GSM Handover Algorithm

GSM Handover Algorithm N-1
GSM Handover
Algorithm
www.huawei.com
Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.
Confidential Information of Huawei. No Spreading Without Permission

Foreword
z Handover is a key technology of mobile communication system and
make continued conversation possible.
z Handover algorithm in Huawei product is flexible and powerful.
Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved. Page2

Objectives
z Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:
Outline the types of handover
Master handover judgment flow
Understand algorithm of different handovers
Explain HO data configuration

Contents
1. Introduction of Handover
2. HO Algorithm Process

Contents

Purposes of HO
z To keep a continuous communication with a moving MS
z To improve network service performance
To reduce the call drop rate
To reduce the congestion rate
Handover can maintain the communication continuity of MS which moves across different
cells and lower the call drop rate and provide better communication service.

Classification by Reason
No DL MR Emergency HO
Timing Advance (TA) HO
1 Emergency HO Interference HO
Rx_Level_Drop HO
Bad Quality (BQ) HO
2 Enhanced Dual Band HO
Classification
by
Load HO
Reason 3 EDGE HO
PBGT HO
4 Normal HO Layer HO
MS Fast Moving HO
Concentric Cell HO
AMR HO

Classification by Synchronization
MSC NSS Network MSC
BSC BSC BSC
BTS
BTS
CELL BTS BTS BTS
Case 2 Case 3 Case 4

Case 1 Case 5
Synchronous Handover: the target BTS shall not send PHY INFO message
Asynchronous Handover: the target BTS shall send PHY INFO message
Synchronous handover: source and target cell belong the same BTS
Asynchronous handover: source and target cell belong the different

BTS

Classification by Equipment and

Channel
Intra Cell HO
Inter Cell HO TCH TCH
Intra BSC HO
SDCCH SDCCH
Intra MSC HO
SDCCH TCH
(Direct Retry)
Inter MSC HO

Contents

Contents
2.1 General HO Process
2.2 Measure and Measurement Result Report
2.3 Measurement Report Preprocessing
2.4 Handover Judgment
2.5 Handover Implementation

General HO Process
MS Goes into Dedicated Mode
1 Measure and Measurement Result Report
2 Measurement Report Preprocessing
3 Handover Judgment
4 Handover Implementation
MS Goes into New Dedicated Mode

General HO Process
3 Handover Judgment

Measurement Report
z Uplink MR includes uplink receiving level and quality.
z Downlink MR includes downlink receiving level, downlink receiving

quality of the serving cell and other downlink receiving levels from
the neighbor cells.
The downlink measurement report

of the neighbor cell (BCCH)
The downlink MR
The uplink MR
Serving cell
Neighbor cell
In dedicated mode, the system performs handover and power control judgment based on
measurement reports. The downlink MR are reported to the network via uplink SACCH
channel.
Downlink--In dedicated mode, MS reports MR via uplink SACCH channel periodically.

The report includes the receiving level, received quality, TA, power class and whether
DTX is used. At the same time, MS will perform pre-synchronization to neighbor cell
defined by the system to obtain BCCH frequencies and BSIC, measure their received
signal level and report the six max. neighbor cells with the highest received signal level.
Uplink--The uplink measurement report is measured by BTS, including the receiving level
and receiving quality from the MS.
Both parts are sent by BTS to BSC for further processing at the same time.

Measurement Report
There are two values in the measurement report: FULL MR and SUB MR.
FULL--Averaging 100 TCH bursts (except the four idle frames in the four 26-
multiframes)
SUB--Averaging 12 bursts (four SACCH bursts and eight TCH bursts in specific
position).
SUB should be selected when the Discontinuous Transmission (DTX) function is activated.
RXQUAL level in MR Huawei value BER behind
0 0 Less than 0.2%

1 10 0.2% ~ 0.4%
2 20 0.4% ~ 0.8%
3 30 0.8% ~ 1.6%
4 40 1.6% ~ 3.2%
5 50 3.2% ~ 6.4%
6 60 6.4% ~ 12.8%
7 70 Greater than 12.8%

Period of Measurement Report

z The downlink MR is sent to BTS in SACCH uplink
z The interval is 480ms/per time when MS is on TCH
z The interval is 470ms/per time when MS is on SDCCH
480ms 4 TCH Multi-

frames
12TCH 1SACCH 12TCH 1 Idle
SACCH is a bidirectional channel.

It sends the downlink measurement report to BTS in uplink SACCH.
It sends SYS.INFO. 5 and SYS. INFO. 6 to MS in downlink SACCH.
1. The SACCH measurement report period varies with the channel

occupied by MS in dedicated mode.
2. When associated with SDCCH, SACCH measurement period is

470ms, this is because there is an entire SACCH message block in 2
SDCCH 51-multiframes.
3. When associated with TCH, SACCH measurement period is 480ms,

this is because there is an entire SACCH message block in 4 TCH 26-
multiframes
A complete measurement report is formed by four consecutive SACCH bursts. In SDCCH
channel the four bursts are transmitted continuously. In TCH channel there is only
one SACCH burst in each 26-multiframe, therefore only four 26-multiframe can
constitute a complete measurement report.

General HO Process
3 Handover Judgment

MR Preprocessing
z Interpolation z Filtering
Recover the lost Smooth the instantaneous
measurement report fading point
MR Preprocessing
MR preprocessing consists of two steps: interpolation and filtering.

MR Interpolation
ow
sM R Fl
tin uou
C on MR
MR
MR
No. n+4
MR
MR

No. n Missing by
some reasons
MR Interpolation recover the lost measurement report
BTS may fail to receive the MR from MS, and it needs to recover the lost measurement reports. If
the lost MR amount is within the allowed range (Allowed MR Number Lost), then recovers the lost
MR according to the specific algorithm.
zService cell: linear algorithm
zNeighboring cell: the lowest value defined in GSM specification (-110dBm)
The continuity of measurement report is judged by measurement report number. Each

measurement report has a serial number. If the serial numbers of received measurement
reports are not consecutive, there must be missing measurement reports, and the system
will make them up according to the interpolation algorithm.
As shown in the diagram, the network receives measurement reports n and n+4, whose
serial numbers are not consecutive, so the system will make up for the missing
measurement reports n+1, n+2 and n+3 with a certain algorithm.

MR Filtering
Flow

R MR
o us M MR
tinu MR
C on
MR
MR
MR

Filter----Average several
consecutive MRs
Filtering smooth the instantaneous fading point

zCalculate the average value within the filter window
When the network receives the measurement report, it can not judge the current condition
of MS according to just one measurement report due to the signal fluctuation. Therefore,
filtering, a more suitable method is applied.
Different filters are applied in receiving level, receiving quality and TA of uplink and
downlink.

Data Configuration of MR
Preprocessing
[MR Preprocessing]
Value Range: Yes, No
Default Value: No
Description: This parameter indicates whether the BTS pre-processes the MR.
z This parameter determines the location where power control is performed. If this
parameter is set to Yes, power control is performed by the BTS. Otherwise, the power
control is performed by the BSC.
z When this parameter is set to No, the MR is processed by the BSC, in which case, both
Transfer original MR, Transfer BS/MS power class and Sent Freq of preprocessed MR
are invalid.
z When this parameter is set to Yes, the load over Abis interface and that over the BSC
are reduced, thus shortening the response time and improving the network performance.
[Transfer Original MR]

Default Value: No
Description: This parameter indicates whether the original MR is transferred to the BSC
after the BTS pre-processes the MR.
z When the parameter is set to Yes, the BTS transfers to the BSC both the processed MR
and the original MR.
Remarks:In case of 4:1 configuration, this parameter must be set to No if SDCCH/8 is

greater than 2.

Preprocessing
[Transfer BS/MS Power Class]
Default Value: Yes
Description: This parameter indicates whether the original BS/MS power class is
transferred to the BSC.
Remarks:When MR pre-processing is enabled, uplink and downlink balance

measurement is affected if this parameter is set to No. In addition, power compensation
handovers, such as PBGT handovers, load handovers, and Concentric Cell handovers,
may become abnormal.
[Sent Freq of Preprocessed MR]
Value Range: Do not Report, Twice every second, Once every second, Once every two
seconds, Once every four seconds
Default Value: Twice every second
Description: This parameter indicates the frequency that the BTS transfers the
preprocessed MR to the BSC. After the MR is preprocessed by BTS, the BTS transfers the
preprocessed MR to the BSC. For example, if this parameter is set to Twice every second,
the BTS transfers the preprocessed MR to the BSC twice per 0.5 second.

Preprocessing
[Allowed MR Number Lost]

Value Range: 0~31
Default Value: 4
Description: This parameter indicates the number of MRs allowed to be lost in succession. When
this threshold is not reached, the lost MR is estimated via the linear interpolation basing on the first
and the last MRs received. When this threshold is reached, all previous MRs are discarded, and
calculations are made again when new MRs are received.
Remarks: MRs fail to be decoded correctly when the signal strength in the serving cell is poor.
When this threshold is reached, all previous MRs are discarded and handover may fail. Thus, it is
advised to assign this parameter with a greater value to enable emergency handover.
[Filter Length for TCH Level]
Value Range: 1~31
Default Value: 4
Description: This parameter indicates the number of MRs used for averaging the TCH signal
strength.
z This parameter helps to avoid sharp drop of signal levels caused by Raileigh Fading and to ensure
correct handover decisions.
Remarks: When this parameter is too large, the impact of sudden changes is reduced, and the
response is delayed, thus affecting the network performance.
[Filter Length for TCH Qual]
Value Range: 1~31
Default Value: 4
Description: This parameter indicates the number of MRs used for averaging the TCH signal
quality.

Preprocessing
[Filter Length for SDCCH Level]

Value Range: 1~31
Default Value: 2
Description: This parameter indicates the number of MRs used for averaging the SDCCH signal strength.
z It is recommended that you assign this parameter with a lower value because the SDCCH
occupation time is shorter than the TCH occupation time.
[Filter Length for SDCCH Qual]
Value Range: 1~31
Default Value: 2
Description: This parameter indicates the number of MRs used for averaging the SDCCH signal quality.
z It is recommended that you assign this parameter with a lower value because the SDCCH
occupation time is shorter than the TCH occupation time.
[Filter Length for Ncell RX_LEV]
Value Range: 1~31
Default Value: 4
Description: This parameter indicates the number of MRs used for averaging the signal strength in neighboring
cells. This parameter helps to avoid sharp drop of signal levels and to ensure correct handover decisions.
Remarks: When this parameter is too large, the impact of sudden changes is reduced, and the response is delayed,
thus affecting the network performance.
[Filter Length for TA]
Value Range: 1~31
Default Value: 4
Description: This parameter indicates the number of MRs used for TA averaging.

General HO Process
MS Goes into Penalty Processing
Dedicated Mode
Ranking Processing Enhanced Dual Band HO
1 Measure and Measurement

Result Report OM Forced HO Load HO
Normal HO
Direct Retry
2 MR. Preprocessing Edge HO
Emergency HO
No DL MR HO MS Fast Moving HO
3 Handover Judgment
TA HO Layer HO
Interference HO PBGT HO
Rx_Level_Drop HO Concentric Cell HO

MS Goes into New
Dedicated Mode Bad Quality HO AMR HO

Penalty Processing
Punish on the
target cell
Emergency
HO Fails (TA&BQ)HO
Punish on the
AMR HO original cell
Fails
Penalty MS Fast
Moving
HO
Concentric Punish on other high

Intra-cell Cell HO priority layer cells
HO
There are several kinds of penalty process

z Penalty on target cell when a HO fails.
z Penalty on source cell when an emergency HO (BQ and TA ) is performed.
z Penalty on other high priority layer cells after fast moving HO is performed.
z Penalty for concentric cell HO
z Penalty for intra-cell HO
z Penalty for AMR HO

Penalty for Handover Failure

z Punish the target cell when a HO fails.
z This is to avoid the MS to select this cell again in next HO judgment.
Cell A
BTS
HO Fail
BTS
BSC
Cell B
When MS fails to handover to a target cell, a penalty will be given on the signal level of
this target cell during a so called handover failure penalty time period. That is, when
ranking the neighbor cells in the cell list, the corresponding neighbor cell with a failure
record within the penalty time will be penalized by cutting certain value on the reported
signal level.

Data Configuration of Penalty for

Handover Failure
[Penalty Level after HO Fail]
Value Range: 0~63
Unit: dB
Default Value: 30
Description: This parameter indicates the penalty level given to a target

cell. A penalty level is given to a target cell to avoid further attempts when
a handover fails due to any of the following reasons:
z Cell congestion
z A message indicating internal handover refusal is received.
z A message indicating Um interface handover failure is received during out-

going BSC handover.
z A message indicating Um interface handover failure is received during internal

handover.
Remarks: This parameter is valid only before the penalty time of handover
failure expires.


Handover Failure
[RscPenaltyTimer]
Value Range: 0~255
Unit: Seconds
Default Value: 5
Description: This parameter indicates the length of the penalty timer for handover failure
between adjacent cells due to cell congestion.
[UmPenaltyTimer]
Value Range: 0~255
Unit: Seconds
Default Value: 10
between adjacent cells due to failed air interface connection.
[CfgPenaltyTimer]
Value Range: 0~255
Unit: Seconds
Default Value: 255
between adjacent cells due to incorrect data configuration.

Penalty for Emergency Handover

z Punish the original cell when an emergency HO ( due to BQ and TA)
occurs.
Cell A
BTS
BQ&TA HO
BSC
Cell B
In case of BQ emergency handover, the original serving cell will be penalized (called
signal level penalty by BQ HO ), during BQ HO penalty time, to avoid MS to be handed
back to the original serving cell again within certain time.
It is the same for TA handover, i.e. the original serving cell is penalized (signal level
penalty by TA HO ) during TA HO penalty time.


Emergency Handover
[Penalty Level after BQ HO]

Value Range: 0~63
Unit: dB
Default Value: 63
Description: This parameter indicates the penalty level given to the original serving cell where emergency
handover is performed due to bad quality. After emergency handover is performed due to bad quality, the receive
level of the original serving cell is decreased by the penalty level. Thus, other cells are given higher priority and
handover to the original serving cell is not allowed.
Remarks: This parameter is valid only before the penalty time of handover due to bad quality expires.
[Penalty Time after BQ HO (s)]
Value Range: 0~255
Unit: Seconds
Default Value: 15
Description: This parameter indicates the penalty time given to the original serving cell where emergency
handover is performed due to bad quality. During the penalty time, the receive level of the original serving cell is
decreased by the penalty level. Thus, other cells are given higher priority and handover to the original serving cell
is not allowed.


Emergency Handover
[Penalty Level after TA HO]
Value Range: 0~63
Unit: dB
Default Value: 63
Description: This parameter indicates the penalty level given to the original serving cell
where emergency handover is performed due to TA. After emergency handover is
performed due to TA, the receive level of the original serving cell is decreased by the
penalty level. Thus, other cells are given higher priority and handover to the original
serving cell is not allowed. This parameter is valid only before the penalty time of
handover due to TA expires.
[Penalty Time after TA HO(s)]
Value Range: 0~255
Unit: Seconds
Default Value:30
Description: This parameter indicates the penalty time given to the original serving cell
where emergency handover is performed due to TA. During the penalty time, the receive
level of the original serving cell is decreased by the penalty level. Thus, other cells are
given higher priority and handover to the original serving cell is not allowed.

