Nokia Networks

Intelligent Self-Organizing
Networks: Increased
automation for higher
network performance with
lower costs

Nokia Networks white paper

Intelligent Self-Organizing Networks
 Contents

Executive summary 3
1.Introduction 4
2. Business drivers and functional overview 4
Self-Configuration 6
Self-Optimization 6
Self-Healing 8
3. iSON from Nokia Networks 8
iSON Radio 9
iSON Core 9
iSON Operations 10
Professional iSON Services 10
4.Conclusion 11
Glossary 11

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Executive summary
The self-organizing network, or SON, aims to leapfrog to a higher
level of automated operation in mobile networks.
Major benefits of SON are easily summarized:
Boosts network quality
Cuts operational expenditure (OPEX)
O
 ptimizes CAPEX by eliminating unnecessary over-
dimensioning.
Mobile broadband networks are being expanded and upgraded
rapidly, with new technologies and network layers introduced to
keep pace with booming traffic and its growing unpredictability.
This has the implication that complexity increases dramatically
and we can no longer afford to configure and optimize the
network manually. An intelligent network with the ability to
quickly and autonomously optimize itself could sustain both
network quality and a satisfying customer experience.
SON offers tremendous potential and many ways of improving
operating efficiency by helping operators to implement new
network elements with plug-and-play simplicity, automate key
operational tasks, balance traffic and transmission capacity
and automatically optimize some of the networks key quality
parameters.

Operational
High benet

More ecient Coverage Capacity

eld optimization optimization
maintenance

More ecient
Installation & Quality Power savings
network
commissioning optimization Network
operation
Medium life cycle

Installation First launch Expansion Mature

Figure 1: SONs lifelong operating benefits

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Nokia Networks, a leading provider of telecommunications
infrastructure, engages in intensive research and is a driving
force in efforts to standardize SON. The Nokia Networks
intelligent SON (iSON) is the most complete and innovative SON
solution available. Its holistic approach with the radio and core
network, including SON consultation and customization services,
maximizes the benefits of SON.

1. Introduction
Radio access elements account for a large share of mobile
broadband networks installation, deployment and maintenance
costs. This is why efforts to introduce SON focus on the
networks radio access assets first. However, the principles of
SON are also applicable to the automation of core networks
management. Core networks related 3GPP standardized SON
use cases and functionalities are related to the Evolved Packet
System (EPS). Some of the EPS related use cases are such that
they span radio and core networks and require functionality from
both networks.
SON is often associated with LTE technology. While drafting LTE
specifications, the 3GPP standardization body introduced SON in
its December 2008 Release 8. Subsequent 3GPP releases cover
further SON specifications.
While such standards ensure sufficient interoperability, they
generally offer little guidance on implementation. Ultimately,
SONs performance will hinge on the right architecture and
algorithms. So now it is up to vendors to develop efficient
and robust functions and seize the many opportunities for
differentiating their offerings.
LTE will rarely be deployed in greenfield environments, so, to
make the most of SONs potential, its capacity must be extended
to encompass legacy equipment and technology.

2. B
 usiness drivers and functional
overview
Many compelling reasons could be cited for automating cellular
networks, most coming under one of two headings:
The user experience
Operating efficiency and cost
With the introduction of smart phones, 4G network technology,
high data usage and low-latency applications, both the user

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 Self-conguration Plug & play conguration of new
network elements

Self-optimization Real-time network auto-tuning

for capacity, connections and
high quality hand-overs

Self-healing Quick self-repair means less

demand on operations and
happier customers

Figure 2: A look at SON functions

experience and costs come under heavy scrutiny. SON can

markedly improve the user experience by optimizing the network
more rapidly and preventing and mitigating outages. These
are very important capabilities because time-to-operation and
network quality are such critical factors for every network operator.
Operating efficiency, in turn, is all about simplifying and
accelerating rollout, as well as running, maintaining and
optimizing the network, through processes such as load
balancing, more autonomously and more effectively. And
minimizing extra operating effort seems a very good idea indeed
in view of the complication of introducing and managing new LTE
technology alongside legacy 2G/3G equipment.
SON delivers operating benefits throughout the networks
lifespan. Beyond the upfront benefits of faster, easier, and
more cost-effective installation and commissioning, it continues
yielding long-term savings and contributes considerably to
greater overall network efficiency.
Self-configuration comprises all tasks necessary to automate
the deployment and commissioning of networks and the
configuration of parameters. Network elements operate
autonomously, running setup routines, authenticating and
connecting to the Operation Support Systems, as well as linking
up and exchanging parameters with neighbors.
Self-optimization serves to maximize or recoup network quality
by tuning network parameters on the fly. The landscape, vast
number of parameters and the variety of radio technologies
makes optimization automation a key factor for customer
satisfaction and for efficient use of network resources.
Key tasks involve brokering handovers and balancing loads
among neighboring cells. Contributing to a greener network
environment, SON offers advanced energy-saving features.

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Self-healing encompasses a set of key functions designed to
cope with major service outages, including detection, prevention,
root cause analysis and outage mitigation mechanisms. Auto-
restart and other automatic alarm features afford the network
operator even more quick-response options.

