UMTS Interference Investigation

ZTE University
Content

 Internal interference
 External interference
 Interference Investigation Process
Interference Classification
 UMTS is an interference limited system, network
quality, capacity and coverage are associated with
the background noise.
 Internal interference
 Internal interferencenormally defined as interference
generated by faulty equipment. And the equipment is
located between RF TX port and antenna.
 External interference
 external sources of interference.
 Interaction between the external system.
Internal interference
 The antenna connector is screwed too tight or too loose.
 The antenna feeder is bent too much, and the load
connections are loose, etc.
 Antenna, feeder line, joint and load quality problems
caused by the device itself, such as feeder line damaged,
antenna isolation is worsen and so on. There is a small
part for the base station caused itself.
 Power amplifier is spurious, inter-modulation indicators
worsen and duplexer is lack of isolation etc.
Inter-modulation
 Linear Dynamic Range
Linear Component
S IN S OUT
a S OUT = a S IN

P OUT Linear Dynamic Range

(dBm)
linear range non-linear
ideal
3 dB

real
1 dB

Noise Floor P IN
C1 dB C3 dB (dBm)
Inter-modulation
 Products Generation Non-Linear Component

S IN S OUT
S OUT = a S IN + b S2IN + g S3IN +...

Two Tone Inter-modulation Products

S IN = cos(F1) + cos(F2)

a S IN = a cos(F1) + a cos(F2) LINEAR

b S2IN = b cos2(F1) + b cos2(F2) + 2b cos(F1).cos(F2)

2ND
ORDER
S OUT = cos(2F1) cos(2F2) cos(F1 ± F2)

g S3IN = g cos3(F1) + g cos3(F2) + 3 g cos2(F1)cos(F2) + 3 g cos(F1)cos2(F2)

3RD
ORDER
cos(3F1) cos(3F2) cos(2F1 ± F2) cos(2F2 ± F1)
Inter-modulation
 Third Order Inter-modulation Products
Inter-modulation Products Spectrum

2F2 + F1
2F1 + F2
2F2 -F1
2F1 -F2

F1 + F2
F1 - F2

F1 F2 2F1 2F2 3F1 3F2

Third Order Intercept point

P OUT
(dBm) linear range
P LINEAR
=
3rd order
P TOI
IM products

P IN
Noise Floor (dBm)
IP3
Inter-modulation
 GSM/UMTS Collocation Aspects

GSM / UMTS Inter-modulation Analysis

• 2nd order IM products from GSM900 Tx fall into UMTS uplink band

• 3rd order IM products from GSM1800 Tx fall into UMTS uplink band

• No 2nd or 3rd order IM products of UMTS Tx fall in any of the GSM bands

GSM / UMTS Collocation

• extra Tx chain filtering

• use of diplexer/triplexer
Internal Interference
 The internal interference has following characters:
 The main path and the diversity path RTWP are not relevant. But
they must have special reasons, e.g. they are jointly somewhere.
 there is a certain correlation between interference and the traffic.
When the traffic is little, there is high probability that the
interference doesn’t occur.
 RTWP generally has high volatility, and the volatility in the range of
about 10 dB or greater than 10 dB.
 Once the interference occurs, it has a certain duration without
mutable change generally, which is very different from the external
interference.
 From the time characteristics of RTWP, RTWP has no significant
changes in law generally.
Internal interference (PA problem)
 After PA power off, the interference disappear also.
 Scanning result is normal.
 RTWP no change when replace antenna.
 Long term RTWP statistics is random.
 RTWP of different frequency is similar, while RTWP of
main path and diversity path has large difference for same
frequency.
Content

 Internal interference
 External interference
 Interference Investigation Process
External interference
 An external source of interference may be the existing
GSM systems, repeaters, mobile phone jammers,
microwave transmission equipment and the illegal use of
the UMTS system band equipment.
Possible External interference source
External Interference
 If have the following characteristics, we can judge to be
External interference:
 Under normal circumstances interference is relevant to both the
main set and the diversity, which means the interference has a
similar trend and little difference ( e.g. less than 5dB ).
 External interference also affects cells with geographical proximity.
 From the time characteristics of RTWP, external interference
generally has discontinuity, and there is a regularity of the
interference time of occurrence, duration and interval with an
exception of such as microwave interference.
External interference(BBU,IP switch etc)
 In UMTS, RTWP requirement is -105dBm/5MHz on antenna connecter
port. So antenna specially high gain antenna must keep enough
distance between electric element (5m)

Source B8200+ switch

Indoor system
External interference(BBU,IP switch etc)
 B8200/IP switch is installed in the same room with antenna;
 Multiple narrow pulse interferences;
 Interference normally is on 890MHz、891MHz、900MHz、
907.5MHz、910MHz 1720MHz、1750MHz;
External interference(repeater)
 The interference caused by repeater, trunk amplifier
usually have following reasons：
 Poor stability, easy to self-excitation.
 Gain setting unreasonable, leading to the interference to the donor
base station is too serious.
 The characteristics of interference caused by repeater,
trunk amplifier are:
 Long time stability of interference or unexpected interference.
 Long time stability of interference is generally caused by the gain
setting problem of the repeater or the trunk amplifier.
 Repeater interference is generally a large area of directivity
disturbed while trunk amplifier interference is rounded.
External interference(repeater)
 RTWP is high for All frequency used in repeater.
 RTWP of main path and diversity path has large difference for same
frequency.
 RTWP is stable.
Interference caused by wrong gain setting
Interference caused by Self-excitation

