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GSM BSS Network KPI (Immediate Assignment Success Rate) Optimization Manual
GSM BSS Network KPI (Immediate Assignment Success Rate) Optimization Manual
Revision Record
Date Revision Change Description Author
Version
2008-06-18 0.8 Draft completed. Wang Fei
References
Number References Author Date
1 GSM BSS Network KPI (Immediate Liu Xiuyu 2007-03-10
Assignment Success Rate) Baseline
Content
1 Overview of the Immediate Assignment Success Rate..............................................................7
1.1 Definition.................................................................................................................................7
1.2 Signaling Procedure and Measurement Points......................................................................8
1.3 Symptom Description .............................................................................................................8
2 Factors Concerning Immediate Assignment Success Rate........................................................9
2.1 Signaling Factors....................................................................................................................9
2.2 Factor Analyzing According to the Definition of the KPI.........................................................9
2.3 Factors Analysis....................................................................................................................11
2.3.1 Equipment Faults............................................................................................................11
2.3.2 Um Interface Problems...................................................................................................11
2.3.3 SDCCH Congestion........................................................................................................11
2.3.4 MS Problems..................................................................................................................12
3 Method of Analyzing the Problem of Low Immediate Assignment Success Rate.....................12
3.1 Process of Analyzing the Problem of Low Immediate Assignment Success Rate...............12
3.2 Method of Solving the Problem of Low Immediate Assignment Success Rate....................14
3.2.1 Equipment Faults............................................................................................................14
3.2.2 Um Interface Problem.....................................................................................................14
3.2.3 System Capacity (Congestion) Analysis ........................................................................19
3.2.4 MS Problem Analysis......................................................................................................24
4 Test Method...............................................................................................................................26
5 Cases of Immediate Assignment Success Rate Optimization..................................................27
5.1 Case 1: Decrease in Immediate Assignment Success Rate Because of SDCCH Congestion
Caused by Incorrect LAC Setting...........................................................................................27
5.2 Case 2: SDCCH Congestion Caused by a Burst of Location Updates................................28
5.3 Case 3: Low Assignment Success Rate Because the RACH Minimum Access Level Is Set
to 0.........................................................................................................................................28
5.4 Case 4: Low Immediate Assignment Success Rate in Some Cells Because of MS Error...30
6 Onsite Information that Needs to Be Obtained.........................................................................33
Tables
Table 1 Mapping between formulae and factors..........................................................................10
Abstract
Key Words: SDCCH, immediate assignment success rate
success rate of the MS accessing the signaling channel and affects the user experience.
BSC32——G3BSC32V300R007C01B015
BSC6000——BSC6000V900R001
1.1 Definition
The immediate assignment success rate is calculated from traffic statistics. The
Channel REQ
Channl RQD
A1
Channel ACT
I MM ASS CMD
f i r st SABM B1
UA
EST I ND( CM Ser vi ce REQ)
C1
Note:
If the immediate assignment success rate decreases, the following symptoms may
occur:
Call setup success rate decreases.
……
Success Rate
According to the signaling flow, the factors concerning the immediate assignment
(1) Random access request phase: whether the small interference signal on the Um
interface is regarded as the random access request by the BSC. Affecting factor:
Um interface problems;
(2) SDCCH assignment phase: whether the SDCCH is available after the random
(3) Channel activation phase: whether the channel activation is successful after the
(4) Immediate assignment command phase: whether the timer for the
interface problems;
(5) Link establishment phase: whether the link can be established on the SDCCH
As shown in the previous section, the following four factors are related to immediate
problems.
These factors are related to the definition of the KPI. There are three formulae that
can define the immediate assignment success rate, the mapping between formulae and
Generally, reception of CHAN ACTIV NACK during the SDCCH activation is caused
by equipment faults. If one TRX fails in the cell configured with multiple TRXs, the
immediate assignment may fail or the SDCCH may be congested. If you are sure that the
fault lies in a TRX, replace the faulty TRX. Otherwise, check the cables in the antenna
system and the VSWR. If the cables are properly connected and the VSWR is normal,
you need to replace the TRX, and then check whether services are normal again.
