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Contents
1. Overview
2. 2G Performance Monitoring and Analysis
Document Information
Document Version: 1.0
Issue Date: September 8, 2010
Author: Christos Kyriazopoulos
Document Owner: Ville Salomaa
SOFTWARE RELEASE: GBSS9.0
SCOPE:
2G performance monitoring and analysis
CONVENTION:
Raw counters are marked in BLUE
Formulas are marked in GRAY
Parameters are marked in RED
MML commands are marked in GREEN
Contents
1. Overview
2. 2G Performance Monitoring and Analysis
Overview
The purpose of this document is to describe the BSS KPI performance monitoring and analysis of problems
that bad KPI values indicate.
The following analysis contains a list of the most common KPIs used in Huawei networks. These KPIs are
monitored constantly. When the value of a KPI goes below the defined threshold, then detailed analysis
should be performed in order to identify the reasons of this deterioration. Once the reasons are found, proper
solutions will be proposed and implemented.
This document focuses more in the analysis of failure causes rather than the KPI monitoring itself.
The most common use cases for monitoring and analysis of bad values are presented for 2G BSS.
PS:
9.High Signaling Failures Before TBF Establishment
10.High TBF Establishment Failures
11.High TBF Drops
12.Low Throughput (Um, Abis, PCU, Gb)
General Methodology
General Methodology:
1. Define BSS KPI class required (Accessibility, Retainability, Mobility, Resource Usage).
2. Define KPI per service (Voice, Packet Service).
3. Define KPI formulas.
4. Define target or guaranteed KPI values.
5. Assess weekly average PLMN/BSC KPI performance in order to identify KPIs below target.
6. Assess BSC/Area level performance in order to check if bad performance occurs across network or only in
specific areas.
7. Analyze bad performing KPIs in cell level in order to identify failure causes. (this point is the focus of
this document)
8. Use TopN cell approach to identify the worst performers. Identify top 20 worst cells.
9. Look at failure distribution in network topology (urban, rural, motorway, RNC border, etc.).
10. Propose solution to improve KPI value.
Contents
1. Overview
2. 2G Performance Monitoring and Analysis
4.
Activate SDCCH dynamic conversion feature: Dynamic SDCCH conversion can be triggered if the
SDCCH resource is insufficient or the SDCCH allocation fails during the channel assignment
- SDDYN: SDCCH Dynamic Allocation Allowed (Whether to allow SDCCH dynamic allocation, that is,
whether to allow dynamic conversion between TCHs and SDCCHs.)
- IDLESDTHRES: Idle SDCCH Threshold N1 (When the number of idle SDCCH channels in a cell is
smaller than this parameter, the system searches for available TCHs and transforms them into SDCCH
channels)
- CELLMAXSD: Cell SDCCH Channel Maximum (Maximum number of SDCCHs in the cell. Before
converting a TCH into an SDCCH, the BSC compares the number of SDCCHs after the conversion in
the cell with "Cell SDCCH Channel Maximum". If the number of SDCCHs after the conversion in the cell
exceeds this parameter, the BSC does not convert the TCH into an SDCCH.)
5.
6.
Add TRX
Call Drops due to No MRs from MS for a Long Time (SDCCH): After seizing an SDCCH, the MS sends a
measurement report to the BSC every 470 ms. When the BSC does not receive a measurement report
within a certain period of time, the BSC sends a CLEAR REQUEST message to the MSC to release the call,
and this counter is incremented by one. Check UL coverage and quality (interference). Check for possible
MS problem.
Call Drops due to Abis Terrestrial Link Failure (SDCCH): transmission problem on Abis. Check relative
alarms.
Call Drops Due to Equipment Failure (SDCCH): BSC hardware or software failure. Check alarms to
discover the exact cause.
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Call Drops due to Forced Handover (SDCCH): After an MS seizes a channel, if the system initiates a
forced handover and the handover fails, the BSC may initiate a call release procedure. Check why the
handover failed: Timer expired? Check whether the emergency handover is due to preemption, or
blocking of cell/TRX/channel.
