Testing of GSM

network
Katja.Koivu@omnitele.fi

Omnitele Ltd. 2003

1

Contents

GSM network quality audit

Network quality benchmarking

Optimisation

Statistics / Operation & Maintenance

measurements

Field measurements

GPRS measurements

Testing of special features

Omnitele Ltd. 2003

2

GSM
Radio Network Quality Audit
and Optimisation

Omnitele Ltd. 2003

3

Background
On what basis does the customer rate GSM operators quality ?
_
_
_
_
_
_

Prices
Coverage area
Call blocking/dropping
Speech quality
Customer service
Else?

Radio
Radio network
network
quality
quality related!
related!

The user experienced service quality in GSM links directly to the

performance of the radio network
Differentiation from competitors

Omnitele Ltd. 2003

4

Optimisation outcome ?
Network optimisation is a tradeoff between quality,
traffic/revenues and investments.
Without fine-tuned network the customer complaints are increas
work load is increased and marketing becomes inefficient
GSM
network
indicators of
European
operator
customer

Do you know how your network is performing ?

Direct impact on customer satisfaction !

Omnitele Ltd. 2003
5

Network quality benchmarking

How does your networks quality match
against the competitors ?
and against the world standard ?
Quality Survey /
Example
Urban area
benchmarking
statistics

MTC
Competitor
Operator 1 (+1m)
Operator 2 (+1m)
Operator 3 (< MTC)
Operator 4 (< MTC)
Operator 5 (< MTC)

Omnitele Ltd. 2003

6

Call
success
rate
95,70 %
96,80 %
97,90 %
96,90 %
95,40 %
95,20 %
95,20 %

Handover DL
success signal
rate
quality
97,90 %
99,00 %
99,20 %
95,50 %
96,10 %
95,00 %
99,10 %

0,4
0,4
0,2
0,5
0,6
0,3
0,5

MS TX
Handovers/ SQI
DL signal MS TX
power level power class power class call
900
1800
-67.1 dBm
-61.6 dBm
-

9,6
5,5
8,7
7,2
7,8
8,7
7,3

5,0
3,5
1,8
1,5
N/A
N/A
1,4

3,6
3,5
2,5
1,4
3,1
1,7
2,4

28,1
28,8
29,1
28,2
27,3
28,9
28,8

Field measurements
Benchmarking
Troubleshooting
_ statistics, customer complaints

Base station start-up

Testing equipment
_
_
_
_

Testing software e.g. TEMS Ericsson in a laptop

Test mobile phones (one or more)
Indoor/outdoor antenna
Cables + battery chargers

Omnitele Ltd. 2003

7

Field measurements
Testing route
_ Roads, train
_ Hot spot, pedestrian
_ Urban, suburban, rural

Test setup
_ Idle mode
_ Continuous call
_ Call sequence (90s calls / 15s idle)

Tested frequencies: 900/900E/1800

Omnitele Ltd. 2003

8

Example _ Call Success Rate

99,0 %

GSM1800 large European

GSM900/1800 large
European
GSM900/1800 large
European

98,0 %

97,0 %

GSM900 small Middle East

GSM900 small Middle East

96,0 %

GSM900/1800 large
European
95,0 %

GSM900/1800 large
European
GSM900 very small
European

94,0 %

GSM900 small European

93,0 %
Call success rate

Omnitele Ltd. 2003

9

GSM900/1800 very small

Middle East

Example _ SQI
35

GSM1800 large European

30

GSM900/1800 large
European
GSM900/1800 large
European

25

GSM900 small Middle East

20

GSM900 small Middle East

15

GSM900/1800 large
European

10

GSM900/1800 large
European
GSM900 very small
European

GSM900 small European

0
SQI (max 30)

Omnitele Ltd. 2003

10

GSM900/1800 very small

Middle East

Network quality benchmarking

Could there be an indicator that shows your network is
underperforming ?

Independent benchmark needed

What kind of action should be taken to improve the
situation ?

