Contents
» Symptoms of a Handover Failure Caused by the Uu Interface
» Tools for Tracing and Analyzing Messages
Identifying a Handover Failure
Deliverables for Handover Failures
» Standard Operation Procedure for Handover Failures
HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO.,LTD Huawei Confident $2 HuaweiHandover Principles and Signaling Procedure
During a handover, the connection and interaction between the UE and the
network changes while the UE moves, as illustrated in the following block diagram:
me i pe
iB
Inthe LTE system, the entire handoverprocedure is controlled by the network
(eNodeB). The eNodeB needs to listen to the quality of the radio environmentthat
the UE is in by delivering a measurement control to the UE, notifying the UE that
the UE should send measurement reports when the specified conditions are
satisfied.
> Triggering a handover: Huawei eNodeBs use eventA3 to trigger an intra-
frequency handoverand events A2 and AG to trigger an inter-frequency handover.
> Handover: The eNodeB delivers a handovercommandto the UE. Upon
reception of the command, the UE disconnects from the source cell and hands
overto the target cell according to the command.
eee eee ered eelHandover Principles and Signaling Procedure
The signaling interaction varies for differenthandovertypes. The intra-system
handovers are categorized into intra-eNodeB handover and inter-eNodeB.
handover. The inter-eNodeB handovers are categorized into inter-eNodeB X2
handover and inter-eNodeB S1 handover. The following figure shows the signaling
procedures
. =a « so Te Gremnek 1 Lec tat
nao Haoover Ine x2 Handover rter-288 $1 Handover
> tetas —p Rtetce pS tate
eee eee ered fae!Contents
» Handover Principles and Signaling Procedure
> Tools for Tracing and Analyzing Messages
> Identifying a Handover Failure
> Deliverables for Handover Failures
» Standard Operation Procedure for Handover Failures
eee a er cee aan!A handover problem can be identified using the
following method:
>To determine whether a handover takes place, observe the signaling, starting
from the measurement reports triggering the handover to the handover
completion message, both of which are sent by the UE.
>Ahandover success is indicated by the change of the PCI. The UE
disconnects from the source cell and hands over to the target cell.
»A handover failure is indicated by service drops and RRC connection
reestablishment.
>Ahandover failure can be caused by many factors. Acommon factor is loss
of signaling during signaling interaction over the Uu interface.
HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO.. LID. uae! Conner 4 nuawelSymptom of a Handover Failure: Loss of
Measurement Reports
The following figures show the signaling messages (circled in red) when the UE sends
measurement reports but fails to receive a handovercommand
After the UE sends measurementreports, the UE begins to receive the master
information block (MIB). The signaling from the cell where the UE initiates a
reestablishment (either the target cell, source cell, or @ third-party cell) shows the
RRCConnectionReestablishmentRequestmessage.
Signaling from
the eNodeB
Signaling from
the UE
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eee eee ered eelSymptom of a Handover Failure: Loss of the
Handover Command
The following figures show the signaling messages when the UE sends measurements
reports, the eNodeB receives the reports and delivers a handover command, but the
UE fails to receive the command
The signaling traced in the UE is the same as the signaling when the measurement
reports are lost. The signaling traced in the eNodeB shows that the target cell fails to
receive the handover completion message after the eNodeB receives measurement
reports and delivers a handover command.
Signaling Signaling fromthe
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eee eee ered fae!Symptom of a Handover Failure: The UE
Fails to Access the Target Cell.
‘The following figures show the signaling messages wien the UE sends measurement
reports, the eNodeB receives the reports and delivers a handover command, the UE
receives the command and accesses the target cell, but the target cell fails to receive the
RRCConnectionReconfigurationComplete message.
The signaling traced in the UE shows that the UE sends the
RRCConnectionReconfigurationComplete message, and the message is lost during
transmission in the bottom layer.
