TCH Drop Analysis

!***** CONFIGURATION POWER DATA *****!

RLCPC:CELL=AGA006A, BSPWRB=47, BSPWRT=47, MSTXPWR=33;

BSPWRB Base Station (BS) output power in dBm, for BCCH.

GSM 900 : 35 to 47dBm, odd values only.
GSM 1800 : 33 to 45dBm, odd values only.
BSPWRT BS output power in dBm, for non-BCCH RF channels.
GSM 900 : 35 to 47dBm, odd values only.
GSM 1800 : 33 to 45dBm, odd values only.
!***** CELL LOCATING DATA *****!
RLLOC:CELL=AGA006A, BSPWR=55, BSTXPWR=55, BSRXMIN=121, BSRXSUFF=150, MSRXMIN=100, MSRXSUFF=0, SCHO=OFF,
MISSNM=3, AW=OFF, HYSTSEP=90;

BSPWR BTS reference output power on the BCCH carrier. BSPWR is defined at the reference
point used in the locating algorithm. This reference point is needed, because the locating algorithm has to
be able to compare the output power from different cells.
BSTXPWR BTS reference output power on all carriers other than the BCCH carrier. BSTXPWR is
defined at the reference point in the locating algorithm
BSRXMIN It is the minimum required signal strength received at the BTS to consider the cell as a
possible candidate for handover (dBm).
BSRXSUFF It is the sufficient signal strength received at the BTS to consider the cell selectable for
further ranking according to the magnitude of the path loss (dBm).
MSRXMIN The parameter MSRXMIN is the minimum required signal strength received at the MS in
a given cell to consider the cell as a possible candidate for handover (dBm).
MSRXSUFF The parameter MXRXSUFF is the sufficient signal strength received at the MS to consider
the cell selectable for further ranking according to the magnitude of the path loss (dBm).
SCHO SCHO is used to identify if handovers on SDCCH are allowed in the cell. To be able to
perform a handover on SDCCH between two cells, both cells must have SCHO = ON. Change &
observe.
AW It identifies if assignment to worse cell is allowed. This feature allows allocation of a TCH
in a cell with worse radio conditions than the serving cell. This is used if there is congestion in the
serving cell.
HYSTSEP It specifies when the signal strength for the serving cell, is high or low. When the signal
strength is high, a larger hysteresis value can be allowed than when it is low in order to reduce the
number of handovers. The serving cell is classified as a high signal or a low signal cell, depending on the
level, HYSTSEP. If the down-link signal strength is below HYSTSEP, the serving cell is classified as a
low signal cell. Otherwise it will be classified as a high signal cell.
Ericsson's locating algorithm provides the user with a powerful tool to implement a very flexible cell
plan. Big differences in behavior of the radio network and improvements in performance can be achieved
with parameter changes and activation of different radio network features.
There are two different basic algorithms to choose between, Ericsson 1 and Ericsson 3. Ericsson 1 is
based on the GSM specification and it is possible to use either path-loss or signal strength or both for the
handover decision
<rllbp;
BSC LOCATING DATA

SYSTYPE
GSM900

TAAVELEN TINIT TALLOC TURGEN EVALTYPE THO NHO

4 10 2 2 1 30 3
ASSOC IBHOASS IBHOSICH IHOSICH
ON ON OFF OFF

1
SYSTYPE
GSM1800

TAAVELEN TINIT TALLOC TURGEN EVALTYPE THO NHO

4 10 2 2 1 30 3
ASSOC IBHOASS IBHOSICH IHOSICH
ON ON OFF OFF

END
<

EVALTYPE Cell ranking according to the Ericsson1 locating algorithm.

IHOSICH Intra-cell HO on signalling channel. ON-Allowed. OFF -Not allowed. Change & observe.
!***** CELL LOCATING URGENCY DATA *****!
RLLUC:CELL=AGA006A, QLIMUL=55, QLIMDL=55, TALIM=61, CELLQ=LOW;

QLIMUL Quality limit uplink for handover urgency.

