SDCCH DROPS ANALYSIS

Excessive Timing Advance (TA)

Drop call due to excessive TA happens when the TA value at drop call
connection is higher than the cell parameter TALIM (TADROP > TALIM)
and from this counter TFDISTA is incremented.

Probable Reason

Location High sites or sites next to water pick up traffic from far
away

Parameter setting Very low TALIM setting, which would indicate a ‘false’
excessive timing advance

How to analyze:

· Check cell parameter MAXTA and TALIM. If it covers far coverage, it is

possible to setting of the cell parameters MAXTA and TALIM to a
higher value (for e.g. MAXTA=63, TALIM=62)

· If the cell is really covering far away from the site, other options are
reducing the coverage by down tilting the antennas, reducing antenna
height, changing antenna or reducing output power

· If it is a rural area and need to cover a larger area, Extended Range

feature might be useful to be considered.
Other Reason

Drop due other reason equal to total number of drops subtracts all drops with reason. If
any of the above drop reason didn’t meet the criteria, the reason for drop will be in the
‘Other Reason’.

Probable Reason

H/W fault Hardware Problem (Managed Object in BTS)

Disturbance Link/ Transmission disturbance problem

 Parameter Setting Wrongly defined setting (for e.g. LAC – Location Area Code)

Mobile Station MS problem

Interference Interference problem (Uplink)

How to analyze:

· Check the BTS error log for hardware faults. (run commands: RXELP & RXMFP to look
the hardware faults log)

· Check if ICM is indicating uplink interference in the cell.

· Check with O&M regarding transmission problems, HW problems and service affecting
maintenance work during the time period. The average cell downtime and TCH
availability should also be check. It might be intermittent link connection.

· Check object type MOTS, which is based on drop on Timeslot (TS) in order to find faulty
devices.

Remember that
Low Signal strength is one of the reason of drop call. It
can be indicated by many calls disconnected at low
signal strength by subscriber, drop calls due to
excessive TA, poor handover performance and poor call
setup performance.
What could be the probable reasons

Probable Reason

Poor BSC High LOWSSDL & LOWSSUL

Exchange will give more drop reason due
Property to SS and this might not show
setting the actual drop. It is because
drop due to SS is more priority
than Quality.

No dominant Cell might be isolated or

cell standalone.
Antenna tilt & Too much downtilt sometimes
orientation might not cover a larger area
and the subscriber might lose
the SS.

Output Power Low output power might cause

smaller border cell.
Just try to observed what could be the right cause :-

The following procedure should be performed for low

signal strength

analysis:

1:

Identify the baseline requirement of design and BSC exchange property

(setting for LOWSSUL/LOWSSDL).

2:

Check the value for LOWSSDL & LOWSSUL. If it is higher than

ACCMIN, change the parameter to a reasonable value since the drop
reason will be more priority to SS compared to Quality.

3:

Check the site position, antenna direction, position etc. This is to ensure
the possible location is open to interference (open water environment)
or isolated. Good map is needed for this.

4:

Check if the site is sectorized or Omni. If it is Omni, set the cell into
sectorized cell.

5:

Check if the signal strength is uplink or downlink limited. Mostly, It is

designed to be downlink limited.
6:

Check the coverage cover expected area from the planet. If it is not,
check the antenna tilt and orientation. Change the direction or tilt if it is
too much downtilt or pointing to a wrong direction.

7:

Sometime, low output power might cause low SS. Check output power
and if it is low, increase the output power.

8:

Check cell whether it has hotspots from drivetests. If found, adding new
site is recommend.

9:

In order to check power distribution, run Cell Traffic Recording (CTR)

to that particular cell.

10:

Check if the cell has indoor coverage problem. If yes, add micro site
instead.

TCH Drop Analysis

1. Radio Link Time-Out

Every time a SACCH message can not be decoded the radio link time-
out counter is decreased by 1. If the message can be decoded the counter
is incremented by 2. However, the value can not exceed the initial value.
The initial value is set by the parameter RLINKT for radio link time-out
in the mobile station and by RLINKUP for timeout in the BSC. If the
mobile moves out of coverage and no measurement reports are received
in the BSC, there will be a radio link time-out and the message Channel
Release (cause: abnormal release, unspecified) is sent to the mobile
station and the SACCH is deactivated in the BTS. A Clear Request
message is sent to the MSC. To be sure that the mobile has stopped
transmitting, the BSC now waits RLINKT SACCH periods before the
timeslot is released and a new call can be established on the channel.
2. Layer 2 Time-Out

If the BTS never get an acknowledge on a Layer 2 message after the time
T200XN200, the BTS will send Error Indication (cause: T200 expired)
to the BSC, which will send Channel Release (cause: abnormal release,
timer expired) to the mobile station and a Clear Request to the MSC.
The SACCH is deactivated and the BSC waits RLINKT SACCH periods
before the timeslot is released and a new call can use the channel. This is
only valid if the call is in steady state, i.e. not during handover or
assignment.

