C1 C1 is the path-loss parameter that is used to determine the strongest cell for selection.

The MS will calculate a C1 for each tower it can see and select the cell tower with the highest C1. The C1 uses the following parameters for calculation:

The formula for calculating C1 is given as: C1 = (A) - Max(B,0) where: A = (RXLEV - RLAM) B = MS Transmit Power Max CCH -Max RF Output of MS At first this may seem complicated but if we examine the various parameters and how they affect the C1 score then it becomes more clear. A - This value is merely a dB value for the difference between what RSSI is required to select that cell and what signal strength the MS sees the tower at. If the RLAM is -110dB and the MS sees the tower at -90dB then the value of A is 20dB. The higher the value of A the higher the C1 and the more attractive this tower will be to the MS. B - Just because a MS can receive a tower's signal does not mean that the MS has enough power to reach that tower. The tower tells the MS what maximum power level that the MS may use to transmit to that tower. If the phone is capable of transmitting at this power than there is no problem. However, what if the phone can not transmit at that power level? The signal from the MS may not have enough power to reach the tower. Any lack in transmitting power of the MS must be taken into account when calculating C1. B is essentially the value of this difference. Let's say a cell tower requires the MS to be able to transmit at a 30dB power level but this MS is only capable of transmitting at 26dB. In this case the value of B would be 4dB. This value is subtracted from the value of A which has the result of lowering the value of C1. If the MS is capable of transmitting at the required power or higher then B will be zero and no adjustments to C1 will be made. In summary, the two main factors in determining C1 are the strength of the received signal and the transmission power the MS is capable of. C1 alone is

only used for cell selection. When a MS is already camped on a cell and it wants to move to another cell it will reselect it. Cell reselection uses a different criteria C2.

C2 C2 is the parameter used for cell reselection. Once a MS is camped on a cell it will continuously monitor the strength of neighbor cells. Every BCCH sends out a BCCH Allocation (BA) List. This is a list of neighbor cells (ARFCNs) that the MS must monitor while camped on a particular cell. The MS will monitor these ARFCNs for signal strength and only reselect a cell that is on this list. The MS will calculate a C2 value for each cell on the BA list. The cell tower with the highest C2 wins and the MS will move to that cell and camp on it. Keep in mind the C2 is calculated by the MS and the MS decides which cell tower to camp on. The cell that the MS camps on is known as the serving cell. As long as the losing cell and the gaining cell are both in the same Location Area the MS will not notify the network that is is selecting a new cell. The MS only needs to notify the network if it is reselecting the cell that is in a new location area in which case it will do a location update. The C2 is calculated using the following parameters:

The formula for calculating C2 is: C2 = C1 + CRO - (Temp_Offset * H) H = 1 if the MS has been monitoring a particular cell for less than the penalty time. H = 0 if the MS has been monitoring the particular cell for longer than the penalty time. H = 0 if the particular cell is the serving cell (the one the MS is currently camped on).

Let's look at an example to see how the temporary offset works. The following chart shows two example cell towers and values for C1 and C2 parameters. The time progresses as the MS moves away from cell A and towards cell B. For sake of simplicity, we are assuming that the MS can transmit at the max power allowed and that neither cell is using CRO.

0 seconds - The MS is camped on cell A. The MS calculates the C2 value as 38. Since the RXLEV for cell B is not above the RLAM the C1 (and C2) are below 0. A MS will not select a cell with a C1 below 0 and it will not reselect a cell with a C2 below 0. 10 seconds - The RXLEV for cell B meets the minimum threshold (RLAM). The MS starts a timer as soon as it puts it on its strongest neighbor list. The penalty time for cell B is 40 seconds, so for the first 40 seconds that cell B is on the strongest neighbor list it will apply the temporary offset to the C2 value. After including the offset, the C2 for cell B is -20 dBm. 20 seconds - The C2 for cell A continues to drop as the C2 for cell B continues to rise. With a C2 of 25, cell A is still the most attractive. 30 seconds - Cell A drops to a C2 of 21 and cell B has a C2 of -5. 40 seconds - Cell A drops to a C2 of 18. Cell B rises to a C2 of 3. Notice here that if it were not for the temporary offset, the C2 for cell B would be at 23. At this point the MS would normally reselect cell B. However, due to the temporary offset, cell A is still the most attractive. 50 seconds - At this point the penalty time for cell B has expired and the temporary offset is no longer applied. The C2 for cell B raises from 3 to 27. The C2 for cell B wins over the C2 for cell A and the MS reselects cell B.

The temporary offset would be used if the network wanted to discourage mobile stations from reselecting a cell as soon as the MS saw it. This is commonly found in pico-cells. This forces a MS to be in the area of the cell for a certain period before reselecting it. It prevents mobile stations that just happen to be passing by from reselecting the cell. In order to reselect the cell, the MS must be in the area for a certain period of time or be close enough that the RXLEV overcomes the negative offset value.

Cell Reselection Offset (CRO) - CRO is a value from 0 to 63. Each step represents a 2 dBm step (0 to 126 dBm). This value is added to C1. A higher CRO value will make the cell tower more attractive to the MS. The higher the CRO, the more attractive the cell will be. The network might assign a CRO value to a cell if the network wanted to encourage mobile stations to utilize that cell. The network might want to do this in order to reduce the load on other cells during times of high traffic volume or to force MS's to a certain band.