR and then passed to the MSC that initiated
the trace.

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 8 Operations & Maintenance

8.6 Measurement Jobs

OMCĆR measurement jobs are defined by the operator to acquire
raw or formulated counter/measurement information. The
information received is then used to analyze the state of the system
in operation.
There are several types of performance management types or
jobs. They are all based on counter collection and analysis
(warning, snapshots and measurements). The only real differences
are:

The treatment and analysis of the collected information

Whether collection is one shot, timed periods, or permanent.
This section describes:

The reformatting and analysis of all performance information
in the OMCĆR

The data collection process in the BSC and the OMCĆR.

8.6.1 OMCĆR Measurement Job Classes

There are four main Measurement Job class groups described in
Table 18.

 
 


  

Class Group Description

Raw Measurements
Mediated Measurements
Mediated Warnings
Snapshot Jobs
This class provides permanent or scheduled jobs based on one raw measureĆ
ment type.
This class provides permanent or scheduled jobs based on Mediated counters.
This class provides alarms when a Mediated counter, or a group of Mediated
counters, pass a threshold (or thresholds) defined when the task was invoked.
Typical use is to provide a traffic overload warning as an avoidance measure.
This class provides a graphical result of a counter of a particular BSS. For
example, the total erlangs per channel can be displayed. (Erlangs is a statistiĆ
cal value to show the theoretical number of users the channel can provide).

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8 Operations & Maintenance

8.6.2 Measurement Results

Measurement results can consist of the following:

Raw measurements
Raw measurement information is collected on every functional
unit of the BSC.

Mediated Device Counters
Mediated Device Counters are derived from raw
measurements. They supply the operator with more precise
information. For example, to obtain the percentage of
handover failures, the number of raw measurements (the
number of different failures and the number of total attempts)
is collected. The information is collated and a failure rate is
calculated as a percentage.

8.6.3 Counters
The relationship between counter objects is shown in Figure 75.
The types of object that make up the hierarchical counter tree are
as follows:

Mediated Device Objects

Mediated Device Counters

Virtual Raw Measurements

Raw Measurement OMCĆR (job)

Raw Measurement BSC (job)

Measurement Administrator





When an operator performs a measurement request, all the

 details of the request are stored in the Mediated Device Object.
The request requires one or more counters.





Mediated Device Counters are created per Mediated counter in
 
 the definition of the Mediated Device Objects. Mediated Device
Counters handle the calculation of a counter value which is based
on a series of raw measurements counters. The Mediated Device
Counter requires results from several raw measurements to
perform its calculations. That is, to obtain the percentage of
handovers requires the number of successful handovers, divided
by the number of handover attempts. This information is provided
by the Virtual Raw Measurements, one per raw_counter type.

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 8 Operations & Maintenance


 
 The Virtual Raw Measurements collect and process data from raw

 counters and manage the reporting interval. The Virtual Raw
Measurement is a virtual image of the raw measurement. The
information however, is dedicated for use by its Mediated counter
(i.e. report intervals).


 
 The raw measurement handler is the part of the OMCĆR which is
 in contact with the BSC. It receives counter information. It is also
responsible for asking the BSC to start rawĆmeasurement jobs on
its behalf.


 
  The raw measurements are invoked on the BSC at a rate of one
per measurement type. These tasks obtain the data, which is
available on the Central Data Collector. The data is passed on to
the OMCĆR, via CMISE/FTAM, every five minutes.


 The Measurement Administrator interrogates the Central Data
  
 Collector on behalf of the active raw measurement jobs. It passes
the information on to the OMCĆR.

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8 Operations & Maintenance

mediated raw mediated mediated snapshot

device measure measure warning
object

mediated
device mdc(j) mdc(k) mdc(l) mdc(m)
counter

virtual
raw T1i T1j T2j T1k T3k T6l T6m T1m
measurement

raw
measurement Rm (T1) Rm (T2) Rm (T3) Rm (T6)
handler

OMCĆR

BSC

Rm (T1) Rm (T2) Rm (T3) Rm (T6)

Measurement Central Data

Administrator Collector

    

8.6.4 Data Collection on the BSC

Measurement information is collected from parts of the BSC. Each
module has a Local Data Collector, which collects the data for its
particular module. For example, in the TCU the Local Data
Collector collects data for the Abis link and for the corresponding
BTS.
This information is passed on towards the Central Data Collector,
where the information is collected for later or immediate use.
There are three types of information passed to the Central Data
Collector from the Local Data Collectors:

Cumulated Counters
The Central Data Collector polls the Local Data Collectors
once every fiveĂminutes to collect the data. The counter types
range from 1, 3Ăto 9 and 26 to 28. Counter types are defined
in the   
 .

