GPRS Typical Cases Analysis

GSM Network Planning & Optimization Dept.

Purposes

After learning the course, you will:

• Be familiar with GPRS trouble-shooting methods
• Command GPRS CQT&DT OMC analysis methods
• Command GPRS signaling tracking analysis methods
Contents

ATTACH Failure
PDP Activation Failure
WAP Failure
FTP Failure
Other Failures
Overview ATTACH Failure

Attach
AttachFailure
FailureFeatures Attach
Features Attachsuccess
successrate
rateisislow
lowand
anddelay
delayisislong
long

Subscriber’s Failure Network Failure

 MS doesn’t support GPRS or has no GPRS  Network has no GPRS
 MS isn’t compatible with network’s
 Network hasn’t been allocated
equipment
GPRS resources or GPRS resource
 MS accessing authority is restricted
isn’t enough
 Too frequent cell reselection
Reasons for  Signaling data transfer failed
causes instable attach Attach Failure
or untimely

 Weak coverage
 Cell has co-channel interference, adjacent interference or
external interference
Radio Environment  Cell congestion causes untimely response to attach request
Failure  Busy system or slow response impacts logon efficiency
Overview ATTACH Failure

 Solutions for Attach Failure

 turn off SGSN authority;
 use one-step accessing mode;
 check coverage;
 prevent frequent cell reselection;
 trouble shoot to improve C/I ；
 check RACH or AGCH configuration;
 check GPRS ENABLED setting;
 check Gb links load and adjust NSEI configuration;
 GPRS core network modification.
MS cannot logon GPRS ATTACH Failure

Failure
FailureDescription:
Description: Failure Analysis:
 InInone  According to signaling flow, BSS is in
onenetwork,
network,subscriber
subscriberfails
failsinin
MS
MSGPRS
GPRSAttach.
Attach. charge of TBF flow establishment, and
 MSMSsends
sendsAttach
Attachrequest,
request,then
then then MS exchanges signaling with SGSN;
SGSN
SGSNsends
sendsback
backattach
attachaccept
accept in normal flow, MS sends Attach complete
message,
message,but
butBSC
BSCsends
sendsLLC
LLC to SGSN.
unknown  Related BSC data have no problem.
unknowninformation
informationsignaling.
signaling.
 From global test we can see that the
same failure occurs in sites controlled by
all BSC that connect with SGSN, so we
Solution:
initially estimate it is SGSN problem.
 Turn status of P-TMSI from disable  After checking we see modification that
to enable and then the failure is is status of P-TMSI is changed from initial
enable to disable that causes P-TMSI
solved.
can’t allocate and subscriber can’t use
GPRS
ATTACH Failure ATTACH Failure

 Problem: frequent cell reselection (60021→60332→60021) causes too

long ATTACH delay (14.55s).
 Solution: raise 60021CRH from 8dB to 10dB, adjust
60332RXLEVACCESSMIN from 10dB to 12dB.
ATTACH Failure ATTACH Failure

 Problem: network sends Packet Access Reject message to MS as the response to

Packet Resource Request message, which includes “Wait_Indication” whose value is
T3172; MS starts up T3172 when receiving Packet Access Reject message, during T
3172 operation, network doesn’t allow MS to reattempt packet access in one cell. This
problem is caused by tight radio resource.
Solution : expand statistic PS channel.
Contents

ATTACH Failure
PDP Activation Failure
WAP Failure
FTP Failure
Other Failure
Overview PDP Activation Failure

PDP
PDPActivation Low
Activation Lowsuccess
successrate
rateof
ofPDP
PDPactivation,
activation,PDP
PDP
Failure
FailureFeatures
Features activation
activationfailure,
failure,long
longPDP
PDPactivation
activationtime
time

MS Failure: Radio Network Failure:

 APN set incorrectly;  Weak radio network
 OoS mistake; signal;
 PDP address mistake;  Interference;
 Unavailable radio
 MS isn’t compatibly
resource or congestion.
with network
Reasons for
PDP Activation Failure
Frequent Route Update:
 The area is located on edge
Core Network Failure:
of LAC, route update
 DNS translation failure; causes unsuccessful PDP
GTP failure between SGSN and GGSN activation or too long delay
Overview PDP Activation Failure

