HOW TO INVESTIGATE LOW HS THROUGHPUT

Agenda
HS cell throughput Formulas and Counters description Site configuration Parameters description Number of users Counters description Alarms Radio conditions Iub utilization Counters description Accessibility Counters description

HS cell throughput
There is 2 kinds of HS cell throughput: Scheduled cell throughput Served cell throughput

Relation between Scheduled and Served cell throughput Served Cell throughput = Scheduled cell throughput * Scheduling ratio

Where Scheduling ratio is the percentage of time that HS subframes have been sent (with data or empty) during a specified period.

formulas
Scheduling ratio = Where measurement time = number of ROP * 15 * 60 [s]

Scheduled cell throughput =

Served cell throughput =

HS throughput counters: pmNoActiveSubFramesSpiXX

Description
The number of subframes (2 ms), for scheduling priority class XX (XX= *0, , 15+ ), containing high-speed data transmitted by the RBS

Condition
Increased by one when a subframe containing high-speed data is transmitted by the RBS.

MO Class
HsDschResources

 Definition
Condition

HS throughput counters: pmNoInactiveRequiredSubFramesSpiX X

The number of subframes, for scheduling priority class XX (XX= *0, 15+), in which no data is transmitted although there is user data to be sent in the validated PQ.

Increased by one when a subframe is transmitted when data is scheduled for priority queue.

MO Class
HsDschResources

 Definition Condition

HS throughput counters: pmSumTransmittedBitsSpiXX

.

The number of transmitted bits at MAC-hs level per scheduling priority class XX (XX= *0, 15]), including retransmission

Each whole transmitted MAC-hs kilobit, including retransmissions, increases the counter by one.

Unit
1 Kilobits

MO Class
HsDschResources

 Definition

HS throughput counters: pmSumAckedBitsSpiXX

The number of MAC-hs bits received and acknowledged by the UE per scheduling priority class XX (XX= *0, 15+).

Condition
Each whole MAC-hs kilobit received and acknowledged by the UE increases the counter by one.

Unit
1 Kilobits.

MO Class
HsDschResources

Site configuration
Verify the site configuration (HS parameters) with the configuration supported by the customer. The HS parameters are:

RBS parameters
dynamicHsPdschCodeAdditionOn maxNumHsPdschCodes maxNumHsdpaUsers flexibleSchedulerOn supportOf16qam numHsCodeResources maxHsRate

RNC parameters
codeThresholdPdu656 numHsPdschCodes numHsScchCodes hsdpaUsersAdm

RBS parameters: dynamicHsPdschCodeAdditionOn

Definition
Used as a switch to turn, the Dynamic Code Allocation feature, on or off by setting its value to true or false.

Precondition
To set its value to true, the license key for Dynamic Code Allocation must be activated

MO Class
RbsLocalCell .

RBS parameters: maxNumHsPdschCodes

Definition
It is the maximum number of HS-PDSCH codes allowed per cell. Its value can vary between 5 and 15.

MO Class
RbsLocalCell

RBS parameters: maxNumHsdpaUsers

Definition
It is the maximum number of HSDPA users allowed per cell. Its value can vary between 1 and 96.

MO Class
RbsLocalCell

RBS parameters: flexibleSchedulerOn

Definition
Used as a switch to turn, the Flexible Scheduler feature, on or off by setting its value to true or false.

Precondition
To set its value to true, the license key for Flexible Scheduler must be activated

MO Class
NodeBFunction

RBS parameters: supportOf16qam

Definition
Used as a switch to turn, the HSDPA 16QAM feature, on or off by setting its value to true or false. If supportOf16qam = True , so the capability of the UE decides whether 16 QAM or QPSK is used. If supportOf16qam = False, so 16 QAM support is not set.

Precondition
To set its value to true, the license key for HSDPA 16QAM must be activated.

