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GPRS Principles

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Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Foreword
z

GPRS principle is the basic part of the whole GPRS system


and the succeeding products learning.

This slide will help us to understand the GPRS system


networking and wireless subsystem etc.

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page1

Objectives
z

Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:

Know the GPRS system structure

Describe the GPRS important interfaces

Understand the GPRS channel structures

Master the GPRS relevant numbering

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page2

Contents
1. GPRS System Overview
2. GPRS Architecture
3. GPRS Network Interfaces & Protocols
4. GPRS Wireless Subsystem
5. GPRS Location Area

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page3

Circuit Switch (CS)


G

A
CS

CS

B
H
C

CS

E
K
F

CS

CS

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Page4

Packet Switch (PS)


PS

PS

PS

1
1

2
3

3
2
1

PS

1 2 3

2 1 3

PS

PS

PS

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Page5

GSM Development Evolution


3G

2.75 G

ECSD
38.8 Kb/s

2.5 G

HSCSD
14.4 Kb/s

UMTS

384 Kb/s

EGPRS EDGE
59.2 Kb/s

GPRS
21.4 Kb/s

CS

2G

GSM

9.6 Kb/s

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

PS

Page6

What is GPRS and EDGE?


z

Abbreviation of General Packet Radio Service.

GPRS is an end-to-end packet switching technology


provided on the basis of GSM technology.

It has much interactive services with the existing GSM


circuit switching system.

GPRS supports wireless access rate of up to 171.2Kbps.

EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution)

EGPRS (Enhanced GPRS)

EGPRS supports wireless access rate of up to 473.6Kbps.

ECSD (Enhanced CSD, Enhanced HSCSD-High Speed Circuit


Switched Data)

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page7

GPRS is the abbreviation of General Packet Radio Service.


GPRS network introduces packet switching functional entities in the GSM network
to implement data transmission in the packet mode.
GPRS can be regarded as the service expansion based on the GSM network for
supporting mobile subscribers access the Internet of other packet data networks via
packet data mobile terminal. Making full use of the existing GSM network,small
investment and quick rewarding,all of these benefit to protect the existing
investment and obtain maximum benefits for the operators.

GPRS&EDGE Coding Rate


Kbps

59.2

60.00

54.4

50.00

GPRS

44.8

EGPRS

40.00

29.6

30.00
22.4

21.4

20.00
13.4

10.00
0.00

17.6

15.6

14.8

9.05

CS-1

8.8

CS-2

CS-3

CS-4

MCS-1

11.2

MCS-2

MCS-3

MCS-4

MCS-5

MCS-6

GMSK

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

MCS-7

MCS-8

MCS-9

8PSK

Page8

Adjustments to GSM Network

BSS

Pb

CS Core
Network

PCU
Gs
Gb

PS Core
Network

BSS

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

NSS

Page9

10

Most Popular GPRS Applications


z

E-mail

Web Browsing

Information Services

Moving Images

Still Images

Remote LAN Access

File Transfer

Sport Report
Public
Information
Weather Forecast Service Traffic Information

Stock Market

Still Images

Job Despatch

Live News

Moving Bank

Personal
Information
Service

File Transfer

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Email

Web Browsing

Page10

11

Advantages and Disadvantages of


GPRS
z

Advantages

Share resource with GSM

High resource utilization

Fast transmission rate

Always on line

Short access time

Disadvantages

Slower data rates in practice than anticipated in theory

Suboptimal modulation technique

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page11

12

Contents
1. GPRS System Overview
2. GPRS Architecture
3. GPRS Network Interfaces & Protocols
4. GPRS Wireless Subsystem
5. GPRS Location Area

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page12

13

CS & PS Logic Structure


C

GMSC

PSTN

E
D
CS

B
T
S

Abis

G-Abis

MSC/VLR

TRAU

BSC

PCU

Pb

PS

HLR
AUC
GPRS
Register

Gs
Gb

Gr
SGSN

BSS
Gn
Gc

Internet

GGSN
Gi

CN
Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page13

14

GPRS System Structure


HLR

SMS-GMSC
SMS-IWMSC

MSC/VLR

EIR

SS7
WAP Gateway
BSS
MS

Gs

BSC

Gd

Gb

Gr

Gf
Gn

Gc

Firewall

Gi

GGSN

Abis
BTS

Intranet/Internet
RADIUS

PCU

SGSN

Gn

GPRS
Backbone

Ga

CG

Gi

ATM/DDN/ISDN/Ethernet, etc

X.25
BSS

SGSN

BSC

MS

GGSN

Gb

CNCN-PS

Abis
BTS

DNS

BG

PCU

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Other PLMN

Gp

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15

GPRS MS
z

Class A

Class B

The MS is attached to both GPRS and other GSM services and the
MS supports simultaneous operation of GPRS and other GSM
services.

The MS is attached on GPRS network and GSM network


simultaneously but not enabling circuit switching and packet switching
services at the same time.
services are selected automatically.

Class C

The MS is attached to either GPRS or other GSM services. Alternate


use only.
services are selected manually or default selected service.

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page15

16

Functions of PCU (Packet Control Unit)


z

Packet wireless resource management function (RLC/MAC


protocol function)

Wireless resource management functions of GPRS BSS

Circuit paging coordination

G-Abis interface processing function

Function related with GPRS BTS

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page16

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Functions of PCU (Packet Control Unit)


z

Pb interface processing function

LAPD link between BSC and PCU

Layer-3 signaling between BSC and PCU

Gb interface processing function

Data packet relay on wireless interface and Gb interface

Mobility management (cell updating procedure)

Downlink traffic control (wireless QoS guarantee)

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page17

Provides physical and logical data interface out of the BSS for packet data
traffic
LLC layer PDU segmentation/reassembly of RLC blocks
Packet data transfer scheduling
ARQ functions
Radio channel management function

18

Functions of SGSN (Serving GPRS


Support Node)
z

Packet routing

MS Session management

Authentication and Ciphering

Mobility management

Billing information collection

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page18

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Functions of GGSN (Gateway


GPRS Support Node)
z

Interface between GPRS backbone and external PDNs.

PDP Conversion and context management

IP address assignment management

Packet routing to/from SGSNs

Billing information collection

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page19

20

Functions of CG (Charging
Gateway)
z

Real-time collection of GPRS bills

Temporary storage and buffering of GPRS bills

Pre-processing of GPRS bills

Sending GPRS bills to the billing center

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page20

21

Functions of MSC/VLR
z

When Gs interface is installed, MSC/VLR can support

Establishment and maintenance of the association between


SGSN and MSC/VLR.

GPRS combined mobility management procedure.

Combined IMSI/GPRS attachment/detachment.

Combined location area/routing area updating.

Circuit paging coordination function.

The wireless resource usage can be greatly improved.

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page21

22

Functions of HLR/AUC
z

Saving and updating GPRS subscriber subscription data

User authentication

Providing location/routing information and processing


needed in mobility management and routing, for example:

Saving and updating user service SGSN number and address

GPRS user location deletion indication

Whether MS is reachable.

Subscriber tracing (optional)

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page22

23

Functions of SMS-GMSC/SMS-IWMSC
z

The SMS-GMSC and SMS-IWMSC are connected to the SGSN


via the Gd interface to enable GPRS MSs to send and receive
SMs over GPRS radio channels.

After Gd interface is installed, short messages can be sent via


GPRS, which reduces the occupation on SDCCH and cuts down
the influence on voice services by SMS services.

The operator can select to send SMS via MSC or SGSN.


SMS

MS

Gd

SGSN

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

SMS-IWMSC
SMS-GMSC
Page23

SMS-IWMSC(Interworking MSC For Short Message Service):A function of an MSC capable of


receiving a short message from within the PLMN and submitting it to the recipient SC.
For example:The MSC forwards the SM to the SMS-IWMSC, which is responsible for processing
SMs submitted by the MS.
SMS-IWMSC:The SMS Interworking MSC acts as an interface between the PLMN and a Short
Message Service Centre (SC) to allow short messages to be submitted from Mobile Stations to the
SC.
SMS-GMSC(Gateway MSC For Short Message Service):A function of an MSC capable of receiving
a short message from an SC, interrogating an HLR for routing information and SMS info, and
delivering the short message to the VMSC of the recipient MSFor example:The SMS system submits
the message transfer request to the SMS-GMSC, which is responsible for processing delivered SMs.
SMS-GMSC:The SMS Gateway MSC (SMS-GMSC) acts as an interface between a Short Message
Service Centre and the PLMN, to allow short messages to be delivered to mobile stations from the
Service Centre (SC)

24

Functions of BG (Border Gateway)


z

BG enables the following protocols necessary for interworking between


operators

Security protocol: IPSec and firewall are recommended

Routing protocol: BGP is recommended

Billing protocol: determined by the operators with negotiation; BG might be


needed in collecting billing information

It is normally based on routers

It can be combined with GGSN in physical.

BG does not exclusively belong to the GPRS network.


Gp
GSN
PLMN A

R
R

R
R

BG

BG

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

PLMN B

GSN

Page24

IPsec (IP security) is a standardized framework for securing Internet Protocol (IP)
communications by encrypting and/or authenticating each IP packet in a data stream.
A protocol for exchanging routing information between gateway host s (each with
its own router ) in a network of autonomous system s. BGP is often the protocol
used between gateway hosts on the Internet.

25

Functions of DNS (Domain Name System)


z

The following two types of DNSs may be adopted in the GPRS


network:

The DNS between the GGSN and external networks

The DNS on the GPRS backbone network. Provides two types of


functions:

a. Resolve the GGSN IP address based on the Access Point Name (APN)
in the process of the PDP context activation;

b. Resolve original SGSN IP address based on the original routing area No.
in the process of the update of inter-SGSN routing area.
DNS Server

DNS does not exclusively


belong to the GPRS network.
SGSN

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

GPRS
Backbone

SGSN

Page25

DNSDomain Name System


The following two types of DNSs may be adopted in the GPRS network:
The DNS between the GGSN and external networks: Implements resolution of the
domain name of external network, and functions as the ordinary DNS on the Internet.
The DNS on the GPRS backbone network. Provides two types of functions:
a. Resolve the GGSN IP address based on the Access Point Name (APN) in
the process of the PDP context activation;
b. Resolve original SGSN IP address based on the original routing area No.
in the process of the update of inter-SGSN routing area. The DNS is not a
proprietary entity of the GPRS network.

26

Functions of RADIUS Server (Remote


Authentication Dial In User Service Server)
z

It is a protocol used by Remote Access Server's for user


Authentication.

The RADIUS server stores the authentication and


authorization information of subscribers.

It also performs subscriber identity authentication in the


case of non-transparent access.

RADIUS Server does not exclusively belong to the GPRS


network.

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page26

27

Contents
1. GPRS System Overview
2. GPRS Architecture
3. GPRS Network Interfaces & Protocols
4. GPRS Wireless Subsystem
5. GPRS Location Area

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page27

28

Contents
3. GPRS Network Interfaces & Protocols
3.1 Interface and Protocol Stack
3.2 Um Interface
3.3 G-abis/Pb Interface
3.4 Gb Interface
3.5 Gs Interface

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page28

29

Network interface types


SGSN
SGSN

GPRS backbone
network

IP interface

Gi

GGSN
GGSN

Gn

PDP network
(IP/X.25)

SGSN
SGSN

SS7 interface
Gc

Gd

Gb
Gr
Gs

MT
TE

Um

MSC

HLR

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Page29

BSS

SMSGMSC

MS

30

Interface in GPRS Network


Interface
R

Description
The reference point between the Mobile Terminal (MT) (for example, mobile
phone)
and the Terminal Equipment (TE) (for example, the portable computer).

Um

The interface between MS and GPRS network side

Gb

The interface between the SGSN and BSS.

Gc

The interface between the GGSN and HLR (optional).

Gd

The interface between SMS and GMSC


The interface between SMS-IWMSC and SGSN

Gi

The reference point between the GPRS and external packet data

Gn

The interface between SGSNs and between SGSN and GGSN in the PLMN.

Gp

The interface between GSNs of different PLMNs.

Gr

The interface between the SGSN and HLR.

Gs

The interface between the SGSN and MSC/VLR (optional).

Gf

The interface between the SGSN and EIR (optional).

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page30

31

Data transmission plane


Application

IP/X.25

IP/X.25

relay

SNDCP
LLC
RLC

z
z

relay

BSSGP

MAC

MAC

Network
Service

Physical
Layer

Physical
Layer

Physical
Layer

MS
z

RLC

Um

Gb

BSS

MAC: Media Access Control


RLC: Radio Link Control
LLC: Logical Link Control

z
z
z

GTP

GTP

SNDCP

LLC

UDP/TCP

UDP/TCP

BSSGP

IP

IP

Network
Service

L2

L2

Physical
Layer

Physical
Layer

Physical
Layer

SGSN

IP/X.25

Gn

L2 (MAC)

Physical
Layer
GGSN

Gi

BSSGP: BSS GPRS Protocol


SNDCP: Sub-Network Dependency Convergence Protocol
GTP: GPRS Tunneling Protocol

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page31

The Relay function provides buffering and parameter mapping between the RLC/MAC and the BSSGP. For example, on the
uplink the RLC/MAC shall provide a TLLI. The Relay function shall then make it available to BSSGP.

32

MS-SGSN signaling plane


GMM/SM

GMM/SM

LLC

LLC
relay
Relay

RLC

RLC

BSSGP

BSSGP

MAC

MAC

Network
Service

Network
Service

GSM RF

GSM RF

L1bis

L1bis

Um

MS

BSS

GMM: GPRS Mobility Management

SM: Session Management

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Gb

SGSN

Page32

Um interface:
Physical layer: wireless coding/decoding, channel multiplexing and mapping, wireless link
control and wireless measurement
RLC/MAC: wireless interface media access and link control function
LLC:

providing a reliable logic link between MS and SGSN for data transmission. LLC

protocol can support both acknowledged mode and unacknowledged mode. It supports both encryption and
decryption modes
SNDCP: Layer-3 transmission protocol. As the transition between the network layer and the
subnet layer, it implements segmentation/assembling and compression/decompression on IP/X.25 subscriber data
GMM/SM: Layer-3 signaling protocol

Gb interface:
L1bis: physical transmission layer based on E1 or T1
NS: based on FR; used to transmit BSSGP PDU of the upper layer
BSSGP: On the transmission platform, this protocol is used to provide a
connectionless link between BSS and SGSN for unacknowledged data transmission; on the
signaling platform, it is used to transmit QoS and routing information related with the
wireless section; it is also used to process paging requests and implement traffic control on
data transmission

33

Contents
3. GPRS Network Interfaces & Protocols
3.1 Interface and Protocol Stack
3.2 Um Interface
3.3 G-abis/Pb Interface
3.4 Gb Interface
3.5 Gs Interface

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page33

34

SM (Session Management): processes procedure that GPRS


MS connects to the external data network.

SNDCP (Subnetwork Dependent Convergence Protocol):


Multiplexing of several PDPs, compression / decompression
and Segmentation of user data.

LLC (Logical Link Control ): This layer provides a highly


reliable ciphered logical link between an MS and its SGSN.

RLC:Segmentation and re-assembly between LLC PDUs and


RLC blocks.

MAC: defines the procedures that enable multiple mobile


stations to share a common transmission medium.

SMS

GMM (GPRS Mobility Management): operates in the signalling


plane of GPRS supports mobility management functionality.

SNDCP

GMM/SM

Protocol Layer of Um Interface

LLC
RLC
MAC
Physical Link

RF

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page34

GMM (GPRS Mobility Management)


This protocol that operates in the signalling plane of GPRS supports
mobility management functionality such as GPRS attach, GPRS detach,
security, routing area update, location update, roaming, authentication, and
selection of encryption algorithms.
SM (Session Management)
It is the processing procedure that GPRS MS connects to the external data
network. The main function is to support the processing of PDP mobile
scenario.
Logical Link Control (LLC): This layer provides a highly reliable ciphered
logical link between an MS and its SGSN.
LLC includes functions for
the provision of one or more logical link connections discriminated between
by means of a DLCI.
sequence control, to maintain the sequential order of frames across a logical
link connection.
detection of transmission, format and operational errors on a logical link
connection.
recovery from detected transmission, format, and operational errors.
notification of unrecoverable errors.
flow control.
ciphering.

35

MM State
>GMM context is not established; MS is not reachable.
IDLE

Data transmission to and from the mobile subscriber as well as the paging of
the subscriber are not possible

STANDBY

>GMM context is established; MS can receive paging but


cannot implement data transmission.

The location information in the SGSN MM context contains only the GPRS RAI.

Pages for data or signalling information transfers may be received. It is also


possible to receive pages for the CS services via the SGSN. Data reception
and transmission are not possible in this state.

>MS can implement data transmission.


READY

The MS performs MM procedures to provide the network with the actual


selected cell.

SGSN performs the MM on cell level.

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page35

The Mobility Management (MM) activities related to a GPRS subscriber are


characterised by one of three different MM states.

36

MM State Model
READY timer expiry or
Force to STANDBY

GPRS Attach

MM State Model
of MS

READY

IDLE
GPRS Detach

PDU transmission
READY timer expiry or
Force to STANDBY or
Abnormal RLC condition

GPRS Attach

MM State Model
of SGSN

IDLE

STANDBY

READY
GPRS Detach or
Cancel Location

STANDBY
PDU reception

Implicit Detach or Cancel Location

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page36

37

RLC/MAC Block Generation


Subscriber IP packet (N-PDU)

Network Layer

SNDCP PDU(SN-PDU)

SNDCP Layer

LLC Layer

LLC frame

RLC/MAC Layer

Subscriber data

RLC/MAC block

SNDCP head

LLC head

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

LLC FCS

RLC/MAC head

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38

Physical Channel
z

The same as in GSM

The same frequency

The modulation mode

The same TDMA frame definition

The same burst pulse definition

The differences between GPRS and GSM

The Multi-frame structure

RLC

The channel coding

MAC

Application
IP/X25
SNDCP
LLC

Physical
Layer
MS

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

RLC

Relay

BSSGP

Frame
relay

MAC
Physical
Layer

Physical
Layer

BSS

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39

Packet Logic Channels


Packet Logic Channel
Packet control channel

Packet service channel

PBCCH

PCCCH

PDCCH

BCCH
PDTCH/U

TCH

PDTCH/D

PPCH

PRACH

PAGCH

PNCH

PCH, RACH, AGCH,NCH

PACCH
PTCCH/U PTCCH/D

SACCH
z

The specific type of PDCH (except PRACH) is determined by


RLC/MAC head and RLC/MAC control message type.
Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page39

40

Channel Abbreviation
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z

Packet Data Traffic CHannel Uplink - PDTCH/U


Packet Data Traffic CHannel Downlink - PDTCH/D
Packet Broadcast Control CHannel - PBCCH
Packet Common Control CHannel - PCCCH
Packet Dedicated Control Channel - PDCCH
Packet Paging CHannel - PPCH
Packet Random Access CHannel - PRACH
Packet Access Grant CHannel - PAGCH
Packet Notification CHannel - PNCH
Packet Associated Control CHannel - PACCH
Packet Timing advance Control CHannel Uplink - PTCCH/U
Packet Timing advance Control CHannel Downlink PTCCH/D

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page40

41

PDTCH (Packet Data Traffic CHannel)


z

All packet data traffic channels are


uni-directional.

Uplink (PDTCH/U) for a mobile

Packet service channel

originated packet transfer.

Downlink (PDTCH/D) for a mobile

PDTCH/U

PDTCH/D

terminated packet transfer.

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page41

42

PBCCH (Packet Broadcast Control


CHannel)
z

The PBCCH broadcasts parameters


used by the MS to access the network for
packet transmission operation.
The PBCCH also carries the information
transmitted via the BCCH to allow circuit
switching operation.

Packet control channel

PBCCH

The MS in GPRS attached mode monitors


the PBCCH only, if PBCCH is available,
otherwise, the BCCH shall be used to
broadcast information for packet operation.
The existence of the PBCCH in the cell is
indicated on the BCCH via SI13.

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page42

43

PCCCH (Packet Common Control


CHannel)
z

PPCH

PRACH

PCCCH

Downlink only, used to allocate one or several


PDTCHs.

PNCH

Uplink only, used to request allocation of one or


several PDTCH/Us or PDTCH/Ds.

PAGCH

Downlink only, used to page MS.

PPCH

PRACH

PAGCH

PNCH

Downlink only, used to notify MS of PTM-M call.

If no PCCCH is allocated, the information for


packet switching operation is transmitted on the
CCCH. If a PCCCH is allocated, it may transmit
information for circuit switching operation.

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

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44

PDCCH (Packet Dedicated Control


Channels)
z

PACCH
PDCCH

Bi-directional, used to transmit the packet


signaling in data transmission.

PTCCH/U

PACCH

Used to transmit random access bursts to


allow estimation of the timing advance for

PTCCH/U

PTCCH/D

one MS in packet transfer mode.


z

PTCCH/D

Used to transmit timing advance updates for


several MS. One PTCCH/D is paired with
several PTCCH/U's.