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 8 Operations & Maintenance

Observation Measurements
Observation measurements are immediately sent from the
Local Data Collector to the Measurement Administrator,
byĆpassing the Central Data Collector. The counter types
range from 10 to 15.

Status Inspection
Status inspection is provided on demand from the Central
Data Collector, on the number of open radio channels. The
Central Data Collector polls the Local Data Collectors every
20 seconds. The counter type is 2.
If a particular control board becomes inoperable, the Local Data
Collector running within this control board is unavailable. This
occurs when the subsystem remains inoperable.
The Measurement Administrator is responsible for scheduling jobs,
and for providing results to the OMCĆR. The Measurement
Administrator treats the demands of active raw measurement jobs
by accessing the Central Data Collector for the information, and
then passing the information on to the OMCĆR. This check is done
every five minutes.
Figure 76 shows the data collectors in the BSC.

BTS BSC TSS

SYS CPRA
TCU DTC

FU TC

Local Data Local Data Local Data

Collector Collector Collector

OSI CPRA

Central Data
TCU
Collector
FU

Local Data Measurement Local Data

Collector Administrator Collector

    
     

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8 Operations & Maintenance

8.6.5 Counter Examples

The following examples show how the mediated device counters
are mapped down to basic raw measurements types. Two
measurement operations are performed for requested type 1 and
type 5 raw measurements. Figure 77 shows an example of the
counter object tree required for each job.


Job1 requests the average TCH hold time per BTS (PR27), and the
number of successful seizures (PR18) results from two Mediated
Device Counters.
Counter PR27 = C38/(C17+C18).
Counter PR18 = C1+C2+C10.

 Job2 requests a Mediated Warning of the number of SDCCH

radio losses (RD28).
Counter RD28 = C6+C7.
All the above counters are type 1 counters, except C38 which
belongs to type 5.

 Refer to the 

   
 





for more
information about counter types and definitions.

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 8 Operations & Maintenance

mediated mediated JOB1 mediated JOB2

device meas warning
object

mediated PR27 PR18 RD28

device
counter

virtual T1 T5 T1 T1
raw
measurement

raw Rm (T1) Rm (T5)

measurement
handler

OMCĆR

BSC

Rm (T1) Rm (T5)

      
 

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8 Operations & Maintenance

8.7 Audits
Audits can be automatic or invoked by an operator. They can be
performed at several levels:

From the OMCĆR to the TSC or the BSC

From the BSC to the BTS.


  There are several types of audits, as described in Table 19.

  
 
Type Description

Clock Audit Clock audits synchronize the clocks to the master date and time.
Logical Audit A logical audit is performed on logical parameters. The logical parameters
include dynamic cell information, its power ratings, information on adjacent
cells, the radio configuration of the cell, and hopping and paging groups.
Software Version Audit The software version audit controls the versions of software that exist on the
subsystem.
Hardware Audit Hardware audits control the hardware on the subsystem. This audit provides a
physical list of all components in the subsystem, their SBLs, and their
associated RITs. The OMCĆR updates the database with this information.
Alarm Audit The OMCĆR requests the AIFL from a unit of the BSS. The OMCĆR then
compares this with its own list and updates its database if there are any differĆ
ences.
State Audit A state audit checks the state of SBLs on a particular subsystem, to ensure that
SBL databases are synchronized. All the SBLs and their states are compared
with the data in the OMCĆR. If the SBL does not exist in the database, it is
created and its state is registered.

A suite of audits is automatically invoked by the OMCĆR or the

BSC, to resynchronize the system. This is done:

To perform a RESET/RESTART.

When there is a loss of links between subsystems. This ensures
that the system databases are synchronized after autonomous
operation while the link was down (i.e. the BTS_O&M was
disabled).

To make changes in the databases, without the possibility of
aligning both subsystems.

To start a BSC AlarmsĆinĆForce audit if the BSC alarm queue
overflows.

To perform software database replacement.
Audit information for the whole system is stored in the OMCĆR
and is stored in the Management Information Base (MIB).

