Analyzing Coverage with Propagation Delay - PD and Timing Advance

- TA (GSM-WCDMA-LTE)

One of the biggest challenges in Planning, Designing and even Optimization of Mobile
Networks is to identify where the users are, or how they are distributed.

Although this information is essential, it is not so easy to be obtained. But if we have and
know how to use some counters related to this kind of analysis, everything is easier.

For GSM, we have seen that we can have a good idea of the location (distribution) of
users through the measures of TA (Timing Advance), as we detailed in a tutorial about it.

Today we are going a little further, and know the equivalent parameters in other
technologies, such as WCDMA (and LTE).

Goal

Learn the Performance Indicators related to the users distribution in a multi-technology

mobile network, and also learn how to use these indicators together in analysis.

TA in 2G (GSM)

We've aready talked about TA in GSM in another tutorial, so let's just remember the
most important concept.

TA (Timing Advance) allows us to identify the distribution of 2G (GSM) users regarding

its serving cell, based on signal propagation delay between the the UE's and the BTS.
The GSM mobile (from now on, we will call here UE too - as in 3G) receives data from
BTS, and 3 time slots later sends its data. It is sufficient if the mobile is close to the BTS,
however, when the UE is far away, it must take into account the delay that the signal
will have to go through the radio path.

So: the UE sends the TA data together with other measures for the necessary time
adjustments to be made.

In this way, we indirectly get a map with the distribution of users, or their probable
location area, corresponding to the coverage area of the cell, with a minimum and
maximum radius. The following figure shows this more clearly, for an antenna with 65
HBW, and maximum (1) and minimum (2) radius.

And in 3G and 4G (WCDMA, LTE), does we also have TA?

The expected question here is: does we have TA in 3G/4G? The answer is Yes, but in
WCDMA the name is another, it is called Propagation Delay. (In LTE, we have both
parameters - TA and PD).

So, let's learn a little more about it.

Propagation Delay in 3G (WCDMA)

As we've told, in 3G the corresponding parameter to TA in 2G (GSM) is the Propagation

Delay. With this parameter, we can estimate the distance between the UE and the
serving cell, in the same way as we do in GSM.

But in 3G it has some different characteristics. To begin with, 3G measurements are

made by the RNC, and not by the UE.

In one recent 'RRC and RAB' tutorial we have seen how an RRC connection is
established, where the UE sends a 'RRC CONNECTION MESSAGE' message. When the
RNC receives this message, it sends another message back to NodeB, to set up a Radio
Link ('RADIO LINK SETUP REQUEST') (1). This message contains the Information
Element with the Propagation Delay data, that is, the delay that has already been
checked and adjusted to allow transmissions and reception synchronization.
As already mentioned, the information does not come from the UE as in GSM, but is the
information that the RNC already has to make the communication possible: the
information of this delay, the Propagation Delay Information Element (IE) is sent every 3
chips.

So let's do some math.

 We know that the WCDMA has a constant rate equal to 3.84 Mcp chip/s.
 We also know (we consider) that the speed of light is 300,000 km/s.

In 1 second I have 3.84 M chips, in how many seconds I have 3 chips? Answer: 0.26 ps
(pico seconds).

As we have seen that the information is sent every 3 chips, the total is 3 x 0.26 = 0.78
ps ps, which is the Propagation Delay time granularity.

And now let's translate this minimum value into Distance: If I run 300,000 miles in 1
second, what distance I run in 0.78 ps? Answer: 234 meters.

In other words, have the Propagation Delay with granularity of 234 meters!

Note: it is important to know that this distance information is available to the system not
only in the establishment of the call, but also during the entire existence of it.
 Round Trip Delay - Round Trip Time (RTT)

When we talk about Propagation Delay, there's another very important concept, related
to the subject and used in several other areas that involve communication between two
points: the Round Trip Delay & Time.

Let's understand what it is with an example. Imagine a simple communication between

two people, where the first say 'Hi', and the second one also answers 'Hi'.

In an ideal world, first person speech travels up to the second one, taking a certain
amount of time (t1), and the speech of the second person returns with a time (t2). So,
we have a total time elapsed from when the first person said 'hi' till he received the
other guy's answer. This time is the Round Trip Time, or the time at which a signal
travels a route until the response is received back at the source.

