FDBSS5E8

Internal Use; to be customised before delivery
GSM 900/GSM 1800 BSS Release B5 Feature Description
Please see How to derive a customized document hereafter.
Alcatel-Lucent
File FDBSS5E8.DOC v 2
Reference 3DC 21081 0002 TQZZA
Date 04/11/2005
Edition 08
Page 1
All rights reserved. Passing on and copying of this document, use and communication of its contents not permitted without written authorization.
SCOPE
The purpose of this document is to give a brief high-level functional description of the Features of Alcatel 900/1800 Base Station Subsystem Release B5.
It must be noted that: - before submission to a customer, present document must be customized to include only the features proposed to that customer; see HOW TO DERIVE A CUSTOMISED DOCUMENT below. - in particular, it contains all features included until B5.2 and therefore B5.2 features must be removed as part of the customization process when B5.1 is proposed. - present document is the reference for the description of the features, not for their list - reference for the list of features available in release B5 is GSM 900/GSM 1800 BSS Feature List (Ref.:3DC 21080 0002 TQZZA); it may happen that, following a change in scheduling of a feature, its description is still in present document while the feature is no more in release B5 in Feature List; this description must then be removed from present document as part of the customization process. Also, this edition takes into account the new feature numbering scheme introduced in the Feature List; for features of which the number has changed, the old one is given between parentheses; it is recommended that new feature numbers be adopted as soon as possible, since future editions of this document will only refer to new feature numbers.
Alcatel-Lucent
Date 04/11/2005
Edition 08
Page 2
CONTENTS
GENERAL / PURPOSE................................................................................................ 4 HOW TO DERIVE A CUSTOMISED DOCUMENT .................................................................... 4 15 00 00 (12 00 00): BSS CONFIGURATION ...................................................................... 5 15 10 00 (13 00 00): SIGNALLING AND TERRESTRIAL INTERFACES .........................................21 15 20 00 (45 00 00): DEFENSE OF THE SYSTEM ................................................................31 15 23 00 (14 00 00): RADIO INTERFACE.........................................................................33 15 32 00 (37 00 00): RADIO RESOURCE MANAGEMENT .......................................................42 15 40 00 (40 00 00): HANDOVER .................................................................................48 15 50 00: TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT................................................................................53 15 60 00 (34 00 00): BEARER SERVICES .........................................................................57 15 66 00 (33 00 00): TELESERVICES .............................................................................59 15 72 00 (41 00 00): SECURITY...................................................................................63 59 00 00: BSS O&M FUNCTION ...................................................................................65 60 00 00: BSS FAULT MANAGEMENT .............................................................................81 61 00 00: BSS PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT...................................................................85 62 00 00: BSS CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT ................................................................89 62 60 00: BSS O&M FUNCTION ...................................................................................94 63 00 00: OMC-R SYSTEM..........................................................................................96
Alcatel-Lucent
Date 04/11/2005
Edition 08
Page 3
GENERAL / PURPOSE
This document gives the description of BSS features listed in document GSM 900/GSM1800 E10 NSS & BSS Feature List. It is a generic document from which Feature Descriptions submitted to customers should be derived. It must not be delivered itself without having been customised as explained below. Such a customisation is necessary since it is impossible to produce once for all a document that fits all needs and since those needs differ offer by offer.
HOW TO DERIVE A CUSTOMISED DOCUMENT

Customisation of this document for a given subscriber must be done in accordance with customisation of the Feature List. Purpose and principle of Feature List customisation are explained in document GSM 900/GSM 1800 BSS Feature List ; this customisation typically includes the fact that not all potential features are presented to a given customer, but only a subset (depending on which exact release is presented and, for this release, what exact features are presented (Some additional features may not be presented and must then be deleted from the Feature List before delivery to the customer). Customisation of the present document consists mainly in removing in the description below the description of features that are not presented to the customer; also header and footer must be modified to be distinct from those of the present generic document.
Final check before delivery to customer

- titles and header consistent with the type (BSS) and identification of release - Internal Use; to be customised before delivery warning removed from header - description of non relevant features removed - comments regarding the customisation process deleted - introduction referring only to the relevant release - reference of present document removed from footer and replaced by reference of tender
Alcatel-Lucent
Date 04/11/2005
Edition 08
Page 4
15 00 00 (12 00 00): BSS CONFIGURATION 15 00 10 (12 02 00): Support of G2 BTS Family

The Alcatel BSS supports the BTS G2 product family described in document Alcatel GSM / DCS G2 BTS Product Description (ref. 3DC 21032 0001 TQZZA). G2 BTS Family is featuring: - Mini-BTS, capable of handling up to 2 TRXs, available for indoor or outdoor installation, - Standard-BTS, capable of handling up to 4 TRXs (1.25 m cabinet) or up to 8 TRXs (2 m cabinet), or 2+2+2 TRXs in sectored configuration, available for indoor or outdoor installation. The range of products shares the following set of main characteristics: - 30 W TX output power (GSM 900), - 50 W TX output power (GSM 900), - 25 W TX output power (GSM 1800), - Antenna Diversity Reception, - High sensivity reception (up to -107dBm), - Wide range of coupling (Duplexer, wide band combiner, remote tunable cavity) - Frequency Hopping, - Dynamic Power Control, - Discontinuous Transmission/Voice Activity Detection (DTX/VAD), - Improved Multipath Delay Equalisation. Microwave transmission or NTL (Network Termination Line) equipment as well as battery can be integrated in BTS outdoor equipment.
15 00 20 (12 02 11): Support of Micro BTS (GSM 900)

Alcatel has completed its base station family by a compact and lightweight Micro-BTS designed for microcellular application. Due to the small size of the Micro-BTS and its installation at a wall or pole it will be easier to find appropriate sites compared to conventional BTS types. Operators will also benefit from an enhanced A-bis transmission performance of the Micro-BTS which allows costeffective transmission between microcells 15 00 30 (12 02 11A): - M1C (GSM 900) The M1C Micro-BTS product is described in the document Alcatel 900 Micro-BTS Product Description (ref 3DC 21003 0001 TQZZA).
Alcatel-Lucent
Date 04/11/2005
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15 00 40 (12 02 11B): - Modular 1 & 2 TRX (GSM 900) The Modular GSM Micro-BTS 0.5W product is described in the document Alcatel 900 Modular Micro-BTS (Class M1) Product Description (ref. 3DC 21003 0002 TQZZA). 15 00 50 (12 02 11C): - Modular 1 & 2 TRX 2W (GSM 900) The Modular GSM Micro-BTS 2W product is described in the document Alcatel 900/1800 Modular Micro-BTS 2W Product Description (ref 3DC 21003 0003 TQZZA).
15 00 60 (12 02 12): Support of micro BTS Modular 1 & 2 TRX (GSM 1800)
Alcatel has completed its base station family to meet the GSM 1800requirements in microcellular design. The Micro-BTS Modular 1&2 TRX 2W is also available to work in the GSM 1800. It is described in the document Alcatel 900/1800 Modular Micro-BTS 2W Product Description (ref 3DC 21003 0003 TQZZA).
15 00 70 (12 03 00): Support of BTS station unit redundancy

For BTS equipped with at least 2 TRX, vital functions of the BTS (e.g. Clock generation & distribution, frequency hopping unit ...) are secured by means of a redundant station unit. The Alcatel 900/1800 G2 BTS modularity is based on only two types of sub-racks: - the Mini BTS Sub-Rack (MBSR), providing Station Unit (in charge of Station level functions), Frame/Carrier Unit for 1 carrier, Power Supply for -48/-60V DC input, Base Station Interface Unit and Receiver Front-end, - the Frame Unit / Carrier Unit Sub-Rack (FCSR), providing up to 2 Frame Units/Carrier Units with their dedicated Power supply units for -48/-60 V DC inputs. The MBSR is the basic Sub-Rack providing full functionality for a single carrier BTS, and is used as the first Sub-Rack for all BTS configurations. One second TRX can be added using a second MBSR, which provides in addition Station Unit redundancy. The next TRXs (over two and up to eight) can be added by extending the BTS with additional FCSRs. The G1 BTS already in operation supports as well station unit redundancy.
Alcatel-Lucent
Date 04/11/2005
Edition 08
Page 6
15 00 80 (12 12 00): Support of 3 dB wideband combiner (frequency modification from OMC-R)

The TRX combiner connects several TRXs to one antenna with the minimum insertion loss. The Alcatel BTSs equipped with maximum 2 transceivers can accommodate the use of a 3 dB Wideband Combiner. The combination of the transmitter signals is achieved by a wideband summing network (combiner): this type of combiner can combine any frequencies without any need for physical tuning; therefore, in the case a frequency modification is requested by the OMC-R, only the TRX carrier unit frequencies are modified. Furthermore Alcatel 900/1800 BTS supports integrated wideband and duplexer configurations. Usage of the Alcatel TMA is not compatible with integrated duplexer. The wideband combiner allows the measurement of the return loss at the antenna connector of the combiner except for the microBTS. A test probe makes it possible to connect some test equipment without interruption of the RF path to the antenna.
15 00 90 (12 13 00): Support of remotely tunable cavities (frequency modification from OMC-R)
The remotely tunable cavity combiner connects up to 8 TRX of BTS G2 carrier units, with a minimum frequency spacing of 600 kHz, to one antenna without any need for a regular spacing between the channels. Furthermore, it allows the measurement of reflected and forwarded power. The TRX combiner is based on a coupling principle using a series of frequency-tuned cavities. The cavities can be remotely tuned to any frequency in the GSM transmit band. This allows new frequencies to be set (in case of frequency modification from the OMC-R) without on-site operator intervention. This is done by a motorised control of the tuning mechanism and monitoring of the output channels. The tuning is carried out in two steps: a coarse tuning with the associated transmitter being switched off, and a fine tuning with the transmitters emitting a GMSK modulated signal.
15 01 00 (12 15 00): Tower mounted antenna preamplifier

A tower-mounted antenna pre-amplifier (TMA) can be used to increase the sensitivity of the receiver path by compensating for the RX cable loss. The main advantage brought by the TMA is the improvement of handheld coverage: for handhelds, the critical path is the uplink direction; the reason for this is the low maximum output power of the handhelds. To enhance the handheld coverage, only a higher gain on the receive path of the BTS is possible.
Alcatel-Lucent
Date 04/11/2005
Edition 08
Page 7
The Alcatel antenna pre-amplifier system consists of a low noise amplifier, mounted close to the receive antenna(s) at the antenna mast; in case of antenna diversity, pre-amplifiers are installed in both receive paths. The TMA can compensate up to 8 dB of the antenna feeder cable loss, depending on the used amplifier. Usage of the Alcatel TMA is not compatible with A9100 BTS and G2 BTS with integrated duplexer.
Alcatel-Lucent
Date 04/11/2005
Edition 08
Page 8
The Antenna Pre-Amplifier (TMA) option offers the following advantages: - better coverage, especially for low power handhelds, - fewer Base Station sites, rental cost and investment saving, - reduced BTS equipment, saving of installation and commissioning cost, - reduced power equipment, - reduced transmission cost, - reduced operation and maintenance effort, - reduced requirements to receive antennas and antenna feeder cables, saving of invest and labour cost.
15 01 10 (12 16 00): BTS transmission power before combiner

GSM allows different TRX power classes for the BSS transmitter. Quoted power is the peak power that can be supplied at the input of the transmission combiner. 15 01 20 (12 16 10): 30W carrier unit (GSM 900) The Alcatel 900 BTS in standard configuration can provide two different transmitter (TX) power levels before combiner: 12 W or 30 W. 30W carrier units are available for all GSM BTS G2 configurations. 15 01 30 (12 16 12): 50W carrier unit (GSM 900) The Alcatel G2 BTS can provide transmitter (TX) power levels before combiner of 50 W in its 1.25 m indoor configuration. In that case, the usage of a TMA is strongly recommended. This feature provides cell coverage increase in rural area by 10 to 20%. Mixing of 30 and 50W carrier units in the same cabinet is not supported. 15 01 40 (12 16 20): 25W carrier unit (GSM 1800) The Alcatel 1800 BTS in standard configuration can provide 25 W transmitter (TX) power levels before combiner.
15 01 50 (12 19 00): Sectorized outdoor configurations with G2 BTS

Alcatel introduces a new BTS outdoor configuration in addition to its existing G2 family. This BTS configuration allows to support up to 6 TRX located in three sectors (e.g. 3x1, 3x2,... TRX configurations). For detailed product description, please refer to document Alcatel GSM / DCS G2 BTS Product Description (ref. 3DC 21032 0001 TQZZA).
Alcatel-Lucent
Date 04/11/2005
Edition 08
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15 01 60 (12 21 04): Availability of DR/EFR G2 BTS hardware

G2 BTS Hardware and firmware newly installed in the considered release basically support Dual rate & Enhanced full rate coding. The function will then be available as soon as software upgrade is performed and proper configuration performed from the OMC-R(see 15 33 50 and 15 34 60).
15 01 70 (12 22 00): Hardware upgrade for DR/EFR

In the equipment previously installed where half rate or EFR is now introduced, the following HW upgrades are proposed : 15 01 80 (12 22 02): For G2 BTS Dual rate capabilities are introduced on a per BTS basis by changing the frame units of the BTS. Such modification is done by changing FU board(s) for every TRX. The Frame Unit (FU) is dedicated to the baseband processing of the GSM 900/GSM 1800 TRX. Such HW modification is necessary due to the complexity of the dual rate channel coding and decoding. This new board (Dual rate frame unit DRFU) is pin to pin compatible with existing BTS boards and therefore changeover of the BTS from full rate to dual rate operation is an easy and secure operation.. In addition, prior to the actual activation of the half rate/EFR function in part of the cells of a specific BSS, the pool of transcoders must be changed from full rate to dual rate. 15 01 90 (12 22 04): For Mark II BTS Dual rate capabilities are introduced on a per BTS basis by changing the frame units of the BTS. Such modification is done by changing FU board(s) for every TRX. The Frame Unit (FU) is dedicated to the baseband processing of the GSM 900/GSM 1800 TRX. Such HW modification is necessary due to the complexity of the dual rate channel coding and decoding. These new boards (DRFU and DRFE) are pin to pin compatible with existing BTS Mark II boards and therefore changeover of the BTS Mark 2 from full rate to dual rate operation is an easy and secure operation. In addition, prior to the actual activation of the half rate/EFR function in part of the cells of a specific BSS, the pool of transcoders must be changed from full rate to dual rate.
15 02 00 (12 02 16): Support of Alcatel 9100 BTS family