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

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45

Combinations of Packet Logic


Channel
Mode 1: PBCCH+PCCCH+PDTCH+PACCH+PTCCH
Mode 2: PCCCH+PDTCH+PACCH+PTCCH

Mode 3: PDTCH+PACCH+PTCCH

Mode 4: PBCCH+PCCCH
(PCCCH=PPCH+PRACH+PAGCH+PNCH

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

With the increase of traffic, the


packet public channel should be
configured in the cell. Channel
combination mode 1 and mode 2
should be adopted.

In case of small GPRS traffic, GPRS


and circuit services share the same
BCCH and CCCH in the cell. In this
case, only combination mode 3 is
needed in the cell.

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Packet Wireless Channel


Configurations
z

Reason of adopting static PDCH

To enable that GPRS MS is constantly online in the cell.

To ensure certain QoS of GPRS services.

Reason of adopting dynamic PDCH

GPRS and GSM share wireless resources.


Wireless resources should be adopted in priority; on the other hand,
QoS of voice services should be ensured.
In a cell, the percentage of packet switching services and the
percentage of circuit switching services are constantly changing.
Dynamic PDCH is not visible for voice services.

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page46

47

Packet Wireless Channel


Configurations
z

General principles

The cell should be configured with static PDCH to enable MS to


be normally attached on GPRS network as well as certain QoS of
GPRS services.

Dynamic PDCH should be configured according to the GPRS


traffic forecast, which should be adjusted as TCH or PDCH usable
in the operation process according to the cell traffic status.

Circuit switching services can seize the channel used by GPRS


services.

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page47

48

Mapping of Packet Logic Channel


z

A radio block is a 4-normal-burst sequence that carries a


RLC/MAC PDU (Protocol Data Unit).
25

B0

B1

B2 T B3

B4

B5 I B6

51

B7

B8 T B9

B10 B11 I

456 bits

01234 567

012 34 567 01234 567

01234 56 7

I = Idle frame
T = Frame used for PTCCH
B0 ~ B11 = Radio blocks

1 TDMA frame

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page48

49

Mapping of Packet Logic Channel


0

BCCH 0

50

F S B B B B C C C C F S C C C C C C C C F S C C CC C C C C F S C C C C C C C C F S C C C C C C C C

1
12

PDCH

2 B0

B1

B2 T B3

51

25

B4

B5 I B6

B7

B8 T B9

B10 B11 I

3
25

TCH

4T T T T T T T T T T T TSTT T T T T T T T T T T I
5
6
7

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page49

50

Transmission Principle of Data Packet


on Um Interface
Subscriber IP packet

SNDCP PDU

LLC PDU

RLC/MAC block
N
B

N
B

N
B

N
B

Physical layer

B0 B1 B2 T B3 B4 B5 I B6 B7 B8 T B9 B10 B11 I
Subscriber data

SNDCP head

LLC head

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

LLC FCS

RLC/MAC head

Page50

51

Allocation of Wireless Packet


Resources
TS 0

B0

B1

B2

B3

B4

B5

B6

B7

B8

B9

B1
0

B1
1

TS 1

B0

B1

B2

B3

B4

B5

B6

B7

B8

B9

B1
0

B1
1

TS 2

B0

B1

B2

B3

B4

B5

B6

B7

B8

B9

B10

B11

MS1
z

MS2

MS3

Wireless resource allocation and wireless transmission adopt the wireless block
(BLOCK) as the basic unit.

Each PDCH can be used by several MSs; each MS can use multiple PDCHs at the
same time.

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page51

52

Basic Conceptions about Radio Block


z

USF(Uplink State Flag) is sent in all downlink


RLC/MAC blocks and indicates the owner or use
of the next uplink Radio block on the same
timeslot.

The USF field is three bits in length


DL

=1
SF

=1
SF

B0

F=1
US

B
B1 1

=1
SF

10

F=2
US

F=2
US

B
9T

F=3
US

B7

F=3
US

F=3
US

5
I B
B6

T
F=3

F=4
US

US

B4

T
B3

F=4
US

=4
SF

B2

B1

UL

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

B0

USF=1

MS1

USF=2

MS2

USF=3

USF=4

MS3

MS4

Page52

The USF field is three bits in length and eight different USF values can
be assigned, except on PCCCH, where the value '111' (USF=FREE)
indicates that the corresponding uplink Radio block contains PRACH.

53

Basic Conceptions about Radio Block


z

TBF (Temporary Block Flow)

A Temporary Block Flow (TBF) is a physical connection used by the


two RR entitiesthe RR entity of the MS and that of the BSS to
support the unidirectional transfer of LLC PDUs on packet data
physical channels.

A TBF is temporary and is maintained only for the duration of the data
transfer.

TFI (Temporary Flow Identity)

Each TBF is assigned a Temporary Flow Identity (TFI) by the network.

The TFI field is five bits in length.

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page53

The same TFI value may be used concurrently for TBFs in opposite directions. The
TFI is assigned in a resource assignment message that precedes the transfer of LLC
frames belonging to one TBF to/from the MS. The same TFI is included in every
RLC header belonging to a particular TBF as well as in the control messages
associated to the LLC frame transfer (e.g. acknowledgements) in order to address
the peer RLC entities.

54

Contents
4. GPRS Wireless Subsystem
4.1 Packet Channels
4.2 Medium Access Modes
4.3 MS Multi-TS Ability
4.4 Power Control
4.5 Network Control Modes

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page54

55

Medium Access Modes


z

Uplink resource allocation mode

Dynamic allocation (supported by all MSs and all networks)

The mobile station detecting an assigned USF value for each assigned PDCH and
block or group of four blocks that it is allowed to transmit on that PDCH.

Fixed allocation (supported by all MSs and all networks)

Fixed bit mapping is adopted to determine the allocated blocks in the allocation period
without an assigned USF.

Extended dynamic allocation (optional for the network)

The mobile station detecting an assigned USF value for any assigned PDCH allowing
the mobile station to transmit on that PDCH and all higher numbered assigned
PDCHs in the same block or group of four blocks.

Downlink resource allocation mode

Dynamic allocation and fixed allocation.

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page55

Three medium access modes are supported:


Dynamic Allocation characterised by that the mobile station detecting an assigned USF
value for each assigned PDCH and block or group of four blocks that it is allowed to transmit on that
PDCH;
Extended Dynamic Allocation characterised by the mobile station detecting an assigned
USF value for any assigned PDCH allowing the mobile station to transmit on that PDCH and all
higher numbered assigned PDCHs in the same block or group of four blocks
Fixed Allocation characterised by fixed allocation of radio blocks and PDCHs in the
assignment message without an assigned USF. Fixed Allocation may operate in half duplex mode,
characterised by that downlink and uplink TBF are not active at the same time. Half duplex mode is
only applicable for multislot classes 19 to 29.

Either the Dynamic Allocation medium access mode or Fixed Allocation medium access mode shall
be supported by mobile stations and all networks that support GPRS. The support of Extended
Dynamic Allocation is optional for the network.
The Dynamic Allocation and Fixed Allocation modes shall be supported in all mobile stations. The
support of Extended Dynamic Allocation is mandatory for mobile stations of multislot classes 22, 24,
25 and 27. The support of Extended Dynamic Allocation for mobile stations of all other multislot
classes are optional and shall be indicated in the MS Radio Access Capability.

In the case of a downlink transfer, the term medium access mode refers to the measurement time
scheduling, for the MS to perform neighbour cell power measurements

56

Contents
4. GPRS Wireless Subsystem
4.1 Packet Channels
4.2 Medium Access Modes
4.3 MS Multi-TS Ability
4.4 Power Control
4.5 Network Control Modes

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page56

57

MS Multi-TS Ability
z

Concept of MS multi-TS ability

Types

Type 1: Non-simultaneous TRX

Type 2: Simultaneous TRX

the multi-TS ability level is 1-29; the bigger the level, the stronger the
multi-TS ability.

1~12 (Type 1),up to 4 timeslots in any direction

13~18 (Type 2),ranges between 3~8 timeslots

19~29 (Type 1)

BSS allocates resources according to the MS multi-TS ability,


requested QoS and current resource configuration.

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page57

58

Contents
4. GPRS Wireless Subsystem
4.1 Packet Channels
4.2 Medium Access Modes
4.3 MS Multi-TS Ability
4.4 Power Control
4.5 Network Control Modes

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page58

59

Power Control
z

Power control can improve the spectrum usage and system


capacity as well as reduce MS power consumption.

As there is no continuous bi-directional connection in the packet


data transmission process, GPRS power control is very
complicated.

Uplink power control includes open-loop and close-loop power


control.

About downlink power control, there is no specific definition in


protocol. It lies on the BTS and its algorithm needs information
about downlink, so downlink power control needs MS sends
channel quality reports to BTS.

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page59

60

Contents
4. GPRS Wireless Subsystem
4.1 Packet Channels
4.2 Medium Access Modes
4.3 MS Multi-TS Ability
4.4 Power Control
4.5 Network Control Modes

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page60

61

Network Control Modes


z

During the network controlled cell re-selection, the network


may request measurement reports from the MS and control
its cell re-selection. Hence, three types of mode are defined
as follows:

NC0: Normal MS controls

NC1: MS control with measurement reports

NC2: Network control

The network subsystem must support NC0 and should


gradually support NC1 and NC2.

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page61

During the network controlled cell re-selection, the network may request
measurement reports from the MS and control its cell re-selection. Hence, three
types of mode are defined as follows:
NC0: Normal MS controls. The MS shall perform autonomous cell re-selection.
NC1: MS control with measurement reports. The MS shall send measurement
reports to the network. The MS shall perform autonomous cell re-selection.
NC2: Network control. The MS shall send measurement reports to the network. The
MS shall not perform autonomous cell re-selection.

The network subsystem must support NC0 and should gradually support NC1 and
NC2.

62

Network Control Modes


MS

NC0

MS

NC1

The MS shall send


measurement reports
to the network

The MS shall perform autonomous cell re-selection

The MS shall perform autonomous cell re-selection

NC2
MR
The

BTS

MS
Cell re-selection

MS

shall

not

perform autonomous cell


re-selection

command

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page62

63

Contents
1. GPRS System Overview
2. GPRS Architecture
3. GPRS Network Interfaces & Protocols
4. GPRS Wireless Subsystem
5. GPRS Location Area

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page63

64

Relationship among Location


Areas
SGSN1
SGSN2
BSC1
BSC3

BSC2
CELL
CELL

CELL
CELL
CELL

CELL
CELL
CELL

RA2
CELL
RA1

RA3
LA1

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

LA2

Page64

65

LAI (Location Area Identification)


z

MCCMobile Country Code, it consists of 3 digits. For example: The


MCC of China is "460"

MNCMobile Network Code, it consists of 2 digits. For example: The


MNC of China Mobile is "00"

LACLocation Area Code, it is a two bytes hex code. The value 0000
and FFFF is invalid

For example: 460008C90

MCC

MNC

LAC

Location Area Identification

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page65

66

RAI
z

Routing area is the sub-set of the location area. In special cases, the two
areas are equal

The division of the routing area is related with traffic distribution and
SGSN processing ability

MCC

MNC

LAC

RAC

Location Area Identification


Routing Area Identification

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page66

67

CGI
z

CI (Cell Identity): This code uses two bytes hex code to identify the radio
cells within a LAI.

RAC is only unique when presented together with LAI.

CI is only unique when presented together with LAI or RAI.

CGI = MCC+MNC+LAC+{RAC}+CI

MCC

LAC

MNC

RAC

CI

Location Area Identification


Routing Area Identification
CGI

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page67

68

Relationship among location areas


z

LAI
MCC+ MNC+ LAC

LAI

RAI

MCC+ MNC+ LAC+RAC


RAI

CGI /CellID

MCC+ MNC+ LAC+{RAC}+CI


CGI

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page68

69

Summary
z

GPRS System Overview

GPRS Architecture

GPRS Network Interfaces & Protocols

GPRS Wireless Subsystem

GPRS Location Area

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page69

70

Thank you
www.huawei.com

71

GPRS EDGE Mobile


Management
Algorithm
www.huawei.com

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

72

Foreword
z

GPRS Mobility Management is a GPRS signaling


protocol that handles mobility issues such as roaming,
authentication and selection of encryption algorithms.
It is important to enable the network to keep track the
current location of the MS in order for the paging to be
performed smoothly. With the proper setting of the
GMM parameters, we can shorten the access delay of
the MS.

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page1

73

References
z

GBSS8.1 BSC6000 Feature Description

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page2

74

Objectives
z

Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:

Understand the GPRS Mobility Management procedure

Familiar with the GMM state model

Understand the cell reselection algorithm

Recognize the cell update and routing area update flow

Realize the GMM related parameters

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page3

75

Contents
1. Overview of GPRS Mobile Management
2. Location Update
3. GPRS Cell Selection & Reselection

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page4

76

Overview for GPRS Mobile Management


z

The main purpose of the mobility management is to keep track


of the users current location. Thus, the paging can be
performed.

MS perform cell selection and reselection when it moves


around the coverage area. It also sends the location update
message to the SGSN so that the network can be always
aware of the MSs current location.

There are 3 states exist in the GPRS mobility management


and different location information is available in each state
(please see the following figure MM State).

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page5

77

GMM State
> GMM context is not established; MS is not reachable.
IDLE

Data transmission to and from the mobile subscriber as well as the paging of
the subscriber are not possible

STANDBY

> GMM context is established; MS can receive paging but


cannot implement data transmission.

The location information in the SGSN MM context contains only the GPRS RAI.

Pages for data or signalling information transfers may be received. It is also


possible to receive pages for the CS services via the SGSN. Data reception
and transmission are not possible in this state.

> MS can implement data transmission.


READY

The MS performs MM procedures to provide the network with the actual


selected cell.

SGSN performs the MM on cell level.

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page6

78

GMM State Model


READY timer expiry or
Force to STANDBY

GPRS Attach

MM State Model
of MS

READY

IDLE
GPRS Detach

PDU transmission
READY timer expiry or
Force to STANDBY or
Abnormal RLC condition

GPRS Attach

MM State Model
of SGSN

IDLE

STANDBY

READY

STANDBY
PDU reception

GPRS Detach or
Cancel Location

Implicit Detach or Cancel Location

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page7

By performing GPRS attach, the MS gets into READY state and if the MS does not
transmit any packet for a long period of time until the READY timer is expired, the MS will
get into STANDBY state.
It is possible to transmit data only if the MS is in READY state, thus the MS in STANDBY
state can switch back to the READY state, if a PDU transmission occurs and in the same
way, at READY state if the GPRS detach is performed, the MS will be back into IDLE
state and all PDP context will be deleted.
In STANDBY state, the MS sends the location update message seldom, so its location is
not known exactly and the paging is necessary for every downlonk packet, resulting in a
delivery delay.
In READY state, the MS updates its location frequently. Consequently the MSs location
is known precisely and no paging delay during delivery downlonk packet. Howeverm this
consumes much more the uplink radio capacity and battery of the MS.

79

GMM State vs Location Information


z

During GMM IDLE state, MS is detached from GPRS. Thus


MS can not receive paging nor data transmission.

During GMM STANDBY state, MS is attached to the GPRS


network and it will perform routing area update (RAU), MScontrolled cell reselection and monitor paging. It only report
RA changes.

During GMM READY state/ packet transfer mode, MS will


perform both routing area update (RAU) and cell update (both
MS-controlled and Network-controlled cell reselection). It
report the cell changes and RA changes.

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page8

80

Contents
1. Overview of GPRS Mobile Management
2. Location Update
2.1 Relationship between Cell, Routing Area & Location Area
2.2 LAI, RAI, CGI
2.3 Signaling flow for Cell Update, RA Update & LA Update

3. GPRS Cell Selection & Reselection

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page9

81

Relationship among Location Areas


SGSN1
SGSN2
BSC1
BSC3

BSC2
CELL
CELL

CELL
CELL
CELL

CELL
CELL
CELL

RA2
CELL
RA1

RA3
LA1

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

z
z
z

LA2

Page10

When MS across Location Area border, LAU & RAU is necessary


When MS moves within same LA and across Routing Area boarder, RAU is necessary
When MS moves within the same LA and RA, cell update may be needed may be
needed. It depends on the current state of the MS.
a) READY state: MS updates the location every cell change. This strategy ensures that
the accurate location of the MS is always known and packet data can be delivered faster
as no paging procedure is necessary. However the MS battery is drained more and
uplink radio capacity is wasted for cell updates.
b) STANDBY state: MS updates the location only when the MS moves to a new routing
area (RA). In this strategy, when data packet is sent to the MS, paging is required in
order to find out the current location of the MS. Thus, uplink capacity will be wasted for
paging response and every downlink packet requires paging of the mobile delay.

82

Relationship among Location Areas


z

LAI

MCC+ MNC+ LAC


LAI

RAI

MCC+ MNC+ LAC+RAC


RAI

CGI /CellID

MCC+ MNC+ LAC+{RAC}+CI


CGI

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page11

83

Contents
1. Overview of GPRS Mobile Management
2. Location Update
2.1 Relationship between Cell, Routing Area & Location Area
2.2 LAI, RAI, CGI
2.3 Signaling flow for Cell Update, RA Update & LA Update

3. GPRS Cell Selection & Reselection

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page12

84

LAI (Location Area Identification)


z

MCCMobile Country Code, it consists of 3 digits. For example: The


MCC of China is "460"

MNCMobile Network Code, it consists of 2 digits. For example: The


MNC of China Mobile is "00"

LACLocation Area Code, it is a two bytes hex code. The value 0000
and FFFF is invalid

For example: 460008C90

MCC

MNC

LAC

Location Area Identification

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page13

85

RAI (Routing Area Identification)


z

Routing area is the sub-set of the location area. In special cases, the two
areas are equal.

The division of the routing area is related with traffic distribution and
SGSN processing ability

MCC

MNC

LAC

RAC

Location Area Identification


Routing Area Identification

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page14

86

CGI (Cell Global Identity)


z

CI (Cell Identity): This code uses two bytes hex code to identify the radio
cells within a LAI.

RAC is only unique when presented together with LAI.

CI is only unique when presented together with LAI or RAI.

CGI = MCC+MNC+LAC+{RAC}+CI

MCC

LAC

MNC

RAC

CI

Location Area Identification


Routing Area Identification
CGI

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page15

87

Contents
1. Overview of GPRS Mobile Management
2. Location Update
2.1 Relationship between Cell, Routing Area & Location Area
2.2 LAI, RAI, CGI
2.3 Signaling flow for Cell Update, RA Update & LA Update

3. GPRS Cell Selection & Reselection

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page16

88

Cell Update Flow


MS

Old Cell

Uplink LLC-PDU

New Cell
PDU (CGI) in BSSGP-PDU

[MS ID]

RLC Radio Block

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

SGSN
SGSN received and
recorded the cell update

SGSN send the


subsequence service
to MS through the
new cell

Page17

When the MS moves from one cell to another within the same RA and LA, cell
update procedure will happen during the READY state.
During the READY state/ packet transfer state, MS will keep monitor its current
location and cell reselection will happen. When MS discover another better cell
according to its own measurement. The MS stops listening to the old cell and
start to read the necessary SYSINFO in the new cell.
MS make an access in the new cell and send a cell update to the SGSN
(transparent to the PCU).
SGSN will obtain the cell update (cell change information) from the uplink LLCPDU and record the cell update information and discovers that there was
already an ongoing downlink packet transfer.
SGSN will then sends a Flush message to the respective PCU. The Flush
message contains the addresses to both the old and new cell as well as the MS
identity.
The PCU check whether it is responsible for the new cell. In that case all the
buffered frames/ the subsequence service will be moved to a queue towards the
new cell. The PCU assign new resources to the MS in the new cell and
transmission is restarted.
If the PCU is not responsible for the new cell, it will delete all the frames
destined to the MS ang leave the retransmission to higher layers.

89

Intra-SGSN Routing Area Update Flow


MS

BSS
ROUTING AREA UPDATE REQUEST
[Old RAI, old P-TMSI, update type]

SGSN
ROUTING AREA UPDATE REQUEST
[Old RAI, old P-TMSI, update type, new CI]

SECURITY FUNCTIONS (optional)

ROUTING AREA UPDATE ACCEPT


[P-TMSI, P-TMSI signature]

ROUTING AREA UPDATE COMPLETE


[P-TMSI] optional]

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

1.

Page18

When MS moves to new RA, it sends RA update request including the RAI of
the old RA to its assigned SGSN. When the message arrives at the BSS, the
BSS adds the CI of the new cell. Based on the RAI and CI data, SGSN can
derived the new RAI.
Intra-SGSN routing area update: The MS has moved to an RA, assigned to the
same SGSN as the old RA. In this case, the SGSN knows already all necessary
user profile, and can assign a new packet temporary mobile subscriber identity
(P-TMSI) to the user without the need to inform other network elements.
Security function: authentication and ciphering/encrpytion

90

Inter-SGSN Routing Area Update Flow


MS

BSS

New
SGSN

Old
SGSN

GGSN

HLR

ROUTING AREA UPDATE REQUEST


[Old RAI, old P-TMSI, update type]

PDP CTT REQ


PDP CTT ACK
[GGSN address]
PDP CONTEXT UPDATE
PDP CONTEXT UPDATE ACK

DATABASE UPDATE
ROUTING AREA UPDATE ACCEPT

INSERT SUBCRIBER DATA

ROUTING AREA UPDATE COMPLETE

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page19

Inter-SGSN routing area update: In this case, the MS has moved to an RA,
assigned to a different SGSN, thus, the new SGSN does not have the user
profile of the MS. The new SGSN contacts the old SGSN and requests the PDP
context of the user.
After receiving the PDP context of the user, the new SGSN informs the involved
network elements,

GGSN about the new PDP context of the user

HLR about the users new SGSN


HLR cancels the MS information context in the old SGSN and loads the
subscriber data to the new SGSN. New SGSN acknowledges to the MS
The old SGSN is requested to transmit the undelivered data to the new SGSN.

