LTE Optimization and troubleshooting

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Contenido del Curso

1. Unidad 1: E-UTRAN / EPC Signaling.

2. Unidad 2: KPI and Measurements for LTE Radio Network Optimization.

3. Unidad 3: Access and throughput troubleshooting.

4. Unidad 4: Mobility troubleshooting.

Unidad I
E-UTRAN / EPC Signaling
EPS Network Architecture

EPS
GERAN/ CS CN
E-UTRAN EPC
UTRAN PS CN
“LTE” “SAE”

PCRF
S6a
S1-C User Plane
UE HSS
Rx Control Plane
Uu
X2 MME
S11 Gx
S1-C
S1-U
UE S5 SGi Operator’s
S1-U IP Service

UE E-UTRAN EPC SGW PDN-GW

EPS Network Architecture

Gb SGSN HSS PCRF

SWx
GERAN
Iu
S3 S4
S6a Gxa Rx
Gxc Gx
S12 Gxb
UTRAN MME
S11
S1-C S5
SGi Operator’s
S1-U
IP Service
E-UTRAN SGW PDN-GW
S6b
S2a S2b

SWn SWa
Trusted non Un-trusted non
ePDG 3GPP-AAA
3GPP IP Access 3GPP IP Access STa
Functions of EPC Main Elements

MME Serving Gateway PDN Gateway

• Mobility Management • Packet forwarding • Packet forwarding
• Session Management and routing and routing
• Authentication and key • IP head compress • Non-3GPP access
management • DL buffering anchor
• NAS encryption • Legal interception • UE IP allocation
• TA LIST Management
• P-GW/S-GW Selection
 LTE/EPC Network Elements
Main references to architecture in 3GPP specs.: TS23.401,TS23.402,TS36.300

Evolved UTRAN (E-UTRAN) Evolved Packet Core (EPC)

HSS
eNB
Mobility
Management
Entity Policy &
S6a Charging Rule
Function
MME S10
X2
S7 Rx+
PCRF
S11

S1-U S5/S8 SGi

PDN
LTE-Uu Serving PDN
Evolved Node B
Gateway Gateway
(eNB)
LTE-UE
S-GW /P-GW

HSS: Home subscriber server ( part of IMS)

Architecture
Architecture
Funciones
EPS Architecture
The term EPS (Evolved Packet System) relates to the Evolved 3GPP Packet Switched
Domain. In contrast to the 2G and 3G networks defined by the 3GPP, LTE can be simply
divided into a flat IP based bearer network and a service enabling network. The former
can be further subdivided into the E-UTRAN (Evolved - Universal Terrestrial Radio Access
Network) and the EPC (Evolved Packet Core) where as support for service delivery lies in
the IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem).

Whilst UMTS is based upon WCDMA technology, the 3GPP developed new specifications for
the LTE air interface based upon OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access) in
the downlink and SC-FDMA (Single Carrier - Frequency Division Multiple Access) in the
uplink. This new air interface is termed the E-UTRA (Evolved - Universal Terrestrial Radio
Access).
Mobility Management Entity
NAS Signaling and Security - this incorporates both EMM (EPS Mobility Management) and ESM (EPS Session
Management) and thus includes procedures such as Tracking Area Updates and EPS Bearer Management. The MME is
also responsible for NAS security.
S-GW and PDN-GW Selection - upon receipt of a request from the UE to allocate a bearer resource, the MME will select
the most appropriate S-GW and PDN-GW. This selection criterion is based on the location of the UE in addition to
current load conditions within the network.
Tracking Area List Management and Paging - whilst in the LTE Idle state, the UE is tracked by the MME to the
granularity of a Tracking Area. Whilst UEs remain within the Tracking Areas provided to them in the form of a Tracking
Area List, there is no requirement for them to notify the MME. The MME is also responsible for initiating the paging
procedure.
Inter MME Mobility - if a handover involves changing the point of attachment within the EPC, it may be necessary to
involve an inter MME handover. In this situation, the serving MME will select a target MME with which to conduct this
process.
Authentication - this involves interworking with the subscriber’s HSS (Home Subscriber Server) in order to obtain AAA
(Access Authorization and Accounting) information with which to authenticate the subscriber. Like that of other 3GPP
system, authentication is based on AKA (Authentication and Key Agreement).
Serving Gateway S-GW
- Mobility Anchor - for inter eNB handovers, the S-GW acts as an anchor point for the User Plane.
Furthermore, it also acts as an anchor for inter 3GPP handovers to legacy networks - GPRS and UMTS.
- Downlink Packet Buffering - when traffic arrives for a UE at the S-GW, it may need to be buffered in
order to allow time for the MME to page the UE and for it to enter the LTE Active state.
- Packet Routing and Forwarding - traffic must be routed to the correct eNB on the downlink and the
specified PDN-GW on the uplink.
- GTP/PMIP Support - if PMIP (Proxy Mobile IP) is used on the S5/S8 Interfaces, the S-GW must support
MAG (Mobile Access Gateway) functionality. Furthermore, support for GTP/PMIP chaining may also be
required.
Packet Data Network - Gateway
- The PDN-GW is the network element which terminates the SGi Interface towards the PDN (Packet Data
Network). If a UE is accessing multiple PDNs, there may be a requirement for multiple PDN-GWs to be
involved. Functions associated with the PDN-GW include:
- Packet Filtering - this incorporates the deep packet inspection of IP datagrams arriving from the PDN in
order to determine which TFT (Traffic Flow Template) they are to be associated with.
- IP Address Allocation - IP addresses may be allocated to the UE by the PDN-GW. This is included as part
of the initial bearer establishment phase or when UEs roam between different access technologies.
- Transport Level Packet Marking - this involves the marking of uplink and downlink packets with the
appropriate tag e.g. DSCP (Differentiated Services Code Point) based on the QCI (QoS Class Identifier) of
the associated EPS bearer.
- Accounting - through interaction with a PCRF (Policy Rules and Charging Function), the PDN-GW will
monitor traffic volumes and types.
EPS Interfaces – UTRAN
Uu Interface
The Uu Interface supports both a Control Plane and a User plane and spans the link between
the UE and the eNB / HeNB. The principle Control Plane protocol is RRC (Radio Resource
Control) while the User Plane is designed to carry IP datagrams.
X2 Interface
The X2 interface interconnects two eNBs and in so doing supports both a Control Plane and
User Plane. The principle Control Plane protocol is X2AP (X2 Application Protocol).
S1 Interface
The S1 interface can be subdivided into the S1-MME interface supporting Control Plane
signaling between the eNB and the MME and the S1-U Interface supporting User Plane
traffic between the eNB and the S-GW. The principle Control Plane protocol is S1AP (S1
Application Protocol).
EPS Signaling
CONTROL PLANE

USER PLANE
NAS Functionality
The Non Access Stratum (NAS) protocols are
used for signaling exchange between the UE
and the Mobility Management Entity (MME).
NAS sits on top of RRC layer in the UE and
S1AP of the MME. All NAS messages are
carried by RRC and SIAP messages in radio
interface and S1-MME interface respectively.
The NAS signaling is identified as EPS Mobility
Management (EMM) and EPS Session
Management (ESM).
The EMM Protocol signaling is related to UE
mobility and security procedures. The ESM
protocol handles signaling related to the
default and dedicated user plane bearers.
NAS Functionality

The EPC uses the IMSI number as the permanent user identifier (or rather, USIM identifier). As in the legacy core Network a temporary
identifier is also used, for subscriber identity confidentiality reasons, in place of the IMSI whenever possible. The temporary identifier in the
EPS is called the Globally Unique Temporary Identity (GUTI).
The use of the GUTI is very similar to the use of the legacy TMSI (CS domain) and PTIMSI (PS domain) numbers. There is a difference however:
the GUTI explicitly links with the MME pool Area concept.
- GUTI = MCC + MNC + MMEGI + MMEC + M-TMSI, where
- MMEGI: MME Group Identifier (16 bit)
- MMEC: MME Code (8 bit)
- M-TIMSI : M- Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity（32 bit）

The GUTI is allocated when the UE performs initial registration (Attach) with an MME. The GUTI is then typically changed whenever the UE
performs some EMM procedure, such as TA update. The S-TMSI is a shortened version of the GUTI that uniquely identifies the user with an
MME Group. The S-TMIS ,rather than the complete GUTI, is used within most NAS messages.
NAS EMM and EMS Procedures
NAS States and transitions
Uu Interface
X2 Interface
X2 Application Protocol
The X2AP is responsible for the following functions:
- Mobility Management - this enables the serving eNB to move the responsibility of a specified UE to a target eNB. This includes
Forwarding the User Plane, Status Transfer and UE Context Release functions.
- Load Management - this function enables eNBs to communicate with each other in order to report resource status, overload
indications and current traffic loading.
- Error Reporting - this allows for the reporting of general error situations for which specific error reporting mechanism have not
been defined.
- Setting / Resetting X2 - this provides a means by which the X2 interface can be setup / reset by exchanging the necessary
information between the eNBs.
- Configuration Update - this allows the updating of application level data which is needed for two eNBs to interoperate over the X2
interface.
Stream Control Transmission Protocol
 S1-MME & S1-U Interfaces
S1 interface is divided into two parts: S1-MME
(Control Plane)

S1-MME interface NAS Protocols

MME
• Control interface between eNB and TS 36.413 S1-AP
MME TS 36.412 SCTP
• S1AP:S1 Application Protocol IP
• MME and UE will exchange non- eNB L1/L2 TS 36.411
access stratum signaling via eNB
S1-U
through this interface ( i.e. (User Plane)
authentication, tracking area updates)
User PDUs

GTP-U Serving
TS 36.414 Gateway
UDP
S1-U interface
IP
• User plane interface between eNB and
serving gateway TS 36.411 L1/L2

• Pure user data interface (U=User plane)

TS 36.410
[currently in TS 36.300 §19]
S1 Interface

S1 Application Protocol
The S1AP spans the S1-MME Interface and in so doing, supports the following functions:
- E-RAB (E-UTRAN - Radio Access Bearer) Management - this incorporates the setting up, modifying and releasing of the E-RABs by
the MME.
- Initial Context Transfer - this is used to establish an S1UE context in the eNB, setup the default IP connectivity and transfer NAS
related signaling.
- UE Capability Information Indication - this is used to inform the MME of the UE Capability Information.
- Mobility - this incorporates mobility features to support a change in eNB or change in RAT.
- Paging.
- S1 Interface Management - this incorporates a number of sub functions dealing with resets, load balancing and system setup etc.
- NAS Signaling Transport - this is used for the transport of NAS related signaling over the S1-MME Interface.
- UE Context Modification and Release - this allows for the modification and release of the established UE Context in the eNB and
MME respectively.
- Location Reporting - this enables the MME to be made aware of the UEs current location within the network.
SCTP and GTP-U
The S1-MME and S1-U lower layer protocols are similar to the X2 interface. As such, they also utilize the services of SCTP (discussed
in Section 2.2.13 ) and GTP-U (discussed in Section 2.2.14 ).
EPS Bearer Services and E-UTRA Radio
Bearers

The main functions associated with QoS in a packet switch (router) are the:
- Packet Classifier - this function analyses packets and based on a set of filters classifies the packet. As such, it receives the correct
packet forwarding treatment and scheduling.
- Packet Scheduler - this schedules packets based on priority. In so doing various methods are used to ensure low latency data, e.g.
voice, is optimally scheduled.
LTE Bearers

The main functions associated with QoS in a packet switch (router) are the:
- Packet Classifier - this function analyses packets and based on a set of filters classifies the packet. As such, it receives the correct
packet forwarding treatment and scheduling.
- Packet Scheduler - this schedules packets based on priority. In so doing various methods are used to ensure low latency data, e.g.
voice, is optimally scheduled.
E-UTRAN Radio Bearers
Signaling
A SRB (Signaling Radio Bearer) is a RB (Radio
Bearer) that is only used for the transmission of
RRC and NAS messages. More specifically, the
following three SRBs are defined:
- SRB0 - this is for RRC messages using a CCCH
logical channel, e.g. RRC Connection Request,
Setup and Re-establishment.
- SRB1 - this is mainly for RRC messages using a
DCCH logical channel. It can also be used for
NAS messages prior to the establishment of
SRB2.
- SRB2 - this is for NAS messages using a DCCH
logical channel. Note that SRB2 has a lower-
priority than SRB1 and is always configured by
the E-UTRAN after security activation.
Data
In addition to Signaling Radio Bearers, at least one DRB
(Data Radio Bearer) needs to be established for the
Default EPS bearer. There are various identities used in
LTE at different layers to identify the EPS bearers. The
main higher layer identifier is the EPS Bearer Identity,
this has a value between 0 to 15. In a UMTS network
this is referred to as a NSAPI (Network layer Service
Access Point Identifier). When the EPS bearer is
established an associated DRB Identity is assigned.
These have values between 1 and 32. Finally, the lower
layers, i.e. MAC, allocate the LCID (Logical Channel
Identity). There are only 10 available for Radio Bearers,
with the values 1 and 2 mapping to SRB1 and SRB2
respectively. In so doing, the remaining eight LCID are
available for Data Radio Bearers (1 Default EPS Bearer
and 7 Dedicated EPS Bearers).
E-UTRAN QoS Radio Bearers