The Alcatel 9100 BTS is designed to ensure an outstanding quality of service through very high radio performances and minimum service interruption. This is achieved due to the use of highly intergrated modules and state of the art components.
Alcatel-Lucent
Date 04/11/2005
Edition 08
Page 10
The Alcatel 9100 BTS also provides with a great flexibility due to a new modular architecture. This will facilitate all kinds of evolution : site extension or sectorization, implementation of future features. In addition, special attention was given to ease of deployment and maintenance. 15 02 10 (12 02 18): - Up to 8 TRX or 3x2 TRX per cabinet The Alcatel 9100 BTS provides support to a wide range of both omnidirectional and sectorized configurations. In this first modular step, it can support up to eight TRX in one cabinet in an omnidirectional configuration and up to two TRX per sector in a trisector BTS cabinet. The Alcatel 9100 BTS product is described in the document Alcatel 9100 BTS Product Description. 15 02 20 (12 02 21): - Up to 3x4 TRX per cabinet The Alcatel 9100 BTS provides support to a wide range of trisector configurations. In this second modular step, it supports up to four TRX per sector in a single cabinet. The Alcatel 9100 BTS product is described in the document Alcatel 9100 BTS Product Description.
15 02 80 (12 02 24): Auto configuration for Alcatel 9100 BTS

This feature can be split into two main functions which are the "auto-identification" and the "life insertion/extraction handling. The auto-identification is done by the BTS modules which send to Operation and Maintenance Unit (OMU) all the information to be able to download the correct SW to these entities and to know their locations in the BTS. The life insertion detection is performed by the OMU. The OMU is informed of each insertion/extraction of equipment. Each time a new equipment is inserted or extracted, the OMU triggers an update of its matrix of cabling. The configuration management functionality mainly consists for the BSC in downloading all the necessary SW and data files to the BTS. The list of SW files to download is specific to each HW generation. These data files contain information such as HW family, hopping capabilities,...
Alcatel-Lucent
Date 04/11/2005
Edition 08
Page 11
15 02 90 (12 02 26): Automatic power down concept on mains failure alarm (A9100 BTS)
This advanced concept enables the A9100 BTS to reduce its power consumption in case of mains failure. It is available on outdoor configurations (see A9100 product description for more details). The mains benefits are : - extend the battery time to provide radio coverage in the network and minimum service more longer, - provide with a smaller battery to decrease equipment cost and volume. When the mains failure occurs, the A9100 BTS power supply switches over to the back-up battery automatically. After a predefined time t1, when it appears that the nominal traffic situation cannot be maintained, the BTS enters a fall back mode where all TRXs except the BCCH TRX and the SDCCH TRX (if the SDCCH TRX is configured without TCH) are powered down. The BCCH TRX is the one which carries the BCCH frequency. Once entered in fall back mode, if the mains power supply comes back steadily - that is to say for a minimum time t2 - the BTS will switch back to a nominal working. The predefined time corresponds to a timer which is set from the BTS terminal equipment.
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Date 04/11/2005
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15 03 00 (12 11 00): Support of Microwave (MW) baseband unit in BTS outdoor version
Outdoor configurations of G2 BTS and A9100 BTS family are offered with a 3U or 6U empty slot which allows physical integration of a MW baseband unit or LTE equipment. Depending on operator transmission strategy a complete set of Alcatel transmission products (MW) can be offered to be integrated in this BTS equipment.
15 03 10 (12 13 98): Extended Cell
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Date 04/11/2005
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15 03 20 (12 14 00): Extended cell radius for GSM 900 (more than 35 km) The goal of cells with extended radius is to reduce the amount of required sites and BTSs (and, accordingly the number of A-bis PCM) in low traffic density areas. This feature allows, in addition, to provide GSM coverage in difficult access areas (e.g. off shore coverage). An extended cell is composed of two sub-cells, an inner and an outer cell. The extended cell is physically covered by two collocated, synchronized G2 BTSs providing a coverage of up to 70 km. One BTS handles calls in the inner cell (distant up to 35 km), the other BTS handles calls in the outer cell (from about 35 km up to 70 km) of the extended cell. To compensate for the propagation delay of bursts from mobiles located in the outer cell, the receiver of the outer cell BTS is delayed. The inner cell BTS is equipped with an additional receiver path to handle mobiles located in the inner but camping on the outer cell (for initial access). Active call mobiles moving from the inner cell to the outer cell, or vice versa, will be handed over to the complementary cell respectively. Mobiles leaving the extended cell coverage will be handed over to an appropriate neighbour cell (when available). This extended cell mechanism allows to compensate for the propagation delay of bursts up to 70 km distance while providing the full capacity of both BTSs. All time slots of the TDMA frame can be used independently. This feature is available for Alcatel G2 BTS (GSM system) only.
15 03 40 (12 02 28): Commissioning test for Alcatel 9100 BTS

Commissionning is improved with this feature in relation to other previous BTS products. Operation of G3 BTS has been considered since the design of the product. As it has been designed with few modules, keeping in mind modularity considerations, the testing of G3 BTS is already foreseen as simplified. Pushing further in that direction, by taking into account its large experience in the commisionning, Alcatel concern was also to reduce the disturbances on the network operational status at the setting to work of a BTS. Therefore, a new software has been designed to perform the testing of the BTS in a standalone mode in the most exhaustive way. The resulting testing after connection to the network is then reduced to the minimum necessary in order to disturb as less as possible.
Alcatel-Lucent
Date 04/11/2005
Edition 08
Page 14
15 03 50 (12 24 32): Multiband operation in one Alcatel 9100 BTS

This feature concerns the support of the multiband configurations of the A9100BTS. With this support, provided that feature 15 52 40 is also used, the system will offer multiband facilities on a cell basis within the same BTS. Therefore, the BSC is capable of managing the sectors of a multiband A9100 BTS working in different bands simultaneously. In this case, all TRXs of a sector are of the same band. The description of the various A9100 multiband configurations available is to be found in the document : A9100 Base Station product description.
15 04 00 (12 02 29): Support of Alcatel 910 Micro-BTS

In the release considered with this feature, the Alcatel BSS supports the A910 Micro-BTS product family described in the document EVOLIUM A910 Micro-BTS Product Description (ref. 3DC 21083 0003 TQZZA).
Alcatel-Lucent
Date 04/11/2005
Edition 08
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15 04 50 (12 synchronisation)
17
00):
Synchronisation
of
co-located
BTS
(frame
The Alcatel BSS supports synchronous handover procedures by synchronizing up to three co-located BTS. This feature is available with G1MarkII, G2 and A9100 BTS. The time taken for the Mobile Station to start transmitting on the new channel is reduced. When three BTSs are synchronised, one is acting as a "master" BTS whereas the two others are "slave" BTSs. Slave BTSs must be located within 10 m of the Master. The Master Clock Unit of the master BTS is used to provide all timing for the slave BTSs. Each slave BTSs is equipped with a Master Clock Repeater, which receives timing signals and distributes them internally. The Master clock unit compensates the timing delays between the different BTSs. The resultant synchronisation is accurate within 1/4 bit measured at the output of the antenna. This feature is independant from the PCM synchronized facility which enables G1 BTS fitted with MFGP board, G2 BTS fitted with STSP board, A9100BTS and microBTS to synchronize from the incoming PCM datastream. In the present case, the master BTS only may remain PCM synchronized.
15 05 10 (12 04 00): Support of G1 BSC

The Alcatel G1 BSC described in the document Alcatel GSM / DCS G1 Base Station Controller Product Description (ref. 3DC 21016 0001 TQZZA) is supported.
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15 05 20 (12 02 30): Support of Alcatel TSC

Alcatel BSS features a transmission supervision controller which is able to supervise the BSS transmission equipment, (i.e. TC, SM and BIEs for the G1 and G2 generation of BSC equipment and TC equipment). In addition new features such as alarm filtering and improved MMI on the transmission supervision controller are provided with the new TSC (transmission supervision controller).
15 05 30 (12 05 00): Redundancy of BSC central functions

Both BSC central processors (OSI-CPR and S-CPR) are redundant. Hot stand by function is supported as follows : Duplication of a system component provides redundancy so that, if the active component fails, the standby component takes over. This feature enhances the level of redundancy in the BSC by reducing outages associated with central processor activities. In addition, all modules in the group switch are secured (i.e. there are always two possible paths to establish a connection), even if a switch board is out of service. Furthermore, the system vital functions are secured, even if the TCU and DTC are not duplicated as such. The Alcatel GSM 900/GSM 1800 BSS takes benefits of the distributed architecture of the BSC to be able to re configure a BCCH frame to another TCU in case of a TCU failure. Furthermore, load sharing on the N7 links allows the system to support a DTC failure without stopping the telecom service.
15 05 40 (12 20 00): Support of G2 BSC

The Alcatel BSS supports the G2 BSC described in document Alcatel GSM / DCS G2 Base Station Controller Product Description (ref. 3DC 21016 0003 TQZZA). 15 05 50 (12 20 02): - Capacity up to 60 FR TRX / 32 BTS / 18 A-Itf The Alcatel G2 BSC is available in the considered release with the following characteristics :
Configuration Traffic capacity in erlang Nb. of TRX (FR/DR) Nb. of BTS Nb. of A interface trunks #7 links Nb. of Abis (64 SCCP) interface trunks (chain/loop) Number of cabinets Nb. of Abis/Ater TSU
320
60/xx
32
18
10
24/12
4/3
This table gives maximum values per item, but not all maximum values can apply at the same time. For actual dimensionning of a BSC, Alcatel can only commit on values related to the customer traffic model.
Alcatel-Lucent
Date 04/11/2005
Edition 08
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This product can handle up to 60 TRX (in full rate mode only) and supports up to 18 A interface PCMs. 15 05 60 (12 20 06): - Capacity up to 160 FR TRX / 100 BTS / 30 A-Itf The Alcatel G2 BSC is available in three different configurations with the following characteristics:
Configuration Traffic capacity in erlang Nb. of TRX (FR/DR) Nb. of BTS Nb. of A interface trunks #7 links (256 SCCP) Nb. of Abis interface trunks (chain/loop) Number of cabinets Nb. of Abis/Ater TSU
1 2 3
160 432 720
32/16 128/64 160/80
21 94 100
12 18 30
4 6 10
6/3 24/12 36/18
1 1 2
1/2 4/3 6/5
This table gives maximum values per item, but not all maximum values can apply at the same time. For actual dimensionning of a BSC, Alcatel can only commit on values related to the customer traffic model. This product can handle up to 160 full rate transceivers (within max. 100 BTS) and supports up to 30 A interface PCMs. 15 05 70 (12 20 08): - Capacity up to 352 FR TRX / 255 BTS / 72 A-Itf The Alcatel G2 BSC is available in six different configurations with the following characteristics: Config uration Traffic capacity in erlang 160 576 (430) 960 (720) 1152 (860) 1500 (1152) 1500 (1296)
Transceivers (Typic/Max)
Nb. of cells
Nb. of A interface trunks 16 (12) 24 (18) 40 (30) 48 (36) 64 (48) 72 (54)
#7 links (256 SCCP) 4 6 10 12 16 16
1 2 3 4 5 6
30/32 110/128 160/192 250/288 300/352 352/352
21 94 140 212 255 255
Nb. of A-bis Number Nb. of Ainterface of bis/A-ter trunks cabinets TSU (chain/loop) 6/3 1 1/2 24/12 36/18 54/27 66/33 84/42 1 2 2 3 3 4/3 6/5 9/6 11/8 14/9
This table gives maximum (or typical) values per item, but not all maximum values can apply at the same time. The traffic load assumption on A interface is 80%. With other assumption, the traffic capacity can be different. For actual dimensioning of a BSC, Alcatel can only commit on values related to the customer traffic model.
Alcatel-Lucent
Date 04/11/2005
Edition 08
Page 18
Due to dimensioning rules, the mawimum number of TRX cannot be reached at any time. It is the reason why typical values are given. A specific study must be done on a case by case in order to compute the real maximum value according to the BTS configurations connected to the BSC. When TRX working in half rate are connected to the BSC, the TCH capacity remains the same but the number of TRXs has to be divided by 2 because one TRX with HR can handle up to 16 TCH instead of 8 with FR. In case the G2 BSC is connected to a G1 TC, the maximum traffic capacity and number of A interface trunks is indicated in brackets. This product can handle up to 352 full rate transceivers (within max. 255 BTS) and supports up to 54 A interface PCMs (1620 terrestrial circuits) with TC G1 and supports up to 72 A interface PCMs (2160 terrestrial circuits) with TC G2 and optimised mapping on A-ter interface.
15 06 30 (12 01 00): BSC/BTS/TC configurations

