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Conventions Used Within The Text Showing The Contents Panel: Actix User Guide Part 1
Conventions Used Within The Text Showing The Contents Panel: Actix User Guide Part 1
Words in bold mean that you can select the item for example, click Cancel means click the Cancel button . Words in italics mean that the item in italics is a unique part of the interfacefor example, the Map window. Menu | Command For example, File | New Workspace is short for from the File menu, select New Workspace . Ctrl+A means that you hold two keys down at the same timeCtrl and A in this example. Alt,V means that you press and release one key (Alt), then press another key (V).
hand contents panel. To close the contents panel, click Hide you are not sure where your current page is in the help file structure, click Locate and the appropriate topic title is highlighted in the left hand panel.
Glossary terms
From the Help window, click the Glossary button to open the glossary for this Help. Click on the first letter of the word you want to look up, and scroll through the definitions as necessary.
Print
Click Print heading. to print the selected page or all pages in the selected
Attribute help
This shows any available information appropriate to the currently selected attribute in the Attribute Explorer window.
System requirements
The following section defines the recommended and minimum system requirements for successfully running Actix A-Solutions. If you install your A-Solution on a system that does not meet the recommended configuration requirements, you might experience the following limitations: You may be unable to process large amounts of data You may experience delays when trying to perform certain tasks You may not be able to take advantage of some mapping capabilities Your A-Solutions advanced correlation and analysis capabilities might not perform as desired
A paging file size of at least 1 GB is recommended on Windows 2000 systems. You can set the paging file size by modifying the System properties from the Windows Control Panel.
Maximizing performance
Assuming you have the recommended PC configuration, here are a set of targeted questions that focus on performance.
It takes a long time to display my data on a map in the software. Is there a way to improve this?
It will always take longer to display the first map, due to the initialization of several key components. Factors contributing to display times are: the size of the cell databases used (see Cell Site Databases - performance tips ), the size of the MapInfo files used the overall size of the datafiles used (see Drive data collection - performance tips ).
It takes a long time to load my log files. What can cause this, and can it be improved?
Many factors contribute to the load time of specific log files. In general, files saved in a binary structure are faster to load then those that are available in ASCII. With emerging technologies such as UMTS, cdma2000, EV-DO, etc. the amount of data sent over the air interface has increased exponentially. Actix is continuing to study ways to manage this increase in data volume. The collection equipment also presents alternatives to minimize the data collected (See Drive data collection - performance tips).
It seems like it takes a long time to load my protocol data (A, Abis, Gb, etc.)?
The majority of the time it takes to load protocol data is spent on the running of pre-defined analysis that are selected using the Choose Scenario option under the Tools menu. To improve file load-times, Actix recommends loading only the scenarios needed for the analysis in question.
Non-essential cell database columns only add to the size of the file, thus degrading performance. Wherever possible, create cell databases in logical, defined clusters that overlap each other. Only use the full, comprehensive cell database for system-wide network benchmarking and in conjunction with the Network Image feature.
I would like to compare my network to a competitor's, or compare a location of my network today to that of 3 months ago.
Use location binning, 100m or 200m square bin sizes.
I would like to create bins only when there is a change in GPS coordinates.
In this case, distance binning at 50m or 100m intervals, is the best alternative.
I am using the software in an ad-hoc mode and would like a reliable way of viewing data without compromising performance or measurement results.
The default method of time-based binning at 1 second, 3 seconds, or 5 seconds (depending on the geographic area analyzed) should be sufficient.
Note that if you only have one engineering process on your license, you will bypass this screen and go straight to the entry screen for that process. Checking the box at the bottom of the screen also lets you bypass this screen and go straight to your selected engineering process. If in future you want to display this screen, from the File menu select Start New Engineering Process.
Engineering Processes CDMA Drive Test Troubleshooter GSM DT Troubleshooter UMTS DT Troubleshooter End-to-End Service Troubleshooting for cdma2000 1X Analyzer Classic - Actix Solutions EGPRS Drive Test IVS for cdma2000 1X RVS for UMTS Analyzer Classic free analysis Managing data Visualizing data Analyzing data Optimizing networks Classic analysis of UMTS data Classic analysis of CDMA data Classic analysis of GSM data Classic A and Abis analysis
Classic analysis of GPRS data Classic analysis of IS-136 data Classic analysis of iDEN data
Actix products automate, simplify and streamline radio engineering. Built in diagnostics and troubleshooting processes embed Actix global wireless experience to deliver accurate, instant solutions to radio problems. Configurable analysis and KPI reporting provides clear, vendor-independent visibility of true network performance. Actix is also a process management solution allowing teams to build in their own KPIs and processes establishing consistent best practice engineering focused and evolving with the organizations priorities and challenges. There is immense pressure during rollout to realize a return on new technology investment. Multiple teams with diverse skills need to overcome new technology complexity and meet tight deadlines. Actix cuts through the complexity providing clear visibility of real network performance and driving best practice knowledge and skills throughout an organization.
By working with 90% of 3G operators Actix continues to capture solutions to the most difficult rollout challenges, embedding the solution in software. Also, Actix high configurability ensures organizations can build on this with their own processes and KPIs focused on their own particular challenges and business goals. By harnessing unprecedented levels of teamwork and focus, Actix users can rollout with quality and confidence.
Process Management
Actix products are an alternative to both shrink-wrapped replay tools and costly in-house systems, providing the best of both worlds by offering a highly tailored solution with no development costs. Configure Actix' predefined processes with the settings and thresholds used by your teams.
Define new KPIs and reports which represent your organization's priorities. Define new analyses and processes which capture the knowledge of top new technology specialists so these skills can be employed by every radio engineer. Optionally, use Actix Professional Services to configure your system on your behalf. Cut down on training costs. Cut down on complex process documents and crib sheets. Manage engineering by deploying simple, effective processes.
See also
Select Data Sources (CDMA) Dashboard (CDMA) Dropped Calls (CDMA) Failed Calls (CDMA) Calls with Excessive Setup Time Important Issues (CDMA) CDMA Filters CDMA analysis views Diagnosis and thresholds (CDMA) Drive Test Troubleshooting
Select a cellrefs file to use for the analysis. This essential file contains information on your network infrastructure. You will be asked to restart the application if you change the selected cellrefs file. Review the other settings within the dialog and make selections as appropriate. For more information on the Preferences dialog, see here . Click the Thresholds button and review the settings, making changes as necessary. Thresholds define whether a critical or important condition has occurred or not, so you may want to adjust these numbers to match your own definitions. For an explanation of each threshold, see here . The Thresholds and Preferences settings apply to all subsequently loaded files. Click Load Files and select all the files you wish to include in the analysis.
Dashboard (CDMA)
This page provides an overview of the information aggregated from the selected drive test files and handsets.
Critical Issues
This section shows Critical events, broken out where possible by CDMA Service option. The events fall into three types: Dropped Calls Failed Calls Calls with Excessive Setup Time
To investigate Critical Issues, click on a row of related events. More information on the thresholds for these Critical Issues.
Important Issues
This section shows events that have reduced the quality of service without necessarily ending any calls.
To open the Important Issues page, click on Find Out More. More information on the Important Issues page. More information on the thresholds for these Important Issues.
Information
This section displays summary information for the data. Charts provide Call Summary and Handoff Summary information, with the chart colors indicating: Red unacceptably high compared to the defined threshold Amber slightly worse than acceptable Green within acceptable limits
Call Summary this chart displays the percentage occurrence of the following events: Incoming Call Dropped Incoming Call Failed Initiation Incoming Call Successfully Terminated Outgoing Call Dropped Outgoing Call Failed Initiation Outgoing Call Successfully Terminated
If there are no occurrences of a particular event type, that type is not displayed in the chart. The Handoff Summary chart shows the percentage frequency of each type of handoff occurring in the data: Softer Handoff Softer-Softer Handoff Softer Soft Handoff Soft Soft Handoff 4 Way Soft Handoff 5 Way Soft Handoff 6 Way Soft Handoff Hard Handoff
Click here to see the threshold information for these charts. Following the charts is a summary of the number of sites and sectors included in the drive test data, and the ten most frequently measured sites and sectors. Useful information for these ten sites and sectors is then shown in a table.
To sort the data by a column, click on the column title. An arrow shows by which column the table is currently sorted, and whether the column is sorted highest-first or lowest-first.
See also
Overview of CDMA DT Troubleshooter Select Data Sources (CDMA) Dropped Calls (CDMA) Failed Calls (CDMA) Calls with Excessive Setup Time Important Issues (CDMA) CDMA Filters CDMA analysis views Diagnosis and thresholds (CDMA)
In addition to the pre-defined analysis views ( map and CDMA Voice Event Navigator), you can access any other view or supplement the current views by clicking on the Attribute Explorer icon: to open the Attribute Explorer window. Find the appropriate attribute and drag it onto the map or right-click and select from a list of display options. During your analysis, you may have found it necessary to move or remove the existing diagnostic views and to open one or more new views. To get back to the original layout, select Click here to restore diagnostic views. Note that this will not affect any views you opened earlier.
A Critical Event has occurred, but the diagnostic tables show no details - why?
This is most likely due to one or more CDMA thresholds being exceeded (most probably the MobileTransmitPower min or max values), which can invalidate the data in the 8-second event window. To force the diagnostic tables to show details for these events, change the thresholds accordingly.
In addition to the pre-defined analysis views ( map and CDMA Voice Event Navigator), you can access any other view or supplement the current views by clicking on the Attribute Explorer icon: to open the Attribute Explorer window. Find the appropriate attribute and drag it onto the map or right-click and select from a list of display options. During your analysis, you may have found it necessary to move or remove the existing diagnostic views and to open one or more new views. To get back to the original layout, select Click here to restore diagnostic views. Note that this will not affect any views you opened earlier.
A Critical Event has occurred, but the diagnostic tables show no details - why?
This is most likely due to one or more CDMA thresholds being exceeded (most probably the MobileTransmitPower min or max values), which can invalidate the data in the 8-second event window. To force the diagnostic tables to show details for these events, change the thresholds accordingly.
In addition to the pre-defined analysis views ( map and CDMA Voice Event Navigator), you can access any other view or supplement the current views by clicking on the Attribute Explorer icon: to open the Attribute Explorer window. Find the appropriate attribute and drag it onto the map or right-click and select from a list of display options. During your analysis, you may have found it necessary to move or remove the existing diagnostic views and to open one or more new views. To get back to the original layout, select Click here to restore diagnostic views. Note that this will not affect any views you opened earlier.
A Critical Event has occurred, but the diagnostic tables show no details - why?
This is most likely due to one or more CDMA thresholds being exceeded (most probably the MobileTransmitPower min or max values), which can invalidate the data in the 8-second event window. To force the diagnostic tables to show details for these events, change the thresholds accordingly.
The % of CDMA_ConsolidatedFER higher than the CDMA_AvgForwardFER threshold set via the Thresholds button on the Select Data Sources page.
Where: Low = below the user-defined threshold at the top of the column. High = above the user-defined threshold at the top of the column. To sort the data by a column, click on the column title.
The other views displayed are the Important Issues Map and the CDMA Radio Link Summary. To open up the map s legend pane on the left, simply drag the dividing bar left and right. The legend shows information on diagnostic attributes currently displayed on the map. More information on
using the map is available here . In addition to the pre-defined analysis views, you can access any other view or supplement the current views by clicking on the Attribute Explorer icon: to open the Attribute Explorer window. Find the appropriate attribute and drag it onto the map or right-click and select from a list of display options. To filter specific Important Issues, open the Attribute Explorer window and right-click on the handset name. You can then select from the range of filters provided. During your analysis, you may have found it necessary to move or remove the existing diagnostic views and to open one or more new views. To get back to the original layout, select Click here to restore diagnostic views. Note that this will not affect any views you opened earlier.
CDMA Filters
In CDMA DT Troubleshooter, to filter specific Important Issues, open the Attribute Explorer window and right-click on the handset name. You can then select from a range of filters: CDMA Excess Interf Filter CDMA Poor Cov CDMA Low Rx Signal CDMA Good Cov CDMA Weak Rev Link CDMA Unknown Diagnosis CDMA External Interferer CDMA Weak Fwd Link CDMA Poor Quality
When you select a particular data point, a line appears, showing the Forward FER, Grade Of Service (GOS), PN, Handset State and events at that time.
Note that when cell site data is available, selecting a data point also populates the Active List Finger Measurements section with name, distance etc. information.
CDMA_MobileRxPowerThreshold
Used with EcIo and Mobile Tx Power Thresholds to determine the diagnosis for the dropped call, failed call and voice call with poor quality. Recommended value is -80 dBm. Values should vary between -75 and -90 dBm.
CDMA_MobileTxPowerThreshold
Used with EcIo and Mobile Rx Power Thresholds to determine the diagnosis for the dropped call, failed call and voice call with poor quality. Recommended value is 5 dBm. Values should vary between 0 and 10 dBm.
CDMA_CallSetupTime
Used to determine calls with Excessive Setup Time (a Critical Issue). Recommended value is 15000 ms.
Dashboard Thresholds
CDMA_ImportantIssue_RevLinkProblem
Used to filter out the display of data in the CDMA Dashboard for files that have percentage of rev link problems cases less than the threshold. Recommended value is 2.
CDMA_ImportantIssue_FwdLinkProblem
Used to filter out the display of data in the CDMA Dashboard for files that have percentage of fwd link problems cases less than the threshold. Recommended value is 2.
CDMA_ImportantIssue_LowRX
Used to filter out the display of data in the CDMA Dashboard for files that have percentage of low Rx problems cases less than the threshold. Recommended value is 2.
CDMA_ImportantIssue_ExternalInterference
Used to filter out the display of data in the CDMA Dashboard for files that have percentage of BadEcioHighTxGoodRx cases less than the threshold. Recommended value is 2.
CDMA_ImportantIssue_ExcessInterference
Used to filter out the display of data in the CDMA Dashboard for files that have percentage of excess interference cases less than the threshold. Recommended value is 2.
Miscellaneous Thresholds
CDMA_MobileTxPowerMinFilterThreshold
Used with Mobile Tx Power Max Threshold to filter out messages when the transmitter is disabled due to high FFER.
CDMA_MobileTxPowerMaxFilterThreshold
Used with Mobile Tx Power Min Threshold to filter out messages when the transmitter is disabled due to high FFER.
Low is where the attribute named at the top of the column is below the related threshold; High is above the related threshold. Note that the threshold values relating to the attributes shown at the top of this table are user-configurable via the Threshold button. This coverage information is held under the Analyzer parameter called CDMA_Important_Issues (displayed under CDMA Event Data, Alerts & Warnings in the Attribute Explorer).
A Critical Event has occurred, but the diagnostic tables show no details - why?
This is most likely due to one or more CDMA thresholds being exceeded (most probably the MobileTransmitPower min or max values), which can invalidate the data in the 8-second event window. To force the diagnostic tables to show details for these events, change the thresholds accordingly.
GSM DT Troubleshooter
Overview of GSM DT Troubleshooter Select Data Sources (GSM) Dashboard (GSM) Dropped Calls Details (GSM) Call Setup Failures Details (GSM) HO Failures Details (GSM) LU Failures Details (GSM) Important Issues Details (GSM) GSM analysis views Diagnosis and thresholds (GSM)
See also
Select Data Sources (GSM) Dashboard (GSM) Dropped Calls Details (GSM) Call Setup Failures Details (GSM) HO Failures Details (GSM) LU Failures Details (GSM) Important Issues Details (GSM) GSM analysis views Diagnosis and thresholds (GSM) Drive Test Troubleshooting
The CellRefs file is an essential file that contains information on your network infrastructure. Select a cellrefs file to use for the analysis. You will be asked to restart the application if you change the selected cellrefs file. Review the other settings within the dialog and make selections as appropriate. For more information on the Preferences dialog, see here . Click the Thresholds button to open the dialog shown below. Thresholds define whether a critical or important condition has occurred or not, so you may want to adjust these numbers to match your own definitions.
Review the settings, making changes as necessary. For an explanation of each threshold, see here . The Thresholds and Preferences settings apply to all subsequently loaded files. Click Load Files and select all the files you wish to include in the analysis.
Dashboard (GSM)
This page provides an overview of the information aggregated from the selected drive test files and devices.
Critical Issues
This section shows events that have discontinued the call, broken out where possible by Service option. The events fall into these types: Dropped Calls Call Setup Failures HO Failures LU Failures From the dashboard, click on a critical issue type to display the related Critical Issues page.
Important Issues
This section shows events that have reduced the quality of service without necessarily ending any calls. To open the Important Issues page, click on Find Out More.
Information
This section displays summary information for the data. Charts provide Event Breakdown and Design Check Summary information.
See here for information on how the Design Check is derived. Following the charts is a summary of the number of sites and sectors measured in the drive test data. To sort the data by a column, click on the column title.
To sort the data by a column, click on the column title. An arrow shows by which column the table is currently sorted, and whether the column is sorted highest-first or lowest-first.
See also
Overview of GSM DT Troubleshooter Select Data Sources (GSM) Dropped Calls Details (GSM) Call Setup Failures Details (GSM) HO Failures Details (GSM) LU Failures Details (GSM) Important Issues Details (GSM) GSM analysis views Diagnosis and thresholds (GSM)
Analysis views
GSM State Drive Test Profile Message Browser Map Event Navigator In addition to the pre-defined analysis views, you can access any other view or supplement the current views by clicking on the Attribute Explorer icon: to open the Attribute Explorer window . Find the appropriate attribute and drag it onto the map or right-click and select from a list of display options. During your analysis, you may have found it necessary to move or remove the existing diagnostic
views and to open one or more new views. To get back to the original layout, select Click here to restore diagnostic views. Note that this will not affect any views you opened earlier.
Analysis views
GSM State Drive Test Profile Message Browser Map Event Navigator In addition to the pre-defined analysis views, you can access any other view or supplement the current views by clicking on the Attribute Explorer icon: to open the Attribute Explorer window. Find the appropriate attribute and drag it onto the map or right-click and select from a list of display options.