Bringing this analogy to an UE and a NodeB, we have the image below.

:: RTT = (t1 + t2)

In fact, the approach above is very close to real. But we have to consider also the time
in which the receiver takes to 'process' the information, or the time it takes to respond
after receiving the information.

Considering then this 'latency' time (TL), the RTT is so as:

 :: RTT = (t1 + t2) + TL

So, we understand then what is RTT. But how do I use it?

This information is very important to the system, and can be used for several purposes.
One of them for example, can be also to find UE's locations. Our goal today is to know all
means to find the location information of the UE's, remember?

Well, this is another method (in addition to the counters, as we shall see soon). When
the NodeB sends a message to the UE it knows exactly what time is. And then, when it
receive a response from the UE, it also knows exactly that other time!

So, it just do the subtraction of the times to find the RTT, and calculate the distance!
Note: the time used for the calculation is half of the RTT as the RTT is the round-trip
path. In this case, the latency time on the receiver is 'disregarded'.

With this distance information we can draw a circle with the likely area where the UE is.
And if it is being served by various cells, the intersection of the circles of each one of
them gives us a more accurate positioning (it is what we call 'Triangulation'). And these
calculations are even more accurate when other information is used togheter, such as
'CellID', MCC, RNC, LAC and Call Logs (CHR), with much more detailed information.
But let's go back to the case where we only use the information of Propagation Delay -
that is our focus today - and that already gives us sufficient allowance for several very
interesting analysis.

TA and PD (Propagation Delay) counters

The Propagation Delay information are (also) available in simple form of Performance
counters.

These types of counters are available in pre-set ranges according to each vendor. The
ranges vary from 1 Propagation Delay to several 'grouped' Propagation Delay.

For example in Huawei have some TA ranges in GSM, and other PD ranges in WCDMA
(Note: Huawei calls these propagation delay counter s as TP instead of PD). For an 'ideal'
scenario, we would have counters for 'each' Propagation Delay.

Actually, that's not what happens, because as we told before, they may be grouped into
ranges. Note: the reason for this is not the case, but really too many ranges may even
disrupt analysis.

TP (Propagation Delay WCDMA in Huawei) has 12 ranges.

In the above figure we have PDTA from 0 to 11.

 For TP_0 the UE is between 0 and 234 meters from NodeB;

 For TP_1 the UE is between 234 and 468 meters from NodeB;
 ...
 For TP_36_55 the UE is between 8.4 and 13.1 km from NodeB;
 And for TP_56_MORE the UE is more than 13.1 km from NodeB.

In the GSM (Huawei) have the same concept.

Note: See however that the amount of ranges here (GSM) is much bigger, and only
begin to be grouped from 30 (from almost 17 km!).

With the counters organized in so different ways, be grouped by different ranges

granularities, different distance (550 m for GSM and 234 m for WCDMA) it is very
difficult to analyze the propagations, or rather, it is almost impossible to compare
them...

And so what does we do, since we need to analyze the distribution of the UE's in a
generic way, doesn't matter if it is using 2G or 3G?

The solution that we found in telecomHall was to make an 'approach', that is, a way to
be able to see where we have more concentrated UE's, no matter if at the time they are
using 2G or 3G. Even because, this 'distribution' among Technologies and Carriers
depends on several factors, such as selection and handover parameters, and also
physical adjustments of radiant system. But the 'concentration' of users does not depend
on these factors: the total amount of users in a particular area is always the same!

To this, the module 'Hunter Propagation Analyzer' uses a methodology and 'particular'
counters, allowing to do this approach: we have created a range, and called it PDTA. As
the 3G (Huawei, which we are using as an example) has less ranges - only 12, we made
the initial PDTA definition based on it. The result can be seen in the table below.
Of course this approach or 'methodology' is not perfect, but in practice the outcome is
very efficient. In addition, if you need a more detailed analysis (for example if you need
to know with more accuracy than the approach presented here) just look to the original
table, which contains each counter in its standard range in original granularity.

For other vendors, the ranges may be different, but the methodology is always the
same.