Correctly targeted network

optimisation

Quality Survey /
Example
Urban
area

benchmarking
statistics
MTC

Competitor
Operator 1 (+1m)
Operator 2 (+1m)
Operator 3 (< MTC)
Operator 4 (< MTC)
Operator 5 (< MTC)

Omnitele Ltd. 2003

11

Call
success
rate

95,70 %
96,80 %
97,90 %
96,90 %
95,40 %
95,20 %
95,20 %

Handover DL
success signal
rate
quality
97,90 %
99,00 %
99,20 %
95,50 %
96,10 %
95,00 %
99,10 %

0,4
0,4
0,2
0,5
0,6
0,3
0,5

DL signal MS TX
MS TX
Handovers/ SQI
power level power class power class call
900
1800
-67.1 dBm
-61.6 dBm
-

9,6
5,5
8,7
7,2
7,8
8,7
7,3

5,0
3,5
1,8
1,5
N/A
N/A
1,4

3,6
3,5
2,5
1,4
3,1
1,7
2,4

28,1
28,8
29,1
28,2
27,3
28,9
28,8

Network optimisation process

Customer
Feedback

INPUTS

MANAGEMENT
MARKETING

Benchmarking

NETWORK
PLANNING
Field measurements
and performance
evaluations
Operation &
Maintenance
Measurements

Omnitele Ltd. 2003

12

Postprocessing

CUSTOMER
SERVICE

Continuous process!

Optimisation targets

Satisfied customers

Maximum utilisation
of hardware

Omnitele Ltd. 2003

13

Effective and
economic use
of network !

Troubleshooting
Omniteles engineers are experienced to encounte
the major issues effecting the quality of GSM netwo

Handover problems
Quality problems
Coverage problems & New site location identification
Network layers fine-tuning
Capacity problematics
LAC optimisation
New feature implementation (software and hardware)
Micro cells introduction
Indoor coverage fine-tuning
BSS parameter fine-tuning

Omnitele Ltd. 2003

14

Dual Band considerations

Dual Band Strategy
Spectrum requirements
Network evolution
from traffic hot spots to seamless coverage
900/1800 spectrum for indoor / outdoor,
interference reduction, data
Capacity gain calculations for different scenarios

Utilisation
Traffic steering between
900/1800 layers
Parameter optimisation
Coverage/capacity
GPRS strategy

Omnitele Ltd. 2003

15

Planning and Implementation

Planning methods
BSS parameters
Site suitability criteria
Sharing of RF components
Planning / measurement tool requirements

Frequency planning & interference analysis

Interference analysis

Frequency planning objectives

Used by turns with the

QoS objectives
allocation in order to
validate (and optimize, if
_ Overall C/Ic and C/Ia requirements
necessary) the frequency
_ Cell-to-cell C/I requirements
(reuse) plan
Interference
check per
_

channel
5,13
13,1
6,13

13,8

_ Evaluation of the
significance of the residual
interference
_ HO/Cell selection margin
should be included in the
analysis
_ C /Ic (and C/Ia ) statistics per
channel

Interference per network

Omnitele Ltd. 2003

16

_ On the dominance area

_ C /Ic (and C/Ia ) statistics
_ Shows the overall
interference picture

Interference reduction
means
Optimising is done frequency by frequency
Antenna redirection

the most predictable

coverage is in danger

Antenna tilting
ideally very useful: steepens
the slope
in practice difficult to predict
should be always measured
useful for large clearence
angles

Power reduction
UL/DL interference power
balance is lost
coverage is lost
not recommended

Omnitele Ltd. 2003

17

All interference reduction means

may generate problems in other
frequencies

Reducing interference
Improves network quality!