During your analysis, you may have found it necessary to move or remove the existing diagnostic views and to open one or more new views. To get back to the original layout, select Click here to restore diagnostic views. Note that this will not affect any views you opened earlier.
Analysis views
GSM State Drive Test Profile Message Browser Map Event Navigator In addition to the pre-defined analysis views, you can access any other view or supplement the current views by clicking on the Attribute Explorer icon: to open the Attribute Explorer window . Find the appropriate attribute and drag it onto the map or right-click and select from a list of display options. During your analysis, you may have found it necessary to move or remove the existing diagnostic views and to open one or more new views. To get back to the original layout, select Click here to restore diagnostic views. Note that this will not affect any views you opened earlier.
Analysis views
GSM State Drive Test Profile Message Browser Map Event Navigator In addition to the pre-defined analysis views, you can access any other view or supplement the current views by clicking on the Attribute Explorer icon: to open the Attribute Explorer window . Find the appropriate attribute and drag it onto the map or right-click and select from a list of display options. During your analysis, you may have found it necessary to move or remove the existing diagnostic views and to open one or more new views. To get back to the original layout, select Click here to
restore diagnostic views. Note that this will not affect any views you opened earlier.
Select a row in the table to display a set of related diagnostic views. The diagnoses shown in the table are explained here: Important Issues diagnosis Design Check
Analysis views
GSM State Map In addition to the pre-defined analysis views, you can access any other view or supplement the current views by clicking on the Attribute Explorer icon: to open the Attribute Explorer window . Find the appropriate attribute and drag it onto the map or right-click and select from a list of display options. During your analysis, you may have found it necessary to move or remove the existing diagnostic views and to open one or more new views. To get back to the original layout, select Click here to restore diagnostic views. Note that this will not affect any views you opened earlier.
GSM State
This stateform shows many useful data attributes for the currently selected data point on the map and other data views.
The black vertical line is the synchronisation mark, indicating the data corresponding to the currently selected data point on the map and other data views.
The selection in the control at the lower right controls the length of time shown by the Event Navigator window.
G_MsTxPowStepOrdered_Min
This threshold is used in conjunction with the signal strength to determine incorrect uplink power balance. This value is usually set to 0 to indicate maximum uplink power.
G_TimingAdvance_Max
This threshold is used in absence of the Distance parameter to determine the maximum distance allowed per cell. Typically, values over 16 (ie approximately 8km) are usually regarded as distant serving cells.
G_RxQualSub_Max
This threshold is used in conjunction with the signal strength to determine whether there is interference present on the cell. Typically, values in excess of 3 with good signal strength usually indicate the presence of interference.
G_Handover_Min
This threshold is used in conjunction with handover to determine the minimum possible signal difference for handover to take place. Recommended values are 5-6 dB.
G_Distance_Max
This threshold is used to determine the maximum distance allowed per cell. Typically, values in excess of 8000 meters are usually regarded as distant serving cells.
G_Analysis_Time_Before
This value is used to determine the time (in ms) allocated to investigate the radio conditions PRIOR to the detected event occurance. Typically, values of 5000 to 10000 ms are used. Values less than 5000ms will tend to be more accurate, but less attributes will be detected, while values in excess of 10000ms tend to have a high detection of attributes, but with relatively low accuracy since the time under analysis is large.
G_Analysis_Time_After
This value is used to determine the time (in ms) allocated to investigate the radio conditions AFTER the detected event occurance. Typically, values of 5000 to 10000 ms are used. Values less than 5000ms will tend to be more accurate, but less attributes will be detected, while values in excess of 10000ms tend to have a high detection of attributes, but with relatively low accuracy since the time under analysis is large.
Dragged_Dominance_Hysteresis
This threshold is the dBm hysteresis applied to the Best Neighbour Level to trigger a loss of dominance of the server. Once a loss of dominance is triggered, and not re-established before the Dragged_HO_Window timer expires, then any subsequent Handover Failure or Dropped Call will trigger the Dragged Handover Failure or Dragged Drop. Dominance loss = ServRxLevSub < (Best_Nbr - Hysteresis).
Dragged_HO_Window
This threshold is the number of milliseconds that the MS must lose dominance for, before a Dragged Handover Failure or Dragged Dropped Call is triggered.
Ping_Pong_HO_Window
This threshold is the number of milliseconds during which a handover back to the previous cell will trigger the Ping Pong Handover Event.
LU Failure uses ServRxLevEither instead of ServRxLevSub Call Setup Failure uses ServRxLevEither, or, in its absence, ServRxLevSub.
Adjacent Channel Interference - verify (abs(ServBCCH-NborBCCH[n]) < 2), n=0 radio planning on ServingCellID sector to 5 ServingSectorID, cell ServCI (with BCCH AND ServBCCH and BSIC ServBSIC). (ServRxLevSub > G_RxLevSub_Min) Excessive Cell Dominance - check antenna and neighbor configuration on cell ServCI. (ServRxLevSub > G_RxLevSub_Min) AND (ServTimingAdvanceActual > G_TimingAdvance_Max) Stronger Neighbors present, including adjacent channel interference - verify radio planning on ServingCellID sector ServingSectorID cell ServCI (with BCCH ServBCCH and BSIC ServBSIC). (array_max(NBorRxLev[]) > (ServRxLevSub + G_HandOver_Min)) AND (abs(ServBCCH-NborBCCH[n]) < 2), n=0 to 5 AND (ServRxLevSub > G_RxLevSub_Min) Abnormal release due to timer expiry on cell ServCI. See also
User-definable thresholds (GSM) Important Issues diagnosis (GSM) Design Check (GSM)
(CauseCodeRR=3)
HO Fail only.
See also
User-definable thresholds (GSM) Critical Issues diagnosis (GSM) Design Check (GSM)
Poor Level condition (1) This is true if ServRxLevSub < G_RxLevSub_Min Poor Quality condition (2) This is true if ServRxQualSub > G_RxQualSub_Max No Dominance condition (4) This is true if the sum of all these conditions is greater than 2: ((ServRxLevSub-NborRxLev[n])<5) * (abs(ServBCCH-NborBCCH[n])<375) where n is 0 to 5.
Sum the condition values to get the Design Check Value: Design Check Value 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Explanation
Good Design Poor Level Poor Quality Poor Level and Poor Quality No Dominance No Dominance and Poor Level No Dominance and Poor Quality No Dominance, Poor Level and Poor Quality The No Valid Data condition displayed in the Design Check Summary chart represents the percentage of messages that did not contain enough data to meet any of the above conditions clearly.
See also
User-definable thresholds (GSM) Critical Issues diagnosis (GSM) Important Issues diagnosis (GSM)
UMTS DT Troubleshooter
Overview of UMTS DT Troubleshooter Select Data Dashboard Dropped Calls Call Setup Failures Pilot Pollution Poor Coverage 3G-2G Handover Missing Neighbours Diagnosis and thresholds (UMTS)
See also
Select Data Dashboard Dropped Calls Call Setup Failures Pilot Pollution Poor Coverage 3G-2G Handover Missing Neighbours Diagnosis and thresholds (UMTS) Drive Test Troubleshooting
Select Data
1. Choose Settings
Select a cellrefs file to use for the analysis. This essential file contains information on your network infrastructure. You will be asked to restart the application if you change the selected cellrefs file. Review the other settings within the dialog and make selections as appropriate. For more information on the Preferences dialog, see here . Click the Thresholds button and review the settings, making changes as necessary. Thresholds basically define whether a critical or important condition has occurred or not, so you may want to adjust these numbers to match your own definitions. For an explanation of each threshold, see here . The Thresholds and Preferences settings apply to all subsequently loaded files. Click Load Files and select all the files you wish to include in the analysis.
Dashboard
This page provides an overview of the information aggregated from the selected drive test files.
Critical Issues
This section shows events that have discontinued the call, broken out where possible by Service option.
The events fall into two types: Dropped Calls Call Setup Failures
To open the appropriate Critical Issues page, from the Dashboard, click on Find Out More.
Important Issues
This section shows events that have reduced the quality of service without necessarily ending any calls.
The Important Issues called out are: Pilot Pollution Poor Coverage 3G-2G Handover Failures Missing Neighbours
To open the related Important Issues page, click on Find Out More.
Information
This section displays summary information for the data. Charts provide Call Summary and Handoff Summary information.
Statistics Summary this chart displays the percentage occurrence of the following events: Call Setup Failures Dropped Call Rate Overall Call Success Rate RRC Connection Rate Radio Bearer Setup Radio Bearer Reconfig Active Set Update Cell Update
UMTS Handoff State this chart displays the percentage frequency of each type of handoff occurring in the data: Single Sector Service Softer Handoff Soft Handoff Soft-softer Handoff 3-way Softer Handoff 3-way Soft Handoff 4-way Soft Handoff 5-way Soft Handoff 6-way Soft Handoff
Following the charts is a table summarizing the ten most frequently measured sites and sectors in the drive test data. To sort the data by a column, click on the column title.
See also
Overview of UMTS DT Troubleshooter Select Data Dropped Calls Call Setup Failures Pilot Pollution Poor Coverage 3G-2G Handover Missing Neighbours Diagnosis and thresholds (UMTS)
Dropped Calls
This page is displayed as a result of selecting the Critical Issues link relating to dropped calls. The page shows a table listing the Dropped Call events in the data. To view further pages in the table, click on the arrows at the bottom of the table. To sort the data by a column, click on the column title. An arrow shows by which column the table is currently sorted, and whether the column is sorted highest-first or lowest-first. Select a row in the table. A diagnosis and explanation appears below the table, and a set of diagnostic views appear, each view synchronised to highlight the selected Dropped Call event.
Possible diagnoses for a Dropped Call event are: System Released Possible Missing Neighbour Possible Handover Problem Possible Pilot Pollution Problem (Pilot Pollution, Too Many Servers) Possible Interference Problem Possible Coverage Limitation Problem Possible Poor DL Coverage Problem Possible Poor UL Coverage Problem More investigation needed
Analysis views
Map Voice Event Navigator Active and Nbor Sets Ue Measurement Charts In addition to the pre-defined analysis views, you can access any other view or supplement the current views by clicking on the Attribute Explorer icon: to open the Attribute Explorer window . Find the appropriate attribute and drag it onto the map or right-click and select from a list of display options. During your analysis, you may have found it necessary to move or remove the existing diagnostic views and to open one or more new views. To get back to the original layout, select Re-synch views for this investigation. Note that this will not affect any views you opened earlier.
See also
Dropped Calls Diagnosis for UMTS
Possible diagnoses for a Call Setup Failure event are: System Rejected / Released Possible Missing Neighbour Possible Handover Problem Possible Pilot Pollution Problem (Pilot Pollution, Too Many Servers) Possible Interference Problem Possible Coverage Limitation Problem Possible Poor DL Coverage Problem Possible Poor UL Coverage Problem
Analysis views
Map Voice Event Navigator Active and Nbor Sets Ue Measurement Charts In addition to the pre-defined analysis views, you can access any other view or supplement the current views by clicking on the Attribute Explorer icon:
to open the Attribute Explorer window . Find the appropriate attribute and drag it onto the map or right-click and select from a list of display options. During your analysis, you may have found it necessary to move or remove the existing diagnostic views and to open one or more new views. To get back to the original layout, select Re-synch views for this investigation. Note that this will not affect any views you opened earlier.
See also
Call Setup Failure Diagnosis for UMTS
Pilot Pollution
This page is displayed as a result of selecting the Important Issues link relating to pilot pollution. The page shows a table listing the identified Pilot Pollution conditions in the data. To view further pages in the table, click on the arrows at the bottom of the table. To sort the data by a column, click on the column title. An arrow shows by which column the table is currently sorted, and whether the column is sorted highest-first or lowest-first. Select a row in the table. A diagnosis and explanation appears below the table, and a set of diagnostic views appear, each view synchronised to highlight the selected Pilot Pollution condition.
Analysis views
Map Radio Parameters Active and Nbor Sets In addition to the pre-defined analysis views, you can access any other view or supplement the current views by clicking on the Attribute Explorer icon to open the Attribute Explorer window . Find the appropriate attribute and drag it onto the map or right-click and select from a list of display options. During your analysis, you may have found it necessary to move or remove the existing diagnostic views and to open one or more new views. To get back to the original layout, select Re-synch views for this investigation. Note that this will not affect any views you opened earlier.
See also
About pilot pollution
Poor Coverage
This page is displayed as a result of selecting the Important Issues link relating to poor coverage. The page shows a table listing the identified Poor Coverage conditions in the data. To view further pages in the table, click on the arrows at the bottom of the table. To sort the data by a column, click on the column title. An arrow shows by which column the table is currently sorted, and whether the column is sorted highest-first or lowest-first. Select a row in the table. A diagnosis and explanation appears below the table, and a set of diagnostic views appear, each view synchronised to highlight the selected Poor Coverage condition.
Analysis views
Map Radio Parameters Active and Nbor Sets In addition to the pre-defined analysis views, you can access any other view or supplement the current views by clicking on the Attribute Explorer icon to open the Attribute Explorer window . Find the appropriate attribute and drag it onto the map or right-click and select from a list of display options. During your analysis, you may have found it necessary to move or remove the existing diagnostic views and to open one or more new views. To get back to the original layout, select Re-synch views for this investigation. Note that this will not affect any views you opened earlier.
See also
About About About About System Interference Poor Uplink Coverage Poor Downlink Coverage Coverage Limited
3G-2G Handover
This page is displayed as a result of selecting the Important Issues link relating to 3G-2G handover problems. The page shows a table listing the identified 3G-2G handover conditions in the data. To view further pages in the table, click on the arrows at the bottom of the table. To sort the data by a column, click on the column title. An arrow shows by which column the table is currently sorted, and whether the column is sorted highest-first or lowest-first. Select a row in the table. A diagnosis and explanation appears below the table, and a set of diagnostic views appear, each view synchronised to highlight the selected 3G-2G handover condition.
Analysis views
Map Voice Event Navigator Active and Nbor Sets Ue Measurement Charts In addition to the pre-defined analysis views, you can access any other view or supplement the current views by clicking on the Attribute Explorer icon to open the Attribute Explorer window . Find the appropriate attribute and drag it onto the map or right-click and select from a list of display options. During your analysis, you may have found it necessary to move or remove the existing diagnostic views and to open one or more new views. To get back to the original layout, select Re-synch views for this investigation. Note that this will not affect any views you opened earlier.
See also
About Handover Problems
Missing Neighbours
This page is displayed as a result of selecting the Important Issues link relating to dropped calls. The page shows a table listing the identified Missing Neighbors conditions in the data. To view further pages in the table, click on the arrows at the bottom of the table. To sort the data by a column, click on the column title. An arrow shows by which column the table is currently sorted, and whether the column is sorted highest-first or lowest-first. Select a row in the table. A diagnosis and explanation appears below the table, and a set of diagnostic views appear, each view synchronised to highlight the selected Missing Neighbors condition. The selection of a row shows on the map where the handover relationship was seen by the scanner. You can select particular rows in the table and then click the Save selected button to save the selected rows to a .CSV file, which can then be used for import into an OMC system.
Analysis views
Map Display Cell Data In addition to the pre-defined analysis views, you can access any other view or supplement the current views by clicking on the Attribute Explorer icon to open the Attribute Explorer window . Find the appropriate attribute and drag it onto the map or right-click and select from a list of display options. During your analysis, you may have found it necessary to move or remove the existing diagnostic views and to open one or more new views. To get back to the original layout, select Re-synch views for this investigation. Note that this will not affect any views you opened earlier.
See also
Neighbor List analysis
Uu_CallSetypFailure_TimeDelay
This represents the delay between each of the RRC Connection Request. With the number of RRC Connection Request, users can define their own call setup failure. Recommended value is 2. Example: If Uu_CallSetupFailure_Num_RRCConnReq = 3 and Uu_CallSetypFailure_TimeDelay = 2, Analyzer will peg a call setup failure only after 6 seconds and all 3 RRC attempts. In other words, 1st RRC Conn, wait 2 seconds, 2nd RRC Conn, wait 2 seconds, 3rd RRC Conn, then Call Setup Failure.
Uu_CoverageLimitedUE_TxPowerThreshold
This is used in the Coverage Limited event. If the UeTransmittedPower is greater than Uu_CoverageLimitedUE_TxPowerThreshold AND the CPICH_RSCP_in_ActiveSet is less than Uu_Poor_RSCP_Threshold AND the CPICH_EcNo_in_ActiveSet is less than Uu_Poor_EcNoThreshold, then a Coverage Limited event will appear on the map. Recommended value is 10 dBm. The minimum should not be lower than 0 and the maximum should not be higher than 25 dBm.
Uu_EcNoInterferenceThreshold
This is used in conjunction with the RSCP Interference Threshold for the System Interference event. If the CPICH_RSCP_in_ActiveSet is greater than Uu_RSCP_Interference_Threshold and the CPICH_EcNo_In_ActiveSet is less than Uu_EcNoInterferenceThreshold, then a System Interference event appears on the map. Recommended value is -15 dB. Values should lie between -10 and -18 dBm.
Uu_HighUE_TxPower
This is used in the Poor Uplink Coverage event. If the UeTransmittedPower is greater than Uu_HighUE_TxPower AND the CPICH_RSCP_in_ActiveSet is greater than Uu_Poor_RSCP_Threshold AND the CPICH_EcNo_in_ActiveSet is greater than Uu_Poor_EcNoThreshold, then Poor Uplink Coverage will appear on the map. Recommended value is 15 dBm. Values should lie between 0 and 25 dBm.
Uu_LowUE_TxPower
This is used in the Poor Downlink Coverage event. If the UeTransmittedPower is less than Uu_LowUE_TxPower AND the CPICH_RSCP_in_ActiveSet is less than Uu_Poor_RSCP_Threshold AND the CPICH_EcNo_in_ActiveSet is less than Uu_PoorEcNoThreshold, then the Poor Downlink Coverage event will appear on the map. Recommended value is -15 dBm. Values should lie betweeen -30 and 0 dBm.