91

Contents
1. Overview of GPRS Mobile Management
2. Location Update
3. GPRS Cell Selection & Reselection
3.1 Cell Reselection Algorithm
3.2 Parameter for Cell Reselection
3.3 Type of Cell Reselection

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page20

92

GPRS Cell Reselection Algorithm


z

If no PBCCH exists, the GPRS cell selection &


reselection is basically the same as GSM cell
selection & reselection (C1, C2):

C2 = C1 + CRO TO*H(PT-T)

when PT=/31

C2 = C1 CRO

when PT=31

C1 = RLA_C RxLev_Acc_Min
Max((MS_TXPWR_MAX_CCCH P), 0)

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

1.
2.
3.

Page21

C1 = RLA_C - RxLev_Access_Min - Max((MS_TxPwr_MAX_CCH - P), 0)


C2 = C1 + CRO - TO * H(PT-T) when PT=/31
C2 = C1 - CRO
when PT= 31

93

GPRS Cell Reselection Algorithm


z

If no PBCCH exists, the GPRS cell selection & reselection is


basically the same as GSM cell selection & reselection (C1, C2)
excepts for the following conditions:
a) When MS in STANDBY mode,

Cell reselection within the same RA/LA:


C2(nei) > C2 (serving) for t>5s

Cell reselection between different RA/LA:


C2(nei) > C2 (serving) + CRH for t>5s

b) When MS in READY mode,

Cell reselection within the same RA/LA:


C2(nei) > C2 (serving) + CRH for t>5s

Cell reselection between different RA/LA:


C2(nei) > C2 (serving) + CRH for t>5s

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

1.
2.
3.

Page22

C1 = RLA_C - RxLev_Access_Min - Max((MS_TxPwr_MAX_CCH - P), 0)


C2 = C1 + CRO - TO * H(PT-T) when PT=/31
C2 = C1 - CRO
when PT= 31

94

Cell Reselection in Standby Mode

RA 2
RA 1
CC2>BC2CRH

AC2>BC2
Cell B
Cell A

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cell C

Page23

95

Cell Reselection in Ready Mode


RA 1
BC2>AC2CRH
Cell A
Cell B

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page24

96

GPRS Cell Reselection Algorithm


z

If PBCCH exists, new cell selection & reselection algorithm


(C31, C32) is applicable:
C31(s) = RLA_P(s) HCS_THR(s)

(Serving cell)

C31(n) = RLA_P(n) HCS_THR(n)


GPRS_TO(n)*H(GPRS_PENALTY_TIME-T)*L(n)

(Neighbor cell)

C31

= signal threshold criterion

RLA_P

= actual received level of the GPRS cell

HCS_THR

= signal level threshold of cell reselection of HCS GPRS

GPRS_TO

= GPRS temporary offset

L = 0; when PRIORITY_CLASS (s) = PRIORITY_CLASS (n)


L = 1; when PRIORITY_CLASS (s) =/ PRIORITY_CLASS (n)
Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

z
z

Page25

C31 = signal threshold criterion/ signal level threshold criterion of HCS and is used to
judge whether to adopt preference cell reselection
HCS_THR = Hierarchical Cell Structure signal level threshold of cell reselection of HCS
GPRS. It is broadcast on PBCCH of the service cell.
RLA_P = Received level of the GPRS cell
TO = Temporary offset given to the neighbor when the neighbor cells
PRIORITY_CLASS is different from the PRIORITY_CLASS of the serving cell

97

GPRS Cell Reselection Algorithm


z

If PBCCH exists, new cell selection & reselection algorithm


(C31, C32) is applicable:
C32(s) = C1

(Serving cell)

C32(n) = C1 + GPRS_RESELECT_OFF
GPRS_TO*H(GPRS_PENALTY_TIME T) * (1-L)

(Neighbor cell)

H(X<0) = 0; T > GPRS_PENALTY_TIME


H(X>0) = 1; T < GPRS_PENALTY_TIME
L = 0; when PRIORITY_CLASS (s) = PRIORITY_CLASS (n)
L = 1; when PRIORITY_CLASS (s) =/ PRIORITY_CLASS (n)

C1 = RxLev GPRS_Acc_Level_Min Max( (GPRS_MS_TXPWR_MAX_CCH P), 0)


Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page26

C32 = Perfection of C2 applied to GSM. It applies the offset and the delay value to the
cell reselection which needs execution of cell update program or route update program.
When the PBCCH channel does not exist in the service cell, the MS will execute cell
reselection according to the C2 algorithm.
T = timer with initial value =0. When a cell is recorded by the MS into the 6 strongest cell,
the counter corresponding to this cell, T will begin to count at a precision of one TDMA
frame (4.62ms). When this cell is removed from the 6 strongest cell list, the timer is reset.
GPRS TO = temporary offset, which counts from the counter T. T to the

98

GPRS Cell Reselection Algorithm


z

In additional, it is necessary to consider the routing area for


the serving cell and adjacent cell:

When MS in STANDBY mode, and within the same RA


C32(n) = C32(n)

When MS in READY mode, and within the same RA


C32(n) = C32(n) - CELL_RESELECT_HYSTERESIS

When MS in READY or STANDBY mode, with different RA


C32(n) = C32(n) - RA_RESELECT_HYSTERESIS

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page27

C32(n) = Final calculated/ actual value of the C32 criterion after consider the routing
area of the serving cell and neighbor cell.

99

Cell Reselection Trigger Condition


Cell reselection triggering condition:

With C1, C2 criterion

With C1, C31, C32 criterion

C1 < 0

C1 < 0

Downlink signaling failure

Downlink signaling failure

Serving cell is barred

Serving cell is barred

Random access attempt is

Random access attempt is unsuccessful

unsuccessful after MAX_RETRANS

after MAX_RETRANS

Better neighbor cell detected:

Better cell with the highest C32 among:

Same RA: C2(n) > C2(s) for t>5s

(a) Highest PRIORITY_CLASS, C31>=0

Dif RA: C2(n) > C2(s)+CRH for t>5

(b) All cell, if no cell fulfils C31 criterion

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page28

100

Contents
1. Overview of GPRS Mobile Management
2. Location Update
3. GPRS Cell Selection & Reselection
3.1 Cell Reselection Algorithm
3.2 Parameter for Cell Reselection
3.3 Type of Cell Reselection

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page29

101

Network Control Mode


z

Cell Attribute -> GPRS Attributes

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

z
z

z
z

Page30

Parameter Name:
Network Control Mode
Description:
In the cell reselection required by the network, the network requests the MS to send
measurement reports to control its cell reselection. There are three network control
modes. nc0: Normal MS control. The MS performs automatic cell reselection.nc1: MS
control with measurement reports. The MS sends measurement reports to the network
and performs automatic cell reselection.nc2: Network control. The MS sends
measurement reports to the network but does not perform automatic cell reselection.
GUI Value Range:
[nc0,nc1,nc2]
Default Value:
nc0

102

Parameter for GPRS Cell Reselection


z

Network Control Mode (NCO)

Mode

Definition

Whether the
MS send the
M.R

MS mode

Cell
Selection
Mode

NC0

Normal MS
Control Mode

No

Ready &
Standby

Controlled by
MS

NC1

MS Control with
M.R Mode

Yes

Only Ready

Controlled by
MS

NC2

Network Control
Mode

Yes

Only Ready

Controlled by
network

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page31

NC0: MS performs autonomous cell reselection without sending measurement reports to


the network.
NC1: MS performs autonomous cell reselection and sends measurement reports to
network.
NC2: Network controls cell reselection and MS sends measurement reports to the
network.

103

Support NC2
z

Cell Attributes ->


Other Attributes

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

z
z
z

z
z

Page32

Parameter Name:
Support NC2
Description:
This parameter specifies whether the cell supports the Network Control 2 (NC2) function.
In NC2, the MS reports the measurement report of the reference cell and neighbor cells
to the BSC. The BSC controls cell reselection (including normal reselections and loadbased reselections) of the MS.
GUI Value Range:
[No,Yes]
Default Value:
No

104

NC2 Support in External Neighbour Cell


z

BSC6000 -> Configure


2G External Cell

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

z
z

z
z

Page33

Parameter Name:
NC2 Support in External Neighbour Cell
Description:
This parameter specifies whether the GSM external cell supports NC2.
GUI Value Range:
[Not Support,Support]
Default Value:
Not Support

105

Parameter for GPRS Cell Reselection


z

Cell Attributes -> GPRS Attributes -> Advanced -> Ps


Other Parameters

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

z
z

z
z

z
z

z
z

z
z

z
z

Page34

Parameter Name:
Cell Urgent Reselection Allowed
Description:
This parameter specifies whether enabling the
critical cell reselection algorithm is allowed.
GUI Value Range:
[Forbid,Permit]
Default Value:
Permit
Parameter Name:
Cell Load Reselection Allowed
Description:
This parameter specifies whether enabling the
cell load-based reselection algorithm is allowed.
GUI Value Range:
[Forbid,Permit]
Default Value:
Permit
Parameter Name:
Cell Normal Reselection Allowed
Description:
This parameter specifies whether enabling the
normal cell reselection algorithm is allowed.
GUI Value Range:
[Forbid,Permit]
Default Value:
Permit

106

Support NACC
z

Cell Attributes ->


Other Attributes

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

z
z

z
z

Page35

Parameter Name:
Support NACC
Description:
This parameter specifies whether the cell support the Network Assisted Cell Change
(NACC) function.In network control mode NC0, NC1, or NC2, when the MS is in the
packet transmission mode, the network informs the MS of the system information about
neighbor cells in advance. Therefore, the cell reselection of the MS is accelerated.
GUI Value Range:
[No,Yes]
Default Value:
No

107

Contents
1. Overview of GPRS Mobile Management
2. Location Update
3. GPRS Cell Selection & Reselection
3.1 Cell Reselection Algorithm
3.2 Parameter for Cell Reselection
3.3 Type of Cell Reselection

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page36

108

GPRS Cell Reselection Type


z

There are 3 type of cell reselections:

MS controlled cell reselection

Network controlled cell reselection

Network assisted cell reselection

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page37

109

MS-Controlled Cell Reselection


z

MS-Controlled Cell Reselection

MS periodically measures the RX levels of all the BCCH carriers of the


serving cell and its neighboring cells.

With no PBCCH configured, MS calculates C2 value.

With PBCCH configures, MS calculates C31/C32 value.

Based on the calculated value, MS decided whether to reselect a new


serving cell.

Also call as autonomous cell reselection.

Parameter setting:

Support NC0/ NC1 to YES

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page38

110

Network-Controlled Cell Reselection


z

Network-Controlled Cell Reselection

MS periodically sends measurement reports to the BSC based on the


parameters in the SYSINFO broadcast in the cell.

Based on the measurement reports and neighboring cell load, BSC


sends a cell change command to the MS if all conditions are met, leading
the MS to a suitable cell.

Parameter setting:

Support NC2 to YES

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page39

111

Network-Controlled Cell Reselection


(NC2)
MS

BSS
PACKET MEASUREMENT REPORT
PACKET ENHANCED MEASUREMENT REPORT
NC2 Cell Reselection Algorithm

PACKET NEIGHBOR CELL DATA

PACKET CELL CHANGE ORDER

PACKET CELL CHANGE FAILURE

[P-TMSI] optional]

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

1.

2.

3.

4.

Page40

MS in the GMM Ready mode state periodically sends PACKET


MEASUREMETN REPORT to the BSC.
After receive the MR, NSC process the MR. According to the NC2 cell
reselection algorithm, BSC determines whether to perform cell reselection.
If BSC determines to initiate a cell reselection, it send PACKET CELL CHANGE
ORDER to MS to instruct MS to reselect the target cell. If NACC support,
PACKET NEIGHBOR CELL DATA containing SYSINFO will be sent before the
PACKET CELL CHANGE ORDER so that the reselection can be accelerated.
If cell reselection fails, MS sends PACKET CELL CHANGE FAILURE message
to BSC. After receive this message, BSC subtracts CELL PENALTY LEVEL
from the RxLev of the target cell.

112

NC2 Cell Reselection Algorithm


z

The NC2 cell reselection algorithm follows the priority


sequence in descending order of:

Urgent reselection algorithm

Load reselection algorithm

Normal reselection algorithm

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page41

Urgent reselection is based on the receive quality of the radio link on the Um interface. If
BER increases, the possible reason is that the signal level is too low or there is
interference on the channel.
In the network, load in some cells are heavy and some are light. To balance the load in
these cells, load reselection is performed.
In load reselection procedure, MS in heavy-loaded cell are directed to light-loaded cell.
MS in neighbouring cell should not be reselected to the heavy-loaded cell.
Normal reselection is based on Receive Level. When urgent reselection an load
reselection are not met, normal reseelction is started to handover MS to a neighboring
cell with higher signal strength if the RxLev (serving cell) < [Min Access Level Threshold]

113

NC2 Cell Reselection Algorithm


Begin

Measure RxLev & RxQual


MS in the MR

[Cell Urgent
Reselection Allowed]?

Yes

No

[Cell Load Reselect


Allowed]?

MS RxQual
deterioration ratio >
[MS Rx Qual Worsen
Threshold]

Yes

No

Yes

No

[Cell Normal Reselect


Allowed]?

Channel multiplexing
rate>[Load Reselect
Start Thres]

Yes

Any MS RxLev<[Load
Reselect Level Thres]
No

No

Yes

Receive Level (serving


cell) < [Min Access
Level Thres]

Yes

Yes

Yes

Satisfy P/N?

Trigger urgent cell


reselection and select cell
with the highest priority in
cell list.

No
No

No

Continue
End

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page42

NC2 cell reselection algorithm follow the priority of:


urgent reselection -> load reselection -> normal reselection
Each type of reselection have different trigger condition.

114

NC2 Cell Reselection Algorithm


Continue

Trigger urgent cell reselection and select cell


with the highest priority in cell list.

For GSM Cell

For FDD Cell

RxLev>MAX(RxLev(s),
[Min_Acc_Level_Thres])+
[Cell Reselect Hyst] AND
non-congestion state

Ec/No>[PS FDD EcNo


Quality Thres] or
RSCP>[PS FDD RSCP
Quality Thres]

For TDD Cell

No

No

RSCP>[PS FDD RSCP


Quality Thres]
No

End
Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Cell reselection successful?

[Cell Penalty Level] given to


target cell with [cell Penalty
Last Time]

Yes

End

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

z
z

Page43

The priority of the target cell is determined by receive level and the characteristics
information such as cell type, cell priority, support for EDGE, and load status.
Different cell type will need to fulfill the specified condition to be the candidate cell.
When cell reselection fails, penalty is given to the target cell. If penalty time within [Cell
Penalty Last Time (s)], [Cell Penalty Level] is subtracted from the receive level of the
target cell.

115

NC2 Cell Reselection Algorithm


z

Each NC2 cell reselection algorithm contains three NC2


cell reselection type:
Cell

Serving cell

Reselection &Target cell

Condition

Type

position

Intra-BSC

Same BSC

Highest priority in the cell list.

Inter-BSC

Different BSC,

RxLev (Ext nei) = RxLev (n) MAX(2, [Cell

both GSM cell

Reselection Hyst/2])

GSM to

Serving cell is

For FDD cell : Ec/No>[PS FDD EcNo Quality Thres]

UTRAN

GSM cell, target or RSCP>[PS FDD RSCP Quality Thres]


cell is UTRAN

For TDD cell: RSCP>[PS TDD RSCP Quality Thres]

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page44

Intra-BSC cell reselection:


Serving cell and target cell are controlled by same BSC. The selected target cell
is the one that has highest priority in the cell list.

Inter-BSC cell reselection:


Serving cell and target are in different BSC and both is GSM cell. The priority for
the external neighbouring cell is lower. Thus,
RxLev (Ext nei) = RxLev (n) external cell reselection offset
RxLev (Ext nei) = RxLev (n) MAX(2, [Cell Reselection Hyst/2])

GSM to UTRAN cell reselection:


Serving cell is GSM cell and target cell is UTRAN cell. The 3G MR and the
2G/3G cell priority strategy should be processed during the cell reselection.
For FDD cell: Ec/No>[PS FDD EcNo Quality Thres] or RSCP>[PS FDD
RSCP Quality Thres]
For TDD cell: RSCP>[PS TDD RSCP Quality Thres]
[2G/3G Cell Reselection Strategy] : Preference for 2G cell, Preference for 3G cell

116

Network-Assisted Cell Reselection


z

Network-Assisted Cell Reselection

It is also known as NACC, Network Assisted Cell Change.

MS originates a cell change notification (CCN) procedure, and the BSC


sends the system information (SYSINFO) about the neighboring cell to
the MS before the cell reselection.

NACC accelerates the cell reselection and shortens the service


disruption time during cell reselection.

Parameter setting:

Support NC0/ NC1/ NC2 to YES

Support NACC to YES

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page45

117

Network Assisted Cell Change (NACC)


z

Purposes:

MS is able to request BSC to send the target cells SYSINFO


during the cell reselection.

Advantages:

According to the SYSINFO, MS accelerates the packet service


access in the target cell.

Reduce the period of packet service disruption during a cell


reselection .

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page46

118

Network Assisted Cell Change (NACC)

Receive System
information of cell B
before reselection

Cell A

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cell B

Page47

119

Network Assisted Cell Change (NACC)


z

MS can initiate an NACC procedure only when autonomous cell


reselection is triggered:

In NC0/ NC1 mode and packet transfer mode:

C1 <0

C2/ C23 is met

Downlink signaling reception fails

Authentication fails

NACC procedure is not initiated when:

In GMM standby state

In DTM mode

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page48

120

Network Assisted Cell Change (NACC)


z

The system supports:

Intra-BSC NACC

Inter-BSC NACC

UTRAN to GERAN NACC (Gb must support RIM procedure)

The system does not support the GERAN to UTRAN NACC


procedure.

When PBCCH exists in target cell, the system does not


support NACC procedure or the PACKET SI STATUS
procedure.

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

z
z
z

Page49

GERAN : GPRS EDGE Radia Access Network


RIM : RAN Information Management
RIM procedure refer to the procedure of getting SYSINFO about the external
neighboring cell from the serving cell
2 types of RIM procedures in the inter-BSC and UTRAN to GERAN NACC
a) Inter RAN SYSINFO request procedure: initiated by controlling BSC/RNC to request
the SYSINFO about the serving BSC
b) Inter RAN SYSINFO update procedure: initiated by the serving BSC to ask the
controlling BSC/RNC to update SYSINFO about the external neighboring cell
RIM association between a cell in the serving BSS and the controlling BSS that requests
the application information about this cell. It consists of 3 identities:
a) ID of the cell in the controlling BSS
b) ID of the cell in the serving BSS
c) RIM application identity

121

Intra-BSC NACC Flow


MS

BSS
PACKET CELL CHANGE NOTIFICATION
Obtain system messages of the target cell

PACKET NEIGHBOR CELL DATA

PACKET CELL CHANGE CONTINUE

PACKET SI STATUS

PACKET SERVING CELL DATA


[P-TMSI] optional]

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Page50

After MS determines to initiate an autonomous cell reselection, it enter CCN


mode. But the MS does not change the cell immediately, it sends a PACKET
CELL CHANGE NOTIFICATION to BSC to request SYSINFO about the target
cell.
When BSC received PACKET CELL CHANGE NOTIFICATION, it sends a
PACKET NEIGHBOUR CELL DATA that contains SI1, SI3, SI13. Then BSC
send PACKET CELL CHANGE CONTINUE to ask the MS to proceed the cell
reselection.
After receive PACKET NEIGHBOUR CELL DATA, MS save the SYSINFO. After
receive the PACKET CELL CHANGE CONTINUE, MS changes from CCN
mode to NC0/NC1 mode and continue cell reselection.
After MS changes the cell, the MS uses the SYSINFO for initial packet access
procedure.
If target cell support PACKET SI STATUS (YES), MS does not receive all
SYSINFO. MS needs to send PACKET SI STATUS message to request the
SYSINFO. After BSC received PACKET SI STATUS, it sends PACKET
SERVING CELL DATA which contain the SYSINFO of the serving cell.
Then MS saves the SYSINFO in the PACKET SERVING CELL DATA.

