UMTS

UL Interference
E. Eter
Possible Causes for UL interference

Too high UL RSSI (>-100 dbm) can be caused by:

External sources of uplink interference

Inter-mod product
Incorrect plumbing
Parameter TMA ulGain setting does not match the real TMA gain
Faulty devices along the Rx path
Loose Connectors
Tight Cable Bends

High UL RSSI caused by external interference has significant impact on UL capacity and
coverage of a cell.

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 UL RTWP
(Ericsson)
UL RSSI pmAverageRSSI is measured in the RU power sensor. Antenna
The result is translated to dBm at the Rx reference point by the factor K_dBM.

K_dBm = (RUG FUG) + FAtt TMAG Rx Reference Point

Where, FAtt is the Attenuation antenna feeder cable and TMAG is the TMA Total Gain TMA
TMAG
RUG and FUG are internal to the NodeB

FAtt

NodeB

K_dBm
FUG FU

Feeder attenuation and TMA Gain are provided by site

configuration. So its important the loss FAtt and gain TMAG
are accurate. RU
RUG RU
Power Sensor

pmAverageRSSI
Next 3 slides show how to input the TMA gain and feeder attenuation
In the OSS element manager 3
TMA Gain

4
Feeder Attenuation and delays

5
Feeder Attenuation and delays

6
pmAverageRssi

7
 Ericsson Uplink RSSI Measurement
pmAverageRssi

UL RSSI counter can be checked through either RBS Performance Statistics

counter pmAverageRssi. It can be read by Business Object or Prospect.

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UL Interference Monitoring

A macro was developed to graph ( see figure below) and flag any cell that has a
RTWP at least 2dB greater or less than the mean RTWP for all cells in a given
RNC.
A daily summary for the worst performing sectors will be available on NetTrack
(Ericsson and Lucent ).
Ericsson Measured Interference

40000

35000
Number of Samples

30000

25000

20000 CNU3007A
15000

10000
5000

0
04 10 m
02 10 m

00 10 m

-9 .- 10 Bm

-9 ..-9 Bm
06 10 m

-9 ..-9 Bm
-9 ..-9 Bm

-9 ..-9 Bm
-8 ..-9 Bm
-8 ..-8 Bm
-8 ..-8 Bm

-8 ..-8 Bm
-8 ..-8 Bm
.-8 Bm

m
dB
-1 5..- 8 dB
-1 5..- 6 dB

-1 5..- 4 dB
-1 5..- dB

d
d

d
d

d
d
d
d
5. d
6. 8

4. 6
2. 4

0. 2
8. 0
6. 8
4. 6

2. 4
0. 2

0
.5 2
8. 0
0
08 11
-1 < -

5
5

5
5
5
5

5
.
.
.

.
.

Signal Level

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 How to identify the cause of high UL RSSI
In case one or two sectors of a site has high UL RSSI Antenna

Rx Reference Point

Swap antenna feeders between good and bad sectors on RBS cabinet top. TMA
A
Wait for the next ROP and check the UL RSSI.
NodeB
If the high interference stays with the antenna:
- then it may be external interference or TMA (A) FU
- otherwise check the FU/RU. (B)
B
Use spectrum analyzer to detect external interference sources RU
RU
Power Sensor
Too low UL RSSI (<-110 dbm) will cause PRACH preamble detection problem because UE uses
too low power to access the site. It may also cause UL synch loss drop call if the initial power of the pmAverageRSSI
Radio Link is too low during handover.

10
 LUCENT Uplink RSSI Measurement
RTWP
VS.RF.Rtwp.LE110 to VS.RF.Rtwp.GT90
Description

The measurement provides a distribution of the Received Total

Wideband Power(RTWP) within the granularity period.
The RTWP provides separate counters on a 1dB step size in the
typical range used for detailed evaluation. This range is -110 dBm to -
90 dBm.

Trigger condition
For every 100 ms sampling period the mean RTWP value for the
sampling period will be calculated and the appropriate counter
incremented. The ranges are defined as listed:

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 LUCENT

1. TMA equipped and controlled by the Node B

2. No TMA equipped

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 TMA equipped Node B

The reference point for RTWP is at the TMA input port (antenna side of the
TMA). For this configuration RTWP is computed by adding the Rx Path Gain
(consisting of the Node B's internal path gain plus the external path gain) to the RSSI
measured at the radio's receiver. The external path gain (between the reference
point and the Node B's External Antenna Connector (EAC)) is the combination of the Rx
Gain data contained in the associated TTLNA Descriptor plus that contained in the
Antenna Path Descriptor.
RTWP reference point

Cable
TTLNA Feeder Cable Filter panel Filter panel to
attenuator Radio

824 MHz

Total

Gain (dB) 12.00 -3.00 -0.15 30.50 -8.00 -0.70 30.65

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 No TMA equipped NodeB

The reference point for RTWP is the Node B's External Antenna Connector
(EAC). In this case RTWP is computed by adding the RSSI measured at the radio
to the Node B's internal path gain. The Antenna Path Descriptor's Rx Gain
parameters are set to zero.

RTWP reference point

_ LNA Variable 1:3 Splitter Cable to radio

Attenuator

Total
NodeB Filter

Gain (dB) 38.00 -3.00 -7.00 -1.60 26.40

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Other Cases

There are variants of the "TMA equipped but NOT controlled by the
Node B" scenario described in Configuration 2, above. For example,
there are certain RxAIT configurations in Cingular's network where
RxAIT is equipped without the presence of TMA. In some cases the
RxAIT components appear to the Node B as the equivalent of a TMA in
the external path. Similarly, there are configurations where the Nokia
GSM base station hosts the Rx path. For this case the path through
the host GSM base station and antenna system appears as a TMA
equivalent.

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