OWJ102103 WCDMA RNO RF

Optimization
1.0

Huawei Confidential. All Rights Reserved

Review

This lecture introduces the various stages involved in

optimizing a 3G radio network and focuses mainly on
the RF Optimization phase.
Step-by-step approach for the analysis of drive survey
data collected by Agilent Scanner and test UE is
presented. The analysis is carried out using the post
processing tool Actix Analyzer.

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Review

RF optimization will be an ongoing activity and will

need to be revisited as traffic increases in the network
and as new sites are deployed.
In addition, as the network matures, the optimization
process should be enhanced to take into account
statistical data and key performance indicators
collected throughout the network.

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Course Contents

Chapter 1 Optimization Phases

Chapter 2 RF Optimization
Chapter 3 RF Analysis Approaches
Chapter 4 Antenna Adjustment Example
Chapter 5 Drop Call Analysis Example

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Network Optimization Phases Flow Chart

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Network Optimization Phases Step 1

Single Site Verification

To verify the functionality of every new site.
Objectives
To ensure there are no faults related to site installation or
parameter settings.

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Network Optimization Phases Step 2

RF Optimization
Once all the sites in a given area are integrated and verified, RF
(or Cluster) optimization could begin.
Objectives
To optimize coverage while in the same time keeping
interference and pilot pollution under control over the target
area. This phase also includes the verification and optimization
of the 3G neighbor lists.

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Network Optimization Phases Step 3

Services Testing & Parameters Optimization

To be conducted in areas of good RF conditions in order to
exclude any coverage issues. Such testing does not need to be
performed for each cell but the drive route must include different
clutter types and environments.
Objectives
To assess the performance and identify any need for specific
parameter optimization.

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Network Optimization Phases Step 4

Regular Reference Route Testing & Stats Analysis

Constant monitoring and evaluation of the network performance
can be based on field testing as well as network stats analysis.
Results of the regular analysis may necessitate re-visits to the
RF optimization and/or parameters tuning.
Objectives
To identify any new issues that could arise, for example, as a
result of increase in traffic or changes in the environment.

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Course Contents

Chapter 1 Optimization Phases

Chapter 2 RF Optimization
Chapter 3 RF Analysis Approaches
Chapter 4 Antenna Adjustment Example
Chapter 5 Drop Call Analysis Example

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RF Optimization - Preparation

Clutters
RF optimization should be carried out for groups or clusters of
sites rather than on single site basis.
Drive Routes
Cluster drive surveys should include the coverage areas of each
cell and all the major roads and streets as well as any other
important locations.
Tools
Agilent scanner
Qualcomm UE in continuous AMR call
Actix Analyzer

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RF Optimization - Targets

Item
CPICH RSCP
CPICH Ec/Io
Active Set size
(estimated)

Requirements
Target

- 85 dBm

Minimum

-95 dBm

Target

-8 dB

Minimum

- 14 dB

Comments
Corresponds to outdoor
measurements.
Applicable for unloaded network.

Target

Max %

< 10 %

% of time a cell is seen as a pilot

polluter.

8 dB

Relative to best server when cell

is not in Active Set.

Pilot pollution
Threshold
UE Tx power

Max

SHO Success rate

Target

<15 dBm
>95 %

Based on scanner data.

Assuming 21 dBm max.

For e1a, e1b & e1c

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RF Optimization Flow Chart

Drive
Drive Test
Test
Identify
Identify any
any RF
RF Issues
Issues
Identify
Identify candidate
candidate
cells
cells for
for changes
changes

Identify
Identify nature
nature of
of
required
required changes
changes

Determine
Determine amount
amount
of
of changes
changes

Implement
Implement changes
changes
N

Repeat
Repeat Drive
Drive Test
Test
Problem
Problem Resolved?
Resolved?
Finish
Finish
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RF Optimization - Solutions

Antenna tilt
Antenna azimuth
Antenna location
Antenna height
Antenna type
Site location
New site

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Course Contents

Chapter 1 Optimization Phases

Chapter 2 RF Optimization
Chapter 3 RF Analysis Approaches
Chapter 4 Antenna Adjustment Example
Chapter 5 Drop Call Analysis Example

Internal Use

RF Analysis Approaches Cell Dominance

Cells with no dominance at all

A site was not radiating during the drive survey
Very poor dominance can also be caused by blocking of the
antenna. So a site visit must be made to verify the antenna
clearance.
Cells with either excessive or poor dominance
This could be due to a high site or non-optimum antenna tilts.
Cells with too large dominance will be causing interference to
adjacent cells resulting in poorer capacity.