Uu_PilotPollutionThreshold
In calculating Pilot Pollution, this threshold sets up the level of interference required for pegging the events. When 4 or more pilots are above this threshold, it creates a Pilot Pollution event. Recommended value is -15 dB and should lie between -18 and -10 dB.
Uu_Poor_EcNoThreshold
This is used in the Coverage Limited event. If the CPICH_EcNo_in_ActiveSet is less than Uu_PoorEcNOThreshold AND CPICH_RSCP_in_ActiveSet is less than Uu_Poor_RSCP_Threshold AND Ue_TransmittedPower is greater than Uu_CoverageLimitedUE_TxPowerThreshold, then a Coverage Limited event will appear on the map. It is also used in the Poor Uplink and Downlink Coverage event. Recommended value is -15 dB and should lie between -18 and -10 dB.
Uu_Poor_RSCP_Threshold
This is used in three different events. In the cases where CPICH_RSCP_in_ActiveSet is lower than Uu_Poor_RSCP_Threshold, it will trigger either a Coverage Limited event or a Poor Downlink Coverage event. In the case where it is greater than Uu_Poor_RSCP_Threshold, it will trigger a Poor Uplink Coverage event. Other conditions must be satisfied for these events to occur - please note the other thresholds involved. Recommended value is -95 dBm and should not be lower than -105 dBm.
Uu_RSCP_InterferenceThreshold
This is used for the System Interference event. If the CPICH_RSCP_in_ActiveSet is greater than
this threshold and the CPICH_EcNo_in_ActiveSet is less than Uu_Poor_EcNoThreshold, then a System Interference event appears on the map. Recommended value is -80 dBm and should lie between -90 and -60 dBm.
See also
Dropped Calls Diagnosis for UMTS Call Setup Failure Diagnosis for UMTS
Diagnosis
System Released Missing Neighbour Handover Problem
For the Raked RF Condition, the system picks the diagnosis with the highest value, providing it is higher than the specified threshold . Pilot Pollution Pilot Pollution: Too Many Servers 4+ pilots in Active or Monitored Set with Ec/No > Uu_PilotPollutionThreshold (-15 dB) 4+ pilots in the Active or Monitored Set with Ec/No within Uu_TooManyServersThreshold dB of the best server (Uu_ActiveSet_EcNo_0)
Interference Problem
CPICH_EcNo_in_ActiveSet < Uu_EcNoInterferenceThreshold (-15 dB) AND CPICH_RSCP_in_ActiveSet > Uu_RSCP_InterferenceThreshold (-80 dBm) CPICH_EcNo_in_ActiveSet < Uu_Poor_EcNoThreshold (-15 dB) AND CPICH_RSCP_in_ActiveSet < Uu_Poor_RSCP_Threshold (-95 dBm) AND UeTransmittedPower > Uu_CoverageLimitedUE_TxPowerThreshold (10 dBm)
Poor DL Coverage Problem CPICH_EcNo_in_ActiveSet < Uu_PoorEcNoThreshold (-15 dB) AND CPICH_RSCP_in_ActiveSet < Uu_Poor_RSCP_Threshold (-95 dBm) AND UeTransmittedPower < Uu_LowUE_TxPower (-15 dBm) Poor UL Coverage Problem CPICH_EcNo_in_ActiveSet > Uu_Poor_EcNoThreshold (-15 dB) AND CPICH_RSCP_in_ActiveSet > Uu_Poor_RSCP_Threshold (-95 dBm) AND UeTransmittedPower > Uu_HighUE_TxPower (15 dBm) More Investigation Needed Use other Analyzer tools and views to refine your understanding of the problem.
See also
User-definable thresholds for UMTS Call Setup Failure Diagnosis for UMTS
Diagnosis
System Rejected System Released Missing Neighbour Handover Problem
For the Raked RF Condition, the system picks the diagnosis with the highest value, providing it is higher than the specified threshold . Pilot Pollution Pilot Pollution: Too Many Servers 4+ pilots in Active or Monitored Set with Ec/No > Uu_PilotPollutionThreshold (-15 dB) 4+ pilots in the Active or Monitored Set with Ec/No within Uu_TooManyServersThreshold dB of the best server (Uu_ActiveSet_EcNo_0)
Interference Problem
CPICH_EcNo_in_ActiveSet < Uu_EcNoInterferenceThreshold (-15 dB) AND CPICH_RSCP_in_ActiveSet > Uu_RSCP_InterferenceThreshold (-80 dBm) CPICH_EcNo_in_ActiveSet < Uu_Poor_EcNoThreshold (-15 dB) AND CPICH_RSCP_in_ActiveSet < Uu_Poor_RSCP_Threshold (-95 dBm) AND UeTransmittedPower > Uu_CoverageLimitedUE_TxPowerThreshold (10 dBm)
Poor DL Coverage Problem CPICH_EcNo_in_ActiveSet < Uu_PoorEcNoThreshold (-15 dB) AND CPICH_RSCP_in_ActiveSet < Uu_Poor_RSCP_Threshold (-95 dBm) AND UeTransmittedPower < Uu_LowUE_TxPower (-15 dBm) Poor UL Coverage Problem CPICH_EcNo_in_ActiveSet > Uu_Poor_EcNoThreshold (-15 dB) AND CPICH_RSCP_in_ActiveSet > Uu_Poor_RSCP_Threshold (-95 dBm) AND UeTransmittedPower > Uu_HighUE_TxPower (15 dBm) More Investigation Needed Use other Analyzer tools and views to refine your understanding of the problem.
See also
User-definable thresholds for UMTS Dropped Calls Diagnosis for UMTS
Managing data
Actix Solutions post-process cellular network data. Network performance data can be loaded from many different sources, including field-test equipment and switch call traces. The data could be a one-off test, or part of a planned series of samples to build up an image of overall network performance. Once the data is loaded, a variety of analysis tools and displays provide a clear view of network performance for engineers, technicians or operations management staff.
Import data
You can load log files from all supported data collection formats. However, if your data collection device is not supported, you can import the data as an ASCII text file using the text file import wizard . Note that, in general, loading small files results in increased performance, and loading large files results in decreased performance.
Visualizing data
Problem
1 Manage the data Open data files Import text files Batch-load data
Maps , Charts , Tables , Workbooks Replay, Synchronized data views StateForms, Statistics Explorer Message Browser
Record results
Solution
Next: Analyzing data
Analyzing data
Problem
1 Manage the data Open data files Import text files Merge data files Batch-load data
Isolate problem areas using ad hoc methods to drill down into the data
Filters, Queries Workbooks , Message Browser Synchronized data views Statistics Explorer
Record results
Solution
Next: Optimizing networks
Optimizing networks
Application Layers
Each solution provides a set of pre-configured reports , each concentrating on a particular type of network analysis. These application layers distil advanced analysis techniques into simple, comprehensive spreadsheet reports, ready for immediate use by staff of all levels of experience. Application layers are provided for CDMA, GSM drive-test analysis , A, Abis and Gb (GPRS), TDMA and iDEN.
CDMA Toolkit
The CDMA Toolkit utility provides a task bar designed to automate key CDMA optimization tasks. A familiar task-based layout allows you to quickly perform these tasks: - Search Window analysis - Neighbor List analysis - Optimize coverage areas - Analyze multi-carrier statistics The Toolkit outputs a series of web-based reports, which can be saved and printed for managerial use. Next: Ad hoc or 'free' data analysis
The arrangement of loaded help files and data display windows is called the current workspace. You can save and reuse workspaces as necessary. You may find it useful to create one or more workspaces to act as templates for future work sessions. Save these to your desktop, so you can double-click them to start your Actix Solution with your preferred layouts.
From the Cells menu, select Network Explorer. The Network Explorer display consists of two panels. The left panel contains a tree view of the network element data. The right panel shows details about relevant parameters for the current selection.
On the toolbar, select Import, then Import From New Template to open the Import dialog. Select the appropriate export data file from your planning tool and click Open to display the Custom Import Wizard. The Import Settings page of the Custom Import Wizard is now displayed:
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Give the Template a meaningful Template Name ('UMTS example' in this example). Check the appropriate Delimiter that separates the data from the file into different columns. If you choose the wrong delimited, you will see the effect in the Data Preview window at the bottom of the dialog. In most cases, the default information under General Settings and Coordinate Information will apply. If your file has more than one header or uses a different array list separator (the character used to separate the array values under the 'Neighbours' column in the example for step 1), adjust these settings as necessary. Click Next. The Column Settings page of the Custom Import Wizard is now displayed. This allows you to associate a network parameter with a column of data in the text file.
Key fields
You must select a field type for this field, but you cannot set a default value. These must be either bound to a particular type or have a default value set. Binding particular field types or setting default values is not strictly necessary for this field.
Required fields
Other fields
Open up the node called WCDMA_Site. Click on the adjacent field under Column and select the parameter name from your site database that corresponds to the Site_Name parameter. Repeat for each of the fields in the WCDMA_site node. Open the WCDMA_Cell node. Click in the Column field next to Sector_ID. Select the parameter name from your site database that corresponds to the Sector_ID parameter.
You can enter a default value that takes effect if the actual value is unknown. For example, all Beamwidths could be set to 65 degrees. 10 Repeat for each of the fields in the WCDMA_Cell node. A description of each of these parameters and their use is given in the table at the beginning of this section. For this example, we will ignore the following columns: EIRP, MCC, MNC, LAC, CI and BSIC. Click Finish when all the columns have been assigned. The new cell information will be added at the bottom of the existing list in the Network Element editor. Inspect the cell data in the Network Explorer by expanding the All_WCDMA_Site_Elements folder in the left-hand pane of the Network Explorer. Double-click on any site name in the right hand pane. The Name, ID, latitude and longitude of the site will appear, as well as a folder containing WCDMA Cell Elements. Drill into the WCDMA Cell Elements folder and examine the values corresponding to each sector. Save the formatted site information by clicking Save. Close the Network Explorer window by clicking the 'X' at the upper right hand corner. The window shown below is now displayed. Click Yes to overwrite the old settings ('No' would append this information to your existing network data):
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After closing the Network Explorer, view a new map by selecting View Display New Map .
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If cell icons do not appear on the map, right click on the map and select Zoom, Go to Layer, WCDMA_Site to zoom the map to the appropriate location. Set the cells to be labeled by SC as described earlier.
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Click on File Location to select the text file containing network element data. This file must be in the Actix 'cellrefs' format. The information from this cellrefs file takes effect from the next time a new workspace is created. Note that you can set up an automatic cellrefs import if your network data is liable to change frequently (see the online help for details).
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Click OK to close the Preferences dialog. You will now see a message saying that the new file will take effect with the next workspace created or loaded. You may now want to close and restart your Actix Solution for the change to take effect.
Manage data
Load data files Find data attributes in the Attribute Explorer Delete data files
The exact structures and icons used depend on the data file In UMTS, you may find it easier to locate attributes using the Find Attribute command which lets you enter all or part of the attribute's name or help description in a new Attribute Search dialog. Select Tools, Find Attribute (or use the hotkey Ctrl + Shift + F) to add a search panel is added to the Attribute Explorer tree-view pane. Enter search criteria about the required attributes into this panel. Find What: Enter some text which is part of the required attribute name. Stream: Select which stream of data should be searched. <All Streams> is set by default. Settings: o Whole Word: Check this to search only for attributes where the search text exactly matches the whole attribute name. Otherwise, search for attributes where the search text is contained within the attribute name. Case Sensitive: Check this to search only for attributes where the case of the search string exactly matches the case of the attribute.
Direction: When down is selected, only search for attributes further down in the attribute tree from the currently selected attribute. When up is selected, only search for attributes further up in the attribute tree from the currently selected attribute. Find Next: Based on the current search criteria, find the next matching attribute. This attribute is highlighted in the All tab at the bottom of the Attribute Explorer. Find All: Based on the current search criteria, find all matching attributes in the tree-view. The matching attributes are listed in the Search Results tab at the bottom of the Attribute Explorer. Done: The search for attribute panel is closed. Search results remain visible in the Search Results tab.
Most analysis methods activated in a similar Queries have a different set of options: way by right-clicking on an attribute or event:
Once you have used the summary data views to identify problem areas, you can use the attribute views to examine the data in detail. For more information, see the section View attribute data . UMTS pre-configured reports The Message Browser The Protocol Stack Browser
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Use the top pane as necessary to narrow down your selection. All reports appropriate to your selection are displayed under the Suggested tab. If you want to use another report, look under the All tab to view all reports available within the current application pack.
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This will report on all data selected by cell in the upper tree-view panel. 27 As required, use the buttons at the bottom of the window to Save the report as a web-compatible HTML file set, Print the report to your printer or open the report in Excel using Show Excel Report.
The Message Browser combines an event panel (sequentially listing call events) with a panel of Layer 3 messaging, allowing you to pinpoint the root causes of problems.
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Now select the required browser view. Each view displays messaging and information appropriate to that view. The example shown here is the UMTS UTRAN Protocol Signaling view.
Select one of the display methods to open the appropriate data display window. View data in a Map Replay the UMTS data View data in a Form View data in a Chart View data in a Table View data in a Workbook About synchronized data windows
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Click on the Pan button. Click and drag the data around the map window. Experiment with the Zoom buttons. In the Attribute Explorer, open up the 'Event Data' set and under 'Call', drag the Uu_CallDropped' event onto the map, which should look similar to this:
Adding various events to the mapped data can help you see where problems are occurring. 5 Drag another data attribute onto the map. You can also change the size, symbol or color of the data, apply offsets to an attribute or merge attributes for a multidimensional displaymultidimensional display. See the online help for further details. The map legend defines histogram ranges for charts. 6 To hide a data series, in the legend pane on the left, click in the check box beside the series name.
To find out how to add background geographical and network information to map windows, see the section 'Configure your Solution'.
and select a data point. The Form window now displays a variety of attributes based on the data point you selected. Below are two form windows above a map window, displaying data for the selected data point on the map:
See the online help for details on how to create your own forms.
You can display more than one attribute on the same chart. 2 Select and drag the data attribute 'ServRxQualFull' from the Attribute Explorer window onto the existing chart.
You can also zoom into selected areas of the chart by defining a frame for the zoom. 3 On the chart, click the upper left corner of the zooming rectangle, and drag down to the lower right extent of the rectangle.
Note that the zoom only operates in the X-axis, not in the Y-axis. 5 Now return the chart its original state and zoom back out by dragging a box, but this time up and to the right. Use the right mouse button to scroll and pan around the chart window. Although you can scroll the X-axis for all attributes on the chart, you can only pan the Y-axis for the last attribute to be displayed on the chart.
Set up Maps
This section shows you how to load MapInfo tabular (.tab) data to present data analyses on map backdrops. 1 2 3 Create a new map by selecting View Display new Map Click on the Maximize icon to maximize the Map window. In the Map Window, click on the Layers icon. The Layer Control dialog now opens:
Making a checkmark in a layer's box controls: if the layer is visible if objects on it can be selected if the layer can be annotated (unchecking this 'locks' the Annotations layer from having any further annotations added) 4 In the Layer Control dialog, click Add to open the Open Layer dialog. Select or type in the name of a MapInfo Map (*.tab) file, then click Open. MapInfo layers are named according to the geographic location of the data and by the type of data contained in the file. The following table lists some of the common abbreviations used for MapInfo data types:
Suffix Y1 Y2 X1 X2
Pc Pn Pm R H S Wr Wb Lm Cb Mc Cy
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Cultural Points Natural Points Municipal Points Railroads Highways Streets Water (rivers) Water (bodies of water) Landmarks City Boundary Minor Civic Division County
You may want to modify the layer properties by selecting the layer and choosing the various options within the Layer Control Dialog: Properties Labels: Use the Label Properties dialog to show, hide, or modify map labels. To turn off labels (recommended to improve map load time), uncheck the Display within range boxes. Check boxes also are also available to Allow Overlapped Text and Allow Duplicated Text. The label font can be controlled through the Label Style button. The label position and label offset can be modified at the bottom right corner of the dialog. Select OK to exit the Label Properties dialog.
Properties Display: Use the Display Properties dialog to control the display features of the map layer. Override the default vector coloring by checking Override Style and modifying the Layer Style. Select OK to exit the Display Properties dialog.
Reorder Up and Reorder Down: Use the Reorder buttons to change the ordering of the layers. Moving map layers to the bottom of the stack is recommended to provide an uncluttered backdrop for cell site data and log file parameters. Layer Accessibility: To display a layer, check the box next to the layer name under the eye icon
. To make a layer selectable, check the box next to the layer name under the arrow icon
. To make a layer writeable, check the box next to the layer name under the pencil icon 6 . Layers Remove: Use the Remove button to remove a map layer from the workspace.
After modifying any desired layer properties, close the Layer Control dialog with the Close button and changes will take effect. Pan the map viewing area to the new map by right-clicking in the map area, then choosing Zoom Go to Layer and selecting the map layer you just added.
Reorder the map layers using the Up and Down buttons on the Map Layer dialog to improve the appearance of the map Right-click on the map and choose Zoom Zoom In from the pop-up menu or click on the Zoom In button on the Map toolbar. Click and drag a rectangle around a small area of interest on the map. Return the cursor to the passive mode by clicking on the Select button. To return to the previous view, right-click on the map and choose Zoom Previous View. For some detailed layers, like the street layers, you can control at what degree of magnification they become visible. This helps to eliminate cluttered map displays. In the case of the S (street names) layer, you can control the point at which the street names and street numbers become visible on the map. In the Map Layers, select the S layer, and use the Properties Display dialog to set the Display within Zoom levels 0-10 miles. For the street numbers, use the Properties Labels to set the visible range to 0-3 miles. Note what happens as a result of your changes.
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As shown above, set the Lines draw mode to 'Selection', Color lines with to 'Uu_ActiveSet_SC', check that the Disable box is empty, and click OK, then Yes. Close the Layer Control dialog. Zoom In on data points near a cell site, and use Select to pick a data point. A solid line is drawn to the serving cell site, with dotted lines drawn to neighboring cells.