122

Inter-BSC NACC Flow


Control
BSS/RNC

MS

Serving
BSS

RIM Procedure
PACKET CELL CHANGE NOTIFICATION
Obtain system messages of the target cell

PACKET NEIGHBOR CELL DATA

PACKET CELL CHANGE CONTINUE

PACKET SI STATUS

PACKET SERVING CELL DATA

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Page51

After MS determines to initiate an autonomous cell reselection, it enter CCN


mode. But the MS does not change the cell immediately, it sends a PACKET
CELL CHANGE NOTIFICATION to BSC to request SYSINFO about the target
cell.
When BSC received PACKET CELL CHANGE NOTIFICATION, it sends a
PACKET NEIGHBOUR CELL DATA that contains SI1, SI3, SI13. Then BSC
send PACKET CELL CHANGE CONTINUE to ask the MS to proceed the cell
reselection.
After receive PACKET NEIGHBOUR CELL DATA, MS save the SYSINFO. After
receive the PACKET CELL CHANGE CONTINUE, MS changes from CCN
mode to NC0/NC1 mode and continue cell reselection.
After MS changes the cell, the MS uses the SYSINFO for initial packet access
procedure.
If target cell support PACKET SI STATUS (YES), MS does not receive all
SYSINFO. MS needs to send PACKET SI STATUS message to request the
SYSINFO. After BSC received PACKET SI STATUS, it sends PACKET
SERVING CELL DATA which contain the SYSINFO of the serving cell.
Then MS saves the SYSINFO in the PACKET SERVING CELL DATA.

123

Summary
z

We have understand the below from this training:

GPRS Mobility Management procedure

Cell reselection algorithm

Cell reselection and routing area update flow

Parameters related to GMM.

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page52

124

Thank you
www.huawei.com

125

GPRS EDGE Radio


Network Optimization
Parameters
www.huawei.com

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

126

Foreword
z

The PCU performance parameters are essential to the


GPRS network. Proper setting of such parameters can
improve performance of the packet services.

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page1

127

Contents
z GPRS Cell Parameters
z GPRS Power Control
z GPRS Cell Reselection
z Performance Parameters

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page2

128

GPRS Cell Parameters


z

NOM

PAN

T3168

N3101

T3192

N3103

DRX_TIMER_MAX

N3105

BS_CV_MAX

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page3

129

Network Operation Mode

Network Configure
Mode
Gs

Yes

Configur
e PCCH

Yes

II

No

No

III

No

Yes

Channel for
circuit paging

GPRS
Paging
Channel

PPCH

PPCH

PCH

PCH

PACCH

PCH

PCH

PCH

PPCH

PCH

PCH

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Idle Mode
PCCCH
Or CCCH

PACCH

CCCH

CCCH

CCCH

CCCH

Page4

130

T3168
T3168 is used to set the maximum duration for the
MS to wait for the packet uplink assignment message
PCU
PACKET CHANNEL REQUEST
PACKET UPLINK ASSIGNMENT/
IMMEDIATE ASSIGNMENT COMMAND
PACKET RESOURCE REQUEST

T3168

PACKET UPLINK ASSIGNMENT

Very Good

BLER<2%

T3168 recommendation
ms
500

Good

2%<BLER<5%

1000

Bad

5%<BLER<10%

2000

Condiction

BLER

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page5

The timer T3168 is used to set the maximum duration for the MS to wait for the
packet uplink assignment message. The MS should start the timer T3168 to wait
for the packet uplink assignment message after sending the packet resource
request message.
If the MS receives the packet uplink assignment message before timeout of T3168
and gets into the status of waiting for packet uplink assignment message, the MS
will reset T3168; if T3168 times out, the MS will trigger the packet access process
again until this process repeats for 4 times. Then the MS will believe that TBF
establishment failure occurs. If the value of this paramter is smaller, the period of
the MS determining failure of TBF establishment will be shorter, and the average
time of packet access will be shorter. However, in severe wireless conditions, that
will make the TBF establishment success rate lower. Moreover, too low values will
make the MS increase the probability of retransmitting the packet access requests,
which will increase the probabilty of the PCU performing repeated assignment and
lead to waste of system resources. On the other hand, if this value is higher, the
period of the MS determining failure of TBF establishment will be longer, and the
average delay of the packet access will be longer.Value range: This parameter
value is measured in 500ms, and its range is: 500ms, 1000ms, 1500ms 4000ms.
The recommended value is 500ms.

131

T3192
The timer is for the MS to wait for TBF release after receiving
the last data block.
PCU
PACKET DOWNLINK ACK/NACK FAI=1
Final ACK
Identifier

T3192
PACKET DOWNLINK ASSIGNMENT
TFI

valuems 500

1000

1500

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

80

120

160

200

Page6

After receiving the RLC data block which contains the Final Block Identifier (FBI)
and confirming that all RLC data blocks in TBF are received, the MS should send
the packet downlink acknowledgement/unacknowledgement message, set its
Final Acknowledgement Identifier (FAI) to 1 and start T3192. If T3192 times out, the
MS will stop all allocated listening tasks on PDCH, begin to listen to the paging
channel and get into the packet idle status. If this parameter value is greater, the
time for the MS to reserve the TFI and timeslot assigned by the system will be
longer, and the risk of congestion will be higher. On the other hand, if this value is
smaller, the MS will release TBF quickly. If new downlink packet data comes to the
network, the network will have to originate the paging again or assign the program
promptly, which prolongs the time of establishing the downlink TBF greatly. Value
range: This parameter value is measured in 500ms, and its range is: 0ms, 80ms,
120ms, 160ms, 200ms, 500ms, 1000ms and 1500ms. The recommended value is
500ms.

132

DRX_TIMER_MAX
The MS request keeps the maximum value of nonDRX mode.

Non_DRX

Packet transmission mode

Non_DRX

Packet idle mode

DRX

Packet idle mode

DRX_TIMER_MAX (s)

ValueSencond 0

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

16

32

64

Page7

Set the maximum value of the duration for MS to execute the non-DRX mode when
shifting from the packet transmission mode to the packet idle mode. This parameter
value is measured in seconds. Values: 0 Get into the DRX mode immediately after
the transmission mode, 1s - 1 second, 2s - 2 seconds, 4s 4 seconds 64s 64
seconds. The typical value is 4s". If the value is higher, the TBF establishment duration
will be shorter, but the MS power consumption will increase. If the value is lower, the
battery consumption is lower, but the paging process will be longer, the system signaling
load will be heavier and the data transmission delay will be longer.

133

Packet Signaling Processing


RLC DATA BLOCK
RLC DATA BLOCK (FBI)
PACKET DOWNLINK ACK/NACK FAI=1

T3192=500ms
Ready Mode
Non DRX mode= 4s

DRX mode

DRX mode

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page8

134

BS_CV_MAX
PCU
CV=X

BS_CV_MAX=10

RLC DATA BLOCK

T3198

200ms

RLC DATA ACK

CV=X

RLC DATA BLOCK


Timeout

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

z
z

Page9

Set BS_CV_MAX. It is a parameter used for the MS to calculate the Countdown Value
(CV). If the PBCCH channel does not exist, this parameter will be broadcast in the
system message 13.
When the RLC data block to be sent is the last but (x-1) data block, if x<= BS_CV_MAX,
CV=x; otherwise CV=15. Ensure that the last RLC data block is being sent in case CV=0.
Value range of BS_CV_MAX: 0~15
When the MS sends an RLC data block, the MS starts the timer T3198. After timeout of
the timer, the MS will allow the status of this RLC data block to be unacknowledged
and retransmit the data block. The default value of T3198 is duration of BS_CV_MAX
blocks. The duration of each block is 20ms.
The empiric value of transmission delay between MS and PCU is 100ms, so T3198
value > 100ms, i.e., BS_CV_MAX >5.1. If the BS_CV_MAX value is higher, the
efficiency of the slide window program will be lower; 2. If the BS_CV_MAX value is lower,
the probability of retransmission will be higher, and more wireless resources will be
occupied.

135

BS_CV_MAX
suppose
BS_CV_MAX=
3

CV=0

CV=1

CV=2

CV=3

CV=15

PCU

CV=15

CV=15

CV=15

CV=3

CV=15

CV=15

MS buffer UL RLC blocks


More data

CV=0

CV=1

CV=2

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page10

The default value of the MS-side timer T3198 is duration of BS_CV_MAX RLC blocks.
The T3198 begins counting after the MS sends the RLC block. After timeout of T3198,
the block is marked as unacknowledged and needs to be retransmitted.

To retransmit the erroneous RLC Block as soon as possible, the value of the
BS_CV_MAX should be as small as possible, but cannot be less than the delay of
transmission from MS to PCU. According to empiric values, the BS_CV_MAX value
should be over 5.

136

PAN
z

PAN_DEC

PAN_INC

Set the decrease step length of the N3102 counter of the MS

Set the increase step length of the N3102 counter of the MS

PAN_MAX

Set the maximum value of the N3102 counter of the MS

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page11

137

PAN

N3102

Packet Uplink Ack/Nack


- PAN_DEC
+ PAN_INC

PAN_MAX

Abnormal Release
Perform Cell Re-selection

T3182
T3182

T3182
T3182

T3182

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page12

This parameter is used to avoid unpredictable link failure. It is used together with the
MS-side counter N3102, and consists of three sub-parameters. PAN_DEC: Decremental
value of PAN counter PAN_INC: Incremental value of PAN counterPAN_MAX:
Maximum value of PAN counter The MS sets the counter N3102 according to PAN_MAX.
When the MS receives a Packet ACK/NACK message, the N3102 increases by
PAN_INCWhen N3102=PAN_MAX, the MS starts the timer T3182If the MS still receives
no acknowledgement message upon timeout of T3182, the MS will decrease N3102 by
PAN_DEC. In case N3102<=0, the MS will execute exception release of this TBF, and
trigger cell reselection.

138

PAN
PCU
PAN_INC=2

RLC DATA BLOCK

PACKET DATA ACK


N3102+2

RLC DATA BLOCK

PAN_DEC=1

T3182
PACKET DATA ACK
N3102- 1
Timeout
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Page13

139

N3101
PCU
RLC DATA BLOCK/PACKET UPLINK
ASSIGNMET (valid USF)
RLC DATA ACK
N3101+1

POLLING REQUEST

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Page14

If N3101 expires, the network release the uplink TBF.

140

N3103
PCU
PACKET UPLINK ACK/NACK (FAI=1)
PACKET CONTROL ACK
N3103+1

PACKET UPLINK ACK/NACK (FAI=1)

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page15

If N3103 expires, the network release the uplink TBF.

141

N3105
PCU
RLC DATA BLOCK (RRBP)
PACKET DOWNLINL ACK/NACK
N3105+1

RLC DATA BLOCK (RRBP)

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Page16

If N3105 expires, the network release the uplink TBF.

142

Case 1
z

Phenomenon Description:

Three cells of a satellite transmission BTS under a BSC are


unable to access the network through GPRS. View the cell
status and channel status. They are all normal. The PCU traffic
measurement, Um interface and cell signaling tracing, and
configuration data are collected on site.

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

The possible causes are as follows:

1.

The configuration data of the PCU and BSC is incorrect.

2.

The PCU version is incorrect.

3.

The cell is exceptional for various reasons.

Page17

4.

The parameter related to satellite transmission is not properly set.

5.

Handling Process:
a. Check the data. No exception occurs in other cells and the satellite transmission
parameter on the PCU is set to Yes.

6.

b. View the traffic measurement. The traffic measurement item "number of uplink
assignment successes on PACCH" is 0. The traffic measurement item "number of uplink
TBF establishment successes" is also 0 and the basic cause value is "uplink TBF
establishment failures owing to no response from the mobile station".

7.

c. View signaling messages. There are only a large number of RACK_RES_REQ and
PACK_UL_ASSI messages over the air interface. This is obviously abnormal.

8.

d. Analyze the traffic and signaling messages. After the MS sends a


RACK_RES_REQ message and the PCU returns a PACK_UL_ASSI message, the MS
makes no response and continues sending a RACK_RES_REQ message.5. Check the
GPRS table about the PCU cell data. Timer T3168 is set to 500 ms, which is the same
as that for other GPRS cells of terrestrial transmission. 6. Run the
mt sattrans show delay command to view the transmission delay of the satellite
transmission cells. The transmission delay is 725 ms.7. Find the cause. After the MS
sends a RACK_RES_REQ message, timer T3168 is started. If the timer expires before a
PACK_UL_ASSI message is received, the MS resends a RACK_RES_REQ message 143
for four times at most. The duration of the onsite timer T3168 is less than the delay of

Contents
z GPRS Cell Parameters
z GPRS Power Control
z GPRS Cell Reselection
z Performance Parameters

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page18

144

GPRS Power Control


z

GPRS Power Control Purpose

Save the power

Reduce the interference of the network

GPRS Power Control is complex than GSM for discontinuous


transmission.

Normally now just uplink power control is implemented.

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page19

Because for the downlink blocks, it is not only contained TFI for downlink but
also USF which may be is for another MS. The two subscribers perhaps one is
near the BTS, one is far away. So downlink power control is not implemented
for GPRS.

145

GPRS Power Control


z

According GPRS principle, GPRS MS output power as


below

Pch = Min Ro - Rch a*( C+48) , Pmax

Pmax: GPRS MS max transmitting power

aALPHAnormally is 1

Ro39dBm for 900M cell, and 36dBm for 1800M cell

RchGAMMA

CMS receiving level

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page20

146

GPRS Power Control

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

>

>

>

>

Page21

The ALPHA parameter is used by the MS to calculate the output power value PCH of its uplink
PDCH
For open loop power control, it should be set to 1.0.
GAMMA:Expected receiving signal strength at the BTS side when the MS GPRS dynamic power
control is active
Value range: 0~62dB, default value is 14

147

Contents
z GPRS Cell Parameters
z GPRS Power Control
z GPRS Cell Reselection
z Performance Parameters

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page22

148

GPRS Cell Reselection


z

During ready and standby mode, MS will occur cell

reselection
z

Cell reselection will be triggered upon the following 5

kinds conditions.

current serving cell is prohibited

down link fails

C1 of serving cell is lower than 0 last 5s

Neighbor cell C32 and C31 higher than serving cell last 5S

MS starts a cell reselection if the access times exceed the MAX

retrans.

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page23

If the C2 value of the target cell is higher than that of the serving cell by at least
the value of CRH for longer than 5 seconds, a location update process and the
cell reselection process will be performed.
Only after the PBCCH is configured, C31 and C32 will be worked.

149

NETWORK_CONTROL_ORDER

Definition

Whether the
MS send
the M.R

MS mode

Cell Selection
Mode

NC0

Normal MS Control
Mode

No

Ready &
Standby

Controlled by
MS

NC1

MS Control with M.R


Mode

Yes

Only Ready

Controlled by
MS

NC2

Network Control
Mode

Yes

Only Ready

Controlled by
network

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page24

150

NETWORK_CONTROL_ORDER

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page25

151

NC2 Feature

change to cell C

Neighbor
cell B

Neighbor
cell c

Serving
cell A

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page26

For MS receiving level of cell B is higher than cell C, but the load of cell B
is too higher. So PCU will make the MS cell change to cell C instead of
cell B. NC2 is just like load handover.

152

GPRS Cell Reselection


z

If PBCCH no exists, the cell reselection is basically the


same as GSM cell reselection

When the two cells locates in the different routing areas or the
MS is in READY mode, the NC2 must be greater than
SC2+CRH (>5s)

When the two cells locates in the same routing area and the
MS is in STANDBY mode, the NC2 must be greater than SC2
(>5s)

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page27

Two consecutive cell reselections caused by C2 have a time interval of 15


seconds. In other words to say, if because of C2 a MS reselected to a cell,
then the MS cannot reselect to another cell by the cause of C2 within 15
seconds.

153

Cell Reselection in Standby Mode

RA 2

RA 1
CC2>BC2CRH

AC2>BC2
Cell B
Cell A

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cell C

Page28

154

Cell Reselection in Ready Mode

RA 1
BC2>AC2CRH
Cell A

Cell B

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Page29

155

NACC
System information
of cell B

Cell A

Cell B

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page30

In network control mode NC0, NC1, or NC2, when the MS is in the packet
transmission mode, the network informs the MS of the system information
about neighbor cells in advance. Therefore, the cell reselection of the MS is
accelerated.

156

NACC

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

z
z

Page31

NACC (Network Assisted Cell Change): shorten the duration of cell reselection
NACC will be used during packet transmission mode, network will inform
neighbor cell system information to make the cell reselection quickly.
NC0:Before the cell reselection decision, MS will send PACKET CELL
CHANGE NOTIFICATION to BSC, which carry ARFCN and BSIC of target
cell. If serving cell support NACC, BSC will send the SI1,SI3 and SI13 of target
cell .
Before the GBSS8.1 version, just support intra-BSC NACC; GBSS8.1 or later
version also can support inter BSC or inter RNC NACC.
For Inter-BSC NACC,BSC and core network should support RIM RAN
Information Managementto get external cell system information.
RIM flow means BSS requires the target cell system information from target
BSC/RNC through core network. BSC implements RIM flow during provider
service, and stores all the external cell system information. BSC also will
update these external cell system information periodical. And during the interBSC NACC, if BSS did not find the target cell system information, it will trigger
RIM flow.

157

Contents
z GPRS Cell Parameters
z GPRS Power Control
z GPRS Cell Reselection
z Performance Parameters

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page32

158

Dynamic PDCH Channel Conversion


z

When dynamic PDCH conversion will be triggered?

PDCH required failure (such as reach the max threshold)

No meet the multiple timeslot

The TBF numbers higher than Uplink (Downlink) Multiplex


Threshold of Dynamic Channel Conversion

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

z
z

z
z
z

z
z

z
z

Page33

Parameter Name
Uplink Multiplex Threshold of Dynamic Channel Conversion
Description
This parameter specifies the uplink multiplex threshold of
dynamic channel conversion.When the number of subscribers carried over the channel
reaches the threshold/10, dynamic channels are used.
GUI Value Range
[10,70]
Default Value
20
Configuration Policy If this threshold is high, it is difficult to seize dynamic channels.
If this threshold is low, it is easy to seize dynamic channels.

Parameter Name
Downlink Multiplex Threshold of Dynamic Channel Conversion
Description
This parameter specifies the downlink multiplex threshold of
dynamic channel conversion.When the number of subscribers carried over the channel
reaches the threshold/10, dynamic channels are used.
GUI Value Range
[10,80]
Default Value
20

159

Dynamic PDCH Channel Conversion


z

Which channel will be convert to dynamic PDCH

TCH/F channels can be converted to dynamic PDCH, the


maximum dynamic PDCH number will be restricted by reasons
listed below

The max PDCH number restricted by License

Maximum Ratio Threshold of PDCHs in a Cell

Maximum PDCH numbers of carrier

Reservation Threshold of Dynamic Channel Conversion

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page34

Maximum PDCHs number in a Cell= ( TCH/F channels number + PDCH channels


number) * Maximum Ratio Threshold of PDCHs in a Cell

160

Dynamic PDCH Channel Conversion


z

When the dynamic PDCH channel will be converted to TCH


channel?

Timer of Releasing Idle dynamic Channel

CS services preemption

All dynamic channels can be preempted

Control channels cannot be preempted

Dynamic channels carrying services cannot be preempted

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page35

161

Dynamic PDCH Channel Conversion

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page36

Parameter Name

Maximum Ratio Threshold of PDCHs in a Cell

Description
This parameter specifies the maximum ratio of PDCHs in a cell. The total number of
TCHs and PDCHs available in a cell is fixed. The PDCH ratio is equal to PDCHs / (TCHs + static PDCHs).
This parameter determines the proportion of PDCHs to the total number of TCHs + PDCHs.

GUI Value Range

[0,100]

Default Value

30

Configuration Policy If this parameter is set to an excessive value, there are excessive PDCHs and
insufficient TCHs. This affects CS services. If this parameter is set to a modest value, there are insufficient
PDCHs and excessive TCHs. This affects PS services.

Parameter Name

Description
This parameter specifies the PDCH uplink multiplex threshold.The uplink PDCH can
carry a maximum of (threshold/10) TBFs.

GUI Value Range

[10,70]

Default Value

70

Configuration Policy If this parameter is set to a lower value, the TBFs established on the PDCH and the
subscribers are fewer, and the uplink bandwidth for each subscriber is higherIf this threshold is set to a
higher value, the TBFs established on the PDCH and the subscribers are more, and the uplink bandwidth for
each subscriber is lower.

Parameter Name

PDCH Downlink Multiplex Threshold

Description
PDCH

This parameter specifies the PDCH downlink multiplex threshold.The downlink


i
f (th h ld/10) TBF

PDCH Uplink Multiplex Threshold

162

z
z

z
z
z

z
z

z
z

Parameter Name
Level of Preempting Dynamic Channel
Description
This parameter specifies the levels of dynamic channels
preempted by CS services and PS services. Only full-rate TCHs are the dynamic
channels that can be preempted. All dynamic channels can be preempted: It indicates
that the CS services can preempt all the dynamic channels.Control channels cannot be
preempted: It indicates that the CS services can preempt all the dynamic channels
except for the control channels.Dynamic channels carrying services cannot be
preempted: It indicates that the CS services cannot preempt the dynamic channels that
carry services.
GUI Value Range
[Preempt all dynamic TCHFs,No preempt of CCHs,No
preempt of service TCHF]
Default Value
All dynamic channels can be preempted

Parameter Name
Reservation Threshold of Dynamic Channel Conversion
Description
This parameter specifies the number of channels reserved for
the CS services.
GUI Value Range
[0,8]
Default Value
2
Configuration Policy
If this parameter is set to an excessive value, the PS services
are affected.If this parameter is set to a modest value, the CS services are affected
when there are too many PS services.