The BTS may mistakenly regard the interference on the Um interface as the random
access signal. This may lead to immediate assignment failure or SDCCH congestion. In
In a cell configured with six or more than six TRXs, the combination losses of the
BCCH TRX and non-BCCH TRXs are different, leading to coverage difference. If the
SDCCH is configured on the non-BCCH TRX, a call that is far away from the serving cell
may fail to access the SDCCH when it is assigned to the non-BCCH TRX. Thus, the call
You can also check the parameters concerning location update and SDCCH dynamic
configuration. For SDCCH congestion caused by traffic burst, such as group sending of
short messages and location update at the portal of a tunnel, the problem cannot be
completely solved. You can, however, alleviate the congestion by enabling the functions
① Location area planning: a reasonable location area plan can help alleviate the
SDCCH congestion.
example, CRO, CBA, CBQ, and Cell Reselection Hysteresis) can help alleviate SDCCH
congestion.
④ Check whether the settings of related timers (such as T3101, T3122, T3212, and
2.3.4 MS Problems
In some cases, the location updates performed by the MS are abnormal, leading to a
low immediate assignment success rate. These MSs fail to establish a link on the
SDCCH after sending the channel request, causing a low immediate assignment success
rate. For the detailed analyzing method and case study, see case 4 in section 3.
When the immediate assignment success rate becomes low, you should firstly check
the range in which the problem exists, and then find out the factors related to the problem
according to KPI statistical formulae. For details, see section 2.2 "Factor Analyzing
According to the Definition of the KPI". In the case of recommended formula, the general
Start
Analysis of low
immediate assignment
success rate
Ye Solve
Idle interference TRX receive RACH
Um interface s overload Interferenc
band/signaling level and quality
fault? times e problem
analysis analysis
No
No
Problem
solved?
Yes
End
Figure 1 Process of analyzing the problem of low immediate assignment success rate
Before analyzing the cause of low immediate assignment success rate, you should
find out the difference between the actual immediate assignment success rate and the
expected value. You should also find out the influence of the problem and the definition of
Firstly, you should check TRX Availability in BSC Measurement and SDCCH
Availability in SDCCH Measurement. Secondly, you should check the number of times
that a NACK message is received or the timer expires during the SDCCH activation. In
this way, you can determine whether the problem is caused by board faults.
You can also check whether hardware is faulty by viewing BTS alarms or by viewing
the hardware state on Site Device Panel of the LMT. You can check the following traffic
statistics for reference:
success rate. Especially in the areas with a small space between BTSs and dense BCCH
frequency planning, the system allocates SDCCH for each signal if a large number of
interference signals are received. Thus, the congestion may occur. In this situation, the
immediate assignment success rate and paging success rate decrease, and the RACH
may be overloaded. You can locate the problems by analyzing the idle interference bands
and the TRX receive quality during the call.
If the system mistakenly regards the interference as a random access signal and
sends an assignment command, the immediate assignment will fail. You can locate the
For the SDCCH congestion caused by interference, you can check the following
requests, you can locate the problem by performing signaling analysis on the Abis
If the signaling analysis result shows that the random access signals are all from far
away, for example, the values of TA are higher than 10, sometimes even higher than
20, and the levels are lower than -100 dBm, the random access success rate is high
and the immediate assignment success rate is low, you can infer that the signals are
0101xxxx Originating data call from dual-rate mobile station when TCH/H
is sufficient and supported by the MS for data calls and the network sets
NECI bit to 1 note 5
000xxxxx Location updating and the network does not set NECI bit to 1
011110xx One phase packet access with request for single timeslot uplink
01111x0x transmission; one PDCH is needed.
01111xx0
NOTE 1: Examples of these procedures are: IMSI detach, Short Message Service (SMS),
Supplementary Service management, Location Services.
NOTE 2a: If such messages are received by a network, an SDCCH may be allocated.
NOTE 2b: This value shall not be used by the mobile station on RACH. If such message is
received by the network, it may be ignored.
If the combination mode of the BCCH TRX and the non-BCCH TRX is different, or
the losses are inconsistent because of different transmit power or other problems, the
If concentric cell technology is not applied, the power of different TRXs on the
antenna input port is different because of different uplink losses. This causes inter-TRX
coverage difference. Thus, assignment failure may occur. To solve this problem, check
When multiple antennae are installed in a cell, the coverage differences of the
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antennae may cause assignment failure. You can solve this problem through engineering
adjustment.
③ The transmit and receive antennae are not on the same horizontal plane or their
tilts are not the same. You can solve this problem by adjusting the antennae.