MO Class
NodeBFunction

RBS parameters: numHsCodeResources Definition

It indicates how many processing resources on the TXB that shall be loaded with HSDPA software. An HSDPA processing resource supports a number of HS-DPSCH codes. The number of supported HS-DPSCH codes depends on how many cells that uses the HSDPA processing resource. Its value can vary between 0 and 3.

Disturbances
Changing this attribute can affect traffic (drop calls). The TXB is restarted if the configuration requires new loading of the TXB. For that, it is recommended to soft block the TX board (or the whole site if there is only one TX board) before changing this parameter.

MO Class
TxDeviceGroup

RBS parameters: maxHsRate

Definition
It indicates the maximum HSDPA bit rate over the Iub

maxHsRate = 15 * number of E1s Unit

0.1 Mbps

MO Class
IubDataStreams

 Definition

RNC parameters: codeThresholdPdu656

It is a threshold for determining when to use the RLC PDU size = 656 bits for UEs with HSDSCH physical layer category 7 to 10 Its value can vary between 0 and 15 (default value = 6)

Values
codeThresholdPdu656 = 0, this mean that always use the RLC PDU size = 656 bits codeThresholdPdu656 = 15, this mean that never use the RLC PDU size = 656 bits codeThresholdPdu656 < numHsPdschCodes, so the 656 bits is used codeThresholdPdu656 > numHsPdschCodes, so the 336 bits is used

MO Class
Hsdsch

RNC parameters: numHsPdschCodes

Definition
It determines the minimum number of codes of SF=16 reserved for the HS-PDSCH

Disturbances
Changing this attribute may affect ongoing traffic When the number of codes is incremented, all traffic is released from the cell When the number of codes is decreased, traffic is not released in the cell, but the Hs-dsch throughput may be affected.

MO Class
Hsdsch

RNC parameters: numHsScchCodes

Definition
This parameter decides the maximum number of HS-SCCH that may be transmitted at the same time (in the same TTI). Since each separate user has a separate HS-SCCH, this also sets the maximum number of UEs that can receive data at the same time when using the HSDPA code multiplexing.

Disturbances
Changing this attribute may affect ongoing traffic When its value is incremented or decreased, all traffic within the cell is released.

MO Class
Hsdsch

RNC parameters: hsdpaUsersAdm

Definition
It is an admission limit for the number of users assigned to the HS-PDSCH/HS-SCCH in the cell.

MO Class
UtranCell

Number of Users per cell

The number of users per cell has a big impact on the cell throughput
More the number of users using different services (HS, PS, ) increase, more the cell resources are distributed between more users, and then the cell throughput decreases.

Average HS users =

pmSumBestPsHsAdchRabEstablish pmSamplesBestPsHsAdc hRabEstablish

Average PS users =

pmSumFachPsIntRabEstablish pmSamplesFachPsIntRabEstablish

 Definition

Number of users counters: pmSumBestPsHsAdchRabEstablish

It is the sum of all sample values recorded during a ROP for the number of A-DCH radio bearers established in the cell carrying HS-DSCH in the active set. Values are read periodically from an internal level counter and added to this counter. The level counter maintains the current number of A-DCH radio bearers established in the cell carrying HS-DSCH in the active set for which this cell is the best cell.

Condition

Sampling rate = 5 s MO Class

UtranCell

Number of users counters: pmSamplesBestPsHsAdchRabEstab lish Definition

It is the number of samples recorded within the ROP for
pmSumBestPsHsAdchRabEstablish

MO Class
UtranCell

 Definition

Number of users counters: pmSumFachPsIntRabEstablish

It is the sum of all sample values recorded during a ROP for the number of established PS RABs in state FACH. Incremented in the best cell in the active set.

Condition
Values are read periodically from an internal level counter and added to this counter. The level counter maintains the current number of established PS RABs in state FACH for which this cell is the best cell in the active set.