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 8 Operations & Maintenance

  
Audit flow is based on an action request from the OMCĆR, or on
an automatic request.
The subsystem receiving the audit request performs an audit of its
functional units.
The reply can have one or several report messages to pass the
information back to the request originator. The request originator
can generate more actions based on the information received. For
example, when the state of the CU and its pair FU do not match,
the BSC or OMCĆR disables the FU/CU pairs.
The OMCĆR, on reception of the audit report, updates its
database. During download the results of the software audit are
used to provide the list of modules the OMCĆR needs to update
the BSS subsystem. This is done by comparing the OMCĆR lists of
modules to transfer, and their version numbers, to see if they
already exist in the subsystem. Only the newer versions are
transferred to the subsystem.

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8 Operations & Maintenance

8.8 Modifying Telecom Parameters

Modification of telecom parameters occurs:

On the BSC
The BSC database is updated with the modifications.

On the BTS
The BSC informs all of the BTSs affected by the changes, using
the following commands to change the telecom parameters:
 BCCH_INFO(SYS_INFO 1Ć4) to BCCH FU
 SCCH_FILL(SYS_INFO 5,6) to all FUs.

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 Abbreviations

Abbreviations
ACCH Associated Control Channel
ACELP Algebraic Code Excited Linear Prediction
AGCH Access Grant Channel
AIFL AlarmsĆInĆForce List
AN Antenna Network
AuC Authentication Center
BCB Base Station Control Bus
BCCH Broadcast Control Channel
BER Bit Error Rate
BIE Base Station Interface Equipment
BS Base Station
BSII Base Station Internal Interface
BSS Base Station Subsystem
BSSAP BSS Application Part
BSSMAP BSS Management Application Part
CACO Call Control
CBCH Cell Broadcast Channel
CCCH Common Control Channel
CCH Control Channel
CDM Configuration Data Message
CI Cell Identity
CIC Circuit Identification Code
CM Call Management
CMISE Common Management Information Service Element
CPF Configuration Parameter Data File
CPR Common Processor
CPRA Common Processor Type A
CU Carrier Unit
DCCH Dedicated Control Channel
DRX Discontinuous Reception (mechanism)
DTAP Direct Transfer Application Part

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Abbreviations

DTC Digital Trunk Controller

DTE Data Terminal Equipment
DTX Discontinuous Transmission (mechanism)
DTX/VAD Discontinuous Transmission/Voice Activity Detection
EACB External Alarm Collection Board
EF External Fault
EFR Enhanced FullĆRate
EIR Equipment Identity Register
ETSI European Telecommunication Standards Institute
FACCH Fast Associated Control Channel
FCCH Frequency Correction Channel
FDMA FrequencyĆDivision Multiplex Access
FH Frequency Hopping
FHS Frequency Hopping System
FHU Frequency Hopping Unit
FIT Faulty In Traffic
FLT Faulty
FOS Faulty Out of Service
FTAM File Transfer Access and Management
FU Frame Unit
FU_TS Frame Unit Time Slot
GSM Global System for Mobile Communications
HLR Home Location Register
HMI Human Machine Interface
HSN Hopping Sequence Number
ID Identification
IE Information Element
IMEI International Mobile Station Equipment Identity
IMSI International Mobile Subscriber Identity
ISDN Integrated Services Digital Network
ISO International Standards Organization
IT In Traffic
ITU International Telecommunications Union

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 Abbreviations

Kc Ciphering Key
Ki Individual Subscriber Authentication Key
L2ML Layer 2 Management Link
LA Location Area
LAC Location Area Code
LAI Location Area Identity
LAPD Link Access Procedure on the D Channel
LAPDm Link Access Protocol on the Dm Channel
MA Mobile Allocation
MAIO Mobile Allocation Index Offset
MCC Mobile Country Code
MCLU Master Clock Unit
MIB Management Information Base
MIE Mandatory Information Element
MIT Management Information Tree
MM Mobility Management
MNC Mobile Network Code
MS Mobile Station
ms milliseconds
MSD Maintenance Seized (due to an operator action)
MTP Message Transfer Part
NEQ Not Equipped
NMC Network Management Center
NSS Network Subsystem
NTC Night Time Concentration
O&M Operations and Maintenance
OMCĆR Operations and Maintenance CenterĆRadio
OML Operations and Maintenance Link
OMU Operations and Maintenance Unit
OPR Operator Out of Service
PBGT Power Budget
PCH Paging Channel
PCM Pulse Code Modulation