Parameter Name
Description
allocated to a TRX.
GUI Value Range
Default Value

Maximum PDCH numbers of carrier


This parameter specifies the maximum number of PDCHs
[0,8]
8

163

GPRS Channel Priority Type

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Page38

Value Range GPRS Channel, EGPRS Normal Channel, EGPRS Priority Channel, EGPRS Special Channel, NoneGPRS Channel

Default Value When Channel Type is set to non-PDTCH, the default value is None-GPRS Channel. When Channel
Type is set to PDTCH and the cell does not support EDGE services, the default value is EGPRS Normal Channel. When
Channel Type is set to PDTCH and the cell supports EDGE services, the default value is EGPRS Normal Channel.

Description

When Channel Type is set to PDTCH and the cell does not support EDGE services, the default value is EGPRS Normal
Channel.

When Channel Type is set to PDTCH and the cell supports EDGE services, the default value is EGPRS Normal Channel.

When Channel Type is set to non-PDTCH, the default value is None-GPRS Channel.

164

GPRS Channel Priority Type


TRX2
EGPRS
Normal

EDGE MS

GPRS MS

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page39

EGPRS normal channel can support GPRS MS and EDGE MS at the same
time. But sometimes it will decrease the EDGE MS speed.

165

GPRS Channel Priority Type


TRX2
EGPRS

EGPRS
Priority

Priority

reject
GPRS MS

EDGE MS
GPRS MS

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page40

EGPRS normal channel can support GPRS MS and EDGE MS at the same
time. But sometimes it will decrease the EDGE MS speed.

166

GPRS&EDGE Coding Scheme


Kbps

59.2

60.00

54.4

50.00

GPRS

44.8

EGPRS

40.00

29.6

30.00
22.4

21.4

20.00
13.4

10.00
0.00

17.6

15.6

14.8

9.05

CS-1

8.8

CS-2

CS-3

CS-4

MCS-1

11.2

MCS-2

MCS-3

MCS-4

MCS-5

MCS-6

GMSK

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

MCS-7

MCS-8

MCS-9

8PSK

Page41

167

Appendix

Codec

Idle
timeslot

CS1

CS2 CS3

MC
S1

MC
S2

1+0

CS4

MCS MCS
3
4

MC
S5

1+1

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

MC
S6

MCS
7

MCS
8

1+2

1+3

MCS
9

Page42

168

Appendix

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page43

169

In this course, we have learned:

Summary

The function of GPRS cell parameters

The function of GPRS cell reselection parameters

The function of GPRS performance parameters

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page44

170

Thank you
www.huawei.com

171

GPRS EDGE Build-in PCU


Packet Radio Resource
Management Algorithm
and Parameters
www.huawei.com

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

172

Foreword
z

Radio resource management (RR) is an important protocol in the


GSM system.

The channel management and load control is a part of the GPRS


resource management.

The appropriate channel management and load control algorithm can


improve the PS assignment success rate, decrease the congestion
ratio, provide proper service resources for subscribers, and improve
the network service quality.

This document describes the specific algorithms and parameters of


the GPRS/EDGE channel management and load control.

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page1

173

Objectives
z

After studying this course, you will:

Understand the purposes of the PS resource management and


load control.

Master the procedure for allocating channels and main factors


to be considered.

Master the percentage of each factor in the channel allocation


and adjustment method.

Master the dynamic channel allocation and release algorithm


principles.

Be familiar with the main parameters of the dynamic channel


allocation and release algorithm.

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page2

174

Contents
1. Packet Radio Resource Management Algorithm Overview
2. Packet Channel Assignment Algorithm
3. Packet Channel Conversion Algorithm
4. Packet Channel Release Algorithm

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page3

175

Overview of PS Resource
Management Algorithm
Phase 1 access on
CCCH/PCCCH

Phase 2 access on
CCCH/PCCCH

Establishment of the
downlink
TBF on the CCCH/PCCCH

PDCH allocation algorithm

Idle dynamic PDCH


released

TBF reassignment/
timeslot re-configuration

Establishment of the
downlink
TBF on the PACCH

Establishment of the
uplink
TBF on the PACCH

Conversion algorithm of
dynamic PDCH

For CS service, no idle


radio channel resources
available for preemption

For CS service, no idle


Abis resources available
for preemption

Dynamic PDCH release


algorithm

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page4

The PS resource management algorithm is intended to guarantee the load balance


between channels by allowing a single subscriber to obtain a high throughput rate
simultaneously, thus improving the channel usage efficiency of the entire network.
Upon the receipt of the service application from a subscriber, the BSS allocates
appropriate resources to the subscriber after the processing through the PS resource
management algorithm.
The PS resource management algorithm consists of the following parts:
PS channel allocation algorithm
Dynamic channel conversion algorithm
Dynamic channel release algorithm

176

Basic Concepts of PS Resource


Management Algorithm
RLC/MAC
Block
resource
Radio
channel
resource

Abis
timeslot
resource

PS resource
management

TFI
resource

USF
resource

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

TAI
resource

Page5

Radio channel resources


For the PDCH resources of a cell, one TBF can occupy multiple channels. At least one
timeslot among the timeslots occupied by the uplink/downlink TBF of the same subscriber is
shared. Multiple MSs can be multiplexed on the same channel. Available channel resources
in the cell can be taken into account on the basis of these conditions.
Abis resource
In Fix Abis mode, the channel is fixedly bound to an active link (16 kbps) after configuration.
After code adjustment, the idle timeslots can be bound.
Flex mode

For static PDCHs, the description is the same as the preceding description.

The active link is not bound after the dynamic PDCH is configured. The active link is
bound after the activation of the channel. A proper idle timeslot is applied for the
binding. When no Abis resources are available, the channel cannot be allocated.
Block resource
One block budget is required for every 60 blocks. For a guaranteed bit rate (GBR) subscriber,
the maximum number of occupied blocks is specified according to the TBF rate
threshold/100 of the GBR. For other types of subscribers, the maximum number of blocks is
allocated according to the priority of remaining blocks.

177

The GBR service can be applied for through registration. If the GBR attribute is
subscribed to during registration, the service rate is guaranteed. For streaming
subscribers, the rate is fixed. The corresponding resource is provided according
to rate evaluation. The rate requirement is met after evaluation.
USF resource
The uplink status flag is used to control multiple MSs to use radio channels in
dynamic allocation mode. The USF has three bits in total, labeling eight (0-7)
uplink subscribers in total. For Huawei devices, the setting of USF to 7 is
reserved. For example, if the USF of the RRBP block is set to 7, seven (0 6)
USFs are left for allocation to subscribers.
The USF applies to data transmission. The RRBP subscribers make response to
corresponding data, for example, Ack or Nack.
TFI resource
TFI is an identity of the TBF. The TBF is uniquely identified through the TFI and
data transmission direction. The TFI has five bits in total, identifying subscribers
of 0-31 bits. There are 32 independent TBFs at the uplink and downlink
respectively.

Different channels of the same TRX can use the same TFI value.

Any TFI value of the same channel at the same time belongs to a unique
uplink or downlink TBF.

The uplink and downlink TBFs of the same MS can use different TFIs or
the same TFI.

TAI resource

A total of 16 TAIs are available for allocation to subscribers for the TA


adjustment.

178

Basic Concepts of PS Resource


Management Algorithm
z

PDCH types - by configuration mode

Static channel: fixedly unconvertible in the case of use by PS service

Dynamic channel: applies to CS or PS services

PDCH types - by PS service bearer capability

GPRS channel: applies to only GPRS services

EGPRS normal channel: applies to both GPRS and EGPRS services

EGPRS priority channel: preferentially applies to EGPRS services

EGPRS special channel: applies to only EGPRS service

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page7

179

Data Configuration

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page8

Common EGPRS channel


GPRS and EGPRS subscribers can use this channel, with the same priority.
Therefore, GPRS subscribers and EGPRS subscribers may exist in this channel
at the same time. The modulation mode corresponding to the channel encoding
used by these subscribers must be the GMSK. Therefore, the configuration may
affect the high speed performance of the EDGE.
EGPRS preferred channel
The GPRS service can use this channel when it is idle. When the EGPRS
service is available on this channel, the GPRS service is swapped and relevant
resources are allocated for the EGPRS subscribers. If no channel is available for
the GPRS service in the case of swap, call drop occurs in the GPRS service.
Therefore, only GPRS subscribers or EGPRS subscribers can use this channel
at the same time. This channel is allocated for EGPRS subscribers with priority.
The GPRS channel assignment is initiated by MSs, which is similar to the GSM channel
assignment. One channel may be applied for signaling and data transmission, which is
similar to the early assignment in the GSM system.
Alternatively, one PDCH is applied for and then PS resources are applied for on the
basis of this PDCH. This is similar to the immediate assignment and then assignment in
the GSM.

180

Contents
1. Packet Radio Resource Management Algorithm Overview
2. Packet Channel Assignment Algorithm
3. Packet Channel Conversion Algorithm
4. Packet Channel Release Algorithm

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page9

181

PS Channel Assignment Process


TRX:0

TRX:1

Main BCCH

SDCCH

SDCCH

TCH

TCH

TCH

SDCCH

TCH

TCH

PDTCH

TCH

PDTCH

PDTCH

TCH

PDTCH

TCH

TRX:2

TRX:3

TCH

TCH/H

TCH

TCH/H

TCH

TCH/H

TCH

TCH/H

TCH

TCH/H

TCH

TCH/H

TCH

TCH/H

TCH

TCH/H

RACH-Channel Request
Cause: PS access, random number

Imm Assignment decision


AGCH-Imm Assignment
(random number, PDCH channel description)
PDCH-Packet Resource Request
(TLLI, pre-emption decision)

Packet assignment decision

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

PDCH-Packet Assignment
(TLLI)

Page10

The GPRS channel assignment is initiated by the MS, which is similar to channel
assignment in the GSM system. One channel may be applied for signaling and data
transmission, which is similar to early assignment in the GSM system.
Alternatively, one PDCH is applied for and then PS resources are applied for on the
basis of this PDCH, which is similar to the immediate assignment in the GSM.

182

PS Channel Assignment Process


Immediate
assignment request

Reassignment
request

Assignment request
on the PACCH

Channel assignment
pre-processing

PS channel allocation algorithm

Yes

Is the channel
assignment successful?
No
Processing after the initial
assignment failure

End

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page11

According to the received assignment request, the BSS checks the assignment request
type during channel assignment pre-processing to determine the channel type of the
assignment and assignment process.
The PS channel allocation algorithm is used to find the proper TRX, channel group, and
calculation weight for the allocation processing.
If once assignment is successful, the assignment process ends. If no appropriate
channel is used for the assignment, it is subject to the processing after the initial
assignment failure.
The dynamic channel conversion and twice assignment are performed until the
assignment is complete after the initial assignment failure.

183

General Process of PS Channel


Allocation Algorithm
Start
Obtain the assignable
channel group

Obtain the assignable


TRX

Is the assignable
channel group
available?

No

Yes
Is the assignable
TRX available?

Yes

Calculate the weight of the


assignable channel group

No
Maximum channel group of
the allocation weight

End

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page12

The PS channel allocation algorithm includes four steps:


Obtaining the assignable TRX information.
Obtaining the assignable channel group information from the assignable TRX.
Performing the weight calculation for all assignable channel groups to obtain the
appropriate channel group.
Selecting the channel group with the greatest weight for allocation.

184

Obtaining the Allocable TRX


No
Start

Concentric cell or not?


Yes

No
Multi-band cell or nor?

Specify the overlaid


subcell or underlaid
subcell?

Yes

No

Yes
Is the MS band support
capability known?

Yes

Specify the TRX of the concentric


subcell attribute

No
Main BCCH TRX band and TRX of the
band being compatible with the main
BCCH TRX

Bands supported by the MS


No
Do the MS and cell support
the EGPRS?
No

Yes

Double-timeslot extension cell?


TRX supporting the EGPRS

Yes
No
TA>63?
Yes

End
Select the double-timeslot extension
TRX

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page13

The procedure for obtaining the assignable TRX is as follows:

TRX requirement: To allocate the PDCH for MSs, check whether the cooperative
TBF exists according to the ingress TRX index. If yes, allocate the PDCH for the
MS on the specified TRX.

For a multi-band cell, the capability of the MS supporting the frequency bands
must be taken into account when assigning the PDCHs.

If the BSC does not know the radio access capability of the MS, only the
PDCHs over the main BCCH frequency band and the frequency bands
compatible with the main BCCH frequency band should be assigned.

If the BSC knows the radio access capability of the MS, only the PDCHs
over the frequency bands supported by the MS are assigned.
If the cell is a double timeslot extended cell as defined by the cell attribute
parameter Cell Ext Type, and if the TA reported by the MS is greater than
63, then the PDCHs on a double timeslot extended TRX should be assigned to
the MS.
If the cell is a concentric cell as defined by the cell attribute parameter Cell
Type, and if the BSC specifies the overlaid subcell or underlaid subcell upon a
PDCH request, then the PDCHs on an overlaid TRX or underlaid TRX should be
assigned accordingly. If the overlaid subcell or underlaid subcell is not specified,
the PDCHs on a concentric TRX should be assigned without specific tendency.
In the case of applying for the allocation of channels, the service type (EDGE or
GPRS service, or EDGE + GPRS service) is contained. According to the TRX
attribute parameter TRX capability, the TRX supporting the EGPRS is
selected if the MS and cell support the EGPRS.

185

Obtaining the

Allocable Channel

Start

No

Is the idle PDCH with normal


statusY&
available Abis timeslot &
channel priorityemeeting the
service requirement
s available?

Yes

Match the service type to the


channel priority type

Perform polling for all


PDCHs

Yes
Allow E Down G Up
Switch?

Does the number of MSs


multiplexed on the PDCH
reach the threshold?

No
No

Yes

Perform processing related to Prohibit


E Down G Up Switch?

The corresponding PDCH is


unavailable
End

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page14

To obtain the assignable channels, do as follows:

Check whether the channel type of the sub timeslot is PDCH.

Check whether the valid status of the PDCH is configured, that is, whether the
location occupied by the channel can be replaced. If it is not configured, it is
unavailable. If it is configured, it is available.

Obtain the management status of the current channel. Check the channel
management status. If the channel is in the blocked state, do not perform the
processing.

Check the resource status recorded through 8 bits on the left and the control
status recorded through 8 bits on the right. Make sure that they are normal.

Check whether the main control status of the channel is in the idle state.

Check whether the channel recorded in the radio resource management module
is available.

Make sure that the number of available Abis is not zero.

Check whether the channel priority meets the service type.

For GPRS services, the GPRS channel group, EGPRS normal channel
group, and EGPRS priority channel group can be allocated.

For EDGE services, the EGPRS special channel group, EGPRS normal
channel group, and EGPRS priority channel group can be allocated.

186

According to the cell attribute parameter PDCH Uplink/Downlink Multiplex


Threshold, make sure that the number of MSs multiplexed on the channel does not
reach the upper threshold.
For the PBCCH or PCCCH, the number of MSs multiplexed on the channel must
be smaller than 7.
Otherwise, the number of MSs multiplexed on the uplink PDTCH should be equal
to or smaller than 7, and the number of MSs multiplexed on the downlink PDTCH
should be equal to or smaller than 8. In the latest version, the downlink PDTCH
supports 16 MSs.
Match the service type with the channel priority type:
The GPRS services cannot occupy the EGPRS special channels.
If an EGPRS priority channel bears the EGPRS services, the EGPRS priority
channel cannot be assigned to the GPRS services.
Make decision according to the BSC attribute parameter Allow E Down G Up
Switch . If the switch is off (that is, the EGPRS OFF GPRS ON is prohibited),
If a channel carries the EGPRS downlink services, the channel cannot be
assigned to the GPRS uplink services.
If a channel carries the GPRS uplink services, the channel cannot be assigned to
the EGPRS downlink services.
Obtain the assignable channel groups.
If an available channel exists according to the preceding decision, obtain all
channel groups that can be allocated to MSs based on the MS multi-timeslot
capability.

187

Data Configuration

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page16

PDCH Uplink Multiplex Threshold

Description: This parameter specifies the PDCH uplink multiplex threshold.The


uplink PDCH can carry a maximum of (threshold/10) TBFs.

Value Range: [10,70] Default Value: 70

Configuration Policy: If this parameter is set to a lower value, the TBFs


established on the PDCH and the subscribers are fewer, and the uplink
bandwidth for each subscriber is higherIf this threshold is set to a higher value,
the TBFs established on the PDCH and the subscribers are more, and the uplink
bandwidth for each subscriber is lower.
PDCH Downlink Multiplex Threshold

Description: This parameter specifies the PDCH downlink multiplex


threshold.The downlink PDCH can carry a maximum of (threshold/10) TBFs.

Value Range: [10,160] Default Value: 80

Configuration Policy: If this parameter is set to a lower value, the TBFs


established on the PDCH and the subscribers are fewer, and the downlink
bandwidth for each subscriber is higher.If this threshold is set to a higher value,
the TBFs established on the PDCH and the subscribers are more, and the
downlink bandwidth for each subscriber is lower.

188

Data Configuration

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page17

Allow E Down G Up Switch

Description: This parameter specifies whether to enable the multiplexing of


EDGE download and GPRS upload onto the same channel. If this parameter is
set to Open, the EDGE download and GPRS upload can use the same
channel;If this parameter is set to Close, the EDGE download and GPRS upload
cannot use the same channel.In dynamic allocation or extended dynamic mode,
the downlink block must use the GMSK coding scheme (including CS1-4,
MCS1-4) to detect the USF assigned for the uplink by the GPRS MS. Then, the
downlink cannot use the high-rate coding scheme, thus decreasing the EGPRS
rate.If the Allow E Down G Up Switch is set to Open, this can prevent the
EGPRS downlink and GPRS uplink from multiplexing the same channel to
ensure the EGPRS rate. However, the channel needs to be properly allocated,
the GPRS channel configured is to prevent decreasing the access of the GPRS
MS due to no GPRS channel.If the Allow E Down G Up Switch is set to Close,
the downlink uses the GMSK coding scheme, thus decreasing the EGPRS
rate.At present, this parameter is usually set to Open.

Value Range: [Open,Close] Default Value: Open

189

BITMAP Mapping of Available Channel


1

0
B

SD TF GS

EN

EN

ES

EP

GPRS service BITMAP


mapping: 00011101

GPRS service BITMAP


mapping: 00010100
EGPRS service BITMAP
mapping: 00000111

User
multiplexing
is full.

EGPRS service BITMAP


mapping: 00001111

0
B

SD TF GS

EN

EN

ES

EP

Allow E Down G Up
Switch is OFF. The
EGPRS downlink
multiplexing is not
full.

0
B

The EGPRS
subscriber is available
and the multiplexing is
not full.

SD TF GS

EN

EN

ES

EP

EGPRS service BITMAP mapping:


00001111

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Downlink GPRS service BITMAP


mapping: 00011101

Page18

Channel type:

B: BCCH channel

SD: SDCCH channel

TF: TCH full rate channel

GS: GPRS special channel

EN: EGPRS normal channel

ES: EGPRS special channel

EP: EGPRS priority channel


In the case of the existing channel resources, generate the corresponding available
channel BITMAP according to the service type. See the preceding example.

In the case of the request for allocating uplink channel, the allocation fails when
the number of the multiplexed uplink TBFs on the channel is equal to or greater
than PDCH Uplink Multiplex Threshold. In the case of the request for
allocating downlink, the allocation fails when the number of the multiplexed
downlink TBFs on the channel is equal to or greater than PDCH Downlink
Multiplex Threshold.

The EGPRS special channel cannot be allocated for the GPRS request. The
GPRS channel cannot be allocated for the EGPRS request.

The EGPRS priority channel occupied by the EGPRS (including the uplink and
downlink) cannot be allocated for the GPRS.

When Allow E Down G Up Switch is off, if the EGPRS downlink is


available, the resource should be allocated to the GPRS uplink. If the GPRS
uplink is available, the resource cannot be allocated to the EGPRS downlink.
190
All available channel groups are generated through the AND and OR operations among
the BITMAP mapping of available channels and all possible BITMP tables of

Uplink GPRS service BITMAP


mapping: 00010101

Obtaining the Assignable Channel Group


z

The bitmap mapping of multi-timeslot ability. For


example for 4 multi-timeslots ability
Enable Allocate Continuous
Timeslot Switch (by default )

Disable Allocate Continuous


Timeslot Switch

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page19

Allocate Continuous Timeslot Switch can not be configured.