3. CSSR (1)
- KPI formula:
BSS Call Setup Success Rate = (([Immediate Assignment Success Rate]*[TCH Assignment Success
Rate])*(1-[SDCCH Drop Rate]))*{100}
The CSSR combines 3 other KPIs:
- Immediate Assignment Success Rate = ([Call Setup Indications (Circuit Service)]/[Channel Requests
(Circuit Service)])*{100}
- TCH Assignment Success Rate = ([Successful Assignments]/[Assignment Requests])*{100}
- SDCCH Drop Rate = ([Call Drops on SDCCH]/[Successful SDCCH Seizures])*{100}
Analysis process:
1.Each of the 3 component-KPIs will affect CSSR:
- Low Immediate Assignment Success Rate will decrease CSSR
- Low TCH Assignment Success Rate will decrease CSSR
- High SDCCH Drop Rate will decrease CSSR
2.Examine at which point most of the failures appear by checking thoroughly the 3 component-KPIs.
Find out the corresponding failure causes for Immediate Assignment, Assignment and SDCCH Drops.
3. CSSR (2)
3.
3. CSSR (3)
If Immediate Assignment failures are due to no channel available (point A in Figure 2), this means that there
is SDCCH congestion. Refer to Case 1 of present document for handling.
If Immediate Assignment failures are due to channel activation failure or channel activation timeout (points
B, C in Figure 2) check hardware/software alarms.
4.Low TCH Assignment Success Rate
Basic Assignment signalling procedure:
3. CSSR (4)
Check following counters to identify the reason for Assignment failure:
(1) Failures due to mismatch between the state machine of the BSC and the ASS REQ message or due to
the abnormality of the ASS REQ message:
- A3129I: CELL_ASS_FAIL_INVALID_STATE: This counter provides the number of ASS FAIL messages sent
by the BSC to the MSC when the BSC receives an ASS REQ message that is not expected by the internal
state machine of the BSC (for example, the state machine is in release status).
- A3129J: CELL_ASS_FAIL_INVALID_MSG_CONTENTS: This counter provides the number of ASS FAIL
messages sent by the BSC to the MSC when the BSC receives an ASS REQ message but the ASS REQ
message fails to be decoded (for example, an error occurs during the decoding of an IE, such as CHANNEL
TYPE, CIC, or Layer 3 header information).
- A3129E: CELL_ASS_FAIL_NO_CIC: This counter provides the number of ASS FAIL messages sent by the
BSC to the MSC when the BSC receives an ASS REQ message that carries an unavailable A interface CIC.
- A3129F: CELL_ASS_FAIL_CIC_ALLOC: This counter provides the number of ASS FAIL messages sent by
the BSC to the MSC when the BSC receives an ASS REQ message that carries an A interface CIC that is
already occupied by another call.
3. CSSR (5)
(2) Failures due to abnormal radio resource allocation:
- A312A: CELL_ASS_FAIL_Frst_ASS_NO_CH: This counter provides the number of ASS FAIL messages
sent by the BSC to the MSC when the cell does not have available channels and the directed retry
procedure fails to be initiated or the directed retry is prohibited by the data configuration in the first air
interface assignment procedure.
3. CSSR (6)
- A312F: CELL_ASS_FAIL_NO_IDLE_ABIS: This counter provides the number of ASS FAIL messages sent
by the BSC to the MSC when the dynamic allocation of Abis resources is enabled on the BSC but the
assignment fails due to no available Abis resources.
- A3129S: CELL_ASS_FAIL_NO_SPEECH_VER: This counter provides the number of ASS FAIL messages
sent by the BSC to the MSC when the assignment fails because the intersection between the speech
version set carried in the ASS REQ message from the MSC and the speech version set supported by the
current cell of the MS does not have available speech versions.
3. CSSR (7)
- A3129O: CELL_ASS_FAIL_Frst_DR_EXP: This counter provides the number of ASS FAIL messages sent
by the BSC to the MSC when the cell does not have available channels and the directed retry procedure is
successfully initiated but failed due to the expiry of the timer for waiting for an HO CMP message in the first
air interface assignment procedure.
- A3129Q: CELL_ASS_FAIL_RECONN_SUCC_DR_EXP: This counter provides the number of ASS FAIL
messages sent by the BSC to the MSC when the timer for waiting for an ASS CMP message expires after
the BSC sends an HO CMD message to the MS in the air interface assignment procedure except for the first
air interface assignment procedure.
