1

Overview of SDCCH Call DropRate

1.1 Definition
The SDCCH call drop rate indicates the probability of call drops when the MS occupies theSDCCH. The
SDCCH call drop rate is one of accessibility KPIs. This KPI reflects the seizurecondition of signaling
channels. If the value of this KPI is high, user experience is adverselyaffected.
1.2 Recommended Formula
The SDCCH call drop rate is obtained on the basis of the traffic measurement results. Therecommended
formula is as follows:Call Drop Rate on SDCCH = (Call Drops on SDCCH/Successful SDCCH Seizures
+Successful SDCCH Seizures in the signaling channel handover) x 100%Compared with the formula of the
BSC32, the formula of the BSC6000 adds the measurementof the number of call drops due to release
indication received on the SDCCH in stable state.As few call drops due to release indication occur in the
existing network, the measurementvalues of the BSC32 and BSC6000 are the same in the formula.For
details, see the GSM BSS Network KPI (SDCCH Call Drop Rate) Baseline.
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1.3 Signaling Procedure and MeasurementPoints
Figure 1.1
Number of successful SDCCH seizures
Figure 1.2
Number of successful SDCCH seizures in the signaling channel handover
The measurement points illustrated in Figure 2 are described as follows:A indicates the number of successful SDCCH
seizures.B indicates the number of successful SDCCH seizures in the signaling channel handover

2GS M BS S Net work KP I (S DC C H

i z ati on M anual IN TER NA L
Radio link and cell parameters:
SACCH Multi-Frames (SACCH period (480ms))
and
Radio Link Timeout(SACCHperiod
(
480ms
)) are set to too small
values
.
RACH Min.Access Level(dBm)

C al l

Drop

R at e)

Opt im

is set to a too small value.

T200 SDCCH(5ms)
and
N200 of SDCCH
are set to too small values.MAIO is set improperly.
Handover parameters:
SDCCH HO Allowed
is set to
Yes
.
T3103A(ms)
and
T3103C(ms)
are set to too small values.
T3109(ms)
is set to a too small value.
T3111(ms)
is set to a too small value.The length of timer T305/T308 is set to an invalid or too great value.
Disconnect Handover Protect Timer
is set to a too small value.The network planning is improper after the Um interface is synchronized.
Software Parameter 13
and
MAX TA
are set to too small values.
2.5 Intra-Network and Inter-Network Interference
If inter-network interference and repeater interference exist, or if severe intra-network interference occurs
because of tight frequency reuse, call drops may occur on SDCCHs due to poor QoS. This affects the
SDCCH call drop rate.The following types of interference may occur:1.Internetwork interference from scramblers or privately installed antennas2 . I n t e r f e r e n c e f r o m
the CDMA network 3 . R e p e a t e r i n t e r f e r e n c e 4.Intermodulation interference from
B T S s 5.Intra-network co-channel and adjacent-channel interference
2.6 Coverage Problem
The following coverage problems may affect the SDCCH call drop rate.1. Poor indoor coverageDensely
distributed buildings and thick walls cause great attenuation and low indoor signallevel, which causes call
drops.2. Coverage failure
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z a t i o n M a n u a l I N T E R N A L If the signal from an antenna is blocked or the BCCH TRX
is faulty, call drops may occur.
2.7 Antenna System
The following antenna system problems may affect the SDCCH call drop rate1.If the transmit antennas
of two cells are misconnected, the uplink signal level in each cellis much lower than the downlink
signal level in the cell. Therefore, call drops are likelyto occur at a place far away from the BTS.2.If a
directional cell has main and diversity antennas, the BCCH and SDCCH of the cell may

be transmitted from different antennas. If the two antennas have different pitch angles or azimuths,
the coverage areas of the two antennas are different. In this case, thefollowing result may occur: An MS
can receive the BCCH signals from one antenna; when a call is made, the MS cannot seize the SDCCH
transmitted by the other antennaand thus a call drop occurs.3.If the feeder is damaged, if water runs
into the feeder, or if the feeder and the connector are not securely connected, both the transmit
power and receiver sensitivity of theantenna are reduced. Thus, call drops probably occur.
2.8 Imbalance Between Uplink and Downlink
The difference between the uplink signal level and the downlink signal level may be great inthe following
conditions: The transmit power of the BTS is high; the tower mounted amplifier (TMA) or BTS amplifier
does not work properly; the antenna and the connector are notsecurely connected. As a result, call drops
may occur at the edge of the BTS coverage area.
2.9 Repeater
If a cell is installed with a repeater, BTS coverage problems may occur in the case that therepeater is faulty
or that the uplink and downlink gain is inappropriately set. Therefore, thecall drop rate increases.If a widefrequency repeater is used and the gain is set to a great value, strong interferencemay be caused. As a result,
the network quality is adversely affected and the call drop rateincreases

GS M BS S Net work KP I (S DC C H C al l Drop R at e) Opt im i

z a t i o n M a n u a l I N T E R N A L the cells with the same BCCH or MA. When the multiframe link is set up or thesignaling is transmitted at layer 2, the error decoding causes ERR_IND reporting
by theBTS. In this case, call drops occur. If the value of "Call Drops due to ERR IND Receivedon SDCCH
in Stable State" is great, you need to optimize TOP cells.

MAIOIf FH is used in a cell, and

MAIO
is set improperly (for example, the FH offsets of different TRXs in a cell are set to the same value), the
frequencies collide during the FH.In this case, the call drop rate increases.

Software Parameter 13 and MAX TAWhen

Software Parameter 13
is enabled and
MAX TA
is set to a too small value, thechannel is released when the TA of a call exceeds the value of
MAX TA
. In this case,call drops occur. It is recommended that
Software Parameter 13
should not be enabled.
3.2.5 Checking the Interference
If inter-network interference and repeater interference exist, or if severe intra-network interference occurs
because of tight frequency reuse, call drops may occur on SDCCHs due to poor QoS. This affects the
SDCCH call drop rate.The information on UL interference can be obtained by checking the interference
bands in thetraffic statistics. The higher percentage of band level 3-5 indicates that serious ULinterference
exists. In this case, you need to view the distribution of interference bands in theSDCCH measurement
report of the TRX.The interference elimination can be classified into intra-network interference elimination
andinter-network interference elimination. For details about interference elimination, see the
G-Guide to Eliminating Interference
.
C
a
u
s
e
T
R
X
L
e
v
e
l
I n t e r f e r e n c e M R
M e a s u r e m e n t
> Interference Band Measurement per TRXMean Number of SDCCHs in Interference Band 1Mean
Number of SDCCHs in Interference Band 2Mean Number of SDCCHs in Interference Band 3Mean
Number of SDCCHs in Interference Band 4Mean Number of SDCCHs in Interference Band 5
3.2.6 Checking the Coverage, Antenna System, andBalance Between Uplink and Downlink

For a cell with a high SDCCH call drop rate, you can check its coverage by the DT and CQT.If the cases
(such as too low DL receive level, great difference between the UL and DL levels, poor level quality, lost
DL measurement reports, and long call access time) occur, it indicatesthat the problems with the coverage
and imbalance between uplink and downlink occur in thecell.For the problematic cell, the call setup success
rate and handover success rate slightly fall andthe receive quality becomes poor. In addition, you can
analyze the cell coverage according tothe DT route and geographical conditions and then check the antenna
system. Some problemswith the coverage and imbalance between uplink and downlink are caused by the
reasons suchas the antenna coverage direction, down tilt, damaged feeder, water running into the feeder,
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z a t i o n M a n u a l I N T E R N A L and insecurely connected connector.For solutions for the
problems, see the
GSM BSS Network KPI (Network Coverage)Optimization Manual
and the

GSM BSS Network KPI (Uplink and Downlink Balance)Optimization Manual

.
3.2.7 Checking the Repeaters
Check whether
Directly Magnifier Site Flag
is set to
Yes
and
SDCCH HO Allowed
is set to
Yes
in the data configuration on the LMT. If the parameters are set to
Yes
, you can infer thatthe cell is configured with repeaters. If the parameters are set to
No
, you should check whether other operators' repeaters are installed near the cell.If repeaters are installed,
you should check whether they are wide-frequency repeaters, andcheck whether the uplink/downlink
amplification coefficient is too great. Ensure that theamplification coefficient is properly set. If a repeater
has an impact on the SDCCH call droprate, you should switch off the repeater.In addition, you should
check whether a repeater is faulty and whether the uplink/downlink gain is set to a too great/small value. If
such problems exist, the coverage area of the BTSchanges. Thus, the SDCCH call drop rate increases.If
repeater problems exist in a cell, the TA distribution varies greatly in the trafficmeasurement results. The
following table lists the traffic measurement counters related torepeaters.
C a u s e C e l l - L e v e l T R X - L e v e l
R
e
p
e
a
t
e
r
N
o
n
e
M
R
M
e
a
s
u
r
e
m
e
n
t
>
Number of MRs Based on TA
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z a t i o n M a n u a l I N T E R N A L The tracing result (as shown in the previous figure) shows
that the uplink signal level is muchlower than the downlink signal level. Therefore, call drops occur.
6.3 Case 3: Call Drop Due to Antenna SystemProblem
Description:
A new BTS3012 is deployed at a site and the cell configuration is S2/2/2. After the BTS3012 is put
into operation, the number of TCH call drops in cell 1 and cell 2 in busyhours reaches 20 and the number of
SDCCH call drops reaches 1,000. These counters in cell 3are normal.
Cause analysis and handling:
According to the analysis of the traffic measurement results of TRX-level radio link performance in busy
hours, the number of abnormal radio links on bothTRX 3 (TRX 2 and TRX 3 are configured for cell 1) and
TRX 7 (TRX 6 and TRX 7 areconfigured for cell 2) is great. TRX 3 and TRX 7 are the second TRX in cell
1 and cell 2respectively; therefore, they are connected to the TXB channel of the DDPU in
thecorresponding cell. The jumpers of the two non-main BCCH TRXs may be misconnected.According to
the analysis of the traffic measurement results related to the uplink anddownlink balance performance, the
proportions of the TRX 3 in cell 1 and TRX 7 in cell 2 atlevel 1, level 2, and level 3 are large, which
indicates that the downlink loss is too great andthe downlink transmit power is too small. Because TRX 2
(main BCCH TRX) in cell 1 andTRX 6 (main BCCH TRX) in cell 2 transmit the signal through the TXA
port of the DDPU inthe sector independently. When the call is assigned on the channel in the non BCCH
TRX, thetransmit power decreases sharply and incurs the call drop due to the inverse transmission of TRX
3 and TRX 7. After the wrong connection between TRX 3 and TRX 7 is adjusted, thenumber of call drops
on the TCH and the SDCCH in two cells is normal.

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6.4 Case 4: Call Drop Due to TransmissionProblem
Description:
At a certain site, the MOTO BTS is replaced with Huawei BTS and the cellconfiguration is S2/2/2. At the
night of the replacement, calls are made normally and drivetests show that all performance counters are
normal. The traffic measurement results within ameasurement period of 15 minutes show that MSoriginated and MS-terminated calls aremade normally and handovers are performed normally. After a week
of operation, the trafficmeasurement results show that the value of the counter SDCCH Seizure Request is
notnormal: The maximum number of SDCCH seizure requests reaches 9,000, the number of Successful
SDCCH Seizure Requests is over 7,000, and the number of Failed SDCCHSeizures due to Busy SDCCH is
over 900. Compared with the similar SDCCH counters, theTCH traffic volume is small and the TCH call
drop rate is high.
Cause analysis and handling:
According to the check of the hardware on site, making a callis difficult on site. In addition,
some subscribers complain that it is difficult to make calls after the replacement. After obtaining
the consent from the customer, the on-site engineer powersoff the BTS and loads the data again. During the
initialization of the BTS, a message isdisplayed, indicating that the process is disrupted and that the
communication expires. Some parameters of the BTS cannot be initialized. The BTS hardware is normal
and the cableconnections are proper.Before the replacement, the transmission is normal. After the
replacement, most of thetransmission cables are the original ones. Huawei engineers replace only the
transmissioncable between the transmission equipment room and the Huawei BSC and use a new

E1connector to fix the DDF transmission cable to the E1 port on top of the BTS cabinet. The possible cause
is that the E1 connector is made improperly. In this case, the transmission biterror rate is high and the
BTS cannot be completely initialized. As a result, when a subscriber makes a call, assigning a TCH is
difficult. A detailed check shows that the E1 connector ontop of the BTS cabinet is made improperly. After
a proper E1 connector is used, the problemis solved.
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7
Feedback Form for SDCCH CallDrop Rate
If the SDCCH call drop rate is high and technical support is required, you need to fill in thefollowing form.
C
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e
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k
I
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s
P
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S o f t w a r e v e r s i o n S o f t w a r e v e r s i o n s o f t h e B S C a n d BTSCheck whether the software version
is faulty.Dataconfiguration* . d a t
f i l e C h e c k
t h e
n e t w o r
k
o p t i m i z a t i o n
p a r a m e t e r s
a n d power
configuration.AlarminformationHardware, clock, and transmissionalarms (self-check)Check whether these
alarms are generated in thecell. Clear the alarms if they are
generated.TrafficmeasurementC a u s e
f o r
c a l l
d r o p M e a s u r e
S
D C C H
c a l l
d r o p s . TrafficmeasurementTraffic measurement results relatedto the
voice quality and the balance between uplink and downlink Check whether interference and
imbalance betweenuplink and downlink
exist.S i g n a l i n g R S L s i g n a l i n g t r a c i n g d a t a C h e c k t h
e c a u s e s f o r c a l l d r o p s . D T d a t a * . l o g ( * . c e l l s i t e )
o r * . a n t f i l e B a s e d o n t h e D T d a t a , d e t e r m i n e w h e t h e
r interference or coverage problems
exist.O t h e r s E n g i n e e r i n g
p a r a m e t e r
t a b l e a n d electr
onic mapCheck the geographical information through the Nastar software.
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