Penalty for MS Fast-moving Handover

z Giving penalty on the other three layers(Non-umbrella Layer ) after MS
handovers to Umbrella cell by fast-moving-HO.
z This is to keep MS staying in the umbrella cell and avoid frequent HO.
Back? No way!
Umbrella
Micro cell
Purpose of such penalty: When MS crosses continuously several micro cells, it handover
to the umbrella cell with lower hierarchical priority level, to avoid too frequent handovers
which will affect the communication quality between those cells. At the same time, penalty
is started to avoid handover back to original cell again. A possible example is that a fast
moving car is running on a highway.

Data Configuration of Penalty for MS

Fast-moving Handover
[Penalty on MS Fast Moving HO]
Value Range: 0~63
Unit: dB
Default Value:30
Description: This parameter indicates the penalty given to the level in a neighboring cell
when an MS is moving fast. Only the cells in the umbrella layer can give penalty to the
cells in other three layers.
Remarks: This parameter is valid only before the penalty time of fast moving expires.
[Penalty Time on Fast Moving HO]
Value Range: 0~255
Unit: Seconds
Default Value: 40
Description: This parameter indicates the period during which penalty is performed on
the neighboring cells of the fast moving MS. During this period, penalty on the
neighboring cells (on only the other three layers except the umbrella layer) of fast moving
MS is valid.

Penalty for Concentric Cell

z A new concentric cell HO is prohibited within a penalty time after a
concentric cell HO failure.
Do not
attempt again
after N failed
HO(U->O)!
Overlaid Do not attempt

again during
penalty time
Underlaid after one failed
HO(O->U)!
Huawei concentric cell HO failure means the failure of handover from the Underlaid to the
Overlaid, or from the Overlaid to the Underlaid.


Concentric Cell
[Penalty Time after UtoO HO Fails(s)]
Value Range: 10~255 Unit: Seconds Default Value: 40
Description: After a UL to OL handover fails, no UL to OL handover

request is allowed before the penalty time expires.
[Penalty Time after OtoU HO Fails(s)]
Description: After an OL to UL handover fails, no OL to UL handover

request is allowed before the penalty time expires.
[MaxRetry Time after UtoO Fail]
Value Range: 0~8 Default Value: 3
Description: This parameter indicates the threshold of UL to OL handover

failures. UL to OL handover is not allowed if the number of handover
failures reaches this threshold.
Remarks: When this parameter is set to 0, not this threshold but the
penalty time restricts the permission of handover.

Penalty for Enhanced Concentric Cell

z A new UO HO is prohibited within a penalty time after a
OU HO is performed successfully.
Overlaid
Do not
attempt back
Underlaid too fast!
This penalty is valid only for Enhanced Concentric Cell.


Enhanced Concentric Cell
[Penalty Time of UtoO HO(s)]
Value Range: 0~255
Unit: Seconds
Default Value: 10
Description: This parameter indicates the penalty time for forbidding

ping-pong handovers. After an OL to UL handover is performed, UL to OL
handover is not allowed before the penalty time expires. If this parameter
is set to 0, a UL to OL handover is allowed when required.
Remarks: This parameter is valid only when Enhanced Concentric Cell is

allowed.

Penalty for Intra-cell HO

z A new intra-cell HO is prohibited if it occurs too frequently.
Intra-cell
HO Time
4th.
3rd.
2nd.
1st.
Penalty time
0 3 7 12 32 T (s)
Max. consecutive HO times: 3

Forbidden time after Max. times: 20s
Interval for consecutive HO Jud: 6s
Because of the co-channel interference and other interference, the voice

quality of a MS on certain frequency may lower than the handover
threshold, now, the voice quality can be satisfied if the MS hands over to
another frequency in the same cell. On the other side, the signaling flow of
this kind of intra-cell handover is less and handover successful ratio is
higher.
But under some specific condition (for example: several frequency are all
interfered in a cell), then continual intra-cell handover may occurred. So it
is necessary to control the frequency of intra-cell handover.


Intra-cell HO
[Max Consecutive HO Times]

Value Range:1~20
Default Value: 3
Description: This parameter indicates the maximum number of consecutive intra-cell
handovers allowed. If the interval of two continuous intra-cell handovers is less than a
specified threshold, the two handovers are regarded as consecutive handovers.Intra-cell
handover is forbidden if the number of consecutive handovers exceeds this threshold.
[Forbidden Time after Max Times]
Value Range: 1~200
Unit: Seconds
Default Value: 20
Description: This parameter indicates the timer that starts when the threshold of
maximum consecutive intra-cell handovers is reached. Intra-cell handovers is allowed
only when the timer expires.
[Interval for Consecutive HO Jud.]
Value Range: 1~200
Unit: Seconds
Default Value: 6
Description: This parameter indicates the period for judging whether two continuous
intra-cell handovers are consecutive.

Data Configuration of Penalty for AMR

FRHR Handover Failure
[Penalty Time after AMR TCHF-H HO Fails(s)]
Value Range: 0~255
Unit: Seconds
Default Value: 30
Description: This parameter indicates the penalty time for AMR full rate
to half rate (FR-to-HR) handovers. Before the timer expires, no AMR FR-
to-HR handover request is allowed if the previous full-half handover fails
due to channel unavailability or channel mismatch.

General HO Process
Dedicated Mode

Normal HO
Direct Retry
Emergency HO
3 Handover Judgment
TA HO Layer HO

MS Goes into New

Ranking Processing
Basic ranking Network feature adjustment
M rule 16 bits ranking
K rule
The ranking result: target cell selection of handover
Ranking processing of cells are major parts of the HO judgment.
The ranking result is used for target cell selection of handover.
The ranking processing includes:

zBasic ranking
M rule
K rule (Integrated with 16bits ranking, will be discussed together with 16bits ranking)
zNetwork feature adjustment

16 bits ranking

M Rule
Begin
Finish to all Yes

neighbor cells? End
No
No An BSC external neighboring Yes No[Inter-BSC SDCCH HO Allowed]No Delete the cell from
Direct retry?
cell& the current channel is (S) is Yes? the cell list?
SDCCH ?
Yes Yes
Yes
the cell overload ?
No
RX_LEV_DL(n) < [Min DL Power

Delete this cell from
on HO Candidate Cell](n)+
[Min Access Level Offset](s->n)? Yes the cell list
No
RX_LEV_UL(n) < [Min UP Power on

HO Candidate Cell](n)+
[Min Access Level Offset](s->n)? Yes M rule will remove the neighbor
cells from the candidate cell list
No For service cell:
Min Access Level Offset=0
according to the flow.
M rule will remove the cells from the candidate cell list according to the
following conditions:
zUnder the condition of non-direct retry, if Inter-BSC SDCCH HO Allowed is No, and
this is an external neighboring cell, and the current channel is SDCCH
zIf the cell is overload
zRX_LEV_DL < Min DL Power on HO Candidate Cell + Min Access Level Offset
zRX_LEV_UL < Min UL Power on HO Candidate Cell + Min Access Level Offset
For service cell: Min Access Level Offset is 0.

Data Configuration of M Rule
[Inter-BSC SDCCH HO Allowed]
Default Value: No
Description: This parameter indicates whether an inter-BSC SDCCH

handover is allowed. An inter-BSC SDCCH handover is triggered when an
MS succeeds in requesting SDCCH but fails to request TCH in a BSC.

Data Configuration of M Rule
[Min UP Power on HO Candidate Cell]
Value Range: 0~63 (-110 dBm to -47 dBm) Default Value: 10
Description: The M criterion supports the minimum value constraint of uplink received level of
the neighbor cell. Expected uplink level of the neighbor cell >= (the minimum uplink power of the
candidate cell for handover + the minimum access level offset)The M criterion is satisfied only
when the expected downlink level of the neighbor cell >= (the minimum downlink power of the
candidate cell for handover + the minimum access level offset).0-63 with 0 indicating -110 dBm
and 63 indicating -47 dBm.
[Min DL Level on Candidate Cell]
Description: This parameter indicates the lower threshold of downlink receive level when a cell
becomes a candidate cell.
Remarks: This parameter must be appropriately specified. If it is too high, some desired cells may
be excluded from the candidate cells. If it is too low, an unwanted cell may become the target cell,
thus leading to handover failures or call drops. A cell can become a candidate cell only when the
receive level minus this parameter is greater than the minimum access level offset.
[Min Access Level Offset]
Value Range: 0~63 Unit: dB Default Value: 0
Description: This offset is based on the Min DL level on Candidate Cell. For different adjacent
cells, different offsets can be defined. Only when the receiving level of an adjacent cell > Min DL
Level on Candidate Cell + Min Access Level Offset, then this cell become a candidate cell.

Network Feature Adjustment

z After network feature adjustment, all the candidate cells have their own
16 bits value.
z The smaller the value is, the higher the handover priority and position of
the cell are in the candidate cell list, then it is possible to be the
candidate cell.
west
The Lo
1 ig ht
3 2 We
6 5 4
8 7
hest 10 9
The Hig 12 11
Weight 6 15 14 13
1


z The 1st~3rd bits
The bit value indicates the priority of downlink receiving level according to
the cell signal level and the penalty process taking place beforehand.
The values come from max. 6 candidate cells and 1 serving cell
according to the level ranges from 000~110. The value for the cell with
the strongest signal level is 000, for the cell with second strongest signal
level is 001 and so on.
Actually that is the core of K rule.
16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1


z The 4th bit: [Inter-cell HO hysteresis] bit.
Yes No
serving cell?
RX_LEV_DL (n) >=

Yes
RX_LEV_DL (s) + Set to 0
Always set to 0 [Inter-cell HO hysteresis] (s->n) ?
No
Set to1
16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Service cell: always 0
Neighboring cell: when RX_LEV_DL (n) >= RX_LEV_DL (s) +

Inter-cell HO hysteresis, bit 4th is set to 0. Otherwise, set to 1

Data Configuration of Inter-cell HO Hysteresis
[Inter-cell HO Hysteresis]
Value Range: 0~63
Unit: dB
Default Value: 5
Description: This parameter indicates the handover hysteresis between

adjacent cells of the same layer. The purpose of setting this parameter is to
reduce the "Ping-Pong" handovers. The value of this parameter is invalid if
cells are not on the same layer. 4 dB for populous urban areas and 8 dB for
suburbs.


z The 5th~10th bits
The bit value is decided according to their position in Huawei hierarchical
network structure.
Huawei cell layers can be divided into 4 layers and each layer can be
further divided into 16 different priorities.
So there are 64 different priorities in Huawei hierarchical cell structure.
16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Hierarchical Cell Structure
Umbrella Cell GSM 900 Layer 4

low
GSM 900 GSM 900

Layer 3
GSM900 Cell
GSM1800 GSM1800 GSM1800

Layer 2
GSM1800 Cell
GSM900 GSM900 GSM900 GSM900

Layer 1
Micro Cell GSM1800 GSM1800 GSM1800 GSM1800 high
The handover algorithm of Huawei divides the whole network into

four layers, each of which further divided into 16 levels. The lower
the layer is, the higher the handover priority level will be. The Micro
Cell layer has the highest priority level.

Data Configuration of Cell Hierarchical

Network Structure
[Cell Layer]
Value Range:1~4 (mapping to the PICO layer, the MICRO layer, the MACRO layer, and the
UMBRELLA layer)
Unit: Layer
Default Value: 3
Description: The framework of Huawei network is divided into four layers: Umbrella layer, Macro
layer, Micro layer, and Pico layer. Each layer is designed with 16 priorities. The Umbrella layer
refers to the GSM900 layer with a large coverage area. It implements the high-layer coverage and
the connection of MSs moving at a high speed. The Macro layer carries most traffic on the GSM900
band. The Micro layer carries most traffic on the DCS1800 band. It solves the problem of
insufficient resources. The Micro layer is a main cell layer for dual-band MSs in the future. The Pico
layer is a microcell layer on the GSM900 and DCS1800 bands. It meets the requirements for the
provisioning of traffic at hot spots and dead zones.
Remarks: You can set multiple priorities (a maximum of 16 priorities) for each layer. From the
aspect of traffic priority, if the layer and level of a cell is low, the priority is high.
[Cell Priority]
Value Range:1~16
Unit: Level
Default Value:1
Description: This parameter controls handover between cells at the same layer. Generally, the cells
at the same layer have the same priority. If the cells at the same layer have different priorities, the
cell with a smaller value has a higher priority.


z The 11th bit: The bit value is decided by cell-load-sharing criterion.
This bit is affected by 14th bit.
System load>=[System Flux Threshold for Load HO](s) or Yes 11th bit is
[Load HO Allowed](s) =No ? turned off
No
Yes No
serving cell?
No Cell load >= [Load cell load >=[ Load Req. No

HO Threshold](s)? on Candidate Cell](n)?
Yes Yes
set to 0 set to 1 set to 1 set to 0
16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
The 11th bit: bit value is decided by cell-load-sharing criterion. And this bit
will be turned off when the system load is higher than System Flux
Threshold for Load HO or Load HO Allowed is set to NO
Service cell: if cell load >= Load HO Threshold, bit 11th is set to 1.
Otherwise, set to 0
Neighboring cell: if cell load >= Load Rep. on Candidate Cell, bit 11th is
set to 1. Otherwise, set to 0

Data Configuration of Cell-load-sharing
[Load HO Allowed]
Default Value: No
Description: This parameter indicates whether a traffic load-sharing handover is allowed. Load-sharing
helps to reduce cell congestion, improve the success rate of assignment, and balance the traffic load among
cells. Load-sharing functions only within the same BSC or in cells of the same layer. It applies to only TCH.
If load handover is frequently required, TRX configuration and network planning should be properly
adjusted.
Remarks: In areas with tight frequency reuse, extra interference may occur if Load HO Allowed is set to
Yes.
[System Flux Threshold for Load HO]
Value Range: 0~11
Default Value: 10
Description: System Flux Threshold for Load HO is obtained based on message load, CPU load, and so on.
The system flow level is the current flow control level of the system.
z 0~11:It is the system flux control level when the alarm module send out alarms information.
Level 11 is the highest and level 0 is the lowest.
z A load handover is allowed only when the system flow is lower than this threshold. Otherwise,
unexpected situations may occur. Therefore, this parameter must be set properly.
z Flow control threshold for the CPU to start to discard the channel access messages and paging
messages: 80%
z Flow control threshold for the CPU to discard all the channel access messages and paging
messages: 100%
z CPU usage smaller than 80% corresponds to level 0. CPU usage equal to or greater than CPU
flow control threshold 80% corresponds to level 2.
z An increase of 5% means an increase of 2 levels.
z Level 10 is the highest. The level value can be 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10.