There are various parameters that could be configured/modified to influence the performance of the E-UTRA and thus
aid the eNB QoS scheduling requirements. These include:
- PDCP Compression.
- RLC AM or UM.
- RLC AM Polling Configuration.
- Uplink MAC Priority.
- Uplink MAC Prioritized Bit Rate.
- Uplink MAC Bucket Size Duration.
- HARQ Configuration and re-transmissions.
- BSR (Buffer Status Report) Configuration.
- SPS (Semi Persistent Scheduling) Configuration.
- Physical Channel and Power Configuration.
LTE Air interface function
Control Plane Protocols Stacks

Encryption
Compress

Reliable

Scheduling

OFDM
MIMO
User Plane Protocols Stacks

IP Head
compress
TCP
UDP
Lower
priority
=
RRC States
RRC States interaction
RRC Signaling Radio Bearer
LTE SIBs
LTE Identities
LTE Identities
LTE Identities
LTE Identities
LTE Identities
LTE Identities
LTE Identities
LTE Identities
LTE Identities
LTE Identities
E-UTRAN Protocol Stack–S1 Interface

Control Plane User Plane

Radio Radio
Network S1-AP Network
Layer
Layer

GTP-U
SCTP
UDP
Transport IP
NetworkL Transport IP
ayer Network
Data link layer Layer Data link layer

Physical layer Physical layer

 S1AP: The S1 Application Protocol is the application layer protocol between eNodeB and MME.
 SCTP: The Stream Control Transmission Protocol ensures the delivery of signaling messages on the
S1 interface between the MME and the eNodeB. For details about SCTP, see RFC2960.
 GTP-U: The GPRS Tunneling Protocol–User plane is used for user data transmission between the
eNdoeB and S-GW.
 UDP: User Datagram Protocol is used for the user data transmission. For details about UDP, see RFC
768.
 The data link layer can use layer 2 technologies, such as PPP and Ethernet.
E-UTRAN Protocol Stack–X2 Interface
Radio Control Plane User Plane
Network
Layer User Plane
X2-AP PDUs

Transport Transport Network Transport Network

User Plane
Network User Plane
Layer

GTP-U
SCTP
UDP
IP (IPv6 and/or IPv4)
IP (IPv6 and/or IPv4)
Data link layer
Data link layer
Physical layer
Physical layer

 The X2 interface is also divided into the user plane (X2-U) and control plane (X2-C). The X2-U
interface is required to be the same as the S1-U, and the X2-C is required to be the same as S1-C.

 The X2 interface data link layer can use layer 2 technologies, such as PPP and Ethernet.
Air Interface

Multiple Access Methods

OFDMA
Fast Fourier Transformation
Resource allocation in OFDMA
Resource allocation in SC - FDMA
Air Interface

Acceso
• Downlink: OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access)
• Uplink: SC-FDMA ( Simple Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access)
FDD Carrier Number of
BandWith Resource
[MHz] Block
1.4 6
3 15
5 25
10 50
15 75
20 100
Air Interface

OFDMA
Ventajas
• Alta eficiencia espectral
• Resistencias al Multitrayecto y
desvanecimeinto
• Soporta modulaçiones más
eficientes (64QAM, 16QAM...)

Desventajas
• Alta sensibilidad al ICI (Inter
Carrier Interference)
• Alto PAPR (Peak to Average
Power Ratio)
Air Interface
SC-FDMA
Variante de OFDM para reducir PAPR:

• It can reduce the PAPR between

6…9dB compared to OFDMA

• Reduced PAPR means lower RF

hardware requirements (power
amplifier)
Air Interface

OFDMA vs SC-FDMA
Por que no SC-FDMA en DL?

• eNodeB realiza procesamientos

de múltiples usuarios, lo que no
se puede con SC-FDMA.
• El proceso de mapeo de
secuencias de datos para
múltiples usuarios y la
transmisión de estos seria solo
posible a través de un
amplificador resultando esto en
un PAPR similar a OFDMA.
Air Interface

OFDMA vs SC-FDMA
Air Interface
Air Interface
Air Interface
Air Interface

OFDMA vs SC-FDMA Example

Air Interface

OFDMA vs SC-FDMA
Air Interface

Resource Block and Resource Element

Modulation Mapping
 DCCH
UL-SCH PUSCH
DTCH
PUCCH
UL

CCCH RACH PRACH

DRS
SRS
MTCH
MCH PMCH
MCCH
Transport channels
Logical channels

RS
Upper Layers

Air interface
MAC

PHY
RLC
Overview - Channels

Synch
PDCCH
DL

DTCH
PCFICH
DCCH
DL-SCH
PHICH
CCCH
PCCH PCH PDSCH
BCCH BCH PBCH
LTE Measurements
LTE Measurements
LTE Measurements
Reselection
LTE -130 dBm RSRP – High Prio
LTE -126 dBm RSRP – High Prio (7)

WCDMA > -111dBm

&
&

EcNo > -20 dB

Prio 5,4 (850MHz) 3 (1900MHz)

tResUtra 2 Sec.

&
GSM > -105 dBm RSSI
Prio 1 (1900MHz)
tResGer 7 Sec.
Movilidad
Intra LTE HO via X2

Intra LTE HO via S1

HO to WCDMA - (RL30) LTE 56

Or Redirect

eNACC to GSM - (RL30) LTE442 (desactivado)

Redirect
LTE/3G interworking procedures
(RL40/RU40) LTE 872: SRVCC

(RL40) LTE 736: CSFB via IRAT HO

(RL30) LTE 56: IRAT HO WCDMA Cell_DCH

E-UTRA RRC_CONNECTED
(RU50) RAN 2264: Smart LTE handover
(RL40) LTE 736: CSFB via IRAT HO

LTE 1073: redirect w. meas.

RAN 2717: Smart LTE layering

LTE 562: CSFB redirect

(RL20) LTE 562: CSFB

LTE 423: redirect

PCH/URA_PCH

E-UTRA (RU20 OnTop) RAN2067: reselection

UTRA_IDLE
RRC_IDLE (RL10) LTE 762: reselection
LTE/2G interworking procedures
(RL40) LTE 873: SRVCC
E-UTRA RRC_CONNECTED
GSM Connected

GPRS Packet
Transfer

LTE 562: CSFB redirect

LTE 423: redirect & LTE984

LTE 442: eNACC w/o RIM

(RL20) LTE 562: CSFB

(RG20) BSS21353: reselection

E-UTRA GSM Idle
RRC_IDLE (RL10) LTE 762: reselection
GPRS Packet Idle
Reselection

Ejemplo de configuración
Technology Band ARFCN Priority Threshold (RSCP/RSSI) EcNo Observación
LTE 2600 3300 7 Prioridad Absoluta
LTE 700 6 Reservado
WCDMA F1 (850) 4358 5 -111 -20
WCDMA F2 (850) 4383 4 -111 -20
WCDMA F3 (1900) 612 3 -111 -20
GSM PCS 1900 1 -105
GSM 850 0 No se Aplica
 3GPP interfaces
GGSN
MSC
SGi
IMS Core
A-SBC S/I-CSCF
S16
Pre R8 P-CSCF
Abis/ Gb/ w/SBC Mw
2G/3G PCRF
Iub IuPS Gxc(*) Rx
BTS/NodeB BSC/RNC SGSN Mg/Mi

Ia MGCF
2G SGSN Gx
R8 2G Gb Mn
Abis BG

BTS SGi MGW

BSC
S5

SGW PGW
R8 3G Internet
Iub Iu_c

uSGSN CNR/HSS Operator services

NodeB RNC
S11

LTE
S1-MME

eNodeB MME
S10 Direct Tunnel
Control plane
User plane
* Needed only with S5 PMIP
Functional Split between E-UTRAN
and EPC
eNB

Inter Cell RRM

RB Control

Connection Mobility Cont.

MME
Radio Admission Control
NAS Security
eNB Measurement
Configuration & Provision
Idle State Mobility
Handling
Dynamic Resource
Allocation (Scheduler)
EPS Bearer Control
RRC

PDCP
S-GW P-GW
RLC
Mobility UE IP address
MAC Anchoring allocation
S1
PHY Packet Filtering
internet

E-UTRAN EPC
Protocol Stack

1 TBS per TTI per antenna

Ultimately TBS + 24 bit CRC + Coding is what is

added and sent out by PHY (See note below).
 QOS (1/3) • QoS Class Identifier (QCI)
o QCI is used to determine packet forwarding treatment
(e.g. scheduling of packets)
3G EPS o QCI can be used to mark packets with DSCP
o 3GPP has standardised 9 QCI values and mapping to
Traffic Class QCI (QoS Class Identifier) resource type (GBR, non-GBR), priority, packet delay
Delivery Order
budget and packet error loss rate

Max SDU Size

ARP
• Allocation and Retention Priority (ARP)
SDU Format
o ARP is used to decide whether bearer establishment or
Information modification request can be accepted in case of resource
Max Bit Rate
SDU Error Ratio
limitations/congestion
Residual Bit Error For GBR bearers Guaranteed Bit Rate o ARP can also be used to decide which bearer(s) to drop
Ratio during resource limitations
Delivery of Erroneous
SDUs
o It has been agreed in 3GPP that ARP has no impact on
Aggregate Max Bit Rate
packet forwarding treatment
Transfer Delay
Traffic Handling
For non-GBR bearers
• APN Aggregate Max Bit Rate (APN-AMBR) and UE
Priority Aggregate Max Bit Rate (UE-AMBR) for non-GBR
Source Statistics
Descriptor
EPS bearers
Signalling Indication o APN-AMBR shared by all non-GBR EPS bearers with the
same APN – downlink enforcement is done in PDN GW
ARP •Number of QoS parameters has been decreased and uplink enforcement in UE
Max Bitrate
•AMBR has been introduced to support bandwidth management o UE-AMBR shared by all non-GBR EPS bearers of the UE –
model familiar from fixed access downlink and uplink enforcement is done in Enb
Guaranteed Bitrate
• Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR) and Max Bit Rate (MBR)
for GBR EPS bearers
QOS (2/3)
Packet delay Packet error loss
QCI Resource type Priority Example Application
budget rate
1 GBR 2 100 ms 1e-2 Conversation voice
2 GBR 4 150 ms 1e-3 Conversational video
3 GBR 3 50 ms 1e-3 Real-time gaming
4 GBR 5 300 ms 1e-6 Non-conversational video
Converted to GBR if used
5 Non-GBR 1 100 ms 1e-6 IMS signalling for IMS signaling

6 Non-GBR 6 300 ms 1e-6 Video, www, email, ftp

7 Non-GBR 7 100 ms 1e-3 Interactive gaming
8 Non-GBR 8 300 ms 1e-6 Video, www, email, ftp
9 Non-GBR 9 300 ms 1e-6 Video, www, email, ftp

Note: Usage of operator specific QCIs in addition to standardized QCIs is possible.