Self-Configuration
When setting up new parts of a network, a great deal of time
is spent configuring the base stations. As demand for capacity
grows and higher frequencies are used, cells become smaller.
The density of LTE base stations in areas of high capacity
demand is way beyond that of its GSM and WCDMA counterparts.
The number of cells is expected to increase so dramatically,
that configuration becomes a serious cost and speed factor.
Self-configuration reduces the configuration time from hours to
minutes.
First the base station establishes basic and secure connections
to its environment and to the Network Operations Center
from where it fetches additional software and further initial
configuration settings such as frequencies, power, Public Cell
Identifier (PCI) and the Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH).
Once the base station is up and running with these good-
enough initial settings, the optimization phase focuses on
maximizing business benefits.

Self-Optimization
Users expectations and habits have evolved with the arrival of
powerful mobile devices which offer users various applications
from an inbuilt video camera to social Internet services.
Accordingly, network requirements for availability, throughput
and latency are stringent and the traffic load is far less
predictable. Networks, therefore, need to be adaptive and must:
A
 llocate capacity and coverage for maximum revenue and
user satisfaction
O
 ptimize load distribution among cells for maximizing
capacity among the installed base
E
 nsure robust mobility and handovers for minimizing hand-
over failures
With a large number of base stations and multiple radio
technologies, these activities become too slow and too costly to
perform manually and to check with drive tests. The objective
of self-optimization is to achieve maximum use of the network
element, maximizing coverage, quality, hand-over success rate
and revenue. During optimization, a base station evolves from
an element that is able to receive further operational data to an

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optimized base station with cells that are working in full harmony
with all its neighbor cells.
The optimization comprises PCI, PRACH, antenna tilt and angle,
hand-over neighbor cells within the same site and between
different sites and different radio access technologies, to name
a few. If some of the hundreds of parameters do not have
the correct value, users will immediately experience problems
such as unnecessary hand-overs (ping-pong effect), dropped
calls, long call set-up times or short battery life. Some of these
aspects involve a high number of cells, relying on a centralized
intelligence and resolution process.
Efficient use of resources can be further improved by load
balancing and traffic steering. At different times of the day,
the network is affected by changes in human behavior. The
ratio between voice and data changes, with the location of

Moving hotspot scenario, 60 users

BSs 29 and 44 become overloaded without LB with 60 users in the hotspot
They are the only cells that are covered totally by the hotspot at some
point of the simulation

Without load balancing With SON load balancing

Figure 3: SON balancing the load in congested LTE Base Stations

users correlating to these changes (particularly during big

events). Instead of catering for the worst scenario, it is more
cost-efficient to cater for the optimal. SON monitors the base
station and when one cell is overloaded, it hands over users
at the cells edge to a neighboring cell. This resolves the traffic
problem and, under typical cell load conditions, decreases the
number of dissatisfied users from about 10 to 2 percent. In
the core network, load can be balanced between Serving GPRS
Support Nodes (SGSNs) or between Mobile Switching Center
(MSC) Servers for example, reducing capacity need from these
elements and from the interconnections.

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When network usage is very low, there is a significant
opportunity to reduce the energy consumption and the CO2
footprint. iSON detects these situations and puts resources into
sleep mode without compromising the user experience.

Self-Healing
As the complexity of cellular networks grows, the number of
challenging fault analyses also increases. Network operations
personnel should be freed from unnecessary analysis and save
their time for the more challenging network faults that do
require human analysis and intervention. The number of alarms
alone already presents a significant load on the problem solving
human resources.
A networks ability to heal itself can mean it can handle major
outages. SON responds quickly, compensating the outage and
repairing the fault. Yesterday, such an outage meant total failure
pending on-site repair. Today it is prevented altogether or it
constitutes little more than a slight service downgrade, followed
by far faster recovery and far fewer user complaints. This
increases up-time and dramatically decreases the number of
site visits.
In a network with tens of thousands of base stations, regular cell
outages are a given. Cell outages are detected by monitoring
alarms and by comparing key performance indicators against
thresholds. The subsequent automated analysis then chooses
the necessary the best possible action. Auto-reset solves the
lions share of cell outages. Alternatively, faults trigger the
previous software version of the network element to be loaded,
if this previous version has proven itself to be of good quality.
Self-healing intelligence follows these cases, bringing to human
attention only those cases that could not be solved by automation.

3. iSON from Nokia Networks

Nokia Networks offers a wide SON solution with its Intelligent SON
(iSON) portfolio. iSON is a hybrid solution with implementations in
both the network and the OSS domain. iSON parts implemented
in the network perform locally at very high speeds. The parts
implemented in the OSS domain provide for network-wide
operations, scheduling and human decision making. SON was
first applied to LTE radio access networks in accordance with
the requirements of standardization and to help operators deal
with rising network complexity and Total Cost of Ownership. The
technology will become even more important as Heterogeneous
Networks (HetNets) continue to be developed, causing even
higher levels of complexity.