191

Obtaining the Downlink Channel Group

Consecutive
timeslot

TAI/TFI
Resource

Number of
Channels
Contained
in the Channel
Group/
MS Multi-timeslot
Capability

Obtain
the
downlin
k channel
group

Frequency
Hopping
Parameter

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

EDA
Function

Cooperation
TBF

Receive/send
Sharing
Timeslot

Page20

After obtaining the allocable channel group, attempt to obtain available uplink or
downlink channel group of a TRX according to the service status. The method for
obtaining the downlink channel group is as follows:

If the number of channels contained in the assignable channel group in the TRX is
smaller than or equal to the MS multi-timeslot capability channel group, these channel
groups can be used for the allocation.

If the MS multi-timeslot capability is unknown, up to one PDCH is allocated.

If the MS multi-timeslot capability is known, the maximum number of channels


supported by the MS multi-timeslot capability is allocated.

The channel group supports multi-timeslot capability meeting the MS. For type 1 or 2
MS, check the following (for type 1 MS, the simultaneous receiving and transmitting is
not allowed. For type 2 MS, the simultaneous receiving and transmitting is allowed).

Calculate the number of received and transmitted timeslots of a TDMA frame.

Check whether the number of received and transmitted timeslots meets the
multi-timeslot capability.

For the MSs with the multi-timeslot levels from 1 to 12, check whether the
timeslot sum of the receiving and transmitting is in the range [1, Sum].

Make sure that the transmitting timeslot does not exist between two receiving
timeslots in a TDMA frame.

Make sure that the receiving timeslot does not exist between two transmitting
timeslots in a TDMA frame.
192

Check whether the Tta, Ttb, Tra, and Trb conditions of multi-timeslot capability
are met, that is,

Time of the channel group supporting the MS from neighbor cell power
measurement to transmitting (number of timeslots) Tta

Time of the channel group supporting the MS transmitting (number of


timeslots) Ttb

Time of the channel group supporting the MS from neighbor cell power
measurement to receiving (number of timeslots) Tra

Time of the channel group supporting the MS receiving (number of


timeslots) Trb

193

Obtaining the Uplink Channel Group


(Non-EDA Mode)
Consecutive
Timeslot

TAI/TFI
Resource

Frequency
Hopping
Parameter

Number of
Channels
Contained
in the Channel
Group

Obtain the
Uplink
Channel
Group

MS
multi-timeslot
Capability

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cooperation
TBF

Page22

In non-EDA mode, consider the following factors when obtaining the uplink channel group:

The number of channels contained in the channel group is less than or equal to the
maximum number of assignable channels.

The timeslots that carry the channels must be consecutive.

For the cooperation TBF, consider the following items:

If the cooperation TBF does not exist, the channel with the largest timeslot
number in the uplink channel group must able to be assigned to the downlink.

If the cooperation TBF exists, the control channel of the channel group must be
the same as the control channel of the cooperation TBF, and the control channel
of the cooperation TBF must have TAI resources. If there are m timeslots
allocated to the channel group and n timeslots allocated to the cooperation TBF,
there should be Min (m, n) timeslots for transmission and reception.
The frequency parameters (MAIO, HSN) of the channels in the channel group must be
the same.
The channel group assigned to the MS must match the multislot capability of the MS.
The TFI and TAI resources are available for assignment.

194

Obtaining the Uplink Channel Group (EDA


Mode)
Downlink
Channel

TAI/TFI
Resource

Channel
Group
including
Channel
Number

Obtaining
the Uplink
Channel
Group

Frequency
Hopping
Parameters

Cooperation
TBF

EDA
Function

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

z
z

Page23

When the BSC software parameter Support EDA is set to Support, and if the
MS supports EDA, then only one channel should be assigned on the downlink. Note this
channel corresponds to the timeslot numbered smallest of the uplink channel group.
If the cooperation TBF exists, the control channel of the channel group must be the
same as the control channel of the cooperation TBF, and the control channel of the
cooperation TBF must have TAI resources. If there are m timeslots allocated to the
channel group and n timeslots allocated to the cooperation TBF, there should be Min (m,
n) timeslots for transmission and reception.

Note: The uplink (or downlink) TBF of the MS is the cooperation TBF of the
downlink (or uplink) TBF.
If the number of receiving timeslots of the MS is m and the number of transmitting
timeslots of the MS is n, there must be Min (m, n) same timeslots in the transmitting and
receiving timeslots.
The frequency parameter (MAIO, HSN) of the channel in the channel group must be the
same. If the frequency parameter of the channel in the channel group is different, the
channel group cannot be allocated.
The TFI and TAI resources exist in the channel group.
The timeslots that carry the channels must be consecutive.

195

Data Configuration

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page24

Support EDA

DescriptionThis parameter specifies whether the EDA is supported.

Value Range[Not Support,Support]

Default ValueNot Support


Allow EDA Multiplex

DescriptionThis parameter specifies whether the EDA multiplexing is allowed.

Value Range[Not Allow,Allow]

Default ValueNot Allow

196

Calculating the Weight of the Allocable


Channel
Weight table
Priority of
Priority of
non-double timeslot
service type
channels
31

Priority of
number of channels
in the channel group

Priority of the
load of
channel groups

Priority of number
of estimated downlink
channels

29-27

26-20

19-17

30

Priority of the
channel group
bandwidth

Reserved

16-1

Higher priority

Weight table

Extended weight table


Lower priority

Reserved

31

Priority of the
downlink bandwidth of the
estimated channel group
30-15

Priority of
channel type
14-10

Priority of the
channel group
timeslot ID

Reserved
5-0

9-6

Extended weight table


Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page25

If there are channels groups available for assignment, their weight must be calculated to
select the optimal channel group for the MS. The following describes the channel weight
table and channel extension weight table.
After comparing the weights of the assignable channel groups on the basis of the channel
weight table and channel extension weight table, the optimal channel group for assignment
is determined.
The channel extension weight table is used only when two channel groups have the same
weight.
The following describes the factors listed in the channel weight table.

Bit 31 service type priority: When the EGPRS service is requested, the EGPRS
channel is allocated with priority and is set to 1.

Bit 30 Non- double timeslot channel priority: Check whether it is the double timeslot
channel. According to the situation of the actual TA, set the weight of the non
double-timeslot channel and double-timeslot channel. If TA is larger than 63, it
indicates the high priority for the double timeslot TRX. Otherwise, it indicates the
high priority for the common TRX.

Bits 29 to 27 (priority of the number of channels in the channel group): This field
specifies the number of channels in a channel group.

Bit 26-30 channel group load priority: It indicates the total number of MSs
multiplexed on the channel. The larger the total number of MSs, the lower the
assigned value and the priority.

Bit 19-17 number of estimated downlink channels priority: For the uplink TBF, the
number of allocable channels can be estimated when the service type is neutral or
downlink priority. The larger the number of downlink channels, the higher the priority.
197

Bits 16 to 1 (priority of the bandwidth of the channel group): The higher the bit
rate provided by a channel group, the higher the priority of the channel group.
When the BSC software parameter Support EDA is set to Support, and if the
MS supports EDA and uplink service is preferred, the rules for determining the uplink
channel group are as follows:

The number of channels contained in the channel group is less than or equal to
the maximum number of assignable channels.

The number of channels contained in the channel group is greater than or equal
to 3.

If the cooperation TBF does not exist, the downlink channel corresponding to the
timeslot numbered smallest of the uplink channel group must be assignable; that
is, the uplink threshold is not exceeded.

Only one channel is assigned on the downlink, and the timeslot number of the
timeslot that carries the channel must be the smallest.

If the BSC software parameter Allow EDA Multiplex is set to Not


Allow, then any channel in the channel group cannot be multiplexed with
other MSs.

The frequency parameters (MAIO, HSN) of the channels in the channel group
must be the same.

The TFI and TAI resources are available for assignment.

198

Contents
1. Packet Radio Resource Management Algorithm Overview
2. Packet Channel Assignment Algorithm
3. Packet Channel Conversion Algorithm
4. Packet Channel Release Algorithm

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page27

199

Triggering Conditions of Dynamic


Channel Application
Failure to
allocate the
PDCH

Failure to
assign a
single block

Multitimeslot
capability is
not met

Channel
reserved

Channel load
exceeding
the threshold

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

EGPRS
preemption

Apply for the dynamic


channel

Page28

In the case of applying for dynamic channels, check whether the cell is allowed to trigger the
dynamic channel conversion to increase the number of PDCHs according to the cell channel
resource, CPU load, and license. The number of PDCHs does not increase by triggering the
dynamic channel conversion in the cell when one of the following cases occurs.

Channel resources

The number of PDCHs activated in the cell is greater than the upper threshold
of the maximum PDCH ratio.

The number of convertible TCHs in the cell is equal to or smaller than the
number of reserved TCHs (specified by the Reservation Threshold of
Dynamic Channel Conversion).

EGPRS MSs occupy the GPRS channel.

CPU load: If the CPU utilization is high, the dynamic channel conversion is stopped.

License: In the case of the license control, the dynamic channel conversion is not
triggered if the activated PDCH channel is available (that is, the current logical type is
PDCH).
When any of the preceding conditions is not met, cell conversion is allowed. According to the
triggering condition of the dynamic channel conversion, determine whether the subscriber
needs to triggers the dynamic channel conversion. That is, dynamic channel application is
triggered when any of the following conditions occurs:

Multi-timeslot capability

The assignment of the PDCHs to the MS fails.

The assignment of the PDCHs to the MS succeeds, but the PDCHs do not
meet the multislot capability requirement of the MS.

Load

200

Failure to assign a single block for MSs

Data Configuration

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page29

Maximum Ratio Threshold of PDCHs in a Cell

DescriptionThis parameter specifies the maximum ratio of PDCHs in a cell.


The total number of TCHs and PDCHs available in a cell is fixed. The PDCH
ratio is equal to PDCHs / (TCHs + static PDCHs). This parameter determines the
proportion of PDCHs to the total number of TCHs + PDCHs.

Value Range[0,100] Default Value30 Unit%

Configuration PolicyIf this parameter is set to an excessive value, there are


excessive PDCHs and insufficient TCHs. This affects CS services. If this
parameter is set to a modest value, there are insufficient PDCHs and excessive
TCHs. This affects PS services.

Uplink Multiplex Threshold of Dynamic Channel Conversion

DescriptionThis parameter specifies the uplink multiplex threshold of dynamic


channel conversion.When the number of subscribers carried over the channel
reaches the threshold/10, dynamic channels are used.

Value Range[10,70] Default Value20

Configuration PolicyIf this threshold is high, it is difficult to seize dynamic


channels. If this threshold is low, it is easy to seize dynamic channels.

201

Downlink Multiplex Threshold of Dynamic Channel Conversion

DescriptionThis parameter specifies the downlink multiplex threshold of


dynamic channel conversion.When the number of subscribers carried over the
channel reaches the threshold/10, dynamic channels are used.

Value Range[10,80] Default Value20

Level of Preempting Dynamic Channel

DescriptionThis parameter specifies the levels of dynamic channels


preempted by CS services and PS services. Only full-rate TCHs are the dynamic
channels that can be preempted. Preempt all dynamic TCHFs: It indicates that
the CS services can preempt all the dynamic channels.No preempt of CCHs: It
indicates that the CS services can preempt all the dynamic channels except for
the control channels.No preempt of service TCHF: It indicates that the CS
services cannot preempt the dynamic channels that carry services.

Value Range[Preempt all dynamic TCHFs,No preempt of CCHs,No preempt


of service TCHF] Default ValuePreempt all dynamic TCHFs

Reservation Threshold of Dynamic Channel Conversion

DescriptionThis parameter specifies the number of channels reserved for the


CS services.

Value Range[0,8] Default Value2

202

Process of Dynamic Channel


Application
Start

Obtain the number of


applied dynamic channels

No

Is the convertible
TRX available?
Yes
Obtain the weight
maximum TRX

Obtain the convertible dynamic


channel

End

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page31

When the condition for triggering dynamic channel application is met, start the dynamic
channel application process.
The procedure is as follows:

Obtain the number of dynamic channels through calculation.

Calculate the TRX weight and obtain the highest TRX of the weight.

Locate the dynamic channel bitmap on the TRX and start to apply for the
appropriate dynamic channel.

203

Obtaining the Number of Applied


Dynamic Channels
z

Multi-timeslot capability:

Fail to allocate the PDCH. The MS multi-timeslot capability is


unknown.

The allocation of the PDCH for the MS is successful. The MS multitimeslot capability is not met.

Load:

The load reaches Uplink/Downlink Multiplex Threshold of Dynamic


Channel Conversion

Pre-application for the PDCH

Failure to assign a single block for terminals

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page32

The method for obtaining the number of dynamic channels for request conversion is as
follows:
Multi-timeslot capability

If the assignment of the PDCH to the MS fails, and if the multislot capability of
the MS is unknown, then the number of dynamic channels requested for
conversion is 1; if the multislot capability of the MS is known, the number of
dynamic channels requested for conversion is equal to the number of timeslots
supported by the MS.

If the assignment of the PDCHs to the MS succeeds, but the PDCHs do not
meet the multislot capability of the MS, then the number of dynamic channels
requested for conversion is: maximum number of channels supported by the
multislot capable MS number of channels assigned to the MS.

The channel conversion type of the preceding two causes is the multi-timeslot
capability.
Load

The dynamic channel conversion is triggered due to the restriction by


Uplink/Downlink Multiplex Threshold of Dynamic Channel Conversion,
to request for calculating the number of converted dynamic channels. The
method is as follows:

Assume that the number of dynamic channels requested for conversion


is X, the multiplexing dynamic channel conversion threshold is H, total
number of uplink TBFs of the cell downlink PDCH channels is S, and the
number of downlink PDCHs in the cell is M. The formula is as follows:
X = S 10/H M + 1
This formula is used to check whether the channel resources are
sufficient. The dynamic channel can be applied for when the multiplexing
204
dynamic channel conversion threshold is exceeded. The number of
dynamic channels applied for is equal to the number of the part of load

Obtaining the Convertible


TRX

No
Concentric cell or
not?
Yes
Specify the overlaid
subcell or underlaid
subcell?

Start

No

Yes

No
Multi-band cell?

Specify the TRX of the concentric


subcell attribute

Yes

No

Is the MS band support


capability known?

Main BCCH TRX band and TRX of


the band being compatible with the
main BCCH TRX

Yes

Select the TRX corresponding to


the service of triggering dynamic
channel application

Bands supported by the MS

No
Double-timeslot
extension cell?

Select the TRX where the number of


PDCHs is smaller than
Maximum PDCH number of carrier.

Yes
No
TA>63?

Obtain the convertible


channel bitmap on the
TRX

Yes
Select the double-timeslot
extension TRX

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

End

Page33

The TRXs that carry the dynamic channels must be specified prior to the dynamic
channel conversion. The rules for determining the TRXs are as follows:
For a multi-band cell, the band supported by MSs must be taken into account.

If the MS radio access capability is unknown, only the main BCCH band and the
frequency bands compatible with the main BCCH band is selected.

If the MS radio access capability is known, only the band supported by the MS is
selected.
For a double timeslot extended cell, if the TA reported by the MS is greater than 63, the
double timeslot extended TRXs should be selected.
For a concentric cell, the concentric attribute of the TRX carrying the dynamic channels
must be taken into account when performing dynamic channel conversion. The cell
attribute parameter concerned is Dynamic Channel Conversion Parameter of
Concentric Cell. See the following table for details.

If the overlaid subcell or underlaid subcell is specified when requesting PDCH


assignment, and if the channel assignment on the specified subcell fails, then
the dynamic channel conversion in the specified subcell is triggered.
The TRX of supporting the service is selected according to the service type.

For the dynamic channel conversion triggered by the EDGE service, the
minimum type of the converted dynamic channel is EGPRS TRX TCH.

For the dynamic channel conversion triggered by the GPRS service, the
minimum type of the converted dynamic channel is GPRS TRX TCH.
Select the TRX on which the number of PDCHs carried is less than that specified by the
TRX attribute parameter Maximum PDCH numbers of carrier.
Obtain the convertible channel bitmap on the TRX for selecting the optimal dynamic
channel (group). If the dynamic channel conversion type is the multi-timeslot capability,
the convertible channel bitmap on the TRX consists of the TCH channel and available 205
PDCH channel. If the dynamic channel conversion type is load, the convertible channel

Obtaining the
TRX

Weight Maximum

TRX conversion weight table

Weight table

31 30 29

2 10

Higher priority

Priority
Priority of
main BCCH of the number
of PDCHs
TRX
19

Lower priority

Priority
of the number of
static PDCHs

Priority of number
of convertible
dynamic channels

Priority of number of
maximum consecutive
convertible dynamic
channels

Distance
priority

14-12

11-9

8-6

5-3

18-15

Priority of
Priority of
Concentric
power amplifier
double timeslot
cell
Switch
TRX
priority
31-30

29

28

Priority of the
Priority of
EDGE
conversion
TRX
request satisfaction
27

26

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Priority of the
dynamic
PDCH channel

Frequency
hopping
priority

25-24

23

Band
priority
2-0

Interference
priority
22-20

Page34

The TRX with the highest weight should be selected as the optimal TRX for conversion. The following
describes the factors listed in the TRX extension weight table:

Bits 31 and 30 (priority of the TRX power amplifier switch): If the switch of the power amplifier
of a TRX is turned on, the priority of the TRX is higher; if the switch of the power amplifier of a
TRX is turned off, the priority of the TRX is lower.

Bit 29 (Subcell priority): When the requested subcell attribute and the TRX subcell attribute
are the same, the value is 1. Otherwise, the value is 0. If the subcell attribute is not specified
or the access is initial, the underlaid subcell is preferred.

Bit 28: Double-timeslot TRX priority. For the single timeslot TRX, the priority is high. For the
double timeslot TRX, the priority is lower.

Bit 27: EDGE TRX priority (valid only for BTS in the earlier versions such as BTS312 and
BTS3012). For the EGPRS TBF, the EGPRS TRX is preferred. For the GPRS TBF, the GPRS
TRX is preferred.

Bit 26 (priority indicating whether the TRX meets the conversion request): If the number of
convertible dynamic channels on the TRX is equal to or greater than the number of dynamic
channels for request conversion, it is set to the higher priority.

Bit 25 to 24 (TRX dynamic PDCH attribute priority): The highest priority in the channel
attribute priority of all TRX traffic channels (including the converted or configured static
PDCHs) is the priority of the TRX. For the EGPRS TBF, the priorities of the PDCH attributes
from the high to low is {EGPRS special channel, EGPRS priority channel, EGPRS normal
channel, and GPRS channel}, with the corresponding weights 3, 2, 1, and 0 respectively. For
the GPRS TBF, the priorities of the PDCH attributes from the high to low is {GPRS channel,
EGPRS normal channel, EGPRS priority channel, EGPRS special channel}, with the
corresponding weights 3, 2, 1, and 0 respectively.

206

Please refer to the notes

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page35

Bit 23 (frequency hopping attribute priority): The priority of the TRX without involving the TRX is
higher.

Bit 22 to 20 (TRX interference priority): The priority of the TRX with lower interference is higher.

Bit 19 (priority indicating whether the TRX is the main BCCH TRX): The priority of the main BCCH
TRX is higher.

Bit 18 to 15 (PDCH quantity priority over the TRX): The more the PDCH quantity is, the higher the
priority is (the weight is valid when the number of convertible dynamic channels over the TRX is
equal to or greater than 1).

Bit 14 to 12 (static PDCH quantity priority over the TRX): The more the static PDCH is, the higher
the priority is (the weight is valid when the number of convertible dynamic channels over the TRX is
equal to or greater than 1). The maximum value is 7.

Bit 11 to 9 (priority of the number of convertible dynamic channels on the TRX): The more the
convertible dynamic channels are, the higher the priority is (When the number of convertible
dynamic channels on the TRX is smaller than the number of dynamic channels requested for the
conversion, the weight is valid).

Bit 8 to 6 (priority of the maximum number of consecutive convertible dynamic channels on the
TRX): The larger the maximum number of consecutive convertible dynamic channels is, the higher
the priority is.

Bit 5 to 3 (priority of distance between the maximum number of consecutive convertible dynamic
channels on the TRX and other convertible dynamic channel groups): The shorter the distance is,
the higher the priority is.

Bit 2 to 0 (TRX band priority): The priority of the band differing from the main BCCH TRX band is
high. Otherwise, the priority is low. The priority of two sets of main BCCH same band or main
BCCH different band are as follows (from high to low):

900M band: P band < E band < R band

1800M/1900M band: Only 1800M band or 1900M band exists on a network. Therefore,
only one priority needs to be defined.

850 band

450 band

480 band

207

Obtaining the
z

Convertible Dynamic Channel

Select the timeslot where the initial configuration is set to TCHF

You are not allowed to adjust the timeslot where the initial configuration is set to
TCHH.

Consider the value of Whether to Allow to Re-adjust the PDCH

When the value is set to Not allow, select only the idle TCHF or the timeslot
where two TCHHs of the same timeslot are idle.

When the value is set to Allow, all timeslots of the TCH type can be selected,
regardless of whether the TCHH or TCHF of this timeslot is occupied.

If an independent GPRS request triggers the dynamic conversion, the EGPRS


special channel is not selected. If an independent EGPRS request triggers the
dynamic channel conversion, the GPRS channel is not selected.