Generally, heavy traffic on the SDCCH is caused by frequent location updates. You
can check the rate of the SDCCH being occupied by querying the counter Channel
Requests (Location Updating) and the total number of channel requests. Figure 3
shows the ratios of different kinds of SDCCH requests to the total number of SDCCH
requests on Shanghai Unicom when the traffic is heavy. If the ratios are high, check the
location area planning and the drive test result. If the edges of location areas are
configured in the area with heavy traffic, reconfigure the location areas. In addition, you
can adjust the CHR parameters to reduce location updates. For details, see Case 1.
If the SDCCH congestion rate is high (greater than 5%), the traffic volume on each
SDCCH may have exceeded the limit as planned. You should check the configuration of
the location update and SDCCH dynamic configuration parameters. If the settings of
If the congestion rate and traffic volume of the SDCCH are high, but the traffic
volume of the TCH is normal, the SDCCH congestion may be caused by burst traffic. For
the sites along the railway, especially for these near the tunnel portal, the capacity
configured is generally small. When a train passes through or stops, a large number of
location updates occur, which finally lead to SDCCH congestion. In addition, during the
period when the volume of short messages is large, SDCCH congestion may occur. This
problem cannot be completely solved, but you can take some measures to alleviate the
congestion. For example, configure more SDCCHs, or enable the dynamic conversion
For the configuration of related parameters, see section 3.2.3.2 "Congestion Caused
Figure 3 shows the ratios of different kinds of SDCCH requests to the total number
A300F:Number
A300A:Number
A300D:Number
A300H:Number
( packet cal l )
A300K:Number
i ncompat i bl e)
r equest s ( cal l
A300E:Number
or i gi nat ed
t er mi nat ed
A300I :Number
( emer gency
( l ocat i on
of SDCCH
of SDCCH
of SDCCH
of SDCCH
of SDCCH
of SDCCH
updat i ng)
r equest s
r equest s
r equest s
r equest s
r equest s
r equest s
( pr ot ocol
of SDCCH
( mobi l e
( mobi l e
of SDCCH
Reser ved)
cal l )
cal l )
cal l )
r e-
Figure 3 Ratios of different kinds of SDCCH requests to the total number of SDCCH
requests on Shanghai Unicom when the traffic is heavy
follows:
high traffic volume or low QoS. The parameters of such cells should be set as follows:
firstly, set PT to 31, so that TO becomes invalid. Secondly, set C2 to the same value as
CRO subtracted from C1 so tha t the value of C2 is reduced and thus the possibility of
reselecting this cell is reduced. In addition, network operators can set the CRO according to
the actual conditions. The greater the CRO is, the more difficult it is for an MS to access
the cell.
whether cell reselection is performed between different location areas. This parameter
can prevent frequent location update, thus minimize the possibility of losing paging
messages. Generally, this parameter is set to 6 dB. For dual-band networks in urban
areas not sharing the location areas, this parameter is set to 8–10 dB.
If the traffic volume in an area is high, and signaling overload occurs frequently,
it is recommend that you set the CRH of the neighboring cells belong to different
large, it is recommended that you set the CRH of the cells to a larger value.
If some areas between two neighbor cells under different location areas have
poor coverage, or if most of the MSs in the area (such as highways) move at a
high speed, it is recommended that you set the CRH of the cells to 2–6 dB.
Parameter Description
SDCCH If this parameter is set to YES, the dynamic conversion
Dynamic between the SDCCH and the TCH is enabled.
Allocation
Allowed
Idle SDCCH According to the channel assignment algorithm, when
Threshold the number of idle SDCCHs in the cell is smaller than
N1 or equal to the value of this parameter, the system
Reduce the value of this parameter properly to minimize the congestion caused
by dual assignment of the SDCCH. If the length of this timer is too long, the
signaling resources, you should shorten the length of this timer, especially when
ASSIGN REJECT message. The MS can send a new channel request message
only after T3122 expires. If the length of T3122 is too short, the MS may send
this timer properly to reduce the load on the SDCCH brought by periodic
location update.
T3111: This timer delays the deactivation of channels after main signaling links
started during the disconnection of both TCH and SDCCH. The value of T3111
must be the same as the value of T3110 at the MS side. Generally, they are set
to 2 seconds. If the length of T3111 is too long, the SDCCH congestion rate is
increased.
5. RACH Min Access Level: If the value of this parameter is too small, much
interference may access the network, thus leading to SDCCH congestion. If the value of
this parameter is too large, it is probable that MSs cannot make the call even though the
signal level is high. This parameter should be set on the basis of the actual receiver
sensitivity of the BTS, the minimum access level of the MS, and the interference
condition.