Sampling rate = 5 s MO Class

UtranCell

Number of users counters: pmSamplesFachPsIntRabEstablish

Definition
Number of samples recorded within the ROP for pmSumFachPsIntRabEstablish

MO Class
UtranCell

Alarms
Any alarm (transmission problem, hardware problem, license problem ) can affect the site performance and then affect the site throughput. To check the alarms, we can use the command lga on Moshell which shows all the alarms history.

To check the alarms on a specific date (for example 1-February-2010), we can use the following command: lga | grep 2011-02-01

Radio conditions
The radio conditions (CPICH Ec/No, CPICH RSCP, CQI ) have an impact on cell throughput. Bad radio conditions means:
Bad CPICH Ec/No, Bad CPICH RSCP (bad coverage) Pilot pollution Bad CQI (Channel Quality Indicator)

Bad radio conditions have a negative influence on cell throughput

Iub utilization
The Iub congestion is one of the limiting factors of the HS throughput. To check the Iub utilization, we must check the following counter:
pmCapAllocIubHsLimitingRatioSpiXX (XX = *0 15+)

Definition
This counter indicates in what degree the HSDPA traffic in downlink for Scheduling Priority Indicator (SPI) XX is limited by the Iub/Iur interfaces, between SRNC and RBS

A high value indicates that these interfaces limit the HSDPA traffic in a high degree.

Unit = 1% MO Class
IubDataStreams

Accessibility
The accessibility is also a limiting factor of the HS throughput The two counters that shows the HS accessibility are:
pmNoRabEstablishSuccessPacketInteractiveHs pmNoRabEstablishAttemptPacketInteractiveHs

If the number of HS RAB success is very low comparing to the number of HS RAB attempt, investigate the cause of this low success rate which could be (Iub
congestion, lack of codes, lack of power, lack of CE ).

Accessibility counters:
pmNoRabEstablishAttemptPacketInteractiveHs Definition
It is the number of RAB establishment attempts for the PS Interactive RAB containing HS-DSCH.

Condition
It is incremented by one when a RANAP RAB Assignment Request message is received from the CN with RABs to be set up or modified, after successful RAB mapping to PS Interactive and successful HS-DSCH cell selection.

MO Class
UtranCell

Accessibility counters:
pmNoRabEstablishSuccessPacketInteractiveHs Definition
It is the number of successful RAB establishments for the PS Interactive RAB containing HS-DSCH.

Condition
It is incremented by one after sending the RANAP RAB Assignment Response message to the CN, indicating a successful establishment of a PS Interactive RAB mapped on HSDSCH.

MO Class
UtranCell

HSDPA

HSDPA Performance with IBS

Capacity limiting Factors

A WCDMA RAN system has several different resources that are to be looked into to assess capacity limiting. Since each user is allocated some of these resources, the usage of these resources increases with the number of connections in the cell.
Examples of such resources are : 1. Power 2. Air Interface Speech Equivalents (ASE) 3. Downlink channelization codes 4. RBS Hardware (CEs) Monitor counter pmNoReqDeniedAdm: Incremented when radio admits the connection, but some other resource is unavailable. This could be Iub, CE, or some other processing resource

Power
A fundamental property of WCDMA is that coverage can be traded for capacity.

DL Tx carrier power is a resource which is shared among the common and dedicated channels.
primaryCpichPower is reference for all channels in the system and is therefore controlling the cell size Trade-off: -Increasing the CPICH power result in a decrease in capacity -Decrease in the CPICH power result in an increase in capacity

DL Tx Carrier Power Monitor

The purpose of the admission check on Tx carrier power is to prevent users from overbooking the RBS.

pwrAdmOffset =10
beMarginDlPwr =10 pwrAdm =75

To increase cell capacity it can be considered to increase pwrAdm: However

Performance Monitoring
Some useful counters which can help monitor the DL power resources:
pmTransmittedCarrierPower: To estimate the utilization of the MCPA with respect to the admission limit. pmNoFailedRabEstAttemptLackDlPwr: To detect admission rejects due to DL power. pmNoOfSwDownNgAdm: To detect soft congestion in the cell. Soft congestion is triggered either due to lack of transmitted carrier power, DL channelization codes or hardware. pmNoOfTermSpeechCong, pmNoOfTermCsCong: To monitor the number of users released due to congestion resolution action pmNoSystemRabRelease: Dropped call counters can be used to detect quality problems due to overloading of MCPA

ASE
Estimates the air interface resources usage in a cell (both in uplink and downlink) The ASE of a RL is expressed in the equivalent # of speech RBs which generate the same amount of air interface load.