When multiple dynamic channels are selected for the conversion, the
conversion is performed according to the sequence of the timeslot numbers 6, 5,
7, 4, 3, 2, 1, and 0.

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page36

After selecting the optimal conversion TRX, select the convertible dynamic channel on
the TRX according to the requirement. The dynamic channel is not converted when any
of the following occurs:

The number of channels to be converted is equal to or smaller than the number


of channels being converted.

The number of Abis timeslots on the TRX is greater than or equal to the number
specified by the TRX attribute parameter MaxAbisTSOccupied.

The number of PDCHs on the TRX is greater than or equal to the number
specified by the TRX attribute parameter Maximum PDCH numbers of carrier.

The number of PDCHs in a cell is greater than or equal to the maximum number
of PDCHs allowed in a cell.

The maximum number of PDCHs allowed in a cell can be calculated on the


basis of the cell attribute parameter Maximum Ratio Threshold of PDCHs in a
Cell. The formula is as follows:
Maximum number of PDCHs allowed in a cell = Maximum Ratio
Threshold of PDCHs in a Cell x number of TCHs and PDCHs in a
cell/100
CS Repacking function is controlled by PDCH reforming. When PDCH reforming is
set to Allow, the CS Repacking is functional. That is, it is functional when the dynamic
PDCH applying for the conversion is occupied by CS services. If the local cell has the
idle TCH resources, these CS services are switched to the idle TCH. If the idle TCH is
unavailable and Level of Preempting Dynamic Channel is set to All dynamic
channels carrying services not-preempted, the system initiates the forcible release
for the CS service. As a result, the CS calls are dropped. If Level of Preempting
Dynamic Channel is set to All dynamic channels preempted or control channel notpreempted, the application for converting the dynamic PDCH fails.

208

Data Configuration

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page37

Maximum PDCH numbers of carrier

DescriptionThis parameter specifies the maximum number of PDCHs


allocated to a TRX.

Value Range[0,8] Default Value8

MaxAbisTSOccupied

DescriptionThis parameter specifies the maximum number of Abis timeslots


occupied by the PDCHs on a TRX.

Value Range[0,32] Default Value32

209

Contents
1. Packet Radio Resource Management Algorithm Overview
2. Packet Channel Assignment Algorithm
3. Packet Channel Conversion Algorithm
4. Packet Channel Release Algorithm

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page38

210

General Process of Dynamic Channel Release


CS channels are
insufficient and
CECHM receives the
request for releasing
channels

Obtain the TRX of releasing


dynamic channels

No

Is the TRX obtained


successfully?
Yes
Release the channel with
the highest priority

Recall the dynamic PDCH with load


Release the PDCH resource

End

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

When CS services are busy, the CS services may preempt the dynamic channel of the
PS according to the data configuration because the TCH of the CS is deficient. As a
result, the preceding process is triggered.
The first step to release channel is to obtain the appropriate TRX of dynamic channel,
with considering the requirements of the band and concentric cell.

The band must be available and the congestion cannot occur.

The frequency bands supported by the TRX must be the same as requested by
the CS services.

For the concentric cell, the overlaid/underlaid subcell attribute of the TRX must
meet the requirement of the CS services on the overlaid/underlaid subcell.

When the CS requests the overlaid subcell or underlaid subcell, only the
overlaid subcell or underlaid subcell can be selected.

When the CS requests the preferred underlaid subcell, the priority of the
underlaid TRX is higher.

When the CS requests the preferred overlaid subcell, the priority of the
overlaid TRX is higher.
Determine the TRX to release the dynamic channel information. Release the weight
ratio for the target TRX. Then select the channel with the maximum weight for initiating
the release.
In another case, the timing release of the idle dynamic channel is controlled by Timer of
Releasing Idle Dynamic Channel.

If the value is large, the idle channel fails to be released. As a result, resource is
wasted.

If the value is small, the dynamic channel can be released easily. The
conversion may be triggered if required. As a result, the conversion is performed 211
repeatedly.

Page39

Obtaining the Dynamic Channel to be


Released
Channel release weight table

Weight table

31 30 29

2 10

Higher priority

Lower priority

Priority of the
number of fixed
channels

Priority of the
number
of PDCHs

Priority of
TRX type

Priority of
channel type

19-17

16-14

13

12-11

z
z

Reserved

7-0

10-8

Concentric
cell priority

Priority of idle
dynamic
channels

Priority of the
number of
control channels

Priority of
reserved
channels

Priority of the
number of
dynamic TBFs

31-30

29

28-25

24

23-20

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Priority of
timeslot
ID sequence

Page40

Whether to release the channel is specified by Level of Preempting Dynamic


Channel.

When the value is set to Preempt all dynamic TCHFs, the dynamic PDCH
can be released.

When the value is set to No preempt of CCHs, the dynamic PDCH of the
control channel cannot be released.

When the value is set to No preempt of service TCHF, the channels


cannot be preempted if a service exists on this channel. If this channel is idle,
the resource is released actively after relevant PS timers expire when PDCH
reforming is set to Allow.
Release the dynamic channel with the highest priority.
To select the optimal dynamic channel, calculate the priority of each dynamic channel in
the TRX of the dynamic channel to generate the dynamic channel release weight table.
See the preceding table. The factors in detail to be considered are as follows (select the
dynamic channel with the greatest weight value for the release):

Bits 31 and 30: priority of the concentric cell attribute

Bit 29 (priority of the idle dynamic channel): An idle dynamic channel has a
higher priority of being released.

212

Bits 28 to 25 (priority of the number of control channels): The less number the
dynamic channels are used as control channels, the higher the priority of the
dynamic channels are being released.
Bit 24 (priority of reserved channels): During the PDCH pre-application
conversion, the priority of the pre-applied channel is low.
Bits 23 to 20 (priority of the number of TBFs on the dynamic channel): If fewer
TBFs are multiplexed on a dynamic channel, the priority of the dynamic channel
being released is higher.
Bits 19 to 17 (priority of the number of fixed channels on the TRX): If fewer fixed
channels are carried on the TRX that carries a dynamic channel, the priority of
the dynamic channel being released is higher.
Bits 16 to 14 (priority of the number of PDCHs on the TRX): If fewer PDCHs are
carried on the TRX that carries a dynamic channel, the priority of the dynamic
channel being released is higher.
Bit 13 (priority of the TRX type): The dynamic channel carried on the GPRS
capable TRX has a higher priority of being released.
Bits 12 and 11 (priority of channel type): The release priority in descending order
is as follows: GPRS channel, EGPRS normal channel, and EGPRS priority
channel.
Bits 10 to 8 (priority of the timeslot sequence): The priorities of the dynamic
channels being released are decreased in the following order: TS0, TS1, TS2,
TS3, TS4, TS7, TS5, and TS6.

213

Data Configuration

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page42

Timer of Releasing Idle Dynamic Channel

DescriptionThis parameter specifies the timer set to release the idle dynamic
channel after all TBFs on the dynamic channel are released.If all TBFs on a
dynamic channel are released, the dynamic channel is not released immediately.
Instead, a timer is started when the channel is idle.Before the timer expires, if
there are new services, the dynamic channel continues to be used and the timer
is stopped. When the timer expires, the dynamic channel is released.

Value Range[10,3600]

Default Value20

UnitSeconds

Configuration PolicyIf this parameter is set to an excessive value, the dynamic


channel resources may be wasted when there are no services for a long time. If
this parameter is set to a modest value, it is possible that a dynamic channel is
requested immediately after being released. Therefore, the dynamic channel
request is sent frequently.

214

Data Configuration

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page43

PDCH reforming

DescriptionThis parameter specifies whether the PS services are allowed to


preempt the ongoing channel for CS services when "Level of Preempting
Dynamic Channel" is set to "No preempt of service TCHF".This parameter must
be used together with "Level of Preempting Dynamic Channel", the condition as
follows:1. When "Level of Preempting Dynamic Channel" is set to "No preempt
of service TCHF" and "PDCH Reforming" is set to Yes, PS services can preempt
the CS channel.2. When "Level of Preempting Dynamic Channel" is set to "No
preempt of service TCHF" and "PDCH Reforming" is set to No, PS services
cannot preempt the CS channel.

Value Range[No,Yes]

Default ValueNo

CautionWhen this parameter is used:1. "Level of Preempting Dynamic


Channel" must be set to "No preempt of service TCHF"; otherwise this
parameter is invalid.2. The number of TCH/F of current TRX must be more than
the value of the Reservation Threshold of Dynamic Channel Conversion
parameter.3. "Maximum Ratio Threshold of PDCHs in a Cell" must be set
properly; otherwise the TCH/F can not be changed to the PDCH because of the
low ratio.2 and 3 are optional.

215

Summary
z

After studying this course, you will learn:

PS channel allocation algorithm

Dynamic channel conversion algorithm

Dynamic channel release algorithm

By learning the three algorithms, you should master the PS


channel management algorithm and load control policy of
the BSC6000.

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page44

216

Thank you
www.huawei.com

217

GPRS EDGE Radio


Network Optimization
Problem Analysis
www.huawei.com

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

218

Objectives
z

Upon completion of this course, you will :

Be familiar with the common problems arising in GPRS and


EDGE network optimization

Master the common troubleshooting measures for the


problems discovered during GPRS and EDGE network
optimization

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page 1

219

Contents
1. Low TBF Setup Success Ratio
2. Low Downloading Rate

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page 2

220

TBF Setup Success Ratio

Formula

Common Analysis Method

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page 3

221

Uplink TBF Setup Success Ratio Formula


1 Air Interface Measured
Uplink GPRS TBF setup success ratio =

1-

A9004: Number of Failed Uplink GPRS TBF Establishments due to MS No Response

X 100%

A9001: Number of Uplink GPRS TBF Establishment Attempts

Uplink EGPRS TBF setup success ratio =


A9204: Number of Failed Uplink EGPRS TBF Establishments due to MS No Response

1-

A9201: Number of Uplink EGPRS TBF Establishment Attempts

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

X 100%

Page 4

The formula of the TBF setup success ratio varies with the measured objects.

If the measured object is the air interface, the preceding formulas are used.

For uplink TBF assignment: If the first uplink data block from the MS is not
received at the network side after an assignment command is sent from the
network side, an uplink TBF setup failure due to no response from MS is counted.

All the preceding counters are cell-level counters. The system also supports BSC-level
counters as follows:

ZA9001: uplink GPRS TBF setup attempts within the BSC

ZA9004: uplink GPRS TBF setup failures due to no response from MS within the
BSC

ZA9201: uplink EGPRS TBF setup attempts within the BSC

ZA9204: uplink EGPRS TBF setup failures due to no response from MS within
the BSC

For particular values of the preceding counters, see the GPRS and EDGE traffic
statistics.

222

Downlink TBF Setup Success Ratio


Formula 1 Air Interface Measured
Downlink GPRS TBF setup success ratio =

1-

A9104: Number of Failed Downlink GPRS TBF Establishments due to MS No Response


A9101: Number of Downlink GPRS TBF Establishment Attempts

x 100%

Downlink EGPRS TBF setup success ratio =

1-

A9304: Number of Failed Downlink EGPRS TBF Establishments due to MS No Response


x 100%
A9301: Number of Downlink EGPRS TBF Establishment Attempts

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page 5

The formula of the TBF setup success ratio varies with the measured objects.

If the measured object is the air interface, the preceding formulas are used.

For downlink TBF assignment: If no Packet Control Acknowledgement message


from the MS is received at the network side after an assignment command is sent
from the network side, a downlink TBF setup failure due to no response from MS
is counted.

All the preceding counters are cell-level counters. The system also supports BSC-level
counters as follows:

ZA9101: downlink GPRS TBF setup attempts within the BSC

ZA9104: downlink GPRS TBF setup failures due to no response from MS within
the BSC

ZA9301: downlink EGPRS TBF setup attempts within the BSC

ZA9304: downlink EGPRS TBF setup failures due to no response from MS within
the BSC

For particular values of the preceding counters, see the GPRS and EDGE traffic
statistics.

223

Uplink TBF Setup Success Ratio Formula


2 Resources Measured
Uplink GPRS TBF setup success ratio =

1-

A9003: Number of Failed Uplink GPRS TBF Establishments due to No Channel

x 100%

A9001: Number of Uplink GPRS TBF Establishment Attempts

Uplink EGPRS TBF setup success ratio =


A9203: Number of Failed Uplink GPRS TBF Establishments due to No Channel

1-

A9201: Number of Uplink EGPRS TBF Establishment Attempts

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

X 100%

Page 6

The formula of the TBF setup success ratio varies with the measured objects.

If the measured object is the channel resources, the preceding formulas are used.

For uplink TBF assignment: If the network side sends an assignment rejection
message upon the channel request from the MS due to lack of channel resources
(including channels, TFI, and USF), an uplink TBF setup failure due to lack of
channel resources is counted.

All the preceding counters are cell-level counters. The system also supports BSC-level
counters as follows:

ZA9001: uplink GPRS TBF setup attempts within the BSC

ZA9003: uplink GPRS TBF setup failures due to lack of channel resources within
the BSC

ZA9201: uplink EGPRS TBF setup attempts within the BSC

ZA9203: uplink EGPRS TBF setup failures due to lack of channel resources
within the BSC

For particular values of the preceding counters, see the GPRS and EDGE traffic
statistics.

224

Downlink TBF Setup Success Ratio


Formula 2 Resources Measured
Downlink GPRS TBF setup success ratio =
A9103: Number of Failed Downlink GPRS TBF Establishments due to No Channel

1-

x 100%

A9101: Number of Downlink GPRS TBF Establishment Attempts

Downlink EGPRS TBF setup success ratio =


A9303: Number of Failed Downlink EGPRS TBF Establishments due to No Channel

1-

x 100%
A9301: Number of Downlink EGPRS TBF Establishment Attempts

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page 7

The formula of the TBF setup success ratio varies with the measured objects.

If the measured object is the channel resources, the preceding formulas are used.

For downlink TBF assignment: If the downlink TBF setup fails due to lack of
channel resources (including channels, TFI, and USF) at the network side, a
downlink TBF setup failure due to lack of channel resources is counted.

All the preceding counters are cell-level counters. The system also supports BSC-level
counters as follows:

ZA9101: downlink GPRS TBF setup attempts within the BSC

ZA9103: downlink GPRS TBF setup failures due to lack of channel resources
within the BSC

ZA9301: downlink EGPRS TBF setup attempts within the BSC

ZA9303: downlink EGPRS TBF setup failures due to lack of channel resources
within the BSC

For particular values of the preceding counters, see the GPRS and EDGE traffic
statistics.

225

Uplink TBF Setup Success Ratio Formula 3


Both Air Interface and Resources Measured
Uplink GPRS TBF setup success ratio =
A9002: Number of Successful Uplink GPRS TBF Establishments

x 100%

A9001: Number of Uplink GPRS TBF Establishment Attempts

Uplink EGPRS TBF setup success ratio =


A9202: Number of Successful Uplink EGPRS TBF Establishments

x 100%

A9201: Number of Uplink EGPRS TBF Establishment Attempts

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page 8

The formula of the TBF setup success ratio varies with the measured objects.

If the measured object are the air interface and the channel resources, the preceding
formulas are used

For uplink TBF assignment: Both the uplink TBF setup failures due to no
response from MS and those due to lack of channel resources are counted as
uplink TBF setup failures.

All the preceding counters are cell-level counters. The system also supports BSC-level
counters as follows:

ZA9001: uplink GPRS TBF setup attempts within the BSC

ZA9002: uplink GPRS TBF setup successes within the BSC

ZA9201: uplink EGPRS TBF setup attempts within the BSC

ZA9202: uplink EGPRS TBF setup successes within the BSC

For particular values of the preceding counters, see the GPRS and EDGE traffic
statistics.

226

Downlink TBF Setup Success Ratio Formula 3


Both Air Interface and Resources Measured
Downlink GPRS TBF setup success ratio =
A9102: Number of Successful Downlink GPRS TBF Establishments

x 100%

A9101: Number of Downlink GPRS TBF Establishment Attempts

Downlink EGPRS TBF setup success ratio =


A9302: Number of Successful Downlink EGPRS TBF Establishments

x 100%

A9301: Number of Downlink EGPRS TBF Establishment Attempts

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page 9

The formula of the TBF setup success ratio varies with the measured objects.

If the measured object are the air interface and the channel resources, the preceding
formulas are used.

For downlink TBF assignment: Both the downlink TBF setup failures due to no
response from MS and those due to lack of channel resources are counted as
downlink TBF setup failures.

All the preceding counters are cell-level counters. The system also supports BSC-level
counters as follows:

ZA9101: downlink GPRS TBF setup attempts within the BSC

ZA9102: downlink GPRS TBF setup successes within the BSC

ZA9301: downlink EGPRS TBF setup attempts within the BSC

ZA9302: downlink EGPRS TBF setup successes within the BSC

For particular values of the preceding counters, see the GPRS and EDGE traffic
statistics.

227

TBF Setup Success Ratio

Formula

Common Analysis Method

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page 10

228

Low TBF Setup Success Ratio Common


Analysis Process
Start
Analyze causes for the low TBF setup success ratio

Yes

Is the Abis interface faulty?

Check transmission

No
Is the assignment
message delivered
normally?

No

CCCH overload

No channel

Yes
No

Check traffic statistics

Is the air interface normal?


Perform a CQT

Yes
Is a response
to the assignment and
polling available?

End

No
Inappropriate power
control parameter
settings
High rate coding
scheme

Errors of important
message

Other incorrect
parameter settings

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Check CS domain
parameters

Unbalanced uplink
and downlink

Page 11

229

Low TBF Setup Success Ratio Abis


Interface Transmission
z

Check whether the Abis link is faulty.

The downlink TBF setup might fail due to transmission problems such as outof-synchronization frames and intermittent interruption of the Abis link.

Locate the transmission problems of the Abis interface by checking the G-Abis
frame error rate (FER) in the traffic statistics.

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page 12

RL9A08: FER = ([L9A02: number of received out-of-synchronization frames] + [L9A03:


number of received check error TRAU frames]) x {100}/([L9A02: number of received outof-synchronization frames]+[L9A03: number of received check error TRAU frames] +
[L9A01: number of received normal TRAU frames] + [L9A07: number of received
information TRAU frames])

The number of received information TRAU frames equals the number of empty
TRAU frames.

1. In normal cases, the FER is lower than 10e-5 (that is, one out of ten thousand) and
one error frame occurs every four minutes in each channel. In this case, the link quality
is high and the MSs transfer data stably.

2. If the FER is lower than 10e-4 (one out of one thousand), one to three error frames
occur every minute and the link quality degrades. In this case, the affected MSs easily
suffer rate drop, longer transmission delay, or even call drops due to error frame bursts.

3. If the FER is higher than 10e-4, the transmission link is unstable and might easily
suffer out-of-synchronization. The number of out-of-synchronization frames increases. In
this case, the MSs support services with low data traffic (such as high-layer signaling
and low-volume WAP) only. Transmission of large-volume data (such as the FTP
service) is not supported.

If a leased link (for example, microwave satellite) is used, an FER lower than 5 is
acceptable because the link quality is not controlled by the mobile operator. If the FER of
a cell remains high for a long time, it is regarded as a transmission problem and the
transmission link needs to be checked and optimized.

230

Low TBF Setup Success Ratio Abis


Interface Transmission
z

The transmission
quality of the Abis
interface can also
be monitored
through the
maintenance
console.

Monitoring BER

Monitoring port
fault seconds

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page 13

Function supported by both monitoring options:

Monitor the BER of the E1/T1 ports and optical ports, thus learning the operation
conditions of the transmission link and ports.

Definition of fault seconds:

If one or more block errors are detected in a certain second, the second is called
a fault second.

Differences between the two monitoring options:

The Monitor BER function requires that remote loopback needs to be enabled at
the opposite end of the monitored port. The Monitor Port Fault Seconds
function, however, does not require remote loopback at the opposite end of the
monitored port.

The unit sampling time of the Monitor BER function is configurable (ranging from
30 to 1000 milliseconds), while that of the Monitor Port Fault Seconds function
is fixed to 1 second.

231

Low TBF Setup Success Ratio the


Assignment Message Fails to Be Delivered
z

The assignment message might fail to be delivered due to the


following cause:

CCCH overload

Refer to the following counters:


L3188A: number of reported DELETE IND messages of the Abis interface
L3188D: number of reported PACKET CCCH LOAD IND messages of the Abis
interface
L3188E: number of reported OVERLOAD (CCCH overload) messages of the
Abis interface

To remove CCCH overload, add CCCH channels, split the location area, or
modify the CCCH load threshold and the T3168 timer.

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Page 14

L3188A: number of reported DELETE IND messages of the Abis interface

If the BTS deletes the IMM ASS CMD message sent by the BSC due to downlink
CCCH overload of the cell, the BTS reports a DELETE IND message to the BSC.
This counter is used to measure the number of the DELETE IND messages
received by the BSC from the measured cell.