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If 'All datapoints' was selected in the Line layer properties dialog, you would not need to select a data point all data points would have a line to their neighbor cells. This can be useful in some situations.
You can also add data to the Network Image later, but for the data stored within the Network Image to be consistent, the same binning method and time-offset settings must be used. In your Actix Solution there are typically several Network Image templates provided for each mobile phone technology, and you can create and maintain as many individual Network Images as you need, for various analysis purposes.
Performance limitations
Binning - When there are a large number of bins, memory usage increases and load speed deteriorates. Use low-resolution location binning where possible. Logfiles - It is better to use a few large files than many small files. If you have problems with many small files you can load a batch in one worksession, restart your Actix Solution and load another batch. Scanner data - Network Images are not suitable for use with large arrays of data, and some scanner uses are not possible.
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Select the UMTS Network Image template and click OK. From the Save As dialog, enter a File name and location for the Network Image file and click Save. You may want to share this Network Image file with colleagues, so ensure that you save the file with a sensible name in a suitable location. The Network Image is saved in the specified location with a .dat file extension, and is displayed in the Attribute Explorer panel:
At this stage, the Network Image does not contain any data, so the next step is to load it up with data from existing streams or logfiles.
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From the Attribute Explorer, right-click on the Network Image and select the appropriate data loading option.
Select the required data loading option, and choose which stream, folder or multiple logfiles to load. When the data has been processed, you should see a message window showing the results for each stream or logfile:
1. 2. 3. 4.
Apply filters Create/edit/run new queries Run custom attributes Create superstreams
You can use Maps, Charts, Tables and Workbooks to display Network Image data attributes.
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From the Attribute Explorer, open up the structure underneath your attached Network Image.
Now view the batched Network Image data attributes in the same way as you would for standard data attributes, using maps, charts and so on, by right-clicking on the attributes and selecting options from the pop-up menu.
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The superstream is now generated and appears in the Attribute Explorer. You can view data from the superstream in any of the standard data display windows.
Queries
Actix Solutions provide a querying interface that lets you construct simple or complex expressions. These expressions extract meaningful performance data, based on user-defined thresholds or the value of other expressions. As an example, you can create a query that returns statistics for a particular event such as a dropped callfor a given window in time around that event. This is useful when looking for data trends. Queries are created and edited from the Tools menu, Analysis Manager option. You can create these query types: You can also: Perform logical and arithmetic operators Save queries to a default Workspace Apply filters to queries Filter queries Binned queries Histogram queries Statistical queries Crosstab queries Event queries
See also
Create a filter Filter the data
Create a filter
This example query is the same as the existing High Mobile Transmit Power. From the Attribute Explorer, right-click on a data stream and select Filter, then Create a New Filter. The Filter Wizard opens. 1 Enter 'High Mobile Transmit Power test' as the name of the filter.
Click on the right-arrow of the attribute picker and select 'UMTS > DownLink Measurements > UE_TxPow'. Set the filter operation to 'Greater than (>)'. Set the threshold to '0'.
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Poor Mobile Receive Power High Mobile Transmit Power Low Mobile Transmit Power High Mobile Receive Power Poor Ec/No High Ec/No
CPICH_RSCP_in_ActiveSet[0] < -95 dBm UeTransmittedPower > 0 dBm UeTransmittedPower < -30 dBm CPICH_RSCP_in_ActiveSet[0] > -80 dBm CPICH_EcNo_in_ActiveSet[0] < -15 dB CPICH_EcNo_in_ActiveSet[0] > -8 dB
The arrangement of loaded help files and data display windows is called the current workspace. You can save and reuse workspaces as necessary. You may find it useful to create one or more workspaces to act as templates for future work sessions. Save these to your desktop, so you can double-click them to start up with your preferred layouts. Next: Import CDMA network information
CDMA_Cell Sector ID Can 1,2,3, Sector-specific information useful for display on maps. etc, or a combination of site numbers CDMA_Cell Azimuth CDMA_Cell Beamwith CDMA_Cell EIRP CDMA_Cell PN Orients the sector icons on the map. Governs the shape of the sector wedge icon to reflect the beamwidth of antenna deployed at the site. Base station power, used in CDMA Toolkit calculations. Used in CDMA Toolkit calculations, lines to neighbor cells and to color sector/site icons on maps to reflect PN planning. Mobile Country Code System Identity Network Identity Broadcast Identity Text that specifies which cell layer (for example, by technology, band, or status) that the site belongs to. Used for multiple cell layers.
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Select a column binding from the drop-down list. The Wizard then displays the selected parameter against the appropriate column. Select the appropriate column bindings for CDMA Site and Site Name. Repeat this for the SiteID, Latitude, and Longitude. For the remaining columns, look for the attribute headers under CDMA Cell. Use the Cell ID column for the CDMA Cell Sector ID, Azimuth, Beamwidth, EIRP, PN, MCC, SID, NID, and BID. These parameters are described in the table at the top of this section. Click Finish when all the columns have been assigned. The new cell information will be added at the bottom of the existing list in the Network Explorer.
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When the cellrefs file is updated, you should use the template you have created on the new file, so you do not have to repeat work you have already done, including the column-by-column parameter assignment. Next: Set a CDMA network information file
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Click on File Location to select the text file containing network element data. This file must be in the Actix 'cellrefs' format. The information from this cellrefs file takes effect from the next time a new workspace is created. Note that you can set up an automatic cellrefs import if your network data is liable to change frequently. Click OK to close the Preferences dialog. You will now see this message:
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Files of Type defaults to All Formats but you can select a specific file type to look for. This also illustrates the many file formats available. Next: Find and use CDMA data in the Attribute Explorer
Click on the symbols to open out and explore the data in your logfile. See how your data relates to the structure shown above. In the example below, the file MyFile1 contains a data stream called Qualcomm MDM 1900 (the number is the data stream number within the file, starting from zero). The CDMA group contains the Pilot Sets set, which contains the SearcherMaxEnergy data attribute:
However, the only objects that you actually need to recognize are filenames, data streams and data attributes. The logical tree-view layout of the Attribute Explorer allows you to drill down and identify all logged data. Once you have located the appropriate data attribute, you can open it in a data window for example, a map, chart, table or spreadsheet to examine the data in detail. You can also use Find Attribute from the Tools menu to locate a particular attribute. You can examine data streams using the Message Browser tool. You may also want additional information about a particular data attribute. See here for more information on CDMA event detection. 23 24 Select 'ActiveDelay_Max1'. From the Help menu, select Attribute Help to open the attribute help window.
25
Click the
button to dock the attribute help window and drag it to a useful position.
26
Select a new attribute. Note that the help now provides information on that attribute.
See also
CDMA Event Technical Reference
Call Dropped
This attribute indicates abnormal call terminations triggered by the following sequence of events: Outgoing Call Setup OK or Incoming Call Setup OK (defined below) Not followed by a Forward Release Order Followed by a return to the Sync Channel
CDMA Call Id
Call ID provides an integer identifier for each call in a log file.
Handoff Interval
Handoff Interval provides the difference in time between the sequential Handoff events.
Handoff OK
This attribute indicates handoff events for mobiles handing off within the same carrier of a CDMA system. This attribute is triggered by the following sequence of messages: Extended Handoff Direction, Universal Handoff Direction, or General Handoff Direction messages Followed by a Handoff Completion or Extended Handoff Completion messages
Handoff Time
Handoff Time provides the difference in time between the Handoff Completion, or Extended
Handoff Completion messages and the associated Extended Handoff Direction, Universal Handoff Direction, or General Handoff Direction messages.
Hard Handoff OK
This attribute indicates successful hard handoff attempts for mobiles handing off between carriers or CDMA systems. This attribute is triggered by the following sequence of messages: Extended Handoff Direction, Universal Handoff Direction, or General Handoff Direction messages with a Hard_Included Flag set to True Followed by a Handoff Completion or Extended Handoff Completion message in response to the previously identified Direction message
Incoming Call OK
This attribute indicates successful incoming call initiations triggered by the following sequence of messages: Page Response message Followed by a either a Service Connect or Service Connect Completion message
Outgoing Call OK
This attribute indicates successful outgoing call initiations triggered by the following sequence of messages: Origination or Enhanced Origination message Followed by a Service Connect or a Service Connect Completion message When determining hand-off events, the HDM_SEQ and LAST_HDM_SEQ counters are used to ensure that the correct events are identified.
Table view
Tables let you examine the numeric series, histogram and statistical data for the selected attribute. From the Attribute Explorer, right-click on the data attribute DownLink Measurements > EcIo_1stBest and select Display on Table.
The Message Browser combines an event panel (sequentially listing call events) with a panel of Layer 3 messaging, allowing you to pinpoint the root causes of problems.
Selecting one of the display methods opens the appropriate data window. Next: View CDMA data in the Map window
28 29 30 31
Click on the Pan button. Click and drag the data around the map window. Experiment with the Zoom buttons. In the Attribute Explorer, open up the Event Data set and drag the CallDropped event onto the map, which should look similar to this:
Adding various events to the mapped data can help you see where problems are occurring. 32 Drag another data attribute onto the map. You can also change the size, symbol or color of the data, apply offsets to an attribute or merge attributes for a multidimensional display. See the online help for further details. The map legend defines histogram ranges for charts. 33 Click on one of the check boxes in the Map Legend pane to hide the related attribute data
on the map. Click on it again to redisplay the data. To find out how to add background geographical and network information to map windows, see the section Configure Maps . Next: Replay the CDMA data
The StateForms window now displays a variety of attributes based on the data point you selected. Here is an example Navigator-type StateForm:
You can synchronize all views in other open data windows by clicking on the timeline in Navigator-type StateForms like this. Other StateForms provide information for the currently selected point in the drive test:
35 36 37
If you have scanner data in your logfile, start another StateForm window. Right-click on the form and select Open File, then select a form (.axw) file for a scanner. Right-click on the form and select Stream Selector, then the scanner stream.
Advanced users can use the Design Mode of this feature to create new forms for CDMA and other technologies. See Create a new StateForm for details. Next: Print the CDMA data
39 40 41
Click on the map, legend, headers or footers to edit, move or resize them as necessary. To check on what the map will look like when printed, click Print Preview. When satisfied with the layout, click Print to open the standard Windows Print dialog.
You can display more than one attribute on the same chart. 42 Select and drag the data attribute ForwardFER from the Attribute Explorer window onto the existing chart.
You can also zoom into selected areas of the chart by defining a frame for the zoom. 43 On the chart, click the upper left corner of the zooming rectangle, and drag down to the lower right extent of the rectangle.
44
Note that the zoom only operates in the X-axis, not in the Y-axis. 45 46 Now return the chart its original state by dragging a box, but this time up and to the right. Use the right mouse button to drag the axes around the chart window.
Although you can drag the Y-axis for all attributes on the chart, you can only change the X-axis for the last attribute to be displayed on the chart. Also, you will see that a pop-up menu appears when you release the right mouse button. You would usually activate this menu by a single right-click. 47 Select Chart Properties to display this dialog:
48
Experiment with changing various display parameters and observe the effect on the chart.
Note the other toolbar buttons for selecting data points. 49 Now click on a data point on the map. You should see that the relevant parts of the map and the chart look as shown below, with a line appearing at the equivalent EcIo_1stBest point on the chart:
50 51
Click Open. Select the data source that you want to view in the workbook report.
52
You can proceed to adapt the workbook, use other Excel tools on the data, and so on. Next: Configure Maps: Map backgrounds and layers
Configure Maps
Map backgrounds and layers Show lines to cells on a map Change the size of CDMA cell site sectors
Making a checkmark in a layers box controls: if the layer is visible if objects on it can be selected if the layer can be annotated (unchecking this locks the Annotations layer from having any further annotations added) 54 55 56 In the Layers box, click Add. Select one or more MapInfo Map (.tab) files (see MapInfo layers). Click Open to display the selected file(s) in the Layer Control dialog. The top of the layer list represents the uppermost layer in this map window. 57 58 Click Up and Down to move 'example' to the bottom and 'Annotations' to the top. Click Close to return to the map view. In a new installation, the map location defaults to 0 longitude, 0 latitude, so you will need to arrange the map view to display the new map. 59 60 Pan the map viewing area by right-clicking in the map area, then choosing Zoom, Go to Layer and selecting the new map layer. Use the Zoom and Pan controls to arrange the map as required. To zoom in to an area, click Zoom In, then click and drag a rectangle around the area of interest. For some detailed layers like the Street layersyou can control at what degree of magnification they become visible. This helps to minimize map clutter. 61 62 63 64 65 Right-click on the map window and select Map Layers to display the Layer Control dialog. Select the S1 (street names) layer. Click Display to open the Display Properties dialog. Check Display within Zoom range and enter '0' for Min Zoom and '10' for Max Zoom. Now do the same for the street numbers layer, but set the visible range to 0-3.
MapInfo layers
MapInfo layers are named according to the geographic location of the data (for example, the abbreviated US state name and/or county name), and by the type of data contained in the file. Here are some of the common abbreviations used for MapInfo data types: Suffix Y1 Y2 X1 X2 Pc Pn Pm R H S Wr Wb Lm Cb Mc Cy RtHwy010_Top RtHwy010_Bot IntShld010 IntShld1040 Cultural Points Natural Points Municipal Points Railroads Highways Streets Water (rivers) Water (bodies of water) Landmarks City Boundary Minor Civic Division County Layer Type
Other MapInfo layers: Voting District, Native American Lands, Sub-MCD, State level tables (school districts and elevation contours). For example, the MapInfo layer named GAFULTS.TAB contains street-level data for Fulton County, Georgia.
66 67
Select the appropriate cells layer. Click Lines to open the Lines Configuration dialog.
68 69 70
Set the Lines draw mode to Selection and Color lines with to PN_1stBestEcIo , check that the Disable box is empty and click OK, and Yes. Close the Layer Control dialog. Zoom In on data points near a cell site, and use Select to pick a data point. A solid line is drawn to the primary sector, with dotted lines drawn to the other active sectors.
If 'All datapoints' was selected in the Lines Configuration dialog, you would not need to select a data point all data points would have a line to their primary sectors. This can be useful in some situations. Next: Change the size of CDMA cell site sectors
The cell site sectors will now change size to reflect your selection.
The top pane shows a tree-view of the network structure against various statistics produced by the application layer. 77 Use the top pane as necessary to narrow down the data in your selection. All reports appropriate to your selection are displayed under the Suggested tab. If you want to use another report, look under the All tab to view all reports available within the current application layer. 78 79 Double-click on a report icon to open the report window. This will report on all data selected in the upper tree-view panel. As required, use the buttons at the bottom of the window to Save the report as a web-compatible HTML file set, Print the report to your printer or open the report in Excel using Show Excel Report.
You can now re-run the application layer. CDMA Drive Test application layers
CDMA StateTip
The CDMA StateTip utility provides a synchronized view of Handset and PN Scanner data, allowing for a detailed evaluation of neighbor list and pilot pollution problems. By displaying the state of many different engineering parameters at a given trouble spot, you can best judge how to make changes to correct the problem.
The StateTip provides a simple but powerful window (shown on the right of the window in the above example) that is fully configurable and synchronizes with all other active windows. Next: CDMA Toolkit
CDMA Toolkit
Once you are familiar with the basic techniques of ad-hoc data analysis, you may like to use the CDMA Toolkit utility. CDMA Toolkit automates key CDMA optimization tasks, and appears within the interface as a task bar to the right of the Attribute Explorer. The Toolkit uses a task-based layout to let you perform these analyses: Search Window analysis Neighbor List analysis Optimize coverage areas Analyze multi-carrier statistics
Every analysis contains several web-based reports, each of which can be saved and printed out for management use.
83 84
85 86 87 88 89
The superstream is now generated and appears in the Attribute Explorer. You can view data from the superstream in any of the standard data display windows. Next: Aggregate CDMA data
To change the aggregation mode also known as the binning mode: 1 90 From the Tools menu, select Preferences to open the Preferences dialog. Under the heading Binning, select the appropriate Binning Mode.
91
Click Apply.
Use Queries
The querying interface assists you in constructing simple or complex expressions. These expressions extract meaningful performance data, based on user-defined thresholds or the value of other expressions. As an example, you can create a query that returns statistics for a particular event such as a dropped callfor a given window in time around that event. This is useful when looking for data trends. Queries are created and edited from the Tools menu, Analysis Manager option. You can create these query types: Filter queries Binned queries Histogram queries Statistical queries Crosstab queries Event queries
You can also: Perform logical and arithmetic operators Save queries to a default Workspace Apply filters to queries
Create a filter
This example query is designed to filter poor quality in CDMA data. 1 From the Attribute Explorer, right-click on a data stream and select Filter, then Create a New Filter.
The Filter Wizard opens. 92 93 Enter Poor Quality as the name of the filter. Click on the right-arrow of the attribute picker and select CDMA > DownLink Measurements > ForwardFER .
94 95
Set the filter operation to Greater than (>). Set the threshold to 5.
96
Click OK to close the Wizard. If you already have a filter applied to the stream, you will see this dialog:
97
Click Yes. Any other data display windows update to show the areas with poor quality. You can turn off this and any other filters from the Attribute Explorer, just by clicking on them.