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OE TROT
‘The source cell
‘delivers the handover
‘command
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The UE recewes ine
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RRCConnectionecontigur seo [rerio |
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“The target cel fats to recene
the
RRCConnectionReconfiguratt
‘oncomplete message.Symptom of a Handover Failure - Summary
if @ handoverfailure is caused by the Uu interface, the symptom is usually as follows
In 2s after the UE sends the measurementreports, the UE sends the
RRCConnectionRequest or RRCConnectionReestablishmentRequestmessage, or
enters the idle state.
exnen coms
eases cle
fesse ce!
esate aanContents
» Handover Principles and Signaling Procedure
» Symptoms of a Handover Failure Caused by the Uu Interface
> Identifying a Handover Failure
» Deliverables for Handover Failures
> Standard Operation Procedure for Handover FailuresTools for Tracing and Analyzing Messages
Message Tracing Tools
Huawei UE
Probe
Av Las Ge
SS
atteTools for Tracing and Analyzing Messages
Data analysis tools
eNodeB InsightSharpTools for Tracing and Analyzing Messages
Identifying the measurement control and =!
measurement reports
Use the message browser to view the details. rece
Double-click the RRCConnectionRecontiguration message. Ifit
contains the measConfig information element (IE), the message
Isa measurement control message: Itit contains the event Ad
IE and ihe value of reportOnLeave is FALSE, the event is a
handover measurement control and the value of the measld
parameter specified by ReportContfigid fs the ID of the
‘measurement report
Double-click the
measurementesort message.
Ihe value ofthe measta
parameter is the same as that
of the measid parameter
contained in the measurement
control message Defore the
measurementRegott message,
the measurement repor is an
AS measurement reportTools for Tracing and Analyzing Messages
Identifying the handover command
Start Probe and search for the RRCConnectionReconfiguration message afterthe
MeasurementReportmessage over the Uu interface. Double-click the message to
view the details.
Double-click the
RRCConnectionRecontiguration message
afterthe MeasurementResort message
RRCConnectionRecontiguration
message contains the 2
targetPhysCelld IE, this message iain
‘sa hangover commanaTools for Tracing and Analyzing Messages
Identifying the cell that the reestablishment request is
sent to
The cell that the reestablishment requestis sent to can be easily identified from the tracin,
result at the eNodeB. To identify this cell from the tracing result at the UE, start Probe ani
search forthe RRC_SIB_TYPE1 message before the RRC_CONN_REESTAB_REQ
message overthe Uu interface, double-click the message to view tite content.
The rst ve digts of ne
cellidentty are hexadecimal
180CB, or decmal 100043; tne
skihand seventh digits are 02,
indicating that tne
reestablishment request s senitto
cel? of ste 100043
Double-click this RRC_SIB_TYPE1
messageTools for Tracing and Analyzing Messages
The following table lists the tools and their usage:
Tool Name Usage
a "Tacs TERSgES OOeTE MEU, and SY ETRE nd SEE
meses ae networc 63
Trace Viewer Display he sigan ace ay ne LT
Prote Traces he sgnaing, checing, and Soraing qty ofan UE
anand ANETTA, SENEGUNG, ATO BURY oT HE
>see 2
ininiher Poa te cal story rece (HR)
Presa nayzes te ameressuremen othe ese
ue nayaes te Tong Gas ofthe gNegebara Have UE
wr nayaes te Tong Gas ote gNegebara Have UEContents
» Handover Principles and Signaling Procedure
» Symptoms of a Handover Failure Caused by the Uu Interface
> Tools for Tracing and Analyzing Messages
> Deliverables for Handover Failures
» Standard Operation Procedure for Handover FailuresIdentifying and Solving a Handover Failure
> Delayed Handover
> Weak Coverage
> InterferenceIdentifying a Handover Failure - Checking
for Missed Definition of Neighboring Cells
e ForeRAN2.1 and earlier versions:
o Ifthe ANR function of the site is disabled, use the Tool for Analyzing
LTE Missed Definition of Neighboring Cells to check for missed
definition of neighboring cells.
a Ifthe ANR function of the site is enabled, there is no need to check for
missed definition of neighboring cells.The following figure shows the output of the Tool for Analyzing LTE Missed Definition
of Neighboring Cells. If the value of the "whether have absence" columnis Y, youneed
to check the neighbor cell relationship and add any missed definition.