Data Configuration of Cell-load-sharing
[Load HO Threshold]
z Value Range: 0~100(%)
z Default Value: 85
z Description: When the load handover is switched on, it is recommended that the Load
HO Threshold is set to 85.The cell load refers to TCH usage. When the cell load
exceeds the value of Load HO Threshold, the BSC starts the load handover. That is, the
BSC starts the load handover after the TCH in the cell are proportionally occupied.
z Remarks: Even if the Load HO Allowed is set to Yes, the Load HO Threshold and Load
Req. on Candidate Cell affect the queuing of the candidate cell handover. Therefore,
when the cell is overloaded, the handovers such as PBGT cannot be performed if this
parameter is not properly set.
[Load Req. on Candidate Cell]
z Value Range: 0~100(%)
z Default Value: 75
z Description: If the cell load is lower than the value of this parameter, the cell accepts
users that are handed over to the cell due to their cell load. If the cell load is not lower
than the value of this parameter, the cell refuses the users.
z Remarks: The same as that of Load HO Threshold


z 12th bit and 13th bit: Whether share the same BSC or MSC.
Yes No
serving cell?
Both 12th and 13th set to 0 Yes Is [Co-BSC/MSC Adj] No Turn off
(s)yes? 12th &13th bit
Yes No
Co-BSC?
Yes No
Co-MSC?
12th set to 0 12th set to 1 12th set to 1

13th set to 0 13th set to 0 13th set to 1
16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
12th bit: if neighbor cell is co-BSC with the serving cell, 12th bit is set to 0.
Otherwise, set to 1
13th bit: if neighbor cell is co-MSC with the serving cell, 13th bit is set to 0.
Otherwise, set to 1
z Service cell: is always set to 0
z These two bits will be turned off when Co-BSC/MSC Adj. is set to NO

Data Configuration of Co-BSC&MSC
[Co-BSC/MSC Adj]
Default Value: Yes
Description: This parameter indicates whether the sequence of candidate

cells is adjusted. After the sequence is adjusted, the handover within the
same BSC/MSC takes priority.


z The 14th bit: [Inter-layer HO Threshold/Hysteresis] adjustment bit.
Yes No
serving cell?
RX_LEV_DL >= [Inter-layer HO RX_LEV_DL >= [Inter-layer HO

Threshold](s) [Inter-layer HO Hysteresis](s)? Threshold](n) + [Inter-layer HO Hysteresis](s->n)?
Yes
Yes
No No
set to 0 set to 0
Bit 14th set to 1, and bit
5th ~13th are turned off
z The 15th/16th bits are reserved
16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
The 14th bit: Layer HO threshold adjustment bit
Serving cell: RX_LEV_DL >= Inter-layer HO Threshold Inter-layer HO

Hysteresis, bit 14th is set to 0
Neighboring cell: RX_LEV_DL >= Inter-layer HO Threshold + Inter-layer HO

Hysteresis, bit 14th is set to 0.
If the above criterion is not met, then bit 14th is set to 1.

At the same time, bit 5th- 13th bits are turned off.
The 15th/16th bits are reserved

Data Configuration of Layer HO

Threshold Adjustment
[Inter-layer HO Threshold]
Value Range: 0~63(-110 dBm to -47 dBm)
Default Value: 25
Description: In BSC handover algorithm, the M criterion is used to rank the handover
candidate cells. The M criterion includes 16 bits. This parameter is one bit of the 16 bits
and it affects the rank of a candidate cell. When the downlink level of a cell is lower than
this threshold, the cell takes low priority as far as comprehensive sequence is concerned.
Remarks: Make sure that the receive level of the destination cell is higher than this
threshold in inter-layer handover or load handover. Otherwise, the MS may be handed
from a cell with heavy load and high level (high priority cell) to a cell with light load and
low level (low priority cell), thus leading to call drops.
[Inter-layer HO Hysteresis]
Value Range: 0~63
Unit: dB
Default Value: 3
Description: This parameter indicates the hysteresis of an inter-layer or inter-priority

handover. It is used to avoid inter-layer ping-pong handovers. Actual Inter-layer HO
Threshold of a serving cell = Inter-layer HO Threshold C Inter-layer HO hysteresis Actual
Inter-layer HO Threshold of a neighboring cell = Inter-layer HO Threshold + Inter-layer
HO hysteresis

General HO Process
Dedicated Mode

Normal HO
Direct Retry
Emergency HO
3 Handover Judgment
TA HO Layer HO

MS Goes into New

No DL MR HO
z When the quality of Um interface become worse and worse, it is for
the worse uplink quality that MS can not deliver downlink MR, while
the downlink quality is not bad enough for MS to receive the
downlink message normally.
Bad
uplink
quality
Serving Cell Neighboring Cell
When the quality of Um interface become worse and worse, it is for the worse
uplink quality that MS can not deliver downlink MR, while the downlink quality
is not bad enough for MS to receive the downlink message normally. Under this
kind of urgency condition, in order to save this call, the network send handover
command to MS.

Position of No DL MR HO
Penalty Processing
MS Goes into
Dedicated Mode
Measure and Measurement
1 OM Forced HO
Result Report Load HO
Normal HO
Direct Retry
2 MR. Preprocessing
Edge HO
Emergency HO
TA HO Layer HO
3 Handover Judgment
MS Goes into New

Bad Quality HO AMR HO
Dedicated Mode
Attention: After MR. Preprocessing, the No DL MR handover is triggered if trigger condition is satisfied.

No DL MR HO
No UL_Qua. (after filtering)
>=[No Dl Mr.Ul Qual
Begin HO Limit](s)?
Yes
No [No Dl Mr. HO Yes Only one No
Allowed](s) Yes ?
cadidate cell?
Yes
No
No serving cell?
Report 1 DL MR at least? Select the candidate cell
Yes with the highest priority,
Yes No
[Intracell HO Allowed](s)? exluding serving cell
No <=[Cons.No Dl Mr.
Ho Allowed Limit](s)? Yes
Yes Yes Within Penalty Time

No No Dl Mr. in
No
current Mr.?
Trigger
Yes No DL Mr. HO
signal quality filter length:

End For TCH:[Filter Length for TCH Qual]
For SDCCH:[Filter Length for SDCCH Qual]
Triggering condition
z No DL information in current MR
z Stored UL Rx_Qual Value Number >= Filter Length for TCH/SDCCH Qual
z UL Rx_Qual >= No DL MR HO UL Rx_Qual Threshold
z Number of Lost DL MR < Cons. No DL MR HO Allowed Limit
Object cell selection

z Prefer neighboring cell
z If choose the service cell, it cannot in the penalty time for intra-cell handover.

Data Configuration of No DL MR HO
[No Dl Mr. HO Allowed]

Default Value: No
Description: This parameter is used to control the handover algorithm without downlink
measurement report. If this parameter is set to 0, the no handover algorithm without downlink
measurement report is disabled. Therefore, handover decision without downlink measurement report
is not allowed in this cell. If this parameter is set to 1, the no downlink measurement report handover
algorithm is enabled. Therefore, handover decision without downlink measurement report is allowed
in this cell.
[No Dl Mr. Ul Qual HO Limit]
Value Range: 0~70 (mapping to RQ (0~7)10)
Default Value: 60
Description: This parameter indicates the uplink receive quality threshold of triggering an
emergency handover when no measurement result on downlink channels is contained in the MR.
The emergency handover is allowed only when the filtered uplink receive quality crossed this
threshold. When an emergency handover is triggered, inter-cell handover takes priority. Intra-cell
handover, however, is triggered if no candidate cell is available and intra-cell handovers are allowed.
[Cons. No Dl Mr. HO Allowed Limit]
Value Range: 0~64
Default Value: 8
Description: This parameter indicates the upper threshold of consecutive MRs containing no
downlink measurement result for a call. Each call is configured with a global timer, which counts
the number of consecutive MRs containing no downlink measurement. When the timer exceeds this
threshold, the handover is disabled and the timer is reset.

TA(Time Advance) HO
Handover
Triggering
TA(s) TA(n)
Handover Triggering Zone
[TA Threshold](n)
[TA Threshold](s)
or
Time
Because a MS is far away from its serving BTS, the practice TA value is
more than TA threshold configured in data configuration, TA handover is
triggered.

TA(Time Advance) HO
Begin
No [TA HO Allowed] Select the cell with the

Yes ? highest priority in the
Yes cadidate cell list
No The actual TA >=

End Yes
[TA Threshold](s)? serving cell?
No
Yes
[TA Threshold]
Yes
No (n,in the same BTS)
Any neighbour cell <= [TA Threshold](s)
exist? No
Yes
No Suitable cell
exist?
Yes
Trigger
TA handover
z The actual TA >= TA Threshold

z The cell must be of the highest priority in the candidate cell sequence and meet
the following restrictions.
Restriction
z The service cell cannot be the object cell.
z HO is not allowed when TA Threshold of the neighboring cell with the same
BTS is equal or smaller than that of the service cell.

Data Configuration of TA HO
[TA HO Allowed]
Default Value: Yes
Description: The parameter indicates whether a Timing Advance (TA)

handover is allowed. A TA handover is triggered when the TA is higher
than the triggering threshold. TA is calculated based on the distance
between the MS and the BTS. The longer the distance is, the greater the
TA is.
[TA Threshold]
Value Range: 0~255
Unit: Bit period (A bit period corresponds to 0.55 km.)
Default Value: 255
Description: This parameter indicates the TA threshold of triggering

emergency handover. Emergency handover is triggered when TA is equal
to or greater than this threshold.

Interference Handover
RX_Lev
Handover Triggering
Zone
Lev_Thr
Qual_Thr Rx_Qual
Interference
Origin
For a MS or a BTS, when the receiving quality is lower than the

interference quality threshold and receiving level is higher than the
interference level threshold, it is considered that interference exists in
serving cell, so interference handover is triggered.

Interference HO
Begin
Select the cell with the

No [Interference HO highest priority in the
Allowed] Yes ? cadidate cell list
Yes
Yes No
serving cell?
No UL or DL receiving
End
Quality(s)>=A?
Rx_Level(n)>=
No No
Yes [Intracell HO Allowed](s) yes [Inter-layer HO Threshold](n) +
& cell not punished? [Inter-layer HO Hysteresis](s->n)?
No
Any neighbour cell
exist? Yes Yes
Yes
No Any suitable cell
None AMR FR: exist?
A = RXQUALn, 1<=n<=12 Yes
AMR FR: Trigger
A = RXQUAL1, n=1; interference handover
A = RXQUALn + RXLEVoff, 2<=n<=12
z UL/DL receiving quality>=A
z None AMR FR
A = RXQUALn, 1<=n<=12
z AMR FR
A = RXQUAL1, n=1; A = RXQUALn + RXLEVoff, 2<=n<=12
z The cells must be of the highest priority in the candidate cell sequence and meet the following restrictions.
Restriction
z The service cell that is not in the penalty time for intra-cell handover.
z The neighboring cell with the receiving level higher than the inter layer HO Thrsh + Hysteresis.
For none AMR FR, if one of the following conditions is met, the system will judge that interference occur:
1. Rx_lev <= 30, and Rx_qual > RXQUAL 1
2. Rx_lev = 31, and Rx_qual > RXQUAL 2
3. Rx_lev is within [32,35], and Rx_qual > RXQUAL3
4. Rx_lev is within [36,38], and Rx_qual >RXQUAL 4
12. Rx_lev >= 63, and Rx_qual > RXQUAL12

Data Configuration of Interference HO

Default Value
Receiving Level(-110dBm) Receiving Quality
Parameter
RXQUAL1 <=30 70
RXQUAL2 =31 60
RXQUAL3 32~35 59
RXQUAL4 36~38 58
RXQUAL5 39~41 57
RXQUAL6 42~45 56
RXQUAL7 46~48 55
RXQUAL8 49~52 54
RXQUAL9 53~55 53
RXQUAL10 56~58 52
RXQUAL11 59~62 51
RXQUAL12 >=63 50

Data Configuration of Interference HO
[Interference HO Allowed]
Default Value: Yes
Description: The parameter indicates whether an interference handover is allowed. An

interference handover is triggered when the receive level is higher than the receive
threshold, but the transmission quality is lower than the handover triggering threshold.
Remarks: Both downlink and uplink interference is judged, and inter-cell handover takes
priority. If no target cell is available, intra-cell interference handover can be implemented
in the serving cell if intra-cell handovers are allowed.
[RXQUAL1] ~ [RXQUAL12]
Value Range: 0~70
Description: Quality threshold 1~12 for the interference handover of nonCAMR FR

voice services. The value corresponds to (quality level 0~7) x 10.See the next slide
[RXLEVOff]
Value Range: 0~70
Default Value: 5
Description: The quality level offset of the interface handover of the AMR FR service
relative to non-AMR services or the AMR HR service (x 10).

Rx_Level_Drop HO
Rx_Level_Drop HO will be triggered when receiving level drops fast

because of barrier such as high building.

Rx_Level_Drop HO
Begin
No [Rx_Level_Drop HO Select the cell with the

Allowed] Yes ? highest priority in the
Satisfy the Formula&

No The latest RX_LEV_UL(s) < Yes No
End serving cell?
[Edge HO UL RX_LEV Threshold](s)?
No Is priority higher than

End
Yes serving cell?
No
Any neighbour cell Yes
exist? Trigger
Yes Rx_Level_Drop handover
( A1 10)X1 + ( A2 10)X2 + ( A3 10)X3 + ( A4 10)X4 +

Formula:
( A5 10)X5 + ( A6 10)X6 + ( A7 10)X7 + ( A8 10)X8 < B
zThe lastest RX_LEV_UL < Edge HO UL RX_LEV Threshold
z C1nt=(A1-10)X1(A2-10)X2+(A3-10)X3(A8-10)X8<B
zThe neighboring cell with the highest priority and whose priority is higher than that of the service cell in the
candidate cell group.
Restriction
zThe service cell cannot be the object cell.
Filter Parameter A1A8 and Filter Parameter B work together to decide whether the rapid drop
of the receive level must be reflected in one or multiple MRs.
The conditions to trigger a rapid level dropping handover are as follows;
C1nt=(A1-10)X1(A2-10)X2+(A3-10)X3(A8-10)X8
In the algorithm above, X1, X2, X3, X4, X5, X6, X7, and X8 indicate the uplink receive levels of
the last eight MRs in the queue.
Filter Parameter A1A8 must meet the following conditions:

A1+A2+A3+A4+A5+A6+A7+A8=80
For example, if you want to reflect the rapid drop of the cell level in a MR, you can set A3A8
equal to 10, A1 to 0, and A2 to 20.