DL ASE
Purpose: to avoid running the system close to the downlink pole capacity and thereby prevent power rushes on the DL. Recommended to disable DL ASE admission control and rely on Tx Carrier Power as it is a better measure of the DL air interface load.

Disabling aseDlAdm will decrease the risk for unnecessary admission denials and allow for increased capacity.

Performance Monitoring
Some useful counters which can help monitor the DL ASE resources:
pmSumOfSampAseDl: To estimate how close a cell is to the DL ASE admission limit pmNoFailedRabEstAttemptLackDlAse: To identify cells in which admission rejections due to DL ASEs occur pmFailedDchChSwitch: To detect failed channel switches. This may be an indication of DL ASE shortage

UL ASE
Purpose: to avoid excessive UL load which could lead to inferior coverage and UE power rushes.
Increasing aseUlAdm can result in increased capacity. However, should be monitored closely as UL ASE is the only mechanism available for preventing excessive UL noise rise.

Performance Monitoring
Some useful counters which can help monitor the UL ASE resources:
pmSumOfSampAseUl: To estimate how close a cell is to the UL ASE admission limit pmNoFailedRabEstAttemptLackUlAse: To identify cells in which admission rejects due to UL ASEs occur pmAverageRssi: To detect excessive noise rise as a result of an increase of aseUlAdm pmTotNoRrcConnectReqSucc: To detect uplink coverage problems

DL Channelization Code
The monitoring of this resource is based on tracking the amount of the downlink code tree in use and to avoid users overbooking code resources

Reserving 20% of the code tree for handover legs

beMarginDlCode =5

dlCodeAdm =80

Performance Monitoring
Some useful counters which can help monitor the DL code resources:
pmNoFailedRabEstAttemptLackDlChnlCode: To detect admission rejections due to DL channelization codes pmNoOfSwDownNgAdm: To detect soft congestion in the cell. Soft congestion is triggered either due to lack of transmitted carrier power, DL channelization codes or hardware pmNoSystemRabRelease: Dropped call counters can be used to detect quality problems due to overloading of DL channelization code tree.

RBS Hardware
The available RBS hardware is a limited resource due to, for example, the amount of installed hardware or licensing restrictions. The total number of capacity credits available in the RBS, is the minimum of the amount installed hardware and the amount activated by the software license key. Channel Element (CE) is the required baseband processing capacity and hardware for one speech bearer (AMR12.2 kbps) connection. Ericssons definition of a Channel Element is linked to Dedicated Channel (DCH) resources of the RBS. Processing capacity required for common signaling channels and certain radio network functionality is NOT included in the definition of a Channel Element

Performance Monitoring
Some useful counters which can help monitor the CE resources:
pmNoFailedRabEstAttemptLackDlHw: Number of failed RAB establishment attempts due to lack of DL hardware resources pmNoFailedRabEstAttemptLacUllHw: Number of failed RAB establishment attempts due to lack of UL hardware resources pmNoFailedRabEstAttemptLackDlHwBest: Number of failed RAB establishment attempts due to lack of DL hardware resources, for the best cell in active set pmNoFailedRabEstAttemptLackUlHwBest: Number of failed RAB establishment attempts due to lack of UL hardware resources, for the best cell in active set pmUlCredits: Total consumed RBS UL credits pmDlCredits: Total consumed RBS DL credits

Performance Monitoring
CE shortage:
Characterised by poor accessibility for all RAB types (usually during busy hour), and equally across all sectors. High count of pmFailedAfterAdm Alarms: UplinkBaseBandPool_UlHwUsageExceedsUlLicenseLevel DownlinkBaseBandPool_DlHwUsageExceedsDlLicenseLevel

Monitor CE usage and determine consistent CE utilization above 60%.