Ifthe ANR function is enabled, or if the ANR function is disabled and you use the
tool to check for and add missed definitions, there will be no missed definition of
neighboring cells.Identifying a Handover Failure — Ident
Definition of Neighboring Cells by Tracing the
Standard Interfaces
Tracing the messages of the Uu interface from the eNodeB or the whole
network.
The following figure shows that the same UE (with the same calllD) sends measurement
reports for multiple times and the eNodeB does not deliver the handover command. The X2
or $1 tracing result shows no HANDOVER REQUST or S1AP_HANDOVER_REQUIRED
messages. This indicates high likelihood of missed definition. Missed definition can be
confirmed by querying the configurations.
aa a007 20027 1BFe0|
eaeTracing the messages of the Uu interface
from the UE
The symptoms that as the UE moves, the RSRP and
SINR of the serving cell deteriorates, while the RSRP of
the neighboring cell improves. 2S ee
The UE sends
measurement reports
Dut falls to receive the
handover commana
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The eNodeb receives
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oslissed neighboring cells can be defined as follows:
Ifthe tracing results the same as the preceding description, the neighboring cells are not
defined, To define a neighboring cell, obtain the PC! in the measurement report, search for the
‘eNodeBid and celllD in the engineering parameter table that this PCI maps to, and run the
following commands to define the neighboring cell
ADD EUTRANEXTERNALCELL: Mcc="x", Mnc="x", eNodeBId=x, Collld=x, DiEarfen=x,
UlEerfcnCfgind=NOT_CFG, PhyCellld=x, Tac=x,
‘where x refers to the information of the neighboring cell to be defined.
ADD EUTRANINTRAFREQNCELL: LocalCellld=Y, Mec="x", Mne="x", eNodeBld=x, Cellld=x;
where LocalCellld refers to the local cell ID and x refers to the information of the neighboring
call to be dofined.Identifying and Solving a Handover Failure
» Missed Definition of Neighboring Cells
> Weak Coverage
> InterferenceIdentifying a Handover Failure — Delayed
Handover
Handover failure caused by
delayed handover
The symptom is that when the radio channel quali
the neenborng) cell satisfies the mand var need
the RSRP of the serving cell declines suddenly.
‘The signaling at the UE
receive tne nancover
RRC connection
reestauishment,
shows that the UE fails to
commang and inllates an
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measurement reportsIdentifying a Handover Failure — Delayed
Handover
The problem of delayed handover can be solved as
follows:
Preferably perform RF optimization before doing the following
>If the following two conditions are satisfied, change the CellIndividual Offset of the serving cell
and neighboring cell to the recommended 1 dB to advance the handover.
The interval (nerein referred ta as Interval 1) between tne time when the neighboring cel qualty satisfies ne
handover threshold anc the time when the serving cel quailty decines Is short, forexample, less than 15.
-The interval (herein referred toas interval 2) between the time when the neighboring cell qual is better than the
serving cell quailty and the time when the serving cell qualty dectines is long, for example, longer than 2s.
>Ifinterval 2 is short, for example, less than 0.5, reduce IntraFreqHoA3 Time ToTrig of the serving
cello a value preferably between 40 ms and 320 ms to advance the handover.
> Instead of changing Cellindividual Offset of the serving cell and all the neighboring cells, you can
change the IntraFreqHoAHyst and IntraFreqHoA3Offset values to advance the handover. This
operation is seldom performedIdentifying and Solving a Handover Failure
> Missed Definition of Neighboring Cells
> Delayed Handover
> InterferenceIdentifying a Handover Failure - Weak Coverage
Weak coverage that leads to a handover failure can be
identified from the UE as follows:
The RSRPs of both the serving cell and neighboring cell are weakwhen the handover
‘threshold is satisfied.
