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Performance Assessment of HSDPA Networks From Outdoor Drive-Test Measurements
Performance Assessment of HSDPA Networks From Outdoor Drive-Test Measurements
corner, a strong signal from a cell that is not in the Active Set
(AS) can suddenly be detected at the receiver. Then, the AS is
start being actualized, but the process takes even some seconds
to be completed, and during that time the interference level
remains high enough so as to cause a call drop.
Pilot Surprise areas can be identified by analyzing the
RSCP maps of every cell and calculating the spatial gradient of
this value. Those points where the gradient is high should be
studied in detail, mainly checking the E
c
/I
o
of the best server at
that position, because when this value falls below a threshold
on the order of -15 dB, the call will be dropped.
D. Pilot Overshooting
Pilot Overshooting refers to problems caused by excess of
coverage range from a certain cell. Two possible indicators are
considered for this case: when CPICH of any cell is detected
far from its site and no coverage was expected there from such
cell according to the initial planning configuration, or when it
is detected beyond the first ring of neighboring cells.
The detection of pilot overshooting from drive-test
measurements requires additional information about the
geographical position of sites. Drive-test files capture Global
Positioning System (GPS) information together with the radio
interface parameters, so it will be possible to determine
distances from measures to each detected cell.
The criterion used in this study is to consider a cell is Pilot
Overshooting if the distance to the points where it is detected is
double or above the mean distance between neighbor sites. The
result has to be checked in specific areas where the topology of
the RAN sites is very irregular, being an example of this the
limits of urban areas.
E. Pilot Pollution
A very common problem found in WCDMA networks is
the Pilot Pollution that is observed in areas where the AS size
is lower than the number of pilot codes detected within the AS
range calculated in terms of the downlink E
c
/I
o
[8].
Num_o_pilots _
L
c
I
c
_
L
c
I
c
Bcst_Scc
-IbrcsbolJ]_ > AS
Szc
(1)
In the HSDPA network analyzed in this paper, to decide
whether a cell is polluting or not, an AS size of 3 and a
threshold of 10 dB have been considered. The procedure uses
the DT files for each measured position to sort the detected
cells in terms of the E
c
/I
o
, selecting only those having an E
c
/I
o
above -12 dB and not below 10dB of that of the best server.
First 3 cells of the list are assumed to be active links to that
point, but the rest are considered producing pilot pollution. The
threshold of 10 dB is higher than the typical AS window, and
corresponds to the value below which the contribution of new
links to the combining gain in the Rake receiver is negligible
[2].
To quantify the effect of every polluting cell, a value of the
amount of pollution it produces has been calculated. This value
is proposed to be the ratio between the E
c
/I
o
of the best server
and the polluting cell. Following this approach, a polluting cell
detected with an E
c
/I
o
3 dB below the best server has a
polluting factor of 0.5.
Figure 3. (Upper) average RSCP (dBm), (lower) average Ec/Io (dB)
F. Missing Neighbors
Initial planning of WCDMA Networks assumes a specific
relationship between the coverage areas of the neighboring
cells and, on that basis, the Monitoring Set (MS) lists are
created for each cell. With the drive-test equipment it is
possible to scan not only the MS cells but any of the Detected
Set (DS) cells.
The problem of missing neighbors can, of course, be fixed
when the drive-test terminal detects very often a cell which is
not in the current MS list. The obvious recommendation should
be adding the cell to the list, because otherwise the mentioned
cell can only contribute to the interference and could never be
included in the AS.
Using DT measurements the neighbors list can be
corrected, most frequently to add missing cells to such list but
sometimes to delete some of it, so as to avoid monitoring cells
never detected in operation. The procedure to identify cells to
be added is simply based on comparing E
c
/I
o
values of the DS
cells to those of the MS and AS. When a DS cell is reported a
significant number of samples with E
c
/I
o
values higher than
those of the MS cells, the recommendation will be adding the
cell to the MS list.
V. ANALYSIS OF A REAL HSDPA NETWORK
This chapter analyses the status of one of the HSDPA
networks in operation in Valencia. Results of applying
previous diagnostics are obtained from the outdoor drive-test
measurements taken over the University Campus.
