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GSM BSS

Communication
Flow

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Copyright © 2006 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.


Foreword
 Course Purpose:
 Grasp the means of interface trace and the method of
analyzing it to aid us for fault handling.
 How to learn this course:

 Copy the interface trace result files.


 Use the maintenance console’s interface trace review
function to study,

 Attention:
 It is strictly forbidden to use the interface tracing function
when the system is busy or the system is under heavy duty.

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Contents
1. Location Update Flow
2. Call Setup (Originating)
3. Intra-BSC Handover
4. Inter-BSC Handover
5. BSC Normal Release
6. BSC Local-end Release
7. Case Analysis

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Location Update Flow

 Purpose of location update:


 To inform the system the LA in which the MS is to
facilitate paging

 When need the MS perform location


update ?
 Getting into a new LA
 Periodical location update

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Location Update Flow
MS BTS BSC MSC
Channel_req Channel_Required

Channel_Active
 SABM: Set asynchronous
Channel_Active_Ack
balanced mode command——
initial access frame IMMEDIATE ASSIGN COMMAND
First SABM
 UA: Unnumbered Establish_IND(Location Updating Req)
UA
CR(Complete_L3_
acknowledgement response information)

CC

Location Updating Accepted (NOTE 1)

TMSI Reallocation Complete(NOTE 2)

(NOTE 3) Clear_CMD

Clear_CMP

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NOTE 1: Authentication, Encryption,
Identity
 After establishing the SCCP connection between BSC and MSC there
might be authentication and encryption in an intact location update
flow.
 For Huawei MSC, authentication and encryption are all optional. And
normally authentication is mandatory and encryption is optional in
practical situation.
 Huawei BSS system supports encryption algorithm A5/1 and A5/2.
 Identification: The ID in Est_IND message reported by the MS is
TMSI. When VLR cannot identify the TMSI or TMSI authentication
fails, MSC will start Identification flow. That means MSC will send
transparent transfer message “Identity Request” to MS and MS will
report “Identity Response” message which involves IMSI.

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NOTE 2
 To reallocate new TMSI or not during location
update is optional in MSC.
 If MSC chooses “Reallocate TMSI during location
update” to “No”, MS will not report “TMSI
Reallocation Complete” message.

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NOTE3
 In this flow we have simplified the release flow. To
know more detailed refer to the BSC Normal Release
Flow.

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Abnormal Occasion
 BSC receives “Location Updating Rejected”
message from MSC. The possible reason is listed
below:
 MSC has not configured the CGI which has been
configured in BSC. (CGI=MCC+MNC+LAC+CI)
 Communication failed between MSC and VLR.
 MS has not been registered in HLR.

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Contents
1. Location Update Flow
2. Call Setup (Originating)
3. Intra-BSC Handover
4. Inter-BSC Handover
5. BSC Normal Release
6. BSC Local-end Release
7. Case Analysis

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Call Setup Flow (Originating)
MS BTS BSC MSC
Channel_req Channel_Required
Channel_Active
Channel_Active_Ack
IMMEDIATE ASSIGN COMMAND
First SABM Establish_IND(CM Service Req)
UA CR(Complete_L3_information)
CC
CM Service Accepted (NOTE 1)
Setup
Call Processing
(NOTE 2) Assignment_Req
Channel_Active
Channel_Active_Ack
ASSIGNMENT COMMAND
First SABM Establish_IND
UA
ASSIGNMENT CMP Assignment_CMP
Alerting
Connect
Connect Ack
Conversation (NOTE 3)
Disconnect
Release
Release Complete
Clear_CMD
(NOTE 4) Clear_CMP

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NOTE 1: Class Mark Update
Flow

1. Authentication, encrytion, identification are


optional. See Note 1 in Location Update Flow.
2. Class mark update flow:
For dual-band MS, after the SCCP
connection is established and before
receiving message "CM Service Accepted"
there will be a class mark update flow.
CR message reports the information of class
mark 2. And in the class mark update flow,
MS will report class mark 3 information which
is related to the dual-band capabilty.

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NOTE 2: Assignment Method
 Very Early Assignment
In “IMMEDIATE ASSIGN COMMAND ” ,TCH is
directly assigned. When MSC sends
“Assignment _Req” message, BSC will not
assign new channel but perform
“Mode_Modify” flow. After that, MS will
report “Assignment _CMP” message to MSC.
 Early Assignment
MSC sends “Assignment_Req” before
“Alerting”.

Very Early Assignment  Late Assignment


MSC sends “Assignment_Req” after
”Alerting”.

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Abnormal Situation
 Abnormal Occasion 1: MSC has sent “Assignment_Req”
and BSC does not send “ASSIGNMENT CMD” but sends a
“Assignment_Fail” message. Possible reasons:
 A. BSC has not available TCH.
 B. The CIC assigned by the MSC is not idle in BSC.

 Abnormal Occasion2: BSC has sent “ASSIGNMENT CMD


message but MS sends “ASSIGNMENT FAIL”. Possible
reason:
 Downlink bit error rate is too high.

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Contents
1. Location Update Flow
2. Call Setup (Originating)
3. Intra-BSC Handover
4. Inter-BSC Handover
5. BSC Normal Release
6. BSC Local-end Release
7. Case Analysis

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Intra-BSC Handover
MS BTS1 BSC BTS2 MS MSC

Measure Report from MS

Channel_Active

Channel_Active_Ack

HANDOVER COMMAND

Handover Access
Handover_Detect
PHYINFO
(NOTE 1)
PHYINFO
First SABM
UA
Establish_IND

HANDOVER COMPLETE
Handover_Performed

(NOTE 2)

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NOTE1:Asynchronous Handover and
Synchronous Handover
 Intra-BSC asynchronous handover:
 BTS1 and BTS2 do not belong to the same BTS. Thus
the target BTS shall send PHY INFO message.

 Intra-BSC synchronous handover:


 BTS1 and BTS2 belong to the same BTS. Actually they
are two cells of one BTS. In such occasion there will not
be PHY INFO message, After “Handover Access”
message, MS will send SABM directly. (No PHY
INFO is send)

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NOTE2
 After reporting “Handover_Performed” message to
MSC, BSC will start the local-end release flow for the
previous channel (in BTS 2).

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Abnormal Occasion
 In case of intra-BSC asynchronous handover,
when BTS1 has sent PHY INFO message to the
maximum time but the MS still can’t access the
new channel, BTS1 will send CONN FAIL IND
message. Its causing value is “handover access
failure”. When BSC receives this message, it will
start local-end release flow to release the new
channel in BTS1.

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Contents
1. Location Update Flow
2. Call Setup (Originating)
3. Intra-BSC Handover
4. Inter-BSC Handover
5. BSC Normal Release
6. BSC Local-end Release
7. Case Analysis

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Inter-BSC Handover
MS BTS1 BSC1 MSC BSC2 BTS2 MS
(NOTE 1)
Measure Report from MS
Handover_Required Handover_Request
Channel_Active

Channel_Active_Ack
Handover_Request_Ack
Handover_CMD
HANDOVER COMMAND Handover_Detect Handover Access
Handover_Detect PHY INFO

PHY INFO
First SABM
Establish_INO UA
HANDOVER COMPLETE
Handover_Cmp
Clear_CMD
(NOTE 2) Clear_CMP

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NOTE1: Two Different Handover
Occasions of Inter-BSC Handover
 Intra-MSC inter-BSC Handover:
 Two BSCs belong to the same MSC.

 Inter-MSC Handover:
 Two BSCs do not belong to the same MSC.
 The A-interface messages are the same for
the two occasions above.

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NOTE2
 When BSC1 receives Clear_CMD message from MSC,
it will start local-end release flow for the previously
occupied channel in BTS1.

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Contents
1. Location Update Flow
2. Call Setup (Originating)
3. Intra-BSC Handover
4. Inter-BSC Handover
5. BSC Normal Release
6. BSC Local-end Release
7. Case Analysis

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BSC Normal Release Flow
MS BTS BSC MSC
(NOTE 1) Disconnect
Release
Release Complete
Clear_CMD
Clear_CMP
CHANNEL RELEASE
Deactive_SACCH
First DISC Release_IND
UA RF_Release_Req
RF_Release_Req_ACK

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NOTE1 : Two Occasions of
Release
 NSS originating release
 MS originating release
 In these two different occasions all the messages are
the same except the direction of the first 3
messages.

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Contents
1. Location Update Flow
2. Call Setup (Originating)
3. Intra-BSC Handover
4. Inter-BSC Handover
5. BSC Normal Release
6. BSC Local-end Release
7. Case Analysis

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Local-end Release Flow
MS BTS BSC MSC

Deactive_SACCH

Release_Req(LOCAL END) (NOTE 1)

Release_Confirm
RF_Release_Req
RF_Release_Req_ACK

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Contents
1. Location Update Flow
2. Call Setup (Originating)
3. Intra-BSC Handover
4. Inter-BSC Handover
5. BSC Normal Release
6. BSC Local-end Release
7. Case Analysis

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Case Description
 BSC’s ASSIGNMENT CMD message has been sent but
the BTS sends several EST IND messages. Later MS
sends ASSIGNMENT FAIL message and the causing
value is Protocol error unspecified.

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Case Analysis
 By analyzing the messages we can find that MS has reported
several EST IND messages before ASSIGNMENT FAIL message.
 When BTS receives a SABM frame it will report an EST IND
message to BSC. So we know now that the MS must have
sent many SABM frames to the BTS.
 BTS can decode the SABM frame sent by MS but MS cannot
decode the UA frame sent by BTS. And this causes that the
BTS reports many EST IND messages. (as the MS things when he doesn’t
receive “UA” message from BTS when he sends “SABM” message that BTS might not have been
able to decode “SABM” message so he sends it again)

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Case Analysis
 Case realize:
 In the lab we can simulate. Disconnect the TX antenna to
make the downlink signal pure. Trace the A-bis signaling we
can find that BTS sends several EST IND messages to BSC for
the newly assigned TCH but can’t succeed. And then MS
sends ASSIGNMENT FAIL via the previous SDCCH and the
causing value is “Protocol error unspecified”.

 Conclusion:
 In the practical field, when many ASSIGNMENT FAIL
messages appear, the main reason might be the pure
downlink receiving power level or receiving quality.
 Connection between TRX and SCU (CDU).

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Appendix: Power Class
 Phase 2 MS output Power Class and the exact power
relations.

power GSM900 Max DCS1800 Max Tolerance(dB) Tolerance(dB)


class peak power peak power _normal _extreme

1 ------ 1W(30dBm) +/-2 +/-2.5

2 0.25W(24dBm) 2 2.5

3 5W(37dBm) 4W(36dBm) 2 2.5

4 2W(33dBm) 2 2.5

5 0.8W(29dBm) 2 2.5

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Power Control Level
power output Tolerance Tolerance Power output Tolerance Tolerance
control power _normal _extreme control power _normal _extreme
level (dBm) (dB) (dB) level (dBm) (dB) (dB)
Phase 2 MS 0-2 39 2 2.5 29 36 2 2.5
Power control 3 37 3 4 30 34 3 4
4 35 3 4 31 32 3 4
level and the 5 33 3 4 0 30 3 4
exact power 6 31 3 4 1 28 3 4
7 29 3 4 2 26 3 4
relations.
8 27 3 4 3 24 3 4
9 25 3 4 4 22 3 4
10 23 3 4 5 20 3 4
11 21 3 4 6 18 3 4
12 19 3 4 7 16 3 4
13 17 3 4 8 14 3 4
14 15 3 4 9 12 4 5
15 13 3 4 10 10 4 5
16 11 5 6 11 8 4 5
17 9 5 6 12 6 4 5
18 7 5 6 13 4 4 5
19-31 5 5 6 14 2 5 6
15-28 0 5 6

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Thank you
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