QOS (3/3)
Application / Service layer
Uplink Service Data Flows Downlink Service Data Flows

Uplink Traffic Flow Templates (packet filters)

QOS(labels) is defined and
applied only between UE
and PDN gateway for 3GPP
and non-3GPP access GTP-U GTP-U

GTP-U GTP-U
UE Radio
eNB Serving GW PDN GW
Bearers
= eNB and gateways monitor and police (enforce) the AMBR
• Traffic Flow Templates are initiated from the network (UE cannot because eNB has anyways full control of UE UL)

• Only the PDN GW and UE have flow specific information.

o Between these, the packets are carried in default or dedicated bearers
o The application layer is non-QOS aware

• Default Evolved Packet System (EPS) bearer’s Traffic Flow Template (TFT) matches/contains ALL packets
o Default bearer is Non-guaranteed Bit Rate and always on

• Dedicated EPS bearer’s TFT match only certain packets (based on IP or TCP port)
o Dedicated bearers are setup on network request for e.g. VoIP calls
o Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) communicates with Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF) within
PDN GW to determine the bearer QOS
o Default QOS rules can alternatively be configured in PDN GW for situations when PCRF does not give instructions
 Mobility Management

• Mobility Management is a part of LTE C-Plane of Flexi

Multiradio BTS (eNB) and handles the mobility of UE in active
state
• Procedures supported by Mobility Management:

– Handover
 ongoing call or data session is transfered from one
radio channel connected to the core network to eNB C-Plane
another without call interruption Mobility Management
– Redirection (MM)
 is a similar procedure, however it requires
connection release prior to the transfer the ongoing
call
– Cell change
 procedure dedicated for call transfer from LTE to
GSM; connection release is also required
 LTE56 interRAT handover to WCDMA
• InterRAT and inter-frequency hard handover
• UE is connected to only one cell at a present time
• gap assisted measurements can be required by UE
• UE-EUTRA Capability contains the information if for a given WCDMA band
measurement gaps are necessary (IE: interRAT-NeedForGaps)
• during measurement of neigbour cells UE does not transmit or receive any
data
• network controlled and UE assisted
• eNB takes the decision to start handover procedure based on measurements
delivered by UE
• backward handover
• resources at target system are reserved in advance
• for interRAT handover data are not forwarded
• data transfer between eNB and RNC is not possible; transfer between UE
and eNB and UE and RNC only
 Key topics to be considered
• Provisioning of neighbour relation to WCDMA cells
• Manually or with ANR feature support

• Verification of UE Radio Capability by eNB

• eNB and MME receive UE Capability during Network Attach and TAU

• Measurement Configuration for WCDMA cells

• Events indicate radio conditions of serving and neighbour cells
• A1 - Serving becomes better than threshold
• A2 - Serving becomes worse than threshold
• A3 - Neighbour becomes offset better than serving
• A4 - Neighbour becomes better than threshold
• A5 - Serving becomes worse than threshold1 and neighbour becomes better than threshold2
• B1 - Inter RAT neighbour becomes better than threshold
• B2 - Serving becomes worse than threshold1 and inter RAT neighbour becomes better than
threshold2
• Start of WCDMA measurements and trigger to handover with A2, B2
 Radio conditions for LTE56 interRAT HO to WCDMA
• Handover from LTE to WCDMA is triggered by poor LTE radio coverage and sufficient WCDMA cell radio signal
quality
• To make this possible in case signal level of serving LTE cell gets worse UE has to be informed first which neighbour
WCDMA cells should be observed as potential target cells during HO procedure
• Information about target WCDMA cells is provided to UE by eNB with the help of RRC:ConnectionReconfiguration
message
• The trigger for sending this message is event A2, controlled with threshold2WCDMA
• If in the meantime, before the HO to WCDMA procedure is executed, the signal level of serving LTE cell becomes
better again, then monitoring of WCDMA neighbour cells can be switched off
• UE is informed about measurement deactivation again via RRC:ConnectionReconfiguration, this time triggered by
event A1, controlled with threshold2a
• please note: threshold2a is a common threshold for measurement deactivation of all LTE_interFreq/ WCDMA/ GERAN
neighbour cells (if activated earlier)
Radio conditions for LTE56 interRAT HO to WCDMA
Measurement Configuration
 LTE thresholds, offsets defined till RL30
Parameters
 Reminder
 LNHOW
that holds first and foremost information about WCDMA thresholds and
timers for predefined set of ARFCNs
 LNADJW – that conveys the details about each and every WCDMA
neighboring cell
 new parameters in structure for objects LNBTS, LNCEL
Parameters
Troubleshooting Rate Faults
- No transmission
User equipment (UE) that has accessed a network cannot perform data services.
- Low downlink rate on a single UE
The observed rate of a downlink service, either a User Datagram Protocol (UDP) or Transmission Control
Protocol (TCP) service, on a UE is at least 10% lower than the baseline value.
- Downlink rate fluctuation on a single UE
The observed rate of a downlink service, either a UDP or TCP service, on a UE fluctuates by more than 50%.
- Low uplink rate on a single UE
The observed rate of an uplink service, either a UDP or TCP service, on a UE is at least 10% lower than the
baseline value.
- Uplink rate fluctuation on a single UE
The observed rate of an uplink service, either a UDP or TCP service, on a UE fluctuates by more than 50%.
- Abnormal rates on multiple UEs
- A key performance indicator (KPI) indicates an abnormal rate, or a large number of users complain about
their traffic rates. This fault may be caused by a specific single-UE rate fault or a common rate fault on
multiple UEs.
- User-recognized abnormal rate
The rate of a data service on a UE is abnormal according to the user's definition. For example, the currently
observed rate is noticeably lower than the rate of the previous day or a period; the observed rate is
considerably lower than the rate achieved by equivalent equipment.
Symptoms of Throughput Faults
• A throughout fault indicates that the UE throughput at the application layer or
the MAC layer is low or greatly fluctuates. The throughput fluctuation can be
directly observed by using the throughput measurement function of the
Netmeter and other tools.
• Low throughput
 The peak throughput in an outdoor test is more than 5% smaller than the baseline value
and that in a lab test cannot reach the baseline value.
 The average throughput under the same path loss in a stationary test is more than 10%
smaller than the baseline value.
 Compared with other competitors, the throughput under the same path loss is lower for
more than 5%.
• Throughput fluctuation
 When the UE is stationary, the Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) fluctuates for
more than 6 dB or the throughput fluctuates for more than 30%.
 The throughput drop sharply.
 The throughput intermittently drops.

 The UL and DL throughput reference curves are provided on the

next page.
UL Throughput Reference
Value
 The following gives the baseline value of the UL throughput

60 30.0

50 25.0

40 20.0

Tput(Mbps)
Tput(Mbps)

30 15.0

20 10.0

10 5.0

0 0.0
90 95 100 105 110 115 120 125 130 135 90 95 100 105 110 115 120 125 130 135
PL(dB) PL(dB)

OL_CAT4_Tput OL_CAT5_Tput CL_CAT4_Tput CL_CAT5_Tput OL_CAT4_Tput OL_CAT5_Tput CL_CAT4_Tput CL_CAT5_Tput

Throughput at the bandwidth of 20 MHz Throughput at the bandwidth of 10 MHz

Note: OL: open-loop power control CL: closed-loop power control

The uplink capability and throughput of Cat 3 UE is the same as that of Cat 4 UE.
DL Throughput Reference
Value
• The following table on the left describes the DL peak throughput baseline.

Peak Throughput
Bandwidth (Mbit/s)
CAT3 CAT4 CAT5
1.4M 7.019 7.019 7.019

3M 21.126 21.126 21.126

5M 36.073 36.073 36.073

10M 73.104 73.104 73.104
15M 102 109.712 109.712
20M 102 149.855 149.855

• The table on the right describes the ratio of throughput to Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR)
on a fading channel for Cat 5 UE at the bandwidth of 20 MHz in a single cell in a lab test.
The baseline varies between different UEs for about 5%. The number of radio blocks
(RBs) increases and reduces based on the bandwidth. The comparison is based on the
maximum capabilities of different category UEs.
Overall Process for Throughput Fault Location
 Step 1: Check basis parameters and alarms. Check basic factors affecting the
throughput one by one.
Note 1: This type of check features low cost and must be preferentially used. If some factors are difficult for check,
leave these factors to subsequent steps. Check on each factor is deserved.
Note 2: Basic parameters include the UE subscription rate, UE capability, UE factor, UL CL power control, eNodeB
alarms, laptop, server performance, packet injection tool, license, and whether multi-UE is supported.

 Step 2: Determine whether that is a TCP fault. Compare the TCP service rate
with he UDP service rate.
Note 1: Compared with UDP services, TCP services are sensitive to end-to-end packet loss, delay, and jitter.
Therefore, the TCP rate problem is closely related to the performance of the transmission equipment,
evolved packet core (EPC), UE, server, and laptop. Historical data shows that this type of problem accounts
for more than 70%.
Note 2: After a TCP fault is confirmed, subsequent operations are greatly different from those for a non-TCP fault.

 Step 3: Determine a TCP fault. Check TCP parameters and use the eNodeB
TPE function and multi-point packet capture function to locate a fault step by
step.
Note: TCP parameters can be checked to determine a TCP fault; the TPE function can be used to check whether
that is a fault of a node above the eNodeB (S1 interface and above) or a fault of a node below the eNodeB;
the multi-point packet capture function is performed to locate in which segment the packet loss and out-of-
order packets occur.

 Step 4: Determine a non-TCP fault. Recheck basic factors and interference.

Checking Basic Parameters and
Alarms (1/5)
Basic parameters Check Method (Specific Operations to be Described in this Document)
The UE subscription rate can be viewed by performing S1 tracing or be observed on the UE side. Alternatively,
UE subscription rate
the UE subscription rate can be queried on the home subscriber server (HSS).

Query the UE capability by viewing the UE capability message. Generally, commercial UEs support category 2
UE capability
and category 3. UEs of different categories support different UL and DL throughput.
Individual factor of the UE Use other UEs of the same brand; use UEs of a different brand for test
If external antennas are used, you are advised to place two antennas vertically at a proper interval. If built-in
Antenna of the UE
antennas are used, adjust the angle and location of the UE.
If an alarm is generated, try to clear it. If the alarm does not have clearance conditions, analyze whether the
eNodeB alarm
alarm affects the throughput.
Whether multiple UEs are
Use the cell performance monitoring function of the eNodeB to check whether a cell has multiple UEs.
in the cell
Whether the throughput is
The license certificate may restrict the total cell throughput and therefore the throughput is low.
restricted by the license

The LTE system provides larger throughput and therefore requires servers and laptops with better
Performance check on the performance. During UL packet injection, a laptop needs to connect to the power supply to prevent packet
server and the laptop injection failures caused by insufficient power.
If there is no valid judgment method, replace a server or laptop to test for comparison.

Compatibility of the Inject 1000-byte packets in the test for comparison. Replace the FTP download tool with the recommended
packet injection tool Filezilla.

Check whether the UL CL Check whether the corresponding switch of the eNodeB is turned on, whether the UE supports the UL CL
power control is valid. power control.

eNodeB parameter check For details about specific operations of eNodeB parameter check, see doc for the vendor
Checking Basic Parameters and
Alarms (2/5)
Checking the UE subscription rate
UE subscription rate includes Aggregate Maximum Bit Rate (AMBR) and guaranteed bit rate (GBR). The total rate of
non-GBR services cannot exceed the AMBR. The rate of GBR bearers cannot exceed the GBR. Both the AMBR
and the GBR need to be larger than the user-required rate.
AMBR can be viewed in the Initial Context Establishment Request message traced over the S1 interface. GBR can
be viewed in the E-RAB Establishment Request or Initial Context Establishment Request message for GBR bearer
establishment, as shown in the figure on the left. The UL and DL AMBRs are 20 Kbit/s, which is insufficient.

GBR

AMBR

Unit: bit/s

AMBR can also be observed on the UE

side, as shown in the figure on the right.
Checking Basic Parameters and
Alarms (3/5)
Checking UE capability
The UE capability can be viewed in the RRC_UE_CAP_INFO
message traced over the Uu interface.
The following table shows the UL and DL throughput supported in
various UE categories. The UE belongs
On UL, the MCS order for UE Cat 5 can reach a maximum of 28, to Cat 3.
and that for UE Cat 3 and Cat 4 reaches 24 only.

UE Cat Cat 2 Cat 3 Cat 4 Cat 5

Capability 1
Maximum UL 5 25 50 50 75
throughput
(Mbit/s)
Maximum DL 10 50 100 150 300
throughput
(Mbit/s)

Checking eNodeB alarms

Alarms of the eNodeB, equipment, transmission, radio frequency, and interference affect the
throughput. In case of an throughput fault, try to clear eNodeB alarms. If the alarms do not have
clearance conditions, analyze the alarms one by one to check the influence on the throughput or use a
better eNodeB for tests.
Checking Basic Parameters and
Alarms (4/5)
Whether multiple UEs are in the cell
If other UEs in the same cell are
performing services, RBs for the test UE
decrease. Therefore, before testing, check
whether any other UE exits in the cell and
also pay attention to the access of other
UEs during the test. Monitoring the number
of UEs as shown in the figure on the right

Whether the throughput is

restricted by the license
Whether the license expires.
Whether the throughput is restricted by the
license.
Check whether the License supports UEs
of Cat 2, Cat 3, and Cat 4.
In multi-operator core network (MOCN)
scenarios, check the traffic volume ratio
between operators.
Checking Basic Parameters and
Alarms (5/5)
Whether the UL CL power control is valid (for an UL fault)
Symptom: If CL power control is invalid, the throughput and number of RBs decrease
for UEs located at a point far from the cell center or located in the middle of the cell while
UEs close to the cell center reach the peak throughput. Specifically, when the RSRP is –
100 dBm, the number of RBs reaches up to 90 for UEs in 20 MHz cells and reaches 40
for UEs in 10 MHz cells if the CL power control switch is turned on and reaches a
maximum of 10 if the OL power control switch is turned on.

eNodeB parameter check

Many parameters of the eNodeB affect the throughput. Compare configured parameters of the faulty eNodeB with
baseline values or those of normal eNodeBs to find inconsistent parameters and then analyze these parameters one
by one or modify the parameter to perform a test again.
 Determining a TCP Fault or a Non-TCP Fault
 1. Simple method: UDP packet injection
Judgment method
• If the throughput for UDP transmission is evidently greater than that for TCP transmission (for example, greater than 10%), a
TCP fault occurs. Check reasons of the TCP fault.
• If the throughput for UDP transmission is almost the same as or lower than that for TCP transmission, a non-TCP fault occurs.
Check reasons of the non-TCP fault.
 2. If UDP packet injection fails, upload multiple files using multiple
threads or upload multiple files simultaneously.
Operation method
• Upload multiple files in multiple DOS windows or using the multi-thread software, such as the Flashget and Filezilla.
Judgment method
• If the throughput in multi-thread-based upload is evidently greater than that in single-thread-based TCP packet injection, a TCP
fault occurs. Check reasons of the TCP fault.
• If the throughput in multi-thread-based upload is almost equal to or lower than that in single-thread-based TCP packet
injection, a non-TCP fault occurs. Check reasons of the non-TCP fault.
 If the preceding two methods cannot be used, check reasons of a TCP
fault.
Non-TCP Fault Location: Process
 If it is not a TCP fault after basis parameters and alarms are checked, further locate the fault based
on specific symptoms of the problem. A throughput problem has the following symptoms: the number
of scheduling times is insufficient; the number of RBs is insufficient; the MCS order is low and the
IBLER is not diverged. In addition to the symptoms of the UL throughput, a DL throughput fault has
another symptom that the DL MIMO mode is incorrect and dual-code words cannot be used.
 After confirming symptoms of the problem, locate a fault by following the procedure corresponding to
the symptoms.