In Ericsson for example, the Propagation Delay WCDMA counter is 'pmPropagationDelay',

and it is collected by the RNC just like in Huawei.

It has 41 bins, being the first to indicate the maximum delay in chips (Cell Range), and
other (1 to 40) to inform the number of samples in the period, referring to the
percentage of the maximum Cell Range.

When the UE try to connect at one point greater than the Cell Range it will fail.

Regarding to bins, the distribution goes from 0 to 100%, as the rule below:

 bin1: samples between 0 and 1% of Cell Range (for example, if the Cell Range is 30 km, bin1
has the samples between 0 and 300 m from NodeB);
 bin2: samples between 1% and 2% of Cell Range;
 …
 bin40: samples between 96% and 100% of Cell Range.

And the 'adjust' of PDTA can be done the same way, depending on your need.

Conclusion: Different vendors have different propagation counters, and in different

formats - but the information is always the same! In all cases we can do the calculations
that bring the analysis to the same comparison universe, with the benefits that we've
illustrated above.
 Distribution of Radio Link Failure (GSM) and EcNo (WCDMA)

Okay, we've seen today how to check the distribution of UE's on 2G and/or 3G networks
based on its counters. But in addition, we have also other equally interesting
information!

In GSM, in addition to PDTA, we were able to count Radio Link Failures. And this gives us
a great opportunity of crossing this information with the amount of Call Drops! The rule
is simple: the point we have a lot of Radio Link Failures, 'much' probably we also have a
lot of Dropped Calls! The relation is straightforward.

And in WCDMA, in addition to PDTA, we also have the average value of EcNo, that
indicates the average quality of a given cell/region!

Note: In Huawei, for the average value of Ec/No for each TP, take the counter value and
use the formula: EcNo = (value - 49) / 2.

TA in 4G (LTE)

As well as in 2G and 3G, we were also able to get the UE's distribution information in
LTE. The concepts applied are the same as already seen before, we can only point out
that in LTE we have both TA and PD.

As today's tutorial is already quite extensive, we will finish this part here, but with the
certainty that if you assimilated what was presented, without any major problems you
will be able to extend this information to your specific scenario.

Practical Analysis

After having seen - even with a little more detail - the concepts of propagation (including
Failures in GSM and EcNo in WCDMA), we will see some possible analysis that we can do
in practice.

We have already said that the professional who has experience on this kind of analysis
can improve enough to network Indicators as Retainability and Accessibility. But how he
manages to do this?

Simple: with the propagation analysis, it is possible to identify cells that are with their
much greater coverage than planned/expected - 'overshooting' cells, especially if they
are reaching places where we have other cells with better signal level!
In this case, we have pilot pollution, interference and high transmit power. As a result,
increase of Establishment Failures and Call Drops, both in overshooting cell, as in the
other where it is interfering.

In addition, we can discover cells that have their coverage area in the same direction
(sector), but that have very different concentration (for example in the case of 3 WCDMA
carrier, where one Carrier can be with the highest concentration of users closer to the
cell, and another with this concentration away – don't worry, we will see examples below
and will be easier to understand).

This difference of distribution/concentration can be seen between the multi-technologies

of the sector, for example, if the GSM coverage is much smaller than the WCDMA and
vice versa. In this case, it serves as a great call for adjustments of tilts and azimuth
between the antennas in this sector.

Practical analysis – Worksheets and Charts

Using data from simple counters, we already have excellent ways of analysis like charts
and graphs. For example, the following is a complete view of a particular sector of our
network (all cells of all technologies and all carriers). Note that the simple thematic
distribution obtained with Excel Conditional Formatting already gives us a clear vision of
this sector.
Filtering only for the contribution ('PDTA_P') of each cell, we can see clearly that a sector
(Hxxx21) is with its coverage beyond the expected (1).

In addition, we were able to match (1) failures (now filtering by 'ECNORLFAIL_P'),

showing the immediate need for actions in this sector.

Practical Analysis - Maps

In addition to the simple analyses on charts and tables, we can geo-reference it, with a
direct relationship with the coverage area. For demonstration, we create some dummy
PDTA data of our network. Note: A real network has much more cells, but with these few
sample data we can show the main points of analysis.