Solutions for PDP Activation Failure

 check coverage;
 prevent frequent cell reselection;
 trouble shoot to improve C/I;
 check RACH or AGCH configuration;
 check Gb links load and adjust NSEI configuration;
 set T3168 timer reasonably;
 check GPRS parameter setting, set BSC parameter DRX_TIMER_MAX r
easonably;
 turn on SGSN cache to shorten DNS translation time;
 check GGSN processing function, improper DHCP or RADIUS server con
figuration or powerless GGSN processing ability may cause slow PDP activ
ation or even PDP activation failure.
PDP Activation Failure PDP Activation Failure

 Problem: PDP activation failure is caused by less 20281AGCH after reselect from
20022 to 20281.
 Solution: control 20281 coverage extension and increase number of 20281AGCH.
PDP Activation Failure PDP Activation Failure

 Problem: due to continuous twice cell reselection (CELLID: 10071 Channel:2—

CELLID: 111 Channel:90—CELLID: 114 Channel:512), PDP failure is caused by n
o available timeslot during a long period of time.
 Solution: raise 60021CRH from 6dB to 10dB.
PDP Activation Failure PDP Activation Failure

 Problem: PDP activation failure is caused by no PS channel.

 Solution: increase 8540 site’s statistic PS channel and adjust MFR from 5 to 2.
PDP Activation Failure PDP Activation Failure

 Problem: PDP activation delay is occasionally too long in CQT. 7 abnormal dela
ys occur in 100 times PDP activations in 10 nodes, which is shown in the followin
g tables.
PDP Activation Failure PDP Activation Failure
PDP Activation Failure PDP Activation Failure

Failure  From the test result we can see that time is mainly consumed below Gb interface as well as betwe
en Radius and WAP gateway. The sixth time consumption between GGSN and Radius is relativel
analysis:
y long, because the first Accounting Request message sent by GGSN isn’t received by WAP gate
way due to the lost of Accounting Request message in transfer or Radius abnormal processing.
 The other six failures are due to too long time consumption below Gb interface as well as betwee
n Radius and WAP gateway. GGSN sends Accounting Request message to Radius, waits for resp
onse from Radius and starts up corresponding wait timer; corresponding WAP gateway doesn’t r
esponse after receiving Accounting Request message. Then wait timer is overtime because GGS
N doesn’t receive response, the Accounting Request message, and then GGSN resends Accountin
g Request message; this time corresponding WAP gateway gives response and GGSN receives A
ccounting Response message transmitted by Radius, and GGSN begins to response to MS PDP a
ctivation request.
 TBF resource is released due to overtime timer caused by too long time consumption on Gi interf
ace, therefore MS reestablishes TBF while receiving PDP activation accept message, which furth
er increase time delay on radio interface.
 Therefore we can see that the fundamental reason for too long time delay in PDP activation is too
slow WAP gateway response.
Contents

ATTACH Failure
PDP Activation Failure
WAP Failure
FTP Failure
Other Failures
Overview
WAP Failure Features:
 low success display rate of WAP front page;
 long display time of WAP front page;
 low success refresh rate of WAP pages;
 long refresh time of WAP front page.
WAP Failure
WAP Failure Reasons:
 Radio coverage problem, interference, cell res
election failure;
 Data configuration mistake on two ports of G
b interface;
 Too long WAP gateways connection;
 WAP parameter setting mistake.

Solutions for WAP Failure:

 Optimize WAP gateway;
 Optimize GPRS core network;
 Check coverage;
 Prevent frequent cell reselection;
 Carry out trouble-shooting to improve C/I;
 Check Gb links load and adjust NSEI configuration.
Slow Download Rate of
WAP Failure
WAP Picture & Ringtone

 Problem: through analysis we see RLC data retransfer ratio is high, Gb link l
oad reaches as high as 64% in test period from OMC statistic data that causes
low download rate.
 Solution: readjust NSEI to decrease Gb link load and improve GPRS CQT d
ownload rate.
WAP Logon Failure WAP Failure

 Problem: WAP logon test in ** hotel, after tracking Gb interface we figure out th
at on uplink MS sends Get (URL=http://wap.monternet.com) and network replies a
PDU with the contents of “Your request for a service could not be fulfilled, please t
ry again or contact your operator if the Failure persists”. This problem is caused b
y failures in moternet server.
 Solution: require cooperation from core network engineer through negotiation.
Too Long WAP Logon
WAP Failure
and Refresh Delay
Too Long WAP Logon
WAP Failure
and Refresh Delay