Abnormal throughput

The number of The number of The MCS order The IBLER is The DL MIMO
scheduling times RBs is is low. abnormally mode is abnormal.
is insufficient. insufficient. diverged.

Check Imbalance between DL correlation check

interference the main and
Limited performance Restricted diversity of a UE
of the transmitting transmission .
equipment
 Throughput Fault: Routine
Operation Checklist
Routine Operation Analysis Operation deliverables
Confirm the Compare the test result with the baseline throughput and Problem description with detailed values
problem. describe the throughput fault. contained in the preliminary analysis report.
Check the subscription rate and the UE capability to meet
Check basic service requirements. Basic parameter check results contained in
parameters. Check whether the UL CL power control switch is turned on. the preliminary analysis report.
Check whether there are multiple UEs in the cell.
Use a different UE or a UE of a different brand.
Check the UE and
If external antennas are used, adjust the angle of the Check results contained in the preliminary
the antenna of the
antenna and the interval between two antennas. If built-in analysis report.
UE.
antennas are used, adjust the location and angle of the UE.
Check the Test results after replacement contained in
Use a laptop and a server with better performance. Try to
performance of the the preliminary analysis report, including the
shut down other software and ensure that the laptop
laptop and the UE type and version as well as the type of
connects to the power supply.
server. laptop and server.
Check the packet Change a packet injection tool (Iperf or Gperf) and revise
Test results after replacement contained in
injection tool and the packet length to 1000 bytes. Change the FTP download
the preliminary analysis report.
FTP tool. tool to the FileZilla.
Check alarms on the eNodeB and clear an alarm if any. If an
Check alarms. alarm cannot be cleared, change an eNodeB to perform Alarms and preliminary alarm analysis results
tests or analyze the alarm.
Check parameters of the faulty eNodeB by referring to the
Check parameters. Parameter check result
LTE Parameter Check Manual.
 Throughput Fault: Routine
Operation Checklist
Routine Operation Analysis Operation deliverables
Inject UDP packets or perform multi-thread
Check results contained in the
Confirm a TCP fault. TCP transmission to check whether this is a
preliminary analysis report.
TCP fault.
Check TCP Follow the instructions to confirm TCP Parameter check results and test results
parameters. parameters of the laptop and the server. after parameter modification
Configuration information about the
Check the property and rate of ports on property (duplex, half-duplex, or auto)
Check the
each transmission device over the S1 and rate (fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet,
transmission. interface. or auto) of each port on each
transmission device.
Check whether interference occurs on UL
Check interference. Interference check results
and DL.
Check imbalance
Check whether the main and diversity of a Check results of imbalance between the
between the main and
UE are imbalanced. main and diversity
diversity of a UE.
Provide other deliverables listed on the next
Submit deliverables. Preliminary analysis report; problem log
page.
Unidad III
KPI and Measurements for
LTE Radio Network
Optimization
Introduction to the Access Procedure – Attach
Procedure
Upon power-on, a UE first selects a cell UE E-NODEB MME

to camp on and then initiates the Attach

procedure.

connection setu
RRC_Conn_Req (msg3)

RRC
RRC_Conn_Setup (msg4)
 The RRC connection setup cause RRC_Conn_Setup_Cmp (msg5)
value is Mo-Signaling. INITIAL UE MESSAGE

 The Attach procedure consists of four Direct transmission (authentication and service negotiation)

steps: RRC SECURITY MODE CMD

INITIAL UE CONTEXT SETUP REQ

•
RRC SECURITY MODE CMP
Random access

E-RAB setup
RRC_UE_Cap_Enquiry

• RRC connection setup RRC_UE_Cap_Info

•
RRC CONN RECFG
NAS procedure RRC CONN RECFG CMP

• e-RAB setup INITIAL UE CONTEXT SETUP RSP

During the Attach procedure, a data Direct transmission (service negotiation and notification)
card terminal usually sets up only a
default bearer. LT terminals supporting SAEB SETUP REQ
bearer setup
Dedicated

RRC CONN RECFG

VoIP and some smart terminals such as RRC CONN RECFG CMP

HTC set up a dedicated bearer. SAEB SETUP RSP

Introduction to the Access Procedure – Service
Request
After attaching to the network, if the UE
returns to the idle mode, the UE initiates the
Service Request procedure to perform a UE E-NODEB MME

service. RRC PAGING

PAGING

RRC CONN SETUP REQ

 The RRC connection setup cause values

RRC CONN SETUP
are:
RRC CONN SETUP CMP
 Mo-data INITIAL UE MESSAGE

 Mt-Access
Direct transmission (authentication & service negotiation)

INITIAL UE CONTEXT SETUP REQ

 The Service Request procedure consists of RRC SECURITY MODE CMD

three steps: RRC SECURITY MODE CMP

 Random access RRC CONN RECFG

 RRC connection setup RRC CONN RECFG CMP

 e-RAB setup INITIAL UE CONTEXT SETUP RSP

The EPC has obtained the registration Direct transmission (service negotiation & notification)

SAEB SETUP REQ

information and capability information of the RRC CONN RECFG

UE. Therefore, The Service Request procedure RRC CONN RECFG CMP

does not contain the authentication and UE SAEB SETUP RSP

capability query. Uplink information transfer UPLINK NAS TRANSPORT

Introduction to the Access Procedure – TAU
Procedure
A tracking area (TA) is used to manage the UE
location. Multiple TAs constitute a TAL. After the
UE attaches to the network, the MME assigns
TAL resource to the UE. If moving out of the
local TAL, the UE performs TAU. A UE in idle
state performs periodic TAU.

 The RRC connection setup cause value is Mo-

Signaling.

 The TAU procedure consists of three steps:

 Random access
 RRC connection setup
 TAU

The TAU procedure requires no authentication

and bearer setup. After the TAU procedure is
complete, the connection is released.
Details of the Access Procedure – Random
Access Procedure
• Objectives of random access
• Synchronizing uplink transmission
• Obtaining uplink scheduling resources

• Scenarios of random access

• Initial access in idle mode
• RRC reconnection upon radio link failure
• Handover to new cells
• Downlink data transmission in uplink unsynchronized state
• Uplink data transmission in uplink unsynchronized state

• Two types of random access

• Contention-based (applicable to all scenarios)
• Contention-free (applicable to handover or downlink data transmission)
Details of the Access Procedure – Random
Access Procedure
 Differences of contention-based and contention-free random accesses
 Preamble selection
 The preamble is selected by the network for contention-free random access.
 The preamble is randomly selected by the UE for contention-based random access.
 Contention conflict risk
 Contention-free: The network ensures no conflict for a certain time.
 Contention-based: Conflict risk is generated.

UE eNB UE eNB

1 Random Access Preamble

0 RA Preamble assignment

Random Access Response 2

Random Access Preamble 1

3 Scheduled Transmission

2 Random Access Response

Contention Resolution 4

Contention-based random access Contention-free random access

Details of the Access Procedure – Random
Access Procedure
Preamble PRACH CONFIGURATION INDEX = 6
format 0
1ms

PUCCH

eNodeB supports the following configurations: PUSCH

F requency
 Preamble formats 0 to 3
 PRACH periods: 10ms, 5ms
PRACH 6 RBs
 Random access procedure: contention-based and
contention-free PUCCH

Time

RACH RACH
Slot Slot

RACH period (5ms)

Frame (10 ms )
Details of the Access Procedure – RRC
Connection Setup Procedure
UE EUTRAN UE EUTRAN

RRCConnectionRequest
RRCConnectionRequest

RRCConnectionSetup
RRCConnectionReject

RRCConnectionSetupComplete
RRC connection failure procedure
RRC connection success procedure

• Objectives
• To set up SRB1.
• The UE sends the initial NAS message to the network.

• Key Information Elements

• UE-identity (RRCConnectionRequest and RRCConnectionSetup)
• establishmentCause (RRCConnectionRequest)
• radioResourceConfiguration for Only SRB1 (RRCConnectionSetup)
• selectedPLMN-Identity (RRCConnectionSetupComplete)
• nas-DedicatedInformation (RRCConnectionSetupComplete)
Details of the Access Procedure – RRC
Connection Setup Procedure
Content of the RRC_Conn_Req message Cause values of the RRC_Conn_Req message

 The ue-Identity of the RRC_Conn_Req message is S-TMSI if the S-TMSI stored in the UE is a valid
value or a random value if else.
 The establishmentCause of the RRC_Conn_Req message depends on the type of the NAS
procedure. Different NAS procedure corresponds to different establishmentCause.
 The Extended Service Request of the NAS procedure is used for CS fallback of a voice service.
Details of the Access Procedure – RRC
Connection Setup Procedure
Counters measured during the RRC connection
setup procedure
[Point A] When the cell receives the RRC Connection Request message

[Point B] When the cell receives the RRC Connection Request message and delivers the RRC Connection Setup message
to the UE
Details of the Access Procedure – NAS Procedure
UE E-NODEB MME
 The NAS procedure is an interaction between the UE and
EPC, including authentication, security-mode procedure,
identity procedure, and APN procedure. The
RRC CONN SETUP REQ
authentication procedure generates a new set of keys; the
security-mode procedure validates the security context RRC CONN SETUP
generated from the new keys; in the identity procedure,
RRC CONN SETUP CMP
the EPC obtains necessary information from the UE.
 During the NAS procedure, the eNodeB transparently INITIAL UE MESSAGE

transmits the uplink and downlink messages, except that S1AP_DL_NAS_TRANS

the eNodeB needs to select a EPC node for S1 Flex or Authentication S1AP_UL_NAS_TRANS

MOCN network. S1AP_DL_NAS_TRANS

 The following describes the authentication and security- S1AP_UL_NAS_TRANS

mode procedures: Encryption Initial_Context_Setup_request

1. The MME initiates the AKA procedure and sends the AUTH REQ message that contains the RAND and AUTN
necessary for authentication.

2. The UE receives the AUTH REQ message and sends the AUTH RES message containing the RES parameters.

3. If the MME receives the AUTH RES message, it triggers the security-mode procedure; if it fails to receive the
AUTH RES message, it sends the AUTH REJ message.

4. Upon reception of the SMC message, the UE does the following:

a) Calculates the KnasEnc and KnasInt according to the Selected NAS security algorithms IE of the SMC message.
b) Checks the validity of the UE security capabilities and KSI IEs. If valid, the UE sends the MME SECURITY MODE COMPLETE
message; if invalid, the UE sends the SECURITY MODE REJECT message.
Details of the Access Procedure – e-RAB
Setup Procedure
 Counters measured during e-RAB setup
 [Point A] When the eNodeB receives the INITIAL CONTEXT SETUP
REQUEST or E-RAB SETUP REQUEST message from the MME, the
number of e-RAB setup attempts increments by 1. If the message
requires setup of multiple e-RABs, the counter is separately calculated
for each QCI and the calculation results of all QCIs are summed up.
 [Point B] When the eNodeB receives the INITIAL CONTEXT SETUP
RESPONSE or E-RAB SETUP RESPONSE message from the MME, the
number of successful e-RAB setups increments by 1. If the message
requires setup of multiple
e-RABs, the counter is separately calculated for each QCI and the
calculation results of all QCIs are summed up.

 Key information elements

• SAE Bearer Level QoS parameters (contained in the context
request message)
• Transport Layer Address (contained in the context request and
response messages)
• NAS-PDU (contained in the context request message)
• Security key (contained in the context request message)
• UE Radio Capability (contained in the context request message,
optional)
Details of the Access Procedure – e-RAB
Setup Procedure
UE EUTRAN MME

UECapabilityEnquiry

UECapabilityInformation

UE Capability Ind

• When the UE initiates the Attach procedure, the Initial Context Setup Request message sent by
the EPC does not contain the UE capability. The eNodeB queries the UE about UE capability;
the UE reports UE capability to the eNodeB; and the eNodeB sends the UE capability contained
in the UE Capability Indication message over the S1 interface to the EPC.
• During the Attach procedure, failure of the UE capability query procedure causes e-RAB setup
failure.
• During the Idle-to-active procedure, the EPC sends the Initial Context Setup Request message
containing the UE capability to the eNodeB. The eNodeB does not need to query the UE
capability, saving the Uu interface resources.
Details of the Access Procedure – e-RAB
Setup Procedure
UE EUTRAN UE EUTRAN

SecurityModeCommand SecurityModeCommand

SecurityModeComplete SecurityModeFailure

Security mode success procedure Security mode failure procedure

• Objectives
• The security mode procedure is used to activate the encryption and integrity
protection at the access stratum. Note that the security mode of the access
stratum and that of the NAS are two independent procedures.
• There are three algorithms: null encryption, AES, and Snow 3G.
• Time to start the security mode
• After setting up SRB1 and before setting up SRB2
• For the security protection, the protection is started by the security mode
command or security mode complete message; encryption is started by the
message next to the security mode procedure.
• Integrity protection is used by SRB and encryption is used by SRB and DRB.
Details of the Access Procedure – e-RAB
Setup Procedure
UE EUTRAN UE EUTRAN

RRCConnectionReconfiguration RRCConnectionReconfiguration

RRCConnectionReconfigurationComplete RRC connection re-establishment

• Objectives
• During the access procedure, the SRB2 and DRB are set up in the RRC connection
reconfiguration procedure.
• If the reconfiguration fails, the UE initiates the RRC connection reestablishment procedure.

• Key information elements

• radioResourceConfiguration (for SRB2 and possibly DRBs) (contained in the default bearer setup)
• nas-DedicatedInformation (contained in the default bearer setup)
The RRC connection reconfiguration is used to configure the following:
• measurementConfiguration (contained in the measurement control)
• mobilityControlInformation (contained in the handover command)
Overview of Access Problems
 An access failure occurs if a UE initiates a service but fails to set up the service.

 Measurement of access failures

 The access failure is measured by two counters: RRC connection setup success rate and e-
RAB setup success rate. The access success rate is obtained by multiplying the two.
 The random access procedure is not measured by the access setup success rate due to the
random nature.
 The NAS failure is not measured by the RRC connection setup success rate.
 Therefore, the access success rate in the traffic statistics cannot fully reflect the user
experience.

 Measurement of access failures during a drive test

 In a drive test, the messages are traced on both the eNodeB and UE. An access success or
failure can be determined by checking the signaling messages.
 The drive test software automatically determines an access failure and calculates the access
success rate.
 In contrast to traffic measurement, the drive test measurement identifies an access failure
caused by NAS failure or by random access failure.
Symptoms of Access Problems – Random
Access Failure
 Symptoms of a random access failure
The symptom is that the eNodeB fails to receive the RRC Connection Request message. A random
access failure can be inferred by only examining the traffic statistics; no L3 message is traced by the
eNodeB. Some details of a random access failure can be observed on a test UE.

 Causes of a random access failure

• The UE does not support some specific band.
• The UE is frequency-locked; the test UE uses some special bandwidth parameters.
• The UE is at the cell edge and the uplink and downlink path loss is large.
• The cell is sleeping.

 Symptoms of a sleeping cell

No user accesses the cell, no alarm. Traffic measurement shows that the number of RRC
connections is 0, which indicates either cell exception or no users in the cell. History traffic
measurement shows that there were UEs accessing the cell but beginning from a certain
moment, no UE accesses the cell.
Symptoms of Access Problems – RRC
Connection Setup Failure
 The symptoms of an RRC connection setup failure on the eNodeB are as follows:
• After delivering the RRC_CONN_SETUP message, the eNodeB fails to receive the RRC_CONN_SETUP_CMP
message.

• The eNodeB sends the RRC_CONN_REJ message, indicating that the eNodeB is faulty.

The following figure shows the messages of these two failures over the Uu interface.

Counters of the RRC connection setup failures

 Symptoms of Access Problems – NAS Failure
 The NAS procedure consists of all interactions beginning from the Ue_Initial_Message sent by the eNodeB to the
Initial_Ue_Context_Setup_Req message sent by the EPC.

 The symptoms are as follows:

• In case of an authentication failure, the EPC sends the release message that is not sensed by the eNodeB.
• In case the direct message between the UE and EPC fails to be transmitted over the Uu interface, the failure is
sensed by the eNodeB and the eNodeB sends the release request to the EPC.

• Absence or slowness in response of the EPC is sensed by the eNodeB. The eNodeB sends the release request
to the EPC.

• An NAS failure is not measured by the eNodeB traffic measurement, but by the EPC and UE.
Symptoms of Access Problems – e-RAB
Setup Failure
 An e-RAB setup failure occurs if any step of the e-RAB setup procedure beginning from reception
of the Initial_Ue_Context_Setup_Req or E-RAB SETUP REQUEST message to sending of a response
message fails.
 Symptoms of an e-RAB setup failure over the Uu interface are as follows:
 During the security procedure, the UE does not send the Complete message or sends a failure message.
 During the DRB setup reconfiguration, the UE does not send the Complete message or initiates a
reconnection.
 During the UE capability query, the UE does not reply.
 Counters of the e-RAB setup failure
Symptoms of Access Problems – e-RAB
Setup Failure
 Symptoms of an e-RAB setup failure over the S1 interface are as follows:
 The GTP-U resource request fails.
 The EPC is exceptional, such as delivering incorrect parameters.
 The radio resource request fails.
Troubleshooting the Access Problem by
Analyzing the Data Sources
 Step 1: Determine the scope of the access problem: Analyze the traffic statistics to
determine the scope of the access problem, whether it is a top-cell or top-site problem,
entire-network problem, comprehensive problem, or top-terminal/top-UE problem.
Note: 1. The analysis method varies for different scenarios. In a scenario of degraded performance after upgrade, you need to
compare the differences before and after the upgrade to determine the scope of the degradation. In a scenario of
inventory optimization where the access performance is below expectation or to be improved, you need to determine
the region of performance degradation.
2. The access problem of a top cell, entire network, or a comprehensive problem can be analyzed by using the traffic
statistics. The performance degradation of some terminal types or some UEs is analyzed by using KPI.

 Step 2: Classify the causes of an access problem: Analyze the data sources to classify
the causes of an access problem.

 Step 3: Do as required by the checklist: Do as required by the checklist to determine the

root cause and the closing action.

 Step 4: Close the problem: Close the problem and evaluate the result. If the result is
unsatisfactory, repeat the preceding steps.
Determining the Scope of an Access Problem –
Principles of Selecting Top Cells, Sites, etc
The principles of selecting top cells or sites vary for different scenarios.

 Scenario 1: Performance degradation in the time dimension: After an upgrade, the

access performance degrades, or degrades suddenly due to unknown reasons.

Principles: Calculate the difference of the counters (access success rate and access
failure count) before and after the upgrade of each cell. Sort the cells by the difference of
the access success rate and the difference of the access failure count to obtain the top
cells of degraded access success rate and top cells of access failure count. The
principles of selecting top terminal types and top UEs are similar.

 Scenario 2: Performance degradation in an inventory optimization: The access

performance of the live network is below expectation and needs to be optimized to the
target value.

Principles: Sort the cells by the access failure percentage and access failure count to
obtain the top cells of degraded access success rate and top cells of access failure
count. The principles of selecting top terminal types and top UEs are similar.
Determining the Scope of an Access
Problem – Criteria
 Top-cell problem: After one-fifth of the top cells of low access success rate and high
access failure count are removed from calculation of the entire-network access
performance, if the performance is significantly improved to the expected value, the
access problem is defined as a top-cell problem.

 Entire-network problem: After one-fifth of the top cells is removed from calculation of the
entire-network access performance, if the performance is not significantly improved, the
problem is defined as an entire-network problem.

 Comprehensive problem: After one-fifth of the top cells is removed, if the access
performance is improved a little to a value slightly below the expected value, the
problem is defined as a comprehensive (top-cell plus entire-network) problem.

 Top-terminal or top-UE problem: After one-fifth of the top terminals or top UEs are
removed from calculation of the entire-network access performance, if the performance
is significantly improved to the expected value, the problem is defined as a top-terminal
or top-UE problem.
Classifying the Causes of Access Problems
After determining the scope of the access problem,
analyze the following data sources to infer the causes of
the problem:

 Traffic measurement

 Signaling

 Drive test data

Analyzing the Traffic Statistics to Infer Causes
 Analyzing the traffic statistics
• Determine whether the RRC connection setup procedure, e-RAB setup procedure,
or both, is faulty.
• In case of faulty RRC connection setup procedure, analyze the traffic statistics to
derive the causes of the failure.

• In case of e-RAB setup failure, analyze the traffic statistics to derive the causes.
 Detecting Sleeping Cells by Analyzing Traffic
Statistics
 Obtain the following counters from the OSS at a period of hours for a duration of
one week.
Number of received RRC Connection Request messages
(excluding retransmission)
Number of received contention-based preambles (Group A)
Number of received contention-based preambles (Group B)
Number of transmitted RARs to contention-based
preambles(Group A)
Number of transmitted RARs to contention-based preambles
(Group B)
Number of received contention-free preambles
Number of received contention-free preambles (handover)
Number of transmitted RARs to contention-free preambles
Number of transmitted RARs to contention-free preambles
(handover)
Number of received MSG3 messages triggered by handover

 Analyze the traffic statistics

Check the traffic statistics of the latest one week for change of user access, taking into
account the differences of weekdays and weekends. If the cell used to work normally but,
beginning from a certain moment, user access is suddenly absent or gradually decreases
to zero and the number of random access preambles is unchanged, this cell is very likely a
sleeping cell.
Analyzing the Signaling Trace to Derive
Causes of Access Failures

 The signaling trace clearly shows at which step the access procedure fails and is very
effective for diagnosing a drive test problem or reproducible problem. The two
constraints are that the trace must be started before the problem occurs and manual
analysis is required.

• Standard interface trace (a major means): Analyze the traffic statistics to derive the
top cells and top time segments. Start standard interface trace for the top cells and
at the top time segments to check at which step the access procedure fails.

• Single-UE entire-network trace (a minor means): Use the TMSI of a top UE as an

input to obtain the IMSI from the EPC. Star the user trace in the entire network.
This means is effective for guaranteeing services to VIP users.

• Cell trace (a minor means): Start cell trace for the top cells and at the top time
segments to determine the link quality and scheduling of the failed UE.
Analyzing Drive Test Data to Derive Causes of
Access Failures
 Compared with the signaling trace of the eNodeB, the benefits of drive test data are
that in addition to signaling trace, signal strength and scheduling information are
available, depending on the drive test software and terminal type. The disadvantage is
that in terms of signaling trace, only Uu interface trace is available. Therefore, signaling
trace and drive test usually work together.

• Determine whether it is an NAS or AS problem: Analyze the signaling procedures to determine

whether it is an NAS or AS problem. An NAS problem is indicated by a failure at the NAS, such
as authentication failure, and is strongly correlated to subscription.

• In case of an AS problem, determine whether it is an L3 problem. An L3 problem is indicated

by reply of a failure message or no reply. A problem below L3 is indicated by scheduling failure
or poor signaling strength that leads to message transmission failure.

• In case of an L3 problem, a common cause is failure of the security procedure. Check

consistency of the security algorithm settings on the eNodeB and UE.

• In case of a problem below L3, check the RSRP and SINR of the venue to determine whether
the problem is caused by interference or weak coverage.
Suggestions for Solving a Coverage Problem
 The symptom is poor link quality caused by unbalanced uplink and downlink or weak
coverage.
• The symptoms of poor uplink are minimum RB count, MCS 0, PHR below 0 dB,
high uplink BLER, high CRC error rate, and negative SINR as shown in the CHR.
• The symptoms of poor downlink are poor CQI or the HARQ receives a lot of DTX
and NACK messages from the UE.
• Insufficient uplink means that the uplink is poor and the downlink is satisfactory;
insufficient downlink means that the uplink is satisfactory and the downlink is poor.
Weak coverage means that both the uplink and downlink are poor.

 In case of insufficient uplink, the solutions are as follows:

• Add eNodeBs, reduce uplink path loss, add TMAs, add uplink signal compensation.

 In case of insufficient downlink, the solutions are as follows:

• Add eNodeBs, reduce downlink path loss, increase pilot power, increase the radius
of downlink cell coverage.

 In case of insufficient coverage, the solutions are as follows:

• Add eNodeBs, increase coverage.
Troubleshooting Service Drops
Service drop rate is an important key performance indicator (KPI) for radio
networks. It indicates the ratio of the number of dropped services to the
total number of services. A high service drop rate cannot meet user
requirements.

A service drop is counted each time the eNodeB sends an E-RAB RELEASE
INDICATION or UE CONTEXT RELEASE COMMAND message to the MME with
a release cause other than Normal Release, Detach, User Inactivity, cs
fallback triggered, and Inter-RAT redirection after an E-UTRAN radio access
bearer (E-RAB) has been successfully set up for a UE.
Possible Causes
Troubleshooting Flowchart

Ask for God Help

Network Optimization
Methods
Tilt Adjustment Azimuth Adjustment

Power Adjustment Network

Reselection and
Optimization Handover
Parameter Adjustment

Antenna Height Feature Configuration

RF optimization involves adjustment of azimuths, tilts, antenna height, eNodeB transmit

power, feature algorithms, and performance parameters. Optimization methods in different
standards are similar, but each standard has its own measurement definition.
RSRP
Reference signal received power (RSRP), is determined for a
considered cell as the linear average over the power
3GPP contributions (in [W]) of the resource elements that carry cell-
definition specific reference signals within the considered measurement
frequency bandwidth.

 Note: Different from GSM or TD-SCDMA systems, TD-LTE systems have multiple subcarriers multiplexed.
Therefore, the measured pilot signal strength is the RSRP of a single subcarrier (15 kHz) not the total bandwidth
power of the frequency.

The RSRPs near a cell, in the middle of a cell, and at the edge of a cell are determined based on the distribution
of signals on the entire network. Generally, the RSRP near a cell is -85 dBm, the RSRP in the middle of a cell is -
95 dBm, and the RSRP at the edge of a cell is -105 dBm.

Currently, the minimum RSRP for UEs to camp on a cell is -120 dBm.

 Empirical RSRP at the edge of a cell:

The RSRP is greater than -110 dBm in 99% areas at the TD-LTE site in Norway.

The RSRP is greater than -110 dBm in 98.09% areas in the Huayang field in Chengdu.
SINR
The SINR is not specifically defined in 3GPP specifications. A common formula is as follows:
SINR = S/(I + N)
 S: indicates the power of measured usable signals. Reference signals (RS) and physical
downlink shared channels (PDSCHs) are mainly involved.
 I: indicates the power of measured signals or channel interference signals from other cells in the
current system and from inter-RAT cells.
 N: indicates background noise, which is related to measurement bandwidths and receiver noise
coefficients.

Empirical SINR at the edge of a cell:

The SINR is greater than -3 dB in 99% areas in Norway.
The SINR is greater than -3 dB in 99.25% areas in the Huayang field in Chengdu.
Handover Success Rate
According to the signaling process in 3GPP TS 36.331,
 eNodeB statistics
(1) Handover success rate = Number of handovers/Number of handover
attempts x 100%
(2) Number of handover attempts: indicates the number of eNodeB-
transmitted RRCConnectionReconfiguration messages for handovers.
(3) Number of handovers: indicates the number of eNodeB-received
RRCConnectionReconfigurationComplete messages for handovers.
 Subcarriers share the transmit power of an eNodeB, and therefore the transmit power
of each subcarrier depends on the configured system bandwidth (such as 5 MHz and 10
Definitions in MHz). A larger bandwidth will result in lower power of each subcarrier. LTE uses PA and
3GPP PB parameters to adjust power.

specifications ρA: indicates the ratio of the data subcarrier power of OFDM symbols excluding pilot
symbols to the pilot subcarrier power.
ρB: indicates the ratio of the data subcarrier power of OFDM symbols including pilot
symbols to the pilot subcarrier power.

Service power configuration (calculating PDSCH power based

on RS power)
RS power PA and PB are delivered using RRC signaling. For
two antennas, PA is ρA and ρB is calculated based on the right
table. PDSCH power is calculated based on PA and PB.
Currently, it is recommended that PB be set to 1 dB and PA be
set to -3 dB. That is, the pilot power for symbols including pilot
symbols accounts for 1/3. This setting optimizes network Control channels
performance and ensures that the pilot power for Type A and Power of PDCCHs, PHICHs, PCFICHs,
Type B symbols is equivalent to the service channel power. In
scenarios with special requirements, for example, in rural
PBCHs, primary synchronization channels,
scenarios requiring low edge rates, PB can be set to 2 or 3 dB to and secondary synchronization channels is
enhance coverage.
set using an offset from RS power.
 Classification of Coverage
Problems (RSRP is mainly
involved)
Weak coverage and Imbalance between Lack of a
coverage holes Cross coverage uplink and downlink dominant cell
Continuous The actual Uplink and Each cell on a
coverage must be coverage must be downlink losses network must
ensured. consistent with the must be balanced have a dominant
planned one to to resolve uplink coverage area to
prevent service and downlink prevent frequent
drops caused by coverage reselections or
isolated islands problems. handovers
during handovers. caused by signal
changes.
Factors Affecting Coverage

1 2
Downlink: Uplink:
•Equivalent isotropic •eNodeB receiver sensitivity
radiated power (EIRP) •Antenna diversity gain
•Total transmit power •UE transmit power
•Combining loss •Propagation loss of uplink
•Path loss (PL) radio signals
•Frequency band •Impact of tower-mounted
•Distance between a receive amplifiers (TMAs) on uplink
point and an eNodeB
•Scenarios (urban and
suburban areas) and terrains
(plains, mountains, and hills)
of electric wave propagation
•Antenna gain
•Antenna height
•Antenna parameters
(antenna pattern)
•Antenna tilt
•Antenna azimuth
Weak Coverage and
Coverage Holes
The signal quality in cells is poorer than the optimization baseline in an area.
Weak As a result, UEs cannot be registered with the network or accessed services
coverage cannot meet QoS requirements.

If there is no network coverage or coverage levels are excessively low in an area, the
area is called a weak coverage area. The receive level of a UE is less than its
minimum access level (RXLEV_ACCESS_MIN) because downlink receive levels in a
Coverage holes weak coverage area are unstable. In this situation, the UE is disconnected from the
network. After entering a weak coverage area, UEs in connected mode cannot be
handed over to a high-level cell, and even service drops occur because of low levels
and signal quality.
 Resolving Weak Coverage
Problems
Analyze geographical
environments and check the
receive levels of adjacent
eNodeBs.
Analyze the EIRP of each
sector based on parameter
configurations and ensure
EIRPs can reach maximum
values if possible.
Increase pilot power.
Adjust antenna azimuths and
tilts, increase antenna height,
and use high-gain antennas.
Deploy new eNodeBs if
coverage hole problems
cannot be resolved by
adjusting antennas.
Increase coverage by
adjacent eNodeBs to achieve
large coverage overlapping
between two eNodeBs and
ensure a moderate handover
area.
Note: Increasing coverage
may lead to co-channel and
adjacent-channel
interference.
Use RRUs, indoor
distribution systems, leaky
feeders, and directional
antennas to resolve the
problem with blind spots in
elevator shafts, tunnels,
underground garages or
basements, and high
buildings.
Analyze the impact of
scenarios and terrains on
coverage.
 Case: Searching for a Weak Coverage Area by
Using a Scanner or Performing Drive Tests on
UEs

Perform drive tests in zero-

load environments to obtain
the distribution of signals on
test routes. Then, find a
weak coverage area based
on the distribution, as
shown in the figure.
Adjust RF parameters of the
eNodeB covering the area.
Weak
coverage
area
 Lack of a Dominant Cell

In an area without a dominant cell, the receive level of the serving cell is similar to the
receive levels of its neighboring cells and the receive levels of downlink signals between
different cells are close to cell reselection thresholds. Receive levels in an area without a
dominant cell are also unsatisfactory. The SINR of the serving cell becomes unstable
Lack of a because of frequency reuse, and even receive quality becomes unsatisfactory. In this
dominant situation, a dominant cell is frequently reselected and changed in idle mode. As a result,
cell frequent handovers or service drops occur on UEs in connected mode because of poor
signal quality. An area without a dominant cell can also be regarded as a weak coverage
area.
Resolving Problems with Lack
of a Dominant Cell
Determine cells covering an Adjust engineering
area without a dominant cell parameters of a cell that can
during network planning, and optimally cover the area as
adjust antenna tilts and required.

azimuths to increase coverage

by a cell with strong signals
…
and decrease coverage of
other cells with weak signals.
Case: Searching for
an Area Without a
Dominant
 Symptom
Cell
UEs frequently perform cell reselections
or handovers between identical cells.
 Analysis
Analysis can be based on signaling
procedures and PCI distribution.
According to PCI distribution shown in
the figure, PCIs alternate in two or more
colors if there is no dominant cell.
 Solution
According to the coverage plan, cell 337
is a dominant cell covering the area and cell
49 also has strong signals. To ensure
handovers between cells 337 and 49 at Lack of a
crossroads, increase tilts in cell 49. dominant
cell
 Cross Coverage
Cross coverage means that the coverage scope of an eNodeB exceeds the planned one and
generates discontinuous dominant areas in the coverage scope of other eNodeBs. For
example, if the height of a site is much higher than the average height of surrounding
buildings, its transmit signals propagate far along hills or roads and form dominant
coverage in the coverage scope of other eNodeBs. This is an “island” phenomenon. If a call
Cross is connected to an island that is far away from an eNodeB but is still served by the eNodeB,

coverage and cells around the island are not configured as neighboring cells of the current cell when
cell handover parameters are configured, call drops may occur immediately once UEs leave
the island. If neighboring cells are configured but the island is excessively small, call drops
may also occur because UEs are not promptly handed over. In addition, cross coverage
occurs on two sides of a bay because a short distance between the two sides. Therefore,
eNodeBs on two sides of a bay must be specifically designed.
 Resolving Cross Coverage
Problems
Adjust antenna azimuths
properly so that the direction
of the main lobe slightly
obliques from the direction of
a street. This reduces
excessively far coverage by
electric waves because of
reflection from buildings on
two sides of the street.
Adjust antenna tilts or Decrease the antenna
replace antennas with large-tilt height for a high site.
antennas while ensuring Decrease transmit power of
proper antenna azimuths. Tilt carriers when cell
adjustment is the most performance is not affected.
effective approach to control
coverage. Tilts are classified
…
into electrical tilts and
mechanical tilts. Electrical tilts
are preferentially adjusted if
possible.
Case: Cross Coverage
Caused by Improper Tilt
Settings
 Symptom

As shown in the upper right figure, cross

coverage occurs in a cell whose PCI is
288. Therefore, the cell interferes with
other cells, which increases the
probability of service drops.

 Analysis

The most possible cause for cross

coverage is excessively antenna height or
improper tilt settings. According to a
check on the current engineering
parameter settings, the tilt is set to an
excessively small value. Therefore, it is
recommended that the tilt be increased.

 Solution

Adjust the tilt of cell 288 from 3 to 6. As

shown in the lower right figure, cross
coverage of cell 288 is significantly
reduced after the tilt is adjusted.
 Case: Inverse Connections Involved
in the Antenna System
 Symptom
The RSRPs of cells 0 and 2 at the Expo Village site are low and high respectively in
the red area shown in the figure. The signal quality of cells 0 and 2 is satisfactory in
the areas covered by cells 2 and 0 respectively.
 Analysis
After installation and commissioning are complete, the RSRP in the direction of the
main lobe in cell 0 is low. After cell 0 is disabled and cell 2 is enabled, the RSRP in cell
2 is normal and the SINR is higher than that tested in cell 0. Therefore, this problem
may occur because the antenna systems in the two cells are connected inversely.
Test results are as expected after optical fibers on the baseband board are swapped.
 Solution
Swap optical fibers on the baseband board or adjust feeders and antennas properly. It
is recommended that optical fibers on the baseband board be swapped because this
operation can be performed in the equipment room.
 Suggestions
Network planning personnel must participate in installation. Alternatively, customer
service personnel have detailed network planning materials and strictly supervise
project constructors for installation. After installation is complete, labels must be
attached and installation materials must be filed.
 Imbalance Between Uplink
and Downlink
When UE transmit power is less than eNodeB transmit power, UEs in idle mode may receive
eNodeB signals and successfully register in cells. However, the eNodeB cannot receive
uplink signals because of limited power when UEs perform random access or upload data.
In this situation, the uplink coverage distance is less than the downlink coverage distance.
Imbalance Imbalance between uplink and downlink involves limited uplink or downlink coverage. In
between limited uplink coverage, UE transmit power reaches its maximum but still cannot meet the
uplink and requirement for uplink BLERs. In limited downlink coverage, the downlink DCH transmit
code power reaches its maximum but still cannot meet the requirement for the downlink
downlink
BLER. Imbalance between uplink and downlink leads to service drops. The most common
cause is limited uplink coverage.

Downlink coverage area

Uplink coverage area

coverage area
Resolving Problems with
Imbalance Between Uplink
and Downlink
If no performance data is available for
RF optimization, trace a single user in the
OMC equipment room to obtain uplink
measurement reports on the Uu interface,
and then analyze the measurement
reports and drive test files.
If performance data is available, check
each carrier in each cell for imbalance
between uplink and downlink based on
uplink and downlink balance
measurements.
If uplink interference leads to imbalance
between uplink and downlink, monitor
eNodeB alarms to check for interference.
Check whether equipment works properly
and whether alarms are generated if
imbalance between uplink and downlink is
caused by other factors, for example, uplink
and downlink gains of repeaters and trunk
amplifiers are…set incorrectly, the antenna
system for receive diversity is faulty when
reception and transmission are separated,
or power amplifiers are faulty. If equipment
works properly or alarms are generated,
take measures such as replacement,
isolation, and adjustment.
 Signal Quality (SINR is mainly
involved)
⑤ Antenna
azimuths
⑥ Antenna tilts
③ Site
selection
④ Antenna
② Cell layout height

① Frequency
plan
 Resolving Signal Quality
Problems Caused by Improper
Parameter Settings
Optimizing Change and optimize frequencies based on drive test and
frequencies performance measurement data.

Adjust antenna azimuths and tilts to change the distribution of signals in an

Adjusting the
interfered area by increasing the level of a dominant sector and decreasing levels of
antenna
other sectors.
system

Adding Increase power of a cell and decrease power of other cells to form a dominant
dominant cell.
coverage

Decrease RS power to reduce coverage if the antenna pattern is distorted because

Adjusting
of a large antenna tilt.
power Power adjustment and antenna system adjustment can be used together.
 Case: Adjusting Antenna Azimuths and Tilts
to Reduce Interference
 Symptom
Cross coverage occurs at sites 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12, and co-channel interference occurs
in many areas.
 Analysis
According to the analysis of engineering parameters and drive test data, cell density is large in
coverage areas. Coverage by each cell can be reduced by adjusting antenna azimuths and tilts.
 Solution
Change the tilt in cell 28 from 2 degrees to 4 degrees so that the direction points to a
demonstration route. Change the tilt in cell 33 from 3 degrees to 6 degrees so that the direction
points to the Wanke Pavilion. Change the tilt in cells 50 and 51 from 3 degrees to 6 degrees so
that the direction points to the Communication Pavilion. Decrease the transmit power in cell 33 by
3 dB to reduce its interference to overhead footpaths near China Pavilion.

Poor signal
quality before
optimization

SINR before optimization in Puxi SINR after optimization in Puxi

 Case: Changing PCIs of Intra-frequency Cells
to Reduce Interference
 Symptom
Near Japan Pavilion, UEs access a cell whose PCI is 3 and SINRs are low. UEs are about 200 m away from the
eNodeB. This problem may be caused by co-channel interference.

 Analysis
This problem is not caused by co-channel interference because no neighboring cell has the same frequency as
the current cell. Cell 6 interferes with cell 3. SINRs increase after cell 6 is disabled. In theory, staggered PCIs can
reduce interference.

 Solution
Change PCI 6 to PCI 8. Test results show that SINRs increase by about 10 dB.

SINR when cell 6 is enabled SINR when cell 6 is disabled SINR when PCI 6 is changed to PCI 8
Case: Handover Failure Caused by
Severe Interference
 Symptom

During a test, handovers from PCI 281 to PCI 279 fail.

 Analysis

Cell 281 is a source cell and is interfered by cells 279 and 178. Delivered handover commands
always fail and cannot be received correctly by UEs. Cell 279 is a target cell for handover, and
its coverage is not adjusted preferentially because the signal strength in the handover area can
ensure signal quality after handovers. Therefore, cell 178 must be adjusted to reduce its
interference to cell 281.

 Solution

Adjust antenna tilts to decrease coverage by cell 178.

Analysis of Handover Success
Rate Problems
Poor handovers

Handover validity
Interference Coverage
1. Neighboring cell validity
1. Uplink interference bands 1. Cross coverage
2. Average receive level for
2. Receive level and quality of 2. Imbalance between uplink and
handovers
carriers downlink
3. Average receive quality for
3. Number of handovers 3. Receive level measurements
handovers
because of poor uplink and 4. Receive quality measurements
4. Ratio of the number of handovers
downlink quality 5. Receive levels of neighboring cells
to the number of calls
4. Average receive level and 6. Average level and TA when
5. Measurements on neighboring cell
power level for handovers service drops occur
handovers not defined

Neighboring cell optimization must be performed to ensure that UEs in idle or

connected mode can promptly perform reselection to or be handed over to
optimal serving cells. This helps achieve continuous coverage. In addition,
problems with delay, ping-pong, and non-logical handovers can be resolved by
optimizing coverage, interference, and handover parameters.
Handover Problem Analysis
 Checking handover validity

Obtain source and target cells using drive test software and then check whether handovers are
performed between two cells that are geographically far using Mapinfo.
 Checking interference
Check interference in both source and target cells because handover failures may be caused
by uplink or downlink interference.

 Checking coverage

Check source and target cells for cross coverage, imbalance between uplink and downlink, and
carrier-level receive quality and level.

 Check contents
Check handovers based on RSRPs measured in UE drive tests.
1. Verify that RSRPs in the expected source and target cells are maximum.
2. Verify that the absolute RSRPs in the source and target cells are reasonable at a
handover point. In other words, handovers are not allowed if signal quality is excessively
poor. Specific RSRPs are determined based on the entire RSRPs on a network.
 Case: Service Drops Caused by Missing
Neighboring Cell Configuration
 Symptom

As shown in the upper right figure, a

UE sends multiple measurement
reports but is not handed over, which
may be caused by missing neighboring
cell configuration.

 Analysis

According to measurement reports, the

UE sends an A3 report of cell 64.
However, the
RRCConnectionReconfiguration
message in the lower right figure shows
that the current cell is cell 278 (the first
cell) and cell 64 is not included in the
message. This indicates that cells 278
and 64 are not configured as
neighboring cells. Neighboring cell
configuration on live networks can be
checked for further confirmation.
 Solution
Configure cells 278 and 64 as
neighboring cells.
Overview of Handover
While a UE moves out the source cell, a UE performs the handover
procedure to change connection to the network. The following figure shows
the schematic diagram.

In the LTE system, the handover procedure is controlled by the network

(eNodeB). Therefore, When UE has accessed in the cell, the eNodeB needs
to monitor the quality of the radio environment. To do so, the eNodeB sends
a measurement control message to indicate UE to replay the signal quality
of eNodeB.
Trigger: eNodeB uses event A3 to trigger an intra-frequency handover and
uses events A2 and A4 to trigger an inter-frequency handover.
common procedure of handover: measure control —> measure report —>
handover decision —> handover perform —> new measure control
Types of Handovers

Handovers in the LTE system

Intra-RAT handovers
Frequency relationship:
• Intra-frequency handovers
• Inter-frequency handovers
Signaling bearers:
• Intra-eNodeB handovers
• Intra-MME X2-based handovers (the X2 interface is cell1 cell2
configured)
• Intra-MME S1-based handovers (the X2 interface is
not configured)
•Inter-MME S1-based handovers (the eNB belongs to
the different MME)

Inter-RAT handovers
•Not mentioned in this document
Measurement Events
Parameter Configuration for Intra-frequency Handovers
Source Target
UE
eNB eNB
Handover-related parameter configuration is used to 1.A3 Measurement Control
control the probability of handover. and the time to
send measurement reports. Measure RSRP/RSRQ

• Event A3 that triggers an intra-frequency handover A3 EventTriger

•The formula is list as below: 2.

A3 Measurement
Reports

Mn  Ofn  Ocn  Hys  Ms  Ofs  Ocs  Off Handover preparation

RRC Conn. Reconf. incl.
3
mobilityControlinformation

the parameters in this expression are explained as follows: Random access procedure

Mn: Measured RSRP/RSRQ of the neighboring cell 4 RRC Conn. Reconf. Complete

Ofn: Frequency offset of the neighboring cell

Ocn:cell offset of the neighboring cell
Ms: Measured RSRP/RSRQ of the serving cell
Ofs: Frequency offset of the serving cell
Ocs: cell offset of the serving cell
Hys: Hysteresis. Closely related to UE mobility. To reduce the
probability of ping-pong handovers.
 Off: Event A3 offset
 Parameter Configuration for Inter-frequency Handovers
• Events that trigger an inter-frequency
handover
• Event A2 that triggers GAP measurement

•GAP has a period of 40 ms (default) and the other

has a period of 80 ms.

Ms  Hys  Thresh

• Event A4 that triggers an inter-frequency handover

Mn  Ofn  Ocn  Hys  Thresh

Intra-eNodeB Handover
The intra-eNodeB handover procedure is
relatively simple.
the intra-eNodeB handover only exchange
signaling in Uu interface. the resources
application between the source cells and the
target cells completed through the internal
eNodeB messages. and the resources release
in the source cells also completed by the
internal eNodeB messages.
In this procedure, there is no data retransmit at
the inter-eNodeB, and no message exchange at
the EPC.
Intra-eNodeB Handover
UE Source Cell Target Cell eNB MME/MMEs Serving Gateway

Area Restriction Provided

1. Measurement Control
packet data packet data The UE reports packet data
the Measurement result message
UL allocation to the source cell. Legend

2. Measurement Reports L3 signalling

Handover Pre paration

Measurement Reports L1/L2 signalling
The eNodeB sends a handover command after
User Data
completing admission and radio resource
3. HO decision
allocation in the target cell.
Handover Command
DL allocation
4. Handover Command Buffer packets from
MME

Handover Execution
Detach from old cell and packet data
synchronize to new cell

The UE accesses the target cell.

5. Synchronization
6. UL allocation + TA for UE The handover is complete, and the cell
7. Handover Confirm resources are released in the source cell.
Handover Confirm

Handover Completion
Flush DL buffer, continue
delivering in transit packets

packet data packet data

packet data packet data
Inter-eNodeB Handover on the X2 Interface
The handover on the X2 interface is triggered by the event A3 report , the target
cell and the source cell must belong to the two different eNodeBs which exist the
X2 links.
when the source eNodeB receives the measurement reports by the UE and
decides UE to hand over to the target eNodeB . The source eNodeB applies for
resources through the X2 interface from the target eNodeB and completes the
resource preparation for the target eNodeB . then, the source eNodeB notifies the
UE to hand over to the target eNodeB by the reconfiguration message through the
Uu interface. After the handover has completed, the target eNodeB notifies the
source eNodeB to release the radio resources in the source eNodeB . In addition,
the data which is not transmitted entirely from the source eNodeB will retransmit to
the target eNodeB and update node relationship between the user plane and
control plane.
Inter-eNodeB Handover On the X2 Interface (I)

The source eNodeB delivers The users access the network

measurement control
information to UE and Source eNB
UE Target eNB MME Serving Gateway
notifies the UE to start the
neighbor cell measurement.
0. Area Restriction Provided
1. Measurement Control

packet data packet data After receiving the

After detecting the cell measurement result that meet the
HandoverReq message from
threshold, the UE replies the Measurement Reports.
UL allocation Legend the source eNodeB, the target
start the handover preparation procedure, the source eNodeB transmits the Handover Request message to the
target eNodeB which carries the current service information eNodeB starts admission
2. Measurement Reports Theand other
source accessmakes
eNodeB information including
handover encryption,
L3 signalling
decision
integrality, and measurement. control based on the carrying
based on the handover algorithm and current L1/L2 signalling
state. service information then
3. HO decision
The target eNodeB returns the admission results
User Data configures radio resources.
4. Handover Request
and radio resource configuration information to

Handover Preparation
the source eNodeB. In this step, the preparation
5. Admission Control
of handover has completed.
The source eNodeB transmits the handover message from the
6. Handover Request Ack
DL allocation target eNodeB through the Uu interface to the UE and notifies
that the UE executes the handover command.
7. Handover Command

Detach from old cell

Deliver buffered and in transit
and
synchronize to new cell packets to target eNB

Handover Execution
8. SN Status Transfer
The data starts to be forwarding
Data Forwarding

Buffer packets from

Source eNB
9. Synchronisation

10. UL allocation + TA for UE

Inter-eNodeB Handover on the X2 Interface(II)
After UE and the target eNodeB complete the
random access, the Handover Confirm message is
transmitted to the target eNodeB.

UE Source eNB Target eNB MME Serving Gateway

After receiving the HandoverConfirm message
from the UE, the target eNodeB starts the
PathSwitch procedure to the MME to complete the
11. Handover Confirm user plane handover.
12. Path Switch Request
13. User Plane update
request

After completing the user plane

handover
End Markerfrom the S-GW, the MME Switch DL path

Handover Completion
14.
transmits the PathSwitchRsp message
to the target eNodeB to notify that the
15.User Plane update
user plane handover is complete.
response

After the16.Path
PathSwitch
Switchmessage is complete, the target
Request Ack
eNB notifies the source eNodeB of releasing
resources, and in this step the handover procedure
has completed.
17. Release Resource

Flush DL buffer, continue

delivering in -transit packets
Data Forwarding
End Marker
18. Release
Resources

packet data packet data

Inter-eNodeB Handover on the S1
Interface

The S1 handover procedure is similar to the X2

handover procedure. The difference between
them is that the Handover Request, Handover
Request Acknowledge, and data forwarding
messages require to be transmit by the S1
interface, because there is no direct link(X2
interface) between source eNodeB and target
eNodeB.
Troubleshooting Inter-RAT Handover
Faults
Inter-RAT handover faults are system faults that cause handover
initiation failure or handover failure. RAT is short for radio
access technology

The following are symptoms of inter-RAT handover faults:

1. Users file service drop complaints.
2. The success rate of outgoing inter-RAT handovers is
low.
3. Signaling message tracing results indicate that
handover procedures are incomplete or fail.
Troubleshooting Flowchart

Ask for God Help

 Air interface Information Acquisition
Identifying a measurement control &
a measurement report
obtain the air interface signaling by uu-trace or UE standard trace

If the RRC Connection Reconfiguration

message contains the field of measConfig, this
message is a measurement control message. If
measId contained in the reportConfigId
field.this is the handover measurement ID.

open a measurement report. If the

measID contained in this report is
the same as contained in the
measurement control, the report is
a response to the measure control
Air interface Information Acquisition

Identifying a handover command

Double-click the RRC Connection

Reconfiguration message following the
Measurement Report message

The RRC Connection

Reconfiguration message that
contains the field of
targetPhysCellId.this is a
handover command from eNB.
Inter-frequency Handover Capability of the UE
The inter-frequency handover capability of the UE is indicated by the
feature group field from UE_CAPABIUTY_INFO .

Bits 13, 14, and 25 indicate the inter-frequency handover capability of the UE. For details, see 3GPP
TS 36.331.
Statistics of the Handover Procedure (Outgoing Handover)
The following describes traffic statistics for outgoing handover, taking intra-eNodeB and S1-based handovers as
example.
Point A: number of outgoing handover attempts. If the eNodeB receives measurement reports and makes a
successful handover decision, this counter adds by 1.
Point B: Number of executed outgoing handovers. After the eNodeB delivers the handover command, this
counter adds by 1.
Point C: Number of successful outgoing handovers. For intra-eNodeB handover, when the eNodeB receives the
RRC Connection Reconfiguration Complete message from the UE, this counter adds by 1. For S1-based
handover, when the eNodeB receives the UE Context Release message from the MME , this counter adds by 1.

counters of traffic statistics for Intra-

eNodeB handovers

counters of traffic statistics for

inter-eNodeB S1-based handovers
Statistics of the Handover Procedure (Incoming Handover)
The following describes traffic measurement points for incoming handover, taking S1-based handover and X2-
based handover as examples.
Point A: number of incoming handover attempts. When the target eNodeB receives the Handover Request
message, this counter adds by 1.
Point B: number of executed incoming handovers. When the target eNodeB sends the Handover Request
Acknowledge message, this counter adds by 1.
Point C: number of successful incoming handovers. For X2-based handover, when the target eNodeB sends the
UE Context Release message to source eNodeB, this counter adds by 1. For S1-based handover, when the
target eNodeB sends the Handover Notify message to the MME, this counter adds by 1.

Points of traffic statistics for X2-based handover Points of traffic statistics for S1-based handover
Symptoms of a Handover Problem
Observing a handover problem
The procedure of one handover is indicated by air interface signaling
beginning from measurement reports and ending at the Handover Complete
message.
If a handover succeeds, the UE has disconnected from the source cell and
connected to the target cell to keep on services, as shown by change of the
PCI.
If a handover fails, the symptom is a call drop or RRC connection
reestablishment.
A handover failure is often caused by lack of signaling messages over the S1
or Uu interface. Therefore, a common diagnosis method is to check which
standard air interface signaling was lost.
Symptoms of a Handover Problem
The following example was the logs at the UE and eNodeB when a handover
failure occurs.

Loss of measurement reports

If the UE sends measurement reports that are not received by the eNodeB, the
traced signaling messages at the UE and eNodeB are as follows:
Signaling messages Signaling messages traced
traced at the UE side at the eNodeB side
Symptoms of a Handover Problem
Loss of the handover command
If the eNodeB receives measurement reports and replies the handover command which
is not received by the UE, the traced signaling messages at the UE and eNodeB are as
follows:
Signaling messages traced
Signaling messages at the eNodeB side
traced at the UE side
Symptoms of a Handover Problem

Failure to access the target cell

The eNodeB receives the measurement reports; the UE receives the handover
command to initiate access to the target cell. However, the target cell fails to receive the
RRC Connection Reconfiguration Complete message. The traced signaling messages
at the UE and eNodeB sides are as follows:
The signaling trace at the UE side shows that the UE sends the RRC Connection
Reconfiguration Complete message to the eNodeB. However, this message is lost over
the Uu interface.
Target cell fails to receive
the RRC Connection
Reconnection Complete
message.

Signaling trace Source cell delivers the

traced at the handover command.
UE side
Symptoms of a Handover Problem
Summary:
There are various signaling messages exchanged between the UE and eNodeB, any
signaling loss may cause the handover failure. For all the causes of the handover
failure, the UE has a common behavior: Shortly (in 2s) after sending the measurement
reports, the UE restarts the RRC Connection Request message or restarts the RRC
Connection Reestablishment Request message.
Diagnosis and Solution of Handover Problems(1)
The following describes typical symptoms of handover problems.

Handover failure caused by missing

neighboring cell configuration
The symptom is that as the UE moves, the RSRP &
SINR of the serving cell worsen and the RSRP of the
neighboring cell betters.

Signaling trace on the

UE shows that the UE
sends measurement
reports but fails to
receive the handover
command.

Signaling trace on the

eNodeB shows that
the eNodeB receives
measurement reports
but does not start the
handover (no
handover request over
the X2 interface & no
handover command
over the Uu interface).
Diagnosis and Solution of Handover Problems (1)

Solution to the problem of missing neighboring cell configuration

Manually add neighboring cell configuration.
Turn on the ANR(Automatic Neighbor Relationship) algorithm switch.
Diagnosis and Solution of Handover Problems (2)
Handover failure caused by delayed handover
The symptom is that when the radio quality of the neighboring
cell meets the handover threshold, the RSRP of the serving
cell suddenly declines.
This signaling trace
shows that the UE
fails to receive the
handover command.

Signaling trace on the eNodeB shows that after

delivering the handover command, the eNodeB
fails to receive the handover complete message.
Or another situation is that the eNodeB cannot
receive the measurement reports.
Diagnosis and Solution of Handover Problems (2)

Solution to the problem of delayed handover

1、The handover success rate can be improved by changing Cell Offset of the
serving cell (Ocs)and neighboring cells(Ocn).

2、The handover success rate can be improved by modifying IntraFreqHoA3Time

(Off )in the serving cell when the time of Serving cell signal qualiity suddenly declines
rapidly.

3、The handover can be improved by modifying IntraFreqHoA3Hyst (Hys).It is Closely

related to service feature and UE mobility. To reduce the probability of ping-pong
handovers.

Mn  Ofn  Ocn  Hys  Ms  Ofs  Ocs  Off

Diagnosis and Solution of Handover Problems (3)
Handover failure caused by weak coverage
The symptom is that when the radio quality of the neighboring cell meets
the handover threshold, the RSRP of both the serving cell & neighboring
cell is low.
Signaling trace on the UE
shows that immediately
after sending the
handover complete
message, the UE sends
the RRC Connection
Reestablishment Request
message.

This signaling trace

shows that the UE
fails to receive the
handover command.

Signaling trace on the

eNodeB shows that after
delivering the handover
command, the eNodeB fails
to receive the handover
complete message. Another
symptom is that the eNodeB
cannot receive the
measurement reports.
Diagnosis and Solution of Handover Problems (3)

Solution to the problem of weak coverage

Adjust the power.

Adjust the antenna tilt.

Add eNodeBs or Sector.

Diagnosis and Solution of Handover Problems (4)
Handover failures caused by interference
The symptom is that the throughput is below expectation even though the
RSRP is enough, and the handover failure or call drop. The uplink or
downlink interference is indicated by the following tracing result. When eNodeB is
empty load, some RB
RSSI traced by
Sub-band CQI eNodeB is much
reported by UE is higher than other RB
lower than other RSSI
sub-band CQI.

PS：In this situation, we need some frequency

scan instrument to confirm the interference
source.
Diagnosis and Solution of Handover Problems(4)

Solution to the interference problem

Properly plot the frequency configuration of the cells.

Find out and remove the interference source.

There is no good method to solve the transient and changing interference now.
Checklist of Standard Actions
1.View network KPI.
1. Export the handover-related KPIs, including the following, from the M2000
HO.eRAN.Out.Cell HO.eRAN.X2Out.Cell
Number of intra-eNodeB HO attempts Number of inter-eNodeB X2 HO attempts
Number of intra-eNodeB HO executions Number of inter-eNodeB X2 HO executions
Number of successful intra-eNodeB HOs Number of successful inter-eNodeB X2 HOs
Number of inter-eNodeB HO attempts
Number of inter-eNodeB HO executions
Number of successful inter-eNodeB HOs
HO failure cause
2. For each KPI, sum the KPI values of all cells to obtain the entire-network KPI value.

3. Calculate the intra-eNodeB handover success rate, inter-eNodeB handover

success rate, X2-based handover success rate, and S1-based handover success rate.
(Number of inter-eNodeB handovers = Number of S1-based handovers + Number of X2-based
handovers)

4. Determine whether a handover success rate meets the KPI. The default KPI is
98.5%. If the handover success rate is below the KPI, find out the causes and solve the
problem.

Output: KPI report and top types of handover failures

Checklist of Standard Actions
2. Find out the top cells
The following describes how to determine top cells according to the KPI or cell
information.

1. Sort the cells in descending order of the number of handover failures.

2. The top 5 cells that have the lowest handover success rate are top cells.
Those cells whose number of handover failures is more than 10 times the average
number of handover failures are of special concern.

3. If a top cell is confirmed by the front-line engineer, this cell is automatically regarded
as a top cell.

Output: list of top cells

Checklist of Standard Actions
3.Check device status.
1. Check whether the cells involved in the handover are in activated state.
2. Query eNodeB and cell alarms. Check whether there are uncleared alarms such as
X2 interface break or RRU alarm.
3. Check whether the test UE works and supports inter-frequency and inter-RAT
reselection and handover.

4. Check eNodeB parameter configuration

1. Check whether eNB version was matched.
2. Check whether the handover switch is on.
3. Check neighbor configuration and parameter configuration (neighbor relationships,
X2 interface configuration, & transmission)
4. Check handover thresholds and time-to-trigger.
Checklist of Standard Actions
5. Standard interface trace
1. Collect S1, Uu, and X2 interface trace on the M2000 or Web LMT.

2. Perform drive test using test UEs and obtain data from UE Probe.

3. After obtaining enough log about handover failures, stop the drive test and save the
log.

Output: standard interface trace on the eNodeB and drive test data on the UE Probe

6. Determine the faulty procedure

1. Find out which signaling message is lost.

2. If a signaling message over the Uu interface is lost, the problem is due to the Uu
interface.

3. If a signaling message over the S1 or X2 interface is lost, the problem is due to the
S1 or X2 interface.
Checklist of Standard Actions
7. Check whether the handover failure is caused by a
problem of the Uu, S1, or X2 interface.
1. In case of the Uu interface problem, analysis which standard signaling in Uu
interface has lost.

2. In case of the X2 interface problem, collect log.

3. In case of the S1 interface problem, contact the core network engineers for
technical support-
Checklist of Standard Actions
8. Perform closing actions.
1. If the parameters are to be modified by the closing actions, back up the
configuration.

2. Perform closing actions at off-peak hours.

Output: backup configuration file and operation records

9. Confirm the execution result.

1. Repeat the drive test to check whether the handover statistics of the related region
are optimized.

2. Trace the KPI change for the succeeding one week to confirm that the related
handover statistics meet the KPI, that the faults are cleared, and no other faults are
introduced.

3. If the problem persists, restart from the beginning of the troubleshooting procedure.

Output: KPI data

Checklist of Standard Actions
10. Summary Report and Case Studies
1. Tidy up the materials. If the customer participates in the troubleshooting, prepare
clarification documents.

2. Summarize the troubleshooting procedure and write case studies.

Output: Clarification documents (optional) and case studies