Fig. 3 represents the mean values of the CPICH RSCP and
E
c
/I
o
for the best server at every measured position. White areas
correspond to the buildings where no measurements have been
taken in this study, since the objective was to validate outdoor
drive-test measurements as the first option for large-scale radio
network optimization.
As seen in Fig. 3, both values of RSCP and E
c
/I
o
are
acceptable in almost all the positions on this scenario.
Concerning coverage, the poorest area is the Western part of
the Campus, with RSCP around -90 dBm and E
c
/I
o
about
-14dB. On this area the provision of some data services will be
difficult if no changes on configuration are applied.
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Figure 4. Aplication Layer Throughputs (kbps) in FTP over HSDPA
The QoS perceived by the final user has been measured for
HSDPA services, in particular for File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
downlink sessions. Fig. 4 shows the results in terms of the
application level throughput. The areas of the campus with best
performance are those with good RSCP and E
c
/I
o
levels, as
expected, and are concentrated on the eastern part of the area
under study.
One of the drawbacks of using drive-test to evaluate
performance appears at this stage: measurements are taken for
a single user in different positions and time instants. The
throughput in WCDMA will be strongly dependent on the load
of the cell and its services distribution, being both parameters
not stationary in time between two measured positions. Despite
of this configuration, and noting that it is not for generality, as
seen from these measurements, throughputs can fall down from
500 kbps to less than 150 kbps when RSCP goes below -80
dBm or E
c
/I
o
below -10 dB.
Some changes on the RAN configuration can be performed,
and to decide which are prior, some detailed analysis of the
surrounding cells is required. Fig. 5 shows the sites and cells
that are mainly affecting the coverage and quality of service in
this scenario of the HSDPA network.
University campus is served in a high percentage of the
area by the Node B located at the ETSIT building (in the centre
of the South part of the campus). Its three cells are numbered
just for this paper purpose 99,100 and 101, being 99 the cell
pointing more or less the North. See Fig. 5 to refer the rest of
cell numbers.
According to the procedures described in section IV, an
area with poor E
c
/I
o
quality is detected in the central part of the
Campus. It corresponds to an open area with gardens and sport
fields surrounded by 3 floors buildings, and in these positions
the most of the indicators of defects in the RAN configuration
are found.
One of the major problems detected on this area is the
interfering coverage. The main contribution to it comes from
cells 99, 35 and 116. Looking at Fig. 5, it can be seen that cell
99 should be in the AS in soft or softer handover on that area,
and this is not what happens during operation. As seen in Fig.
6, by looking at the values of RSCP and E
c
/I
o
out of the best
server area of cell 99, interference coverage values are found
(plotted in red colors). This result is obtained because RSCP of
cell 99 is high in that area but E
c
/I
o
is poor, so that the receiver
cannot add the cell to the AS, contributing only as interferer.
The mentioned area should be covered by a co-sited cell, and
high RSCP values from cell 99 could be expected, so only
corrections to the antenna pattern seem feasible in this case.
Figure 5. Location of the nodes in the area under study
Figure 6. RSCP (dBm) in regions interfered by cell num. 99
Figure 7. RSCP (dBm) in regions interfered by cell num. 35
Some additional considerations about this interfered area
can be made. By measuring neighbor areas, it is found that the
eastern part of the campus is covered by cell 35 (850 meters
south from the campus), that is located quite away in
comparison with other neighbor cells. A possible reason for
this is that paths from cell 35 are less obstructed than those
from other cells closer to this area. Applying the interference
coverage criterion for the cell 35, it is obtained the plot of Fig.
7, where again areas in red are those interfered by cell 35. This
cell could be a strong candidate for a downtilt review or a
CPICH power correction to prevent this situation.
A third cell is producing interfering coverage on the same
area as shown in Fig. 8, but in this case the origin of the
problem is quite different. Cell numbered as 116 is pointing
+120 related to north (see Fig. 5) but is being detected with
high RSCP in some parts of the campus, contributing to
degradation of the service causing only interference. The
problem in this case has to be due to the antenna radiation
pattern or the reflections of the signal in a building close to the
cell site, probably not accounted in the initial deployment.