The arrangement of loaded help files and data display windows is called the current workspace. You can save and reuse workspaces as necessary. Next: Import GSM network information
GSM_Site Latitude GSM_Site Longitude GSM_Cell Sector ID Can be 1,2,3, etc, or a combination of site numbers GSM_Cell Azimuth GSM_Cell Beamwith
Azimuth Beamwidth
Base Station Power BCCH MNC MCC LAC CI BSIC Layer type
GSM_Cell EIRP GSM_Cell BCCH GSM_Cell MNC GSM_Cell MCC GSM_Cell LAC GSM_Cell CI GSM_Cell BSIC Layer_type
100 Click Open to display the Custom Import Wizard. 101 Give the Template a meaningful Description. 102 Under Delimiters, check Tab. 103 Under General Settings, enter ' 1 ' for Ignore header rows and ' ; ' for Array (list) Separator. If your file has more than one header or uses a different array list separator, set these options accordingly. 104 Click on the Column Settings tab. The Column Settings tab allows you to associate a network parameter with a column of data in the text file. Note that each of the field names has an associated icon: Key fields Required fields Other fields
105 Under the Columns heading, click on a setting for a particular field.
106 Select a column binding from the drop down list. The Wizard then displays the selected parameter against the appropriate column. 107 Select the appropriate column binding for Site Name from inside the GSM Site group. Repeat this for the SiteID, Latitude, and Longitude. 108 For the remaining columns, look for the attribute headers under GSM Cell group. Use the Cell ID column for the GSM Sector ID, and repeat for the Azimuth, Beamwidth, EIRP, BCCH, MNC, MCC, LAC, CI, and BSIC columns. A description of each of these parameters and their use appears in the table at the top of this section. 109 Click Finish when all the columns have been assigned. The new cell information will be added at the bottom of the existing list in the Network Explorer. When the cellrefs file is updated, you should use the template you have created on the new file so that you do not have to repeat work you have already done, including the column-by-column parameter assignment. Next: Set a GSM network information file
110 Click on File Location to select the text file containing network element data. This file must be in the Actix 'cellrefs' format. The information from this cellrefs file takes effect from the next time a new workspace is created. Note that you can set up an automatic cellrefs import if your network data is liable to change frequently. 111 Click OK to close the Preferences dialog. You will now see this message:
You may now want to close and restart for the change to take effect. Next: Load GSM data files
This displays the Open dialog. 112 Select an appropriate file. Files of Type defaults to All Formats but you can select a specific file type to look for. This also illustrates the many file formats available. Next: Find and use GSM data in the Attribute Explorer
Click on the
See how your data relates to the structure shown above. In the example below, the file edgec1 contains a data stream called Tems (the number is the data stream number within the file, starting from zero). The GSM group contains the UpLink Measurements set, which contains the ULDTXUsed data attribute:
However, the only objects that you actually need to recognize are filenames, data streams and data attributes. The logical tree-view layout of the Attribute Explorer allows you to drill down and identify all logged data. Once you have located the appropriate data attribute, you can open it in a data window for example, a map, chart, table or spreadsheet to examine the data in detail. You can also use Find Attribute from the Tools menu to locate a particular attribute. You can examine data streams using the Message Browser tool. You may also want additional information about a particular data attribute. 113 Select 'ServRxLevFull'. 114 From the Help menu, select Attribute Help to open the attribute help window.
button to dock the attribute help window and drag it to a useful position.
116 Select a new attribute. Note that the help now provides information on that attribute. Next: Delete GSM data files
Table view
Tables let you examine the numeric series, histogram and statistical data for the selected attribute. From the Attribute Explorer, right-click on the data attribute DownLink Measurements > ServRxLevIdle and select Display on Table.
The Message Browser combines an event panel (sequentially listing call events) with a panel of Layer 3 messaging, allowing you to pinpoint the root causes of problems.
Selecting one of the display methods opens the appropriate data window. Next: Viewing GSM data in the Map window
118 Click on the Pan button. 119 Click and drag the data around the map window. 120 Experiment with the Zoom buttons. 121 In the Attribute Explorer, open up the Event Data set and drag the EventCallCompleted event onto the map, which should look similar to this:
Adding various events to the mapped data can help you see where problems are occurring.
122 Drag another data attribute onto the map. You can also change the size, symbol or color of the data, apply offsets to an attribute or merge attributes for a multidimensional display. See the online help for details. The map legend defines histogram ranges for charts. 123 Click on one of the check boxes in the Map Legend pane to hide the related attribute data on the map. Click on it again to redisplay the data. To find out how to add background geographical and network information to map windows, see the section Configure Maps . Next: Replay the GSM data
The StateForms window now displays a variety of attributes based on the data point you selected, looking similar to this:
Advanced users can use the Design Mode of this feature to create new forms for GSM and other technologies. For details, see Create a new StateForm . Next:Print the GSM data
125 Set the paper size, orientation and margins, and specify the header and footer for the page. Click OK to continue. You can now see the Map Layout Designer window.
126 Click on the map, legend, headers or footers to edit, move or resize them as necessary. 127 To check on what the map will look like when printed, click Print Preview. 128 When satisfied with the layout, click Print to open the standard Windows Print dialog. Next: View GSM data in the Chart window
You can display more than one attribute on the same chart. 129 Select and drag the data attribute ServRxQualFull from the Attribute Explorer window onto the existing chart.
You can also zoom into selected areas of the chart by defining a frame for the zoom. 130 On the chart, click the upper left corner of the zooming rectangle, and drag down to the lower right extent of the rectangle.
Note that the zoom only operates in the X-axis, not in the Y-axis. 132 Now return the chart its original state by dragging a box, but this time up and to the right. 133 Use the right mouse button to drag the axes around the chart window.
Although you can drag the Y-axis for all attributes on the chart, you can only change the X-axis for the last attribute to be displayed on the chart. Also, you will see that a pop-up menu appears when you release the right mouse button. You would usually activate this menu by a single right-click. 134 Select Chart Properties to display this dialog:
135 Experiment with changing various display parameters and observe the effect on the chart. Next: View synchronized GSM data
Note the other toolbar buttons for selecting data points. 136 Now click on a data point on the map. You should see that the relevant parts of the map and the chart look as shown below, with a line appearing at the equivalent ServRxLevFull point on the chart:
137 Click Open. 138 Select the data source that you want to view in the workbook report.
139 Click OK to process and display the data in the workbook. You can proceed to adapt the workbook, use other Excel tools on the data, and so on. Next: Configure Maps: map backgrounds and layers
Configure Maps
Map backgrounds and layers Show lines to cells on a map Change the size of GSM cell site sectors
140 From the map window, click Layers to open the Layer Control dialog.
Making a checkmark in a layers box controls: if the layer is visible if objects on it can be selected if the layer can be annotated (unchecking this locks the Annotations layer from having any further annotations added) 141 In the Layers box, click Add.
142 Select one or more MapInfo Map (.tab) file (see MapInfo layers). 143 Click Open to display the new map layer(s) in the Layer Control dialog.
The top of the layer list represents the uppermost layer in this map window. 144 Click Up and Down to move 'example' to the bottom and 'Annotations' to the top. 145 Click Close to return to the map view. In a new installation, the map location defaults to 0 longitude, 0 latitude, so you will need to arrange the map view to display the new map. 146 Pan the map viewing area by right-clicking in the map area, then choosing Zoom, Go to Layer and selecting the new map layer. 147 Use the Zoom and Pan controls to arrange the map as required. To zoom in to an area, click Zoom In, then click and drag a rectangle around the area of interest. For some detailed layers, you can control at what degree of magnification they become visible. This helps to minimize map clutter. 148 Right-click on the map window and select Map Layers to display the Layer Control dialog. 149 Select a detailed layer for example, street names. 150 Click Display to open the Display Properties dialog. 151 Check Display within Zoom range and enter '0' for Min Zoom and '10' for Max Zoom. Next: Show lines to cells on a map
152 Select the appropriate cells layer. 153 Click Lines to open the Lines Configuration dialog.
154 Set the Lines draw mode to Selection and Color lines with to ServBCCH, check that the Disable box is empty, and click OK, and Yes. 155 Close the Layer Control dialog. 156 Zoom In on data points near a cell site, and use Select to pick a data point. A solid line is drawn to the serving cell site, with dotted lines drawn to neighboring cells.
If 'All datapoints' was selected in the Lines Configuration dialog, you would not need to select a data point all data points would have a line to their serving cells. Next: Change the size of GSM cell site sectors
157 Set the Series to be GSM_Cell. 158 Set the Cell Size to an attribute shared by all related cell sites, such as Layer_type (recommended if available from your cellrefs file) or MCC, and click OK. 159 This will be displayed as a layer in the Legend panel on the left. Expand the new layer to show one item in the range, called 'Unspecified'. 160 Right-click on this item and choose Selected range's style to open the Style chooser dialog. 161 Set the new font size as required and click OK. The cell site sectors will now change size to reflect your selection.
The top pane shows a tree-view of the network structure against various statistics produced by the application layer. 163 Use the top pane as necessary to narrow down the data in your selection. All reports appropriate to your selection are displayed under the Suggested tab. If you want to use another report, look under the All tab to view all reports available within the current application layer. 164 Double-click on a report icon to open the report window:
This will report on all data selected in the upper tree-view panel. 165 As required, use the buttons at the bottom of the window to Save the report as a web-compatible HTML file set, Print the report to your printer or open the report in Excel using Show Excel Report. Next: Integrate uplink and downlink data
166 From the View menu, select Superstream to open the Superstreaming dialog. This dialog shows all currently available data streams. 167 Change the superstream name from the default to something more meaningful. 168 Check the box of each data stream that you want to combine to form a superstream. You can also use the All or None buttons to change the box settings of every listed data stream. 169 Click the Settings button. This expands the dialog to show the Merge Method options. 170 To superstream data from the reverse link and the forward link, click the Correlated Parameters option. This lets you select attributes from each stream that correspond to one another. 171 Highlight the uplink data stream. 172 From the attribute picker button on the right, select ServRxLevFull. 173 Highlight the downlink data stream. 174 From the attribute picker, select ServRxLevFull. 175 Click OK. The superstream is now generated and appears in the Attribute Explorer. You can view data from the superstream in any of the standard data display windows. Next: Aggregate GSM data
To change the aggregation mode also known as the binning mode: 1 From the Tools menu, select Preferences to open the Preferences dialog.
176 Under the heading Binning, select the appropriate Binning Mode.
Use Queries
The querying interface lets you construct simple or complex expressions. These expressions extract meaningful performance data, based on user-defined thresholds or the value of other expressions. As an example, you can create a query that returns statistics for a particular event such as a dropped callfor a given window in time around that event. This is useful when looking for data trends. Queries are created and edited from the Tools menu, Analysis Manager option. You can create these query types: Filter queries Binned queries Histogram queries Statistical queries Crosstab queries Event queries
You can also: Perform logical and arithmetic operators Save queries to a default Workspace Apply filters to queries
Create a filter
This query is designed to filter poor quality in GSM data. 1 From the Attribute Explorer, right-click on a data stream and select Filter, then Create a New Filter.
The Filter Wizard opens. 178 Enter Poor Quality as the name of the filter. 179 Click on the right-arrow of the attribute picker and select GSM > DownLink Measurements > ServRxQual. 180 Set the filter operation to Greater than or equal to (>=). 181 Set the threshold to 4.
182 Click OK to close the Wizard. If you already have a filter applied to the stream, you will see this dialog:
183 Click Yes. Any other data display windows update to show the areas with poor quality. You can turn off this and any other filters from the Attribute Explorer, just by clicking on them.
184 Choose one or more pre-generated Scenarios. 185 Select Tools | Preferences, and set Load Mode to 'Minimal Load'. This avoids loading unnecessary data from the logfile and reduces the load time. 186 Load the logfile to be examined. 187 Select an application layer. 188 Narrow the data selection. 189 Display the results in a report. 190 Use ad-hoc tools to identify problem areas in the logfile. These tools, such as maps, charts, tables , the Message Browser (and so on) are described in GSM analysis.
See also
Choose A or Abis Scenarios Choose Gb Scenarios About Load Time, Full Load and Minimal Load
191 Set or import the appropriate Load Time Queries from the Analysis Manager. 192 Select Tools | Preferences, and set Load Mode to 'Minimal Load'. This avoids loading unnecessary data from the logfile and reduces the load time. 193 Load the logfile to be examined. 194 Use custom reports to analyze data.
See also
Set as Load Time query Import a query About Load Time, Full Load and Minimal Load
195 Select Tools | Preferences, and set Load Mode to 'Full Load'. 196 Load a small example logfile. 197 Write Load Time Queries and Reports as required. Crosstab and Event queries can be used with PCM Link data to create suitable call analyses (that is, queries that can be used with the Statistics Explorer). 198 Set Load Mode back to 'Minimal Load' before attempting to examine any new logfiles.
See also
About Load Time, Full Load and Minimal Load
To choose a Scenario
1 From the Tools menu, select Choose Scenario to open the Attach Load Time Queries dialog.
199 Select one or more appropriate Scenarios and click OK. Next: The Statistics Explorer
204 Click Analyze. The stream of the selected data appears in the Attribute Explorer:
The data in this new stream can now be analyzed using maps, charts, tables etc. Next: Filter the Attribute Explorer
205 Click Filter. The Attribute Explorer now only shows data relating to the row selected in the Statistics Explorer. 206 When you have finished examining the filtered data, click Filter again to switch off the filtering. Next: Superstream PCM Link/Drive Test data
A General Analysis
By default, this is loaded when you open an A interface logfile. Launched from the Analysis menu, this contains a variety of statistical reports that evaluate how the network is being used. Each report can be run against the entire file, a single cell or a selection of cells. Location Update Count, percentage and breakdown of Location Update messages, types and reject causes. Clear Cause Cause Code count and percentage for Clear Command messages. Services Requested Count, percentage and breakdown. Channel Assignment Assignment message count and percentage, Assignment Failure breakdown. Channel Assignment by Cell Assignment message count and percentage for each cell. Connection Analysis Count and percentage of SCCP Connection messages. Breakdowns of SCCP Services Requested and CSSP Connection Refused Causes. Connection Analysis by Cell Connection statistics for each cell.
A Handover Analysis
This provides statistical analysis of both Intra- and Inter-BSC handovers. It is useful for identifying handover problems as well as analysis of LAC boundaries. Handover Cause HO Performed and HO Required-Attempt cause counts, percentages and graph. Handover Reject and Fail Cause Counts, percentages and graph for HO Request Reject and Failure. BSS Handover Cause by Cell Intra-BSC handover statistics for each cell. SSS Handover Cause by Cell Inter-BSC handover statistics for each cell. Handover Messages by Cell Inter-BSC outgoing and incoming statistics for each cell. BSS Handover Matrix Intra-BSC Handovers by Source and Target. SSS Handover Matrix Inter-BSC Handovers by Source and Target.
A Subscriber Analysis
Subscriber Analysis takes advantage of useful information encoded in the IMSI and EIMI code. Actix automatically extracts this and creates new attributes in the Attribute Explorer tree when the file is opened with Full Load. For example, from the IMEI handset, details such as the TAC (Type Approval Code) can be obtained. The IMSI contains the subscriber's MCC and NCC (Country and Network codes). For maximum performance, log files can be opened in Minimum Load with specific queries enabled to collect this information. Before loading the log file, select Tools, Choose Scenario and select Subscriber Analysis. This enables queries and reports in Subscriber Analysis. Handset Types Breakdown of mobile handsets based on Type Approval Code. Channel Type Speech and Data channel type counts and percentages. Classmark Classmark count, phase and graph. Roaming by Country Lists the count and proportion of Roaming Subscribers from each country in a table and graph. Roaming by Network Lists the count and proportion of Roaming Subscribers from each network in a table and graph.
For more information on GPRS analysis, see GPRS analysis engineering notes . Next: Choose Gb Scenarios
Choose Gb Scenarios
Scenarios are collections of analyses that can be performed on any PCM Link data as it is loaded. You select the Scenarios you need, depending on the tasks you want to perform. However, the more Scenarios that are selected, the longer the data takes to load, so only the basic analysis sets are selected by default. Note that you must have at least one Gb Scenario selected for Gb analysis features to work correctly. For more information on Scenarios, see Load Time Queries in each Scenario.
To choose a Scenario
1 From the Tools menu, select Choose Scenario to open this dialog:
213 Select one or more appropriate Scenarios and click OK. Next: Gb pre-configured reports
Gb pre-configured reports
See the section GSM Application Layers for information on how to use application layers. A data file must be loaded and a valid CellRefs file must have been set. You must also select a Scenario for the related application layer option to be displayed under Tools | Analysis, as not all Scenarios are checked by default. GPRS Gb application layers Back to: Examine Gb Load Time Queries
The Statistics Explorer opens with the Load Time Query selected. All other queries are also displayed in the Queries panel, and may be selected as required. Next: Load Time Queries in each Scenario
Gb Throughput Analysis
The 'Traffic Type' Load Time Queries are those used in the Gb Throughput Analysis application layer, but there are also eight other Load Time Queries containing useful information that can be displayed in the Statistics Explorer. These Scenarios each contain one query:
This generates a new analysis stream for the mobile in question that can be examined in the Protocol Stack Browser (without needing to set the Load Mode to 'Full') and the Message Browser.
The data attributes shown in the box are described under: Calculating Block Error (BLER) and Block Success Rates Timing Bit Sums
215 Use the Text Import Wizard (File | Import Text File) to import the log file 216 Superstream the imported file with the GPRS Drive Test file (as described in the section Superstream PCM Link/Drive Test data in the chapter Analyzing A and Abis data). You can now plot the superstreamed data attributes on a map. Back to: Ad hoc or 'free' data analysis
The arrangement of loaded help files and data display windows is called the current workspace. You can save and reuse workspaces as necessary. Next: Import IS-136 network information
IS-54/IS-136_Cell Sector ID Sector-specific information useful for display on Can 1,2,3, etc, or a combination maps. of site numbers IS-54/IS-136_Cell Azimuth IS-54/IS-136_Cell Beamwith IS-54/IS-136_Cell EIRP IS-54/IS-136_Cell ACCH Orients the sector icons on the map. Governs the shape of the sector 'wedge' icon to reflect the beamwidth of antenna deployed at the site. Base station power Analog control channel.
IS-54/IS-136_Cell Color_Codes A list of color codes (SAT and DVCCs) separated by semicolons. This list is designed to match the entries in the Traffic_Channels field. Used for determining likely serving and neighbor cells. IS-54/IS-136_Cell DCC IS-54/IS-136_Cell DCCH IS-54/IS-136_Cell DVCC IS-54/IS-136_Cell Traffic_Channels Digital Color Code used to determine lines to serving cells for Analog servers in idle mode. Digital Control Channel Digital Voice Color Code A list of traffic channels separated by semicolons. This list is designed to match the entries in the Color_Codes field. Used for determining likely serving and neighbor cells. Mobile Country Code System Identity Text that specifies which cell layer (for example, by technology, band, or status) that the site belongs to. Used for multiple cell layers.