3. Release Indication

When the BTS received a layer 2 DISC frame from the mobile it replies
with a Layer 2 UA frame to the mobile station and a Release Indication
to the BSC. The system does only react on Release Indication if it is
received during a normal disconnection situation. If such a message is
received unexpectedly this will usually cause radio link time-out or
timer T200 expiration as the mobile station stops the transmitting of
measurement reports. It is also possible that the release will be normal
depending on when the Release Indication is received.

4. MSC Time-Out
Normal Release:

If the MSC never received a response on a message (e.g. Identity

Request) and there is no radio link time-out or layer 2 time-out, the
MSC will send a Clear Command to the BSC. The time-out is depending
on the message. When receiving Clear Command, the BSC will send a
Channel Release (cause: normal release) and then deactivates the
SACCH.

Reject (only SDCCH):

If the MSC never receives a response on the first message after Establish
Indication, the MSC will send a reject message. If the connection was a
Location Update it will be a Location Update Reject (cause: network
failure) and if the connection was a mobile originating call (CM Service
Request) a CM Service Reject (cause: network failure) will be sent. The
MSC will then send a Clear Command to the BSC and the call is cleared
by Channel Release (cause: normal release).

5. Assignment to TCH

Before sending an Assignment Command from the BSC at TCH

assignment, the following two criterion have to be fulfilled:

a. There must be a TCH channel available, i.e. no congestion

b. The locating algorithm must have received at least one valid
measurement report.

If either of the criterion is not fulfilled, Assignment Command will not

be sent and a Channel Release (cause: abnormal release, unspecified)
will be sent to the mobile station and a Clear Request to the MSC.

TCH Drop reason (1)

The classification of TCH Drop Reasons are arranged in the order of
priority:
1.ExcessiveTiming Advance
2.Low Signal Strength
3.Bad Quality
4.Sudden Loss of Connection
5.Other Reasons

Excessive Timing Advance

The TCH Drop counters due to Excessive Timing Advance will pegged
when the during the time of disconnection, the last Timing Advance
value recorded was higher than the TALIM Parameter. This drop reason
is commonly apparent to isolated or island sites with a wide coverage
area.

Action:
Check if the cell parameter TALIM is < "63" Solution:
Set TALIM to a value close to 63.
Tilt antenna/reduce antenna height/output power, etc. for co-channel
cells.

TCH Drop Reasons (2)

Low Signal Strength on Down or Uplink or Both Links

The drops counters due to Low Signal Strength will be pegged when the
Signal Strength during the last Measurement Report before the call
dropped is below the LOWSSDL and/or LOWSSUL Thresholds.
LOWSSDL and LOWSSUL are BSC Exchange Property parameters
which is used only for statistics purposes and does not affect the
behavior of calls. If both UL and DL Signal Strength are below the
thresholds, only Drop due to Low SS BL will pegged. Normally a call is
dropped at the border of large rural cell with insufficient coverage. Bad
tunnel coverage cause many dropped calls as well as so called coverage
holes. Bad indoor coverage will result in dropped calls. Building
shadowing could be another reason.

Action:
Check coverage plots.
Check output power.
Check power balance and link budget.
Check if Omni site.
Check antenna configuration & type.
Check antenna installation.
Perform drive tests & site survey.
Check TRX/TS with high CONERRCNT.

Solution:
Add a repeater to increase coverage in for example a tunnel.
Change to a better antenna (with higher gain) for the base station.
Add a new base station if there are large coverage holes.
Block/Deblock TRX

TCH Drop Reasons (3)

Poor Quality on Down or Uplink or Both Links

The drops counters due to Bad Quality will be pegged when the Signal
Strength during the last Measurement Report before the call dropped is
above the BADQDL and/or BADQUL Thresholds. BADQDL and
BADQUL (expressed in DTQU) are BSC Exchange Property parameters
which is used only for statistics purposes and does not affect the
behavior of calls. If both UL and DL Quality are above the thresholds,
only Drop due to BAD Quality BL will pegged.