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Abbreviations

PLMN Public Land Mobile Network

PM Performance Management
PSTN Public Switched Telephone Network
RACH Random Access Channel
RAND Random Number (used for authentication)
REF Random Access Information Value
RF Radio Frequency
RIT Replaceable Item
RLP Radio Link Protocol
RPC Radio Power Control
RR Radio Resource
RRM Radio Resource Management
RSL Radio signaling Link
RTEĆLTP Radio Test EquipmentĆLong Term Prediction
RTS Radio Time Slot
RXLEV Received Signal Level
RXQUAL Received Signal Quality
SABM Set Asynchronous Balanced Mode
SABME Set Asynchronous Balanced Mode Extended
SACCH Slow Associated Control Channel
SBL Security Block
SCCP signaling Connection Control Part
SCH Synchronization Channel
SCP Signalling Control Processor
SDCCH StandĆalone Dedicated Control Channel
SID Silence Indication
SIM Subscriber Identity Module
SM Submultiplexer
SMS Short Message Service
SMSĆCB Short Message Service Cell Broadcast
SOS Software Out of Service
SS Supplementary Service
SS7 signaling System No. 7

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 Abbreviations

SUM Station Unit Module

SĆCPRA System Common Processor Type A
TC Transcoder
TCH Traffic Channel
TCH/F2.4 A Full Rate Data TCH (<2.4 Kbit/s)
TCH/F4.8 FullĆRate Data Traffic Channel (4.8 Kbit/s)
TCH/F9.6 FullĆRate Data Traffic Channel (9.6 Kbit/s)
TCH/FS A Full Rate Speech TCH
TCH/H2.4 A Half Rate Data TCH (<2.4 Kbit/s)
TCH/H4.8 A Half Rate Data TCH (4.8 Kbit/s)
TCH/HS A Half Rate Speech TCH
TCU Terminal Control Unit
TDM Time Division Multiplex
TDMA Time Division Multiple Access
TEI Terminal Endpoint Identifier
TMN Telecommunications Management Network
TMSI Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity
TOA Time Of Arrival
TRAU Transcoder Rate Adapter
TRE Transceiver Equipment
TS0 Time Slot 0
TSC Transcoder Submultiplexer Controller
TSL TSC LAPD Signalling Link to the BSC
TSS Transmission Subsystem
UT Under Test
VAD Voice Activity Detection
VLR Visitor Location Register
WTC Wait Traffic Clear

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Abbreviations

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 Appendix A Air Interface Channels

Appendix A Air Interface Channels

A.1 Traffic Channels

 Traffic Channel FullĆRate: used on the uplink and downlink to
transmit user traffic. The TCH uses 24 out of 26 sequential slots on
its channel to transmit speech or data.
A.2 Broadcast Channels

 Frequency Correction Channel: used on the downlink (on the

BCCH timeslot) for frequency correction of the MS with the BTS.
 Synchronization Channel: used on the downlink (on the BCCH
timeslot) for frame synchronisation of the MS with the BTS.
 Broadcast Control Channel: used to broadcast system information
to the MSs on the downlink, to give the cell configuration and how
to access the cell.

Number of CCCHs

Whether CCCHs are combined with SDCCHs

ACGH allocation

Paging Organization

CGI, LAI

Cell Allocation

BCCH frequencies of neighbor cells

Maximum transmit power, which is allowed in the cell.
A.3 Common Control Channels

 Common Control Channel: for control information before a

dedicated channel is assigned. It comprises the RACH, AGCH and
PCH.

 Random Access Channel: used on the uplink (on the CCCH
timeslot) by the MS for initial access to the network.

 Access Grant Channel: used on the downlink (on the CCCH
timeslot) gives to the MS access information before a dedicated
channel is assigned.
 Paging Channel: used on the downlink (on the CCCH timeslot) for
paging messages to the MS.

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Appendix A Air Interface Channels

A.4 Dedicated Channels

 Signalling Dedicated Channel: used for signalling and short

message information.
 Cell Broadcast Channel: uses an SDCCH channel but all MSs will
then know it is for Short Message Service Ć Cell Broadcasts.
A.5 Associated Channels


 Slow Associated Control Channel: associated with a TCH, which

uses 1 out of 26 slots for signalling purposes.

 Fast Access Control Channel: associated with a TCH, and can
steal slots out of 24 of 26 slots which are normally dedicated to
the TCH for signalling purposes as well as the SACCH slot.