Attach request
 Problem: through signalling analysis

WAP test signaling flow

Attach accept we figure out gateway response time
Active PDP

P
context request Access Request R prolongs between CONNECT to CONNE
GPRS A
C
U
核 心
网
Access Accept D
I
CT REPLY and between GET to REPLY;
Accounting Req U
S GET request needs to retransmitted and
Active PDP
Accounting Res.
there is even no response; long signaling
Wap
context accept
Connect
网
关
delay occurs especially between GET an
Connect reply
d REPLY and sometimes even reaches t
Ack

get
get
ens of seconds that largely impacts MS a
M
Reply
Reply
I
S
SP
ccessing rate to WAP;
Ack C
 Solution: core network engineer
optimize WAP gateway.
Feint Event WAP Failure

 Problem: after MS gets required webpage, WAP gateway replies “URL NOT
EXIST” message, which is the response of WAP gateway after it receives “servi
ce temporarily interrupted” message from SP server.
 Solution: this test will be deleted in CDS by processing software and isn’t rega
rded as an attempt test.
Contents

ATTACH Failure
PDP Activation Failure
WAP Failure
FTP Failure
Other Failures
Overview FTP Failure

 FTP Download Failure Features:

 High RLC retransfer ratio
 TBF drop and longtime transfer interruption
 Slow FTP download rate
Overview FTP Failure

Network resource
utilization status

Lack of PDCH and

Impact of unreasonable logic
Impact of TBF and
RLC/MAC block its parameter setting
channel setting
retransfer ratio T3168 and T3192 are set
unreasonably; T3198
Weak server cell signal
and BS_CV_MAX are set
and severe interference
unreasonably.
Reasons for FTP
Download Failure

Impact of C/ I to data
Impact of coding mode transfer

Impact of cell reselection

rate to GPRS data transfer
Overview FTP Failure

 Solutions for FTP Download Failure

 Optimize FTP server;
 Adjust CS proportion dynamically;
 Optimize coverage;
 Prevent frequent cell reselection;
 Carry out trouble-shooting and improve C/I;
 Set T3192 timer reasonably;
 Check Gb links load and adjust NSEI configuration;
 Turn on CS3 and CS4.
FTP Download Failure FTP Failure

 Problem: after MS reselects Cell41921, DL TBF hasn’t been established that

causes long-time unavailable downlink data transfer and finally PDP drop. We
check cell’s GPRS KPI during the test period and figure out downlink timeslot
congestion rate is relatively high that is the reason for no DL TBF establishment.
 Solution: increase the number of the cell’s statistic PS channel.
FTP Download Failure FTP Failure

 Problem: it is Inter-PCU Cell Reselection when MS reselects from CI1892 to

CI481 that causes long-time interruption of data transfer and finally PDP drop.
After checking we figure out NSEI value in CI1892 doesn’t comply with that of
surrounding sites.
 Solution: adjust NSEI value in CI1892.
FTP Download Rate Low FTP Failure

 Problem: frequent cell reselection during FTP download process that causes
long-time suspend of TBF. Cell’s busy TCH makes it’s hard for MS to apply PS
channel and average download rate is only 8.11kbit/s 。
 Solution: expand 30553 and 30152 statistic PS channel, adjust
30553RXLEVACCESSMIN from 10 to 14.
FTP Download Failure FTP Failure

 Problem: level decrease to -94dBm when MS

reselects from 43372 to 42093 and then from
42093 back to 1531 and then frequently
reselects 1531; after a while PDP drops.
 Solution: control coverage of 42093 and 1531.
FTP Download Failure FTP Failure

 Problem: MS frequently reselects cell 1483→18621→741 after it carries out

inter-LAC reselection from 83 to 1483 that causes long-time suspend of TBF and
finally PDP drop. We can see from the map there are elevated roads and no
master control cell beneath.
 Solution: adjust 1483 CRH from 6 to 10, confirm master control cell in the area.
FTP Download Rate Low FTP Failure

 Problem: PDCH that MS obtained isn’t stable and PS is in great demand that c
auses slow DL FTP rate.
 Solution: increase the number of CI2631 statistic PS channel.
BS_CV_MAX Set
FTP Failure
Unreasonably
 Problem description:
 Data transfer rate in one cell in one GPRS network is relatively low; the cell is in s
uburb and has low traffic.

 Failure analysis
 GPRS radio parameter BS_CV_MAX is set as 15; the area has low traffic and no
channel congestion. BS_CV_MAX is GPRS cell option parameter that helps system
to know in advance when MS ends uplink transfer and improve uplink resource utiliz
ation ratio. If value of BS_CV_MAX is set too low, MS may retransmit RLC block dat
a before network sends back confirmation message and radio resource occupation r
atio may be too high; if it is set too high, then sliding window program efficiency will
be too low and data transfer rate will get slower.

 Solution:
 Decrease set value of BS_CV_MAX to improve retransfer ratio. After adjust the v
alue of BS_CV_MAX to 6, transfer rate is improved obviously.
FTP Download Rate Low FTP Failure
FTP Download Rate Low FTP Failure

 Problem: in repetition test we figure out that in one same place, on 52484, C
1=25, C2 ＝ 21; the status from 15:40:33.764 to 15:53:586 lasts 20s and then t
he value of C2 raises to 53. The venue of repetition test is an intersection wher
e large car flow exists and the roads are congested, so PET ＝ 20s that we pre
viously set is far more lesser than the time that we stick in the traffic jam.
 Solution: set the cell’s PET as 200s and then the possibility of cell reselection
decreases greatly.
FTP Download Failure FTP Failure

 FTP transfer drop goes with RAU Failure every time pass through RAC
area. After detailed analysis, we figure out data error on SGSN is the reason
for this route update failure.
 These three parameters are related to GPRS route update:
(1)  home location of each MSC on SGSN
(2)  home location of each BSC in MSC
(3)  RAC area that each cell belongs to
 Normal GPRS MS route update can only be insured when the above 3
parameters comply with hardware in the existing network.
FTP Download Rate Instable FTP Failure

 Problem:
 In one area subscriber complains that FTP download rate varies greatly, with
the difference of more than tens of Kilobits within a very short period of time;
 The area is covered completely by Cell A, and this complaint isn’t appeared in
other cells, so we mainly check the difference between Cell A and other cells;
 We figure out Cell A’s T3168 is set as 4000ms but that of other cells is set as
1000ms.
 Solution:
 The value of T3168 is set so high that data transfer rate is relatively high in
normal transfer;
 MS sends Require Packet Resource message as the response when it
receives Packet Uplink Assignment message; T3168 is started up when the
response is sent; MS doesn’t respond Packet Downlink Assignment message
when T3168 is running, therefore no downlink data are transmitted during the
time that is equal to the value of T3168, which makes low transfer rate.
 Modify T3168 from 4000ms to 1000ms and then FTP download rate is
stabilized and the problem is solved.
Weak Coverage FTP Failure

Problem: vehicle drives from

North to South and passes
through the red circle covered by
Cell A; when it keeps on going to
South, level of Cell A decreases
gradually and cell reselection still
doesn’t occur when the level is
lower than -94dBm; this situation l
asts a long period and causes we
ak coverage. After checking, the c
ell reselection parameter settings
of Cell A and its adjacent cells at t
hat time is shown in the table on t
he next page.
Weak Coverage FTP Failure

Cell Name Rexlev (dBm) RXLEVACCESSMIN CRH CRO TO C2

A -103 -100 8 26 0 23

B -80 -100 8 8 0 28

C -84 -100 8 10 0 26

 Solution: control the coverage of Cell High Education Scientific Research 4 (B

CCH: 560), modify CRO of Cell High Education Scientific Research 4 from 26 to
20.
Feint Event FTP Download Failure

 After sniffing and analyzing packet on Gi interface

we figure out that FTP server stops sending data be
cause it receives [RESET] message after being logg
ed on. The process of FTP download test on MS doe
sn’t stop but FTP server stops transfer, therefore test
software judges failure due to overtime.
 It is server logon failure due to location update, TC
P process fails due to packet lost while logging on F
TP server; the test software shows successful logon
but failed data download.
Feint Event FTP Download Failure

Through sniffing packet by test equipment we can

see that FTP-DATA packet has been received
successfully but hasn’t been turned to effect data
that finally causes overflow in receiving window and
the end of data transfer. But the process of FTP
download test doesn’t stop either, and finally test
software judges failure due to overtime.
it is also the server logon failure due to location
update, although the process of TCP and data
transfer are normal while logging on FTP server,
FTP-DATA still fails.
Feint Event FTP Download Failure

 Conclusion:
 The two kinds of FTP download failures mentioned previously are all caus
ed by FTP failure that appears on TCP/IP transport layer and application la
yer instead of caused by GPRS network layer failure.
 From the test software we can see that data on application layer can’t be r
eceived in the two situations while logging on FTP server, and finally FTP do
wnload fail is displayed due to overtime and it is counted as FTP download f
ailure once.
Contents

ATTACH Failure
PDP Activation Failure
WAP Failure
FTP Failure
Other Failures
PING Failure 1 Other Failures

 Problem: in Ping test, interval is set

from 4s to 12s, and the results vary
greatly. Through recording signalling in
core network we figure out the reason for
unstable Ping time delay are some
rubbish data packets appear in the test
which are caused by the automatic
update of antivirus software and other
application softwares.
 Solution: reinstall operation system,
avoid from installing softwares
irrespective of test; turn off all programs
related to network communication in tray,
turn off Windows automatic update.
PING Failure 2 Other Failures

 Problem: low cell’s C/I causes high BLER (cell BCCH C/I ＝ 5.9). After chec
king planning data we figure out beehive 8800, 7660 and 8750 use the same
BCCH.
 Solution: control the coverage of 8800, 7660 and 8750, adjust frequencies o
f 8800, 7660 and 8750.
MMS Transfer Failure Other Failures

 Problem:
 The transfer success rate of MMS that larger than 15Kbits sent by Panasonic GD
88 mobile phone is relatively low; and the rate is almost 0 when the MMS is larger t
han 30Kbits. But if using mobile phone of other brands, such as NOKIA 6100, the l
arge MMS can be sent both normally and fast.
 Solution:
 After recording signaling on GB interface we figure out Panasonic EB-GD88 mob
ile phone doesn’t completely support GSM04.60 criterion (GPRS RLC/MAC layer cr
iterion); it can’t support completely the site parameter settings that BS_CV_MAX=1
3, 14 or 15, which is allowed in GSM04.60 criterion, and it only supports BS_CV_M
AX=1, …, 12. We suggest modifying the default value of BS_CV_MAX in the whole
network from 15 to 6.
MMS Receiving Failure Other Failures

 Problem: MS sends Get request on uplink for MMS to MMSC, but Cause val
ue in the network Reply message is 404: Not Found; it may be because MS do
esn’t pick MMS in time and MMSC deletes it after waiting for a while, then net
work replies Not Found when MS requires MMS.
MMS Transfer Failure Other Failures

Æô¶¯ Internet Explorer ä¯ÀÀÆ÷.lnk

 Problem: through recording signalling by signalling analyser we figure out

that MS sends PDP activation request initially, APN is CMWAP, but then MS
doesn’t send any signalling later. This situation is caused by dead MS software
process.
 Solution: reinstall MS operation system.
MMS Receiving Failure Other Failures

 Problem: through recording signalling by signalling analyser on Gi interface

we figure out that Get request is sent time after time within around 10ms after
MS has sent Get request (Get request retransmitting timer is set as 10s) , that
makes WAP gateway have no enough time to deal with MS’s Session; from
checking retransfer interval we can see this situation isn’t caused because MS
receives MMS continuously. This situation is caused by MS software failure.
 Solution: reinstall MS operation system.
GPRS Network
Other Failures
Accessing Failure

 Problem description:
 Some subscribers reflect the network accessing rate is slow by u
sing GPRS network card.

 Failure analysis:
 The subscriber’s SIM card classification is high and confirmation
mechanism is used on LLC layer, so network accessing rate is slow
ed.

 Solution:
 Check the subscriber’s PS QoS, reliability; 3 represents unconfir
med, 1 represents confirmed. GPRS network accessing rate accele
rates after mode has been modified as unconfirmed.
BVC Reset and Block
Other Failures
Failure
 Problem description:
BSC Gb interface connects successfully with SGSN on NS layer, but c
onfigured PS channel’s status is “BVC reset and block”.

 Failure analysis:
 After checking signaling, RAC is reported mistaken. Check parameter
settings of BSC and SGSN then find out the previous two parameters a
mong the four parameters of RAC in SGSN configuration are DEC, whic
h should be HEX in SGSN configuration.

 Solution:
 Modify the parameter to HEX and then signaling go back to normal. W
e shall pay special attention that no DEC parameters but HEX paramete
rs shall be used in SGSN configuration.