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RF Analysis Approaches Cell Dominance

Areas of non-dominance:
Areas where there is not a single clear dominant cell and where
the best server changes too frequently.
Result: Excessive number of soft hand off events reducing the
system efficiency and increasing the probability of call drops.
UE vs. Scanner Best Serving Cells:
Comparison between the UE and scanner SC plots. Significant
differences between the plots may indicate a missing neighbor
or failed soft handoff problem.

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RF Analysis Approaches Cell Dominance

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RF Analysis Approaches CPICH Coverage

Check areas of poor coverage, suggestion value as below:

Good: RSCP -85 dBm
Fair: -95 dBm RSCP < -85 dBm
Poor: RSCP < - 95 dBm
Examine the RSCP coverage on per cell bases in order to highlight
any cells that have too large a footprint.

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RF Analysis Approaches CPICH Coverage

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RF Analysis Approaches Interference

CPICH Ec/Io Plot

Good: Ec/Io -8 dB
Fair: -14 dB Ec/Io < -8 dB
Poor: Ec/Io < - 14 dB

The -8 dB threshold takes into account the expected future interference

increase as a result of increased traffic.

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RF Analysis Approaches Interference

Whats the
problem?

Because
Becausethe
theRSCP
RSCPLevel
LevelisisPOOR,
POOR,
the
thefundamental
fundamentalcause
causeofof low
lowEc/Io
Ec/Ioisis
POOR
POORCOVERAGE
COVERAGE

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RF Analysis Approaches Interference

-14
-15

-63

-60
-65

-15.5

-16

-70

-17

-75

-18

-80

-19

-85

-20

Whats the
problem?

-90
Ec/Io

RSCP

RSCP
RSCPlevel
levelisisGOOD,
GOOD,this
thiswill
willimply
imply
strong
strongSYSTEM
SYSTEMINTERFERENCE
INTERFERENCE

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RF Analysis Approaches Interference

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RF Analysis Approaches UL Coverage

Uplink Coverage (UE Tx Power)

High UE Tx power means possible poor uplink coverage.
Areas of high Tx power should be compared to the CPICH pilots to verify
if the problem only exists on the uplink.

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RF Analysis Approaches UL Coverage

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RF Analysis Approaches Pilot Pollution

Pilot Pollution Point Define:

Not all points in the active set
Within a certain margin of the best server( the margin is set to
8dB)
Cells which are frequently seen as polluters (e.g. >8% time) should
be marked and investigated.
Pilot Pollution results should be used in conjunction with the
Estimated Active Set Size

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RF Analysis Approaches Pilot Pollution

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RF Analysis Approaches Pilot Pollution

SC
8
9
10
11
12
13
16
17
18
19
20
21
32
35
37
43
48
53
67
80
130

Count
206
165
157
156
148
135
95
94
76
74
73
56
54
39
33
19
8
7
3
2
2

% in Pollution Set
12.9%
10.3%
9.8%
9.7%
9.2%
8.4%
5.9%
5.9%
4.7%
4.6%
4.6%
3.5%
3.4%
2.4%
2.1%
1.2%
0.5%
0.4%
0.2%
0.1%
0.1%

Should be investigated

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RF Analysis Approaches Pilot Pollution

Estimated Active Set Size

Another useful measure of pilot pollution is by looking at the
estimated active set based on the scanner data. This plot is
obtained by modeling the network soft handoff parameters
within Actix.
In order to see areas of excessive SHO candidates, the
estimated active set size is allowed to exceed maximum of 3.
This can be done in conjunction with the Pilot pollution analysis.

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RF Analysis Approaches Pilot Pollution

Estimated Active Set Size Example

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RF Analysis Approaches Neighbor List

Neighbor List Verification

The neighbor list could be verified and optimized using the
Neighbor List Verification tool within Actix.
Recommendations for Each Cell:
Retain: This indicates that those neighbors have been confirmed
from the drive survey data.
Add: Missing neighbors
Remove: These neighbors that were not measured but are in
the neighbor list.

Careful consideration is needed prior to removing neighbours

since the Actix results are drive route dependent.
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RF Analysis Approaches Neighbor List

Neighbor List Verification Example

SC

Cell

Site

Latitude

Longitude

009

70548

Ajman Central

25.41204

55.447

Sample
Sample
Action Nbr SC
Count
Count
576

Retain
Retain
Retain
Retain
Retain
Add
Retain
Retain
Retain
Retain
Retain
Remove
Remove
Remove
Remove
Remove
Remove

018
010
016
032
011
130
021
008
020
012
017
053
019
034
037
013
051

82
46
31
20
18
17
17
12
6
5
2
0
0
0
0
0
0

%
14.2%
8.0%
5.4%
3.5%
3.1%
3.0%
3.0%
2.1%
1.0%
0.9%
0.3%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%

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RF Analysis Approaches SHO

UE SHO Performance
The success rates for event 1a, 1b & 1c and can be obtained
from Actix
Number of Active Set Updates
Event
Count
Event 1a - Cell Addition
328
Event 1b - Cell Removal
306
Event 1c - Cell Replacement
64

Number of Active Set Update Completes

Event
Count
Event 1a - Cell Addition
326
Event 1b - Cell Removal
305
Event 1c - Cell Replacement
62

Soft-Handover Success Rate

Event
Rate
Event 1a - Cell Addition
99.4
Event 1b - Cell Removal
99.7
Event 1c - Cell Replacement
96.9

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RF Analysis Approaches Drop Call

Drop Call Analysis - RF related issues :

Poor coverage (RSCP & Ec/Io)
High interference and hence poor Ec/Io
Poor uplink coverage (insufficient UE Tx power)
Poor dominance (best cell changes too frequently resulting in
too many SHO events)
Pilot pollution (too many cells present)
Missing neighbors
Fast change of RF conditions (e.g. turning a corner)

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RF Analysis Approaches Drop Call

Drop Call Analysis Example 1

RSCP & Ec/Io degrades

BOTH for scanner and UE

Check for Coverage problems

Call Drop
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RF Analysis Approaches Drop Call

Drop Call Analysis Example 2

Ec/Io
Ec/Io(and
(andRSCP)
RSCP)degrades
degradesfor
forUE
UE
ONLY
ONLYwhile
whilescanner
scannershows
showsno
nodegradation
degradation

UE
UEcamp
campon
onnew
newcell
cellimmediately
immediately
after
afterdrop,
drop,and
andUE
UEdid
didnot
not
measure
measurethis
thiscell
cellbefore
beforeDrop
Drop

Call Drop
Check
Checkthe
theNeighbor
Neighbor
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RF Analysis Approaches Drop Call

Drop Call Analysis Example 3

Too
Toomany
manyand
andtoo
tooquick
quickchanges
changes
ofofbest
bestserver
server
UE
UEtotoperform
performmeasurements
measurements
and
andSHO
SHOinintime
timedifficultly
difficultly

PingPong
PingPongHandover,
Handover,need
needtoto
improve
improvecell
celldominance
dominance

Call Drop
Internal Use

Course Contents

Chapter 1 Optimization Phases

Chapter 2 RF Optimization
Chapter 3 RF Analysis Approaches
Chapter 4 Antenna Adjustment Example
Chapter 5 Drop Call Analysis Example

Internal Use

Antenna Adjustment Example

RSCP Coverage before Adjustment

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Antenna Adjustment Example

RSCP Coverage after Adjustment

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Antenna Adjustment Example

RSCP Distribution

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Antenna Adjustment Example

Down Tilt from 4 to 6 Result

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Antenna Adjustment Example

Down Tilt from 4 to 8 Result

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Course Contents

Chapter 1 Optimization Phases

Chapter 2 RF Optimization
Chapter 3 RF Analysis Approaches
Chapter 4 Antenna Adjustment Example
Chapter 5 Drop Call Analysis Example

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Drop Call Analysis Example

Drop Call Distribution

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Drop Call Analysis Example

There are total 5 drop calls in the plot.

The example of drop call 1 is analyzed to show the process of
analysis in the following.
Drop call 1 occurred at an area of frequent change of best server as
shown by the scanner scrambling code plot

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Drop Call Analysis Example

CPICH RSCP and Ec/Io before the Call Drop

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Drop Call Analysis Example

Compare Ec/Io from both scanner and UE at the time of the drop as shown
in Figure. This clearly shows the UE Ec/Io to drop to < -21 dB while the
scanner remained above -11 dB.

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Drop Call Analysis Example

Best server before and after the Call Drop

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Drop Call Analysis Example

Comparing the best servers from the UE and the scanner at the
time of drop:
Drop Call 1 (UE vs. scanner best server) shows that for the
scanner and UE SC008 is the best server prior to the drop.
However, about 30 seconds before the drop, the scanner
selected SC018 as the best server while the UE continued to
have only SC009 in its active set resulting in the drop call.
Immediately after the drop, the UE camps on SC018.

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Drop Call Analysis Example

UE Active Set and Monitor Set Before and After the Call Drop

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Drop Call Analysis Example

Conclusion
Examining the UE Active and Monitored set, Figure does not show
SC018 to be measured by the UE prior to the drop.
This scenario resembles a missing neighbor problem

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Drop Call Analysis Example

Coverage of Drop Call Point

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Drop Call Analysis Example

Solution:
Looking at drop call Figure clearly shows that at the location of
the drop, SC018 should not be the best server.
Cell SC018 clearly requires some down tilting to control its
interference into the area of Drop 1. To illustrate this, RSCP
coverage of SC018 shows clearly that the cells is extending into
a large area. E.g. around the location of drop call, SC018 RSCP
is > -75dBm.
Add the Missing Neighbors

Internal Use

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