Problem on Bad Quality is usually associated with Co-channel

Interference on BCCH or TCH. Faulty MAIO assignment can cause
frequency collisions on co-sited cells especially on 1x1 Reuse. External
interference is also one possible cause of problem on quality.

Action:
Check C/I and C/A plots.
Check Frequency Plan (Co-BCCH or Co-BSIC Problem).
Check MAIO, HOP, HSN parameters.
Check FHOP if correctly configured (BB or SY).
Check for External Interference.
Perform drive tests.

Solution:
Change BCCH frequency.
Change BSIC.
Change MAIO, HOP, HSN.
Change FHOP.
Record RIR or on-site Frequency Scanning to identify source of
interference.
Use available radio features.

TCH Drop Reasons (4)

Sudden Loss of Connection

Drops due to Sudden Loss are drops that have not been registered as low
signal strength, excessive timing advance, bad quality or hardware
(other) reasons, and the locating procedure indicates missing
measurement results from the MS.

There are some common scenarios that could lead to Sudden Loss of
connections such as very sudden and severe drops in signal strength,
such as when subscribers enter into buildings, elevators, parking
garages, etc., very sudden and severe occurrence of interference, MS
runs out of battery during conversation, Handover Lost, BTS HW faults,
Synchronization or A-bis link fault (transmission faults), and

MS Faults.

Action:
Check BTS Error Logs, Alarms and Fault Codes.
Check CONERRCNT per TRX and TS.
Check Transmission Link (A-bis).
Check for DIP Slips.
Check LAPD Congestion.
Correlate Handover Lost to Drops due to Sudden Loss

Solution:
Fix Hardware Faults and Alarms.
Reset TRX with high CONERRCNT.
Ensure that Synchronization and A-bis Link are stable.
Change RBLT with high DIP Slips.
Change CONFACT or increase Transmission Capacity
Investigate HO Lost Problem

TCH Drop Reasons (5)

TCH Drops due to Other Reasons
TCH drops due to Other Reasons are computed by subtracting the sum
of drops due to Excessive TA, Low SS, Bad Quality and Sudden Loss
from the Total TCH Drop Counts. Drops due to Other Reasons are
generally associated with hardware problems, transmission link
problems on A-bis, Ater or Ainterfaces, and sometimes Handover Lost.

Action:
Check BTS Error Logs.
Check Alarms and Fault Codes.
Check CONERRCNT per TRX and TS.
Check Transmission Link (A-bis).
Check for DIP Slips.
Correlate Handover Lost to Drops due to Other Reasons

Solution:
Fix Hardware Faults and Alarms.
Reset TRX with high CONERRCNT.
Ensure that Synchronization and A-bis Link are stable.
Change RBLT with high DIP Slips.
Investigate HO Lost Problem

Problem reason of drop in SDCCH

Low Signal Strength on Down or Uplink

The reason for poor coverage could be too few sites, wrong output
power, shadowing, no indoor coverage or network equipment failure.
Action: Check coverage plots.Check output power. Perform drive tests.
Check BTS error log
Solution: Add new sites. Increase output power. Repair faulty
equipment.

Poor Quality on Down or Uplink

Action: Check C/I and C/A plots. Check frequency plan. Perform drive
tests.
Solution: Change frequency. Use available radio features.

Too High Timing Advance

Action: Check if the cell parameter TALIM is < style="font-weight:
bold;">Solution: Set TALIM to a value close to 63. Tilt antenna/reduce
antenna height/output power, etc. for cochannel cells.
Mobile Error
Some old mobiles may cause dropped calls if certain radio network
features are used. Another reason is that the MS is damaged and not
working properly.
Action: Check MS fleet.
Solution: Inform operator.

Subscriber Behavior
Poorly educated subscribers could use their handsets incorrectly by not
raising antennas, choosing illadvised locations to attempt calls, etc.
Action: Check customer complaints and their MS.

Battery Flaw
When a subscriber runs out of battery during a conversation, the call
will be registered as dropped call due to low signal strength or others.
Action: Check if MS power regulation is used. Check if DTX uplink is
used.

Congestion on TCH
The SDCCH is dropped when congestion on TCH.
Action: Check TCH congestion
Solution: Increase capacity on TCH or using features like Assignment
to another cell, Cell Load Sharing, HCS, Dynamic Half-Rate Allocation
and FR-HR Mode Adaptation etc

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TCH Assignment Analysis

Successful assignments show the number of successful TCH allocations
at call setup.
At unsuccessful assignment, the Assignment Complete message, sent by
the MS, was never received by the BTS.