Within the BSS, the BSC, the BTSs and the TC can be connected in a number of different nonexclusive ways, depending on whether the BTSs are located at the BSC site or not, and whether the TC is located at the BSC or at the MSC site. This gives the operator all flexibility to implement the most cost effective solution and manage the trade-off cost of site / cost of transmission links.
BTS BTS
Site A NSS
BTS
BSC
BTS
BTS
BTS
BTS Site B
BTS
TC
BSC
BTS
BTS
BTS
BTS
BTS
BTS
BTS
BSC
BTS
BTS
Site C
BTS
BTS
BTS
Figure 1: BSC and TC locations
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Date 04/11/2005
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Figure 1 shows an example of a small network where : - two BSCs are distant from the NSS site (site A) where the transcoders are located. - one BSC is co-located with the transcoder racks and the MSC. The location of the BSC can be chosen to optimise network cost and topology. Remote location, using the BSC as a concentrator, can save installation and operational cost of transmission lines. If the distances MSC-BSC-BTS are short and the BSC is co-located with the MSC, saving on sites and overall operational aspects are other advantages. One of the advantages of choosing an Alcatel BSS is that it allows, like in the first configuration to remote BSCs and benefit from the trunking effect of the BSC. Because, depending on the traffic conditions, not all the A-bis circuits are busy at the same time, the number of A interface circuits can be reduced accordingly and save the cost of long distance leased lines between the BSC and the MSC sites. 15 06 40 (12 01 20): Remote TC (MSC site) and co-located BSC/TC The information from the BSC toward the MSC is passed on the A interface in the 64 kbit/s PCM A Law format. There are two possible alternatives for the positioning of the TC: - the TC can be located at the BSC site - the TC can be located at the MSC site Whatever the location of the TC, the information from the BSC toward the MSC is passed in the 16 kbit/s RPE-LTP format prior to being transcoded; In practice, submultiplexer (SM) are used to simultaneously transmit three streams at 16 kbit/s multiplexed into one 64 kbit/s channel over the link toward the MSC site; there, the information flow is de-multiplexed back into 16 kbit/s components for the purpose of being transcoded at the TC. The sub-multiplexing equipment is at the MSC side integrated in the transcoder rack, and at the BSC site, integrated in the BSC G2 rack (TSU), or in the BSC G1 transmission rack.
15 06 90 (12 24 00): Support of G2 Transcoder

The Alcatel BSS supports the G2 transcoder described in document Alcatel GSM / DCS Second Generation Transcoder Product description (ref. 3DC 21034 0001 TQZZA). This new generation of product supports triple codec (Full Rate, Half Rate and Enhanced Full Rate). 15 07 00 (12 24 02): - Capacity up to 18 A-Interface per rack The Alcatel G2 TC is available in the considered release with the capacity to support up to 18 A interface PCMs (18*30 terrestrial circuits). It is available in a one rack configuration.
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15 07 10 (12 24 06): - Capacity up to 24 A-Interface per rack The Alcatel G2 TC is available in a one rack configuration with the capacity to support up to 24 A interface PCMs (24*30 terrestrial circuits).
15 10 00 (13 00 00): SIGNALLING AND TERRESTRIAL INTERFACES 15 10 10 (13 12 02): OMC-R connection to TSC through BSC
This feature enables to remotely configure the supervision devices from the OMC-R through the existing OMC-R / BSC X.25 link. The remote actions are performed : - download of the G2 TSC database, - download of the TSC software, - download of the transmission settings into the transmission modules through the TSC. The main purpose of this feature is to set up in advance a new transmission scheme corresponding to a new A-bis configuration. In this case, the transmissions are already prepared when the configuration change is performed on-site. Therefore the testing can be carried out immediately. This feature mainly brings its full efficiency with the G2 BSC where the remote transmission settings can be performed together with the remote TCU/BIE mappings. Thus No BSC site intervention is needed. The transmission modules involved are : - transmission boards of G1 BSC/G2 BSC, G2 BTS and MicroBTS, - transcoder boards of TC-G1 and TC-G2, - submultiplexing equipment for TC-G1 and TC-G2.
15 10 60: A-bis Transmission

15 10 70 (12 10 00): A-bis interface configurations: star, chain, drop and insert Definition of the different possible configurations on A-bis interface Whatever the BSC generation (G1 or G2), the layer 1 for BSS connections between BSC and BTS are G703 2048 kbit/s PCMs. Then, depending on the network topology (location and capacity of the different BTS), the Alcatel BSS supports all possible different configurations : - either star configuration - or Drop & Insert configurations with 2 variants:
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- Chain configuration, - Ring configuration Star configuration: A topology of the BTS where the BSC is linked by a 2048 kbit/s to only one BTS.
BTS BTS
BTS
BSC
BTS
BTS
BTS
Figure 2: Star Configuration Chain configuration: A drop and insert topology of the BTS where the BSC is linked by a 2048 kbit/s to a first BTS, which one is linked to a second BTS and so on. The last one is not linked to the BSC.
BTS BTS
BSC
BTS
BTS
Figure 3: Chain Configuration
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Ring configuration A drop and insert topology of the BTS where the BSC is linked by a 2048 kbit/s to a first BTS, which one is linked to a second BTS and so on. The last BTS is linked to the BSC, so if a 2048 kbit/s link is faulty, all the BTS have still a path to communicate with the BSC. Ring configuration is also called loop configuration. It must be noticed that, with G2 BSC, the 2 extremities of the ring must be connected to the same A-bis TSU.
BTS BTS
BSC
BTS
BTS
Figure 4: Ring Configuration All these configurations can be mixed within a BSS.
BTS BTS
BTS
BSC
BTS
BTS
BTS
Figure 5: Mixed Configuration Star or Drop and insert Depending on the equipment, the choice between star or drop and insert is performed differently : With first G1 transmission equipment, the choice was needed before actual selection of the equipment. With latest equipment (G2 BTS, G2BSC, A9100BTS), the default configuration is normally drop and insert even if there is only one BTS on the link. Details of time slot allocation and usage are given in the description of feature 15 11 00. 15 10 80 (13 14 00): Support of TS0 transparency on A-bis interface This feature supports transparent transmission of PCM TS0 information over the A-bis interface. Depending of the possibility to transmit or not the TS0 bits from BSC through BTS in the 2 directions, TS0 may be used to carry transmission equipment supervision (Qmux or Q1 bus).
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- If the TS0 bits are used to carry Qmux, it is called TS0 usage - If the TS0 bits are not used, it is called TS0 transparency . 15 11 00 (13 13 00): A-bis interface Submultiplexed (traffic) The links between BSC and remote BTS are 2 Mbit/s onto which traffic channels, signalling channels and O&M channels are multiplexed according to the GSM Technical specifications for the A-bis interface. This feature supports the sub multiplexing of traffic channels on the A-bis interface. Two 64 kbit/s time slots are required for traffic per TRX, and one time slot is required for LapD signalling (RSL) per TRX, so that up to 9 full rate TRXs can be connected onto one 2 Mbit/s link. Time slot allocation As a general rule, the maximum number of time slots needed on A-bis PCM depends : - On the number of BTS connected to the multidrop, - On the number of transceivers (TRX) per BTS, - If the A-bis connection is a ring or not, - If layer 1 RSL 16kbit/s sub-multiplexing is performed or not. Because the last point (16kbit/s multiplexing) is addressed in the description of feature 15 11 20, we just address here the first 3 points. Basically, one 64kbit/s time slot is needed per BTS to carry the OML LapD link. If the same BTS supports several cells (e.g. station unit sharing), there will be one time slot for OML per BTS (Up to three cells can be controlled by the same OML). Then, three time slots will be needed per TRX, as follows : one for the RSL LapD link, and two for radio circuits information (e.g. speech on TCH). This is true for both Full rate or Dual rate transceivers. It must also be noted that 1 time slot of the PCM must be reserved for transmission equipment supervision (Qmux or Q1 bus). In addition, one or two time slots are necessary for the ring control (R bits). Example: Let us now give an example of a possible configuration with the two following BTS connected to the same drop & insert in chain configuration : - one G1 BTS with four TRXs,
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- one G2 BTS with five TRXs. TS0 of the ring PCM is reserved for transparency ( carry layer 1 PCM information) The 32 time slots of the PCM are then used as follows: - 1 for TS0 transparency - 1 for Qmux - 2 for OML links - 9 for RSL links (5+4 TRX) - 18 for speech circuits (Maximum 9*16 =144 half rate circuits) 15 11 20 (13 16 00): A-bis signalling links static multiplexing This feature allows to increase the number of TRX connected to the same link from a maximum of 9 to a maximum of 12. The signalling channel of a TRX (RSL radio signalling link) will support two configurations (64 kbit/s as per feature 15 11 00 or 16 kbit/s for this feature). This new configuration available for TRX settled in full rate mode will allow to multiplex up to 4 RSL channels belonging to TRX of the same BTS cabinet on one 64 kbit/s time slot. Therefore the amount of time slots used by one BTS on ABis link will be reduced. This feature is supported for G2 BSC & G2 BTS (with DRFU) and A9100 BTS. Let us now give an example : Example: Let us consider the two following BTS connected to the same drop & insert (chain): - one A9100 BTS 3 sectors with station unit sharing (S3-2,2,2) - one G2 BTS with three TRX (DRFU equipped). TS0 of the ring PCM is reserved for transparency ( carry layer 1 PCM information) The 32 time slots of the PCM are then used as follows: - 1 for TS0 transparency, - 1 for Qmux, - 2 for OML links - 1 RSL link for the G2 BTS - 2 RSL links for the S3-2,2,2 BTS - 18 for speech circuits
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Here, we can see that 7 time slots are not used on the PCM, so one more BTS O2 can be connected to the same drop (1 OML+1RSL+2x2 Traffic time slots). For this configuration, this feature allows to connect up to 11 TRX to the same drop. The theoretical maximum of 12 TRX per PCM can be obtained if, for instance one A9100 BTS S34,4,4 is connected.
15 12 10: A/A-ter Transmission

15 12 30 (13 01 00): BSSAP (Phase 1) The BSS Application part (BSSAP) uses one signalling connection per active MS having one or more active transactions for the transfer of layer 3 messages over the A interface between BSC and MSC. The BSSAP user function is further subdivided into two separate functions: - the Direct Transfer Application sub-Part (DTAP) is used to transfer messages between the MSC and the MS; the descriptions of the layer 3 protocols are contained in the 04 series of the GSM Technical Specifications. - The BSS Management Application sub-Part (BSSMAP) supports procedures between the MSC and the BSC such as resource management or handover control; the descriptions of the layer 3 protocols are contained in the GSM 08.08 Technical Specification. For further details, please refer to document Alcatel GSM / DCS Base Station Subsystem Release B4 Statement of Compliance VS GSM Phase 2 Technical Specifications (ref. 3DC 21011 0002 TQZZA). 15 12 40 (13 02 10): Compatibility with GSM Ph.2 MS This feature supports the using of the GSM Phase 2 Mobiles in the Alcatel GSM 900/GSM 1800 PLMN. The GSM Phase 2 Mobiles have the possibility to subscribe the GSM Phase 2 Supplementary Services with the flexible handling of the different services. The interaction between the GSM Phase 2 Mobiles and the Alcatel GSM 900/GSM 1800 PLMN is based upon the GSM Technical Specifications and the implemented (essential or optional) Supplementary Services. Depending of the implementation in the different PLMN the selected Supplementary Services in GSM Phase 2 can interwork (if supported) with the PSTN and the ISDN.
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15 12 50 (13 02 30): BSS GSM Phase 2 on A interface The Technical Specifications contain enhancements of the functionality and in some parts also new function in comparison to the GSM-phase 1TS. The main new functions on the A-interface are the support of half rate, the possible support of more than one encryption algorithm A5 (e.g. A5/2, but the parallel support of two encryption algorithms cannot be provided), and the enhanced error handling. 15 12 60 (13 17 02): Up to 128 with G1 BSC The purpose of this feature is to decrease the number of required number 7 links per G1 BSC for a given BSS capacity. The maximum number of SCCP connections, per number 7 link is increased from 64 to 128 for the G1 BSC. The configuration change required is needed to share the extra signalling load. The strategy is to allow DTCs which have N7 links to perform only the MTP and Layer 1 functions, with other DTCs being able to perform the BSSAP and SCCP functions. 15 12 70 (13 17 04): Up to 256 with G2 BSC The purpose of this feature is to optimize number 7 link use in relation with BSC-G2. This will entail a decrease in the required number of number 7 links for a given BSS capacity. This will provide benefits in terms of savings on transmission and boards between the BSC and the MSC. The maximum number of SCCP connections, per number 7 link is 256 for the G2 BSC. The configuration change required is needed to share the extra signalling load. The strategy is to allow DTCs which have N7 links to perform only the MTP and Layer 1 functions, with other DTCs being able to perform the BSSAP and SCCP functions. 15 12 80 (13 12 00): Submultiplexing on BSC-TC interface (A. ter) The Submultiplexing on BSC-TC interface allows to concentrate onto one single 2 Mbit/s link the traffic to/from up to three TCs. Advantage is taken from the fact that the speech coding for the Air interface requires a bandwidth of only 16 kbit/s (13 kbit/s for speech or data, plus inband controlling for the transcoder), while only one time slot on the PCM transmission system offers 64 kbit/s. This saves 66% of the transmission cost.
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The submultiplexing function on the A-ter interface is performed, at the MSC side by the SM module inside the transcoder equipment. Its main function is to submultiplex four 16 kbit/s TCH into one PCM channel. With a maximum of three PCM trunks (30 TCH each) mapped to one PCM trunk (90 TCH), resources are available for #7, X.25 signalling and other transparent 64 kbit/s applications. At the BSC side, the submultiplexing function is performed in the BSC G2 equipment (A-ter TSU). If BSC G1 is used, the SM and the Base Station Interface Equipment (BIE) are installed in the same cabinet, located at the BSC site. 15 12 90 (13 12 04): Optimised Mapping on A ter interface (1:4) The Submultiplexing on the BSC-TC interface allows to concentrate onto one single 2 Mbit/s link the traffic to/from up to four A interface trunks. Advantage is taken from the fact that the speech coding for the Air interface requires a bandwidth of only 16 kbit/s (13 kbit/s for speech or data, plus inband controlling for the transcoder), while one time slot on the PCM transmission system offers 64 kbit/s. The use of such multiplexed A-ter interface saves 75% of the transmission cost compared to the use of physical A interfaces. The submultiplexing function on the A-ter interface is performed, at the MSC side by the SM module inside the transcoder equipment. Its main function is to submultiplex four 16 kbit/s TCH into one PCM channel. With a maximum of four PCM trunks (30 TCH each) mapped to one PCM trunk a maximum of 120 TCH are possible. Depending on the amount of #7 or X.25 signalling links configured, the number of TCH per PCM trunk may be reduced (i.e. 116 with 1 #7). At the BSC side, the submultiplexing function is performed in the BSC G2 equipment (A-ter TSU).
15 13 00 (13 15 00): BSC - OMC-R interface (X.25 dedicated PSPDN and via A interface) The Alcatel BSC and the OMC-R communicate through an X.25 connection which may be established either through X.25 dedicated PSPDN, or using an A (ter) interface 64 kbit/s time slot. The BSC is able to establish this connection with a TS of a A-trunk. At the other end of the Atrunk, the X.25 link is either dropped at the Transcoder (TRCU level) or passed transparently to the MSC.
15 13 50: Satellite Transmission

