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Retainability Optimization
Pedro Martins

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Call Drop Characterisation
NORMAL CALL RELEASE CALL DROP

UE eNB MME S-GW UE eNB MME S-GW

Trigger for S1 UE CONTEXT RELEASE REQUEST

release occurs (Cause: “Failure Due To E-UTRAN Generated Reason”)

RELEASE ACCESS BEARERS REQUEST RELEASE ACCESS BEARERS REQUEST

RELEASE ACCESS BEARERS RESPONSE

RELEASE ACCESS BEARERS RESPONSE

UE CONTEXT RELEASE COMMAND

UE CONTEXT RELEASE COMMAND
(Cause: other than “Normal Release”)
(Cause: “Normal Release”)
RRC CONNECTION RELEASE RRC CONNECTION RELEASE
(Cause: “Normal Release”) (Cause: “Unspecified”)

UE CONTEXT RELEASE COMPLETE UE CONTEXT RELEASE COMPLETE

• The MME initiates the S1 release. • Interruption of the single radio connection between the
UE and eNodeB.
• The UE CONTEXT RELEASE COMMAND message with
cause “Normal Release” is sent from the MME to the • The eNodeB initiates the UE context release by sending
eNodeB to release the UE associated S1 logical the UE CONTEXT RELEASE REQUEST message with an
connection over the S1 interface. error/abnormal cause.
• This triggers the subsequent normal release of the RRC • This triggers the subsequent abnormal release of the
connection. RRC connection.
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Retainability Optimisation Overview

ACKNOWLEDGED MODE RLC CONFIGURATION

• Radio Link Failure.
• Maximum number of RLC retransmissions.
• Number of unanswered downlink RLC polls.

UPLINK AND DOWNLINK SYNCHRONISATION

• Radio Link Failure.
RETAINABILITY • RL uplink synchronisation based on the SINR derived from SRS observations.
• RL downlink synchronisation based on block error rate of PDCCH transmission.
• Timing Advance management.

RRC RE-ESTABLISHMENT
• Drops in the radio interface not perceptible by the user.
• Compromise between retainability and capacity.

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Associated Parameters
The table below lists the parameters related to the areas listed in the previous slide, along with the currently recommended
values for maximising retainability performance:

Domain Parameter Recommended Value

maxRetxThresholdDownlink t32
timerTpollRetransmitDownlink ms200
Acknowledged Mode RLC Configuration maxRetxThresholdUplink t32
timerTpollRetransmitUplink ms200
unansweredDownlinkPollCountMax 63
ulSyncSinrSyncToOosThreshold -17.0
ulSyncSinrOosToSyncThreshold -16.0
ulSyncTimer 5.0
Uplink Synchronisation
taFailureTimer 3.0
timeAlignmentTimerCommon sf2560
timeAlignmentTimerDedicated sf2560
n310 n20
Downlink Synchronisation t310 ms2000
n311 n1
t301 ms1500
RRC Re-establishment t311 ms5000
rrcProcedureDefenseTimer 3000

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Main Call Drop Rate Indicators
RRC CONNECTION DROP RATE UE CONTEXT DROP RATE E-RAB DROP RATE
• Mainly an indication of the radio • Most important indicator, normally • Relevant when analysing the call
quality and how often the Radio Link used by customers. drop rate per type of service (QCI).
Failure condition is triggered. • •
Direct relation with the signalling Measures customer experience for
• Not so widely used. flows previously shown. real time services, for which case
• • L12505 (UE CONTEXT RELEASE the user will immediately recognize
L12305 (total amount of radio link
failures detected by the Node B). REQUEST messages sent, per cause). the loss of connection.
• L12609 (number of E-RABs
• L12306 (radio link failures • L12507, L12508 (additional cases of
screened by cause; maximum abnormally released, per QCI).
UE context release).
number of DL RLC retransmissions • L125a2_31_CI (rate of UE Context • L126e2_21_CI and L12609_1[to
reached or loss of UL L1 8]_21_CI (rate of E-RABs that are
established that have been released
synchronisation). with an abnormal cause due to eNB dropped, per QCI).
• L12305_31_CI (ratio of RLF reason). • L12609_21_CI (rate of E-RABs that
compared to the number of RRC are dropped, including all QCIs).
connection successes and re- • Also possible to calculate per
Alcatel-Lucent internal targets for UE context and E-RAB drop rates:
establishments). GBR/non-GBR nature of the E-RAB, by
Full Load Full Load Full Load using L126c5_21_CI and
No Load Average Load
(Near Cell) (Mid Cell) (Cell Edge) L126d5_21_CI.
< 0.5% < 0.5% < 1.0% < 1.7% < 2.5%