The Column Settings tab allows you to associate a network parameter with a column of data in the text file. Note that each of the field names has an associated icon: Key fields Required fields Other fields
224 Under the Columns heading, click on a setting for a particular field. 225 Select a column binding from the drop-down list. The Wizard then displays the selected parameter against the appropriate column. 226 Set the appropriate column bindings for IS-54/IS-136_Site and SiteName. Repeat this for the SiteID, Latitude, and Longitude. 227 For the remaining columns, look for the attribute headers under IS-54/IS-136 Cell. Use the Cell ID column for the IS-54/IS-136_Cell Sector ID, Azimuth, Beamwidth, EIRP, ACCH, DCC, Color_Codes, Traffic_Channels, DVCC, DCCH. A description of each of these parameters and their use appears in the table at the top of this section. 228 Click Finish when all the columns have been assigned. The new cell information will be added at the bottom of the existing list in the Network Explorer. When the cellrefs file is updated, you should use the template you have created on the new file so that you do not have to repeat work you have already done, including the column-by-column parameter assignment. Next: Set an IS-136 network information file
229 Click on File Location to select the text file containing network element data. This file must be in the Actix 'cellrefs' format. The information from this cellrefs file takes effect from the next time a new workspace is created. Note that you can set up an automatic cellrefs import if your network data is liable to change frequently. 230 Click OK to close the Preferences dialog. You will now see this message:
You may now want to close and restart for the change to take effect. Next: Load IS-136 data files
This displays the Open dialog. 231 Select an appropriate file. Files of Type defaults to All Formats but you can select a specific file type to look for. This also illustrates the many file formats available. Next: Find and use IS-136 data in the Attribute Explorer
Click on the
See how your data relates to the structure shown above. In the example below, the file 0408_001 contains a data stream called Tems IS136 1900 (0) (the number is the data stream number within the file, starting from zero). The IS-136 group contains the Dedicated Radio Link set, which contains the FACCH_CurChannel data attribute:
However, the only objects that you actually need to recognize are filenames, data streams and data attributes. The logical tree-view layout of the Attribute Explorer allows you to drill down and identify all logged data. Once you have located the appropriate data attribute, you can open it in a data window for example, a map, chart, table or spreadsheet to examine the data in detail. You can also use Find Attribute from the Tools menu to locate a particular attribute. You can examine data streams using the Message Browser tool. You may also want additional information about a particular data attribute. 232 Select 'DVCC'. 233 From the Help menu, select Attribute Help.
button to dock the attribute help window and drag it to a useful position.
235 Select a new attribute. Note that the help now provides information on that attribute. Next: Delete IS-136 data files
Table view
Tables let you examine the numeric series, histogram and statistical data for the selected attribute. From the Attribute Explorer, right-click on the data attribute DownLink Measurements > FACCH_CurBER_Level and select Display on Table.
The Message Browser combines an event panel (sequentially listing call events) with a panel of Layer 3 messaging, allowing you to pinpoint the root causes of problems.
Selecting one of the display methods opens the appropriate data window. Next: View IS-136 data in the Map window
237 Click on the Pan button. 238 Click and drag the data around the map window. 239 Experiment with the Zoom buttons. 240 In the Attribute Explorer, open up the Event Data set and drag the Call_Dropped event onto the map, which should look similar to this:
(Here there is only one dropped call, as the drive-test is completed.) Adding various events to the mapped data can help you see where problems are occurring. 241 Drag another data attribute onto the map. You can also change the size, symbol or color of the data, apply offsets to an attribute or merge attributes for a multidimensional display. See the online help for details. The map legend defines histogram ranges for charts. 242 Click on one of the check boxes in the Map Legend pane to hide the related attribute data on the map. Click on it again to redisplay the data. To find out how to add background geographical and network information to map windows, see the section Configure Maps .
The StateForms window now displays a variety of attributes based on the data point you selected.
Note that in this example, an appropriate cellrefs file has not been set, so no Cell or Sector ID information is displayed. Advanced users can use the Design Mode of this feature to create new forms for IS-136 and other technologies. For details, see Create a new StateForm . Next: Print the IS-136 data
244 Set the paper size, orientation and margins, and specify the header and footer for the page. Click OK to continue. You can now see the Map Layout Designer window.
245 Click on the map, legend, headers or footers to edit, move or resize them as necessary. 246 To check on what the map will look like when printed, click Print Preview. 247 When satisfied with the layout, click Print to open the standard Windows Print dialog. Next: View IS-136 data in the Chart window
You can display more than one attribute on the same chart. 248 Select and drag the data attribute DedicatedCell_BER from the Attribute Explorer window onto the existing chart.
You can also zoom into selected areas of the chart by defining a frame for the zoom. 249 On the chart, click the upper left corner of the zooming rectangle, and drag down to the lower right extent of the rectangle.
Note that the zoom only operates in the X-axis, not in the Y-axis. 251 Now return the chart its original state by dragging a box, but this time up and to the right. 252 Use the right mouse button to drag the axes around the chart window.
Although you can drag the Y-axis for all attributes on the chart, you can only change the X-axis for the last attribute to be displayed on the chart. Also, you will see that a pop-up menu appears when you release the right mouse button. You would usually activate this menu by a single right-click. 253 Select Chart Properties to display this dialog:
254 Experiment with changing various display parameters and observe the effect on the chart. Next: View synchronized IS-136 data
Note the other toolbar buttons for selecting data points. 255 Now click on a data point on the map. You should see that the relevant parts of the map and the chart look as shown below, with a line appearing at the equivalent FACCH_CurRSSI point on the chart:
256 Click Open. 257 Select the data source that you want to view in the workbook report.
258 Click OK to process and display the data in the workbook. You can proceed to adapt the workbook, use other Excel tools on the data, and so on. Next: Configure Maps: Map backgrounds and layers
Configure Maps
Map backgrounds and layers Display IS-136 network information Show lines to cells on a map
259 From the map window, click Layers to open the Layer Control dialog.
Making a checkmark in a layers box controls: if the layer is visible if objects on it can be selected if the layer can be annotated (unchecking this locks the Annotations layer from having any further annotations added) 260 In the Layers box, click Add to display the Open Layer dialog.
261 Select one or more MapInfo Map (.tab) files. For details, see MapInfo layers. 262 Click Open to display the map layer(s) in the Layer Control dialog. The top of the layer list represents the uppermost layer in this map window. 263 Click Up and Down to move the new 'examplemap' layer to the bottom and 'Annotations' to the top.
264 Click Close to return to the map view. In a new installation, the map location defaults to 0 longitude, 0 latitude, so you will need to arrange the map view to display the new map. 265 Pan the map viewing area by right-clicking in the map area, then choosing Zoom, Go to Layer and selecting the new map layer. 266 Use the Zoom and Pan controls to arrange the map as required. To zoom in to an area, click Zoom In, then click and drag a rectangle around the area of interest. For some detailed layers, you can control at what degree of magnification they become visible. This helps to minimize map clutter. 267 Right-click on the map window and select Map Layers to display the Layer Control dialog. 268 Select a detailed layer for example, S1 (street names). 269 Click Display to open the Display Properties dialog. 270 Check Display within Zoom range and enter '0' for Min Zoom and '10' for Max Zoom. 271 Now do the same for the street numbers map layer, entering a zoom range of 0-3. Next: Display IS-136 network information
272 Set the Series to be <tech>_Cell. 273 Set the Cell Size to an attribute shared by all related cell sites, such as Layer_type (recommended if available from your cellrefs file) or MCC, and click OK. 274 This will be displayed as a layer in the Legend panel on the left. Expand the new layer to show one item in the range, called 'Unspecified'. 275 Right-click on this item and choose Selected range's style to open the Style chooser dialog. 276 Set the new font size as required and click OK. The cell site sectors will now change size to reflect your selection. Next: Show lines to cells on a map
277 Select the appropriate cells layer. 278 Click Lines to open the Lines Configuration dialog.
279 Set the Lines draw mode to Selection and Color lines with to DedicatedCell_BER, check that the Disable box is empty, and click OK, then Yes. 280 Close the Layer Control dialog. 281 Zoom In on data points near a cell site, and use Select to pick a data point. A solid line is drawn to the serving cell site, with dotted lines drawn to neighboring cells.
If 'All datapoints' was selected in the Lines Configuration dialog, you would not need to select a data point all data points would have a line to their serving cells.
283 Use the top pane as necessary to narrow down the data in your selection. All reports appropriate to your selection are displayed under the Suggested tab. If you want to use another report, look under the All tab to view all reports available within the current application layer. 284 Double-click on a report icon to open the report:
This will report on all data selected in the upper tree-view panel. 285 As required, use the buttons at the bottom of the window to Save the report as a web-compatible HTML file set, Print the report to your printer or open the report in Excel using Show Excel Report.
286 From the View menu, select Superstream to open the Superstreaming dialog. This dialog shows all currently available data streams. 287 Change the superstream name from the default to something more meaningful. 288 Check the box of each data stream that you want to combine to form a superstream. You can also use the All or None buttons to change the box settings of every listed data stream. 289 Click the Settings button. This expands the dialog to show the Merge Method options. 290 To superstream data from the reverse link and the forward link, click the Correlated Parameters option. This lets you select attributes from each stream that correspond to one another. 291 Highlight the uplink data stream. 292 From the attribute picker button on the right, select DedicatedCell_SignalStrength . 293 Highlight the downlink data stream. 294 From the attribute picker, select DedicatedCell_SignalStrength . 295 Click OK. The superstream is now generated and appears in the Attribute Explorer. You can view data from the superstream in any of the standard data display windows. Next: Aggregate IS-136 data
To change the aggregation ( binning) mode: 1 From the Tools menu, select Preferences to open the Preferences dialog.
Use Queries
The querying interface lets you construct simple or complex expressions. These expressions extract meaningful performance data, based on user-defined thresholds or the value of other expressions. As an example, you can create a query that returns statistics for a particular event such as a dropped callfor a given window in time around that event. This is useful when looking for data trends. Queries are created and edited from the Tools menu, Analysis Manager option. You can create these query types: Filter queries Binned queries Histogram queries Statistical queries Crosstab queries Event queries
You can also: Perform logical and arithmetic operators Save queries to a default Workspace Apply filters to queries
Create a filter
This query is designed to filter poor quality in IS-136 data. 1 From the Attribute Explorer, right-click on a data stream and select Filter, then Create a New Filter.
The Filter Wizard opens. 298 Enter Poor Quality as the name of the filter. 299 Click on the right-arrow of the attribute picker and select IS-136 > DownLink Measurements > ForBER. 300 Set the filter operation to Greater than (>). 301 Set the threshold to 5.
302 Click OK to close the Wizard. If you already have a filter applied to the stream, you will see this dialog:
303 Click Yes. Any other data display windows update to show the areas with poor quality. You can turn off this and any other filters from the Attribute Explorer, just by clicking on them.
The arrangement of loaded help files and data display windows is called the current workspace. You can save and reuse workspaces as necessary. Next: Configure iDEN network information
Key fields
Required fields
Other fields
311 Under the Columns heading, click on a setting for a particular field. 312 Select a column binding from the drop-down list. The Wizard then displays the selected parameter against the appropriate column. 313 Set the default value for that field as appropriate. 314 Select the appropriate column bindings for IDEN Site and Site Name. Repeat this for the SiteID, Latitude, and Longitude. 315 For the remaining columns, look for the attribute headers under IDEN Cell. Use the Cell ID column for the IDEN Cell Sector ID, Azimuth, Beamwidth, EIRP, CCCH, Color_Codes, TCH_List. A description of each of these parameters and their use appears in the table at the top of this section. 316 Click Finish when all the columns have been assigned. The new cell information will be added at the bottom of the existing list in the Network Explorer. When the cellrefs file is updated, you should use the template you have created on the new file so that you do not have to repeat work you have already done, including the column-by-column parameter assignment. Next: Set an iDEN network information file
317 Click on File Location to select the text file containing network element data. This file must be in the Actix 'cellrefs' format. The information from this cellrefs file takes effect from the next time a new workspace is created. Note that you can set up an automatic cellrefs import if your network data is liable to change frequently. 318 Click OK to close the Preferences dialog. You will now see this message:
You may now want to close and restart for the change to take effect. Next: Load iDEN data files
This displays the Open dialog. 319 Select an appropriate file. Files of Type defaults to 'All Formats' but you can select a specific file type to look for. This also illustrates the many file formats available. Next: Find and use iDEN data in the Attribute Explorer
Click on the
See how your data relates to the structure shown above. In the example below, the file 'atlantW' contains a data stream called 'Nextel iDEN Handset (0)' (the number is the data stream number within the file, starting from zero). The 'iDEN' group contains the 'DownLink Measurements' set, which contains the 'ServRSSI' data attribute:
However, the only objects that you actually need to recognize are filenames, data streams and data attributes. The logical tree-view layout of the Attribute Explorer allows you to drill down and identify all logged data. Once you have located the appropriate data attribute, you can open it in a data window for example, a map, chart, table or spreadsheet to examine the data in detail. You can also use Find Attribute from the Tools menu to locate a particular attribute. You can examine data streams using the Message Browser tool. You may also want additional information about a particular data attribute. 320 From the Help menu, select Show Context Help.
321 Click the button to dock the attribute help window and drag it to a useful position, as shown here:
322 Select a new attribute. Note that the help now provides information on that attribute. Next: Delete iDEN data files
Table view
Tables let you examine the numeric series, histogram and statistical data for the selected attribute. From the Attribute Explorer, right-click on the data attribute 'DownLink Measurements > ServRSSI' and select Display on Table.
The Message Browser combines an event panel (sequentially listing call events) with a panel of Layer 3 messaging, allowing you to pinpoint the root causes of problems.
Selecting one of the display methods opens the appropriate data window. Next: View iDEN data in the Map window
324 Click on the Pan button. 325 Click and drag the data around the map window. 326 Experiment with the Zoom buttons. 327 In the Attribute Explorer, open up the 'Event Data' set and drag the 'HandOver_Complete' event onto the map, which should look similar to this:
Adding various events to the mapped data can help you see where problems are occurring. 328 Drag another data attribute onto the map. You can also change the size, symbol or color of the data, apply offsets to an attribute or merge attributes for a multidimensional display. See the online help for details. The map legend defines histogram ranges for charts. 329 Click on one of the check boxes in the Map Legend pane to hide the related attribute data on the map. Click on it again to redisplay the data. Next: Replay the iDEN data
The StateForms window now displays a variety of attributes based on the data point you selected.
Note that in this example, an appropriate cellrefs file has not been set, so no Cell or Sector ID information is displayed. Advanced users can use the Design Mode of this feature to create new forms for iDEN and other technologies. For details, see Create a new StateForm . Next: Print the iDEN data
331 Set the paper size, orientation and margins, and specify the header and footer for the page. Click OK to continue. You can now see the Map Layout Designer window.
332 Click on the map, legend, headers or footers to edit, move or resize them as necessary. 333 To check on what the map will look like when printed, click Print Preview. 334 When satisfied with the layout, click Print to open the standard Windows Print dialog. Next: View iDEN data in the Chart window
You can display more than one attribute on the same chart. 335 Select and drag the data attribute 'ServSQE' from the Attribute Explorer window onto the existing chart.
You can also zoom into selected areas of the chart by defining a frame for the zoom. 336 On the chart, click the upper left corner of the zooming rectangle, and drag down to the lower right extent of the rectangle.
Note that the zoom only operates in the X-axis, not in the Y-axis. 338 Now return the chart its original state by dragging a box, but this time up and to the right. 339 Use the right mouse button to drag the axes around the chart window.
Although you can drag the Y-axis for all attributes on the chart, you can only change the X-axis for the last attribute to be displayed on the chart. Also, you will see that a pop-up menu appears when you release the right mouse button. You would usually activate this menu by a single right-click. 340 Select Chart Properties to display this dialog:
341 Experiment with changing various display parameters and observe the effect on the chart. Next: View synchronized iDEN data
Note the other toolbar buttons for selecting data points. 342 Now click on a data point on the map. You should see that the relevant parts of the map and the chart look as shown below, with a line appearing at the equivalent 'ServRSSI' point on the chart:
343 Click Open. 344 Select the data source that you want to view in the workbook report.
345 Click OK to process and display the data in the workbook. You can proceed to adapt the workbook, use other Excel tools on the data, and so on. Next: Map backgrounds and layers
346 From the map window, click Layers to open the Layer Control dialog.
Making a checkmark in a layers box controls: if the layer is visible if objects on it can be selected if the layer can be annotated (unchecking this locks the Annotations layer from having any further annotations added) 347 In the Layers box, click Add.
348 Select one or more MapInfo Map (.tab) files. For more information see MapInfo layers. 349 Click Open to display the new map layer(s) in the Layer Control dialog.
The top of the layer list represents the uppermost layer in this map window. 350 Click Up and Down to move the new 'examplemap' layer to the bottom and 'Annotations' to the top. 351 Click Close to return to the map view. In a new installation, the map location defaults to 0 longitude, 0 latitude, so you will need to arrange the map view to display the new map. 352 Pan the map viewing area by right-clicking in the map area, then choosing Zoom, Go to Layer and selecting the new map layer. 353 Use the Zoom and Pan controls to arrange the map as required. To zoom in to an area, click Zoom In, then click and drag a rectangle around the area of interest. For some detailed layers, you can control at what degree of magnification they become visible. This helps to minimize map clutter. 354 Right-click on the map window and select Map Layers to display the Layer Control dialog. 355 Select a detailed layer for example, S1 (street names). 356 Click Display to open the Display Properties dialog. 357 Check Display within Zoom range and enter '0' for Min Zoom and '10' for Max Zoom. 358 Now do the same for street numbers, entering a zoom range of 0-3. Next: Display iDEN Network Information
359 Set the Series to be <tech>_Cell. 360 Set the Cell Size to an attribute shared by all related cell sites, such as Layer_type (recommended if available from your cellrefs file) or MCC, and click OK. 361 This will be displayed as a layer in the Legend panel on the left. Expand the new layer to show one item in the range, called 'Unspecified'. 362 Right-click on this item and choose Selected range's style to open the Style chooser dialog. 363 Set the new font size as required and click OK. The cell site sectors will now change size to reflect your selection.