15 13 60 (13 40 00): A interface via Satellite In country areas where the BTS density requires the installation of a remote BSC then it is more cost effective to use the A interface over satellite.
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Such a satellite link allows an installation of a BSS in a remote area and its connection to an MSC. This is supported by the Alcatel architecture of the BSS with the EvoliumTM . The figure below gives the location of the network components.
CommSat
OMC
BSC
TRCU
MSC
Colocated
Fig. 2
configuration for A interface connection via satellite
Following is the configuration setting : For BSS connection to MSC - HLR, the A interface needs to be prepared for PCR (Preventive Cyclic Retransmission). PCR deals with the adaptation of Layer 2 acknowledgement cycles within CCITT No. 7 Signalling due to the increased transmission delay introduced by the satellite transmission. The transmission quality on the satellite link is enhanced by the automatic retransmission of data without waiting for request. In addition, CRC4 procedure (Cyclic Redundancy Check, for BER measurements etc.) at the MSC, as well as in BSS transmission modules must be switched off. The minimum generic configuration is : 2 A-ter interfaces 4 TRCU 1 #7 per A-ter interface.
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15 13 70 (13 40 10): A-bis interface via Satellite When a few BTSs are isolated (on islands, in mountains) and cannot be connected to the BSC through classical landline resource, or when very fast BTS roll-out is expected, then the A-bis interface through satellite connection becomes the best suited solution, through n x 64 kbits/s. In such cases, the BTS are connected in star configuration to the BSC : remote stations (BTSs) shall be connected through satellite to a Hub station (BSC).
BTS
BTS
BSC BTS
The A-bis interface physical support is based on E1 PCM G703 2Mbit/s. Depending on the BTS configuration (number of TRX), all the 64 kbit/s Time Slots (TS) of the PCM are not used. Since satellite circuits will generally be used for isolated and remote areas, or for temporary event, it is expected that BTS will have typically up to 4 TRXs. The satellite resource is allocated and therefore paid for on a frequency bandwidth basis. It is therefore recommended to optimize the required bandwidth for economical aspects. The rules to compute the number of required TS per BTS / TRX (speech, as well as the signalling links OML and RSL) are the same for satellite as well as terrestrial A-bis links. For example, using A-bis signalling links static submultiplexing scheme, 4 RSL are multiplexed into one single 64 kbits/s TS (RSL on 16 kbits/s). The activation of the A-bis interface via satellite link feature is achieved with the EVOLIUM A9100 BTS, EVOLIUM BSC and TC (no hardware modification is needed). It is recommended to have BTSs synchronized in free-run mode. It shall be possible to integrate an Alcatl 9760 TD modem within the outdoor BTS EVOLIUM.
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15 20 00 (45 00 00): DEFENSE OF THE SYSTEM 15 20 10 (45 05 00): Reset circuit

15 20 20 (45 05 01): BSS global Reset The reset procedure allows to clear up all the references and the associated radio resources of transactions on both sides of the A interface to ensure that the system can work again on a secure basis. This procedure may be executed, either after reception of a reset message from the MSC (external reset) or after the BSC triggers the execution of the internal reset (e.g. MSC unreachable). 15 20 30 (45 05 10): Reset circuit acknowledge The Reset Circuit feature restores information in the MSC and BSS if a failure has only affected a small part of the equipment. The "reset circuit" message initiated by the BSS informs the MSC that the BSS considers a connection associated with a single Circuit Identity Code (CIC) is no longer active in the BSS: when the MSC receives the message, it clears the possible call and puts the circuit in the idle state. The "reset circuit" message initiated by the MSC informs the BSS that the MSC considers a connection associated with a single CIC is no longer active in the MSC: when the BSS receives the message, it responds with an acknowledgement if the circuit can be put to idle; if the circuit is blocked at the BSS, the BSS returns a "block" message to the MSC.
15 20 40 (45 06 00): Circuit Blocking

The MSC needs to be informed of any terrestrial circuits (identified by the CIC) of the BSS that are out of service. This is done by using a Blocking/Unblocking procedure from the BSC to control the state of a single circuit between BSC and MSC. The "block" message sent by the BSS contains the CIC indicating the circuit that is to be blocked and a cause value indicating the reason for the blocking. An "unblock" message is sent by the BSS to unblock a blocked circuit and return it to service. Blocking/Unblocking is used for events such as initialisation, reset, hardware failures or outage due to an O&M intervention taking the circuit out of service.
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15 20 60 (45 08 00): Unequipped Circuit on A interface

This facility corresponds to the support of unequipped circuit on the A interface by the MSC. The unequipped circuit procedure is used either by the MSC or by the BSS to inform the receiving entity that the sending entity has detected that the circuit received in the previous message is unknown to it.
15 20 70 (45 15 00): BTS overload control

Encountering a BTS processor overload, the BTS signals this overload to the BSC by means of the GSM 08.58 overload procedure. If the overload situation persists, the BSC starts progressive "access class barring for the concerned cells (leaky bucket mechanism). This procedure reduces the number of subscribers that are allowed to set up calls. Enabling or disabling this mechanism is possible on a per BSS basis (O&M flag). An O&M report to the operator is provided. When it is confirmed that the overload condition disappeared, the classes barred because of overload will be un-barred.
15 20 80 (45 16 00): BSC overload control

In case a BSC processor overload is detected as persistant (leaky bucket mechanism), the BSC starts progressive "access class barring for the concerned cells. This procedure reduces the number of subscribers that are allowed to set up calls. Enabling or disabling this mechanism is possible on a per BSS basis (O&M flag). An O&M report to the operator is provided. When it is confirmed that the overload condition disappeared, the classes barred because of overload will be un-barred.
15 20 90 (45 17 00): Flow control (GSM 08.08)

If the BSS receives an "overload" message from the MSC, the BSS will start Access Class Barring on the Air-interface in order to reduce the mobile originated and mobile terminated traffic towards the MSC. The procedure used is as described in GSM 08.08.
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15 23 00 (14 00 00): RADIO INTERFACE 15 23 10 (14 10 00): GSM air interface

The GSM Air interface (or Um interface or Radio Interface) carries the radio channels between the mobile stations (MSs) and the BTSs. For further details related to the compliance of the air interface to the ETSI technical specifications, please refer to document Alcatel GSM / DCS Base Station Subsystem Release B4 Statement of Compliance VS GSM Phase 2 Technical Specifications (ref. 3DC 21011 0002 TQZZA). 15 23 14 (14 70 00): Compatibility with GSM Phase 2 MS on Air interface This feature concerns the support of GSM Phase 2 Mobile Stations (MSs) by the Alcatel GSM 900/GSM 1800 BSS. 15 23 18 (14 80 00): Compatibility with GSM Phase 2 on Air interface This feature concerns the support of GSM Phase 2 Technical Specifications (TS) on Air interface aspects. For further details, please refer to document Alcatel GSM / DCS Base Station Subsystem Release B4 Statement of Compliance VS GSM Phase 2 Technical Specifications (ref. 3DC 21011 0002 TQZZA). 15 23 22 (14 95 00): Support of ETR 09.94 The Alcatel BSS supports GSM Phase 2 ETR GSM 09.94 Recommended Infrastructure Measures to Overcome Specific Phase 1 Mobile Stations Faults
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15 23 40: Frequency Bands handling

15 23 50 (12 18 00): Support of GSM 1800 Due to the higher frequencies and greater number of available frequencies used by Alcatel 1800, the coding for cell and channel descriptions is different from that of Alcatel 900. This feature supports the cell and channel descriptions for Alcatel 1800. Variable bitmaps are used to describe cells, neighbour cells, channels and frequency lists. The Alcatel 1800 BSS has been allocated a fixed range of frequency numbers (512 to 885 giving 374 frequencies). Within this range, 112 consecutive Absolute Reference Frequency Channel Numbers (ARFCNs) can be addressed per cell. The possible range covered by the bit map depends on the starting point or lowest ARFCN. As this starting point can vary, the bitmap is known as a variable bit map.
15 23 60 (12 18 10): Extension of frequency encoding schemes for GSM 1800 The ETSI standard specifies a set of 1024 possible ARFCN (0 to 1023). Some of those values have been allocated to already defined frequency bands as shown in the following table: Frequency band P-GSM band G1 band (note 1) GSM 1800 band ARFCNs 1 to 124 975 to 1023 and 0 512 to 885 uplink frequencies 890.2 to 915 MHz 880.2 to 890 MHz 1710.2 to 1784.8 MHz downlink frequencies 935.2 to 960 MHz 925.2 to 935 MHz 1805.2 to 1879.8 MHz
P-GSM 1 124 512
DCS-1800 885
G1 975 0
note 1: E-GSM band = P-GSM band + G1 band (extension band) is not supported The recursive dichotomy algorithm for frequency list coding, is completely defined in ETS 04.08 in paragraph 10 and ANNEX J. The BSC determines which of the ETSI format will be used for a 04.08 message. The list of frequencies is encoded with the scheme corresponding to the range. Four main network categories can be defined:
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P-GSM network E-GSM network GSM 1800 network Multiband network
maximum ARFCN range = 124 maximum ARFCN range = 174 (not supported) maximum ARFCN range = 374 maximum ARFCN range = 637
(P-GSM + GSM 1800, whatever G1 band used or not) The following table shows the correspondences between the ranges and the coding schemes: Frequency Range (R) R 112 (note 2) 112 < R 128 (note 2) 128 < R 256 256 < R 512 512 < R 1024 Coding scheme variable bit map or Range 128 (note 1) Range 128 Range 256 Range 512 Range 1024
note 1: If IE type is "Frequency List" or "Frequency Short List", the shortest coding scheme shall be used (see 3.4). If the length is the same for both coding schemes, variable bit map is used. If IE type is "Cell Channel Description" or "Neighbour Cells Description", variable bit map is used. note 2: Except if all the frequencies of the list belong to the P-GSM band. In this case, for sake of keeping compatibility with phase 1 MS, the pure P-GSM network codings shall be used. That is to say: - bit map 0 format in SYSTEM INFORMATION TYPE 1, 2 and 5 messages - "Frequency Channel Sequence" Information Element in HANDOVER COMMAND message. - "Cell Channel Description" Information Element in ASSIGNMENT COMMAND message with bit map 0 format.
15 24 30 (14 30 00): Antenna diversity

The A9100 BTS and G2 BTS offer the option of using antenna diversity to improve reception from the MSs. When this option is provided the complete path from each antenna to the demodulator is duplicated thus providing extra defence against breakdown as well as better reception. This option can be used in conjunction with frequency diversity. The Frequency Hopping Unit (FHU) is always duplicated for defence, each carrier unit being
connected to both FHUs. When two RX antennae are fitted the signal from each is routed from the CU through separate ports to separate FHUs. The Frame Unit which receives from FHUs both signals selects the received signal which has the best quality.
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Antenna diversity provides protection against multipath fading. Without any frequency hopping antennae diversity leads to significant improvements while the benefits are marginal when frequency hopping is being used with at least four channels. Antenna diversity is also used as a means to improve link budget (characterizing performances of the radio path) on the uplink (mobile to base) in large cells configurations.
15 24 40 (14 50 00): Discontinuous transmission (DTX uplink)

Discontinuous transmission is supported for full rate speech calls. DTX is a key feature to optimise the lifetime of the battery charge in handheld terminals and decrease the levels of interference between cells. The principle of operation simply is to inhibit the transmission when the MS user is not speaking. This is done on the basis of indications provided by the Voice Activity Detection (VAD) facility of the MS. In practice, when the MS user is not speaking only one comfort noise frame is transmitted, in order to allow for periodic radio measurements by the BTS and for comfort noise generation by the TC.
15 24 50 (14 40 00): Voice Activity Detection (VAD)

Voice Activity Detection (VAD) is a thresholding function aimed at detecting vocal activity in encoded speech frames, for the purpose of implementing Discontinuous Transmission (DTX) Mode. VAD is performed at the transcoder (TC) which indicates vocal activity status by means of VAD flags sent out to the DTX Control & Operation function of the DTX Handler.
15 24 60 (14 60 00): Discontinuous transmission (DTX downlink)

Discontinuous transmission is supported for full rate speech calls. This feature supports provision of DTX in the downlink direction. Downlink DTX is activated on a per call basis by combining information from the MSC and the OMC-R. DTX downlink is useful to decrease the global interference level in a cell and consequently to be able to plan better frequency re-use factors.
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15 25 10 (39 00 00): PAGING