- A3129D: CELL_ASS_FAIL_RECONN_SUCC_ASS_RECONN_SUCC: This counter provides the number
of ASS FAIL or RR STATUS messages reported by the MS to the BSC when the MS attempts but fails to
access the new channel and then successfully reconnects to the old channel after receiving an ASS CMD
message.
- A3129R: CELL_ASS_FAIL_RECONN_SUCC_DR_RECONN_SUCC: This counter provides the number of
HO FAIL or RR STATUS messages reported by the MS to the BSC when the MS attempts but fails to access
the new channel and then successfully reconnects to the old channel after receiving an HO CMD message.
3. CSSR (8)
(4) Failures due to the abnormality of terrestrial resources or the call clearing performed by the MSC.
- A3129B: CELL_ASS_FAIL_Frst_APPLY_TRSL_FAIL: This counter provides the number of ASS FAIL
messages sent by the BSC to the MSC when the MS drops from the connection to the air interface, or a
circuit fails to be obtained for the call, or the obtained circuit is faulty during the circuit connection of the BSC
in the first air interface assignment procedure.
3. CSSR (9)
5.
In case high SDCHH Drop Rate causes deterioration of CSSR, refer to Case 2 of present document for
handling.
6.
3. CSSR (10)
7.
- Directed retry
When TCHs in a cell are insufficient, TCHs in other cells can be assigned through directed retry, thus
increasing the BSS CSSR. By default, this function is enabled.
- SDCCH dynamic adjustment
When SDCCHs are insufficient, this function can be enabled to convert some TCHs into SDCCHs to
increase the success rate of immediate assignment, thus increasing the BSS CSSR. By default, this
function is enabled.
- TCH reassignment
When this function is enabled, the BSC initiates a re-assignment procedure after receiving the failure
indication of the TCH assignment on the Um interface. This function can be used to increase the
success
rate of TCH assignment, thus increasing the BSS CSSR. By default, this function is enabled.
- Flex Abis
This function is implemented in the BSC6000V900R003 and later versions. This function enables dynamic
assignment of Abis timeslots to more efficiently utilize the Abis link resources; however, assignment may
fail because of congestion on the Abis links. This function may decrease the BSS CSSR.
7.
Check if additional capacity related features can be activated in the network in order to improve the
utilisation of TCH resources:
- BCCH Dense Frequency Multiplexing: enables the BCCHs to reuse frequencies more tightly to free
more frequencies for non-BCCH TRXs, thus increasing the system capacity.
TIGHTBCCHSWITCH: TIGHT BCCH Switch (Whether to enable the BCCH aggressive frequency reuse
algorithm)
- Interference Based Channel Allocation (IBCA): The IBCA algorithm requires the BSC to estimate the
C/I ratio of the new call in every channel assignment procedure; it also requires the BSC to estimate the
interference caused to the established calls on the network when an idle channel is assigned to a new
call. In this way, the optimal channel, that is, the one that meets the C/I ratio requirement of the new call
and causes the least interference to the established calls after being occupied, is assigned to the new
call to alleviate the interference and ensure the full use of the frequency resources.
IBCAALLOWED: IBCA Allowed (Whether to enable the IBCA algorithm)
- Flex MAIO: BSC dynamically adjusts the MAIO according to the current interference level of a channel
when assigning an MAIO to the channel .
FLEXMAIO: Start Flex MAIO Switch (Whether to enable the function of Flex Mobile Allocation Index
Offset)
If congestion is still present although the previous described fine tuning and features activation, then:
- Check Interference in the network (C/I); check frequency plan
- Check coverage: maybe network layout should be changed in traffic hot spots
- We can use TA distribution in order to identify traffic distribution among cells. In some cases
overshooting can be detected, so we can check the possibility to reduce service area of the
overshooting cell. Before doing so, we need, of course, to make sure that there is clear dominance in
the area that we are going to shrink serving cells coverage.
- Implement physical network changes where necessary and feasible: tilt, azimuth, antenna type, etc.