Traffic = TCH SACCH FACCH

Broadcast = FCCH SCH BCCH

Common = RACH AGCH PCH

KEY
Dedicated = SDCCH Uplink

Downlink

    
    

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 Index

Index
A B
A interface, 41 Base Station Control Bus, 188, 199
AĆlaw, speech encoding, 167 Base Station Controller. See BSC
Abis interface, 42 Base Station Interface Equipment, 29
Abis Signalling Links Static Multiplexing, 25, 159 Base Station Internal Interface, 188, 199
Access to PM Raw Counters via Binary Files, 26, 162 Base Station Subsystem. See BSS
Air interface, 43 Base Tranceiver Station. See BTS
Alarms, 194 Board, operation, 201
audit, 220 BootĆstrap, 201
BSC, 195
BTS, 199 BSB, 188, 199
filtering, 195 BSC
generation, 194 alarms, 195
inĆforce, 195 alerter, 24, 156
mediated warning, 213 call release, 122
queue BTS, 200 data collection, 216
status, 190 description, 28
TSC, 200 O&M role, 184
Alcatel, EVOLIUM Radio Solutions, 18 OMCĆR/BSC command flows, 191
overload detection, 108
Alcatel BSS Features, 23, 146
BSII, 188, 199
Alerter, BSC, 24, 156
BSS
Algorithms description, 27
encryption, 72 features, description, 129
handover, 99 features, overview, 21, 130
hopping, 137 functions, 19
Antenna O&M functions, 184
diversity, 23, 147 SBL Operator Commands, 205, 206
preĆamplifier, 23 BTS
Asynchronous, handover, 100 alarm queue, 200
Ater interface, 42 alarms, 199
auto identification, 26, 160
Audits, 220 automatic powerĆdown, 26, 160
Authentication, 77 call release, 124
centre, 32 description, 28
identities, 77 O&M role, 186ć188
Ki value, 77 overload detection, 107
procedure, 78 power control, 132
random number, 77 power level, 135
queue, 69
Auto Identification, BTS, 26, 160 sectored site, 175
Automatic Paging Repetition, 26, 161 TC alarms, 127
Automatic PowerĆDown, BTS, 26, 160 BTS A9100, TRE SBL, 207

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Index

BTS_TEL, 196, 207, 208 Cell

concentric, 174
environments, 23, 146, 171
C extended, 176
hierarchical network, 178
Call list identifier, 66
See also call handling, release, set up list information element, 66
connecting, 60 macrocell, 178, 179
control, 39 microcell, 179
mobile originated, 50 mini cell, 178
mobile terminated, 61 sectored site, 175
mobility management, 48 target evaluation, 99
quality, 89 target list, 91
reĆestablishment by MS, 22, 143 type, 172
release, 111 types, 23, 146
service, 48 umbrella, 178
setup, 19
tracing, 211 Cellular Environment, 21, 131
types, 48 Channels
user traffic, 48 activation, 52, 58
Call handling, 20 allocation, traffic, 57
error handling, 88 control, 44
interference levels, 91
Call release, 20, 111ć128 traffic, 44
channel change, 119
procedures in normal service, 114 Ciphering, 79
resources, 112 BSS capability, 80
SCCP, 115 encryption algorithms, 79
special cases, 120 handover, 82
BSC initiated, 122 keys, 80
BSC initiated SCCP release, 123 Mobile Station capability, 79
BTS initiated, 124 mode, 81
BTS initiated LAPD failure, 124 procedure, 81
MS initiated, 126 Classmark
MS initiated radio link failure, 126 handling, 72
reset, 120 information element, 72
reset circuit, 120 procedure, 55
Call set up, 19 updating, 74
authentication, 49, 55 Clipping, 139
channel activation, 52
Clock audit, 220
ciphering, 49, 55
immediate assignment, 53 Communication, mechanism, 191
normal assignment, 49 Concentric cell, 174
phases, 49 zones, 174
radio and link establishment, 49
Configuration
Calls download, 201
mobility management, 19 SW management, 190
supplementary service, 19
user traffic, 19 Congestion, 69
Contention resolution, 53
Control channel, 44