15 25 20 (37 30 00): Drx DRX, which stands for Discontinuous Reception of the MS, aims at reducing the amount of information the MS has to receive while in the idle mode: the MS only listens to its own paging group, thus reducing the battery consumption. DRX is made possible by adopting a suitable paging group organisation at the BSS. The number of paging groups can be changed from the OMC-R. 15 25 30 (39 20 00): Paging with CGI/LAC/LAI depending on BSC type Paging is used to inform an MS that it has a call waiting. Idle MSs constantly monitor a particular part of the paging channel, based on their paging groups and the channel organisation, and respond when paged. Handling of paging messages is provided by these features. The following identification codes are being used: - the Location Area Identification (LAI), composed of three elements: - mobile Country Code (MCC), identifying the country in which the GSM PLMN is located, - mobile Network Code (MNC), identifying the GSM PLMN in that country, - location Area Code (LAC), identifying a location area within GSM-PLMN, - the Cell Global Identification (CGI), composed of: - the LAI (described above), - cell Identity (CI), identifying the BSS and cell within a location area. The Alcatel BSS accepts the following types of identifiers: CGI. This feature enables the Alcatel BSC to send paging messages to any BTS belonging to the paging identifier ID=CGI, or LAC+CI,or LAC, or LAI or ALL. When ID = ALL, the BSC sends the paging message to all BTSs connected to that BSC. The MSC determines the area where the MS is registered. It then sends a paging message to the BSCs in this area. The message contains a list of cells to which the paging message should be sent, and the identity of the subscriber to receive the page.
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15 25 40 (39 20 10): Blocking of mobile terminating call on a cell basis This feature is intended to give the operator the capability to disallow terminating calls on some specific area where they could be disturbing. For example, when a concert is played in a theatre, intempestive ringing could disturb the assemblee. Therefore, the operator will then be able to block entirely calls forwarded to the area covering the theatre. This barring of areas will be possible on a cell basis.
15 25 90 (37 20 00): Classmark handling

The Mobile station (MS) Classmark contains parameters which characterise a particular handset; the components of the Classmark are: - Revision level (phase 1 or phase 2), - RF power capability, - Encryption algorithm, - Short message capability, - Supplementary Services capabilities indicator. The MS Classmark data is collected and stored in the BSS and is used by the BSS in almost all procedures it can perform. The data collected by the MS Classmark handling procedure is used primarily for two purposes: - to obtain the MS Ciphering capabilities, - to obtain the MS RF power capability. The MS ciphering capability (obtained from MS Revision Level and the ciphering algorithms supported, i.e. A5/1, A5/2) is used when performing TCH-> SDCCH or SDCCH->TCH channel assignment, directed retry, internal handovers and external handovers. The MS RF power capability (obtained from the RF power capability field) is used by the BSS in the handover and power control algorithms. All other data of the Classmark are ignored by the BSS. 15 26 00 (37 20 10): Classmark Update The Classmark data may be sent autonomously from the MS (Classmark Update procedure) and on request from the BSS (Classmark Enquiry procedure) or the MSC (Classmark Request procedure).
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The Classmark Update procedure offers the possibility to change the MS characteristics during a call. For example when the terminal is connected or disconnected from a booster in a car. 15 26 10 (37 20 20): Classmark Enquiry and Classmark Request The Classmark Enquiry and Classmark Request procedures are GSM phase 2 procedures. They allow the BSS and the network to get all Classmark information required for initiating ciphering and internal channel change procedures. Thanks to these procedures, the Alcatel BSS is capable of supporting Phase 1, Phase 1 extended (i.e. with A5/2) and Phase 2 (i.e. with A5/1 & A5/2) Mobile Stations. 15 26 20 (37 20 30): Classmark 3: Bi-mode 900/1800 MS In relation with the multiband capability, the Alcatel BSS is able to handle the MS classmark 3 information element in release 5. This information is either provided by the MS when making the initial access to the network or by the MSC for external handover or classmark updating purpose. The BSS will derive from it the capability of the MS in terms of the frequency bands and the RF power it supports within these bands, more precisely : - wether the band is supported or not for each of the three bands : GSM 900, E-GSM, GSM 1800, - the maximum transmit power in GSM band, the maximum transmit power in GSM 1800 band. In this release, GSM 900 mobiles will be considered as P-GSM mobiles. The management of the classmark 3 information will enable the Alcatel BSS to handle the multiband mobiles. It will allow an easy integration in a multiband network.
15 26 30: Power control

15 26 40 (37 50 00): MS power control Dynamic Power control is available on Alcatel BSS equipment to control the RF transmission power of the MS. Power control is aimed at optimising the uplink performance, reducing the MS power consumption and reducing the effects of co-channel interference in the network, by minimising the transmitter power whilst maintaining the quality of the radio links. The power control algorithm is located at the BSC. The reasons for changing the MS power level are: - uplink level too high or too low,
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- uplink quality too high or too low. Power control can be applied to TCHs and SDCCHs The power output required by the MS is controlled by the BSC using a power control algorithm. The BTS measures the power output of the MS and sends the information to the BSC. The BSC uses the power control algorithm to decide on the power control of the MS. The power control messages are sent in the SACCHs. 15 26 50 (37 60 00): BTS power control 15 steps BTS power control compensates for a variation in the downlink signal level or quality. The power control algorithm is improved from the basic algorithm in GSM 05.08. The power control decision is made by the BSC. The reasons for BTS power control are: - downlink level too high or too low, - downlink quality too high or too low. In the Alcatel GSM 900/GSM 1800 BSS, the Power is controlled over 15 steps (2 dB) The power control algorithm is located at the network side. The MS forwards measurements to the BSS for processing. Within the BSS, functions performed by the different parts of the system (BTS or BSC) regarding the power control can be varied via operator-controlled parameters.
15 27 10 (14 20 00): Frequency Hopping (cyclic, random)

The Alcatel GSM 900/GSM 1800 BSS provides frequency hopping as a generic feature. The frequency hopping here considered is the baseband hopping. Frequency hopping is used to compensate selective fading (that affects mostly the slow moving MSs) and to improve the efficiency of the radio path by decreasing the interference level in the network. In other words, it averages the effects of fading and co-channel interference. Frequency Hopping can be used in conjunction with antenna diversity for maximum quality of service. Frequency hopping is performed on a time slot basis and there are two different algorithms: - pseudo random hopping algorithm - cyclic hopping algorithm A random hopping sequence averages the interference between different base stations (interferer diversity) while a periodic hopping maximises the frequency diversity benefits. See GSM 05.02 6.2 for more details.
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When frequency hopping is used, N TRX of a cell will be allocated a frequency hopping sequence (FHS) of N frequencies on which the timeslots will hop on a frame basis. If the hopping sequence contains the BCCH frequency, it is called the BCCH FHS. There will be at least the BCCH FHS in order to meet the GSM requirement of continuous BCCH broadcast. In this release, the Alcatel BSS baseband hopping is supported by the G2 BTS. The frequency hopping is implemented by switching between fixed frequency carrier units. The parameters associated to frequency hopping can be entered by the network operator via the OMC-R. 15 27 20 (14 20 10): Synthetized Frequency Hopping In the considered release, a new hopping mode is provided in addition to the baseband hopping : the synthetized hopping. This mode is characterized by the fact that the number of frequencies in a FHS may be greater than the number of TRXs associated with this FHS (see 14.20.00). A much wider scope of possibilities can then be achieved, for example : - the use of different FHS on timeslots of the same TRX, - a better spectrum efficiency due to ARFCN mapping improvements when more than two TRX are involved (A9100 BTS). The synthetized frequency hopping mode is available on two product families : the Micro-BTS and the A9100 BTS according to the release when they are available. In both cases frequency hopping is implemented by switching frequency in the Carrier Unit on a per time slot basis by using fast synthesizers TX. The number of frequencies of the hopping sequence is therefore not limited by the BTS capacity : - For the Micro BTS, the hopping capabilities depend on the number of TRXs. In any case, the BCCH frequency is permanently broadcasted, - For the A9100 BTS, a new flexible configuration enables to mix non-hopping and hopping TRXs. It should also be noted that the synthetized hopping can be used as baseband hopping : this is named pseudo-baseband hopping. The OMC-R application has also been enhanced to take into account the enrichment of hopping possibilities in order to use them in a very safe way. In particular, checks will be performed to ensure the consistency between the hopping logical configuration chosen by the operator and the carrier type of the radio equipment.
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15 27 30 (14 20 20): Extended Frequency Hopping Sequence (up to 64 frequencies) In relation with the new possibilities introduced with the synthetized hopping, the efficiency of the frequency hopping has been further increased by extending the number of frequencies contained in a sequence FHS (see 14.20.00) from 16 up to 64. This is mainly driven by three considerations : - decrease the frequency reuse pattern in the radio network planification, - improve the quality of speech, - be in line with latest GSM standards. The frequency reuse will first be increased : when a timeslot hops over a wider range of frequencies with the random hopping algorithm, the probability to have a burst interferred decreases; therefore the frequency pattern can be reused more often in the network. This is particularly efficient when combined with the concentric cell feature (see 40.14.00) where the reuse of the TRX of the inner zone can be further optimized. The decrease of the probability of interference is also interesting mainly during the conversation phase to improve the speech quality. This is achieved by averaging the interference on 64 frequencies. The frequencies to hop on will be indicated to the MS in the IMMEDIATE ASSIGNMENT message for the SDCCH and in the ASSIGNMENT COMMAND message for the TCH.
15 32 00 (37 00 00): RADIO RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
15 32 10: Resource priotization

15 32 20 (37 10 00): Queuing and priority Queuing : Queuing increases the rate of successful call set up completion when there is a high demand for TCHs. When all TCHs of a cell are busy, assignments for TCH allocation are queued instead of being rejected. New call attempts are maintained in SDCCH channels until a TCH becomes free. If a TCH becomes available during the time allowed for queuing, the assignment is performed. This also applies to external handover requests as they require TCH assignments.
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A queuing indication message is sent to the MSC when a request is put in the queue. The timer supervising the maximum duration of queuing depends on the nature of the request (normal assignment (T11), MSC controlled handover (TqHo)). When the timer expires, the request is dequeued. Both timers are defined by the Operator. Note : the BSC will queue requests if the MSC has allowed it. There is one queue per cell. There is a limit in the maximum number of calls to be put in the queue. Actually there is no benefit in defining a very big queue length, as the probability to get access to a traffic channel before the end user has run out of patience decreases when the size of the queue increases. If the queue is full, a new attempt is not queued. For calls on SDCCH candidates for queuing because of TCH unavailability, the feature Directed retry allows to handover directly the call to a TCH of another cell (see 15 43 60). Priority : Priorities handling slightly modifies the management of queuing : Each queue is sorted taking into account the priority level received on the A interface : attempts with higher priority are put at the top of the queue : they will be served before calls of lower priority, even if these requests are older. Among attempts of the same priority, attempts are ranked based on their order of arrival: oldest are served first. When the queue is full and there is a new request to be queued, the BSS behaves as follows: - if a lower priority request is found in the queue, then the lowest priority request is dequeued, - if only higher priority requests are in the queue, then the new request cannot be queued.
15 32 30 (37 40 00): Resource management based on Idle TS interference This facility allows the BTS to measure the signal strength on Idle time slots (either fully idle, or 1/2 idle in case one half rate call is assigned to that time slot). These measurements indicate in this case the interference level on the Idle time slots. The measurement reports are sent periodically from the BTS to the BSC. The BSC classifies the TS in 5 different interference bands representing different interference levels. The TCH resources are then managed according to these 5 interference bands and during call set up procedure the BSC is able to allocate the available TCH which has got the lowest interference level.
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This feature allows to optimise overall the quality of service within the network, provides a criterion for selection of target cell in handover, and simplifies network planning operations. 15 32 40 (37 40 08): BCCH TRX Marking This feature enables the operator to give a preference mark to some TRX in the BTS. Then, at resource allocation, one timeslot out of the marked TRX will be selected preferably. If no such timeslot is available at that time, a timeslot of an unmarked TRX will then be allocated as a second choice. When no hopping is used, this feature will give the operator the possibility to use more often a frequency if he knows it is less interferred for example. When hopping is used, this may also bring benefits when combined with the feature extended frequency hopping sequence (15 27 30). In this case, a random hopping sequence is applied and brings more or less quality depending on the capacity gain achieved. For example, if a very tight reuse pattern is used, it may then be useful to advantage the allocation on non-hopping TRX such as the BCCH TRX.
15 33 10: Radio spectrum optimization