As proposed in section IV, other problems that can be
detected by the analysis of the drive-test measurements are
pilot surprise, pilot overshooting and pilot pollution.
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Figure 8. RSCP (dBm) in regions interfered by cell num. 116
Figure 9. Detection of a pilot surprise situation forced by cell num.100
Figure 10. Number of polluting cells at measured locations
A situation of pilot surprise has been found in the campus,
caused by cell number 100, which is pointing +120
approximately. A user following the route marked in Fig. 9,
after turning the corner would suddenly receive a high RSCP
power from cell 100, enough to deeply decrease the E
c
/I
o
and
force a call drop. Of course the probability of dropping will
vary depending on the load of the cells and the time spent to
AS actualization, which was measured in this network to be
around 2 seconds.
A case of pilot overshooting has been also detected. CPICH
of cell number 75 is received in some positions in the campus
with a RSCP above the values of the neighbor cells. As seen in
the maps (Fig. 5) cell number 75 is not in the first ring of
neighbor sites. Again, the most feasible solution seems to be
correcting the downtilt of the antenna of cell 75 or its CPICH
power.
Concerning pilot pollution, Fig. 10 shows the number of
polluting cells in all the measured points of the campus. West
end of the campus presents the higher number of polluters.
This is due to the characteristics of that area, wide open, not
close to any node and without a dominant best server over the
rest. Some cells are also affecting the eastern end of the area,
being cell number 75 the one with higher values of the
pollution factor, as defined in Section IV, with an average of
0.25 that is quite significant.
Last issue studied was the neighbors list. Following the
procedure described in section IV, no missing neighbors were
detected in the current lists of this RAN. Despite of this result,
it is worth noting that the neighboring lists in this particular
network have been created from the GSM measurements and
have been corrected from previous outdoor drive-test
measurements. The result of this initial tuning remains quite
stable during operation, except of course if new cells are
installed, and with a very important drawback: indoor users.
Being the neighbors list optimal for the outdoor case, any user
inside a building is able to detect different neighboring
relations, mostly if located in upper floors. This case is not
presented in this document since requires indoor measurements
or call-tracing from the OMC, and will be included in
forthcoming contributions.
VI. CONCLUSIONS
This paper has analyzed the possibilities that a conventional
drive-test tool offers to the optimization of UMTS Radio
Access Networks. Some procedures to be applied to the
measured files have been described in order to detect the most
common defects appearing in the initial operation phases of the
RAN, mainly with the inclusion of data services.
The HSDPA network operating in the area of the
Polytechnic University of Valencia has been measured and
analyzed according to those procedures, showing a general
good performance but arising some configuration problems.
The main conclusion of this study is that the conventional
drive-test tools are able to be used in large-scale optimization
procedure of the UTRAN, detecting conventional radio
coverage problems. This optimization phase is normally done
with low traffic load in the UTRAN, and correction of the
configuration can be crucial to assure good quality of service
once the number of users and data services starts growing.
Some work on combining the mentioned indicators is still
possible to improve the diagnostics and to better point out the
necessary appropriate optimization actions.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This work is funded by the Spanish Ministry of Industry,
Tourism and Trade and the FEDER program of the European
Commission under the project TSI-020100-2008-580.
REFERENCES
[1] 3GPP TS 25.401, "UTRAN overall description".
[2] Harri Holma and Antti Toskala, WCDMA for UMTS. Radio Access for
Third Mobile Communications, 3rd ed., John Wiley & Sons, 2004.
[3] Jaana Laiho, Achim Wacker and Tomas Novosad, Radio Network
Planning and Optimisation for UMTS, John Wiley & Sons, 2006.
[4] Marindra Bawono. The Drive Test Implementation Strategy for CDMA
2000 Operator in Indonesia, in proc. International Symposium on
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[5] H. Holma and J. Reunanen, 3GPP Release 5 HSDPA Measurements,
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[8] Christophe Chevallier et al., WCDMA (UMTS) Deployment HandBook:
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[9] 3GPP TS 25.215 Physical layer; Measurements (FDD).
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