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 Index

Correlation, 194 DTX, discontinuous transmission, 22, 138

Counters, 213, 214
cummulative, 216
mediated device, 214
E
EFR. See Enhanced Full-Rate
D Encryption
A5/1, 72ć74
DaisyĆchain, map, 195 A5/2, 73
Data algorithm, 72ć74
central collector, 216 Enhanced FullĆRate, 23, 44, 144
collection, BSC, 216 Equipment Identity Register, 32
handling, 168
interleaving, 169 Erlangs, 213
nonĆtransparent, 170 Error, persistancy, 195
rate adaptation, 169
transparent, 169 Event, changes, 193
V.110 protocol, 168 EVOLIUM Radio Solutions, 18
Data link layer Extended cell, 176
A interface, 41 overlap zone, 176
Abis interface, 42
External
Air interface, 43
components, 31
Device counters, mediated, 214 handover, 89, 100
Directed retry, 70 handover procedure, 104
handover, 90
Disable, 202 F
Discontinuous reception, 142
Fading, 136, 147
Discontinuous transmission, 138
Failure
downlink, 139
DTC, 195
flag, 139
link, 196
uplink, 140
software, 197
Distance, handover, 96 TCU, 195
Download Fault
configuration, 201 begin / end, 194
software, 201 correlation, 194
DRX, discontinuous reception, 22, 142 Fax
DTC, 197 data rate change, 87
failure, 195 nonĆtransparent, 87
overload action, 108 transparent, 87

3BK 02974 AAAA TQZZA Ed. 07 233 / 240

Index

Features Functions
Abis signalling links static multiplexing, 25, 159 BSC O&M, 184
access to PM raw counters via binary files, 26, BSS, 19
162 BSS O&M, 184
antenna diversity, 23 BTS O&M, 186ć188
antenna preĆamplifier equipment, 23 call setup, 19
auto identification, 26 operations & maintenance, 21
automatic paging repetition, 26, 161 telecommunications, 39
automatic power down, 26 TSC O&M, 188
BSC Alerter, 24
BSS, 21, 129, 130
call reĆestablishment by the MS, 22 G
cellular environment, 21, 131
discontinuous reception, 22 GSM
discontinuous transmission/voice activity features defined in, 21, 131
detection, 22 system functions, 19
enhanced fullĆrate, 23
frequency hopping, 22
improved multipath delay equalization, 24 H
minimum frequency spacing, 24
Handover, 89
multiple human machine interface, 24
alarm, 91
night time concentration, 24
algorithm, 99
OMCĆNSS session from OMCĆR terminal, 25
asynchronous, 100
OMCĆR connection to TSC trough BSC, 25, 158
better cell, 95
power control due to radio link failure, 25, 158
better zone, 94
Q3 multimanager, 25, 158
ciphering, 82
rpc uplink and downlink, 22
directed retry, 70, 90
short message service - cell broadcast, 22
external, 90
transcoder pools, 26, 159
internal, 90
types of cell environments, 23, 146
distance, 96
usage state on demand, 24
external, 89, 100
X.25 redundancy, 24
interBSS, 100
Features Defined in the GSM Recommendations, 21, intercell, 100
131 internal, 89, 100
Features, Service Improvement intracell, 100
in Alcatel BSS, 23, 146 level intercell, 93
new, 25, 158 margin, 99
micro to macrocell, 179
Filtering, alarms, 195 microcell, 92, 179
Flag, DTX, 139 mobile velocity dependent, 97
power budget, 95
Frequency
preparation, 91
carrier spacing, 24
quality and level, 92
diversity, 136
quality intercell, 94
hopping, 22, 135
quality intracell, 94
MAIO, 136
queueing, 69
synchronous, 100
Hardware audit, 220
Hierarchical network, cells, 178
Home Location Register, 32

234 / 240 3BK 02974 AAAA TQZZA Ed. 07

 Index

Hopping
frequency, 135
L
sequence number, 136 LAPD, failure, 124
Human Machine Interface, 24, 149 LAPDm, disconnect, 127
site configuration, 150
Layers
Call Management, 39
I data link A, 41
data link Abis, 42
Immediate assignment, 53 data link Air, 43
SCCP connection, 54 Mobility Management, 40
IMSI AttachĆDetach, 49, 64 physical A, 41
physical Abis, 42
IMSI tracing, 212 physical Air, 43
InĆcall modification, 85 Radio Resource Management, 40
procedure, 86 Level intercell, handover, 93
types, 85
Location Area Identity, 34
Information element, mandatory, 116
Location updating, 34
Init, 202
Logical audit, 220
InterBSS, handover, 100
Intercell, handover, 100
Interface
M
A, 41 Macrocell, 178, 179
Abis, 42
Management, network, 37
Air, 43
Ater, 42 Margin, handover, 99
Q3, 38 Measurements
Multimanager, 25, 38, 158 administrator, 214
Interference, 130 BSC, 214
BTS power, 132
Internal
counters, 214
handover, 89, 100
job classes, 213
handover procedure, 101
mediated, 213
Intracell, handover, 100 OMCĆR, 214
radio, 90
radio link, 132
J raw, 213
results, 214
Jobs, snapshot, 213
virtual raw, 214
Mediated Device Counters, 214