Continuing, we will then see the PDTA data of 4 examples sites plotted.

To analyze the PDTA distribution in Google Earth, we use a report generated by the
'Hunter GE Propagation Analyzer' module*, and so we need to know the criteria that we
are using: in this report, the heights (1) from each region (PDTA of 0 to 11) represent
the percentage of samples in that region. And the colors (2) represent the Quality: EcNo
to UMTS, and Radio Link Failure % for GSM. *Note: you can build your reports in Google
Earth and/or Mapinfo, just follow and apply the concepts presented here to your own
tools/macros.

The data are grouped in 'Folders', with the first level being the sector (1) (a specific
direction for all cells of all technologies and carriers). At the second level, we have the
ranges (2) of PDTA percentage (how many samples from total cell samples we have in
each region). And in the third level we have cells/PDTA (3).
Also equally important is the definition of the range used in the generation of the data,
and consequently in the legend. Note that we use the same coloring scale for EcNo and
Radio Link Failure. So, no matter if the coverage is GSM or UMTS - for example if the
region is Red, we know it's bad! (Or WCDMA EcNo worse than -16 dB, or GSM Radio Link
Failure more than 50%!).

Knowing these details, we can do some demonstrations. Giving a zoom in a more

extensive area, we see that we have multiple cells with coverage in places where they
should not be covering. Of course, these points have a few samples, but with vary bad
quality, as we see in the region shown below (1) - ranges mostly Pink, Red and Orange.
Analyzing specific cells, for example 'AAN', we see that the same coverage area is much
larger than it should (overshooting cell), both the GSM (1) and UMTS (2) are more than
4 km of the serving cell.

In this case, we have another interesting point, also seen below: most of the users in the
region (1) are served almost exclusively by GSM. Now in region (2) almost all users use
WCDMA. This is another point of optimization: these coverages should be, as far as
possible, 'proportional'.

Another example: the 'ABU' site is a typical case of need of urgent action, for example
by increasing the tilt's of overshooting cells. Too many samples at more than 4 km, and
with poor quality. As these are cells of an urban area, and in addition we have other cells
serving that distant locations, it is recommended to increase tilt, and later run a new
analysis.
The opposite of what we saw above is also possible: we can identify cells that have a
very good coverage area (in this case, a more contained area), and with excellent quality
levels (Green and Blue).

We could go on demonstrating several other analyses that are possible using the data
presented here today. However, the best way is that you use these incredible resource in
your analysis, because with no doubt it represents a big help.

Many people try to optimize the network based on parameter changes only. But we saw
that in many cases like above, there may be situations where the most recommended is
physical intervention (adjusting of Antenna, Height, Azimuth, Tilt, etc...).
No doubt the analysis presented in this tutorial are essential to the improvement of any
mobile network, and if you so far haven't used, it's a good time to start.

Conclusion

We learned today an important concept used in many areas of mobile 2G/3G/4G

networks: the propagation delay, used as a tool for assessment of the geographical
distribution of users.

The measures are the Timing Advance, that in GSM is measured by the UE, and
Propagation Delay, that in UMTS is is calculated by the RNC. Both allow us to estimate
the distance of the UE until the serving cell, consequently allowing several analysis,
exemplified above.

The TA in GSM has a granularity of 550 meters, and the Propagation Delay in WCDMA
has granularity of 234 meters. Using these measures, we can 'see' exactly where
network users are distributed at a level of cell/carrier/technology in each region.

In addition, we have other measures, also mapped by region: EcNo for WCDMA and
Radio Link Failure for GSM.

All these measures together with other network information (Radiant Systems,
Azimuths, Tilts, etc ...) give a huge help to the telecom professional for analysis and
optimizing tasks with significant results for the improvement of the quality of the entire
network.

We hope you enjoyed. Until our next meeting!

What is RTWP?

If you work with UMTS,'ve probably heard someone talk about RTWP. Its definition can
be found in a dictionary of acronyms, such as
http://acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/RTWP: Received Total Wideband Power.

Represents a measure of UMTS technology: the total level of noise within the UMTS
frequency band of any cell.
RTWP is related to uplink interference, and its monitoring helps control the call drops -
mainly CS. It also has importance in the capacity management, as it provides
information for the Congestion Control regarding Uplink Interference.