Data Configuration of Rx_Level_Drop HO
[Rx_Level_Drop HO Allowed]
Value Range: Yes, No Default Value: No
Description: The parameter indicates whether the emergency handover algorithm is allowed. The emergency handover
algorithm is used to prevent call drops when the receive level of the MS drops rapidly. Generally this algorithm is not enabled
until the conditions are met. To enable this algorithm, original MR is required for the BSC.
[Filter Parameter A1~A8]
Description: Filter Parameter A1~A8 and Filter Parameter B work together to decide whether the rapid drop of the receive
level must be reflected in one or multiple MRs. The conditions to trigger a rapid level dropping handover are as follows; In the
algorithm above, X1, X2, X3, X4, X5, X6, X7, and X8 indicate the uplink receive levels of the last eight MRs in the queue.
Filter Parameter A1~A8 must meet the following conditions: A1+A2+A3+A4+A5+A6+A7+A8=80. For example, if you want
to reflect the rapid drop of the cell level in a MR, you can set A3-A8 to greater than 10, A1 to 0, and A2 to 20.
[Filter Parameter B]
Description: This is one of the parameters that determine whether a handover is required due to fast dropping levels.This
parameter indicates the drop trend of the receive level within a period. The greater the parameter B is, a more rapid level drop is
required for triggering a rapid level dropping handover.See Filter Parameter A1-A8.
[Edge HO UL RX_LEV Threshold]
Description: The parameter indicates the uplink receive level threshold of an edge handover. An edge handover will be
triggered if the uplink receive level is constantly lower than "Edge HO UL RX_LEV Thrsh." for a period longer than Edge HO
Valid Time(s) within Edge HO Watch Time(s). If PBGT handover is enabled, the corresponding edge handover threshold can
be lowered. If PBGT handover is disabled, this parameter must be properly specified to avoid overlapping coverage and
channel interference. This parameter should be adjusted based on the performance statistics and actual networks to achieve
uplink-downlink balance.
Remarks: Edge handover uplink/downlink receive level threshold < Uplink/downlink signal strength lower limit of HUAWEI
II power control

BQ(Bad Quality) HO
Begin
No Is [BQ HO Allowed]
Yes ? Select the cell with the
highest priority in the
UL_Rx_Q(s)>=[UL Qual.
No
End Threshold](s) or DL_Rx_Q(s) Yes No
>=[DL Qual. Threshold](s)? serving cell?
No
Yes No [Intracell HO Allowed](s) yes RX_LEV_DL (n) > RX_LEV_DL (s)

+ Inter-cell HO hysteresis(s->n)
No & cell not punished?
-BQ HO Margin(s->n) ?
Any neighbour cell
exist? Yes Yes
Yes
No Suitable cell
exist?
Yes
Trigger
BQ handover
When the receiving level of a MS or a BTS is lower than the quality

threshold, bad quality handover will be triggered.
z UL receiving quality >= UL Qual. Threshold
z OR DL receiving quality >= DL Qual. Threshold
z For AMR call, the quality threshold is DL/UL Qual. Limit AMR FR/HR

z The cells must be of the highest priority in the candidate cell sequence and
meet the following restrictions.
Restriction
z Prefer neighboring cell. If the number of neighboring cell is more than one, it
is required that RX_LEV_DL (n) > RX_LEV_DL (s) + Inter-cell HO
hysteresis - BQ HO Zone
z If there is no neighboring cell, handover can occur to the service cell, and the
channel at different frequency band, different MA, different TRX or different
channel (from left to right) is preference.

Data Configuration of BQ HO
[BQ HO Allowed]
Default Value: Yes
Description: The parameter indicates whether a Bad Quality (BQ) handover is allowed. BQ handover is
triggered when Bit Error Ratio (BER) over uplink/downlink channels is higher than the triggering threshold. If
BER rises, or signal strength drops, suspect that the signal power is low or channel interference increases.
Remarks: Inter-cell BQ handover is preferentially performed. If no target cell is available, intra-cell BQ
handover can be implemented in the serving cell if intra-cell handovers are allowed.
[DL Qual. Threshold]
Value Range: 0~70 (RQ (0~7) 10)
Default Value: 60
Description: This parameter indicates the downlink receive quality threshold of triggering an emergency
handover. When the receive quality of the downlink is greater than DL Qual Threshold, an emergency handover
is triggered. When frequency hopping or DTX of the cell is enabled, it is recommended that you set this
parameter to 70. When an emergency handover is triggered, inter-cell handover takes priority. An intra-cell
[UL Qual. Threshold]
Value Range: 0~70 (RQ (0~7)10)
Default Value: 60
Description: This parameter indicates the uplink receive quality threshold of triggering an emergency handover.
When the receive quality of the uplink is greater than UL Qual Threshold, an emergency handover is triggered
due to bad quality. When frequency hopping or DTX of the cell is enabled, it is recommended that you set this
parameter to 70.When an emergency handover is triggered, inter-cell handover takes priority. An intra-cell

[DL/UL QuaLimitAMRFR]
Value Range: 0~70
Default Value: 65
Description: This parameter indicates the urgent switchover downlink/uplink quality
control for the AMR FR service. The values of this parameter match quality levels 0-7
multiplying 10. The urgent switchover is triggered only when the downlink/uplink
receiving quality of the MS is greater than the switchover threshold, that is, the receiving
quality is poor.
[DL/UL QuaLimitAMRHR]
Value Range: 0~70
Default Value: 60
Description: This parameter indicates the urgent switchover downlink quality control for
the AMR HR service. The values of this parameter match quality levels 0-7 multiplying
10. The urgent switchover is triggered only when the downlink receiving quality of the
MS is greater than the switchover threshold, that is, the receiving quality is poor.

[BQ HO Margin]
Value Range: 0~127 (-64 dB to +63 dB)
Default Value: 69
Description: A Margin in BQ handover algorithm used to judge whether

to perform BQ handover. When BQ Handover Allowed is set to Yes and
Inter-cell HO Hysteresis > "Inter-cell HO Hysteresis-BQ HO Margin", the
Inter-cell HO Hysteresis will act instead of the BQ HO Margin. When
"Inter-cell HO Hysteresis-BQ HO Margin" is assigned with a value smaller
than 64, MS can hand over to a lower level neighboring cell. 69 for popular
urban areas, 72 for suburbs.
Remarks: If the data is updated from M900/M1800 BSC to HUAWEI

BSC6000,the default value of this parameter is 5.Then it's necessary to
modify the value of this parameter to 69,otherwise the BQ HO algorithm
will be invalid.

General HO Process
Dedicated Mode

Normal HO
Direct Retry
Emergency HO
3 Handover Judgment
TA HO Layer HO

MS Goes into New

Enhanced Dual Band HO

z Two single band cells which are configured as bi-directional neighbor
cell relationship can be configured as enhanced dual band cell to each
other.
z Purpose
During the procedure of channel assignment and handover, the
two single band cells can share their resource.
Assign the channel with low load in UL to MS preferentially.
Make MS handover from the high load cell to the low load cell.

Channel Assignment of Enhanced Dual Band

z TCH assignment (SDCCH channel in UL)
Begin
from UL
No [Assignment Optimization Yes

of UL Subcell Allowed
or not] (u) ?
Cell load of UL >
[UL Subcell General
No Overload Threshold(%)](u)?
Assign TCH in UL Yes

No
or direct retry identification A
or queuing Yes
No Any idle TCH Yes Assign TCH

Available in OL? in OL
RX_LEV_OL>= [Incoming OL Subcell HO level Threshold(dB)](o) and

A:
RX_LEV_UL RX_LEV (n) >[Distance Between Boundaries of UL and OL Subcells(dB)]
Attention:
RX_LEV (n): RX_LEV of the strongest neighboring cell which has the same frequency band and layer
with underlaid subcell, but locates in a different BTS. If there is no such a cell, this value is -110dBm
If [ATCBHoSwitch] is [Close], the second condition is turn off.
TCH assignment (SDCCH channel in underlaid)

z If Assignment Optimization of UL Subcell Allowed or not is set to NO, assign
TCH in underlaid as the normal assignment procedure
z If Assignment Optimization of UL Subcell Allowed or not is set to YES,

assign TCH in overlaid when the following conditions are met
Cell load of underlaid > UL Subcell General Overload Threshold
RX_LEV_OL >= Incoming OL Subcell HO level Threshold
RX_LEV_UL RX_LEV (n) > Distance Between Boundaries of UL and

OL SubcellsDistance Hysteresis Between Boundaries of UL and OL
Subcell(dB)
RX_LEV (n): RX_LEV of the strongest neighboring cell which has
the same frequency band and layer with underlaid subcell, but locates
in a different BTS. If there is no such a cell, this value is -110dBm

Data Configuration of Channel

Assignment
[ATCBHoSwitch]
Value Range: Close, Open
Default Value: Open
Description: The switch of the ATCB handover algorithm.
[Assignment Optimization of UL Subcell Allowered Or Not]
Default Value: Yes
Description: This parameter indicates whether the access request originated in the underlaid
subcell is preferably assigned between overlaid subcell cell and underlaid subcell cell according to
the Out Cell Low Load Thred.
[UL Subcell General OverLoad Threshold(%)]
Value Range: 0~100
Unit: %
Default Value: 80
Description: If the ratio of underlaid subcell channel occupancy is greater than the value of this
parameter, some calls in the underlaid subcell are handed over to the overlaid subcell. Moreover,
calls originated in the underlaid subcell are preferably assigned to the channel in overlaid subcell.


Assignment
[Distance Between boundaries of UL And OL Subcells(dB)]
Value Range:0~63
Unit: dB
Default Value: 10
Description: This parameter indicates the distance between the overlaid subcell and
underlaid subcell. The value of this parameter is comparative. The greater the value is, the
longer the distance is. The enhanced dual-band network handover algorithm refers to the
boundary between underlaid subcell and overlaid subcell based on the comparative value
of signal strength of serving cell and neighboring cell. Suppose the signal strength of
serving cell is SS(s), and neighboring cell SS(n). If SS(s) is equal to SS(n), the cell is in
the underlaid subcell boundary. If the value of SS(s) - SS(n) is larger than the value
of Distance Between boundaries of UL And OL Subcells(dB), the cell is in the overlaid
subcell.
[Incming OL Subcell HO Level Threshold(dB)]
Value Range: 0~63
Unit: dB
Default Value: 30
Description: This parameter indicates the lowest threshold of overlaid subcell level of the
handover from underlaid subcell to overlaid subcell. When the MS receive level is higher
than the value of this parameter, the BSC allows the handover of overlaid subcell cell.

Channel Assignment of Enhanced Dual Band

z TCH assignment (SDCCH channel in OL)
Begin
from OL
No [Assignment Optimization Yes

of OL Subcell Allowed or
not ](o) No ?
Cell load of UL<
Yes No
[UL Subcell Lower
Load Threshold](u)?
Assign TCH
in UL Yes Any idle TCH No
Available in OL?
Assign TCH
Assign TCH in OL in OL
No Any idle TCH
or direct retry identification Available in UL?
or queuing
Yes
Assign TCH
in UL
TCH assignment (SDCCH channel in overlaid)

z If Assignment Optimization of OL Subcell Allowed or not is set to NO, assign
TCH in overlaid as the normal assignment procedure
z If Assignment Optimization of OL Subcell Allowed or not is set to YES
Assign TCH in underlaid, if cell load of underlaid < UL Subcell Lower Load
Threshold
Assign TCH in overlaid, if cell load of underlaid >= UL Subcell Lower Load
Threshold


Assignment
[UL Subcell Lower Load Threshold(%)]
Value Range: 0~100
Unit: %
Default Value: 50
Description: If the underlaid subcell channel occupancy ratio is smaller

than the value of this parameter, some calls of the overlaid subcell is
handed over to the underlaid subcell. Moreover, the MS that requests for
the overlaid subcell channel is preferably assigned to the underlaid subcell
channel.
[Assignment Optimization of OL Subcell Allowered Or Not]
Default Value: No
Description: This parameter indicates whether the channel request in the

overlaid subcell is preferably assigned between overlaid subcell and
underlaid subcell according to the Out Cell Low Load Thred.

Enhanced Dual Band HO

z Classification of TCH HO in enhanced dual band HO
UL to OL
for high load in UL
OL to UL
for low load in UL OL to UL for moving
There are three kinds of handover for enhanced dual band network:
UL to OL for high load in UL
OL to UL for moving
OL to UL for low load in UL

Enhanced Dual Band HO(UO )

z Triggering condition for TCH Load HO from UL to OL for high load in UL
The order of handover is from the MS who is near the OL to the MS who is
far away from OL.

Enhanced Dual Band HO(UO )

z Triggering condition for TCH Load HO from UL to OL for high load in UL
[Load HO From UL Subcell No

Begin to OL Subcell Allowed](u) Yes ? End
Yes
Cell load of OL>=
[Inner Cell Serious Overload Yes
Threshold(%)](o)?
No
Yes Cell load of UL>=[UL Subcell No
Refresh cell load
Serious Overload Threshold(%)](u)?
per second
B-C B
No Cell load of UL>=[UL Subcell

General Overload Threshold(%)](u)? Adjust HO zone basing
on HO step and HO period
Yes
No A & Satisfy P/N & Yes No
Any MS in HO zone?
not within penalty time?
Yes
Trigger
UL to OL
RX_LEV_OL >= [Incoming OL Subcell HO level Threshold(dB)] (o)and
A: RX_LEV_UL RX_LEV (n) > [Distance Between Boundaries of UL and OL Subcells(dB)]
B=[UL Subcell Load Hierarchical HO Period(s)]

C=[Modified Step Length of UL Load HO Period(s)]
HO step: [Step Length of UL Subcell Load HO(dB)]
HO zone: [Incoming OL Subcell HO level Threshold(dB)]~-47dBm
HO Period: [UL Subcell Load Hierarchical HO Period(s)]
Triggering condition for TCH Load HO from underlaid to overlaid

z Load HO of UL Subcell to OL Subcell Enable is YES
z Cell load of underlaid > UL Subcell General Overload Threshold
z RX_LEV_OL >= Incoming OL Subcell HO level Threshold
z RX_LEV_UL RX_LEV (n) > Distance Between Boundaries of UL and OL

Subcells(dB)
z Satisfying P/N rule
z HO zone is from Incoming OL Subcell HO level Threshold to -47dBm

Attention:
RX_LEV (n): RX_LEV of the strongest neighboring cell which has the same frequency band and layer with underlaid
subcell, but locates in a different BTS. If there is no such a cell, this value is -110dBm

Data Configuration of Enhanced Dual

Band HO(UO )
[UL Subcell General OverLoad Threshold(%)]

Value Range: 0~100
Unit: %
Default Value: 80
Description: If the ratio of underlaid subcell channel occupancy is greater than the value of this parameter, some calls in
the underlaid subcell are handed over to the overlaid subcell. Moreover, calls originated in the underlaid subcell are
preferably assigned to the channel in overlaid subcell.
[UL Subcell Serious OverLoad Threshold(%)]
Value Range: 0~100
Unit: %
Default Value: 90
Description: If the ratio of the underlaid cell channel occupancy is greater than the value of this parameter, the period of
handover from underlaid subcell to overlaid subcell is reduced by the value of Out Cell Load HO Modify Step every
second based on the value of Out Cell Load Classification HO Period. Thus the handover from underlaid subcell to the
overlaid subcell speeds up.
[Load HO From UL Subcell to OL Subcell Allowed]
Default Value: Yes
Description: When the ratio of underlaid subcell channel occupancy is high, whether some calls in the overlaid subcell
are allowed to be handed over to the overlaid subcell.
[Incming OL Subcell HO Level Threshold(dB)]
Value Range: 0~63
Unit: dB
Default Value: 30
Description: This parameter indicates the lowest threshold of overlaid subcell level of the handover from underlaid
subcell to overlaid subcell. When the MS receive level is higher than the value of this parameter, the BSC allows the
handover of overlaid subcell cell.