The formula is defined as:

% TCH = TFCASSALL X 100 %

ASSIGNMENT
SUCCESS RATE TASSATT

Probable Reason

No dominant serving The serving cell cannot cope with the

cell TCH traffic.

Severe congestion on Failing TCH allocation for assignment

TCH or handover due to congestion

Low signal strength The signal strength might be higher on

for call access the BCCH than on the TCH.

Interference Disturbance on SDCCH or target TCH

 Faulty transceiver Faulty equipment

The following procedure should be performed for TCH

Assignment analysis:

1: For TCH assignment success rate, the first thing, check the TCH Time
Congestion.

2: If there is congestion on TCH, it is recommend doing the

dimensioning and adding TRU based on carried TCH traffic demand.

3: If there is no congestion on TCH, check the output power of the BTS.

If the output power is low, increase the output power.

4: If the output power is ok, check the faulty BTS by extracting BTS error
log.

5: If hardware fault found, swap or repair HW.

Perform drivetests to check the coverage and received RxLEV.

6: If no dominant cell or similar signal strengths of a few cells found

during drivetests, it is recommended to add BTS.

7: If there is no problem on the dominant cell, check the interference

whether co-channel or adjacent channel.

8: Check the disturbance whether it is on SDCCH or target TCH. If

disturbance found, improve the frequency plan.

Mostly, the problems of low TCH assignment are TCH

availability and interference.

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SDCCH drop due to "Other Reason"

How to Analyse SDCCH drop due to "Other Reason"

SDCCH drop

SOLUTION:

CONDITIONS:

PROCEDURE:

Our experience says that the "Other Reasons" is the area which is

Really difficult to point out as there could be various possibilities of the same.

There is list of some possibilities that has to be taken care while

analysing the SDCCH drop:

1.Hardware Fault at BTS

For BTS, HW fault should be the prime and preliminary point to be

concentrated. This can be seen by collecting The OMT Logs of CF,TRX,

ECU etc. This type of fault could also be intermittent in nature.

2.Definition of Parameter

Wrong definition or parameter in the BSC could lead to this type of fault.

Few important ones are as follows

The MS power control and BTS power control : As the MS and BTS powers are regulated in order
to decrease battery consumption of the MS and not to saturate the multicoupler of the BTS as well
as decreasing the 

Interference in the system.So the fine tuning of the control parameters are very important in
accordance 

with R&D recommendation.

 Activation of Adaptive configuration : This could also be the reason for the SDCCH drop. So
proper R&D consultation is needed before activating the same, if required . It is advisable to use
of this only in those cells which are really needing the same not the entire BSC area.

 
3.DIP Status

DIP with poor quality may lead to drop call problem in different cells.

Poor quality may implicate High BER or Frame Loss in the DIP connected to a site. DIP Quality
Supervision tools should be initiated for the suspected connecting Digital Path. Mismatch of DIP
could be another reason behind drop call occurrence in some of the cell.

4.frequency Interference Problem

Interference is generally related with Quality Drop, but sometimes it may provoke Sudden Drop
as per situation.

5.C7 link

The C7 link between BSC to MSC should be properly dimensioned and check The command
C7ERP for SCCP information.

Stability of C7 link

6.Proper definition of MSC parameter

The main functions of SDCCH are as follows :

-Call Setup

-Paging

-Location Updating

-Authentication

-Ciphering

-SMS

-IMEI Check

As we could see above, the MSC is also very well involved in above functions so it is equally
required to check MSC part also while analyzing the SDCCH drop. 

Few important parameters definition are given below :

1.The Exchange properties IMEICONTROLSMS and IMEICONTROLSS to "0" (No IMEI related
checks ON if 

you don't have a EIR),

2 PHASE2-1 in the BSC parameters in MSC (MGBSP).

Same as above, we may also check the parameter related to Location

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Interference Analysis

The following procedure should be performed for interference analysis:

Check the drop call performance for that particular cell. When the interference problem occurs in
the cell, the drop call will be higher than usual. This might depends on the severity of the
interference whether it is co-channel or adjacent channel.

Check the handover performance of the cell. The HO performance will also look bad especially
when you look into the neighbor relation that has interference. For e.g. adjacent channel. (CNA
consistency checking can detect this)

Check the antenna direction, position etc. This is to see whether the direction covers the right
area, open space area (this can be seen by having good and updated map)
Check if the site is a dragon site. If the site is a dragon site, it might be possible to get interfered by
co-channel from far away.