 A large number of irregular burst, particularly short existing.

 fixed-cycle interference, the existence of time is typically a few
seconds.
External interference(TV)
 TV signal amplifier is very close to antenna.
 Interference normally is a wide band signal(1-5MHz).
 TV user has complain for bad TV signal.
Interference from Other System
 The existing wireless communication systems (such
as GSM, DCS, PHS, TD-SCDMA, CDMA2000, etc.)
may interfere with UMTS system.
 Forms of interference between the systems are
mainly spurious, blocking and inter-modulation.
Barrage Jamming
 When the interference signal is too strong, it will block
UMTS receiver, exceed the working scope of the
amplifier and mixer, make the receiver can not
demodulate, interfere the receiver.
 UMTS receiver blocking requirements for:
 ≤-40dBm (in-band)
 ≤-15dBm （out-of-band）
 ≤16dBm （GSM、DCS in-band）
 Comparing the out-of-band interference signal amplitude
by test and the UMTS receiver blocking indicators, we
can determine whether there is barrage jamming.
Barrage Jamming

Center Frequency Interfering Wanted Minimum Offset Type of

Operating
of Interfering Signal mean Signal mean Of Interfering Interfering
Band
Signal power power Signal Signal
880 - 915 MHz -40 dBm -115 dBm ±10 MHz UMTS signal *
860 - 880 MHz
-40 dBm -115 dBm ±10 MHz UMTS signal *
XIII 915 - 925 MHz
1 MHz - 860 MHz
-15 dBm -115 dBm  CW carrier
925 MHz-12750 MHz
NOTE *: RTWP normal value is about -106.5dBm.
Barrage Jamming
 The out-of-band blocking signals are close to 0dBm, tested from the
first stage LNA output of UMTS base station. And as the receiver’s
band blocking indicator is -15 dBm, the big margin of the non-linear
distortion signal ( >-50dBm ) generated in 1922.4 MHz frequency is
caused by barrage jamming, while the link is already saturated.
Microwave Transmission Interference
 The microwave transmission interference has following
characteristics：
 Long basic stability.
 Strong directivity.
 Interference effects of a wider range.
 Spectrum is a broadband spectrum.
 Other electro magnetic interference.
Content

 Internal interference
 External interference
 Interference Investigation Process
Interfere Investigation Process
High RTWP

Power off PA Y
RRU replaced
RTWP OK?

N
Check:
RTWP value of last 10 days( all frequency neighbor cell)
NW design plot
Neighbor cell info, repeater info

Repeater exist? Y

N Power off Repeater, Y

Repeater problem
RTWP is ok?

BBU & antenna in Y

same room?

N Only F1 RTWP increase?

Y BBU or some other element
Nearby antenna

N
Interfere Investigation Process(continued)

RTWP of main
path and diversity path
is high correlative
N

Y RTWP of Neighbor RRU

Increase ? Y

RTWP increase for All N

frequency

Wide band TV signal

Inter-modulation
interference amplifier
Interference detect
 Two ways commonly used to detect interference.
 Using sweep signal generator is able to detect a certain frequency
bandwidth.
 Observation network performance indicators in the "average
RTWP" is the best way to discover the network uplink interference.
Under normal circumstances, the cell is empty and the RTWP
should be around -105dBm. If the average RTWP of some cells is
up to about -95dBm, that is, 10dB more than the empty cell, then
we can conclude that these cells have been interfered on
uplink."The biggest RTWP" is recommended only as a reference
when making judgments, it is also possible caused by the access
to peak.
Interference detect
Interference Data Acquisition
 Track the cell to be located a week (at least 3 days), 24
hours of its RTWP data.
 Track the cells (located adjacent to the cell) near the cell
to be located a week (at least 3 days), 24 hours of their
RTWP data.
Analysis of the Interference level
 The interference must be determined berfore process
 Interference between -105 to -95 dBm ====> mild level.
 between -95 to -85 dBm ====>moderate level.
 greater than -85 dBm ====> serious level.
 The NW interference situation also need to be determined:
 If all cells from large area are interfered strongly, the interference
may be from outside source.
 If only some cell is interfered, it may be due to hardware problems
caused by internal interference or interference from a smaller
external interference.
Internal Interference (stand-alone antenna)
Start

Disconnect Point A

Connect match load

to UMTS base station

No UMTS base station

Is RTWP back to normal?
equipment error
Yes
Connect jumper at point A
to VSWR tester

No Antenna error from

Is RTWP back to normal?
point A to antenna
Yes
External Interference
Internal Interference Locating(sharing antenna)
Start

Disconnect Point A Check if it is caused by

UMTS base station
Connect match load equipment
to UMTS base station

No UMTS base station

Is RTWP back to normal?
equipment error
Yes
Reconnect point A

Turn off the power amplifier Check if the interference is

of GSM base station caused by GSM output signals
No
Is RTWP back to normal?
Internal Interference Locating(sharing antenna)
Disconnect point C and D Disconnect point A and B

Check if it is Connect jumper of point C Connect jumper of point A Check if it is

caused the to VWSR tester to VWSR tester caused the
jumper from jumper from
point C to D Connect jumper of point D Connect jumper of point B point A to B
to match load to match load

jumper error No No jumper error

Is RTWP back Is RTWP back
from point C from point A
to normal? to normal?
to D to B

Yes Yes

Disconnect point E
Check if the interference is
Connect jumper of point E caused by GSM output signals
to VWSR tester
Internal Interference Locating(sharing antenna)

antenna error
Is RTWP back No
from point E
to normal?
to the antenna
Yes

Replace the combiner

Check if it is
caused the
Reconnect point A, B, C and D combiner

Turn on the power amplifier

of GSM base station

Is RTWP back No
external interference
to normal?
Yes

combiner error
External Interference Locating Process

External Interference
Investigation

Data Acquisition

Data Analysis

On-site Investigation and Test

Interference Source Verification

Interference Source Confirmation

End
External Interference Locating Process
 Data Acquisition
 24-hour RTWP data for one week ( 3 days at least ) of the target
cell and its surrounding cells.
 MapInfo for the site distribution, the relative position and distance
information of sites.
 Cell antenna azimuth and antenna height.
 Survey photo of all sites.
 If the cell to be located is provider of the repeater.
 GSM&UMTS repeater distribution around the cell to be located.
 PHS&CDMA1.9G distribution around the cell to be located.
 Structure chart of antenna feed system of the cell to be located.
External Interference Locating Process
 Data Analysis
 The long-time and short-term characteristics of RTWP of cells
around the cell to be located at the same time.
 According to the cell distribution map, take environmental analysis
on the cell to be located using survey photo and such resources.
 Analyze the relevance of main set and diversity of the cell to be
located, according to the antenna’s structure chart.
 Integrate RTWP value of the cell to be located and around cells
using AOA method, forecast the interference source with antenna
direction and height.
AOA Method
 According to multiple base
station cells’ antenna,
determine the direction of
interference source in
relation to current cell. Draw
on a map, the intersection
of the antenna direction
shall be the location of
interference sources.
External Interference Locating Process
 On-site investigation and testing
 Check the actual situation around the antenna, whether there is
metal shielding or reflective objects.
 Check the antenna and antenna distribution of other operators.
 Check carefully if there is objects of suspicion, such as PHS base
stations, CDMA1.9G base station, repeater, microwave
transmission, etc.
 Use YBT250, filter and antenna to test interference strength,
direction and spectral properties.
 Test and analyze the general location of the interference source.
Determine the suspected interference source.
External Interference Locating Process
 Interference Source Verification
 When the suspected interference source is a block of metal objects
or other reflectors, you can remove it or adjust the antenna position
to verify.
 When the suspected interference source is an active device, you
can turn on and off the device at a proper time to verify.
 Observe if RTWP value changed before and after the operations. If
RTWP value is back to normal, the interference source is found. If
RTWP value has no change or little change, we need to continue
investigation.
External Interference Locating Process
 Interference Source Confirmation
 When the interference source is confirmed, we should timely make
a record of it (including its spectrum intensity, spectrum information,
GPS information, interference source entity’s photo), and
positioning steps in detail, then output the interference test report.
External Interference Locating Process
 Three-point locating is the most commonly used methods.
The so-called three-point locating is testing 3 places using
the spectrum analyzer with directional antennas, according
to cross point of the interference source direction,
approach from the multi-direction gradually to the most
strongly interfered location, and eventually find out the
interference source.
PHS Interference Source Determination
 UMTS network is subject to external interference with the greatest suspicion of
PHS (except cities with CDMA1.9G network). As PHS base stations are
distributed intensively, it is hard to determine quickly and accurately which
PHS base station leads to interference with the spectrum scanning. With the
help of PHS field strength tester, we can learn quickly which PHS base station
cause interference.
 Take an example of PHS35C, the test result below shows the signal field
strength (dBuV) from each PHS base station.
Summary
 For the external interference, common solutions are as
follows:
 Adjust UMTS system antenna’s position, azimuth angle, tilt and
height to have the antenna deviated from the interference source,
and to increase the space isolation between UMTS system and the
interference source.
 If it is confirmed that the surrounding metal objects has led to
strong inter-modulation products, we need to remove these objects.
However if these objects can not be moved, we can move the
antenna to see if the problem is worked out.
 Modify the frequency to avoid the third-order products fall within the
UMTS receive band.
 Modify the parameters of the interference source device, or add the
filter.