The top pane shows a tree-view of the network structure against various statistics produced by the application layer. 365 Use the top pane as necessary to narrow down the data in your selection. All reports appropriate to your selection are displayed under the Suggested tab. If you want to use another report, look under the All tab to view all reports available within the current application layer. 366 Double-click on a report icon to open the report.
This will report on all data selected in the upper tree-view panel. 367 As required, use the buttons at the bottom of the window to Save the report as a web-compatible HTML file set, Print the report to your printer or open the report in Excel using Show Excel Report.
You can now re-run the application layer. iDEN Drive Test application layers Next: Aggregate iDEN data
To change the aggregation ('binning') mode: 1 From the Tools menu, select Preferences to open the Preferences dialog.
Use Queries
Actix provides a querying interface that lets you construct simple or complex expressions. These expressions extract meaningful performance data, based on user-defined thresholds or the value of other expressions. As an example, you can create a query that returns statistics for a particular event such as a dropped callfor a given window in time around that event. This is useful when looking for data trends. Queries are created and edited from the Tools menu, Analysis Manager option. You can create these query types: Filter queries Binned queries Histogram queries Statistical queries Crosstab queries Event queries
You can also: Perform logical and arithmetic operators Save queries to a default Workspace Apply filters to queries
Create a filter
This query is designed to filter poor quality in iDEN data. 1 From the Attribute Explorer, right-click on a data stream and select Filter, then Create a New Filter.
The Filter Wizard opens. 370 Enter 'Poor Quality' as the name of the filter. 371 Click on the right-arrow of the attribute picker and select 'iDEN > DownLink Measurements > ServSQE'. 372 Set the filter operation to 'Less than ( < )'. 373 Set the threshold to '-20'.
374 Click OK to close the Wizard. If you already have a filter applied to the stream, you will see this dialog:
375 Click Yes. Any other data display windows update to show the areas with poor quality. You can turn off this and any other filters from the Attribute Explorer, just by clicking on
them.
Automatic Import
The Automatic Import feature ensures that users are always using the latest network data. Once it is configured correctly, no user action is required. If newer data is available, it is imported automatically during the application start-up.
See also
About using network cell site data Automatic Import Configuring Automatic Import Import Templates Network Data Input Files Defining new types of data
Automatic Import
The Automatic Import feature ensures that users are always using the latest network data. To maintain optimal performance automatic checks are performed before importing new data. This ensures that network data is not imported unless the source data has actually changed. If the Automatic Import is enabled, it will be triggered by any of the following: The network data input file name has changed The template has changed The network data input file date/time is newer than that of the most recent import
Choose a network data file you wish to automatically import. These files are stored in the Network Data Archive and broken out by region. These files have been exported from the network configuration and Metrica systems. Note that in the 'Automatic' folder, each file is overwritten every day. This is to ensure that users always import the latest network data. In the 'Manual' folder, filenames include the date and are kept for historical reference.
Import Templates
What are templates for?
Network data can come from a wide range of databases and systems. Traditionally, sharing this data between software systems from different vendors has been difficult. Import templates provide a fully configurable mechanism to define the format of network data so it may be easily imported into Actix Solutions. Once a template has been defined, it may be shared between users and re-used. New data may be manually imported using a predefined template with just a few clicks, or may be automatically imported using a predefined template with no user effort required.
Import Wizard
The Import Wizard may be used to define templates for manual or automatic Import. With the Import Wizard, a user may define the format of a network data input file and define how the source data is mapped to Actix fields.
Step 1
In this dialog, the user defines the format of the import file. The user can choose the template name, delimiters, heading options, array separators (e.g. for neighbor lists) and the geo-projection system (for translating latitude and longitude to WGS84).
Step 2
In this dialog, the user associates network data with Actix fields. For each Actix field, the user chooses a field from the input data and defines the default value (in case the field is empty).
It is possible to configure the software to load additional fields. For more information, see Defining new types of data . Note that as a minimum, the network data input file must contain certain data. Also, there is a recommended maximum number or rows and columns to ensure good performance.
See also
The Network Explorer .
Required fields
The network data input file shall contain at least the following columns: SiteID Latitude Longitude Sector_ID Azimuth Beamwidth
GSM
BCCH CI
UMTS
SC
IS136
CCCH
Example:
Technology Site Name Site ID Lat Long Sector ID AZIMUT Antenna 3db Hor EIRP BCCH MCC MNC LAC CI BSIC GSM 02AER1 02AER 50.89725 4.485166667 02AER1 40 65 0 Not in use 69 206 1 102 12611 GSM 02AER2 02AER 50.89725 4.485166667 02AER2 160 65 0 Not in use 72 206 1 102 12612 GSM 02AER3 02AER 50.89725 4.485166667 02AER3 280 65 0 Not in use 66 206 1 102 12192
Additional fields may be defined by the user. For more information about defining additional types of data, see : Defining new types of data .
Process overview
As well as the default data fields , it is possible to add new fields so that they may be displayed in Actix software. By default, the supported fields are defined by a configuration file (DefNetworkData.ini). To add new fields, create a custom configuration file: 1 First, make a copy of DefNetworkData.ini with a different name. This new file should have exactly the same name as your cellrefs file except the file type should be .ini. (E.g. If your cellrefs file is called cellrefs.txt, your configuration file should be called cellrefs.ini) Now edit the new configuration file. (e.g. cellrefs.ini) to add the new field: Add the new field to the appropriate network element. Define this new field. For more information, see The .ini configuration file. Finally, use the Import Wizard to edit the import template. This is how you associate data in your network data input file with the new data type. See The Network Explorer .
2 3 4 5
[Network Elements]
This section defines the fields belonging to each network element. All of the required fields are listed here, as well as optional fields. For example:
[Network Elements] GSM_Site SiteI Latit Longitude =Site_Na D ude me GSM_Cell Secto Azimu Beamw EIRP =GSM_Sit r_ID th idth eIDForCe ll BCCH MCC MNC LAC CI BSIC BSCID Face_ Azimu Phase Displ th_Di _Disp ay splay lay
[Fields]
In this section, the following properties of each field are defined: The format group is defined. E.g. String, integer, degrees, percentage etc. Format groups contain rich data type and formatting information. Optionally, fields can be marked as Required or Key. Required means that the field is expected by other Actix functions. Key means that the field is required and must be unique. Some fields are neither Key nor Unique. If the field maps one network element to another, the related field is defined using the Ref keyword.
For example:
[Fields] GSM_SiteIDForCell=Ref:GSM_Site:SiteID:CellSite#Cell:key MSCID=Ref:GSM_MSC:ID:Parent#Child BSCID=Ref:GSM_BSC:ID:Parent#Child Site_Name=string SiteID=string:key Latitude=Degrees:required Longitude=Degrees:required Sector_ID=string:key Azimuth=Degrees:required Beamwidth=Beamwidth Angle:required
DropCallRate=Float
Workspaces
About workspaces About Screen Layouts About the Attribute Explorer About the Statistics Explorer About CDMA StateTip About CDMA Toolkit About binning data Workspace toolbar reference
How to
Set application preferences Use workspaces Open a data file Import a text file Run an analysis on the data Find a specific attribute Show a menu of attribute options View an attribute in a data window Use the Replay Control Use StateForms View a data stream in the Message Browser View the results of a query Create Screen Layouts Open a Screen Layout Export data to a file Use Load Time Queries Merge data streams Modify event detection threshold values Add Screen Layouts to the main menu
About workspaces
The workspace constitutes all data display windows within the Actix application window, together with the panel on the left called the Attribute Explorer.
When you start your Actix Solution, you start with an empty workspace, but you can load a previously saved workspace. A workspace contains the layout of all windows plus all loaded data files and all defined items such as reports and queries .
How to
Use workspaces Open a data file Import a text file Run an analysis on the data Find a specific attribute Show a menu of attribute options View an attribute in a data window Use the Replay Control Use StateForms View a data stream in the Message Browser View the results of a query Create Screen Layouts Open a Screen Layout Export data to a file Use Load Time Queries Merge data streams Modify event detection threshold values Add Screen Layouts to the main menu
See also
About the Attribute Explorer About the Statistics Explorer About CDMA StateTip About CDMA Toolkit About binning data Workspace toolbar reference
For example, when troubleshooting a UMTS dropped call, you might like to arrange your screen with a map and stateform displaying active set RSCP measurements, together with the Replay control and the Attribute Search available. You can now save this arrangement as a screen layout and use it again and again each time you troubleshoot the same type of problem.
Use it to save everything about a current session so Saves nearly everything that you may continue that session, with the same about your current session, data, later on. including which logfiles you have opened. Use it to save any arrangement of views that you like to use quite often. You can re-use the layout again and again with different logfiles. Only saves the arrangement of views on your screen.
Screen layout
See also
Create Screen Layouts Open a Screen Layout Add Screen Layouts to the main menu
You can view stream messages in the Message Browser window by right-clicking on them and selecting Display Message Browser from the pop-up menu. You can open option menus for most objects in the Attribute Explorer. Click on the plus and minus signs in front of an object to open and close that part of the tree. Opening a branch displays any objects at a lower level in the structure.
You can also open data analysis windows called forms or stateforms . Right-click on the stream name, select Displ select the appropriate form. The actual pre-defined forms available are different for each Actix Solution.
Although the Attribute Explorer looks similar to the Microsoft Windows Explorer, the structure shown under a lo display of data there is no corresponding set of files or folders on your hard drive.
Once you have found the appropriate data attribute, you can use the mouse to drag and drop the attribute from onto a data display window. This window can be a map, chart, spreadsheet or table , and can also be opened by r attribute and selecting an option .
When examining the data from a drive test, you may want to step through each data point in sequence. The Rep to do this. Maps, charts, tables and the Message Browser are synchronized, so that if you click on a data point, message or equivalent point is displayed in each open window.
You can also produce artificial data streams by merging data files together. This process is called superstreaming below, a drive test and a call trace file have been superstreamed so that uplink data can be displayed on a map.
You can also superstream PCM Link data (for example, an Abis file) with drive test data.
At the bottom of the Attribute Explorer window are these tabs: The All tab shows all items displayed in the Attribute Explorer.
The Favorites tab shows only certain user-defined attributes, selected by right-clicking on an attribute and Favorites. You may find this useful if you only regularly use a few particular attributes. The Search Results tab is described under Find a specific attribute.
You can also right-click on the attribute to open a pop-up command list. From this list you can select various displ attribute.
See also
View an attribute in a data window View a data stream in the Message Browser Synchronizing binned and message-based views
For example, with Time binning based on one-second intervals, data values are sorted according to the time at which they were logged. All values are sorted into one-second bins. An averaging operation is then performed on the data collected in each bin, to produce a single value. This operation may be a simple Mean or one of a number of other operations such as Mode or Minimum value. The appropriate operation for each data attribute is automatically used. The net result of this process is a data set comprising values averaged from the original set of data values and it is this data set that is viewed on graphs, charts and reports One example of an application of binning is the export of CW scanning data into a propagation prediction tool. This is often done as part of a validation process by RF Planning departments. Since planning tools handle data in geographic bins, it can be useful to convert the CW data into bins of the correct size before exporting. The Location binning mode is ideal for this task. To set the default binning settings for the workspace, from the Tools menu, select Preferences. This opens the Preferences dialog.
See also
Preferences dialog Aggregate CDMA data , GSM data, IS-136 data, iDEN data Create a Binned Query Import a text file Create custom attributes Synchronizing binned and message-based views
Often, data from many messages contributes towards each binned data point. This complicates the synchronization between binned and message views, and this is resolved by the message-based views synchronizing, if possible, to the particular message within the bin that contains the selected attribute. If there is no message with that attribute, a message in the middle of that bin will be selected.
How to...
Set application preferences Use workspaces Open a data file Import a text file Run an analysis on the data Find a specific attribute Show a menu of attribute options View an attribute in a data window Use the Replay Control Use StateForms View a data stream in the Message Browser View the results of a query Create Screen Layouts Open a Screen Layout Export data to a file Use Load Time Queries Merge data streams Modify event detection threshold values Add Screen Layouts to the main menu
Preferences dialog
To display this dialog, from the Tools menu, select Preferences. Note that any changes made here will require either a new workspace or for Analyzer to be restarted before the changes will take effect. Decode Settings, Load Mode etc. are only applied as data files are loaded into Analyzer.
Setting Repository
User data location
Notes
Select the folder to act as a data store for your data repository. Note that a usable data store location will probably have many Gb of available space.
CellRefs
File Location Specifies the text file containing network element data. This file must be in the Actix 'cellrefs' format. The information from this cellrefs file takes effect from the next time a new workspace is created.
Automatic Import
Enable Automatic Import Check this box to override the cellrefs file specified above, and instead automatically import a new file using an import template (both specified below). This is useful in situations where the network element data is liable to be updated frequently. Note that each Automatic Import will overwrite your existing cellrefs.txt file. Automatic Import Input File Specifies the text file containing network element data, which is imported automatically in future when the system determines that the file has been updated. The information from this file takes effect from the next time a new workspace is created. Specifies the template to be used for the automatic network element data import. A set of default templates are provided for the main network technologies.
Maximum Size
Addition Threshold
General Settings
Auto Synch to Stream If this is selected, clicking on a new stream name in the Attribute Explorer automatically synchronizes all data views in the Workspace to show data from that stream. GPS Interpolation This takes effect from the next time a file is loaded. Drive-test data is often affected by inaccuracies in GPS navigation devices. These inaccuracies can be caused in various ways often through the selective availability artificially introduced into the system for civilian signals, but also by atmospheric conditions and operation in urban areas where the line-of-sight to GPS satellites changes very quickly. The end results are jumps or gaps in the positioning of the data. If the distance over time between consecutive points exceeds a threshold ( Distance Units) and GPS Interpolation is checked, the actual position of the data is automatically estimated. Distance Units This takes effect immediately. This defines the distance threshold used for GPS Interpolation . Use Small Toolbars Check this box to use smaller toolbar buttons that will take up less screen space. Uncheck to go back to normal Windows-size buttons. This takes effect from the next time a file is loaded. Switch or Mobile time offsets are used to shift the start time of call trace files taken in various parts of the world so that they can be viewed in other time zones properly.
Time Offsets
Binning
Binning Mode
These settings take effect immediately, and affect files that are currently loaded. TimeThis mode combines data in the time domain. Data points are generated in increments of time, with the duration of each increment determined by the setting Time (ms). Location This mode groups data into bins in a spatial grid. The Location settings are used to define the grid. DistanceThe Distance bin mode combines data in bins corresponding to distance to neighbour by the test mobile. The Distance setting defines this bin size. Message This mode combines data with respect to the timing of received messages. When this mode is selected, data is combined within bins, defined by the time stamps of sequential messages logged by the test mobile.
If using the Time Binning Mode, this specified the duration in milliseconds of each bin size. If using the Distance Binning Mode, this specifies the bin size in units of meters from the first point in the data file. If using the Message Binning Mode, this specifies the number of messages over which the data will be averaged. These settings are used for the Location Binning Mode. The units of the X Size and Y Size will depend on the Projection method selected here. These define the X and Y widths of each cell in the grid for the Location Binning Mode. Map projection systems such as WGS84 will require that the grid size must be entered in units of seconds (of latitude and longitude). With local-grid co-ordinate systems such as UK NGR, all values are entered in units of meters X being the Easting value and Y the Northing.
Location
Projection X Size / Y Size
Decode Settings
Minimum Valid Signal Level (dBm) Ec/Io Threshold for Delay (dB)
These values take effect from the next time a file is loaded. Defines the minimum threshold for which an RSSI is valid. On loading a log file, signals are filtered out below this user-defined range. Used to calculate the threshold at which multipath components are counted in the delay histograms for the Active, Candidate, Neighbor, and Remaining sets from the searcher finger data. Defines how often measurements are reported, measured in chips.
Number of multipaths Defines the number of multipaths that will be extracted and displayed in the Attribute Explorer. Scanner Scan Resolution Pilot Increment Defines how often scanner measurements are reported, measured in chips. Used to calculate the PN Offset (units of 64 chips) associated with the PN Phase (units of chips) data reported in the CDMA air-interface messaging. PN Offset is calculated by dividing the PILOT_PN_PHASE by 64 and then rounding to the closest integer multiple of the PN increment entered. This feature forces all PN Offsets calculated to be part of a valid PN reuse plan. Defines the maximum number of entries in the neighbour lists. When neighbour list entries in the air interface messaging exceed this threshold, an event (TooManyNeighbors) is displayed in the Attribute Explorer and a warning message is indicated in the *.warning output file. Defines when the best server pilot has dropped beneath a tolerable threshold and is considered weak. This displays an event (WeakPilotAlert) in the Attribute Explorer and in the warning file. Check the box to display the Cell Identity (CI) in hexadecimal (rather than decimal) in the Message Browser. Defines the size of a burst for Burst Error Rate calculations (time series parameter: For_FBER). The dB threshold for reporting QUALCOMM Searcher data is set to 15dB. This control is no longer used. Determines whether a multipath component may be evaluated and displayed in the Attribute Explorer. The Explorer will only display the top n multipaths, where n is the Number of multipaths. This enables you to view some measurements at a higher resolution than is logged by the phone. For example, Markov Statistics are logged every two seconds for 100 frames. Checking this box break this information into messages for each frame and places them evenly every 20ms in the file.