Optimising adjacencies & LAC

Missing neighbours very often result in unnecessary
dropped calls and bad quality
Correct neighbour relations can be determined by
analysing measurement results
Unnecessary LAC updates
can easily increase the
singalling load significantly
Increased signalling
reduces the room for payload

Are your adjacencies

and LACs optimised ?
Omnitele Ltd. 2003
18

Optimising parameters
study theoretically the impact
of the intended change
select the set of performance
parameters and test cells
change the cell parameters
under optimisation
measure with a test MS
happy with the
results ?
+
measure the performance and
compare to the ref. performance
happy with the
results ?
+
apply the changes permanently
in the network/service area
Omnitele Ltd. 2003
19

new
conclusions

O&M based performance

parameters
QOS as well as RF and capacity planning parameters assessed
per cell, per BSC and per network
RF planning parameters
QOS parameters
_ Dropped call rate
_ Dropped call rate due to radio
_ Cumulative UL/DL quality
statistics
_ TCH BH blocking rate
_ SDCCH BH blocking rate
_ (Call setup success rate)
_ (Handover success rate)

_ Number of calls
_ TCH RF loss rate
_ SDCCH RF loss rate
_ TCH mean holding time
_ Handovers per call
_ Cumulative UL/DL level statistics
_ Idle channel UL interference
_ Power balance

Capacity planning parameters

_ TCH BH traffic (e.g. weekly and average of daily BH traffics)
_ BH activity per subscriber (segment)
_ Total TCH time (per subscriber)
_ SDCCH weekly BH traffic
_ BH paging load
Omnitele Ltd. 2003
20

Example _ BH traffic

20 June: 290 000 subs 17 mErl/subscriber

Mean holding time ? -> BHCA/subscriber

Omnitele Ltd. 2003

21

Conclusion
The GSM network optimisation process consists of
complex technical measurements and analysis
Every network is individually planned and thus have
individual problems which decrease the quality
Professionally performed optimisation will increase
customer satisfaction
How to increase the quality and capacity
GSM
network
with minimum investments ?
indicators of
European
operator
customer

Omnitele Ltd. 2003

22

How can Omnitele assist you?

Radio network quality audit
and optimisation

Omnitele Ltd. 2003

23

Performing the quality audit

Where?

To observe and follow the

quality of the network
Predefined areas

How often?

Regularly, e.g. once a year

How?

With measurements
By comparing
Independent from the
operator and vendor

Why?

Who?

Omnitele Ltd. 2003

24

Network quality audit

-- Objectives -Complete analysis of the quality
perceived by subscribers
Location of interference, inadequate
signal strength and quality, congestion
Proposal for corrective actions in both
short and long term
Comparison to the competitors and
world class standard
On-the-job training for Operators own
staff
Omnitele Ltd. 2003
25

Network quality audit

-- Area definition -The most important cities, roads, suburbs
Areas representing different kind of coverage,
different subscriber density etc.
Same basic area every time, expanded with
possible new coverage areas

Omnitele Ltd. 2003

26

Measurement route definition

ca. 1/3 of the # of cells in the

area
30 min. of driving for each
covering the whole sub-service
area
distinction of areas with different
required coverage probabilities
following the foreseen traffic
distribution
all HO pairs tested
closing loops & major highways
marketing should be consulted

Omnitele Ltd. 2003

27

emphasis on

the city
the most important roads
the most important suburbs
the areas with foreseen
difficulties

Network quality audit

-- Regularity -Once a year if the network is quite stable
More often if the network is still under
construction
In addition to complete quality audit weekly
measurements are recommended

Omnitele Ltd. 2003

28

Network quality audit

--The auditor -Should be independent from the Operators
Technical Department and the Vendor
Should have experience from other networks
Because, then ...
The comparison will be objective
The Operator gets the information what is th
performance level of the network compared
the other networks
Omnitele Ltd. 2003
29

Quality audit
-- Comparison -Predefined criteria the network should fulfill
Quality Index (measured indicators)
Comparison with competitors
Comparison with previous quality audits
By Quality Index
Omnitele Ltd. 2003
30

Why Omnitele ?

Long and extensive experience on radio network planning

_ Dimensioning and nominal planning
_ Site planning
_ Parameter planning
_ Network tuning and optimisation
Experience from several equipment suppliers

Projects:
GSM planning in Finland
_ Radiolinja project (worlds first GSM network)
_ GSM1800 city networks
_ Ongoing Finnish 2G project (3rd Finnish operator)
GSM planning abroad
_ Italy
Czech republic
_ Netherlands
Brazil
Omnitele Ltd. 2003
31

Why Omnitele ?