QLIMDL Quality limit downlink for handover urgency.
TALIM Timing advance limit for handover urgency. It determines the maximum TA that the MS is
recommended to use in the cell. If the measured and averaged timing advance value is equal to or greater
than TALIM, the cell must be abandoned urgently if there exists a neighbouring cell that can take over
the connection. If no such cell exists no action is taken.
CELLQ Cell quality. High or low. An incoming MR initiates a new evaluation cycle. Depending
on the RPD processor load in the BSC where the locating function is performed, it is possible to have the
process started every second MR. This can be adjusted using the parameter CELLQ. Processor load can
be controlled as follows:
• CELLQ=HIGH: means that a constantly good quality can be expected within the cell. Every MR is
evaluated, but the cycles only start on the arrival of every second MR. As soon as the transmission
quality deteriorates, the system automatically switches to calculation of handover criteria on the arrival of
every MR.
• CELLQ=LOW: means that transmission quality changes within a broad range. The radio connection
requires constant supervision and quick reactions to poor conditions. Therefore, the cycle is performed
every time an MR arrives.
Change & Observe : CELLQ can be kept LOW in all Cells, as HO will be prompt for poor radio
conditions.
!***** CELL LOCATING DISSCONNECT DATA *****!
RLLDC:CELL=AGA006A, MAXTA=63, RLINKUP=16;

MAXTA Timing advance limit when an MS is considered lost.

RLINKUP Radio link timeout, used by the BSC to determine when to disconnect a call upon repeated
failure in decoding the SACCH. A counter that is given the value RLINKUP is started in the BSC after
the assignment of a dedicated channel. The counter is increased two units if the SACCH data is
successfully decoded. One unit decreases it if it can not be successfully decoded. If the counter reaches
the value zero, then a call release is initiated.
Check and change all to 16.
!***** SYSTEM INFORMATION SACCH AND BCCH *****!
RLSSC:CELL=AGA006A, ACCMIN=110, CCHPWR=33, CRH=6, DTXU=1, NECI=0, RLINKT=16, MBCR=0, NCCPERM=3;

ACCMIN Minimum received signal level in dBm at the MS for permission to access the system.
108 = - (109 to 108) dBm
109 = - (110 to 109) dBm
110 = less than -110 dBm

Change to 104 or 100 & Observe.

CCHPWR Maximum transceiver power level (TXPWR) in dBm a MS may use when accessing the
system on CCCH or SDCCH.
GSM 900 : Numeral 13 - 43 (dBm) in steps of 2

2
 GSM 1800: Numeral 4 - 30 (dBm) in steps of 2

CRH Cell Reselect Hysteresis. Receiving SS (RXLEV) hysteresis in dB for required cell
reselection over LA border. Numeral 0 – 14 (dB) in steps of 2. This parameter prevents unnecessary
location updating and jumping between different cells connected to separate LAs when the idle MS is
moving along the border between two LAs.
DTXU Discontinuous transmission up-link. DTX is implemented to decrease the power
consumption in the MS and to reduce the carrier-to-interference level (C/I). During speech pauses, the
power consumption is reduced and when the first word is spoken, the power returns to normal.
1 = The MSs will use up-link discontinuous transmission.
RLINKT Radio Link Time-out. Numeral 4 - 64 (number of SACCH periods) in steps of 4. The
amount of time before an MS disconnects a call due to failure in decoding SACCH messages. If the
number of consecutively lost SACCH blocks on the down-link is equal to the parameter RLINKT, the
MS initiates the clear procedure.
MBCR Multi Band Cells Reported. Defines the number of neighbours from each frequency band
that shall be reported in the measurement report. 0 : The multiband MS reports the strongest identified
neighbours irrespective of the frequency band used in the cells.
!***** CELL LOAD SHARING *****!
RLLCC:CELL=AGA006A,CLSLEVEL=20,CLSACC=40,HOCLSACC=OFF,RHYST=75,CLSRAMP=5;

CLSACC Percentage of available full rate capable traffic channels below which no handovers due to
Cell Load Sharing will be accepted. Change to 10 and Observe.
CLSLEVEL Percentage of available full rate capable traffic channels at which or below which Cell
Load Sharing evaluations are initiated. The value of CLSLEVEL must be less than the value of
CLSACC. Change to 5 and Observe.
HOCLSACC Handover due to Cell Load Sharing accepted to this cell. ON : Cell accepts Cell Load
Sharing handover. OFF : Cell does not accept Cell Load Sharing handover. Change to ON and Observe.