Display Cell Identity as Hex No of Frame Errors in a Burst Searcher Threshold Ec/Io Threshold (dB)
Show Nortel call trace No Load the data normally. data selection dialog Yes Displays the dialog, which provides basic information for each call trace and a check box to select the trace. Select only those traces you wish to load.
These options control the loading of scanner data (collected concurrently with network drive data). At present, this feature has only been implemented for CW scanners from Agilent, Comarco, or Tems RSAT.
Load Mode
Select between: No Scanner Data Disables loading of scanner data. No by_chan data Loads just the 'top n' or 'best server' scanner data. Load all scanner data Loads all the scanner data.
PCM Link
Load Mode This is used for PCM Link data such as A, Abis and Gb files. Select between: Minimal (default) Only loads data produced by the currently attached Load Time Queries. Full Loads the entire file. PCU Abis Vendor A-interface file standard For example, Alcatel. ITU (Europe) / ANSI (USA). This setting takes effect from the next time a file is loaded. These settings take effect from the next time a file is loaded. Select No to load all data from an Agilent file. Select Yes to display the dialog when opening an Agilent file. The dialog allows selection of specific data sets rather than loading the entire file. The following controls can also be selected from the Agilent dialog: Intermediate file handling Intermediate file folder Remove intermediate files after load / Keep intermediate files in log-file folder / Keep intermediate files in selected folder. Select the file location.
Agilent MDB
Show Agilent data selection dialog
Agilent SD5
Show Agilent-specific attributes EcIo Nth Best Sorting
These settings take effect from the next time a file is loaded. Check the box to show Agilent-specific attributes. Sort by EcIo Aggregate/EcIo Max. Switch Direction Connectors on Nethawk probes are often crossed. If this occurs, check this box to decode uplink messages as downlink and downlink messages as uplink. This sets the values for the WCDMA Soft Handover algorithm, as indicated in the 3GPP specifications. Add/Remove/Replace cell. Add/Remove/Replace cell.
Nethawk UMTS
WCDMA
Reporting Range Event1A/1B/1C (dB) Hysteresis Event1A/1B/1C (dB)
Add/Remove/Replace cell. Specify the maximum size of the Active Set (1-8). Decodes Invex3G files directly by reading the bytes from the file. The original and default way of decoding Invex3G files was through the Invex3G reader. Analyzer decode made calls to the Invex3G reader to obtain the message bytes to be decoded. Using the reader adds overhead causing longer file load times. The Native File Decoder option speeds up the decode greatly. Currently this functionality works only for CDMA data except CDMA PN Scanner data - so it works for files containing CDMA 1x, CDMA EV-DO and IP data.
Invex3G
Select between: Logging Device Time CDMA System Time allows easy automatic super-streaming of call trace and drive test files.
Use workspaces
To Create a new workspace Open an existing workspace Save a workspace Do this Select File, New Workspace Select File, Open Workspace Select File, Save Workspace As Select File, Save Workspace All loaded data files and positions of all data display windows such as maps and charts and their contents. Open a new Attribute Explorer window Search for an attribute Add an attribute to the Favorites tab Select View, Display Attribute Explorer Select Tools, Find Attribute. See here . Right-click on an attribute and select Add To Favorites. Selected attributes appear in the Favorites tab:
How to
Batch load data files
If an Import Configuration was saved from a previous text import, you have the option to use it for this import. 2 Select the delimiters to separate the data fields. The Data Preview pane shows the raw data, with lines indicating how the data will be separated. If appropriate, select First line contains attribute names to automatically name each data column. Appropriate formatting and binning options will be selected where possible. 3 If you did not select the 'First line' option, click on each data field and enter an Attribute name or select on from the attribute picker (shown below).
You can also change the default formatting and binning options.
Bin operation
Count Mean Linear Mean GSM RxQual Max Most Most Hold 4
If desired, save the Import Configuration defined in this Wizard, and click Finish to complete the import. The text file is displayed in the Attribute Explorer just like any other data file.
Here are the results from the above example if the Find All button was clicked: 5 When you have finished your search, click Done to dismiss the search controls.
See also
Add to Favorites Display on Table Display on new map Display on new Workbook Display on new chart
2 3
Select one of the Display options. The attribute now appears in a new data window of the selected type.
If a chart window is already open, you can also drag an attribute from the Attribute Explorer and drop it onto an existing data window.
See also
About charts About maps About tables About workbooks Use the Replay Control
Click on the Step buttons to move forwards and backwards by one message at a time. Note that several clicks may be required before any change is visible on the Map, depending on the binning settings. Click on the Play buttons to move at a selectable multiple of real-time speed through the data. In this case, some messages may be dropped as necessary to allow the data to be highlighted at the set speed. The Select Options button allows you to override this and force the Replay control to Play All Messages.
Use StateForms
While examining data on a map, you can also view data attributes for the same data point by using a StateForm. 1 2 From the View menu, select Display Form and then the appropriate form. In the map window, click Select and select a data point.
The StateForms window now displays a variety of attributes based on the data point you selected. A typical StateForm looks similar to this:
If you have more than one stream that you want to view using the StateForm, right-click on the StateForm window and select Stream Selector. This toggles on or off a drop-down menu at the top of the StateForm from which you can select another data stream. Advanced users can use the Design Mode of this feature to create new forms as required.
See also
Create a new StateForm
At the top of the window, under the Stream Selector, is a drop-down control allowing you to select from available sheets in the current StateForm, and a set of buttons that allows you to create a New Sheet or File, Open and Save Files, and open the Sheet Manager (for controlling all the sheets you create):
You can toggle the display of this toolbar by right-clicking on the form and selecting Sheet Selector. Underneath the Sheet Selector toolbar are buttons for Deleting, Cutting, Copying and Pasting objects, and Toggling Design Mode:
Next to these are buttons for Selecting objects, and for creating text Labels, Attribute Value, Array Attribute Value, Time Chart and Scan Chart objects plus a Group Box for visually dividing up the StateForm:
The Design Mode area that represents the final StateForm is indicated by a background of dots. On the right of the window, display characteristics are shown for a selected object (in this example, an Attribute Bar in the upper right of the StateForm has been selected). You can also right-click on the StateForm window and select New File, Open or Save.
3 4
Click in the empty field under 'Attribute' and type in a data attribute name or select one from the attribute picker. Change any other characteristics for the object as required.
See also
Sheet Manager Create a Time Chart Edit Series Properties Create a Scan Chart Actix expression syntax & examples
Sheet Manager
When in a StateForm with the Sheet Selector and related buttons visible, you can open the Sheet Manager dialog by clicking the last button on the right:
A StateForm can have one or more sheets, which can be opened using the Sheet Selector control. The Sheet Manager allows you to copy and move sheets to and from new and existing StateForms. The Manager shows two panes, the one on the left for the current StateForm and the other pane as a working area which can be saved in its own right as a new StateForm. The buttons in the middle copy a selected sheet from its current pane to the other side. Delete Removes a selected sheet from its pane. Rename Allows you to rename the selected sheet. Open Displays the sheets of a selected StateForm file in the right pane. The name of the StateForm is displayed above the pane. Save Saves the StateForm in the right pane. Save As Saves the sheets in the right pane as a new StateForm file. The name of the StateForm is displayed above the pane. New File Deletes all existing sheets from the right pane, ready to create a new StateForm. Cancel Closes the window. Any changes to the left pane are ignored. Done Closes the window. Any changes to the left pane are now part of the current StateForm.
Then draw the chart where you want it, and set the size by dragging or by using the property panel shown below.
Next, double-click Chart on the property panel or click the [] button to open the Time Chart Properties dialog:
The chart properties allow every configurable aspect of the chart to be set (this information is persisted in the XML StateForms file along with all other StateForms information). The key aspects of the configuration are:
Pixels increment
This value sets how many horizontal pixels on the computer display are actually used for the chart display. The reason for controlling this is to avoid over-writing chart data with other data and also to make the chart display faster by avoiding duplicating information. In general, point series will be drawn with a thickness of 2 or more pixels (points of 1 pixel width are quite difficult to see), hence, it makes sense not to draw a point at every pixel if each point is more than one pixel wide. For example: say the Pixels increment is set to 2 and there are 600 pixels horizontally across the chart series display area. Only every other pixel will be equated to a data point in the stream (300 pixels used to represent data points). If the time-range for the chart is set to 600000 (10 minutes) then each used pixel corresponds to a time-range of 2000ms (2 seconds).
Background General
The general background of the chart is the area on which the series and the legends are drawn.
Before/after data
This controls the color and cross-hatching of the background when the chart displays X points at a time before (or after) the earliest (or latest) valid data point time in the stream.
X Axis
This is the color of the background where the X Axis is drawn (if present) that is, below the main series.
Y Axis + Legend
The color of the background of the Y axis and legend area (if present) to the right of the main series.
Fonts
This controls the fonts used to display the legend text, event text and X axis. The font name, height and (in some cases) text color is controlled from these settings.
Slider height (0 = no slider) The slider allows the series display to be panned left and right using a scroll-bar. This setting controls the height of the slider bar as well as the height of the X scale picker which is a drop-down list of available time-ranges for the X axis. Selecting 0 for the slider height removes the slider and X scale pickers. Marker Expr
This is an expression in the standard Actix expression syntax which is used to define the values displayed at the minimum (left) and maximum (right) points of the X Axis. Generally, this will be a time related value such as the formatted value of the time at this point. Note that the expression Time will return the relative time from the start of the stream (in ms). The actual time can be found by adding this to the absolute time at the start of the stream.
Series
This is a list of the series displayed in the chart. Click the Add button to add a new series. Select a series by clicking it. Use the Edit button to edit a series. Press Delete to delete the series. Add and Edit result in the Series Properties dialog being displayed.
Line Settings
This area controls the Width, Color and Style for various lines drawn in the chart:
Sync-line
This is the vertical line indicating the current sync-point.
Axis-line
This is the line used to form the (optional) Y Axis.
Grid-line
The lines drawn (optionally) to show various Y Axis levels as a horizontal grid across the chart.
Legend + Axis
These settings control the layout of the Y Axis and Legend area.
Left margin
The space between the right of the series display area and the legend/y-axis display area (in pixels).
Axis width
The width reserved for drawing a (vertical) Y axis (in pixels).
Legend width
The width (in pixels) of the area reserved for drawing the legend text (note that each series can modify this value often this is needed when horizontal legend text is mixed with vertical as these obviously have different widths).
Global Expressions
These expressions can be used in Tool-tips (see the Tool-tip details under the Series Properties). To Add/Delete/Edit, use the buttons to the side. These expressions use the standard Actix expression syntax which is described in Actix expression syntax & examples.
Series Type Various series types are available, described below. This setting controls the availability of some of the other dialog options.
Point a single point for each data value. Line a line drawn between the previous (valid) data value and the current data value. Gaps appear when the previous point is invalid. If the previous point is invalid and the next point is also invalid, a single point is drawn. Bar a vertical bar from the base of the series Y axis up to the data value. Data values equal to the minimum value on the Y axis appear as a single point. Rail this is like a Bar but the height is fixed (not dependent on value). It is useful for displaying state changes, and so on. Event includes an icon, vertical line through event, event text and event number (counting from the first event of this type in the stream) which can all (optionally) be displayed.
Data-Tip Expression
This controls the text displayed when the user moves the mouse over a data value in the series (including event icons, and so on). The expression can include Global Expressions by putting %% around the Global Expression name. For example, if a Global Expression is called LevAndQual then it can be included in a Data-Tip by putting %%LevAndQual%% in the expression. The effect of this is exactly as though the text of the specified Global Expression had been copied into this expression in place of the %%globexprname%%.
Format Group
Format groups are used to control formatting of values, specify value ranges, and so on. If a Value Expression is used (the Value Expression box is not blank), then the selection in this drop-down list sets the Format Group used to format values of the Value Expression, and so on.
Format Mode
When a value is formatted using a Format Group, various settings (for example, the presence of units text on the end of the formatted value) can be controlled using this drop-down list.
Attribute Attribute
If a Value Expression is not used, the setting made using this Actix attribute picker controls the data attribute to be displayed on the chart series.
Array Idx
This is the Array Index, which is used for array attributes.
Event Line
This check-box controls whether an Event Line (vertical line drawn through each event) is displayed.
Event Text
This is the event text to display with icon.
Number
This displays the Event number (of the specified event) in the stream. For instance, the first Handover OK in a stream will have number 1, the second 2, and so on.
Y Height is Percent
Checking this box controls whether the Y Height value is a percentage of the overall chart series display area, or (if not checked) is in pixels. The use of a percentage allows scaleable chart displays to be defined. For instance, a chart can be defined in which one band shows a line chart and one shows a bar chart. These can be defined to have percentage based heights (and offsets) and hence to scale up or down based on the overall chart height.
Y Offset
This defines the position (in pixels or percent) of the base (bottom) of the Y axis for this series within the overall chart series display area.
Y Offset is Percent
This controls whether the Y Offset value is in pixels (if not checked) or is a percentage (if checked) of the overall chart series display area.
Y Height is Max
If checked this box overrides the other Y Height settings and sets the Y Height to the whole of the chart series display area above the Y Offset. So, for instance, if this is checked and the Y Offset is 0 then this series occupies the entire chart series display area.
Horizontal Legend
Checking this box causes the legend text for this series to be shown horizontally rather than vertically. Generally, you need to use the 'Extra legend width' with this setting to get a wide enough space for the legend text to be displayed.
Show Min/Max
Checking this box causes Min and Max values to be displayed next to the Y Axis.
Show Y Axis
Checking this box causes the Y Axis to be displayed.
Legend Text
This is the text used for the legend. If blank, the Value Expression (if not blank) or Attribute Name (if Value Expression is blank) is used.
Grid Lines
This determines if grid lines are displayed horizontally across the chart area.
Next, double-click Chart on the property panel or click the [] button to open the Bar Chart Properties dialog:
The chart properties allow every configurable aspect of the chart to be set (this information is persisted in the XML StateForms file along with all other StateForms information).
Background General
The background colour of the chartspace.
X axis
The background colour of the area below the X axis.
Y axis
The background colour of the area to the right of the Y axis.
X Values
This is an array of the values to be used on the X axis. So in the GSM Neighbour example shown above the X value is NborBCCH.
Y Values
This is an array of the Y value broken down by the X value. In the GSM Neighbour example above the attribute NborRxLev_by_arfcn is used as the Arfcn is equivalent in this instance with the BCCH giving the RxLev of the Neighbour cells broken down by BCCH.
Scan Msgs
This must be set to an attribute that is present in all messages that the chart should look at. It is a bit like a mandatory exclusive filter. So for Neighbour RxLev measurements the NborBCCH might be a sensible attribute to set.
Array Index for Scan Msgs Font Name + Height (pixels) + Color Bar Label
This is the font/colour of the text expression that is put at the top of each bar.
Legend
This is the font/colour of the text expression that forms the Y-axis Legend.
X Axis
This is the fon/colour of the text expression that is placed at the bottom of each bar.
Axis Label
This is the text expression that is displayed down the Y axis.
Bar Label
This is the text expression shown at the top of each bar.
Axis Line
Line settings of the Axis lines
Grid Line
Line settings of the Grid lines
Color Ranges
This can be used to define a colour range expression that defines the colours for different values.
Chart Left
The amount of space in pixels to the left of the chart
Chart Right
The amount of space in pixels to the right of the chart
Y Axis Left
The amount of space in pixels to the right of the Y axis.
Bar Space %
The amount of space in percentage of bar width between bars.
Y axis Width
The width of the Y axis.
Legend Width
The width of the Legend in the Y axis
Legend Text
The Text expression that is displayed on the Y axis.
Legend On
Enable/Disable the Legend
Legend Horiz
When enabled the Legend is displayed horizontally rather than vertically.
Show Min/Max
When enabled the maximum and minimum values are shown on the Y axis.
See also
Create a new StateForm Sheet Manager Create a Time Chart Edit Series Properties Actix expression syntax & examples
See also
Expression Builder function reference
Select Display Message Browser. The data stream now appears in the Message Browser window.
See also
About the Message Browser
See also
About charts About tables About workbooks Use workspaces Edit an existing analysis
From the View menu, select Screen Layouts, Save Screen Layout to open this dialog:
The Save Screen Layout dialog allows you determine what happens when the screen layout is re-opened. Windows to Save - This area shows a list of currently open windows. - Uncheck any windows that you do not want to include in the screen layout configuration. - Click on the window name to edit the name (for example, Map1 in the above example). Changing the name here will change the title of the window when the screen layout is
re-opened. Note that you can only edit the names of windows. Close all windows before opening this layout - This checkbox determines what happens to other windows when the screen layout is opened. If the box is not checked, the new windows will appear on top of other windows which are already open. File Name Specify the name and location of the Screen Layout configuration file.
See also
Screen Layout configuration files Share Screen Layouts
You can also right-click on the stream name and select Screen Layouts, Open Screen Layout.
See also
About Screen Layouts Create Screen Layouts Add Screen Layouts to the main menu
Once you have selected one or more Load Time queries, all subsequently loaded data files will be processed by the queries, and you can analyse the data just like normal data attributes.
See also
About Load Time, Full Load and Minimal Load Set as Load Time query Import a query Superstream PCM Link and Drive Test data
Time Offsets select this to apply a shift to the time value for one of the streams. This is a good option for superstreaming mobile and land-based log files collected using speech quality equipment. 5 Click OK to start the superstreaming.
See also
Superstream PCM Link and Drive Test data
See also
CDMA thresholds GSM thresholds UMTS thresholds
You will need to restart your Actix solution before you can see the Screen Layout appear in the menu:
You could set the Menu and Menu Label to create an entirely new menu item:
Screen Layouts that are saved as Menu Options are saved (together with their related subfolders) in the folder: \Actix\Analyzer\ScreenLayouts To remove the layout, delete the appropriate configuration files.
See also
About Screen Layouts Create Screen Layouts Open a Screen Layout
Does this
Discards the current workspace for an empty workspace. Discards the current workspace for a specified workspace. Saves the current workspace as an .xml file. Loads a specified logfile.