GSM network dimensioning/nominal planning for start-up operators

_ Tanzania
_ Jordan
_ Pakistan
Network audits and optimisation projects
_ Finland
Radiolinja
City networks
Finnish 2G
_ Abroad:
Greece
Ivory Coast
Kuwait
Togo
Jersey
Czech Republic
Guernsey
Faroe Islands
Cyprus
Andorra
Bahrain

Omnitele Ltd. 2003

32

GPRS Optimisation in
general

Omnitele Ltd. 2003

33

Optimisation Process
Input
Input
The
Thebusiness
businessstrategy
strategyfor
forGPRS
GPRS

Output
Output
Optimal
Optimalparameter
parametersettings:
settings:

Existing
Existingand
anddesired
desiredquality
qualityofofthe
the
network
(field
measurements
&
OMC
network (field measurements & OMC
studies):
studies):
Congestion
Congestion
QoS
QoSofofthe
theexisting
existingnetwork
network

Interference
Interference
Different
Differentvendor
vendorsolutions
solutions

Required
Requiredservices
servicesand
andexpected
expected
usage
usage

Dedicated/dynamic
Dedicated/dynamicradio
radio
capacity
allocation
capacity allocation

Traffic
Trafficsteering
steeringbetween
betweenthe
the
radio
layers
radio layers
Coding
Codingscheme
schemeadaptation
adaptation
Different
Differenttimers
timers

Optimal
Optimalhardware
hardwareconfiguration
configuration
Protocol
Protocoloptimisation
optimisation
Key
Keyperformance
performanceindicator
indicator
definition
and
measurements
definition and measurements

Future
Futureplan
planwinner
winnerstrategy
strategy

Best quality with minimum investment

Omnitele Ltd. 2003

34

Measurement System Set-up

End-to-End data performance

Data at
application layer

Data at
application layer

GPRS layer data performance

Data at
RLC/LLC layer

Data at
RLC/LLC layer

RF performance

Air-interface

GPRS Mobile
Omnitele Ltd. 2003
35

Air-interface

Server

Monitored Key Performance Indicators

(KPI)

C/I of the measured channels

Average RLC throughput (kbit/s)
Average LLC throughput (kbit/s)
Average number of timeslots used by a single user
CS usage (% of time in the CS1/CS2 *)
Average cell reselect time
Network response time (RTT)
RLC bit error rate

*) Available only in networks with dynamic CS adaptation

Omnitele Ltd. 2003

36

GPRS Parameter Planning (1)

Goals:
To handle GPRS in cells with high CS (speech)
traffic
To steer the GPRS traffic to wanted cells
Adequate definition of GPRS timers
Radio interface capacity division between CS/PS
Optimise the performance of specific service

Optimised end-user experience !

Omnitele Ltd. 2003
37

GPRS Parameter Planning (2)

Omnitele has profound hands-on experience with

Alcatel GPRS parameters

Ericsson GPRS parameters
Nokia GPRS parameters

Troubleshooting
Daily planning &
Optimising
Drive tests
Omnitele Ltd. 2003
38

Measuring GPRS network performance

RLC and LLC

Throughput

Omnitele Ltd. 2003

39

Number of time
slots used per
mobile
Coding scheme
usage

Data flow
behaviour
Retransmissions
Cell reselections, RA
updates etc.

GPRS Network
performance
benchmarking

Omnitele Ltd. 2003

40

Why benchmark the network

performance ?
Performance of the GPRS networks vary significantly
between the operators
The QoS status of operators GPRS network is best
determined by benchmarking the network performance
against competitors performance and/or world class operators
operating in different markets

Omnitele Ltd. 2003

41

Benchmarking Results
Examples

Example country:
Three nation-wide GPRS operators
Same drive routes in the benchmarking
Significant differences in KPIs of the three operators
Network response time (s)

Throughput DL [kbit/s]
35.0

33.3
31.3

33.2
31.3

34.7
32.4

1.8

1.8
1.6

1.5

1.4

30.0

1.1

1.2

25.0

RLC Throughput [kbit/s]

LLC Throughput [kbit/s]

0.8

Network response
time (s)

0.6

20.0

0.4
0.2

15.0

Omnitele Ltd. 2003

42

Improving the Performance of

Your Network
After benchmarking the GPRS performance, the
problem areas will be identified
Recommendations for improvements are given
Service optimisation plan will be made

Omnitele Ltd. 2003

43

BSC Measurements

In addition to end-to-end field measurements, BSC measurements

can be performed from the BSC of the benchmarked operator
Better overall picture of the problem cells: Suggestions to
improvements

Some of the key issues that can be identified from BSC are:
Overall GPRS traffic
Blocking of GPRS calls
Retransmissions
PCU loading

Note: The BSC measurements can only be benchmarked against

Omnitele archive since there is no access to competitors BSC

Omnitele Ltd. 2003

44

How can Omnitele

assist you ?

Omnitele Ltd. 2003

45

Example of Omnitele s GPRS Projects

Network acceptance and optimisation
1

2.1
2.1.1
2.1.2
2.1.3
2.2
2.2.1
2.2.2
2.2.3
2.2.4
2.2.5
2.2.6

3
3.1
3.1.1
3.1.2
3.2
3.2.1
3.2.2

4
4.1
4.2
4.3
4.3.1
4.3.2
4.4
4.5
4.6
4.6.1
4.6.2

Int roduc tion

Descript ion of field measurement s
GPRS measurement model
Applicat ion layer performance measurements
GPRS layer performance measurement s
RF performance measurement s
5
Monit ored Key Performance Indicat ors
5.1
Carrier t o Int erference rat io for t he measured channels 5.2
(dB)
5.2.1
Coding scheme usage (%)
5.2.2
RLC/LLC throughput (kbit/s)
5.2.3
Cell reselec tion t ime (s)
5.3
Rout ing area updat e t ime (s)
5.4
Ne twork response t ime (s)
5.5
5.5.1
Findings during the Installat ion
5.5.2
Alcat el acceptance tests

MFS accep tance t est s

6
Core accep tance t est s
Detect ed problems
6.1
MFS
6.2
Core
7
7.1
Int egrat ion t est ing
7.2
Carrier t o Int erference rat io
7.3
Coding scheme usage
7.4
Throughput
8
Normal cell load t hroughput measurement s
8.1
High cell load t hroughput measurement s
8.2
Cell reselec tion
8.3
rou ting area updat e time
9
Ne twork response t ime
Pinging wit h Windows Command prompt
Pinging wit h dif ferent int ervals be tween t he pings

Omnitele Ltd. 2003

46

GPRS Parameter fine-tuning

Further routing area update testing
Optimisation of the coding scheme usage
CS_Lev parameter
CS_Qual_1_2 / CS_Qual_ 2 _ 1
TBF_CS_Period1 / TBF_CS_Period2
Congestion control
network response time optimisation
Other investigated issues
Frequency scans in the east coast
Missing adjacencies
Comparison of finnish GPRS operators network
Performance indicators
Throughput
Cell Reselection time (s)
comparison of different vendors GPRS features
Automatic Link adaptation (ALA)
Congestion control
Multiplexing users into the Timeslots
TRX preference
suggestions for GPRS network development
Alcatel GPRS core rel2 and BSS software B7
Traffic monitoring
Air-Interface compression software
Conclusion

How Can Omnitele Assist You?

Contract negotiations:
Assistance in definition of the technical framework to the system
specifications: How should the GPRS system perform?
Hands-on experience: Alcatel, Ericsson and Nokia GPRS systems
Implementation:
Verification of the system performance: Specification of the operator
acceptance tests and system integration tests
Parameter planning, parameter fine-tuning and optimisation of the GPRS
network
Service optimisation:
WAP&Web: Parameters&timers
Content optimisation: Performance Enhancement Proxy selection process
MMS: Radio capacity optimisation
GPRS performance benchmarking
Comparison of your GPRS networks performance to your competitors

Omnitele Ltd. 2003

47

Please visit our web site

www.omnitele.fi
for more information

Omnitele Ltd. 2003

48