3BK 02974 AAAA TQZZA Ed. 07 235 / 240

Index
Mediated Device Objects, 214
Mediation, 214
Messages
alerting, 60, 63
assign failure, 57
assignment command, 59
assignment complete, 59
assignment failure, 57, 69
assignment request, 57
authentication reject, 78
authentication response, 78
block, 120
BTS power control, 135
call confirmation, 62
call proceeding, 55
channel activation, 52, 58
channel release, 117
channel request, 50
channel required, 52
cipher mode, 81
cipher mode complete, 81
cipher mode reject, 81
classmark change, 74
classmark enquiry, 74
classmark request, 74
classmark update, 74
clear command, 116
clear complete, 116
connect, 60
connection, 63
deactivate SACCH, 117
disconnection, 115
encryption command, 81
establish indication, 54, 59
handover command, 102
handover complete, 102
handover detect, 105
handover detection, 102
handover performed, 102
immediate assign, 53
IMSIĆattachĆdetach, 49
measurement report, 90, 132
measurement result, 90, 132
mode modify, 86
modify, 86
paging, 61, 66
paging command, 61, 66
paging request, 61
paging request type x, 67
paging response, 61, 66
permitted algorithm, 81
236 / 240
physical context confirm, 58
physical context request, 58
power command, 135
queueing indication, 70
release indication, 117
reset, 120
reset circuit, 120
RF channel release, 118
RF resource indication, 57
SCCP connection confirm, 54
SCCP connection request, 54
SCCP release complete, 116
SCCP released, 116
service request, 54
set up, 62
setup, 55
system information, 46
Microcell, 179
handover, 179
thresholds, 179
Mini cell, 178
Mobile, velocity dependent handover, 97
Mobile allocation, 136
Mobile Allocation Index Offset, 136
Mobile originated call, 50
Mobile services Switching Center. See MSC
Mobile Station. See MS
Mobile terminated call, 61
Mobility Management, 40
Mobility management calls, 19
MS
allocation, 136
call reĆestablishment, 22, 143
call release, 126
cell selection, 33
ciphering capability, 73
class barring, 109
classmark, 72
description, 32
idle mode, 33
location updating, 34
phase 2 support, 142
power control, 132
power drain, 130
revision level, 73
RF power level, 73
3BK 02974 AAAA TQZZA Ed. 07
 Index

MSĆBS, absolute distance, 133
MSC, description, 32
Multiframe, 43
Multipath Delay Equalization, 24
OMCĆR Connection to TSC Through BSC, 25, 158
Operations & Maintenance, 21
Operations and maintenance, 183
Operations and Maintenance CenterĆRadio. See
OMCĆR

N Overload
BSC detection, 108
Network, management, 37 BTS detection, 107
control, 107
Network Management Center. See NMC DTC action, 108
Network Subsystem, 31 MS class barring, 109
TCU action, 108
New Service Improvement Features, 25, 158
Night Time Concentration, 24, 151
NMC, 27, 37
P
NonĆtransparent Paging, 65
data, 170 cell list identifier, 66
Fax Group 3, 87 messages, 61
procedure, 61
Normal assignment
request types, 67
mobile originated call, 55
mobile terminated call, 62 Parameters, modification, 222
PBGT, handover, 95
O Persistancy, 195
Phase 2, MS support, 142
O&M
BSC role, 184 Physical layer
BTS role A interface, 41
A9100, 187 Abis interface, 42
G1 & G2, 186 Air interface, 43
command flow, 191 Power budget, handover, 95
communication mechanism, 191
counters, 213 Power control
data collection, 216 BTS, 132
observation measurements, 216 decision, 133
OMCĆR role, 190 handover, 133
TSC role, 188 MS, 132
radio, 131
OMCĆR reasons, 131
description, 36 RXLEV, 134
HMI access, 149 RXQUAL, 134
measurement job classes, 213
O&M role, 190 Power Control due to Radio Link Failure, 25, 158