Band HO(UO )
[UL Subcell Load Hierarchical HO Period(s)]

Description: This parameter indicates the period of the hierarchical handover from underlaid subcell to
overlaid subcell. When the ratio of underlaid subcell cell channel occupancy is greater than the value of En
Iuo Out Cell General OverLoad Thred, all the calls in the cell request for handover at the same time. The BSC
load is sharply increased. Thus the call may drop because the target cell is congested. Therefore the algorithm
of hierarchical handover is applied to hand over the calls in the cell hierarchically to the overlaid subcell.This
parameter indicates the time duration of every hierarchical handover.
[Step Length of UL Subcell Load HO(dB)]
Description: This parameter indicates the level step of the hierarchical handover from underlaid subcell to
overlaid subcell.
[Modified Step Lenghth of UL Load HO Period(s)]
Description: If underlaid subcell load is higher than the value of Out Cell Serious OverLoad Thred, the period
of handover from underlaid subcell cell to overlaid subcell cell is shortened by the value of Out Cell Serious
OverLoad Thred every second based on the value of the Out Cell Load classification HO Period.
[Total Number of ]
Description: P/N criterion: In P measurement reports, N measurement results meet handover requirements.
Handover is started. This parameter indicates the P in P/N criterion.
[Satisfy Condition Time]
Handover is started. This parameter indicates the N in P/N criterion.

Enhanced Dual Band HO(OU )

z Triggering condition for TCH HO from OL to UL for moving
[Inner Cell Edge HO

No
Begin Enable] (o)Yes ?
Yes
Yes No
RX_LEV_OL < RX_LEV_UL
No
A End
Yes
No
Satisfy P/N?
Yes
Select Neighbor cell
with the highest priority
Trigger
OL to UL
RX_LEV_OL <[Outgoing OL Subcell HO level Threshold(dB)](o) or

A:
RX_LEV_UL RX_LEV (n) < [Distance Between Boundaries of UL and OL Subcells(dB)]
[Distance Hysteresis Between Boundaries of UL and OL Subcells(dB)]
Triggering condition for TCH Moving HO from overlaid to underlaid

z RX_LEV_OL < Outgoing OL Subcell HO level Threshold
z OR RX_LEV_UL RX_LEV (n) < Distance Between Boundaries of UL and

OL Subcells(dB) - Distance Hysteresis Between Boundaries of UL and OL
Subcells(dB)

z The cell with highest priority. It could be underlaid subcell or normal
neighboring cell
Attention:
RX_LEV (n): RX_LEV of the strongest neighboring cell which has the same frequency band and layer with underlaid
subcell, but locates in a different BTS. If there is no such a cell, this value is -110dBm


Band HO(OU )
[Distance Between boundaries of UL And OL Subcells(dB)]

Value Range:0~63 Unit: dB Default Value: 10
Description: This parameter indicates the distance between the overlaid subcell and underlaid subcell. The value
of this parameter is comparative. The greater the value is, the longer the distance is. The enhanced dual-band
network handover algorithm refers to the boundary between underlaid subcell and overlaid subcell based on the
comparative value of signal strength of serving cell and neighboring cell. Suppose the signal strength of serving
cell is SS(s), and neighboring cell SS(n). If SS(s) is equal to SS(n), the cell is in the underlaid subcell boundary.
If the value of SS(s) - SS(n) is larger than the value of Distance Between boundaries of UL And OL
Subcells(dB), the cell is in the overlaid subcell.
[Distance Hysterisis Between Boundaries of UL And OL Subcell(dB)]
Description: To prevent ping-pong handover, the BSC determines whether the handover of the MS from
overlaid subcell cell to underlaid subcell cell based on the value of this parameter. Suppose the signal strength of
serving cell is SS(s), and neighboring cell SS(n). If the value of SS(s) - SS(n) is smaller than the value of
Distance Between Out And Inn Cell boundary - Distance Hyst Between Out And Inn Cell boundary, the MS
handover from overlaid subcell cell to underlaid subcell cell is allowed.
[Outgoing OL Subcell HO level Threshold(dB)]
Description: This parameter indicates the lowest threshold of overlaid subcell level of the handover from
overlaid subcell to underlaid subcell. When the MS receive level is lower than the value of this parameter, the
BSC allows the handover from overlaid subcell cell to underlaid subcell.
[Total Number of ]
Handover is started. This parameter indicates the P in P/N criterion.
[Satisfy Condition Time]
Handover is started. This parameter indicates the N in P/N criterion.


z Triggering condition for TCH Load HO from OL to UL for low load in UL
The order of handover is from the MS who is near the UL to the MS who is
far away from UL.


z Triggering condition for TCH Load HO from OL to UL for low load in UL
Begin
[Load HO of OL Subcell No
to UL Subcell Enable](o) Yes ?
End
Yes
Refresh cell load
Adjust HO zone basing
per second
No Cell load of UL <[UL Subcell No

Lower Load Threshold(%)](u)?
Any MS in HO zone?
Yes
Yes
The object cell must be
No the underlaid subcell Trigger OL to UL
Satisfy P/N?
and satisfy condition A
Yes
HO zone: [Outgoing OL Subcell HO Level Threshold(dB)](o) ~ -47dBm

HO step: [Step Length of OL Subcell Load HO(dB)](o)
A: RX_LEV_UL >= Inter-layer HO Threshold(u) + Inter-layer HO Hysteresis(o->u)
Triggering condition for TCH Load HO from overlaid to

underlaid
z Load HO of OL Subcell to UL Subcell Enable is YES
z Cell load of underlaid < UL Subcell Lower Overload Threshold
z HO zone is from Outgoing OL Subcell HO level Threshold to -47dBm

z The object cell must be the underlaid subcell
z RX_LEV_UL >= Inter-layer HO Threshold + Inter-layer HO Hysteresis


Band HO(OU )
[Out Cell Low Load Thred]
Value Range: 0~100 Unit: % Default Value: 50
Description: If the underlaid subcell channel occupancy ratio is smaller than the value of this
parameter, some calls of the overlaid subcell is handed over to the underlaid subcell. Moreover, the
MS that requests for the overlaid subcell channel is preferably assigned to the underlaid subcell.
[Load HO of OL Subcell to UL Subcell Enable]
Description: This parameter indicates whether the load handover from overlaid subcell to underlaid
subcell is allowed.
[OL Subcell Load Diversity HO Period(s)]
Value Range: 1~255 Unit: Seconds Default Value:10
Description: This parameter indicates the period of the hierarchical handover from underlaid
subcell to overlaid subcell.When the ratio of overlaid subcell cell channel occupancy is greater than
the value of En Iuo Out Cell General OverLoad Thred, all the calls in the cell request for handover
at the same time. The BSC load is sharply increased. Thus the call may drop because the target cell
is congested. Therefore the algorithm of hierarchical handover is applied to hand over the calls in the
cell hierarchically to the underlaid subcell.This parameter indicates the time duration of every
hierarchical handover.
[Step Length of OL Subcell Load HO(dB)]
Description: This parameter indicates the level step of the load handover from overlaid subcell to
underlaid subcell.

General HO Process
Dedicated Mode

Normal HO
Direct Retry
Emergency HO
3 Handover Judgment
TA HO Layer HO

MS Goes into New

Load HO
Handover triggering zone
Load of Serving Cell Load of Neighboring Cell
[Load HO Threshold]
[Load Req. on Candidate Cell]
Time
Normal Cell
Congested Cell
Congested Cell
Congested Cell
Normal Cell
Normal Cell
Normal Cell

Load HO
z As load HO may trigger several HOs, we need to consider the
CPU load (system flow level) before triggering it. In addition,
load HO is executed step by step, that is, the edge HO thrsh.
raises according to certain step and period and will stop when
out of the Load HO Zone.
A handover band is defined in load handover, in the range of edge handover threshold ~
edge handover threshold + load handover bandwidth. The handover band itself is divided
into multiple equalized handover step sizes, MS (falling within edge handover threshold +
N*handover step sizes) are handover to adjacent cells one by one from low to high. Once
load of the serving cell decreases (as lower than the load handover start threshold) or
load of the adjacent cell increases to a certain extent (as higher than the load handover
received threshold), the handover stops.
Load handover is an emergency measure, which mainly applicable to abnormal traffic

peak in part of the radio network. It should not be used as the major means to solve the
traffic congestion problem. If load handover always occurs to some area of a network,
TRX re-configuration and network topology re-design is the right way.
Related parameters: Handover - [Load handover table]
zSystem flux Thrsh. for load HO
zLoad HO Thrsh.
zLoad HO Req. on candidate cell
zLoad handover bandwidth (dB)
zLoad HO step level (dB)
zLoad HO step period (second)

Load HO
Normal Cell
Congested Cell
Normal Cell
Normal Cell
The handover bandwidth is gradually wider and wider.

Load HO
Begin
Select the cell with the highest
No [Load HO Allowed] (s) priority in the cadidate cell list
Yes ?
Yes
serving cell? Yes
Current system flux<=
End [System Flux Threshold No
No for Load HO](s)?
Yes No
Yes BSC internal cell?
No No
No Load of service cell >= C&D C
[Load HO Threshold](s)?
Yes Yes
Yes
No Load HO timer No Suitable cell Yes Trigger
T begin? End
exist? load handover
Star timer T Yes
No Load HO timer Yes B: [Edge HO_DL_RX_LEV Threshod](s)<DL_RX_Lev(s)
T overflow? < [Edge HO_DL_RX_LEV Threshod](s)+A
A= C: RX_LEV (n)>= [Inter-layer HO Threshold](n) +
A=
T [Inter-layer HO Hysteresis](s->n)
( + 1) Step [Load HO Bandwidth](s) D: load(n)< Load Req. on Candidate Cell(n)
Period
Step: [Load HO Step Level](s)
No Yes Period: [Load HO Step Period](s)
B
[Load HO Bandwidth]
Step A [Load HO Bandwidth] 0 T ( 1) Period
Step
z The CPU load of system <= System Flux Threshold for Load HO
z The load of service cell >= Load HO Threshold
z The DL receiving level is in the load HO zones

z The service cell cannot be the object cell
z If the service cell is a enhanced dual band cell, the other cell in this group
cannot be the object cell
z The load of object cell < Load Req. on Candidate Cell (Only valid for internal
neighboring cell)
z RX_LEV of object cell >= Inter-layer HO Threshold + Inter-layer HO

Hysteresis
Restriction
z It is not available with SDCCH.

Data Configuration of Load HO
[Load HO Bandwidth]
Value Range: 0~63
Unit: dB
Default Value: 25
Description: Together with Edge HO DL RX_LEV Threshold, this parameter indicates whether a load handover
is allowed. Only when the receive level of the serving cell is within the range of (Edge HO RX_LEV Threshold,
Edge HO RX_LEV Threshold + Load HO bandwidth), a load handover is allowed.
[Load HO Step Period]
Value Range:1~255
Unit: Seconds
Default Value: 10
Description: This parameter indicates the period required for each level of load handover. When the load of the
cell is equal to or greater than the Load HO Thrsh, all connections in the cell may send handover requests
simultaneously, thus leading to sudden increase of CPU load and possible call drops when the target cell is
congested. Therefore, these requests are divided into steps based on the receive strength.
[Load HO Step Level]
Value Range: 1~63
Unit: dB
Default Value: 5
Description: This parameter indicates the bandwidth of each step during level-based load handover. In a layer
load handover, starting from the Downlink Edge Handover Threshold, the upper limit of the load handover band
of increases by a Layer Load Handover Step every one Layer Load Handover Period. Go on like this, all calls
whose receive levels are between Edge HO RX_LEV Threshold and Edge HO RX_LEV Threshold + Load HO
bandwidth in the current serving cell are switched out through level by level handover.
Remarks: This parameter must be less than Load HO Bandwidth.

General HO Process
Dedicated Mode

Normal HO
Direct Retry
Emergency HO
3 Handover Judgment
TA HO Layer HO

MS Goes into New

Edge Handover
Handover
RX_Lev Triggering
RX_LEV Thr
Time
P/N
P: Watch Time
N: Valid Time
As a MS moves to the edge of a cell, when the receiving level of MS or

BTS is lower than the edge handover threshold, handover is triggered in
order to look for a better serving cell.

Edge HO
Begin
No
[Fringe HO Allowed](s)
Select cell(n) whose 16 bit priority is
Yes ?
higher than serving cell and
Yes whose level satifys P/N rule(n)
Yes Refresh basing on A
UL_Rx_Lev(s) < [Edge HO
UL RX_LEV Threshod](s)? its timer
No No
Any neighbor cell?
Yes
Satisfy P/N rule(s)?
Yes
No Trigger
DL_Rx_Lev(s) < [Edge HO Yes Refresh Edge handover
DL RX_LEV Threshod](s)? its timer
No
No
End Satisfy P/N rule(s)?
Yes
A: DL_Rx_Lev(n)>
DL_Rx_Lev(s)+[Inter-cell HO Hysteresis](s->n)
zThe DL receiving level < Edge HO DL RX_LEV Thrsh.
zOR The UL receiving level < Edge HO UL RX_LEV Thrsh.
zSatisfying P/N rule
zThe service cell cannot be the object cell
zThe neighboring cell with the highest priority and whose priority is higher than that of the service
cell

Data Configuration of Edge HO
[Edge HO UL/DL RX-LEV

Threshold]<[UL/DL RX_LEV Lower
Threshold] in HWII/III power control tabel
Should be lower than the[Outgoing OL

Subcell HO Level Threshold(dB)] in
enhance dual band data table
[Fringe HO Allowed]
Default Value: Yes
Description: The parameter indicates whether a fringe handover is allowed. A fringe handover is used to prevent
call drops in cell edges and initiated when the downlink level in the serving cell is lower than Edge HO DL
RX_LEV Threshold or the uplink level in the serving cell is lower than Edge HO UL RX_LEV Threshold.
Remarks: To implement fringe handover, the comprehensive sequence of the target cell must be higher than that
of the serving cell.
[Edge HO UL RX_LEV Threshold]
Value Range: 0~63 (-110 dBm to -47 dBm)
Default Value:10
Description: The parameter indicates the uplink receive level threshold of an edge handover. An edge handover
will be triggered if the uplink receive level is constantly lower than "Edge HO UL RX_LEV Thrsh." for a period
longer than Edge HO Valid Time(s) within Edge HO Watch Time(s). If PBGT handover is enabled, the
corresponding edge handover threshold can be lowered. If PBGT handover is disabled, this parameter must be
properly specified to avoid overlapping coverage and channel interference. This parameter should be adjusted
based on the performance statistics and actual networks to achieve uplink-downlink balance.
25: urban areas without PBGT handover
20: suburbs with a single BTS
20: urban areas with PBGT handover
Remarks: Edge handover uplink/downlink receive level threshold < Uplink/downlink signal strength lower limit
of HW-II/III power control
[Edge HO DL RX_LEV Threshold]
Default Value: 20
Description: The parameter indicates the downlink receive level threshold of an edge handover. An edge
handover will be triggered if the downlink receive level is lower than "Edge HO UL RX_LEV Thrsh." for a
period longer than Edge HO Valid Time(s) within Edge HO Watch Time(s). If PBGT handover is enabled, the
corresponding edge handover threshold can be lowered. If PBGT handover is disabled, this parameter must be
properly specified to avoid manual overlapping coverage and channel interference. This parameter should be
Confidential
adjusted Information
based on the of Huawei.
performance statistics No
and actual Spreading
networks Without
to achieve Permission
uplink-downlink balance.
z 30: Urban areas without PBGT handover

z 25: Suburbs with a single BTS
[Edge HO Watch Time(s)]

Value Range: 1~16
Unit: Seconds
Default Value: 3
Description: This parameter indicates the period when uplink/downlink receive levels are measured to determine
whether an edge handover is triggered.
[Edge HO Valid Time(s)]
Value Range: 1~16
Unit: Seconds
Default Value: 2
Description: To trigger an edge handover, the receive level of the uplink or downlink should constantly remain
lower than their corresponding edge handover thresholds within Edge HO Watch Time(s). This parameter
indicates this duration.
[Edge HO AdjCell Watch Time(s)]
Value Range: 1~16
Unit: Seconds
Default Value: 3
Description: This parameter indicates the period when uplink/downlink receive levels are measured to determine
whether an edge handover neighbor cell is triggered.
[Edge HO AdjCell Valid Time(s)]
Value Range: 1~16
Unit: Seconds
Default Value: 2
Description: During the edge handover continuance time, the UL/DL receive level should remain higher than the
corresponding UL/DL edge handover threshold for a period. This parameter indicates the period.