IMPROVING CAPACITY

 Main driver:

2nd Carrier

Improve capacity Second carrier added at hot spots where capacity increase is most needed. Improve HSDPA performance As R99 power rises, HS power available declines. As HS power declines, the total HS throughput declines in a linear manner.

2nd carrier 1st carrier

Premium HSDPA R99 HSDPA & R99 R99

URBAN

SUBURBAN HSDPA & R99

RURAL

1st carrier

R99

2nd Carrier - Load Sharing

Load sharing improves the performance of a Radio Access Network by pooling together resources from different parts of the WCDMA network. There are two load-sharing features in the WCDMA RAN: Inter-Frequency Load Sharing Directed Retry to GSM

IFLS diverts incoming traffic from a heavily loaded cell in one WCDMA carrier to a another WCDMA carrier with a lighter load Directed Retry to GSM is a one-way diversion from WCDMA to GSM (speech calls with no on-going packet connections).

2nd Carrier - Alternatives

Shortage of DL Codes for Speech: Turn on Dynamic Code Allocation and reduce the number of codes reserved for HSDPA Limit number of PS R99 users Shortage of Power for Speech: Increase Admission Threshold from 75% to 85% Limit number of PS R99 users Limit # of 384 users: The parameter sf8Adm can be used to configure the maximum number of allowed radio links with spreading factor = 8 (384 kbps) Allows for more lower bit rate users

2nd Carrier - Alternatives

Adjust BLER targets: Increasing the target BLER, less power will be required for a radio bearer Lead to increase of # of simultaneous connections Increased capacity at the expense of more lost speech frames (quality). Shortage of DL codes for HSDPA: Turn on Dynamic Code Allocation Turn on code multiplexing to allow several users to be served simultaneously in one 2 ms TTI Dynamic Code Allocation: With 15 codes available for HS, few or no codes are left for R99. With this feature, it is possible to reserve only a limited set of HS codes from the RNC. DCA de-allocates HS codes when more DCH codes are needed and adds more HS codes when resources are available.

Other capacity improvement areas

Areas where capacity can be gained through optimization:
Antenna system SHO / SrHO overhead Radio Links replacement

Antenna system
Antenna direction: GSM: no impact to DL capacity by serving users on side lobes WCDMA: substantial capacity gains by serving traffic hotspots within main lobe

Antenna height: Avoid high antenna heights Difficult to confine coverage Suburban: served within 2 tiers Urban: served within 1 tier

Antenna system
Antenna gain: High gain antenna Increase capacity gains Antenna type: Wide horizontal beam widths lead to greater overlapping and higher SrHO overload Narrower 60-65 degree antennas will result in capacity gains

Soft/Softer handover overhead

Trade off between Soft/Softer HO and system capacity Soft/Softer HO: Several radio links More DL channelization codes More DL power Reducing S/SrHO overhead can improve system capacity

Radio link replacement

Monitor RL replacements pmNoTimesRlRepInActSet incremented when cell removed from AS High value indicates pilot pollution Combining soft-softer overhead stats with RL replacement rates provide a powerful aid to assess the severity of power exhaustion Improving these metrics will lead to increased capacity

Conclusion how to improve capacity

Good Radio Network Dimensioning/Design Power of CCHs are set accordingly Admission parameters are tuned properly Limit interference in network SHO areas are not too large Not too many neighbours defined BLER Quality target is set properly Limit the number of 384 users Use of high gain antennas Additional channel elements Dynamic code allocation Second Carrier where needed IFLS & directed re-try to GSM