Target value for RRC connection drop rate is < 1.2%.

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RRC Connection Drop Scenarios
The indicators measuring the RRC connection drop rate provide the ratio of Radio Link Failures detected by the eNB
compared to the number of RRC connection and re-establishment successes.
The radio link failures detected by the Node B can be due to loss of uplink L1 synchronisation or when the maximum
number of downlink RLC retransmissions has been reached. Basic indicator L12306 allows distinguishing between the two
cases.
Note that a radio link failure does not automatically mean a drop due to the RRC re-establishment mechanism. So, for a
single RRC connection success there might be a Radio Link Failure followed by a RRC re-establishment success, and this can
be repeated several times.

UE eNB UE eNB

RLC message ulSyncSinrSyncToOosThreshold

First Retransmission Radio Link Failure detected due
ulSyncSinrOosToSyncThreshold
to loss of L1 synchronisation
RLC message ulSyncTimer

maxRetxThresholdDownlink L12306_1

RLC message
Last Retransmission

L12306_0

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RRC Connection Re-establishment
The radio connection drop in the all IP world of E-UTRAN
and EPC won’t always be perceived as a dropped call by
the subscriber. UE eNB

If the network can re-establish the lost radio connection RRC CONNECTION REESTABLISHMENT REQUEST

fast enough, the drop of the radio connection won’t really L12307
be recognized by the subscriber.
This also has an obvious effect on retainability as the call RRC CONNECTION REESTABLISHMENT
will be given a “second chance”, instead of being released
t301
altogether.
RRC CONNECTION REESTABLISHMENT COMPLETE
The RRC re-establishment success rate can be obtained rrcProcedureDefenseTimer
using calculated indicator L12308_11_CI, with the RRC CONNECTION RECONFIGURATION
successes being counted when the last message in the
diagram is received and the attempts incremented RRC CONNECTION RECONFIGURATION COMPLETE
whenever the RRC CONNECTION REESTABLISHMENT
t311 rrcProcedureDefenseTimer
REQUEST message is received in the eNB.
L12308_x
Basic indicators L12307 (RRC re-establishment attempts)
and L12308 (RRC re-establishment successes) can be used
to monitor the number of attempts and successes,
respectively, for RRC connection re-establishment
procedure.
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Unsuccessful RRC Connection Re-establishment Scenarios
Unsuccessful RRC re-establishment analysis can be done using L12310. UE eNB

Cause Counter Pegged RRC CONNECTION REESTABLISHMENT REQUEST

Re-establishment ID unknown L12310_1

RRC CONNECTION REESTABLISHMENT
RRC message timeout L12310_2, L12310_3
Reception of new RRC CONNECTION REESTABLISHMENT RRC CONNECTION REESTABLISHMENT COMPLETE
L12310_4
REQUEST message
Radio link failure L12310_5 RRC CONNECTION RECONFIGURATION

Short MAC-i mismatch L12310_6

RRC CONNECTION REESTABLISHMENT REQUEST
S1 fault or OAM intervention L12310_7, L12310_8
CAC failure L12310_9
RRC CONNECTION REESTABLISHMENT REJECT
Integrity failure L12310_10
Overload condition L12310_11 L12306_4