Root Cause Analysis for Key Performance Indicators (KPI) for GSM Networks
TCH drop (or a dropped call) could be broadly classified into 3 sub classes:
(1) Degradation of the links (Uplink and Downlink): either degradation of Signal Strength which falls
near or lower than the sensitivity of the base station (around to -110 dBm) or that of the mobile
(around -104dBm) or degradation of quality of the links (Uplink and Downlink) often due to
interference.
a. Check for ACCMIN (-104dBm or higher : 103, 102, etc.) : min MS sensitivity
(2) Excess TA (TA>63 or excess path imbalance due to high TA).
(3) Other Reasons.
Low Signal Strength UL : Check-points
Optimization of UL can either be done using, RF coverage optimization, Hardware fault checks or
parameter optimization.
RF Coverage Optimization for UL : Antenna load heights, tilts, azimuth, weak coverage cluster
optimization, addition of more sites, using Micro cells to cover hotspots, use of TMA to give additional
gain on the UL etc.
Hardware fault checks: Faulty Antenna, High VSWR due to incorrect termination of RF cable, RF
Jumper and antenna feed mechanisms, damaged connectors, damaged cables, water in external RF feed
cables faulty TRX, etc. Excess VSWR is a common observed problem in networks with weak
maintenance plan. High reflected power back to the radios often causes damage of sensitive Low Noise
Amplifiers in the Rx Path causing excess UL related drops.

3
Parameter Optimization : In idle mode ACCMIN & CRO could be optimized to make sure that the MS
makes correct cell reselection, also make use of the feature “Assignment to Another Cell (assignment to
better cell part of this feature)” for these cases of incorrect cell reselection in idle mode.
MSTXPWR defines the maximum permitted transmit power from the MS, make sure its set at 43 (1.9
Watts) for 900 band and 30 (1 Watt) for 1800 band.
Another set of cell parameters that influences UL signal strength performance is UL power control
settings; make sure SSDESUL is not set too low (-95 dBm or weaker than that for a cell that drops
excessively on the UL) , LCOMPUL and QCOMPUL settings are not too high (increasing the value of
these two parameters leads to aggressive power control on UL) , filter lengths for signal strength
SSLENUL and uplink quality QLENUL are set between 3 to 5 seconds for faster power revision
commands form the BSS especially for mobiles in the weak coverage areas of the cell , where signal
strength fading rate can be very rapid.
Also for cells with high percentage of drops due to weak uplink levels make sure that the desired quality
for the UL is set very sensitive, use the parameter QDESUL to control this aspect (keep it a 0 instead of
default 20). Power control is covered in more detail later in this document.
a. Check for ACCMIN (-104dBm or higher : 103, 102, etc.) : min MS sensitivity
b. Check for AW : should be ON (rllop)
c. MSTXPWR (rlcpp) : 43 (900 band) and 30 (1800 band)
d. SSDESUL -95 dBm or higher (rlpcp)
e. QDESUL keep it a 0 instead of default 20 (rlpcp)
Low Signal Strength on DL: Check-points
Drops due to weak levels on DL for any cell should always be lower than that due to weak levels on the
uplink, if it’s the other way round either its because of hardware issues or due to incorrect settings of
BSTXPWR.
For cells with wide footprint and high density of traffic from far-off zones (high TA & high distribution
of traffic at far-off zones seen on MRR recordings), excess drops are seen due to path-imbalance; idle
mode resection and eventual channel request are made based on DL measurements, which means in these
kind of cases an MS might camp on a cell with reliable DL but unreliable UL which it only realises either
during RACH, AGCH and SDCCH signalling process or when the MS lands on the TCH, where it drops
due to weak and unreliable UL (rather than DL related issues). That’s the reason why power control
optimization of UL or use of TMA usually brings in much better performance improvements in a network
than similar work done on DL.
Bad Quality UL : Check-points
The reasons for excess drop due to bad UL quality could be classified as Interference related (co-channel
interference, Adjacent Channel interference or External Interference), coverage issues, handover issues or
incorrect cell parameter settings.
Once again if correct power control settings are used at the BSC/Cell level with a good frequency plan
and use of synthesizer frequency hopping can bring down excess drops on UL due to bad quality.
1. Interference: Check for co-channel, adjacent channel interference and make the relevant
frequency changes.
2. Parameters: Correct settings for idle mode reselection parameters (ACCMIN and CRO) Power
control settings, use of DTX (Use of Discontinuous Transmission on the UL brings down
interference on UL), MSTXPWR, QLIMUL (QLIMUL determines the urgency condition for UL
quality based handover trigger value, default setting of 55 (i.e. Rxqual of 5.5 for 4 SACCH period
leading to urgency based handover); if quality drops on UL is seen to be very high, reducing
QLIMUL is seen to bring down TCH Drop Rate).
a. DTXU=1 (rlssp)

4
 b. QLIMUL (rllup) - if quality drops on UL is seen to be very high, reducing QLIMUL is
seen to bring down TCH Drop Rate
3. Handovers: missing neighbours, incorrect settings for locating algorithm etc can lead to drag and
drop scenarios.
4. External Interference: External to GSM system, but operating frequency band, or harmonics
falling within GSM band. Use a spectrum analyser in field to measure and identify the source.
Drops due to Other Reason: Check-points
This is often a difficult one to crack, excess TCH drop due to other reason could be due to the following
reasons:
1. Transcoder synchronization fault, the counter TRASYNCCOUNT gets incremented when TRA
sync fault is reported by the BTS on any of the timeslots within the TG.
C:\>stmrp -l -L
REPORTID IN-USE NAME OBJECT TYPES
2005 yes SDMBSC2 CELLFERF DIGPATH RLINKBITR CCCHLOAD
TRASEVENT LAPD MOTG MOTS CLRATECHG

C:\>stmotls -l MOTG
RECORDING AREA
ON OPER

OBJTYPE INCL BRP NCNT AVAILABLE

MOTG YES 15 4

CNTNAME CNTTYPE CNTDES

ID1 ID ID1 (INDIVIDUAL)
ID2 ID ID2 (BLK NO)
INTERCNT PC INTERMITTENT FAULTS
TRASYNCCNT PC TRANS SYNC FAULTS

END

C:\>stmfo -i -z SCREEN -b 1000 -s 1030 MOTG

Tue May 22, 12:39 WEST-0100 2012
B25I18X0150_A.WO

==================================================
Tue May 22, 10:15 WEST-0100 2012 (OK)
--------------------------------------------------
MOTG: 'RXOTG-57'

Number Value Name

1 1 ID1
2 524 ID2
3 0 INTERCNT
4 0 TRASYNCCNT
--------------------------------------------------
END

2. TRAB (vododers) congestion; use the counter TFNRELCONG & THNRELCONG counter to
check this.
stmrp -l -L
stmotls -l CELTCHF
stmotls -l CELTCHH
stmfo -i -z SCREEN -b 1600 -s 1630 CELTCHH
stmfo -i -z SCREEN -b 1600 -s 1630 CELTCHF

3. Blocked A-interface (RALT) and ABIS (RBLT) devices causing A and ABIS interface problems.
4. C7 link problems (link unavailability, high BER).
5. LAPD problems (link failures, high BER).
6. If LAPD problems (excess T200 timer expiry) are not due to transmission related issues
(congestion, availability or high BER due to interference), give a reset to DXUs on TG that is
showing LAPD problems).
T200 timer comes into picture mainly during Call Setup, Assignment and handover (signalling
part) and it monitors the “decodability” of the signalling information (from SDCCH, FACCH and
SACCH) on the signalling frames. If the information in the frames are not decodable T200 timer

5
 is decremented, and if it gets continuously decremented by a figure specifies by N200 (23 for
SDDCH or approximately 220 ms, 34 for FACCH used for handover or approximately 115ms or
5 for SACCH or 900 ms), BTS will send a Layer 3 message” Error indication- abnormal release”
–reason unspecified (cause value =1) to both MS and BSC along with T200 expiry , both these
messages could be read from the Layer 3 messages on the MS (TEMS ) or from CTR
measurements at the BTS. BSC in its turn will drop this call/setup attempt and increment the
counter CNDROP and treat it as a drop due to “other reason”. Often interference , or incorrect
settings of ACCMIN is the cause of excess T200 expiry in a cell ; but if all the three sectors
shows excess T200 expiry (T200 expiry common to the site) then the cause often is transmission
related.
7. Intermittent digital path (DIP) quality problems on transmission networks caused by interference
on the transmission networks.
8. Caused by usage of features like BTS/MS power control (high discrepancy in power control
settings in a BSC causing excessive CP load) or Adaptive Configuration of Logical Channels.
9. Very high load of Location Updating Requests within the BSC.
10. LAPD Concentration factor set to too high value resulting in LAPD congestion.
LAPD Concentration factor : The main components of an RBS is the TRUs, which is connected to
a DXU which acts as the interface/switching unit between the E1-transmission connection in and
out of the RBS to the BSC. 1 E1 connection to an RBS (terminated on the DXU of the RBS) has
32 PCM timeslots in all with each timeslot having a capacity of carrying speech information from
4 speech timeslots from a TRU, that is each timeslot on the E1 has a 64kBps bandwidth (and
hence 16 x 4 air speech timeslots mapped onto one PCM timeslot). Now each TRU w.r.t. to this
E1 link to the DXU within the RBS needs a “whole 64 Kbps TS for FACCH, BCCH, SCH,
CCCH (paging), SDCCH and SACCH; this is because only TCH information gets send at sub rate
of 16 Kbps where as signalling is not sub rated and doesn’t pass through the transcoder). Now one
whole PCM timeslot needed for signalling per TRU can bring down the available bandwidth for
TCH traffic on the E1 connection between RBS and BSC. That’s the reason why a component
called CON (concentrator) is used in the RBS. CON is connected direct to the DXU and all the
signalling timeslots from TRU gets routed through CON to the DXU. CON defines the priority of
the signalling information and makes “sharing of a PCM timeslot between TRUs possible”; this is
done using the cell parameter CONFACT (default value =1, range =1 to 4). Setting it at high
values, say =4, CONFACT=4 means FOUR TRUs from the RBS will share ONE PCM timeslot
on the E1 instead of using 4 PCM timeslots.
Such settings can increase the number of TRUs that could be equipped on one E1 between the
BSC and the RBS but at the same time will put immense load on the signalling bandwidth
(bringing down signalling performance, increasing TCH drops due to other reason, lower paging
success rate etc) especially in the case of cells that carry a lot of traffic.
TCH drop due to Sudden Lost Connection : Check-points
This can be due to almost all the reasons from TCH drops due to other reason plus RF coverage issues.
An example of TCH drop due to sudden lost connection could be a subscriber entering a lift while in
conversation; apart from these reasons check also for loose feeder cable/jumper cable connections to the
antenna, connectors and to the RBS.

Hardware faults :
Faulty antenna, RF cabling issues, VSWR, BTS faults (check alarms).
Handover :
Missing neighbours, swapped sectors, locating algorithm needing corrections, high number of co-
BSIC/BCCH combinations in a cell, RF coverage issues etc.
CLS (Cell Load Sharing):

6
Aggressive use of CLS, especially for cells with weak or interfered neighbours can cause high TCH Drop
Rate (check per neighbour handover success rate and only then optimise CLS settings).
HCS :
In a dual band network, often to make the 1800 band carry more traffic HCS parameters are set too
sensitive leading to drop on the higher bands. Very low multiband parameters like LAYETHR and
HSCBANDTHR often leads to high TCH drop rate on the 1800 layer.
Assignment to Worse Cell :
This feature can increase the TCH drop Rate at the expense of brining down congestion in cases where
the neighbours are weak or interfered. Check per neighbour handover success rate before implementing
this feature.
MS and BS Power Control :
Power control is usually seen to have huge impact on both SDCCH and TCH drops especially on the UL,
improving both call setup success rate and drop call rates both on SDCCH and TCH. Excess transited
power, on the downlink by the BS as well on the uplink by the MS, often causes proportional excess
interference on the links.
Adverse impact of excess transmit power by calls originated from close in fields on calls which are
originated from far off fields is usually acute; reasoning here being, received signal strength at the MS for
far off traffic is weak due to excess fading from longer propagation distance and hence prone to more
damage from interference.
Controlling the high percentage of excess transmit power in the close in fields can bring down the
interference levels on uplink (and downlink).
Power control parameters for MS (UL)

SSDESUL : Keeping it low will make sure that when the UL path loss (controlled by LCOMPUL) is low
(that is the MS is very close to the site where from it need not transmit at very high power to reach
comfortable to BS) and the UL quality is very good (QDESUL=0, RxQual UL is 0; QCOMPUL=75), the
MS will be powered down to very low transmit power thus decreasing the overall noise floor for the
BSC. This strategy of aggressive power reduction on MS and at the same time making the uplink
extremely sensitive to high path loss and interference (power up immediately on interference or higher
path loss) is seen to bring down TCH drop and SDCCH drop by huge factor.
Also at the same time keeping the filter lengths low ensures that power change commands are send to MS
at a faster rate to keep the link under high interference due to low levels or high path loss.
UPDWNRATIO : This parameter controls the “ratio between up and down power regulation speed”.
Default value for UPDWNRATIO is 200. When using the above strategy for UL power control keeps this
parameter at 300.
<raepp:id=UPDWNRATIO;

7
BSC EXCHANGE PROPERTY DATA

PROP TYPE
UPDWNRATIO-200 OPTIONAL

END
<
Power control parameters for BS (DL)