[Inter-cell HO Hysteresis]
Value Range: 0~63
Unit: Levels
Default Value: 5
Description: This parameter indicates the handover hysteresis between

adjacent cells of the same layer. The purpose of setting this parameter is to
reduce the "Ping-Pong" handovers. The value of this parameter is invalid if
cells are not on the same layer.4 dB populous urban areas and 8 dB for
suburbs.

MS Fast-Moving Handover
Handover
Time Triggering
Time
Threshold
1 1 2 3 Cells Number
P/N
P: Watch Cells
N: Valid Cells
Umbrella Cell
Micro Cell
The condition of MS Fast-Moving Handover is that a MS is moving fast (for example

moving on a highway), and the area is covered by two layers, that is micro cell and
macro cell.
MS Fast-Moving Handover is mainly used to solve the handover of MS during fast-

moving, that is to say, to avoid MS handover to the micro cell to increase handover time
and signaling flow, thereby increase service quality
MS Fast-moving time ThrshIf the time used by MS to pass this cell is less
than this threshold, it means that MS passes the cell quickly.
MS Fast-moving watch cells P The total number of cells for judging whether
a MS is fast moving or not.
MS Fast-moving valid cells N Total N of actual cells that MS fast passes.
When N equal to or more than P cells that MS lately passes are fast passing
ones, the fast moving handover algorithm will be started.

MS Fast-Moving Handover
Begin
No [MS Fast Moving HO

Allowed](s) Yes ?
Yes
Yes the serving

cell on layer 4?
No
End
Refresh timer(s)
No Yes Select the neighbor cell with the highest priority &
Satisfy P / N rule? on the 4th layer & satisfy RX_LEV(n)>= [Inter-layer
HO threshold](n) + [Inter-layer HO hysterisis](s->n)
No Any cell satisfy the Yes Trigger MS fast-

condition above? moving handover
zMS moves through P cells (watch cells), and the speed for Q cells (valid cells) among these p cells
is fast
zThe layer of service cell must be less than four

zThe neighboring cell with the highest priority
zThe layer of the object cell must be the 4th layer
zRX_LEV of the object cell >= Inter-layer HO threshold + Inter-layer HO hysterisis

Data Configuration of MS Fast-moving

Handover
[MS Fast Moving HO Allowed]

Default Value: No
Description: This parameter indicates whether a fast moving handover is allowed. The
fast moving handover enables a fast moving MS to hand over rapidly to a macro cell, thus
reducing handovers. It is recommended that this algorithm be applied only to special areas,
such as highways, to reduce the CPU load.
[MS Fast-moving Watch Cells]
Value Range:1~10
Default Value:3
Description: During the moving, the MS passes P micro cells. According to the P/N rule, when the MS fast crosses N ones
among the P micro cells, the BSC starts to trigger a fast-moving micro cell handover.
Remarks: If this parameter is excessively high, it is difficult to reduce the system load effectively. If this parameter is
excessively low, the judgment is inaccurate.
[MS Fast-moving Valid Cells]
Value Range: 1~10

Default Value: 2
Description: Suppose that the actual number of the micro cells that the MS fast crosses is N. According to the
P/N rule, when the MS fast crosses N ones among the P micro cells, a fast moving handover is triggered by the
BSC when this parameter satisfies the required conditions.
[MS Fast-moving Time Threshold]
Value Range: 0~255
Unit: Seconds
Default Value: 15
Description: This parameter indicates the threshold for judging whether an MS moves fast across a cell. The
threshold is obtained based on the cell radius and specified velocity. If the time for crossing a cell is lower than
this threshold, the MS is regarded as moving fast.
Remarks: Conditions
Confidential for triggering of
Information fast-moving
Huawei. handover are as follows:
No Spreading Without Permission
z The serving cell does not belong to level-4.
z The optimum target cell does belong to level-4.
z A neighboring cell has a macro cell
Layer HO
GSM900 Cell
Lay 3
GSM1800 Cell
Lay 2
The goal of layer handover is to control the destination cell of handover

more flexibly, make a MS hand over to the most reasonable cell to reduce
the occurrence of latter handover in order to save all kinds of system
resources, and also effectively increase handover successful ratio, reduce
call drop during handover, improve voice quality and service level.

Layer HO
Begin
[Level HO No
Allowed](s) Yes ?
Yes
No
Any neighbor cell exit? End
Yes
No
16 bit value(n)<
16 bit value(s)? Identify the next cell
Yes
A & ( layer(n)< layer(s) No
or level(n)<level(s) )?
Yes
No
Satisfy P/N rule(n)?
Yes
Trigger A: RX_LEV(n)>= [nter-layer HO threshold](n)
layer handover + [Inter-layer HO hysterisis](s->n)
zThe layer or level of object cell is lower than that of the service cell
zRX_LEV_DL of the object cell >= Inter-layer HO threshold + Inter-layer HO hysteresis

zThe neighboring cell with the highest priority and whose priority is higher than that of
the service cell

[Level HO Allowed]
Default Value: Yes
Description: The parameter indicates whether the layer level handover is allowed.An
Inter Layer HO is realized by setting different layers and levels for the cells. It is used to
guide the traffic to the cell that has a high priority. When this parameter is set to Yes,
traffic is routed to a cell with a higher priority.
Remarks: The lower the layer is, the higher the priority is. The higher the level is, the
lower the priority is. Layer level handover is not implemented when the comprehensive
sequence (including basic sequence and network sequence) of the serving cell is the
highest or when the level of the target cell is not greater than the Inter-layer HO Threshold.
[Layer HO Watch Time(s)]
Description: Compare the candidate cells that are better than the current serving cell so as to decide
whether to trigger a layer handover. This parameter indicates the duration to make the decision.
[Layer HO Valid Time(s)]
Description: If a cell is ranked 1 of the candidate cells for a whole segment of measurement period,
this cell is called the best cell.

Value Range: 0~63
Default Value: 25
Value Range: 0~63
Default Value: 3

handover. It is used to avoid inter-layer ping-pong handovers.
z Actual Inter-layer HO Threshold of a serving cell = Inter-layer HO Threshold - Inter-

layer HO hysteresis
z Actual Inter-layer HO Threshold of a neighboring cell = Inter-layer HO Threshold +

Inter-layer HO hysteresis

Value Range: 0~63
Default Value: 25
Value Range: 0~63
Default Value: 3

handover. It is used to avoid inter-layer ping-pong handovers.
z Actual Inter-layer HO Threshold of a serving cell = Inter-layer HO Threshold - Inter-

layer HO hysteresis
z Actual Inter-layer HO Threshold of a neighboring cell = Inter-layer HO Threshold +

Inter-layer HO hysteresis

PBGT HO Handover
Triggering
Path Loss (dB)
PBGT HO 5
Threshold
Time
P/N
P: Watch Time
N: Valid Time
126-119=7dB>5dB
126dB 119dB
In areas with densely distributed cells, the actual radio coverage

range has become far larger than the distance between BTS. If MS
keeps the conversation within a cell, it will not be effectively handed
over to a nearby cell with low transmission power and that will lead
to over shooting, thus increasing the interference of radio
environment and complicating network planning and optimization. To
solve this problem, Huawei develops PBGT handover algorithm that
is based on path loss.
PBGT handover algorithm is intended for the handover based on
path loss, in real time, it seeks a cell with lower path loss and
meeting certain system requirements, and judges whether its
necessary to perform handover.

PBGT HO
[PBGT HO No
Begin
Allowed] (s)Yes ?
Yes
current channel Yes
End
signaling channel?
No
Search next
neighborcell
No
No layer(n)=layer(s)& Satisfy P / N rule?

level(n)=level(s)? Yes
Yes
Trigger
No Path loss (s) Path loss (n) PBGT HO
>PBGT HO Threshold(s->n)
Yes NOTES: whichever the greater of the

Refresh timer(s) [inter-cell HO hysteresis] and
[PBGT HO threshold], that value will be

used in the PBGT HO.
zThe layer and level of the object cell are the same as those of the service cell.
zPath loss (service cell) Path loss (neighbor cell) > PBGT HO Threshold

zThe service cell cannot be the object cell.
zThe neighboring cell with the highest priority and whose priority is higher than that of the service
cell.
Restriction
zIt is not available with SDCCH.

Data Configuration of PBGT HO
[PBGT HO Allowed]
Default Value: Yes
Description: The parameter indicates whether a POWER BUDGET (PBGT) handover is

allowed.Based on path loss, PBGT handover is used to search for a desired cell in real time and to
judge whether handover is performed. The cell must provide less path loss and meet other
requirements.To avoid ping-pong handovers, PBGT handover applies to only cells of the same level
on the same layer and is triggered only over TCH. On a SDCCH, it is not allowed to trigger a PBGT
handover.Proper use of PBGT handover helps to reduce over-cell coverage and co-channel
interference.
[PBGT Watch Time(s)]
Value Range: 1~16
Unit: Seconds
Default Value: 3
Description: This parameter indicates the period when the path losses of neighboring cells are
measured. Thus, operators can determine whether a PBGT handover is triggered.
PBGT Valid Time(s)
Value Range: 1~16
Unit: Seconds
Default Value: 2
Description: This parameter indicates the period that satisfies PBGT handover.

Data Configuration of PBGT HO
[PBGT HO Threshold]
Value Range: 0~127 (-64 dB to +63 dB)
Default Value: 68
Description: A threshold in PBGT handover algorithm used to judge

whether to perform PBGT handover. When PBGT Handover Allowed is
set to Yes and Inter-cell HO Hysteresis > PBGT HO Thresh., the Inter-cell
HO Hysteresis will act instead of the PBGT HO Thresh. When this
parameter is assigned with a value smaller than 64, MS can hand over to a
lower level neighboring cell. 68 for popular urban areas, 72 for suburbs.
Remarks: When PBGT handover is enabled, and Inter-cell HO Hysteresis

> PBGT HO Thresh, the Inter-cell HO hysteresis instead of the PBGT HO
Thresh works. PBGT HO Thresh must be adjusted as per handover
performance statistic result and actual network.

Concentric Cell
z Purposes
Maximize coverage area
Reduce interference and improve frequency reuse density
z Construction methods
Different combiner loss
Different propagation loss
Modify the transmission power of TRX, the down tilt of antennas, etc.
By HO parameters
Overlaid
Underlaid

Classification and HO Judgment of

Concentric Cell
Normal concentric
cell Enhance concentric
cell
Receiving level Receiving level
Time advance Time advance
Quality Quality
ATCB
Cell load of underlaid
There are two kinds of concentric cell handover:
Normal concentric cell handover
Enhance concentric cell handover
The difference of these two handovers is that enhance concentric cell

handover takes into account the cell load of underlaid.

Data Configuration of Concentric Cell
[Concentric Circles HO Allowed]
Default Value: Yes
Description: The parameter indicates whether a concentric cell handover is allowed. A

concentric cell handover is implemented to achieve mass coverage in the underlaid subcell
and tight frequency reuse in the overlaid subcell, thus improving the system capability and
service performance. A concentric cell handover consists of inward handover and outward
handover.
[Enhenced Concentric Allowed]
Default Value: No
Description: This parameter indicates whether a enhenced concentric circle handover is

allowed.
z While the Enhanced Concentric Cell Allowed is set as "Yes", compare the receive level
of the MS with O to U HO Receive Level Threshold and U to O HO Receive Level
Threshold to decide whether to trigger an O to U HO or a U to O HO.
z While the Enhanced Concentric Cell Allowed is set as "No", compare the receive level
of the MS with RX_LEV Threshold so as to decide whether to trigger an enhanced
concentric cell HO. It is required to consider the load of the UL when deciding whether
to trigger a U to O HO.

Normal Concentric Cell HO

z Division of underlaid and overlaid is decided by MS downlink receive
level ,TA value and quality.
underlaid
Receiving Level Threshold
Receiving Level Hysteresis
Receiving Qaulityl Threshold
TA Threshold
overlaid
TA Hysteresis
An illustration of how to define the border between the underlaid and the overlaid.

Normal Concentric Cell HO
U to O O to U

Normal Concentric Cell HO(OU )

z Flow for TCH HO from overlaid to underlaid
No
[OL to UL HO Yes Yes
Begin Allowed] Yes ?
within Penalty Time End
No
No [RX_LEV for UO No [RX_QUAL for UO [TA for UO HO No

HO Allowed] Yes? HO Allowed] Yes? Allowed] Yes?
Yes Yes Yes

No No
No Rx_Dl_Quality>= Current TA>=[TA Threshold]+
Rx_Dl_Level<=[RX_LEV thshold] [RX_QUAL Treshold]?
-[RX_LEV Hysteresis] [TA Hysteresis]?
Yes Yes Yes
No
P/N rule? End
Yes
Trigger OL to UL
Criterion for TCH HO from overlaid to underlaid:
z TA value >= TA Threshold + TA Hysteresis
z OR RX_LEV <= RX_LEV Threshold RX_LEV Hysteresis
z OR Quality >= RX_QUAL Threshold

Normal Concentric Cell HO(UO )

z Criterion for TCH HO from underlaid to overlaid
Begin
[UL to OL HO Yes Yes

With Penalty Time ? End
Allowed] Yes ?
No No
Rx_Dl_Level >= No
End [RX_LEV for UO Yes [RX_LEV Threshold] +
HO Allowed] Yes? [RX_LEV Hysteresis]
No Yes
Yes Rx_Dl_Qual<= No
[RX_QUAL for UO [RX_QUAL Treshold]?
HO Allowed] Yes?
No Yes
[TA for UO HO Yes Current TA<=[TA Threshold]- No
Allowed] Yes? [TA Hysteresis]?
No
No
P/N rule?
Yes
Trigger UL to OL
Criterion for TCH HO from underlaid to overlaid:
z TA value <= TA Threshold TA Hysteresis
z AND RX_LEV >= RX_LEV Threshold + RX_LEV Hysteresis
z AND Qua. <= RX_QUAL Threshold

Data Configuration of Normal

Concentric Cell HO
[UL to OL HO Allowed]
Value Range: Yes, No Default Value: Yes
Description: This parameter indicates whether an underlay (UL) to overlay (OL)
handover is allowed.
[OL to UL HO Allowed]
Description: This parameter indicates whether an OL to UL handover is allowed.
[RX_LEV for UO HO Allowed]
Description: This parameter indicates whether the downlink receive level is used to
determine a Concentric Cell handover.
[RX_QUAL for UO HO Allowed]
Value Range: Yes, No Default Value: The default value is generally set to Yes. When
the cell is a dual-timeslot cell, the default value is set to No.
Description: This parameter indicates whether the downlink receive quality is used to
determine a Concentric Cell handover.
[TA for UO HO Allowed]
Description: This parameter indicates whether the TA is used to determine a Concentric
Cell handover.


Concentric Cell HO
[UO Signal Intensity Difference]

Value Range: 0~63
Default Value: 0
Description: This parameter indicates the signal intensity compensation between the overlaid and underlaid
subcells. It equals the sum of power difference between overlaid and underlaid power amplifiers, insertion loss
difference between combiners, path loss difference caused by antennas, and path loss difference caused by
frequencies.The parameter is invalid when Enhanced Concentric Cell is allowed.
[RX_LEV Threshold]
Default Value: 35: This parameter is greater than the sum of fringe handover threshold and UO signal intensity
difference. 0: The cell is a dual-timeslot extended cell. 40: The cell is a mixed cell. Description: This is one of the
parameters that determine the regions of overlaid and underlaid subcells. It is invalid when Enhanced Concentric
Cell is allowed.When Enhanced Concentric Cell is not allowed, the regions are co-determined by RX_LEV
Threshold, RX_LEV Hysteresis, RX_QUAL Threshold, TA Threshold, and TA Hysteresis.
[RX_LEV Hysteresis]
Default Value: 5 When the cell is a dual-timeslot cell, the default value is set to 0.DescriptionThis is one of the
parameters that determine the regions of overlaid and underlaid subcells. It is invalid when Enhanced Concentric
Cell is allowed.When Enhanced Concentric Cell is not allowed, the regions are co-determined by RX_LEV
Threshold, RX_LEV Hysteresis, RX_QUAL Threshold, TA Threshold, and TA Hysteresis.
[RX_QUAL Threshold]
Value Range: 0~70 (RQ (0-7) 10)
Default Value: The default value is 60, but it is 70 when the cell is a dual-timeslot extended cell.
Description: This is one of the parameters that determine the regions of overlaid and underlaid subcells. When
Enhanced Concentric Cell is not allowed, the regions are co-determined by RX_LEV Threshold, RX_LEV
Hysteresis, RX_QUAL Threshold, TA Threshold, and TA Hysteresis. When Enhanced Concentric Cell is
allowed, the regions are co-determined by RX_QUAL Threshold, UtoO HO Receive Level Threshold, OtoU HO
Receive Level Threshold, TA Threshold, and TA Hysteresis.


Concentric Cell HO
[TA Threshold]
Value Range: 0~255
Unit: Bit period (a bit period denotes 0.55 km)
Default Value: 63 Note: TA threshold is not used to distinguish the boundary between overlaid and underlaid
subcells.
Hysteresis, RX_QUAL Threshold, TA Threshold, and TA Hysteresis.When Enhanced Concentric Cell is allowed,
the regions are co-determined by RX_QUAL Threshold, UtoO HO Receive Level Threshold, OtoU HO Receive
Level Threshold, TA Threshold, and TA Hysteresis.
Remarks: This parameter must be less than the TA threshold of an emergency handover. When set to 63, this
parameter can be used to distinguish the boundary of Underlaid subcell and OverLaid subcell of a dual-slot
concentric cell instead of the boundary of a normal concentric cell.
[TA Hysteresis]
Value Range: 0~255
Unit: Bit period (a bit period corresponds to 0.55 km)
Default Value: The default value is generally set to 0. When the cell is a dual-timeslot cell, the default value is
set to 3.
Concentric Circles HO Allowed is set to No, the regions are co-determined by RX_LEV Threshold, RX_LEV
Hysteresis, RX_QUAL Threshold, TA Threshold, and TA Hysteresis. When Concentric Circles HO Allowed is
set to Yes, the regions are co-determined by RX_QUAL Threshold, UtoO HO Receive Level Threshold, OtoU
HO Receive Level Threshold, TA Threshold, and TA Hysteresis.
[UO HO Watch Time]
Value Range: 0~16
Unit: Seconds
Default Value: 5
Description: This parameter indicates the duration during which the BSC counts the duration when the
conditions for an concentric cell handover are met to decide whether to trigger a concentric cell handover.
[UO HO Valid Time]
Value Range: 0~16
Unit: Seconds
Default Value: 4
Enhance Concentric Cell HO

z Division of underlaid and overlaid is decided by MS downlink receive
level, quality, TA value and cell load of underlaid.
underlaid
U to O HO Receiving Level Threshold
O to U HO Receiving Level Hysteresis
Receiving Qaulityl Threshold
TA Threshold
overlaid
TA Hysteresis

Enhance Concentric Cell HO

z Classification of TCH HO in enhance concentric cell HO
U to O
for high load in U
O to U O to U
for moving for low load in U

Enhance Concentric Cell HO(UO )

z Flow for TCH HO from underlaid to overlaid for high load in UL
Begin
[UL to OL HO Yes Yes

Within Penalty Time ? End
Allowed] Yes ?
No No
[RX_LEV for UO Yes Rx_Dl_Level>[UtoO HO No
End Received Level Threshold]
HO Allowed] Yes?
No Yes
Yes No
[ATCBHoSwitch] Open? A
No Yes
[RX_QUAL for UO Yes Rx_Dl_Qual< No

HO Allowed] Yes? [RX_QUAL Treshold]?
No Yes
[TA for UO HO Yes Current TA<[TA Threshold]- No
Allowed] Yes? [TA Hysteresis]?
No Yes
Yes Go to the user selection
P/N rule? flow in the next slide
A: RX_LEV_UL RX_LEV (n) >[Distance Between Boundaries of UL and OL Subcells(dB)]

RX_LEV (n): RX_LEV of the strongest neighboring cell which has the same frequency band and layer
with underlaid subcell, but locates in a different BTS. If there is no such a cell, this value is -110dBm
Criterion for TCH HO from underlaid to overlaid
z RX_LEV > UtoO HO Received Level Threshold
z And RX_LEV_UL RX_LEV (n) > Distance Between Boundaries of UL and

OL Subcells(dB)
z And RX_QUAL < RX_QUAL Threshold
z And TA < TA Threshold TA Hysteresis

Enhance Concentric Cell HO(UO )

(Con.)
z User selection flow from UL to OL for high load in UL
[UtoO Traffice No
Begin HO Allowed] Yes ?
Yes
Refresh cell load
per second
Yes Cell load of UL>=[En Iuo Out No

No Cell Serious OverLoad Thred]?
Cell load of UL>=[En Iuo Out
Cell General OverLoad Thred]? (B-1)/second B
Yes
End
No
Any MS in HO zone?
B=[Underlay HO Step Period(s)]
HO step: [Underlay HO Step Level] Yes
HO period: B-x or B Trigger
HO zone: begin from -47dBm UL to OL

Enhance Concentric Cell HO(OU )

z Flow for TCH HO from overlaid to underlaid for low load in underlaid
[[OL to UL HO No
Begin Allowed] Yes ? End
Yes
Refresh cell load
per second
No
Any MS in HO zone?
No Cell load of UL<[En Iuo Out
Cell Low Load Thred]?
Yes
Yes Trigger
UL to OL
HO period: [En Iuo in Cell Load Classification HO Period]

HO step: [En Iuo in Cell Load Classification HO Step]
HO zone: begin from [OtoU HO Received Level Threshold] to -47dBm
Criterion for TCH HO from overlaid to underlaid for underlaid low load
z Cell load of underlaid < En Iuo Out Cell Low Load Threshold
z HO Zone is from OtoU HO Received Level Threshold~-47dBm
z The object cell must be the underlaid subcell

Enhance Concentric Cell HO(OU )

z Flow for TCH HO from overlaid to underlaid for moving
No
[OL to UL HO Yes Yes
Begin Allowed] Yes ?
With Penalty Time ? End
No
No [RX_LEV for UO No No [RX_QUAL for UO [TA for UO HO No

HO Allowed] Yes? [ATCBHoSwitch] Allowed] Yes?
Open? HO Allowed] Yes?
Yes Yes
No No
Rx_Dl_Level<[OtoU HO No Rx_Dl_Qual> Current TA>[TA Threshold]+
Received Level Threshold] A [RX_QUAL Treshold]? [TA Hysteresis]?
Yes Yes Yes Yes
No
P/N rule? End
Yes
Select the underlaid subcell or
the neighbour cell with the Trigger OL to UL
highst priority in 16 bits list
A: RX_LEV_UL RX_LEV (n) < [Distance Between Boundaries of UL and OL Subcells(dB)]
[Distance Hysteresis Between Boundaries of UL and OL Subcells(dB)]
Criterion for TCH HO from overlaid to underlaid for moving
z RX_LEV < OtoU HO Received Level Threshold
z OR RX_QUAL > RX_QUAL Threshold
z OR TA > TA Threshold + TA Hysteresis
z OR RX_LEV_UL RX_LEV (n) < Distance Between Boundaries of UL and

OL Subcells(dB) Distance Hysteresis Between Boundaries of UL and OL
Subcells(dB)
z The cell with highest priority. It could be underlaid subcell or normal

neighboring cell

Data Configuration of Enhance

Concentric Cell HO
[ATCBHoSwitch]
Value Range: Closed Open Unit: None Default Value: Open
Description: The switch of the ATCB handover algorithm.
[UL to OL HO Allowed]
Description: This parameter indicates whether an U to O handover is allowed.
[OL to UL HO Allowed]
DescriptionThis parameter indicates whether an OL to UL handover is allowed.
[RX_LEV for UO HO Allowed]
Default Value: Yes
Description: This parameter indicates whether the downlink receive level is used to determine a Concentric Cell
handover.
[RX_QUAL for UO HO Allowed]
Default Value: The default value is generally set to Yes. When the cell is a dual-timeslot cell, the default value is
set to No.
Description: This parameter indicates whether the downlink receive quality is used to determine a Concentric
Cell handover.
[TA for UO HO Allowed]
Description: This parameter indicates whether the TA is used to determine a Concentric Cell handover.


Concentric Cell HO
[RX_QUAL Threshold]
Value Range: 0~70 (RQ (0-7) 10)
Default Value: The default value is 60, but it is 70 when the cell is a dual-timeslot extended cell.
Hysteresis, RX_QUAL Threshold, TA Threshold, and TA Hysteresis. When Enhanced Concentric Cell is
allowed, the regions are co-determined by RX_QUAL Threshold, UtoO HO Receive Level Threshold, OtoU HO
[TA Threshold]
Value Range: 0~255 Unit: Bit period (a bit period denotes 0.55 km)
Default Value: 63 Note: TA threshold is not used to distinguish the boundary between overlaid and underlaid
subcells.
Hysteresis, RX_QUAL Threshold, TA Threshold, and TA Hysteresis.When Enhanced Concentric Cell is allowed,
the regions are co-determined by RX_QUAL Threshold, UtoO HO Receive Level Threshold, OtoU HO Receive
Level Threshold, TA Threshold, and TA Hysteresis.
Remarks: This parameter must be less than the TA threshold of an emergency handover. When set to 63, this
parameter can be used to distinguish the boundary of Underlaid subcell and OverLaid subcell of a dual-slot
concentric cell instead of the boundary of a normal concentric cell.
[TA Hysteresis]
Value Range: 0~255 Unit: Bit period (a bit period corresponds to 0.55 km)
Default Value: The default value is generally set to 0. When the cell is a dual-timeslot cell, the default value is
set to 3.
Concentric Circles HO Allowed is set to No, the regions are co-determined by RX_LEV Threshold, RX_LEV
Hysteresis, RX_QUAL Threshold, TA Threshold, and TA Hysteresis. When Concentric Circles HO Allowed is
set to Yes, the regions are co-determined by RX_QUAL Threshold, UtoO HO Receive Level Threshold, OtoU
HO Receive Level Threshold, TA Threshold, and TA Hysteresis.


Concentric Cell HO
[UO HO Watch Time]
Value Range: 0~16
Unit: Seconds
Default Value: 5
Description: This parameter indicates the duration during which the BSC
counts the duration when the conditions for an concentric cell handover are
met to decide whether to trigger a concentric cell handover.
[UO HO Valid Time]
Value Range: 0~16
Unit: Seconds
Default Value: 4
Description: This parameter indicates the duration when the conditions for
a concentric cell handover are met within UO HO Watch Time.


Concentric Cell HO
[OtoU HO Received Level Threshold]
Description: This is one of the parameters that determine the regions of overlaid and
underlaid subcells. When Enhanced Concentric Cell is allowed, the regions are co-
determined by RX_QUAL Threshold, UtoO HO Receive Level Threshold, OtoU HO
[UtoO HO Received Level Threshold]
Description: This is one of the parameters that determine the regions of overlaid and
underlaid subcells.When Enhanced Concentric Cell is allowed, the regions are co-
determined by RX_QUAL Threshold, UtoO HO Receive Level Threshold, OtoU HO
[UtoO Traffic HO Allowed]
Value Range: Yes, No Default Value: No: dual-timeslot cells Yes: other cells
Description: This parameter indicates whether the traffic in the underlaid subcell
determines the underlaid to overlaid (UL to OL) handover.When this parameter is set to
Yes, the handover is allowed only when the traffic in the underlaid cell is equal to or
greater than Traffic Threshold of Underlay.When this parameter is set to No, the traffic is
not taken into consideration.
Remarks: This parameter is valid only when Enhanced Concentric Cell is allowed.


Concentric Cell HO
[Underlay HO Step Period(s)]

Description: This parameter indicates the interval between two grades of level-based handovers. When multiple
UL to OL handover requests are initiated simultaneously, it is possible that calls with low level are handed over.
This does not conform to the principle that the call with the best quality should be handed over firstly. Thus, level
grade-based handover is used to hand over high-level calls with higher priority.
[Underlay HO Step Level]
Description: This parameter indicates the length of a grade in level grade-based UL to OL handover. Thus, high-
level calls are handed over with higher priority.After a step period of UL to OL handover, the handover band is
decreased by the length of a grade.This parameter and Underlay HO Step Period control the level band of the
step-by-step handover from underlaid subcells to overlaid subcells together. The time for the handover band to
step down for Underlay HO Step Level is Underlay HO Step Period.


Concentric Cell HO
[En Iuo Out Cell Low Load Thred]

Description: If the ratio of the underlaid subcell channel occupancy is smaller than the value of this parameter,
some calls in the overlaid subcell are handed over to the underlaid subcell.
[En Iuo Out Cell General OverLoad Thred]
Value Range: 0-100 Unit: % Default Value: 85
Description: If the ratio of the underlaid subcell channel occupancy is greater than the value of this parameter,
some calls in the underlaid subcell are handed over to the overlaid subcell.
[En Iuo Out Cell Serious OverLoad Thred]
Description: If the ratio of the underlaid cell channel occupancy is greater than the value of this parameter, the
period of hierarchical handover from underlaid subcell to overlaid subcell is shorten. That is, the value of Out
Cell Load HO Modify Step is reduced every second based on the value of Out Cell Load Classification HO
Period. Thus the handover from underlaid subcell to the overlaid subcell speeds up.
Remarks: The value of this parameter must be greater than that of the En Iuo Out Cell General OverLoad Thred.
[En Iuo In Cell Load classification HO Period]
Description: When the ratio of overlaid subcell cell channel occupancy is greater than the value of En Iuo Out
Cell General OverLoad Thred, all the calls in the cell request for handover at the same time. The BSC load is
sharply increased. Thus the call may drop because the target cell is congested. Therefore the algorithm of
hierarchical handover is applied to hand over the calls in the cell hierarchically.This parameter indicates the time
duration of every hierarchical handover.
[En Iuo In Cell Load classification HO Step]
Value Range: 0-63 Unit: Db Default Value: 5
Description: This parameter indicates the level step of the hierarchical handover from underlaid subcell to
overlaid subcell.