6. Late assignment: This function is set at the MSC side. If this function is enabled,
the call is on the SDCCH before the called MS answers. This prolongs the time when the
7. RXLEV_ACCESS_MIN: If this level is too low, a large number of MSs may access
the network, and SDCCH congestion may occur during call initiation or location update.
8. Tx-integer: When the network traffic is heavy, the success rate of immediate
assignment is low if the sum of S and T is small. Thus, the value of T should be properly
adjusted to make the sum of S and T greater. For details about the value of S, see the
description of Tx-integer.
Together with CBQ, CBA determines the priority of a cell. For details, see the GSM
04.08 protocol.
10. Cell Bar Qualify (CBQ): CBQ takes effect during cell selection rather than cell
reselection.
Objective: to check the problems that exist on site and solve the problems caused by
Symptom 1: The number of failed SDCCH seizures due to timeout is almost equal to
the number of location updating requests minus the number of link establishment
Symptom 2: The problem happens discontinuously during both busy hours and idle
hours.
Symptom 3: The call service is normal. Except for low immediate assignment
success rate in a few cells during certain periods, the KPIs and drive test result are
normal, and no call drop complaint is received. Because when an MS fails in location
update, it may try to access other cells or try to access the cell again periodically.
Symptom 4: No interference and no cells with the same BCCH frequency and BSIC
exist.
Symptom 6: The result of signaling analysis on the Abis interface shows that the
number of request retransmissions and the retransmission interval of the failed location
If all the previous symptoms exist, you can infer that the problem is low immediate
As the problem of low immediate assignment success rate is caused by some MSs,
and the MSs cannot be located because no layer-3 information is provided in location
update procedure, this problem cannot be solved on the network side currently.
(1) Reduce the impact of abnormal MS location updates on the network KPIs.
Problem handling:
If any of the previous six symptoms does not exist, initiate the procedures for
2. For the sites located on the edge of location areas, do as follows to optimize the
Adjust the parameter Cell Reselection Hysteresis and adjust the cell selection
Data analysis:
1. For the analysis report of problem location, see the following attachment.
Analysis on Low Immediate Assignment Success Rate Caused by Abnormal MS Location Update-qiuwenfang.rar
Based on the previous analysis, we find that the channel requests received when the
problem occurred were sent by some abnormal MSs, and the BTS responded and
handled the requests correctly. The analysis is based on the uplink and downlink. The
(1) When the cell access is prohibited, the immediate assignment success rate of the
cell becomes normal. This indicates that the abnormal location updates are caused by
(2) The location update requests are with high level, low error rate, and small TA
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(except for some sites with wide coverage area). This indicates that the abnormal
(3) The number of location update requests sent by an MS complies with the settings
of network parameters. This also indicates that the abnormal location updates are
(1) The immediate assignment commands are sent correctly, because the values of
T1, T2, and T3 are the same as those in the channel requests.
(2) Call access and the supplementary services such as short message are all
normal. The problem only exists in the SDCCH access related to location update. This
4. Network data comparison (for the swapped offices and the offices with segmental
networking)
By comparing the data before and after swapping (for swapped offices) and the data
of the surrounding cells (for the offices with segmental networking), we find that the
4 Test Method
As the formulae of this counter in different manufacturers and operators are different
currently, you should record the value of other related counters and choose a proper
Problem description
The SDCCH congestion rate of cell 2 in S1/1/1 configuration was higher than 8%,
and the immediate assignment success rate of that cell was 90%.
the TCH is low, and the traffic volume per cell in busy hours is lower than 2.2 Erl; however,
there are many SDCCH seizure requests (3032 in busy hours), the traffic volume on the
SDCCH is 1.86 Erl, and the congestion rate is higher than 8%.
(2) The SDCCH is mainly occupied by the signaling before the call is established,
the signaling during handover, the signaling for location update in idle mode, and the
short messages.
(3) As the traffic volume on the TCH, the number of TCH seizure requests (318), and
the number of handover requests (146) are all normal, we infer that the high SDCCH
seizure rate may be caused by too frequent location updates or too many short
messages.
(4) The LAC of the cell is 0500, but the LACs of other cells around this cell are all
0520. After the LAC of the cell is changed to 0520, the number of SDCCH seizure
requests becomes 298, the traffic volume on the SDCCH becomes 0.27 Erl, the
congestion rate decreases to 0, and the immediate assignment success rate reaches up
to 95%.