15 33 20 (37 65 00): Immediate Assignment Reject The IMMEDIATE ASSIGNMENT REJECT message implementation provides a better quality of service as seen by the subscribers when no SDCCH resource is available and allows the BSS to distribute the load with time. Indeed, the sending of the Immediate assignment reject message avoids the undesirable error message on the MS screen in the case where no channel can be assigned to the Request from the Mobile. This procedure also stops the useless MS attempts for Channel assignment and reduces the load on the RACH by avoiding ping pong cell reselection for the MS. During the Immediate assignment procedure, if no channel is available for assignment , the BSC may send to the mobile station an IMMEDIATE ASSIGNMENT REJECT message on the same CCCH timeslot on which the channel request was received. On receipt of this message, the MS stops sending of CHANNEL REQUEST messages and starts timer T3122. The Mobile station is not allowed to make a new attempt to establish a non emergency RR connection in the same cell until T3122 expires. The timer value of T3122 which is indicated to the MS by the network shall be administrable on a per cell basis from the OMC.
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A performance counter is provided to count the number of Immediate Assignment Reject Messages notified to the MS on a per TRX timeslot basis. A new flag in the BSS database shall allow or forbid the use of Immediate assignment reject. The state of this flag shall be displayed on the OMC screen nearby the timer T3122 in order to indicate availability of the T3122 management. 15 33 40 (37 65 10): Immediate Assignment Extended This feature reduces the signalling traffic on the Air-interface, especially in cell configurations with a large amount of SDCCH-channels. In order to speed up the procedure and to improve the signalling rate (AGCH), whenever two pending assignments share the same mobile allocation (which is very likely when the cell is small) only one message is built to address the two MS. Under peak load condition, an MS will likely send several CHANNEL REQUEST before receiving an IMMEDIATE ASSIGNMENT message. As the BSC is unable to identify the MS which sent a CHANNEL REQUEST, it will grant several SDCCH sub-channels for one MS. Such a behaviour leads to a huge waste of the SDCCH and CCCH resources. The implementation of IMMEDIATE ASSIGNMENT EXTENDED Air interface message allows to improve the response time of our system, especially under high load conditions, and to increase the capacity of the AGCH channel (up to twice) without any impact on the PCH throughput. 15 33 50 (37 80 00): Support of dual rate (HR/FR) This feature encompasses three major functionalities : - the availability of dual rate TRXs and dual rate transcoders, - an optimized 8 kbits/s A-bis submultiplexing scheme, - an optimized resource allocation policy. The use of the most recent technology enabled to define a new codec which requires half bandwidth as before with quite no degradation of the speech quality. Dual rate TRXs offer this new half-rate codec in addition to the classical full rate codec. Therefore, any physical channel can handle either one full rate communication or two half-rate speech communications. This will be decided dynamically on a call by call basis at channel assignment time or during internal handover. Dual rate TRXs are available within MarkII BTS, G2 BTS if equipped with DRFU board, MicroBTS and A9100 BTS.
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Dual rate transcoders are also introduced in this release to handle both half rate and full rate speech channels. They will equip the complete BSS. So as to optimize the terrestrial traffic channel utilisation in case of half rate, the 8 kbits/s submultiplexing scheme is provided on the A-bis interface, the 16 kbits/s submultiplexing scheme being now reserved for full rate channels. This submultiplexing scheme allows to use 8 kbits/s bandwidth for half rate channels together with 16 kbits/s for full rate channels on the A-bis interface. An optimized resource allocation policy will be applied on these new capacity in order to allocate the preferred channel type. It will mainly take into account : - the channel preferences requested by the mobile and handled by the MSC, - the capability of the cell, - the congestion situation in the cell. The policy is driven by the simple idea to allocate HR resource to half-rate capable mobiles whatever their preferences when the cell is overloaded. As a summary, the overall prerequisite in the BSS to perform half-rate is the following : - the BTS must be equipped with dual rate TRXs and configured as a dual rate BTS from CMA, - the BSS must be fitted with dual rate transcoders (see 13 29 10), - the BSC-G2 must be used and properly configured, - the considered software release must be run The feature can be enabled on a per cell basis from the OMC-R by the operator. This means that it is not necessary to provide in all BTS the HR capability from the beginning. In case of networks which are not yet equipped with HR hardware, this allows the early introduction of the feature in some areas and a successive upgrade of other areas afterwards.
15 34 20: Quality of service

15 34 30 (37 65 30): Access burst filtering built on timing advance This feature protects the user from intempestive call failure that may result in dense networks from interference problems such as resurgence of frequencies. In very dense networks, beacon frequencies of cells which are not in the vicinity can be anyway detected and induce a MS to camp on them and attempt calls. For obvious propagation reasons, this call is likely to be failed during the conversation phase.
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Therefore, the Alcatel BSS will perform a distance estimation of the access bursts based on timing advance in order to filter out the spurious bursts and deny the mobile access to these ghost cells.
15 34 40 (37 70 00): Support of call re-establishment by the MS This feature is based on the separation of the radio resource release and connection release on the NSS side. Whenever the call is dropped due to a shadow area the BSS releases the radio connection but the MSC maintains the connection with the called party. Then the MS generates a call reestablishment procedures which allows to give another radio resource on the serving BTS or on another BTS. 15 34 60 (37 80 30): Support of Enhanced Full Rate (EFR) Based on the assumption that the full rate speech quality in GSM networks is not sufficient to provide in all conditions an ISDN like quality of service, a new codec has been developed by the standardisation bodies. This codec has been standardised within ETSI and will be available for all GSM 900/GSM 1800 networks. The idea of the codec is to improve the speech quality perceived by the user and to improve on deficiencies of the full rate codec. Together with the better speech quality, the new codec also provides a better error detection mechanism avoiding most of the uncomfortable noises in bad radio conditions. The improved speech quality perceived in the network will lead to more customers, using their phone more often and longer. The feature can be enabled on a per cell basis from the OMC-R by the operator. This means that it is not necessary to provide in all BTS the EFR capability from the beginning. In case of networks which are not yet equipped with EFR hardware, this allows the early introduction of the feature in some areas and a successive upgrade of other areas afterwards. The choice of the codec is performed both at call attempt or during handover. It will result from the best trade-off between the mobile request, the operator preferences and the BSS capacities : - the mobile request will be announced to the MSC when the mobile sets up a call, - the operator preferences can be implemented through the MSC behaviour or through the BSS O&M internal data set from the OMC-R, - the BTS capabilities are known by the BSC which will perform the final choice and send it to the mobile.
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The implementation follows the GSM specifications and the associated amendment requests. The prerequisite to perform EFR is the following : - the BTS must be equipped with dual rate TRXs and configured as a dual rate BTS from CMA, - the BSS must be fitted with dual rate transcoders (see 13 29 10), - the BSC-G1/G2 must be properly configured, - the considered software release must be run.
15 40 00 (40 00 00): HANDOVER 15 40 10 (40 13 00): HO detection

As specified in GSM, the mobile station reports periodically radio measurement to the BTS, where additional measurement are performed (Level and quality of the received signal). The measurement reports are then periodically reported to the BSC which makes the handover decision according to the criterion described in features 40 16 xx.
15 40 40 (40 17 00): Handover modes

15 40 50 (40 17 10): Asynchronous In an asynchronous handover between two cells, the MS cannot transmit normally until it knows the new timing advance to apply. In contrast, synchronised cells do not require a timing advance indication, making synchronous handover faster. To complete the asynchronous handover, the MS sends bursts to the BTS with a null timing advance. The BTS can then determine the value of the timing advance and send the information to the MS. The MS can then start normal transmission. 15 40 60 (40 17 20): Synchronous Handovers between synchronised cells allow the MSs to access the target cells, without having to wait for timing advance information from the BTS. After sending the handover access bursts (four of them are sent in a row), the MS can directly establish a radio link with the new cell because it already has the timing advance of the new cell. Such handovers are referred to as Synchronous Handovers.
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15 40 90: Handover types

15 41 00 (40 12 00): Intra BTS handover Intracell handover is decided and executed autonomously by the BSS. At the completion of a handover, the BSS sends a "handover performed" message over the SCCP. The terrestrial resources currently assigned to that call are released. The BTS activates the channel and starts transmission and reception. information indicates that ciphering is required, then ciphering is started. 15 41 10 (40 00 10): BSC internal handover This feature is used when the preferred candidate cell belongs to the same BSC. The BSC If the encryption
autonomously decides and executes an intra BSC handover (HO). Intra BSC handover can be : - Intracell handover (e.g. new TCH in the same cell), - intercell handover (e.g. new TCH in a different cell within the same BSS with better radio condition), 15 41 20 (40 01 00): HO inter BSS/intra MSC This feature is used when the preferred cell is outside the BSC. The BSC sends its list of preferred cells to the MSC for handover decision and execution. 15 41 30 (40 03 20): HO inter MSC The Alcatel GSM 900/GSM 1800 BSS supports of inter MSC handovers, compliant with A interface GSM technical specifications (TS 08.08).
15 41 60: Handover protocol

15 41 70 (40 04 00): HO completion on message "HO complete" This feature is used by the BSS to send the "handover complete" message to inform the MSC that the handover has been successfully completed. connection with the serving BSS. The MSC initiates the clearing of the SCCP The serving BSC deactivates, disconnects and releases all
resources previously assigned to the MS in the serving cell.
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15 41 80 (40 06 00): HO Request on LAC+CI This feature allows the MSC to request resources from a BSS in a manner similar to that used for resource assignment. It does not result in the transmission of any messages over the radio interface, only in the reservation of the resources identified by the BSS. The BSS awaits access of an MS on the channel indicated by the MSC. Handovers controlled by the MSC are called external handovers. The Location Area Code (LAC) and Cell Identity within this area (CI) are used to identify the target cell. 15 41 90 (40 07 00): HO Request on CGI This feature allows the MSC to request resources from a BSS in a manner similar to that used for resource assignment. It does not result in the transmission of any messages over the radio interface, only in the reservation of the resources identified by the BSS. The BSS awaits access of an MS on the channel indicated by the MSC. Handovers controlled by the MSC are called external handovers. The whole Cell Global Identity (CGI) is used to identify the target cell. 15 42 00 (40 08 00): Cell Id. in HO different of Cell Id. in paging This feature gives the freedom to the operator to use a different list of cells for cell re-selection in Idle mode than for handover, in communication. This is particularly interesting for a multi layer network (micro and umbrella cells) if the operator that some cells can only be accessed via handover (or directed retries). In effect the BA list in BCCH system information messages can be different from the BA list in the SACCH system information messages. Both lists can be modified from the OMC-R. 15 42 10 (40 09 00): HO required reject This feature is used by the MSC to send the "handover required reject" message to the BSS. The message indicates that the "handover required" message has not resulted in a handover. 15 42 20 (40 10 00): HO Command for GSM 1800 This feature supports the handover commands using Alcatel 1800 frequency descriptions.
15 42 50 (40 16 00): BSC controlled handover algorithm

The handover algorithm ensures that an MS is transferred to the cell offering the best signal quality in the area.
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Measurement data are sent to the BSC every SACCH multi-frame period. The BSC then processes the data and detects HO threshold conditions. Processed measurement reports are generated internally by the BSC to evaluate candidate cells. The BSS can decide to initiate a handover based on the information provided by the following features: 15 42 60 (40 16 10): Level cause This feature informs the BSS of cells which offer a better signal level. 15 42 70 (40 16 20): Quality cause This feature informs the BSS of the channel quality in the current cell. 15 42 80 (40 16 30): Distance cause This feature informs the BSS of the distance of the MS within the current cell. 15 42 90 (40 16 40): Power budget cause This feature enables the BSC to compare possible target cells on the basis of the power budget; the BSC calculates the power levels from the current cell and the power levels required by adjacent cells from the adjacent cell information sent by the MS and detects if an adjacent cell should be used. 15 43 00 (40 16 50): Same BSC, same MSC criteria (link factor) This feature consists in weighting differently the candidate calls for handover whether the handover is to a cell in the same BSC or a cell in the same MSC. This is to limit the system signalling load. 15 43 10 (40 16 80): Traffic criteria (within BSS) This feature informs the BSS of the cell loading and the number of full-rate traffic channels available within the BSS.
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15 43 60 (40 11 00): Directed retry (HO SDCCH to TCH from different cells)
15 43 70 (40 11 10): Internal Directed retry allows an efficient use of the installed resources by performing a handover from a SDCCH of the serving cell to a TCH of a neighbour cell, if all TCHs of the serving cell are congested. In this case, internal directed retry means that the serving and the target cells are managed by the same BSC. Thus the blocking rate in the system decreases leading to an increased traffic capacity. Applying directed retry within a hierarchical cell structure is very promising, as the umbrella cell is assumed to be always available. Therefore, traffic capacity of the microcellular structure can be increased above the sum of individual capacities of both cell layers. Two variants of Directed retry are supported: - Directed retry in case of handover - Forced directed retry
15 44 40 (40 18 50): Quality of Service Optimization

15 44 50 (40 18 00): Handover algorithm improvements The tuning of the Handover margin between adjacent cells is quite delicate. - With a low handover margin, there is an important risk of Ping-Pong for stationary mobiles situated at the limit of the cells, because of the fluctuation of the signal. - A high handover margin delays the handover and can increase interference. To solve this problem a mechanism is introduced : the preceding cell is handicapped by a temporary increase of the handover margin. This modified handover margin is valid only for the considered call. It is valid only for a limited duration after the handover. Both duration and handicap values are settable, per cell at the OMC-R.
15 44 80 (40 19 00): Control of repetitive unsuccessful handover The handover required indication procedure allows a BSS to request an external handover for a particular mobile (MS). The handover required message is generated, if the BSS has detected a radio reason that requires a handover to an external cell.
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The main purpose of that feature is to reduce the risk of external handover failures, because of too many retries of the same candidate cell. The system will thus keep track, on a per call basis of the external handover failures, in order to retry handover with alternative candidate cells.
15 50 00: TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT 15 50 10: Concentric cells

15 50 20 (40 14 00): Support of concentric cells The goal of concentric cells is to increase the frequency economy of the network by increasing the frequency re-use of some carriers of a BTS. In a concentric cell, the maximum output power of some TRXs of the BTS is reduced. These TRXs are assigned to an inner zone with reduced coverage radius, whereas the other TRXs of the same BTS cover the outer zone of the concentric cell with a higher maximum output power. Hence, two groups of TRXs with either high or low maximum output power provide together full coverage of the cell. The carrier frequencies of the inner zone can be re-used in a smaller distance. 15 50 30 (40 14 04): Intracell handover This feature aims at maintaining the quality of speech in concentric cells by enabling inner zone to outer zone handovers. Indeed, as the maximum capacity in concentric cells can only be achieved when the inner zones are large enough, some mobiles in the inner zone may suffer from strong interference. Then the intracell handover will be triggered. With this feature, all the frequencies of the cell will be possible candidate so that inner zone to outer zone handover is allowed and likely to happen.
15 51 00: Multilayer Management