- Add TRX
- Long term monitoring (e.g. one month) can be used to identify whether we have constant growth in
traffic in a site and area close by. If traffic increases in area level and we have already high HR/AMR HR
utilization then there are not too many other options than implement a new site.
- Add Site
Call Drops due to No MRs from MS for a Long Time (Traffic Channel): After seizing a TCH, the MS
sends a measurement report to the BSC every 480 ms. If the BSC does not receive any measurement
report within a certain period, call drop occurs on the Um interface. Check UL coverage/UL interference
at drop points. Check for possible MS problem.
Call Drops due to Abis Terrestrial Link Failure (Traffic Channel): indicates Abis transmission problem.
Check relative alarms.
Call Drops due to Equipment Failure (Traffic Channel): indicates BSS hardware or software problem.
Check relative alarms.
Call Drops due to Forced Handover (Traffic Channel): After the MS seizes a traffic channel, the BSC
initiates forced handover in the case of channel preemption, channel failure, or channel blocking. If the
handover of the MS fails, the BSC releases the call.
Call Drops Due to Loopback Start Failure: After seizing a channel, the MS starts the local switching. This
measurement provides the number of call drops due to the failure in starting the local switching caused
by different reasons. The cause value can be Terrestrial Resource Request Failure, Failures on the BTS
Side, or Timer Expired.
Call Drops Due to Failures to Return to Normal Call from Loopback: After a call is in the BSC/BTS local
switch state, it incurs a handover. The local switch, however, cannot be continued because the target
cell of the handover may not support local switch, the outgoing BSC handover fails, the TRX that carries
the target channel of the handover may not support local switch, or the specified handover fails. The
BSC attempts to restore the call to a normal one. The restoration may fail due to various reasons. If the
restoration fails, the MS incurs call drop.
Check and tune appropriately, if needed, the values of the following parameters:
- RLT: Radio Link Timeout; recommended value: 52
- SAMULFRM: SACCH Multi-Frames; recommended value: 32
In the outgoing external inter-cell handover (directed retry) procedure, the following counter is measured:
- H3321L:CELL_INTERBSC_OUTCELL_HO_FAIL_T7_EXP_DR
(6) The following counter provides the number of failed outgoing external inter-cell handovers when the BSC
detects an SS7 link failure on the A interface and releases the call:
- H332G:CELL_INTERBSC_OUTCELL_HO_FAIL_MSC_CLR_A_INTF_FAIL
Check interference in source and target cells. High interference can cause handover failure.
3.
Check whether ping-pong handover occurs due to no dominant server in the area. Ping-pong may lead
to HO failures.
4.
- T3103A: Timer started after the BSC delivers a HANDOVER COMMAND in an intra-BSC inter-cell
handover. If the BSC receives a HANDOVER COMPLETE message before this timer expires, the timer
stops. If this timer expires, the BSC considers the handover as failed. Recommended value: 10000 ms
- T7: Timer is started after the BSC sends the HO RQD to the MSC and waits for the HO CMD command
from the MSC in an inter-BSC inter-cell handover procedure. Recommended value: 10000 ms
- T8: After sending the HO CMD message to the MS, the BSC starts this timer to wait for the CLEAR CMD
message from the MSC in an inter-BSC inter-cell handover procedure. Recommended value: 10000 ms
The following counters provide TA distribution per TRX in the cell. The measurements can be checked
versus cell radius to identify possible coverage problems.