L3188D: number of reported PACKET CCCH LOAD IND messages of the Abis interface

The BTS stores the paging messages sent through the downlink CCCH (PCH
channel) for circuit services and those for packet services in two different receive
buffer queues. If the length of either receive buffer queue exceeds the specified
threshold, it is indicated that downlink CCCH overload occurs. In this case, the
judges whether the overload is caused by excessive downlink packet services or
excessive circuit services. If the overload is caused by excessive circuit services,
the BTS reports a CCCH LOAD IND message to the BSC. If the overload is
caused by excessive packet services, the BTS reports a PACKET CCCH LOAD
IND message to the BSC. The BSC then forwards the PACKET CCCH LOAD
IND message to the PCU. This counter is used to measure the number of
PACKET CCCH LOAD IND messages received by the BSC from the BTSs within
the measured cell.

L3188E: number of reported OVERLOAD (CCCH overload) messages of the Abis


interface

If the BTS detects the CCCH overload, the BTS reports an OVERLOAD (cause:
CCCH overload) message and a CCCH LOAD IND message to the BSC. This
counter is used to measure the OVERLOAD (cause: CCCH overload) messages

232

Low TBF Setup Success Ratio the


Assignment Message Fails to Be Delivered
z

The assignment message might fail to be delivered due to the


following cause:

No channel is available (including insufficient channel resources and


hardware faults).

Check whether the hardware is faulty by referring to the following counters:


RR307: TCH availability
RK3255: TRX carrier availability

Check whether channel resources are insufficient by referring to the


following counters (take the uplink GPRS TBF setup as an example):
A9003: uplink GPRS TBF setup failures due to lack of channel resources
A9010: uplink GPRS TBF abnormal releases due to lack of channel resources
AA9013: average number of concurrent uplink GPRS TBF
R9343: callbacks of dynamic PDCH
R9344: callbacks of loaded dynamic PDCH

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Page 15

Channel resources are insufficient in any of the following cases:

1. The cell is configured with a small number of channels when heave traffic of
packet services exists. As a result, the channels reach the maximum capacity of
MS multiplexing. To solve the problem, add more dynamic and static channels or
set the PDCH uplink multiplexing threshold in the PS domain channel
management parameters to a higher value.

2. Check whether the resources are insufficient because voice services preempt
the dynamic PDCHs. If counters A9343 (callbacks of dynamic PDCH) and A9344
(callbacks of loaded dynamic PDCH) record high values, in indicates that circuit
services preempt the channel resources of data services due to heavy traffic. To
solve the problem, add more dynamic PDCHs or set Dynamic Channel
Preemption Level to Control Channel Preemption Forbidden.

3. If the uplink GPRS TBF setup success ratio is low due to lack of channel
resources but the uplink EGPRS TBF setup success ratio is high, check whether
the GPRS channels are insufficient due to the configuration of dedicated or
preferred EGPRS channels. If dedicated or preferred EGPRS channels are
configured, modify some of them into common EGPRS channels and, if
necessary, turn on the EGPRS Downlink and GPRS Uplink Allowed switch.

233

Low TBF Setup Success Ratio Air


Interface Abnormal
z

The MS might fail to receive the downlink assignment message or


polling message due to poor quality of the air interface.

Check the BEP distribution based on the following traffic statistics:

Number of different 8PSK_MEAN_BEP values

Number of different GMSK_MEAN_BEP values

Locate the problem through a CQT.

Locate the air interface problem through the traffic statistics of the CS
domain.

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Page 16

If the air interface suffers severe interference, adjust the frequency points to improve the
quality of the air interface.

234

Question
z

What are the CS domain traffic statistics items that help to


locate air interface problems?

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Page 17

Answers:

Measurement report interference band measurement (carrier)

Measurement report full-rate channel Rx level measurement (carrier)

Measurement report half-rate channel Rx level measurement (carrier)

Measurement report Rx quality measurement (carrier)

Measurement report radio link exception measurement (carrier)

Measurement report measurement of TA-based distribution of radio link


exceptions (carrier)

Measurement report measurement of TA-based RQI distribution (carrier)

Measurement report RQI distribution measurement (carrier)

Measurement report Rx quality distribution measurement (carrier)

235

Low TBF Setup Success Ratio No


Response from the MS
z

Check the following counters to determine whether the MS responds to the assignment or polling
message:

A9004: uplink GPRS TBF setup failures due to no response from MS

A9104: downlink GPRS TBF setup failures due to no response from MS

A9204: uplink EGPRS TBF setup failures due to no response from MS

A9304: downlink EGPRS TBF setup failures due to no response from MS

The MS might fail to respond to an assignment or polling message due to any of the following
causes:

High rate uplink coding scheme

Inappropriate settings of uplink power control parameters

Inappropriate settings of other parameters

Incorrect cells in the assignment message

Unbalanced uplink and downlink

Inappropriate CS domain parameters

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page 18

When the radio environment is poor, the BLER is extra high and the uplink data blocks
cannot be decoded correctly at the network side if a high rate uplink coding scheme is
used.

If the uplink power control parameters are configured improperly, the MS supports low
Tx power and the uplink data blocks cannot be decoded correctly at the network side.

Other parameters that might be configured improperly are as follows:

Downlink reassignment attempts (affecting the downlink TBF setup): During the
setup process of a downlink TBF, the network side fails to receive a valid Packet
Control Acknowledge message on the reserved uplink RLC block and then resends a downlink assignment message. This parameter specifies the maximum
number of downlink reassignment attempts. If the downlink reassignment
attempts exceed the value of this parameter, the network side releases the
downlink TBF.

Polling retransmission times (affecting the downlink TBF setup): This parameter
specifies the maximum number of polling messages retransmitted by the network
side during the setup process of a downlink TBF.

Check whether the important cells in the assignment message are incorrect, including
frequency hopping parameters and uplink power control parameters.

Frequency hopping parameters: Check whether GPRS Mobile Allocation in the


SI 13 message and the Frequency Parameters in the assignment message are
consistent with the actual configurations.

236

Uplink power control parameters: Check whether the Alpha and GAMMA
t

di t A

tC

d P

k t U li k

Unbalanced uplink and downlink: If the uplink and the downlink are unbalanced, the
uplink or downlink signals might fail to be received at the edge of coverage, thus
resulting in a failure of TBG setup.

To verify whether the uplink and the downlink are balanced, check the uplink Rx level
and the downlink Rx level in the measurement report. Refer to the measurement unit in
Huawei traffic statistics: measurement report uplink and downlink balance
measurement (carrier).

Usually, the uplink and the downlink are regarded as unbalanced (the downlink
signals are too weak or the uplink signals are too strong) if the sum of the
percentage of uplink and downlink balance level 1 plus the percentage of uplink
and downlink balance level 2 is higher than 15%.

The uplink and the downlink are regarded as unbalanced (the downlink signals
are too strong or the uplink signals are too weak) if the percentage of uplink and
downlink balance level 11 is higher than 30%.

The low TBF setup success ratio might also result from incorrect settings of CS domain
parameters. Check the KPI of the CS domain to identify any exceptions. The relevant
CS domain parameters include the call drop rate, congestion rate, assignment success
ratio, balance between uplink and downlink, and call setup success ratio.

237

Question
z

What are the respective solutions to the exceptions that


prevent the MS from responding to an assignment or polling
message?

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page 20

Answers:

If a high rate uplink coding scheme is used, modify the default uplink MCS and the
maximum value of the counter N3101.
Inappropriate settings of uplink power control parameters: Modify the Alpha parameter
and the initial power class.
Inappropriate settings of other parameters: Modify the number of downlink reassignment
attempts and the number of polling retransmissions.
If the uplink and the downlink are unbalanced, check the following factors:

Installation of antenna feeder: Usually, a small antenna, lightning arrester,


conversion connector, grounding solder connection, and antenna (and a power
splitter in some cases) are installed between the BTS top interface and the
antenna. The installation of such components might affect the receiving and
transmitting performance of the BTS. For example, a loosened jumper connector
results in severe influence on the uplink Rx level but no significant influence on
the downlink level. This is because the transmitted signals are often strong
(usually 30 dBm inside the feeder) while the received signals are weak (usually
80 dBm).
Installation of the tower amplifier: Tower amplifiers are active components that
amplify uplink signals only. If a tower amplifier is installed, the Tower Amplifier
Attenuation Factor parameter is configured as follows at the RF front end of
Huawei BSC6000: If the actual gain of the tower amplifier is G, the tower amplifier
attenuation factor equals G minus 4 (4 dB here is the estimated compensation for
the feeder loss). Therefore, the value of downlink level minus uplink level in the
uplink/downlink balance measurement report decreases by 4 dB if an uplink tower238
amplifier is installed. Particularly, the uplink level increases by 4 dB.

Contents
1. Low TBF Setup Success Ratio
2. Low Downloading Rate

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Page 21

239

Downloading Rate Measurement


z

Measurement methods

CQT

Drive test (DT)

The maximum downloading rate at the application layer


under idle conditions is as follows:

225 kbit/s

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

CQT: Call Quality Test

The CQT is often performed in a good radio environment where the C/I seldom fluctuates. The
CQT in idle hours can verify whether all NEs and transmission from the Um interface to the Gi
interface are faulty. In this case, the CQT reflects the equipment performance directly and
accurately. The CQT in busy hours can also verify the performance of the resource (such as
channels, Abis resources, and Gb resources) management algorithms. The CQT in busy hours,
however, features randomness. For example, the tested downloading rate might be severely
affected if another subscriber is also downloading data during the CQT. In this case, the CQT
cannot reflect equipment performance accurately because the test results are significantly related
to the quantity of configured resources. Therefore, the CQT in busy hours is used only for
performance comparison before and after migration.

DT: Drive Test

Page 22

Compared with the CQT, the DT faces severe C/I fluctuation and cell reselection. Differing from the
CQT, the DT can measure radio coverage and interference, performance of the coding scheme
adjustment algorithm, and system processing in the case of cell reselection (since PS handover is
not really supported yet). The DT, however, also feature randomness. For example, the radio
conditions (high C/I or deep fading point) at the location where the testing vehicle waits for traffic
light affect the tested average rate obviously.

The maximum downloading rate at the application layer under idle conditions is as follows: 59.2 Kbit/s x (4 2%) x 95.52% = 225.06 Kbit/s

The items in the equation are defined as follows:

59.2 Kbit/s: the theoretical rate of a single channel when the MCS-9 coding scheme is
used

4: the assumed number of channels for transmission

2%: the minimum ratio of control messages in a single channel to all messages in the
channel

95.52%: LLC layer efficiency (The efficiency is lower than 100% due to frame header
overhead in each layer)

240

An Example of Idle Conditions

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Page 23

Differing from the CQT, the DT faces cell reselection and change of the coding scheme
due to C/I fluctuation (The link quality control algorithm achieves a compromise between
higher coding scheme and fewer retransmissions. The bandwidth of the air interface
changes as the coding scheme changes). Compared with downloading of large files, the
downloading of small files features severer influence brought by the slow start process
upon setup of the TCP connection. Therefore, to locate the cause for a low downloading
rate, download large files in idle hours at a place where the C/I is high.

Slow start means that the data is delivered slowly to avoid network congestion when the
TCP layer is not aware of the transmission bandwidth and quality or when it is known
that the transmission bandwidth decreases or the transmission quality degrades.
Therefore, the amount of initially delivered data is insufficient. In addition, loss of packets,
frames, or blocks needs to be minimized in all stages (including IPBB, core network, GB
interface, PCU, G-Abis interface, BTS, and Um interface).

If control blocks (actually dummy blocks) exist in a non-control channel or a high


percentage of control blocks exist in the control channel, it indicates that the system
transmits dummy control blocks because no data needs to be sent.

Dummy control block: The system sends a block every one millisecond
(transmission priorities: NACK block > VS block > PACK block). If none of those
blocks is available, the system sends dummy control blocks that are counted by
the TEMS as control blocks. That is to say, the control blocks counted by the
TEMS include control messages and dummy control blocks.

NACK block: the block that the MS fails to receive as indicated in the
Packet Downlink ACK/NACK message

241

Common Causes for a Low Downloading


Rate
Common causes

Insufficient
channel
occupation

Low
coding
rate

High
block
error rate

High
percentage
of control
blocks

Abnormal
TBF release

Unmatched
rate
between
the RLC
layer and
the application
layer

Degrading the QoE of customers

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page 24

Quality-of-experience (QoE) describes the system-level activities focusing on the joint


optimization of experienced multimedia quality and energy consumption in wireless
multimedia systems.

242

Insufficient Channel Occupation


z

To check the number of channels occupied by MSs, check the latest Packet
Downlink Assignment or Packet Timeslot Reconfiguration message, as shown in the
following figures.

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page 25

The figure on the left shows the Packet Downlink Assignment message, while that on
the right shows the Packet Timeslot Reconfiguration message.

243

Insufficient Channel Occupation


z

The possible causes for insufficient channel occupations are as


follows:

Symptom 1: Failing to assign multiple channels

Cause 1: The channel resources are insufficient.

Cause 2: The MS does not support sufficient multi-slot capability.

Cause 3: The channels suffer out-of-synchronization.

Cause 4: The Abis interface resources are insufficient.

Symptom 2: Failing to occupy multiple channels stably

Cause 1: The channels are preempted by voice services.

Cause 2: The channels suffer out-of-synchronization.

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page 26

To verify whether the channel resources are sufficient, check the channel configuration.

To verify whether the MS supports sufficient multi-slot capability, check the Packet
Resource Request massage for two-stage access or the 11-bit access request and
Attach message (for 8-bit one-stage access, the MS indicates its multi-slot capability in
the Attach request message) for one-stage access.

To verify out-of-synchronization, check the alarms by running the relevant commands.


For example, run the mt pdch show state <cell ID> all command to check the status of
all PDCHs in the specified cell if the external PCU is used. If the built-in PCU is used,
run the DSP PDCH command to check the channels status.

To verify whether the Abis interface resources are sufficient, check the idle timeslot
configurations.

To verify channel preemption of voice services, check the following traffic statistics:

R9343: callbacks of dynamic PDCH

R9344: callbacks of loaded dynamic PDCH

No channel preemption of voice services is detected during a test in idle hours.

244

Abis Interface Timeslots Required by


Different Coding Schemes
EGPRS

GPRS

Number of Required
Abis Interface 16
bit/s Timeslots

MCS1MCS2

CS1CS2

MCS3MCS6

CS3CS4

MCS7

MCS8MCS9

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Page 27

245

Low Coding Rate


z

The possible causes for a low coding rate are as follows:

Symptom 1: using low-rate coding schemes

Cause 1: insufficient timeslots at the Abis interface

Cause 2: poor quality of the air interface

Cause 3: inappropriate initial coding rate or inappropriate conversion threshold for


coding schemes

Cause 3: EDGE services not used

Cause 4: limited license

Symptom 2: changing coding schemes

Cause 1: error bits at the G-Abis interface

Cause 2: inappropriate conversion threshold for coding schemes (for GPRS services
only)

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page 28

Solutions to insufficient timeslots at the Abis interface:

If Flex Abis is not used, configure all Abis interface timeslots that are not
configured as idle timeslots.

Increase the multiplexing ratio of signaling links to improve the Abis transmission
capacity.

Use Flex Abis.

Expand the transmission capacity.

Solutions to bit errors at the G-Abis interface:

Transmission problems: Perform local loopback and remote loopback at the TMU
side to locate the problems.

Faults of the interface board

246

Air Interface Requirements of Different


Coding Schemes
Coding Scheme

Rx Level of MS (dBm)

TU3 C/I (dB)

MCS-1

>= 102

13

MCS-2

>= 101

15

MCS-3

>= 99

16.5

MCS-4

>= 98

18

MCS-5

>= 97

19

MCS-6

>= 96

20

MCS-7

>= 93

23.5

MCS-8

>= 90.5

28.5

MCS-9

>= 86

30

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page 29

TU3: The speed is 3 km/h in typical urban scenarios.

247

Question
z

Where can we check the block error rate?

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page 30

Answers:

1. The figure in page 43 shows that the BLER/TS(%) parameter indicates the
block error rate calculated by the TEMS based on a certain number of received
blocks.

2. For fixed MSs, the Packet Downlink ACK/NACK message also indicates the
block error rate.

The message shows that starting sequence number (SSN)


is 64 and that a bitmap exists. This indicates that block 63
is not received. Check the blocks following block 64 (1
indicates that the block is received, while 0 indicates that
the block is not received). The message shows that blocks
63, 65, 66, 68, 69, and 71 to 84 are not received.

248

High Block Error Rate


z

The possible causes for a high block error rate are as


follows:

Bit errors at the air interface

A large number of error frames and out-of-synchronization


frames at the G-Abis interface

The MS performs another process such as decoding neighbor


cell messages.

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Page 31

If a large number of neighbor cells are configured, the block error rate often increases
because the MS needs to update the system messages of neighbor cells frequently.
According to the relevant protocol, the MS must decode the BCCH data of a new carrier
in 30 seconds. If the signal strength fluctuates and a large number of neighboring cells
are configured, the MS has to parse the system messages of neighboring cells
frequently. To solve this problem, reduce the number of neighboring cells and eliminate
unnecessary neighboring cell configurations.

249

High Percentage of Control Blocks


z

The possible causes for a high percentage of control blocks


are as follows:

The contracted peak rate is not high enough.

The LLC layer adopts the acknowledged mode.

The transmission window stops.

The bandwidth at the Gb interface is insufficient.

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page 32

The system assigns only one bidirectional control channel for the MS. Therefore,
the same timeslot is occupied as the control channel in both the uplink and the
downlink. In this way, the control channel can be located.

The PDP context shows the contracted peak rate. As shown in the following
figure, the peak rate is 128000 octets/s = 128000 x 8/1024 = 1000 Kbit/s that
exceeds the theoretical maximum rate.

250

If the LLC layer uses the acknowledged mode, the next frame is not sent until the current
frame is acknowledged by the opposite end. In addition, the LLC layer connection needs
to be set up and released, thus resulting in more signaling transmissions in the LLC
layer. In a word, the downloading rate decreases significantly if the LLC layer uses the
acknowledged mode.

You can also check the MS's PDP context in the TMES to view the operation mode of
the LLC layer . If the LLC uses the acknowledged mode, modify it to the
unacknowledged mode at the SGSN and modify the subscription information of the SIM
card.

Usually, the transmission window stops only in the GPRS network because the GPRS
system supports 64-block window only. If an error block occurs, the RRBP delay is about
200 ms regardless of the cause for the error block. When the MS reports the reception of
the error block, 200 ms passed. If the MS occupies four timeslots, the system has
transmitted 40 blocks (200 ms/(20 ms/block)). In this case, the transmission window may
stop.

To verify whether the transmission window stops, check whether the amount of
data received at the Gb interface is larger than the amount of data delivered by
the system within a certain period.

If the traffic at the Gb interface exceeds 70% of the actual bandwidth, it indicates that the
bandwidth is insufficient.

To view the traffic at the Gb interface, check the Downlink data kbytes sent to
FR per NSVC item measured at the SGSN.

251

Abnormal TBF Release


z

The possible causes for abnormal TBF release are as follows:

The uplink TBF is released exceptionally when timers N3101 and


N3103 expire.

The downlink TBF is released exceptionally when timer N3105 expires.

The TBF is released exceptionally when the control channel is


preempted.

The TBF is released exceptionally due to cell reselection.

The TBF is released exceptionally due to some internal processing.

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page 34

Loss of packet is not a necessary result of abnormal TBF release, because the PCU
stores the data that the MS has not transmitted and that the MS has transmitted without
acknowledgement within 30 seconds after the TBF is released exceptionally. Usually,
the MS initiates TBF re-setup soon. In this case, the TLLI remains unchanged. Therefore,
the context of the MS can be detected according to the TLLI and then the data stored by
the PCU is sent to the MS.

According to the TBF release process, the MS sets the FAI bit in the Packet Downlink
ACK/NACK message to 1 if the download TBF is released normally. The system sets
the FAI bit to 1 in the Packet Uplink ACK/NACK message if the uplink TBF is released
normally. To verify whether a TBF is released exceptionally, check whether the FAI bit in
the relevant message is set to 1. If the network side sends a Packet TBF Release
message, the TBF is released exceptionally (the TBF is released exceptionally because
timer N3105 expires if the cause value is normal release).

The abnormal TBF release decreases the rate because data transmission is not
supported during the abnormal release.

252

Unmatched Rate Between the RLC Layer


and the Application Layer
z

This problem often results from careless operations of the relevant


test engineers.

How to identify the software applications and services that support


automatic connection to the network?

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page 35

This problem often results from careless operations of the relevant test engineers. The software
applications and services (such as automatic update) that support automatic connection to the
network must be disabled during the test. If such software applications or services are not
disabled, the rate at the application layer decreases when they connect to the network
automatically.

How to identify the software applications and services that support automatic connection to the
network:

After the test, check whether all the packets captured by the Ethereal software are the
data interacted with the IP address of the server. If data interacted with another IP
address exists, enter the IP address into the IE to identify the connected network.

253

Summary
z

The GPRS/EDGE network optimization focuses on the


downloading rate and the TBF setup success ratio. Pay
attention to the relevant parameters and configurations.

Traffic statistics and signaling analysis help to solve the


problems discovered in GPRS/EDGE network optimization
more quickly.

Copyright 2010 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Page 36

254

Thank you
www.huawei.com

255

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