Check the co-channel sites, if found, change frequency and see the result. Mostly, changing the
frequency will solve the interference problem.

Check the Intracell handover (normally for Intracell handover 25% Uplink and 75% Downlink)
and if the variation is different from this. Intracell handover usually indicates bad quality and
high signal strength. Too high number of intracell handover show a bad quality cell and if
possible, you can reduce the number of intracell handover of MAXIHO to a smaller value based
on the channel group.

Locate the interference from statistics based on MS reversion to old channel of total attempt.
High number of reversion will show that the target frequency might be interfered.

Check the statistics from Outgoing Handover decision due to bad quality Uplink or Downlink
from handover decision. High decision of handover due to quality will show the direction of
interference.

Check if the interference is uplink interference (this might be an interference from other MSs) by
analyze the ICM band for other band (not include band 1). If found on ICM > 3, change frequency.

Check the MS power regulation setting. If any poor setting found, correct the parameter.
Improper setting of MS power regulation might cause interference. The feature used to reduce the
MS power when the MS is near to the BTS and hoping that it might not interfere the uplink.

Check if the frequency hopping on or off. If more than 1 TRU, turn on the frequency hopping.
Turning on the frequency will help to reduce interference by interference averaging.

Check if DTXU feature is on or off. If off, turn the DTX feature on. This will save the battery in the
MS and reduce the interference.

If the interference is downlink (causing by other BTS interference), Check BTS power regulation.
If any poor setting found, correct parameter setting.

Check if DTXD feature is on or off. If off, turn the DTX feature on. This is used to reduce
interference and decrease BTS power consumption

If changing frequency or parameter cannot solve the interference for both uplink & downlink, it
might be external interference.

Check antenna installation, ensure that the antenna is correctly installed

Check if another mobile network like AMPS is near to the location.

Check from the statistics if there is any pattern of bad quality reason. For example, for
surveillance purpose, the CCTV or wireless alarm system might be turn on during nighttime only.

If external interference problem occurs, do drive test and report the usage of the frequency to
authorities.

HOSR Analysis
Probable Reasons of Bad Handover Performance

---Neighboring Cell Relation

Action:Add neighbor cell relation.

---Missed measurement frequencies in BA-list

Action:Check measurement frequencies list.

---Permitted Network Color Code problem

Action:Check NCC Permitted

---HW faults.
Action: Check BTS error log.

---Blocking on Target Cell

Action:Remove Blocking on Tager Cell

---Congestion
A high congestion might lead to dragged calls (handover performed at a
not intended location) and a lot of unsuccessful handovers.
Action: Check TCH congestion.

---Timer Expire After MS is Lost

The MS never answers the base station.
Action: Check coverage. Check interference.

---Link Connection or HW Failure

Action: Check BTS error log. Perform site visit. Perform link
performance measurements.

---Bad Antenna Installation

Action: Perform site survey and check antenna installation. Check
antenna cabling.

---Many Neighbors Defined

Many defined measurement frequencies defined (>16) will decrease the
accuracy of the mobile measurements to locate the best six servers.
Many measurement frequencies mean few samples per frequency and
problem for mobiles to decode the BSIC.

Action: Check number of definitions.

---Delayed Handover Decision

A delayed handover decision can be due to congestion in the target cell.

Action: Check handover parameters.

---Wrong Locating Parameter Setting

Action: Check locating parameters.

---Bad Radio Coverage

Action: Check coverage plots.

---High Interference, Co-Channel or Adjacent

The potential handover candidate is disturbed by interference. Outgoing
handover due to bad uplink quality may indicate interference from co-
channel another MS. On the border, the quality may be rather bad and
the signal strength low. Bad downlink quality may indicate interference
from another co-channel base station.

Action: Check interference. Check if many handovers are performed

due to downlink or uplink bad quality.

---Receiver Antenna Problem or RBS HW problems (in

candidate cell)
Action: Check antenna installation. Check RBS HW and Error log of
the target cell

---Poor Inter-MSC/BSC Handover Performance

For outer or external cell, wrong definitions in either MSC or BSC may
be reason for the problem.
Action: Check inter-MSC/BSC handover performance.

---Incorrect Down Tilt

Action: Perform site survey and check antenna installation.
Solution: Correct antenna tilting.