- S4400A:TRX_MR_NUM_BY_TA_0
- S4401A:TRX_MR_NUM_BY_TA_1
- S4402A:TRX_MR_NUM_BY_TA_2
- S4403A:TRX_MR_NUM_BY_TA_3
- S4404A:TRX_MR_NUM_BY_TA_4
- S4405A:TRX_MR_NUM_BY_TA_5
- S4406A:TRX_MR_NUM_BY_TA_6
- S4407A:TRX_MR_NUM_BY_TA_7
- S4408A:TRX_MR_NUM_BY_TA_8
- S4409A:TRX_MR_NUM_BY_TA_9
- S4410A:TRX_MR_NUM_BY_TA_10
- S4411A:TRX_MR_NUM_BY_TA_11
- S4412A:TRX_MR_NUM_BY_TA_12
- S4413A:TRX_MR_NUM_BY_TA_13
- S4414A:TRX_MR_NUM_BY_TA_14
- S4415A:TRX_MR_NUM_BY_TA_15
- S4416A:TRX_MR_NUM_BY_TA_16
- S4417A:TRX_MR_NUM_BY_TA_17
- S4418A:TRX_MR_NUM_BY_TA_18
- S4419A:TRX_MR_NUM_BY_TA_19
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- S4420A:TRX_MR_NUM_BY_TA_20
- S4421A:TRX_MR_NUM_BY_TA_21
- S4422A:TRX_MR_NUM_BY_TA_22
- S4423A:TRX_MR_NUM_BY_TA_23
- S4424A:TRX_MR_NUM_BY_TA_24
- S4425A:TRX_MR_NUM_BY_TA_25
- S4426A:TRX_MR_NUM_BY_TA_26
- S4427A:TRX_MR_NUM_BY_TA_27
- S4428A:TRX_MR_NUM_BY_TA_28
- S4429A:TRX_MR_NUM_BY_TA_29
- S4430A:TRX_MR_NUM_BY_TA_30_TO_31
- S4432A:TRX_MR_NUM_BY_TA_32_TO_33
- S4434A:TRX_MR_NUM_BY_TA_34_TO_35
- S4436A:TRX_MR_NUM_BY_TA_36_TO_37
- S4438A:TRX_MR_NUM_BY_TA_38_TO_39
- S4440A:TRX_MR_NUM_BY_TA_40_TO_44
- S4445A:TRX_MR_NUM_BY_TA_45_TO_49
- S4450A:TRX_MR_NUM_BY_TA_50_TO_54
- S4455A:TRX_MR_NUM_BY_TA_55_TO_63
- S4463A:TRX_MR_NUM_BY_TA_GT_63
BSC receives reports that contain the uplink and downlink receive level rank and the uplink and downlink
receive quality rank.
- The receive level ranges from rank 0 to rank 7. Each rank corresponds to a receive level range.
- The receive quality ranges from rank 0 to rank 7. Each rank corresponds to a bit error rate range.
Receive Level Rank Receive Level (dBm)
-100
< 0.2%
(-100,-95]
0.2%-0.4%
(-95,-90]
0.4 %-0.8%
(-90,-85]
0.8%-1.6%
(-85,-80]
1.6%-3.2%
(-80,-75]
3.2%-6.4%
(-75,-70]
6.4%-12.8%
> -70
> 12.8%
Receive Level Measurement, together with Receive Quality Measurement per TRX, reflects the radio signal
coverage and interference of a cell. For example, a high ratio of high level and low quality suggests possible
interference; a high ratio of low level and low quality suggests poor coverage.
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TCHF Receive Level Measurement per TRX provides the number of measurement reports from the
TCHF that contain receive level rank and receive quality rank. TCHF receive level and quality measurements
for UL and DL are given by following counters:
- S4100A:TRX_FR_UP_LEV_0_RX_QLTY_0
- S4101A:TRX_FR_UP_LEV_0_RX_QLTY_1
- S4102A:TRX_FR_UP_LEV_0_RX_QLTY_2
...
Saaaaa:TRX_FR_UP_LEV_x_RX_QLTY_y
- S4100B:TRX_FR_DOWN_LEV_0_RX_QLTY_0
- S4101B:TRX_FR_DOWN_LEV_0_RX_QLTY_1
- S4102B:TRX_FR_DOWN_LEV_0_RX_QLTY_2
..