15 51 10 (40 15 00): Support of microcellular and hierarchical cell structure The Alcatel system provides means to administer cells of several cell environments which allows the power control and handover algorithms to react on the needs of theses different configurations independently.
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Microcells in a hierarchical cell structure increase the capacity in high traffic areas. Two layers of cells build up a microcellular environment : - umbrella cells, - microcells. The already installed cells provide as umbrella cells a continuous coverage of the whole area, whereas overlaid microcells (cells of small size with special RF characteristics) provide additional coverage at high traffic spots and better indoor coverage. Hence, with the introduction of microcells the traffic capacity can be increased exactly in the areas where it is needed. For each cell environment ( conventional cells, concentric cells or a microcellular environment) the power control and handover algorithm provides sophisticated facilities to cope with its typical requirements. In particular some emergency procedures are implemented in order to handover quickly the calls to the umbrella cell in case of a brutal degradation of the link budget in the microcell (street corner effect). Some proprietary provisions have also been implemented in order to keep as far as possible slow moving mobiles in the microcells and fast moving mobiles in the umbrella cell. Specific GSM Phase 2 protocols for microcellular such as the management of the C2 criterion for MS Phase 2 have also been introduced.
15 51 20 (40 15 10): Improvement of microcellular and hierarchical cell structure: Several improvements are included on top of the existing implementation of hierarchical cell structure: 1 The release B4 Handover algorithm allows to manage in a very efficient way the coverage of an isolated shadow area by a microcell. 2 The BSS release B3 algorithm is well suited for the management of microcells which are installed below a first layer of umbrella cells. Some operators may have decided to install a very dense first layer of cells (mini cells). These mini cells will become smaller and smaller according to network densification and the need of a super umbrella cell will arise to solve handover and velocity problems in the mini cells. The Alcatel release B4 system is able to manage this second type of layered structure. 3 The management of Handover between the two layers (micro and umbrella) is improved in release B4 by taking into account the load of the umbrella cell.
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4 The velocity discrimination algorithm is improved in release B4 especially in the microcell layer. 5 The amount of HO neighbours allowed per cell by the system is increased from 32 to 64. It means that roughly the amount of microcells which can be managed below an umbrella cell is increased from 20 to 50.
15 52 30: Multiband solutions

15 52 40 (12 24 30): Multiband operation in one BSC (GSM 900, GSM 1800) Originally the GSM standardisation was based on the idea of two different networks, one operating at 900 MHz (GSM) and one at 1800 MHz (GSM1800). However, the overwhelming success and the limited bandwidth in the 900 MHz frequency range led rapidly to congestion in certain traffic hot spots. The standard has therefore been extended to allow dual band operation with full handover facilities between the different bands. Alcatel Telecom is therefore introducing this functionality in the BSS/NSS with the following characteristics. It will be possible to connect any mixture of P-GSM (GSM primary band) and GSM1800 cells to the same BSC. Both could even be installed over the same A-bis interface link (using a multidrop function). The multiband functionality will be managed differently according to the BTS capabilities : - used in combination with the G2 or MarkII or monoband A9100 BTS, the cells of different bands will be managed by different BTS, - used in combination with a multiband A9100 BTS, cells of different bands can pertain to the same BTS. This configuration is described in feature 15 03 50. To all mobiles which have access to the network (single band or dual band, phase 1 or phase 2) there will be provided one unique service profile. No difference will be made on the access frequency band. There are several types of handover possibilities in the Alcatel implementation. The preferred band handover allows to move dual band mobiles in a congestion situation to the preferred band (operator adjustable). Also all handover types available for microcellular environment will be available for a dual band network with i.e. GSM900 in umbrella cells and GSM1800 in micro cells. Directed Retry to optimise the resource allocation is also available between GSM1800 and GSM900 cells (and vice versa). The full implementation by Alcatel Telecom of the dual band functionality allows an efficient combination of the two frequency bands and therefore optimises the capacity of the network.
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15 52 70 (40 35 10): 3M control (Maximum multiband mobile control) This feature aims at providing optimized traffic management in multiband networks which have reached maturity. In these networks, the ratio of multiband MS (MBMS) is quite important and new considerations have to be taken into account. For example, it may become important to take care of keeping some resource free in the second band in order to ease the move of MBMS. Therefore, after an intermediate phase where traffic is encouraged towards the second band, load management must be performed between the two bands to achieve a seamless traffic management. To reach these goals, more flexibility will be offered to the operator. For example, in a multiband multilayered network where GSM900 is the classical band : - preferred band handovers may not be systematically triggered. The operator can decide to inhibit these handovers when they are directed towards overloaded cells, - handovers from GSM1800 cells towards GSM900 cells should be allowed to counterbalance preferred band handovers when the GSM1800 layer becomes overloaded, - operator-defined priorities must prevail for the selection of the target cell out of the largest possible scope of candidates, - preferences may be set between GSM900 and GSM1800 for emergency cases.
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15 60 00 (34 00 00): BEARER SERVICES 15 60 10 (34 10 00): Circuit Asynchronous

15 60 20 (34 10 10): BS 21/22/24 (T/NT, V110 digital/Modem, 300/1200/2400) This feature comprises : - the availability of V110 access to ISDN as NSS interworking function, - the capacity of the BSS to support the following asynchronous duplex data circuits in transparent and non-transparent mode : - BS21 bearer service at 300 bits/s, - BS22 bearer service at 1200 bits/s, - BS24 bearer service at 2400 bits/s. 15 60 30 (34 10 20): BS 25/26 (T/NT, V110 digital/Modem, 4800/9600) This feature comprises : - the availability of V110 access to ISDN as NSS interworking function, - the capacity of the BSS to support the following asynchronous duplex data circuits in transparent and non-transparent mode : - BS25 bearer service at 4800 bits/s, - BS26 bearer service at 9600 bits/s. 15 60 40 (34 10 30): BS22/24/25/26 (V42/Modem) This feature comprises : - the availability of V42 modem access to PSTN as NSS interworking function. V42 protocol provides with enhanced protection due to error correcting procedures, - the capacity of the BSS to support the following asynchronous duplex data circuits : - BS22 bearer service at 1200 bits/s, - BS24 bearer service at 2400 bits/s, - BS25 bearer service at 4800 bits/s, - BS26 bearer service at 9600 bits/s.
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15 60 90 (34 20 00): Circuit Synchronous

15 61 00 (34 20 10): BS 33 (T, V110 digital, 4800 b/s) This feature supports the provision of the following bearer services (Data circuit duplex synchronous) in transparent mode: BS33: Access rate 4800 bit/s, transfer capability: V110 digital. 15 61 10 (34 20 20): BS 3x (T/NT, Modem) This feature supports the provision of the BS 33 bearer service in transparent or non transparent mode: BS 33 : Asynchronous, access rate 9600 bit/s, transfer capability: analog 3.1 KHz. 15 61 20 (34 20 30): BS 31,32,34 (T, V110 digital) This feature supports the provision of the following bearer services (Data circuit duplex synchronous) in transparent mode: BS31 : Access rate 1200 bit/s, transfer capability: V110 or analog 3.1 KHz, BS32 : Access rate 2400 bit/s, transfer capability: V110 or analog 3.1 KHz, BS34 : Access rate 9600 bit/s, transfer capability: V110 or analog 3.1 KHz. 15 61 30 (34 20 40): BS 32,33,34 (NT, X.31, digital) This feature supports the provision of the following bearer services (Data circuit duplex synchronous) in non-transparent mode: BS32 : Access rate 2400 bit/s, transfer capability: V110, BS33 : Access rate 4800 bit/s, transfer capability: V110, BS34 : Access rate 9600 bit/s, transfer capability: V110.
15 61 80 (34 60 00): Packet Circuit

15 61 90 (34 60 10): BS 41/42/44 This feature supports the provision of the following bearer services: BS41 : PAD access circuit asynchronous 300 bit/s,
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BS42 : PAD access circuit asynchronous 1200 bit/s, BS44 : PAD access circuit asynchronous 2400 bit/s. 15 62 00 (34 60 20): BS 51/52/53 This feature supports the provision of the following bearer services. BS51 : Data packet duplex synchronous 2400 bit/s, BS52 : Data packet duplex synchronous 4800 bit/s, BS53 : Data packet duplex synchronous 9600 bit/s.
15 66 00 (33 00 00): TELESERVICES 15 66 10 (33 10 00): Telephony (TS 11)

The Alcatel BSS allows MSs to initiate outgoing calls and receive incoming calls on the same or on different networks. It can optionally perform Off Air Call Set Up. This optimises traffic channel resources by not allocating them until the speech conversation has begun.
15 66 20 (33 20 00): Emergency call (TS 12)

The Alcatel BSS allows MSs calls to be routed to an Emergency service. Emergency calls have priority but are not pre-emptive. If there are insufficient radio resources for the call to be set up, the call request is queued at the highest priority. 15 66 30 (33 20 10): Emergency call with IMSI if roaming allowed The Alcatel BSS allows end users to make emergency call on the network, after successful entering of the SIM card PIN code, and when the concerned customer is allowed to roam on that network. 15 66 40 (33 20 20): Emergency call with IMSI even if roaming not allowed The Alcatel BSS allows end users to make emergency call on the network, after successful entering of the SIM card PIN code, and even if the concerned customer has no right to roam on that network. 15 66 50 (33 20 23): Emergency call on IMEI, without SIM Card The Alcatel BSS allows any user to make emergency call on the network, even if no SIM card is available in the mobile station. It is then up to the NSS part to satisfy or not the request.
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15 66 80 (33 20 40): Fax

The Alcatel BSS supports the transfer of many fax related GSM defined services in both transparent (TS61/62) and non-transparent (TS61/62) mode. It is up to the NSS part to manage these services. 15 66 90 (33 30 00): Automatic facsimile transparent (TS 62 T) Alcatel BSS implements fax services allowing connection of group 3 Fac Simile apparatus to and from the MSs for mobile-to-mobile and mobile-to-PSTN communications. The automatic fax service (TS 62) supports auto-calling/auto answering modes only; the call must be set-up (or answered) and controlled directly from the fax apparatus, and cannot be swapped between speech and fax. This feature is related to transparent transmission. 15 67 00 (33 30 20): Automatic facsimile non transparent (TS 62 NT) Alcatel BSS implements fax services allowing connection of group 3 Fac Simile apparatus to and from the MSs for mobile-to-mobile and mobile-to-PSTN communications. The automatic fax service (TS 62) supports auto-calling/auto answering modes only; the call must be set-up (or answered) and controlled directly from the fax apparatus, and cannot be swapped between speech and fax. This feature is related to non transparent transmission. 15 67 10 (33 31 00): Alternate speech and facsimile transparent (TS 61 T) This feature provides the capability to swap between facsimile and speech during the call while in transparent mode. 15 67 20 (33 31 10): Alternate speech and facsimile non transparent (TS 61 NT) This feature provides the capability to swap between facsimile and speech during the call while in non transparent mode. 15 67 30 (33 40 00): FAX downspeed (9600-->4800) Alcatel BSS has implemented the two main types of Fax services (automatic and alternate). The automatic fax implementation on the NSS side has been improved with the introduction of the fax downspeed implementation from 9600 Kbit/s to 4800 Kbit/s depending on the quality of the transmission. This feature is transparent to the BSS but Alcatel BSS will be integrated with the NSS taking into account this new facility of the fax automatic.
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15 67 60 (33 50 00): Short Message Service

Short Message Service (SMS) is a GSM service that enables a subscriber to send and receive (in Point-to-Point mode, SMS-PP) short messages. The MS acts as a paging terminal, but unlike a paging service, SMS can offer additional functions such as registered mail, directed retry and store and forward messages. In most cases, the SMS centre interfaces with other network services such as paging, message handling, voice messaging, etc... This ensures a high call completion rate, generating additional revenues for the network operator. Short messages text is limited to 160 characters for point to point. 15 67 70 (33 50 10): SMS MT/PP (GSM Phase 1) This feature concerns the support of GSM Phase 1 features for Point-to-Point (PP) Short Messages to be sent by a Short Message Service Centre compliant with GSM phase 1 specifications to an MS. The SMS Centre acts as a store-and-forward centre for this mobile terminated (MT) service. SMS MT/PP can be sent to an MS during a call (speech or data) or while in idle mode. The originator of the message does not need to know the current location of the mobile subscriber. 15 67 80 (33 50 12): SMS MT/PP (GSM Phase 2) This feature concerns the support of GSM Phase 2 features for Point-to-Point (PP) Short Messages to be sent by a Short Message Service Centre compliant with GSM phase 2 specifications to an MS. The SMS Centre acts as a store-and-forward centre for this mobile terminated (MT) service. SMS MT/PP can be sent to an MS during a call (speech or data) or while in idle mode. The originator of the message does not need to know the current location of the mobile subscriber. 15 67 90 (33 50 20): SMS MO/PP (GSM Phase 1) This feature allows Point-to-Point Short Messages to be sent from an MS to an SMSC Phase 1. Only GSM Phase 1 features are considered. 15 68 00 (33 50 22): SMS MO/PP (GSM Phase 2) This feature allows Point-to-Point Short Messages to be sent from an MS to an SMSC Phase 2. This feature is related to GSM Phase 2 SMS MO-PP features. 15 68 10 (33 50 30): SMS CB managed from OMC-R The main goal of this feature is to propose a simplified version of the SMS-CB GSM feature. It deals with the provision by the OMC-R of Short Messages to the Mobile Stations, using the Cell Broadcast (CB) Mode. It has to be understood in the context of providing subscribers related information (e.g. tariffs).
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The OMC-R application will be in charge of providing a new service for the definition of the messages by the operator. It will supply the following capabilities : - Definition of messages 93 characters (max.) long, i.e. a one page message, - Scheduling capabilities (a calendar will enable the operator to schedule the broadcast), - Definition of cell broadcast areas (a list of cells where to broadcast the message), - Activation / Deactivation of the message broadcast. It is up to the BSC to check whether the request from the OMC-R is correct or not depending mainly on the availability of the CBCH channel. A message can be entered through local typing or from a file. 15 68 20 (33 50 32): SMS-CB managed from CBC The Short Message Cell Broadcasting facility provides the capability to transfer messages from a Cell Broadcast Centre to the Air Interface for being broadcast on a geographical area composed of a group of cells or all cells of a BSS. The CBC permits to define broadcasting programmes relative to various topics like road traffic, own network information, advertisements, weather forecasts .... Several types of messages have been specified by the ETSI, which are supported by the BSS. The CBC provides as well billing capabilities. The interface between the CBC and the BSC will be in accordance with the ETSI Rec 03.41 and 03.49 phase 2. The implemented solution is based on a convergence layer on top of X.25 (PDN access). The BSS can handle several broadcast messages at a time on a cell basis. It is achieved with a simplified algorithm which manages up to 100 single page messages. The number of concurrent messages will determine the repetition rate of the message as they are broadcast for every available air time on the CBCH.
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15 72 00 (41 00 00): SECURITY 15 72 10 (41 40 00): Authentication