Problem description
The immediate assignment success rate was low in a local network. Traffic statistics
showed that the problem was mainly caused by SDCCH congestion on some sites.
hours. The congested cells are all in S1/1/1 configuration and each cell is configured with
eight SDCCHs/8. In normal conditions, 300 to 400 times of SDCCH seizures are
acceptable, but SDCCH congestion happens for tens of times in each cell.
(2) Traffic statistics show that most of the SDCCH seizures are caused by location
update. As most of the congested BTSs are located in the intersection areas of two
location areas along the railway, we doubt that the SDCCH congestion may be caused by
(3) After checking the five-minute traffic statistics, we find that most of the location
updates happened within a certain period of five minutes. The train timetable shows that
four or five trains had passed within that five minutes. When the trains passed, a burst of
location updates were performed during a short period of time, thus, the congestion
happened.
(4) For the BTSs located in the intersection areas of two location areas along the
5.3 Case 3: Low Assignment Success Rate Because the RACH Minimum
Access Level Is Set to 0
Problem description
Subscribers of the cells controlled by a certain BSC complained that the success
the data and traffic statistics, we find that the parameter RACH Min Access Level
of all the cells with low assignment success rate is set to 0. The immediate
assignment success rates of cells whose RACH Min Access Level are set to 1, 3,
or 5, however, are around 99%. According to the previous data, we infer that the
(3) If RACH Min Access Level is set to 0, there is no restriction on the random
access; If RACH Min Access Level is set to 1, a call can access the cell only
In Shantou Unicom, the RACH Min Access Level of most of the cells is set to 0 to
improve the paging success rate. This causes a great number of mistaken access
In addition, the parameter Random Access Error Threshold also has error
(4) When RACH Min Access Level and Random Access Error Threshold of all
the cells in module 1 of the BSC in Shantou Unicom are set to different values, the
set to 200 and 1 respectively, the mean immediate assignment success rate of
set to 200 and 0 respectively, the mean immediate assignment success rate of
set to 180 and 1 respectively, the mean immediate assignment success rate of
After discussing with the customer, we decide to set Random Access Error
Threshold and RACH Min Access Level of all the cells to 180 and 3
respectively. In this way, mean immediate assignment success rate of all the
Problem description
The personnel on site reported that the immediate assignment success rate of some
(2) Traffic statistics of the cells with the problem show that the number of link
times that the setup indication timer expires, as shown in the following figure. This
indicates that the SDCCH setup failure is mainly caused by location updates.
(3) The signaling of the cells with problem shows that generally the value of TA is
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GSGSM BSS Network KPI (Immediate Assignment Success Rate) Optimization Manual INTERNAL
small and the level is high. This indicates that the problem is not caused by interference.
But after the BSS sends the immediate assignment command and waits for the MS to
access, the uplink signal strength detected by the BTS is always lower than –110 dBm.
This indicates that the MS does not report the link establishing indication and thus
whether the number of location updates is in compliance with the network setting. The
following figure shows the signaling captured in the local network. As can be seen, the
location updates are mainly initiated by a same MS and the maximum number of
After the CBA of a cell is enabled, the system information of the cell will carry a flag
bit. The MSs that receive such system information will not consider that cell during cell
reselection, and the number of location update requests to the neighboring cells
increases.
After the CBA is enabled, the immediate assignment KPIs become better, as shown
(5) For a swapping project, check whether the problem exists in the network before
swapping. If the problem existed, then we can infer that the problem is mainly
occurred.
BSC32:
(1) All the counters of the Access Capability Measurement 1 and Access
Performance Measurement;
Performance Measurement.
BSC6000:
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GSGSM BSS Network KPI (Immediate Assignment Success Rate) Optimization Manual INTERNAL
(1) All the counters of Access Measurement per BSC in BSC Measurement;
(2) All the counters of Interference Band Measurement per TRX and Receive
Channel Measurement;
(4) All the counters of KPI Measurement per Cell, Immediate Assignment
Measurement per Cell, and Flow Control Measurement per Cell in Call
Measurement.
2. Data configuration and OMC data operation logs before and after the problem
occurred.
frequency adjustment, and location area adjustment, are performed after the problem
occurred.
5. Alarms generated before and after the problem occurred, including commissioning
alarms.