In UMTS, the uplink interference may vary due to several factors, such as the number of
users in the cell, the Service, Connection Types and Conditions of Radio, etc..

As our goal is to always be as simple as possible, we will not delve in terms of formulas
or concepts involved. We will then know the typical values, and know what must be done
in case of problems.

Typical Values

Ok, we know that RTWP can help us in checking the uplink interference, then we need to
know its typical values.

In a network is not loaded, normal, acceptable RTWP Average value is generally around -
104.5 and -105.5 dBm.

Values around -95 dBm indicate that the cell has some uplink interferers.

If the value is around -85 dBm, the situation is ugly, with strong uplink interferers.
Usually we have High, Low and Medium measures of RTWP. However, the maximum and
minimum values are recommended only as auxiliary or reference, since they may have
been caused by a peak of access, or even been forced to have a momentary value due
to some algorithm i.e..

Thus, the value that helps us, and has the most accurate information is the same Mean
RTWP!

For cases in which cell has two carriers, the difference between them RTWP should not
exceed 6 dB.

Based on these typical values, most vendors have an alarm: RTWP "Very High. "

What to do in case of problems?

We have seen that RTWP can cause performance degradation, mainly CS Call Drops.
Note: Actually, it's not RTWP that causes performance degradation. What happens is
that when its value is 'bad', it's actually indicating the presence of interference - the
latter being responsible for degradation.

But what can we do when we find bad values?

If RTWP is not at acceptable levels, some actions should be taken.

 The first thing to do is check if there is a configuration issue with the RNC or NodeB. This is the
most common case, especially in cases of new activations.
 Once verified the parameter settings, the next step is the physical examination, especially
jumpers and cables, often partially reversed. It also should be checked if there is faulty
transmitters, or any other problem that could generate intermodulation between the NodeB
and the antenna.
 If the parameter settings and hardware are ok, the chance is very high that we have external
interference, such as a Interferer Repeater.

In cases where there may be external interference, we must begin to act after such a
prioritization based on how much this is affecting the cell KPI's across the network, if it
carry high traffic, major subscribers, etc..

Note: There are many forms of interference in the uplink, both internal and external.
Only a few are listed above. The deepening of all possibilities is beyond the goal of being
simple to teach the concepts, but this is a suggestion for whoever wants to deepen the
study, identification and elimination of interference.

In practice

to find - and eliminate - problems of interference is one of the biggest challenges in our
area. For being such a complex problem, we recommend that be collected enough data
for each investigation. Insufficient data collected can lead to erroneous conclusions,
further worsening the problem.

The uplink interference may appear only in specific periods. Thus, it is recommended
that data be collected from at least one week (7 days) for every 24 hours. Usually this
amount of data is sufficient. In the figure below, we see different days and times -
colorful - a fictional example where the interference occurred.

Data should be collected for the suspicious cell, but also for its adjacent cells, allowing it
to make a triangulation increasing the chances of locating the source of interference.

Another way to locate the source of interference is to do a test in field. An antenna guy
must gradually change the azimuth of the antenna, while another professional do RTWP
measurements. That is, through the information directing the antenna and the
respective values of RTWP, you can draw conclusions very good.

It is obvious that changing the online system may not be a good practice, and tests can
be made with a Yagi antenna and a Spectrum Analyzer.

Vendors offer several ways to measure RTWP, using the OSS, performance counters and
logs.

Conclusion

In this brief tutorial, we learn what is RTWP, and that the ideal typical value is about -
104.5 dBm and -105.5 dBm.
As the RTWP is directly related to Uplink Interference - and we know that interference is
the main cause of performance degradation - have concluded that improving RTWP, ie
making is as close as possible to -105 dBm, improving the Call Drop Rate!

IMPORTANT : Seizing the opportunity, see what was stated at the start of this tutorial -
dictionary - by describing RTWP. Remember that this site has been the subject of a very
interesting tutorial in the Tips Section. If you have not visited this section of the portal
yet , I strongly recommend, because it has many issues that help in our growth in
telecom and IT area.

Other topics for discussion on telecomHall are: