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- TA (GSM-WCDMA-LTE)
One of the biggest challenges in Planning, Designing and even Optimization of Mobile
Networks is to identify where the users are, or how they are distributed.
Although this information is essential, it is not so easy to be obtained. But if we have and
know how to use some counters related to this kind of analysis, everything is easier.
For GSM, we have seen that we can have a good idea of the location (distribution) of users
through the measures of TA (Timing Advance), as we detailed in a tutorial about it.
Today we are going a little further, and know the equivalent parameters in other
technologies, such as WCDMA (and LTE).
Goal
Learn the Performance Indicators related to the users distribution in a multi-technology
mobile network, and also learn how to use these indicators together in analysis.
TA in 2G (GSM)
We've aready talked about TA in GSM in another tutorial, so let's just remember the most
important concept.
TA (Timing Advance) allows us to identify the distribution of 2G (GSM) users regarding its
serving cell, based on signal propagation delay between the the UE's and the BTS. The
GSM mobile (from now on, we will call here UE too - as in 3G) receives data from BTS,
and 3 time slots later sends its data. It is sufficient if the mobile is close to the BTS,
however, when the UE is far away, it must take into account the delay that the signal will
have to go through the radio path.
So: the UE sends the TA data together with other measures for the necessary time
adjustments to be made.
In this way, we indirectly get a map with the distribution of users, or their probable location
area, corresponding to the coverage area of the cell, with a minimum and maximum
radius. The following figure shows this more clearly, for an antenna with 65 HBW, and
maximum (1) and minimum (2) radius.
As already mentioned, the information does not come from the UE as in GSM, but is the
information that the RNC already has to make the communication possible: the information
of this delay, the Propagation Delay Information Element (IE) is sent every 3 chips.
So let's do some math.
We know that the WCDMA has a constant rate equal to 3.84 Mcp chip/s.
We also know (we consider) that the speed of light is 300,000 km/s.
In 1 second I have 3.84 M chips, in how many seconds I have 3 chips? Answer: 0.26 ps
(pico seconds).
As we have seen that the information is sent every 3 chips, the total is 3 x 0.26 = 0.78 ps
ps, which is the Propagation Delay time granularity.
And now let's translate this minimum value into Distance: If I run 300,000 miles in 1
second, what distance I run in 0.78 ps? Answer: 234 meters.
In other words, have the Propagation Delay with granularity of 234 meters!
Note: it is important to know that this distance information is available to the system not
only in the establishment of the call, but also during the entire existence of it.
In an ideal world, first person speech travels up to the second one, taking a certain amount
of time (t1), and the speech of the second person returns with a time (t2). So, we have a
total time elapsed from when the first person said 'hi' till he received the other guy's
answer. This time is the Round Trip Time, or the time at which a signal travels a route
until the response is received back at the source.
Bringing this analogy to an UE and a NodeB, we have the image below.
But let's go back to the case where we only use the information of Propagation Delay that is our focus today - and that already gives us sufficient allowance for several very
interesting analysis.
Actually, that's not what happens, because as we told before, they may be grouped into
ranges. Note: the reason for this is not the case, but really too many ranges may even
disrupt analysis.
TP (Propagation Delay WCDMA in Huawei) has 12 ranges.
Note: See however that the amount of ranges here (GSM) is much bigger, and only begin
to be grouped from 30 (from almost 17 km!).
With the counters organized in so different ways, be grouped by different ranges
granularities, different distance (550 m for GSM and 234 m for WCDMA) it is very difficult
to analyze the propagations, or rather, it is almost impossible to compare them...
And so what does we do, since we need to analyze the distribution of the UE's in a generic
way, doesn't matter if it is using 2G or 3G?
The solution that we found in telecomHall was to make an 'approach', that is, a way to be
able to see where we have more concentrated UE's, no matter if at the time they are using
2G or 3G. Even because, this 'distribution' among Technologies and Carriers depends on
several factors, such as selection and handover parameters, and also physical adjustments
of radiant system. But the 'concentration' of users does not depend on these factors: the
total amount of users in a particular area is always the same!
To this, the module 'Hunter Propagation Analyzer' uses a methodology and 'particular'
counters, allowing to do this approach: we have created a range, and called it PDTA. As
the 3G (Huawei, which we are using as an example) has less ranges - only 12, we made
the initial PDTA definition based on it. The result can be seen in the table below.
Of course this approach or 'methodology' is not perfect, but in practice the outcome is
very efficient. In addition, if you need a more detailed analysis (for example if you need
to know with more accuracy than the approach presented here) just look to the original
table, which contains each counter in its standard range in original granularity.
For other vendors, the ranges may be different, but the methodology is always the same.
In Ericsson for example, the Propagation Delay WCDMA counter is 'pmPropagationDelay',
and it is collected by the RNC just like in Huawei.
It has 41 bins, being the first to indicate the maximum delay in chips (Cell Range), and
other (1 to 40) to inform the number of samples in the period, referring to the percentage
of the maximum Cell Range.
When the UE try to connect at one point greater than the Cell Range it will fail.
Regarding to bins, the distribution goes from 0 to 100%, as the rule below:
bin1: samples between 0 and 1% of Cell Range (for example, if the Cell Range is 30 km, bin1 has
the samples between 0 and 300 m from NodeB);
TA in 4G (LTE)
As well as in 2G and 3G, we were also able to get the UE's distribution information in LTE.
The concepts applied are the same as already seen before, we can only point out that in
LTE we have both TA and PD.
As today's tutorial is already quite extensive, we will finish this part here, but with the
certainty that if you assimilated what was presented, without any major problems you will
be able to extend this information to your specific scenario.
Practical Analysis
After having seen - even with a little more detail - the concepts of propagation (including
Failures in GSM and EcNo in WCDMA), we will see some possible analysis that we can do
in practice.
We have already said that the professional who has experience on this kind of analysis
can improve enough to network Indicators as Retainability and Accessibility. But how he
manages to do this?
Simple: with the propagation analysis, it is possible to identify cells that are with their
much greater coverage than planned/expected - 'overshooting' cells, especially if they are
reaching places where we have other cells with better signal level!
In this case, we have pilot pollution, interference and high transmit power. As a result,
increase of Establishment Failures and Call Drops, both in overshooting cell, as in the other
where it is interfering.
In addition, we can discover cells that have their coverage area in the same direction
(sector), but that have very different concentration (for example in the case of 3 WCDMA
carrier, where one Carrier can be with the highest concentration of users closer to the cell,
and another with this concentration away don't worry, we will see examples below and
will be easier to understand).
This difference of distribution/concentration can be seen between the multi-technologies
of the sector, for example, if the GSM coverage is much smaller than the WCDMA and vice
versa. In this case, it serves as a great call for adjustments of tilts and azimuth between
the antennas in this sector.
Filtering only for the contribution ('PDTA_P') of each cell, we can see clearly that a sector
(Hxxx21) is with its coverage beyond the expected (1).
In addition, we were able to match (1) failures (now filtering by 'ECNORLFAIL_P'), showing
the immediate need for actions in this sector.
PDTA data of our network. Note: A real network has much more cells, but with these few
sample data we can show the main points of analysis.
Continuing, we will then see the PDTA data of 4 examples sites plotted.
To analyze the PDTA distribution in Google Earth, we use a report generated by the 'Hunter
GE Propagation Analyzer' module*, and so we need to know the criteria that we are using:
in this report, the heights (1) from each region (PDTA of 0 to 11) represent the percentage
of samples in that region. And the colors (2) represent the Quality: EcNo to UMTS, and
Radio Link Failure % for GSM. *Note: you can build your reports in Google Earth and/or
Mapinfo, just follow and apply the concepts presented here to your own tools/macros.
The data are grouped in 'Folders', with the first level being the sector (1) (a specific
direction for all cells of all technologies and carriers). At the second level, we have the
ranges (2) of PDTA percentage (how many samples from total cell samples we have in
each region). And in the third level we have cells/PDTA (3).
Also equally important is the definition of the range used in the generation of the data,
and consequently in the legend. Note that we use the same coloring scale for EcNo and
Radio Link Failure. So, no matter if the coverage is GSM or UMTS - for example if the
region is Red, we know it's bad! (Or WCDMA EcNo worse than -16 dB, or GSM Radio Link
Failure more than 50%!).
Knowing these details, we can do some demonstrations. Giving a zoom in a more extensive
area, we see that we have multiple cells with coverage in places where they should not be
covering. Of course, these points have a few samples, but with vary bad quality, as we
see in the region shown below (1) - ranges mostly Pink, Red and Orange.
Analyzing specific cells, for example 'AAN', we see that the same coverage area is much
larger than it should (overshooting cell), both the GSM (1) and UMTS (2) are more than 4
km of the serving cell.
In this case, we have another interesting point, also seen below: most of the users in the
region (1) are served almost exclusively by GSM. Now in region (2) almost all users use
WCDMA. This is another point of optimization: these coverages should be, as far as
possible, 'proportional'.
Another example: the 'ABU' site is a typical case of need of urgent action, for example by
increasing the tilt's of overshooting cells. Too many samples at more than 4 km, and with
poor quality. As these are cells of an urban area, and in addition we have other cells
serving that distant locations, it is recommended to increase tilt, and later run a new
analysis.
The opposite of what we saw above is also possible: we can identify cells that have a very
good coverage area (in this case, a more contained area), and with excellent quality levels
(Green and Blue).
We could go on demonstrating several other analyses that are possible using the data
presented here today. However, the best way is that you use these incredible resource in
your analysis, because with no doubt it represents a big help.
Many people try to optimize the network based on parameter changes only. But we saw
that in many cases like above, there may be situations where the most recommended is
physical intervention (adjusting of Antenna, Height, Azimuth, Tilt, etc...).
No doubt the analysis presented in this tutorial are essential to the improvement of any
mobile network, and if you so far haven't used, it's a good time to start.
Conclusion
We learned today an important concept used in many areas of mobile 2G/3G/4G networks:
the propagation delay, used as a tool for assessment of the geographical distribution of
users.
The measures are the Timing Advance, that in GSM is measured by the UE, and
Propagation Delay, that in UMTS is is calculated by the RNC. Both allow us to estimate the
distance of the UE until the serving cell, consequently allowing several analysis,
exemplified above.
The TA in GSM has a granularity of 550 meters, and the Propagation Delay in WCDMA has
granularity of 234 meters. Using these measures, we can 'see' exactly where network
users are distributed at a level of cell/carrier/technology in each region.
In addition, we have other measures, also mapped by region: EcNo for WCDMA and Radio
Link Failure for GSM.
All these measures together with other network information (Radiant Systems, Azimuths,
Tilts, etc ...) give a huge help to the telecom professional for analysis and optimizing tasks
with significant results for the improvement of the quality of the entire network.
We hope you enjoyed. Until our next meeting!
What is RTWP?
If you work with UMTS,'ve probably heard someone talk about RTWP. Its definition can be
found in a dictionary of acronyms, such as http://acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/RTWP:
Received Total Wideband Power.
Represents a measure of UMTS technology: the total level of noise within the UMTS
frequency band of any cell.
RTWP is related to uplink interference, and its monitoring helps control the call drops mainly CS. It also has importance in the capacity management, as it provides information
for the Congestion Control regarding Uplink Interference.
In UMTS, the uplink interference may vary due to several factors, such as the number of
users in the cell, the Service, Connection Types and Conditions of Radio, etc..
As our goal is to always be as simple as possible, we will not delve in terms of formulas or
concepts involved. We will then know the typical values, and know what must be done in
case of problems.
Typical Values
Ok, we know that RTWP can help us in checking the uplink interference, then we need to
know its typical values.
In a network is not loaded, normal, acceptable RTWP Average value is generally around 104.5 and -105.5 dBm.
Values around -95 dBm indicate that the cell has some uplink interferers.
If the value is around -85 dBm, the situation is ugly, with strong uplink interferers.
Usually we have High, Low and Medium measures of RTWP. However, the maximum and
minimum values are recommended only as auxiliary or reference, since they may have
been caused by a peak of access, or even been forced to have a momentary value due to
some algorithm i.e..
Thus, the value that helps us, and has the most accurate information is the same Mean
RTWP!
For cases in which cell has two carriers, the difference between them RTWP should not
exceed 6 dB.
Based on these typical values, most vendors have an alarm: RTWP "Very High. "
Once verified the parameter settings, the next step is the physical examination, especially jumpers
and cables, often partially reversed. It also should be checked if there is faulty transmitters, or
any other problem that could generate intermodulation between the NodeB and the antenna.
If the parameter settings and hardware are ok, the chance is very high that we have external
interference, such as a Interferer Repeater.
In cases where there may be external interference, we must begin to act after such a
prioritization based on how much this is affecting the cell KPI's across the network, if it
carry high traffic, major subscribers, etc..
Note: There are many forms of interference in the uplink, both internal and external. Only
a few are listed above. The deepening of all possibilities is beyond the goal of being simple
to teach the concepts, but this is a suggestion for whoever wants to deepen the study,
identification and elimination of interference.
In practice
to find - and eliminate - problems of interference is one of the biggest challenges in our
area. For being such a complex problem, we recommend that be collected enough data
for each investigation. Insufficient data collected can lead to erroneous conclusions, further
worsening the problem.
The uplink interference may appear only in specific periods. Thus, it is recommended that
data be collected from at least one week (7 days) for every 24 hours. Usually this amount
of data is sufficient. In the figure below, we see different days and times - colorful - a
fictional example where the interference occurred.
Data should be collected for the suspicious cell, but also for its adjacent cells, allowing it
to make a triangulation increasing the chances of locating the source of interference.
Another way to locate the source of interference is to do a test in field. An antenna guy
must gradually change the azimuth of the antenna, while another professional do RTWP
measurements. That is, through the information directing the antenna and the respective
values of RTWP, you can draw conclusions very good.
It is obvious that changing the online system may not be a good practice, and tests can
be made with a Yagi antenna and a Spectrum Analyzer.
Vendors offer several ways to measure RTWP, using the OSS, performance counters and
logs.
Conclusion
In this brief tutorial, we learn what is RTWP, and that the ideal typical value is about 104.5 dBm and -105.5 dBm.
As the RTWP is directly related to Uplink Interference - and we know that interference is
the main cause of performance degradation - have concluded that improving RTWP, ie
making is as close as possible to -105 dBm, improving the Call Drop Rate!
IMPORTANT : Seizing the opportunity, see what was stated at the start of this tutorial dictionary - by describing RTWP. Remember that this site has been the subject of a very
interesting tutorial in the Tips Section. If you have not visited this section of the portal yet
, I strongly recommend, because it has many issues that help in our growth in telecom
and IT area.