Saaaaa:TRX_FR_UP_LEV_x_RX_QLTY_y
where: aaaaa=counter ID, x=receive level rank (0~7), y=receive quality rank (0~7)
TCHH Receive Level Measurement per TRX refers to the measurement of the sampled receive level
ranks and receive quality ranks in the MRs on the TCHH. TCHH receive level and quality measurements for
UL and DL are given by following counters:
- S4100C:TRX_HR_UP_LEV_0_RX_QLTY_0
- S4101C:TRX_HR_UP_LEV_0_RX_QLTY_1
- S4102C:TRX_HR_UP_LEV_0_RX_QLTY_2
Saaaaa:TRX_HR_UP_LEV_x_RX_QLTY_y
- S4100D:TRX_HR_DOWN_LEV_0_RX_QLTY_0
- S4101D:TRX_HR_DOWN_LEV_0_RX_QLTY_1
- S4102D:TRX_HR_DOWN_LEV_0_RX_QLTY_2
Saaaaa:TRX_FR_UP_LEV_x_RX_QLTY_y
where: aaaaa=counter ID, x=receive level rank (0~7), y=receive quality rank (0~7)
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Idle UL Interference
The interference band is the uplink interference level of a channel reported by the BTS to the BSC in the RF
RESOURCE INDICATION message when the channel is idle. There are five levels of interference
bands. The threshold of each interference band can be configured:
Parameter ID
INTERFTHRES1 1
-105
INTERFTHRES2 2
-98
INTERFTHRES3 3
-92
INTERFTHRES4 4
-87
INTERFTHRES5 5
-85
2. Rxlevel & Quality distributions can be used to identify interference in a cell. Refer to Case 7 of present
document for details.
3. TA measurements can be used to identify interference in a cell. Refer to Case 7 of present document for
details.
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6.
Check if Flow Control feature is enabled. Recommendation is that Flow Control is always enabled. Flow
Control, controls the arrival of paging messages on the A interface (MSC-BSC) and on the LAPD links
(BSC-BTS).
7.
8.
9.
Consider splitting cells in the paging overload area. This will grow CCCH capacity.
MS
BTS
BSC
Channel Request
Immediate Assignment
RLC data block(with TLLI)
Packet Uplink Ack/Nack(with TLLI)
MS
BTS
Channel Request
Immediate Assignment
Packet Resource Request(with TLLI)
Packet Uplink Assignment(with TLLI)
BSC
Analysis process:
1.Identify the possible cause of the TBF establishment failures by checking the following counters:
A. UL GPRS TBF establishment failures:
- A9003:UP_GPRS_TBF_ESTB_FAIL_NO_CHAN_RES: number of failed uplink GPRS TBF establishments
due to no channel available. Indicates congestion on the TCH; refer to Case 4 of present document for
handling suggestions.
- A9004:UP_GPRS_TBF_ESTB_FAIL_MS_NO_RESP: number of failed uplink GPRS TBF establishments
due to no response from MS. Indicates bad RF conditions in the cell. Check cell coverage and interference.
- A9037:UP_GPRS_TBF_ESTB_FAIL_SEND_ASSMSG_FAIL: In dedicated mode, the BSS sends the
resource assignment command to the MS over the DCCH if both the network and the MS support DTM
(Dual Transfer Mode simultaneous support of CS+PS service). If the resource assignment command is not
sent successfully and the establishment of the uplink GPRS TBF thus fails, this counter is incremented by
one.
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Average Throughput of Downlink GPRS TBF (kbit/s) = [Average Payload of Single Downlink GPRS TBF
(KB)]*{1024}*{8}/[Average Duration of Downlink GPRS TBF (s)]
Average Throughput of Downlink EGPRS TBF (kbit/s) = [Average Payload of Single Downlink EGPRS TBF
(KB)]*{1024}*{8}/[Average Duration of Downlink EGPRS TBF (s)]
Analysis process:
1.Low throughput may be due to problems across the packet service transmission path. Thorough checks
should be done in Gb, Abis, Um interfaces. Also in SGSN, PCU, BSC systems.
2.Gb interface:
- Check usage of Gb links. Expand Gb capacity if congestion appears.
Gb usage can be checked through Real Time Monitoring function of BSC LMT: On the Trace & Monitor tab
page, choose Monitor > Monitor GPRS Flux.
Also Gb utilization can be checked through following counters:
- RL9608:BC_TRAN_UP_UTILIZATION_RATE: Uplink Utilization Rate on BC (%)
- RL9610:BC_TRAN_DOWN_UTILIZATION_RATE: Downlink Utilization Rate on BC (%)
Both counters above provide the ratio of actually used bandwidth over configured bandwidth on a BC of Gb.
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References
HUA_2G_Capacity_Optimization_v1.0, Multivendor Team, IMS:
https://sharenet-ims.inside.nokiasiemensnetworks.com/Overview/D420911578
THANK YOU