OMCĆNSS Session from OMCĆR Terminal, 25 Power level, BTS, 135

3BK 02974 AAAA TQZZA Ed. 07 237 / 240

Index

Procedure, classmark, 55 Reporting, periods, 133

Procedures Reset, 202
authentication, 78 call release, 120
call release, 111 circuit, 120
channel activation, 52 Resource usage, on demand, 24, 155
ciphering, 81
classmark, 75 Restart, 202
external handover, 104 RSL, 197
frequency hopping, 136
immediate assignment, 53 RXLEV, power control, 134
inĆcall modification, 86 RXQUAL, power control, 134
internal handover, 101
normal assignment, 55, 62
paging, 61 S
physical context, 58
SBL, 184, 205, 210
BTS_TEL, 196, 207, 208
Q DTC, 197
RSL, 197
Q1 Interface, 199 states, 201ć205
Q3 Interface, 38 TRE in BTS A9100, 207
Multimanager, 25, 38, 158 SCCP, release, 115, 123
Quality, handover, 92 Sectored site
Quality intercell, handover, 94 BTS, 175
cells, 175
Quality intracell, handover, 94
SelfĆtest, 201
Queueing, 69
inĆqueue, 69 Service Improvement Features, 23, 146
priority, 70 new, 25, 158
Short Message Service, cell broadcast, 22, 144

R Signal
quality, 133
Radio strength, 133
link failure, 126 Silence Indication, discontinuous transmission, 138
link measurements, 132
Snapshot, jobs, 213
measurements, 90
power control, 22, 131 Software
resource release, 116 download, 201
failure, 197
Radio and link establishment, 50, 61
start, 201
Radio Resource Management, 40
Software version audit, 220
Rate adaptation, 169
Speech
Raw, counters, 213 AĆlaw encoding, 167
Reception, discontinuous, 142 digital encoding, 165
error correction, 165
Release handling, 165
See also Call release interleaving, 165
MSC normal, 115 multiplexing, 166
radio resource, 116
Spontaneous messages, 193

238 / 240 3BK 02974 AAAA TQZZA Ed. 07

 Index

State audit, 220 Transcoder Submultiplexer Controller. See TSC

States Transmission
In Traffic, 203 discontinuous, 138
not In Traffic, 204 subsystem, 29
Status Transparent
changes, 201 data, 169
inspection, 216 Fax Group 3, 87
Submultiplexer, 29 TSC, 29
Subscriber identity module, 32 alarms, 200
O&M role, 188
Supplementary services, calls, 19
TSS, Transmission Subsystem, 29
Synchronous, handover, 100
Types of Cell Environments, 23, 146
System information messages, 46

U
T
Umbrella, cell, 178
Target cell
evaluation, 99 Usage state, on demand, 24, 155
list, 91 User traffic, handling, 163
TC, 29 User traffic calls, 19
alarms, 127
TCU
failure, 195
V
overload action, 108 V.110 protocol, 168
Telecom, parameter modification, 222 Virtual Raw Measurements, 214
Telecommunication layers Visitor Location Register, 32
Application, 39
Transmission, 39 Voice Activity Detection, discontinuous transmission,
22, 139
Telecommunications Management Network. See
TMN
Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity, 35 W
Terminal Control Unit. See TCU Warning, mediated, 213
Thresholds, microcell, 179
Timing advance, 133 X
TMN, 37
X.25 redundancy, 24, 153
Token bus, 199 link transfer, 154
Tracing
call, 211
IMSI, 212 Z
Traffic channel, 44 Zones
Transcoder. See TC concentric cell, 174
overlap, extended cell, 176
Transcoder Pools, 26, 159

3BK 02974 AAAA TQZZA Ed. 07 239 / 240

Index

240 / 240 3BK 02974 AAAA TQZZA Ed. 07

 CĄoĄvĄeĄrĄĄ SĄhĄeĄeĄt
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Class_1 Alcatel 900/1800 BSS Class_3 System Guide

Class_2 Descriptive Document Class_4

Short Title System Description Doc ID

Main_Title System Description

Sub_Title
DOCC
MMCC CRN No

History
Edition 01 06 07
Date 950401 980130 980519
Change Note
Operator:
Comp. CITVY CITVY CITVY
Dept. GCD-C GCD GCD
Name M. Ridealgh R. Gallon R.Gallon
Originator:
Comp. CITVY CITVY CITVY
Dept. GCD-C GCD GCD
Name M.Ridealgh R.Gallon R. Gallon
Appraisor:
Comp. CITVY CITVY CITVY
Dept. GCD GCD GCD
Name D. Lé D. Lé D. Lé

External History of Last Edition Internal History of Last Edition

New Edition for release 4.2. Added features, reorgaĆ
nized chapters 1 and 5.

3BK 02974 AAAA TQZZA Ed. 07 1 / 240

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company department name

code
Site 1 full name
5/12/15

Abstract Review

3BK 02974 AAAA TQZZA Ed. 07