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Now, with iSON, Nokia Networks is extending the principles of SON
beyond the radio network to give operators end-to-end visibility
and control over their network quality and capacity. The hybrid
iSON solution includes iSON Radio and iSON Core designed for
insight and control, and Professional iSON Services to maximize
the benefits of self-organizing technology.

iSON Radio
iSON Radio is the part of iSON that automates the configuration,
optimization and healing of heterogeneous radio access networks.
With tools to manage and interoperate multiple layers of cells and
technologies, iSON ensures small cells interwork with the macro
layer, even in a multivendor environment. For high customer
satisfaction it is of the utmost importance that, for example,
hand-overs happen seamlessly and are invisible to the mobile user.
Traffic steering allows operators to optimize their resources,
improve the way users experience services and minimize power
consumption by directing the traffic to a particular radio access
technology or layer. It considers factors such as the capabilities of
the terminals and network and the load in different radio access
technologies and layers.
iSON Radio delivers substantial benefits. For example, a typical
European operator can save more than 100 M in revenue
retention, OPEX and CAPEX. Meanwhile, handover optimization
with Mobility Robustness Optimization (MRO) can reduce radio link
failures, improving the customer experience significantly.

iSON Core
iSON Core helps operators detect, analyze and react to traffic load
changes in the network. Ranging from automated, event-based,
real-time actions, to automated element configuration, iSON
Core monitors and helps prevent harmful bottlenecks caused by
traffic peaks. The solution makes maximum use of core network
investments for an efficient and stable performance.
iSON Core provides traffic load balancing, optimized transport
capacity distribution, smartphone signaling and voice call
distribution. Meanwhile, automated network operations
management allocates resources flexibly by using virtualized
hardware to run different core network software applications.
Operators can expect concrete benefits from this. For instance,
iSON Core can reduce the total cost of ownership of SGSNs by
up to 30%, while transmission costs between radio and packet
core elements can be halved. Spare transmission capacity in the

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core-radio interface can be reduced by up to 25%. Smartphone
signaling optimization delivers a reduction of up to 70% in
Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN) signaling.
In Evolved Packet Core networks, the same optimization can
take place for Serving Gateways, leading to measurable network
throughput stabilization and up to 20% saving on a Serving
Gateways total cost of ownership.

iSON Operations
Typically, iSON Operations deals with a multitude of technologies
and a vast number of network elements. To have close control
of iSON use cases, we need a good overview of the current
situation and what we can achieve by the planned operations.
We also need to ensure that SON operations are not conflicting.
For example, if we have scheduled an operation to optimize
hand-overs and an operation to optimize the neighbor lists, in
the same area, these operations could be a potential conflict and
need to be brought to the attention of the Network Operations
Center.
In order to increase efficiency in the network, the operations part
also needs to be efficient and user friendly. iSON Operations
is transparent and its actions are both fast and predictable.
Workflows ensure that even the most complicated tasks are
carried out quickly and easily without errors.

Professional iSON Services

Professional iSON Services include Installation and Integration to
customize iSON for an individual operators strategic objectives.
The services ensure that iSON is optimally integrated into
existing tools and processes.
These services also include Consulting and Optimization. The
starting point could be known network problems. For example,
the decision can be to focus on energy saving or on hand-over
success rate, either in the whole network, or in a part of it. The
focus could also be network roll-out. The services could also
start from the point of optimizing SON processes.
Additionally, these services include network roll-out or network
optimizations themselves. Nokia Networks commits to a service
level agreement where network performance improvements are
measured through key performance indicators.
Nokia Networks runs some 1,300 network planning and
optimization projects around the world each year, ensuring
operators receive expert advice on SON automation.

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4. Conclusion
SON is designed to leapfrog to the next level of automated
operation with the aims of improving network quality and
driving down OPEX.
Various self-configuration, optimization and healing functions
cater for specified SON use cases, bringing major benefits to a
wide range of operational scenarios.
While standardization will ensure the necessary interoperability,
the real power behind SON performance is architecture
and algorithms. This challenges vendors to deliver viable
implementations and efficient, robust SON functions and
it provides them many opportunities to differentiate their
offerings.
As a leading provider of telecommunication infrastructure,
Nokia Networks engages intensively in all areas of SON.
Nokia Networks iSON features an efficient, future-proof
architecture. Featuring SON tools with dedicated workflow
coordination, robust algorithms, and multi-technology, multi-
vendor capabilities, this implementation meets operability
requirements and satisfies the diverse demands of different
use cases.

Glossary
3GPP 3rd Generation Partnership Project
EPS Evolved Packet System
GGSN Gateway GPRS Support Node
GSM Global System for Mobile Communications
iSON intelligent SON
LTE Long Term Evolution
MRO Mobility Robustness Optimization
MSC Mobile Switching Center
OPEX Operational Expenditure
PCI Public Cell Identifier
RACH Physical Random Access Channel
SGSN Serving GPRS Support Node
SON Self-Organizing Network
WCDMA Wideband Code Division Multiple Access

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Nokia is a registered trademark of Nokia Corporation. Other product and company names mentioned herein may be trademarks or trade names of their
respective owners.

Nokia
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Nokia Solutions and Networks 2014

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