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Conmecton rezsisisriment
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HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO.,LTD.Identifying a Handover Failure - Weak Coverage
Weak coverage that leads to a handover failure can be
identified from the eNodeB as follows:
‘The Uu messages traced in the eNodeB show that the RSRPS of both the source cell and target cell
contained in the A3 measurement reports are low, for example, lower than—110 dBm (30 dBm less than
the report value).
‘The following figure shows that the measResultSeryCell IE contains rsrpResult:0x11(17). This
indicates that the RRP of the serving cell during handoveris as follows: RSRP = 17 - 140 = -123 dBm.
‘The measResultListEUTRA IE contains rsrpResult0x14(20). This incicates that the RSRP of the target,
cell during handoveris as follows: RSRP = 20 - 140 = -120 dBm
Ifthe RSRP of the serving cell containedin the measurement report is less than 110 dBm, the UE is in an
area of poor signal quality, leading fo a handover failure. In this case, the coverage needs o be adjusted.
HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO, LTD. Huan Conte M4 wuaweiIdentifying a Handover Failure - Weak Coverage
A weak coverage problem can be solved as follows:
>Adjustthe antenna azimuth andi. If the downlink coverageis weak, adjustthe antenna (for
example, reduce the tit) to provide coverage for far-end UEs
> Add tower-mounted antennas (TMAs) or eNodeBs. If the uplink coverageis weak, add TMAs
or cells (e¢NodeBs orremote RRUs)to enhance the uplink coverage.
HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES €O., LTD. Huane! Confidential 4 HuaweiIdentifying and Solving a Handover Failure
» Missed Definition of Neighboring Cells
> Delayed Handover
» Weak Coverage
HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO, LTD. Huan Conte M4 wuaweiIdentifying a Handover Failure — Interference
Handover failure caused by interference
The symptom is that in situations of good RSRP, the throughput is not as expected and
there are handoverfailures and service drops. The following figures show the uplink and
downlink interference.
Tne RB RSS|
traced by the
eNodes Is nigher
than other RB
RSS
‘The sub-band
Cat repontedny
the UE is less
than other suo-
band Cal,
eee ee eee fae!Identifying a Handover Failure — Interference
An interference problem can be solved as follows:
>Find out the cause of interference and remove the interference source
HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO.,LTD. Huawe! Conaenti Ws HuaweContents
> Handover Principles and Signaling Procedure
> Symptoms of a Handover Failure Caused by the Uu Interface
> Tools for Tracing and Analyzing Messages
> Identifying a Handover Failure
eee
> Standard Operation Procedure for Handover Failures
HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO.,LTD. Huawe! Conaenti 2 Huawe:Deliverables for Handover Failures
The frontline personnel should collect and send the
following information to Huawei headquarters:
> Description of the handoverproblem, including the onsite scenario, such as upgrade,
modification of network configurations, centralized number allocation, or an ongoing test.
>Network configurations, such as network scale, eNodeB count, inter-eNodeB distance,
eNodeB height, eNodeB layout, and frequency configuration
>eNodeB configuration files exported to a Axt file
> One-click log of the eNodeB (including eNodeB log, CHR, and operation log), and
traffic statistics.
> Data recorded by the Huawei UE Probe and OMT during a drive test and single-user
tracing data recorded by the eNodeB. For the first single-user drive test, only the
standard interface signaling recorded by the eNodeB. In the future drive tests, Huawei
headquarters may ask the testing engineers to record other data
HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO.,LTD. Huawe! Conaenti 2 Huawe:Contents
> Handover Principles and Signaling Procedure
> Symptoms of a Handover Failure Caused by the Uu Interface
> Tools for Tracing and Analyzing Messages
> Identifying a Handover Failure
> Deliverables for Handover Failures
HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO.,LTD. Huawe! Conaenti 2 Huawe:Standard Operation Procedure for Handover
Failures
1. Check the equipment status.
> — Ensure that the cells concerned with the handoverare in active state and are not
barred or deactivated.
