COMPASS

Application Note 1
Handover Analysis

Handover problems
Radio problems

Equipment
problems
Roaming
problems

Configuration problems
Cabling
problems

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Handover analysis
MSC
MSC
BSC
BSC

BTS

BTS

Inter MSC handover.

The handover function

The handover function is a very
important function in GSM
systems. If handovers fail it leads to
a high number of dropped calls
when mobile phones are moving
around in the network.
This application note will focus
on handovers between BSCs.
When a mobile phone is
activated the BSC informs it about
which neighbour cells to measure
the receiving level from. During the
call the mobile phone sends
measurement reports approx. twice
every second with information on
receiving level and quality of the
serving cell and receiving level of
neighbour cells. The BTS sends
similar reports on receiving level
and quality of the signal from the
mobile phone.
Based on these measurement
reports, the BSC decides when to
make a handover and to which
neighbour cell to make the
handover.
If the target cell for the
handover is within another BSC,
the BSC of the source cell has to
ask the MSC to perform the
handover.
The MSC asks the BSC of the
target cell if it is possible to make
the handover. If the handover is

possible, the MSC commands the

handover.
If handover is not possible, the
MSC and the BSC are informed
why it is not possible to make the
handover.
The following illustrations show
the messages used for handovers.

BSC

MSC

Handover required
Handover required rej.

Rejected outgoing handover.

BSC

MSC
BSC

MSC

Handover required
Handover command

Handover request

Clear Command

Handover failure

(Cause: handover successful)

Successful outgoing handover.

BSC

MSC

Handover request
Handover request ack.
Handover detect

Rejected incoming handover.

BSC

Handover required
Handover command
Handover failure

Handover complete

Failed handover.
Successful incoming handover.

MSC

Handover analysis
When handovers are to be analysed
the COMPASS software has several
different displays that can sort the
handovers based on different
criteria. One of them is outgoing
handovers at A interface. In this
display the failure rate of handovers
between any pair of cells is shown.
By double clicking on the number
of failed handovers the cause of the
failures is shown. In order to
confirm that the problem is severe
for the network, the failure rate
should be high and the total
number of handovers should be
significant before the problem is
investigated any further.

Cause of handover failure

The reason for the failed handovers
is indicated in the cause value of
the handover failure or handover
required reject messages. Some
typical examples are:
Radio interface failure cause. This is
not necessarily a coverage problem,
but could also be caused by
interference, wrong cell parameters,
BTS hardware problems, antenna

Outgoing handovers at A interface.

Cause for failed handovers.

problems, etc.
No radio resource available means
that there is no free radio channel
in the target cell.
Invalid cell. This is related to the
target cell that is unknown in the
MSC database.
Invalid message contents indicates
signalling errors.

Equipment failure tends to indicate

an equipment failure, but this is not
always the case. The reason is that
software engineers must use ETSI
specified causes. When certain
failures have no precise cause
specified, equipment failure is
usually applied, as this is the most
common cause in the BSSMAP
layer.

Unanswered handover attempts.

Protocol analysis
When messages for calls with failed
handovers are analysed it is easy to
see that the handover problem is
causing a high load on the network.
Every time the handover is rejected
the BSC will continue to require a
handover until the call is either
dropped or handed over to

another cell. In
some cases the
equipment is
Dropped call caused by handover failure.
configured not to
answer the handover-required
to determine the reason for the
message. In this case the COMPASS problem without changing the
software will classify the handover
configuration, so that the cause of
as interrupted and it is impossible
the handover rejects can be found.

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to the highest technical standards. As a result, the specifications in this document are subject to change without notice.
ISO 9001 certified.
NCOMPASS-APP101-0009-A4.

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