Too late eNodeB response L12310_12

UE eNB UE eNB

RRC CONNECTION REESTABLISHMENT REQUEST RRC CONNECTION REESTABLISHMENT REQUEST

RRC CONNECTION REESTABLISHMENT REJECT L12310_1, RRC CONNECTION REESTABLISHMENT

6, 7, 8, 9, rrcProcedureDefenseTimer expires
10, 11
RRC CONNECTION REESTABLISHMENT COMPLETE
L12306_2

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UE Context Drop Scenarios (1/2)
Number of UE CONTEXT RELEASE REQUEST messages that have been sent is counted by L12505.
Cause
Radio link failure
Internal failure
No reception of INITIAL CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST
message
Unsuccessful integrity verification
Security algorithm not compatible
Failure in the radio interface
S1, X2 or PS (to UTRA) handover timeout
Cell change order timeout
Congestion
CSFB, enhanced CSFB and SRVCC handover timeout
OOT user release or reactivation rejection
EC or HPA call reject in case of ongoing cell shrink
Intra eNodeB handover timeout
RRC defence timer expiry
Unspecified cause
RRC release on CAC failure
Counter Pegged
UE eNB MME
L12505_1, L12505_19
L12505_2 UE CONTEXT RELEASE REQUEST
(Cause: abnormal cause)
L12505_4
L12505_x
L12505_5
L12505_7
UE CONTEXT RELEASE COMMAND
L12505_8
(Cause: abnormal cause)
L12505_9, L12505_10, L12505_11
RRC CONNECTION RELEASE
L12505_13, L12505_14
(Cause: abnormal cause)
L12505_16
UE CONTEXT RELEASE COMPLETE
L12505_18, L12505_20,
L12505_21, L12505_38
L12505_22, L12505_23,
Note that not all the causes shown in the
L12505_24, L12505_33
L12505_25 table are used in the UE Context Drop Rate
L12505_30
indicator definition.
L12505_31 Other screenings of counter L12505
L12505_32 correspond to normal UE context releases
L12505_37 (e.g. user inactivity, successful CSFB).

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UE Context Drop Scenarios (2/2)
Additional contribution to call drop rate provided by some screenings of L12507 and L12508.
Cause Counter Pegged UE eNB MME
S1 reset triggered by the MME and eNodeB L12508_0, L12508_2 RESET
External fault (loss of S1, loss of cell service, OAM) L12508_1 L12508_0
Detach without UE RELEASE REQUEST message L12507_6
RESET ACKNOWLEDGE
Abnormal release during intra-LTE mobility L12507_8
Radio connection with UE lost L12507_10, L12507_11 RRC CONNECTION RELEASE

Other abnormal causes L12507_12 UE CONTEXT RELEASE REQUEST

UE CONTEXT RELEASE COMMAND

While L12505 is incremented at transmission of UE RELEASE REQUEST by the
eNodeB, the triggering event of L12507 and L12508 is related to the UE CONTEXT RELEASE COMPLETE
reception/transmission of other messages, like S1 RESET and UE CONTEXT
RELEASE COMMAND.
UE eNB MME
In general, one may consider:
UE CONTEXT RELEASE COMMAND
• L12505 – eNodeB initiated context release. (Cause: “Detach”)
L12507_6

• L12507 – External / MME initiated context release.

• L12508 – eNodeB initiated context release. RRC CONNECTION RELEASE

UE CONTEXT RELEASE COMPLETE

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Example – Increase of timerTpollRetransmitDownlink from 60ms to 80ms
The figures in this slide show the results
obtained when increasing
timerTpollRetransmitDownlink from
60ms to 80ms. A further increase to
200ms was later applied.
All retainability indicators exhibited a
visible improvement, along with a
reduction of DL RLC retransmission rate.
This is an expected result as there will
be an additional time between the RLC
repetitions, thus making it more difficult
to reach the radio link failure condition,
that may result in a call drop in case of
unsuccessful RRC re-establishment.

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