>» — Checkfor critical alarms (such as disconnected X2 link or RRU alarm) of the cells
and eNodeBs concerned with the handover.
> Checkwhether the test UE works and supports inter-frequency and inter-RAT
reselection, handover, and ANR
HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO.,LTD. Huawe! Conaenti 2 Huawe:Standard Operation Procedure for Handover
Failures
2. Check the eNodeB parameter configurations (I).
> Runthe LST ENODEBALGOSWITCH command to ensure that the values of the
IntraFreqHoSwitch and InterFreqHoSwitch parameters are both 1. Thatis, the
inter-frequency and intra frequency handover switches are on by default.
> — Ensure the correctness of the neighboring cell configurations.
Ensure the correctness of the neighboring relationship, X2 interface configuration,
and transmission configuration.
> Ensure the correctness of the handoverthresholds and time-to-trigger.
For eRAN2.0 and 2.1, the default parameters are as follows.
IntraFreqHoA3Hyst=2, IntraFreqHoA3Ofiset=2, IntraFregHoA3TimeToTrig=320ms
HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO.,LTD. Huawe! Conaenti 2 Huawe:Standard Operation Procedure for Handover
Failures
3. Check the eNodeB parameter configurations (Il)
> Runthe LST EUTRANINTRAFREGNCELL command to ensure the correctness of
the cell offset configurations.
For eRAN2.0 and 2.1, the default value of the CellindividualOffset parameter is 0
and the following inequation must be satisfied:
IntraFreqHoA3Hyst + IntraFreqHoA3Offset>= CellindividualOffset.
Note thet in the MML interface, the unit of the IntraFreqHoA3Hyst and
IntraFreqHoA3Offsetparameters is 0.5 dB and that of the CellindividualOfiset
parameteris 1 dB.
>» Checkfor the PC! conflict alarm.
> Ifthere is any remote coverage cell, run the LST CELL commandto check the cell
radius configuration and the preamble format.
For eRAN2.0 and 2.1, the default value of the CellRa
parameters are 10000 and 0, respectively. For detai
1s and preamble format
e SGPP TS 36.211
HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO.,LTD. Huawe! Conaenti 2 Huawe:Standard Operation Procedure for Handover
Failures
4. Check for missed definition of neighboring cells
for the eNodeBs that have top handover failure
count.
> — Use the traffic measurementto calculate the top 5 and top 10 eNodeBs or cells
each day and check for missed definition of neighboring cells for these eNodeBs
> — Checkwhether the handover failure is caused by missed definition of neighboring
cells from the perspectives of geographical location and network planning
HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO.,LTD. Huawe! Conaenti 2 Huawe:Standard Operation Procedure for Handover
Failures
5. Standard operation procedure
Tec wale sae ora
Troubleshootthe
handover failure
according to the
sequence inthe left
figure. If the
problemis not
¥
rua okae
solved, send the eee
deliverables listed in eee
the next page to Spal ta cae
Huawei ey inet ne
headquarters for ose i
further analysis. If Kea as
necessary, Huawei Sees ech ge
headquarters can tL
setup a specialist Sarat
team to solve the ==
problem Re eae
HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO.,LTD. Huawe! Conaenti 2 Huawe:Standard Operation Procedure for Handover
Failures
6. Deliverables
> MMLconfiguration files of the faulty cells and eNodeBs
> CHRofthe faulty cells and eNodeBs.
> Resultof tracing the standard interfaces (for more than 8 hours) of the faulty cells.
andeNodeBs
> — Traffic statistics of the entire network
HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO.,LTD. Huawe! Conaenti 2 Huawe: