Artificial Intelligence Enabled Self-healing
for Mobile Network Automation
Muhammad Zeeshan Asghar 1,2 Furqan Ahmed 3 Jyri Hämäläinen 2
1
Faculty of Information Technology, University of Jyväskylä, Finland
2021 IEEE Globecom Workshops (GC Wkshps) | 978-1-6654-2390-8/21/$31.00 ©2021 IEEE | DOI: 10.1109/GCWkshps52748.2021.9681937
2
Department of Communication and Networking, Aalto University, Finland
3
Elisa Corporation, Finland
Abstract—This paper presents an artificial intelli-
gence enabled self-healing framework for cell outage
detection and compensation in radio access networks.
The developed framework consists of three modules,
namely cell outage detection, cell outage compensa-
tion, and continuous optimization that work in closed-
loop to detect outages, trigger recovery actions, and
network optimization to minimize the impact of out-
ages on user experience. The outage detection module
is based on machine learning algorithms aimed to
detect anomalies in the network performance data.
Likewise, the cell outage compensation module uses
fuzzy logic to determine compensation actions after
an outage cell has been detected. The continuous op-
timization module is tasked with making incremental
improvements to the network configuration through a
heuristic approach. The developed self-healing frame-
work is validated using a network simulator ns-3
based test environment. Results show the framework
is capable of fully recovering from the outage in
terms of accessibility and coverage. In addition, the
cell edge reference signal received power is recovered
by 45%, thereby significantly improving the network
performance once the outage is detected.
Index Terms—Self-organizing networks, Artificial
Intelligence, Self-healing, Network automation
I. I NTRODUCTION
The growing complexity of mobile networks is
the result of a multitude of factors including in-
creased network density, higher degree of hetero-
geneity, and wide range of mobility scenarios. This
trend is likely to continue in the future, especially
for 5G and beyond, leading to new challenges
in configuring, operating, and optimizing mobile
networks in a dynamic manner [1]. In order to
meet these challenges, a high degree of network
intelligence coupled with fine-grained automation
capabilities are needed. Due to recent advances in
the field of artificial intelligence (AI), in conjunc-
tion with the availability of big-data processing
tools, the concept of AI enabled self-organizing
This work is supported by Business Finland 2017-2019.
978-1-6654-2390-8/21/$31.00
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Parul Institute
networks is emerging as a viable approach for mo-
bile network automation [2]–[5]. In the context of
mobile networks, AI based methods are often used
for anomaly detection [6]–[9]. The next step is to
embed intelligence in the control loop, facilitating
both detection and corrective actions. Thus, it is
particularly relevant to self-healing use-cases where
the aim is automated detection of network issues
and anomalies followed by appropriate remedial
or healing actions. During the detection phase, it
is important to identify the outage characteristics
precisely. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are
extensively used to monitor, analyze, and evalu-
ate the network performance. The detection deci-
sions regarding performance degradation are usually
made on the basis of predefined thresholds. How-
ever, such approaches are inadequate in the case of
highly dynamic networks, as thresholds may need
to be modified on-the-fly, on the basis of updated
information. A cell may be identified as abnormal
if the throughput is not in the acceptable range
[10], but the detection of cell outage is not always
straightforward as no alarm is triggered for sleeping
cells. One approach to the design of self-healing
systems is to have a set of predefined solutions,
each corresponding to specific outage scenario. In
contrast, AI/ML based systems are capable of learn-
ing not only about the environment, but also the
impact of different recovery actions. Thus, it is
possible to introduce some new solutions to heal the
network while minimizing error over time. In the
case of outage problems, the compensation actions
mostly consist of adjustment of cell’s reference
signal power and antenna tilt. For instance, au-
thors in [11] utilized three controlled parameters
namely antenna tilt and reference signal power, to
compensate for the outage in an autonomous man-
ner. Predefined thresholds for signal to interference
plus noise ratio (SINR) and throughput are used
to define the detection logic for network failure.
 In previous studies, notably [8], and [12], control
parameters such as remote electrical antenna tilt
and pilot power has been used to recover the cells
contributing to network performance degradation.
However, in previous studies, the focus is on only
identifying faulty cells individually, and updating
them only during recovery actions. This leads to
sub-optimal settings of the network. In this work,
we develop an AI based self-healing framework
that detects cell outages and enables quick healing
via a coordinated response of a set of cells in a
closed-loop manner. For instance, in the case a cell
outage is detected, the downlink transmission power
of relevant neighboring cells is increased during the
recovery step.
The rest of the paper is organized as follows.
In section II-A, we present the overall framework,
followed by discussion on individual modules in-
cluding outage detection, outage compensation, and
continuous optimization. Section III focuses on the
details of system level simulations setup and results.
We conclude in Section IV.
II. F RAMEWORK
A. Overview
As shown in Fig 1, the framework comprises
of four main components, namely cell outage de-
tection, cell outage compensation, continuous op-
timization, and configuration manager. The cell
Fig. 1. The proposed AI based self-healing framework.
outage detection module makes use of minimization
of drive test (MDT) reports. This module uses
anomaly detection algorithm to monitor the cells
for abnormal behavior in the network and detects
the defective cell, displaying an alarm in the alarm
graphic user interface (GUI). Cell outage results in
coverage gap and throughput loss, which may result
in a situation where quality of service requirements
are not met. The compensation component opti-
mizes network parameters based on RSRP (refer-
ence signal received power) and RSRQ (reference
signal received quality) data, to recover from the
performance degradation to the extent possible.
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B. Cell Outage Detection
In order to detect possible outages, data related
to users’ measurements is collected from MDT
sources. The data is processed to produce a feature
vector fm = [ps , pn1 , . . . , pnK , qs , qn1 , . . . , qnK ]
corresponding to each MDT measurement m. Here,
p and q denote RSRP and RSRQ measurements,
respectively. Likewise, subscript s represents serv-
ing cell, whereas n is used for neighboring cells.
Therefore, in the feature vector, RSRP and RSRQ
values belonging to the serving cell and K strongest
neighboring cells are included. For a total of M
measurements, the data can be represented by a
M × L matrix F ∈ RM ×L comprising of feature
vectors, where L = 2K + 2. The first step is to
standardize the data, i.e. mean of each feature is
subtracted from its entries to make the mean value
equal to zero, and scaled by the variance of the
feature to give the features unit variance.
Next, principal component analysis (PCA) is
applied to the data, which converts the possibly
correlated original L variables in a vector to a set of
uncorrelated variables L̃. We calculate PCA using
singular value decomposition (SVD). Therefore, for
data matrix F, where each row is a feature vector,
then the SVD of F is F = UΣVT , where U is a
unitary matrix, Σ is the diagonal matrix containing
the singular values σi , and VT is the transpose
of a matrix of eigen vectors (each column is an
eigen vector). These eigen vectors are the new axis
for our transformed variables that we are interested
in. The new feature values can now be calculated
as FV = UΣ. This transforms the variables into a
new coordinate system, but the dimension of each
feature vector is the same. The features are however
arranged by the amount of variance, and thus we can
get the most significant features by selecting only
the first L̃ columns of U (denoted by UL̃ ) and L̃×L̃
upper left submatrix of Σ (denoted by ΣL̃ and cal-
culating the product of UL̃ and ΣL̃ . The L̃ variables
picked have the highest variance, meaning that they
account for more of the variance in the data than
any of the other variables. This ensures a lower
dimensional representation of the data to increase
efficiency, while still retaining most of the infor-
mation. The processed feature vectors are used as
input data for different machine learning algorithms
that are subsequently compared to find the one best
suited for outage detection. In the training phase
of supervised methods, outages are identified and
corresponding feature vectors labeled accordingly.
Machine learning algorithms considered include
three supervised classifiers namely Random Forest
 classifier, Support Vector Machine (SVM) and De-
cision Tree classifier, and an unsupervised classifier
called Isolation Forest. In order to detect outage, the
machine learning models detect anomalies in the
user measurement reports. However, for triggering
compensation actions, we need to identify the root-
cause cell. To obtain an indicator for the cells,
we consider the z-score for each base station as
considered in [13]. In training phase a reference z-
score is computed for each base station in the net-
work. The reference z-score is computed using the
formula: zb = |Abσ−µ n
n|
, where Ab is the number of
anomalous user reports associated with base station
b, µ is the mean of the number of anomalous reports
per base station in the network, and σ is the standard
deviation. We apply cross-validation to each model
to get an accurate measure of detection rate. Also,
normalized confusion matrices are constructed for
each classifier, displayed in Fig. 2. During operation
a selected detection algorithm is run, and a new z-
score is computed for each cell every time new data
is fetched. This score is then compared to the ref-
erence scores obtained during normal operation. If
the current score is greater than the reference score,
this signals a potential anomaly, corresponding to an
outage. Once the cell is detected, the compensation
module triggers remedial actions as explained in the
following discussion.
C. Cell Outage Compensation
The first step is to identify candidate cells for
compensation action. This is done by examining
handover logs of the outage cell. The cells that have
had handovers with the outage cell are considered
as neighbors, and these are passed on as candidates
for further processing. To determine appropriate
compensation action for each of the candidate cells
we employ a fuzzy logic controller [14], shown
in Fig. 3. This approach enables decision making
from inaccurate information and allows us to set
soft thresholds for triggering actions. The ability to
name each fuzzy set used also makes it easier to use
expert help determining the appropriate inference
rule set. We use a single controller to determine
the appropriate change in transmission power. The
main components are the fuzzifier, inference en-
gine, and defuzzifier. The fuzzifier transforms the
numerical inputs into fuzzy membership values for
each defined fuzzy set using predefined membership
functions, e.g. we might have fuzzy sets Low and
High for RSRP measurements. Thus, it is pos-
sible to determine the degree of membership of
a particular RSRP value by evaluating the mem-
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bership functions of these sets with this RSRP
value. The degree of membership is between 0
and 1. The next component is the inference engine
which calculates the fuzzy output values based on
a predefined set of if-then rules. The degree of
truth αk of rule k(αk ) is calculated as a product
αk = µk,1 (x1 ) · µk,2 (x2 ) · · · µk,n (xn ), where µk,i
is the membership function of the i:th condition of
rule k and xi is the ith numerical input. In addition
to having a truth value, each rule has an output βk ,
a constant value, which in our case is the change
in transmission power that should be made in case
the rule is satisfied. As a final result, the inference
engine produces a fuzzy output αk · βk . Afterwards,
the defuzzifier compiles the fuzzy outputs into a
single crisp output
Pn γ by calculating a weighted
k=1 αk ·ok
average γ = P n . where n is the number
k=1 αk
of rules.
We define two numerical features to be used
as an input to the fuzzy logic controller, namely
block coverage (BC) and accessibility. For a given
cell, block coverage Nbc is calculated as Nbc =
Nb /Nm , where Nb is the number of users that have
measured the cell as the one with highest RSRP, but
the RSRP is lower than a set threshold. These users
are blocked due to lack of coverage. Likewise, Nm
is the total number of users that measured the cell as
the one with highest RSRP. Next, the accessibility
feature Na tries to capture the available capacity
of the cell, which can be calculated as Na =
Nd /Nc , where Nd is the number of connected
users that have RSRQ lower than a set threshold,
i.e. users with degraded performance. The value
Nc is the total number of users connected to the
cell. The threshold values for RSRP and RSRQ
used in calculating these metrics were determined
using the approach discussed in [15]. The Nbc has
three different fuzzy sets it can belong to: Low,
Medium and High. The Na on the other hand has
two fuzzy sets: Low and High. The membership
functions for these sets are shown in The inference
rules are based on these fuzzy values. These rules
characterize the situations in which a cell should
take part in compensation action. The rule set we
used for inference is outlined in Table I. It is
based on the cell outage compensation rules in [14].
Note that Rules 4 and 6 of Table I increase the
power if the cell still has good signal quality, but
there are users blocked due to a coverage hole.
Rule 1 decreases power in the case that a cell
has been overwhelmed by users and signal quality
has degraded, to decrease the coverage area and
hopefully induce handovers to other cells. Rules
 Fig. 2. Confusion matrices of the classifiers analyzed for outage detection.

D. Continuous Optimization

Next, we discuss the continuous optimization

module, which periodically tunes cell parameters
to optimize the dynamically changing network re-
sulting from outages and compensation actions. As
shown in 4, it tunes the transmission power. The
Fig. 3. Block diagram of the fuzzy logic controller. module can be enabled or disabled as desired and it
is independent of outage compensation. In this mod-
ule, optimization comprises of incremental changes
TABLE I to the cell transmission power according to heuristic
F UZZY L OGIC CONTROLLER : I NFERENCE RULES
rules. The possible actions are increase, decrease,
No BC Accessibility ∆ Tx Power or no change. Appropriate action is determined
by ranking the cells by performance. In order to
1 L L Negative
2 L H Null evaluation the performance, we use cell edge RSRP
3 M L Null values. The cells are ranked by their cell edge RSRP
4 M H Positive values and transmission powers of the worst 20%
5 H L Null
6 H H Positive are increased by 1 dB. On the other hand, the
transmission powers of the top 10% is reduced by
1 dB. It is important to note that this change is
recorded and rolled back in the next round if it
2, 3, and 5 maintain current status in situations results in a significant drop in network performance.
where either there aren’t many users blocked due
to coverage, or the cell already has signal quality
issues and shouldn’t take on more users. After
invoking the compensation system, the fuzzy logic
controller is first run for every cell determined to
be in the neighborhood of the outage cell. During
this round, the changes in transmission power are
larger, ±2 dB if selected for action by the controller.
After this the compensation system continues to
run, periodically invoking the fuzzy logic controller,
this time for each cell in the network. The changes
on subsequent rounds are ±1 dB, with the aim that
the system will incrementally achieve a steady state
Fig. 4. Block diagram of the continuous optimization module.
while recovering the network performance to the
previous value to the maximum possible extent.

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 III. S IMULATION S ETUP AND R ESULTS
The LTE module of ns-3 simulator, part of
the LTE-EPC network simulator (LENA) project,
is used for detailed system level simulations.
The modified ns-3 simulator incorporates network-
scenario, radio link failures, handover events [16],
outage event generation, and recovery process.
In network scenario, the user’s reporting time
interval is 200 ms. The gathered measurements are
fetched for analysis after every 10 seconds and
given as input to the cell outage detection module
discussed in section II-B. In our case the explained
variance ratios for the produced 3 principal compo-
nents were [0.549, 0.250, 0.121]. The transmission
power values are limited to between 35-46 dB. The
simulated network consists of 7 base stations each
having 3 cells. The stations are arranged in a hexag-
onal grid with 500 m spacing. The network has
105 simulated individual users moving at 60 km/h.
During simulation, after some interval of time in
normal operation i.e. 10 s, the transmission power
of a selected set of base-stations is instantaneously
reduced to create an outage in the network. The
RSRP values of the cells associated with the base
station gradually decrease to zero in a curve due to
filtering after the outage is created in the network.
In LTE network, L1 (physical layer) and L3 (RRC
layer) filtering [17] is carried out to obtain the
RSRP measurements and handover measurements
of the users at the base stations. These filtering
layers compute the moving average of the measure-
ments making the signals smooth enough to alle-
viate the consequences of the channel fluctuation.
Moreover, filtering layers ensures that a single low
or high measurement does not trigger an undesired
handover. As a result of the outage, users associated
with the base station lose the connection to their
respective cell and cause radio link failure. The
simulation scenario we use for our experiments is
based on the 3GPP specifications [18]. It comprises
of 105 users distributed randomly in the mobility
area, constantly moving at 60 km/h. After 200ms
the new user measurements are generated and stored
in the database. Every 10 seconds, the outage de-
tection module is executed and if an anomaly is
detected, the compensation module takes immediate
action i.e. increases transmission power of selected
cells. The compensation component identifies the
neighboring cells and determines the appropriate
action for each one with the fuzzy logic controller.
At this step the transmission power increase will
be 2 dB (if selected as a recovery action). After
the initial compensation round, the compensation
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module continues to make incremental changes of
1 dB, targeting all of the network, not just the
neighboring cells. This is continued until network
performance close to normal operation is achieved,
or the outage vanishes.
A. Results
The metrics used by the compensation module
to determine actions, BC and accessibility averaged
over the neighboring cells, as well as the average
cell edge RSRP values during the simulation are
plotted in Fig. 5. The beginning of the outage
marked with a solid red line and start of com-
pensation indicated by a dashed black line. From
the figure we can see that the cell outage detec-
tion module detects the outage at the base station
about 10 seconds after the downlink transmission
power plummets to 0 dB. The cell edge RSRP plot
shows a sharp initial drop from the normal level of
about −108 dB, when users lose connection, and a
quick recovery to a lower level of about −112 dB
resulting from the weakened coverage in the area
previously serviced by the outage base station. After
cell outage compensation is triggered, we can see a
gradual rise back to a level close to normal, around
−110 dB. The BC spikes immediately after outage
to about 0.35, but quickly recovers to a lower level
of about 0.1.
After the cell outage compensation is triggered,
the value returns to normal 0, with some periodic
and lower spikes up to nearly 0.1 when users wan-
der out to still existing coverage holes. Accessibility
plunges about 4 seconds after the outage has been
triggered, as the initial wave of users try to connect
to new base stations. However, recovery is quick
even before the compensation, as the value returns
to 1 in under a second and after it is triggered,
accessibility remains normal with some drop to
about 0.97, which was normal even before the
outage. Note that the percentage drop was −3.5 %
in outage. After the cell outage compensation was
triggered, the drop from normal was −1.5 %. This
means that 45 % of the reduction was recovered by
the compensation actions.
IV. C ONCLUSIONS AND F UTURE W ORK
We have presented an intelligent self-healing
framework for outage detection and compensation
in mobile networks. The system automatically de-
tects cell outages, and trigger recover actions that
compensate for outage cells in the network. The
developed framework uses different artificial intel-
ligence based techniques. These include machine
 Fig. 5. Performance metrics during the simulation. Solid red line marks when outage was triggered. Dashed black line marks when
cell outage compensation was triggered.
learning anomaly detection algorithms for outage
detection, outage compensation entity based on a
fuzzy logic controller, and a heuristic continuous
optimization component. Together the components
effectively and efficiently improve the network per-
formance by detecting and compensating for the
failure cells. The cell edge reference signal received
power is recovered by 45%, thereby significantly
improving the network performance once the out-
age is detected. The possible directions for future
work include investigation of online-learning meth-
ods and more challenging networking environments
such as heterogeneous networks.
V. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This research is supported by Business Finland
Funding (grant no.1916/31/2017).
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