Concentric Cell HO
[Distance Between Boundaries of UL And OL Subcell(dB)]
Description: This parameter indicates the distance between the overlaid subcell
and underlaid subcell. The value of this parameter is comparative. The greater the
value is, the longer the distance is.The enhanced dual-band network handover
algorithm refers to the boundary between underlaid subcell and overlaid subcell
based on the comparative value of signal strength of serving cell and neighboring
cell. Suppose the signal strength of serving cell is SS(s), and neighboring cell
SS(n). If SS(s) is equal to SS(n), the cell is in the underlaid subcell boundary. If
the value of SS(s) - SS(n) is larger than the value of Distance Between Out And
Inn Cell boundary, the cell is in the overlaid subcell.
[Distance Hysterisis Between Boundaries of UL And OL Subcell]
Description:To prevent ping-pong handover, the BSC determines whether the

handover of the MS from overlaid subcell cell to underlaid subcell cell based on
the value of this parameter. Suppose the signal strength of serving cell is SS(s),
and neighboring cell SS(n). If the value of SS(s) - SS(n) is larger than the value of
Distance Between Out And Inn Cell boundary - Distance Hyst Between Out And
Inn Cell boundary, the MS handover from overlaid subcell cell to underlaid
subcell cell is allowed.

Channel Assignment strategies of

Concentric Cell
Channel Assignment Strategies of Concentric Cell
Intra-BSC Incoming
Immediate Inter-cell
Assignment Cell
Assignment
Handover Handover

Immediate Assignment
z The preferred SDCCH channel in two layers is controlled by parameter
TA pref. Of Imme-Assign Allowed
If "No", system prefers the channel in Underlaid subcell
If Yes", system prefers the channel according to in Channel

Request message
TA bigger TA smaller
When TA pref. Of Imme-Assign Allowed is set as Yes, if the TA is larger

than the TA Threshold of Imme-Assignment Pref., the underlay cell is assigned
first. if the TA is smaller than the threshold, the overlay cell is assigned first.

Data Configuration of Immediate

Assignment
[TA Pref of Imme-Assign Allowed]
Default Value: No
Description: This parameter indicates whether access_delay is used in the channel request
message for immediate assignment. When this parameter is set to No, a channel in the underlaid
subcell is assigned. When this parameter is set to Yes, a channel in the overlaid subcell is assigned
if access_delay is less than TA Threshold of Imme-Assign Pref. If not, a channel in the underlaid
subcell is assigned.
[TA Threshold of Imme-Assign Pref]
Value Range: 0~255
Default Value: 63: Dual-timeslot extended cells 0: Other cells
Description: This parameter indicates the threshold of overlaid cell-based immediate assignment.
If TA Pref of Imme-Assign Allowed is set to Yes, the system prefers the channel in overlaid
subcell while ACCESS_DELAY is smaller than TA Thrsh. of Imme- Assign pref. Otherwise, the
system prefers the channel in Underlaid subcell.

Assignment
z Preferred assignment in the overlay or underlay cell
z Assign the channel of overlay or underlay cell according to

the Rx_level and TA in the measurement report
TA smaller and
Rx-level higher
The channel of overlay cell is assigned first only when the Rx level on the
SDCCH is equal to or larger than the Assign-optimum-level Threshold and the
TA is smaller than the TA Threshold of Assignment Pref.. Otherwise, the
channel of underlay cell is assigned first to ensure the successful assignment.

Data Configuration of Assignment
[Assign Optimum Layer]
Value Range: System Optimization, Overlaid Subcell, Underlaid Subcell, No

Preference
Default Value:
z Underlaid Subcell: The cell system is GSM900&DCS1800 and enhanced concentric
cell.
z System Optimization: The cell system is not GSM900&DCS1800.
Description: This parameter indicates the method of TCH assignment a

concentric cell.
z System Optimization: The system selects the optimum serving layer according to the
MR provided through the SDCCH.
z Underlaid Subcell: Channel assignment in the underlaid subcell has higher priority.
z Overlaid Subcell: Channel assignment in the overlaid subcell has higher priority.
z No Preference: No specific instruction is given.

[Assign-optimum-level Threshold]
Default Value: When the uplink and the downlink are not balanced, the
default value = receive level + balance margin for uplink and downlink
When the uplink and the downlink are balanced, the default value can be
set to 35, which is the same as RX_LEV Threshold. When the cell is a
dual-timeslot cell, the default value is set to 0. When the cell is a hybrid
cell, the default value is set to 40.
Description: When the optimal layer is selected through system

optimization, the current SDCCH level can be estimated (inserted/filtered)
based on the uplink measurement result in the previous SDCCH MR. Then,
overlaid and underlaid subcells are allocated by comparing this parameter
with the receive level of SDCCH, and by comparing TA with the TA
threshold of optimum assignment. The MS is allocated with overlaid
subcell only when the receive level is greater than level threshold and TA
is smaller than the TA threshold. Otherwise, the MS is allocated with the
underlaid cell.
[TA Threshold of Assignment Pref.]
Value Range: 0~255
Default Value:63
Description: When the optimal layer is selected through system

optimization, the current SDCCH level can be estimated (inserted/filtered)
based on the uplink measurement result in the previous SDCCH MR. Then,
overlaid and underlaid subcells are allocated by comparing this parameter
and the receive level of SDCCH, and by comparing TA and the TA
threshold of optimum assignment. The MS is allocated with overlaid
subcell only when the receive level is greater than level threshold and TA
is smaller than the TA threshold. Otherwise, the MS is allocated with the
underlaid cell.
Remarks: When this parameter is set to 0, the MS is allocated with the

underlaid cell.

Intra-BSC Inter-Cell Handover

z In the case of intra-BSC inter-cell handover, the MS can be handed
over to the underlay or overlay cell first.
z If System Optimization is selected, the preferred assignment is

conducted according to the level value in the measurement report.
According to the Rx-level

overlaid
Overlaid
Underlaid
zIf the Rx level is higher than the Rx level threshold, the MS will be handed
over to the overderlay cell. Otherwise, the MS will be handed over to the
underlay cell

Data Configuration of Intra-BSC Inter-

Cell Handover
[Pref. Subcell in HO of Intra-BSC]
Value Range: System Optimization, Overlaid Subcell, Underlaid Subcell, No

Preference
Default Value: The default value is System Optimization. For a dual-timeslot

extended cell or a hybrid cell, the default value is Underlaid Subcell.
Description: This parameter indicates the method of channel assignment for

intra-BSC handover in a concentric cell.
z System Optimization: The BCCH of the target cell is specified in the handover request.
Then, the target cell compares only the receive level with RX_LEV Threshold, thus
selecting the layer with higher priority.
z UnderLaid Subcell: Channel assignment in the underlaid subcell has higher priority.
z OverLaid Subcell: Channel assignment in the overlaid subcell has higher priority.
z No Preference: Channels are assigned based on routine algorithms.

Inter-BSC Handover
z For the inter-BSC Handover, if the target cell is concentric cell , the
channel of underlay cell should be assigned first.
BSC1 BSC2
Assign underlaid first

overlaid
Overlaid
Underlaid

Data Configuration of Inter-BSC Inter-

Cell Handover
[Incoming-to-BSC HO Optimum Layer]
Value Range: Overlaid Subcell, Underlaid Subcell, No Preference
Default Value:
z Underlaid Subcell (common networks)
z Overlaid Subcell (dual-frequency networks)
z Underlaid Subcell (dual-frequency networks with decreasing success rate of handover)
Description: This parameter indicates the method of selecting an optimum layer

for an incoming handover.
Remarks: The BCCH carrier must be configured in the underlaid subcell. The
SDCCH must be configured in the underlaid subcell. Concentric Cell handover is
forbidden if both RX-LEV Threshold and RX-LEV Hysteresis (or both TA
Threshold and TA Hysteresis) are set to 63. The data configuration for a dual-
timeslot extended cell adopts Concentric Cell techniques.

AMR Handover Flow

Begin
No Are [Intracell HO
Allowed] & [Intracell F-H HO
Allowed Yes ?
Yes
No Is current channel
End
TCH & version3?
Yes
Yes During [Penalty Time A: Cell load > [AMR TCH/H Prior
after AMR TCHF-H HO Cell Load Threshold]
Fail(s)]?
No
Yes No
current channel is FR
No No
RQI/2 >[F2H HO th] & A RQI/2 <[H2F HO th] End
Yes Yes
No Yes Trigger internal cell

Satisfy P/N rule?
AMR handover

Data Configuration of AMR HO
[Intracell HO Allowed]
Description: This parameter indicates whether an intra-cell handover is allowed. After an intra-cell handover, the timeslot and
TRX that the MS occupies change.
Remarks: This parameter does not affect concentric cell handovers and forced handovers. During an AMR handover, an
interference handover, and a bad quality handover, an intra-cell handover is unavailable if this parameter is set to No.
[Intracell F-H HO Allowed]
Description: This parameter indicates whether the handover between full-rate channels and half-rate channels in the cell is
allowed. Only the value of the Intracell HO Allowed is set Yes, this parameter is valid. Only when this parameter is set to Yes,
the BSC makes an AMR handover decision. Otherwise, the BSC makes no decision.
[Intracell F-H HO State Time(s)]
Description: This parameter indicates the time threshold that satisfies full rate to half rate handover.
[Intracell F-H HO Last Time]
Description: This parameter indicates the period that satisfies full rate to half rate handover.
[F2H HO th]
Value Range: 0~39 Unit: dBm Default Value: 25
Description: This parameter indicates the threshold of a handover from full rate data TCH (TCHF) to half rate data TCH
(TCHH). For AMR calls, intra-cell TCHF to TCHH handover is triggered when TCHF is in use and Radio Quality Indication
(RQI) is constantly higher than this threshold.
[H2F HO th]
Value Range: 0~39 Unit: dBm Default Value: 10
Description: This parameter indicates the threshold of TCHH to TCHF handover. For an AMR call, if the current channel is a
HR channel and the RQI is constantly lower than H2F HO th within a period, a TCHH to TCHF handover is triggered.

Data Configuration of AMR HO
[AMR TCH/H Prior Allowed]

Default Value: Yes
Description: This parameter indicates whether the TCH/H prior function is allowed during the
channel assignment. Yesallowed; Noprohibited.
z The channel type to be assigned is decided according to the channel types that are allowed by the
MSC and the percentage of seized TCHs in the cell.
z During the channel assignment, the TCHF or TCCH, TCHH Prior channels are required when:
Half rate and full rate channels are allowed to be assigned by the MSC.
The AMR TCH/H Prior Allowed is set to Yes.
The percentage of seized TCHs in the cell is greater than the value of AMR TCH/H Prior Cell Load
Threshold.
z In other cases, the TCHF or TCCH, TCHF Prior channels are required.
[AMR TCH/H Prior Cell Load Threshold]

Value Range: 0~99
Default Value: 40
Description: The channel type to be assigned is decided according to the channel types that are
allowed by the MSC and the percentage of seized TCHs in the cell.
z During the channel assignment, the TCHF or TCCH, TCHH Prior channels are required when:
Half rate and full rate channels are allowed to be assigned by the MSC.
The AMR TCH/H Prior Allowed is set to Yes.
The percentage of seized TCHs in the cell is greater than the value of AMR TCH/H Prior Cell Load
Threshold.
z In other cases, the TCHF or TCCH, TCHF Prior channels are required.

General HO Process
3 Handover Judgment

Handover Implementation
Begin
No [Power boost befor HO Yes

enabled or not(s)Yes ?
BTS(s) keeps current BTS(s) uses the max.

power output For BTS power output
BSC send HO
Command to MS
No power control HO execute

during handover in order to make
sure the handover is successful
[Power boost befor HO enabled or not
Value Range: StartUp,not StartUp,None
Default Value: not StartUp
Description: When the MS is in a corner, the receive level may decrease

swiftly. Handover may be triggered. At this time, the BSC cannot adjust
the power of the MS and BTS in time. The MS cannot receive the
handover command. Thus call drop occurs. So the power boosting is
necessary before HO.

Data Configuration of Handover

Implementation(BTS)

Handover Implementation
Begin
No [MS Power Prediction Yes

after HO(s) Yes ?
MS uses the highest

power to access For MS BSC predict power
BSC send HO MS will use this predict

Command to MS power in new cell after
finishing this handover
No power control HO execute

during handover in order to make
sure the handover is successful


Implementation(MS)
[MS Power Prediction after HO]
Default Value: No
Description: This parameter indicates whether the MS uses the optimum

transmit power to access a new channel after the handover. Using the
optimum transmit power helps to reduce interference and improve the
service performance.


Implementation(MS)
UL Expected Level at HO Access
Value Range: 0~63(-110 dBm ~ -47 dBm)
Unit: dB
Default Value: 30
Description: This parameter indicates the expected uplink receive level on

a new channel after an MS is handed over to a new cell.This parameter is
consistent with UL RX_LEV Upper Threshold in G-II power control.

Summary
z In this course, we have learned:
Classification of HO
HO general procedure
HO judgment algorithm
HO implementation process
HO data configuration

Thank you
www.huawei.com

GSM Handover Algorithm

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GSM Handover Algorithm

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GSM Handover Algorithm N-1

Copyright 2009 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

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z Handover algorithm in Huawei product is flexible and powerful.

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Outline the types of handover

Master handover judgment flow

Understand algorithm of different handovers

Explain HO data configuration

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z To improve network service performance

To reduce the call drop rate

To reduce the congestion rate

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MSC NSS Network MSC

BSC BSC BSC

Case 2 Case 3 Case 4

Asynchronous handover: source and target cell belong the different

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Classification by Equipment and

Inter Cell HO TCH TCH

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2.2 Measure and Measurement Result Report

2.3 Measurement Report Preprocessing

2.4 Handover Judgment

2.5 Handover Implementation

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1 Measure and Measurement Result Report

2 Measurement Report Preprocessing

MS Goes into New Dedicated Mode

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1 Measure and Measurement Result Report

2 Measurement Report Preprocessing

MS Goes into New Dedicated Mode

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z Downlink MR includes downlink receiving level, downlink receiving

The downlink measurement report

Downlink--In dedicated mode, MS reports MR via uplink SACCH channel periodically.

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RXQUAL level in MR Huawei value BER behind

0 0 Less than 0.2%

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Period of Measurement Report

z The interval is 480ms/per time when MS is on TCH

z The interval is 470ms/per time when MS is on SDCCH

480ms 4 TCH Multi-

12TCH 1SACCH 12TCH 1 Idle

SACCH is a bidirectional channel.

1. The SACCH measurement report period varies with the channel

2. When associated with SDCCH, SACCH measurement period is

3. When associated with TCH, SACCH measurement period is 480ms,

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1 Measure and Measurement Result Report

2 Measurement Report Preprocessing

MS Goes into New Dedicated Mode

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MR preprocessing consists of two steps: interpolation and filtering.

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MR Interpolation recover the lost measurement report