Authentication is a corroboration by the network that the subscriber identity given by the MS in the identification procedure is the one claimed. The network chooses and sends a random number (RAND) to the MS; from the RAND and from the subscriber authentication key (Ki), the MS calculated the "signed response" (SRES) using the algorithm A3; the MS sends its result to the network which compares the received value to the expected one. The MS is authenticated when both numbers match.
15 72 20 (41 50 00): Ciphering with/without encryption before TCH allocation

Ciphering is one of the security procedures available to protect subscriber identity and data. The cipher mode is mandatory. It allows the MSC to instruct the BSS whether or not ciphering is required for the MS connection. If ciphering is required, the MSC sends the encryption key to the BSC and the BTS. The BTS uses this information to activate the encryption device. This procedure takes place during the call set-up.
15 72 50 (41 60 00): Encryption

The cipher mode setting procedure is used to control the ciphering of user data on the Airinterface. The cipher mode setting procedure is started by the MSC. The MSC must know which encryption algorithms "No encryption", "A5/1" or "A5/2" are supported. No parallel support of different encryption algorithms can be provided. (*)Due to the regulation, the encryption A5-1 and/or A5-2 may not be allowed in all countries and/or a special authorisation may need to be obtained. 15 72 60 (41 60 10): A5-1 GSM Phase 1 type Mobile Stations only have the capability to use either A5/1 encryption algorithm or no encryption.
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15 72 70 (41 60 20): A5-2 GSM Phase 1 extended and GSM Phase 2 Mobile Stations have the capability to use either A5/2 encryption algorithm or A5/1 encryption algorithm or no encryption. The provision of "nonciphering" which means "no encryption" is supported in the following cases: - if the roaming MS announces the A5/2 algorithm which is not supported in the VPLMN (only A5/1 algorithm) then the MSC shall trigger the Ciphering procedure only with "no encryption", - if an MS (only A5/1) roams in a VPLMN with A5/2 restriction then the network shall only support the non ciphering procedure what means "no encryption". The last case is if a MS which handles an unknown A5/x algorithm roams in a VPLMN which does not support this algorithm the network shall only use the non-ciphering procedure. 15 72 80 (41 60 30): A5-0 (forced no encryption) The provision of no encryption only occurs when no A5 algorithm can be found which is supported by the MS and the BTS, and allowed in the network.
15 73 30 (41 90 00): IMEI

Handling of IMEI is necessary to obtain knowledge about the presence of a specific MS equipment in the network, disregarding its associated user. 15 73 40 (41 90 10): IMEI interrogation and check (OC/TC) This feature corresponds to the handling of the IMEI by the NSS. At the beginning of the conversation phase for every call, the MSC requests the MS to provide its IMEI by signalling procedures on the radio path. After reception, the MSC sends to the EIR a "CheckIMEI" message supervised by a timer. This procedure is to be used with a phase one MS. The call is released if one of the following conditions occur : - if the IMEI cannot be obtained from the MS, - if the EIR notifies that the IMEI belongs to a black list, - if the IMEI is unknown by the EIR. 15 73 50 (41 90 20): IMEI without interrogation of EIR The feature is intended for the networks which do not have EIR.
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The MS will be interrogated with the standard procedure 41.90.10 or 41.90.30. But no interrogation of EIR will be performed since no EIR is available. 15 73 60 (41 90 30): IMEI with Ciphering mode response This feature supports the implicit request of the IMEI during the ciphering procedure, which simplifies the call establishment because it avoids the extra IMEI request procedure.
59 00 00: BSS O&M FUNCTION 59 01 00: Transmitter antenna supervision

In the BTS, the Transmitter Combiner Coupling equipment is used to combine the RF signals from the transmitters to a common output for transmission via the Transmit Antenna. This equipment includes an Antenna VSWR Alarm Unit which continuously compares the forward and reflected power measurements. It calculates the return loss at the antenna. Alarms occur should the VSWR exceed pre-defined limits. In the event of very high reflected power (e.g. if the antenna or cable is broken), the transmitters are shut down to prevent equipment damage.
59 03 00: BSS performance management

Performance management provides the operating staff with information necessary for an efficient network management and planning. It allows for the monitoring and evaluation of the BSS network elements through a wide set of performance measurements. Measurements comprise traffic measurements (for both user and signalling traffic), quality of service measurements and availability measurements. Performance Management jobs are based on counter collection and analysis. Counter types can be categorised as: - Cumulative Counters (CC); instances of pre-defined events are accumulated in counters over time with results made available at pre-defined reporting intervals, - Status Inspection (SI); groups of items can be periodically inspected to ascertain status (e.g. how many channels in a trunk are simultaneously busy?), with results made available at predefined reporting intervals, - Discrete Event Registration (DER); pre-defined event occurrences can be recorded in detail, the sampling rate of discrete events being an operator controlled attribute. In addition, processed counters are handled by the OMC-R which derives those counters from the raw measurements produced by the BSS: they can be used as an input for statistical analysis. The OMC-R supports the scheduling, activation and termination of BSS measurements.
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59 03 10: Administration of performance The administration of BSS measurements corresponds to the control of the raw measurements performed within the BSS network elements, that is: - the capability to start/stop measurements with their associated parameters (list of cells on which measurements shall be performed, specification of the measurement types and measurement schedule information, - display of information about running measurement jobs. 59 03 20: Result reporting The measurements results are collected on a periodic basis (15) by the BSC central data collector. Depending on PM jobs currently active, these results are then cumulated (according to the job required reporting period) and transferred from BSC to OMC-R for storage, or retrieval for display purposes by the operator. 59 03 30: Performance control A user willing to collect some information about the behaviour of a BSS, must choose the data and the way they are collected; Such a request from the user is called a Performance Management (PM) Job. Three types of PM requests exist: - Measurement, providing permanent or scheduled result of one or a group of counter(s), stored and processed (or not) by the OMC-R; processed measurements are called "mediated" measurements. - Snapshot, aimed at providing a graphical result of a OMC-R processed counter, displayed and refreshed on real time on the OMC-R. - Warning, providing warning messages when one or a group of counter(s) pass one or a group of threshold value(s) defined when the task was invoked. There are up to five severity levels associated to the specified threshold. 59 03 40: Measurement types Various measurement statistics are available to assist the network operator in monitoring the performance of the BSS network. These measurements are grouped by measurement types as follows:
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- Traffic Measurements: Traffic measurements record the traffic throughput of the BSS. This is collected by the BSC for each BTS/cell. - Resource Availability Measurements: Resource availability measurements detail the usage and availability of radio and telephony resources. They are activated for the whole BSS and record data for each BTS/cell. - Resource Usage Measurements CCCH: For each CCCH within the BSS, a set of counters accumulate the signalling messages sent/received over the A-bis interface for each signalling message type: i.e. Paging Commands, Access Grant Channels, Channel Requests. - Resource Usage Measurements SDCCH: The usage of the SDCCH time slot is monitored on the BSC side. Counters accumulate the signalling channel usage. - Resource Usage Measurements RTCH/ This measurement type is activated for the entire BSS. Counters measure the number of seizures for each RTCH and total channel usage. - Handover Measurements/ This measurement records cumulative counter data for each TCH handover in each cell of the BSS. - LapD Measurements: This records cumulative counters for all LapD links in the BSS. - N#7 Measurements: The N#7 measurement is a collection of data (protocol abnormalities and unavailability duration) related to each signalling link and each link set. - SDCCH Observation: The DER accumulates SDCCH seizure and usage information per cell(s) on a sampling rate basis. - Radio TS Measurement Observations: This measurement type is activated for a cell on a sampling rate basis. Data is assembled for the particular radio TCH seizure being observed with regard to the measurement results received from the MS. - Internal Handover Observation:
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This measurement type is activated per cell(s) on a sampling rate basis. request for the handover to the successful or unsuccessful completion. - Incoming Handover Observation:
Data is
accumulated for each specific BSS internal handover being observed from the original
This measurement type is activated per cell(s) on a sampling rate basis. Data is accumulated for all handovers for which the BSC controls the target cell. - Outgoing Handover Observation: This measurement type is activated per cell(s) on a sampling rate basis. Data is accumulated for all handovers for which the BSC controls the originating cell. - TCH Observation: The DER accumulates TCH seizure and usage information per cell(s) on a sampling rate basis. 59 03 51: Additional counters and measurement types I The Alcatel BSS is featuring counters aimed at a more comprehensive analysis of the BSS system and new measurement types. In addition existing observation related types have been extended. The new measurement types are the following: - HO counted per serving cell, - HO counted per target cell, - SDCCH HO measurement. 59 03 52: Counters for analysis of dropped calls This feature is covered by the feature 59 03 53 which is more detailed. 59 03 53: Counters for detailed analysis of dropped calls This feature includes the release B3 feature 59 03 52 Counters for analysis of dropped calls. These counters give: - the number of lost SDCCH connections (after successful establishment), because of BSS problem or radio link failure; - the number of lost TCH connections during a call (after successful establishment), because of BSS problem , remote transcoder alarm or radio link failure.
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59 03 54: Counters for analysis of directed retry The following counters are included within BSS Measurement types : - Counter for the number of queued TCH requests which have performed a successful internal Intercell handover as a result of forced directed retry. This counter is incremented on the Target Cell. - Counter for the number of queued TCH requests which did not lead to a successful internal Intercell handover as a result of forced direct retry. This counter is excluding the case where the queuing timer expires, it is incremented only whenever the Directed Retry fails. This counter is incremented on the Target Cell . - Counter for the number of queued TCH requests which have performed a successful internal Intercell handover as a result of directed retry on normal handover alarm. This counter is incremented on the Target Cell. - Counter for the number of queued TCH requests which did not lead to a successful internal Intercell handover as a result of a directed retry on normal handover alarm. This counter is excluding the case where the queuing timer expires. It is incremented only whenever the Direct Retry fails. This counter is incremented on the Target Cell. - Counter for the number of Handover alarms cause "high level in neighbour cell". 59 03 55: Additional counters and measurement types II This feature covers the implementation of new Performance Management (PM) counters at BSC and OMC-R levels. The emphasis is put on enhanced means given to the operator to diagnose faults occurring in the network (split of counters to detail the causes) and to help in the network dimensioning and forecasts of the needed resource to be installed. The following counters have been splitted : - split of the number of successful SDCCH seizures per seizure type - split, per cause of the counter for TCH attempts failures because no TCH found - split, per cause of the counter for TCH transactions failures because BSS problem - split between terrestrial and radio resources of the number of unsuccessful handover due to lack of resource. New SDCCH counters are supported : - number SDCCH seizure attempts (for handover / for immediate assignment),
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- number SDCCH seizure failures due to mobile access problem; New TCH counters are supported : - number of idle TCH per interference band, - average TCH queue length, - TCH seizure & total channel usage for half rate and full rate channels New handover alarm counters for concenric cell are supported; Furthermore, ARFCN is now directly provided in observations Measurement types have been added which relate to: - A and A-bis interfaces analysis: - number of clear request messages sent to the MSC; - number of assignment failure messages sent on A and A-bis interfaces, per cause. - SMS measurements : number of transactions, number of failures (per cause), number of error indications during SMS transactions. - SCCP measurements (per N7 link) - Cumulation of raw counters needed at a BSS level. 59 03 60: Counters for analysis of call establishment failure The feature is covered by the following feature 59 03 62 which is more detailed. 59 03 62: Counters for detailed analysis of call establishment failures This feature covers the implementation of counters for call establishment failures, for every possible cause (including cause BSS problem). 59 03 70: Counters related to micro-cellular environment The Following counters are included within BSS Measurement types : - Counters for the various causes of microcell handover alarms on SDCCH and TCH (i.e. One counter per cause). Causes are : Consecutive bad SACCH frames; level uplink microcell - low threshold; level downlink microcell - low threshold; level uplink microcell - high threshold; level downlink microcell - high threshold; high level in overlaid cell with slow moving mobile in a microcell.
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- Radio Time slot measurement observations related to micro cellular handovers: average received uplink and downlink levels of the serving cell; average received levels of the neighbour cell(s); averaging window size for calculating levels, and for calculating power budget; last 4 average uplink and downlink levels for micro-cell handover; Handover causes. 59 03 90: Type 110 PM counters The most important raw counters involved in the BSS supervision have been gathered in a new type named cell / trx related overview counters. It has been referenced with the type 110. This new type will bring together two benefits : - optimize the overall performance of the system, - emphasize prioritary overview counters with regards all other counters more dedicated to investigation. The PM type 110 will therefore pick out and duplicate the most important counters of already existing types 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 28, especially when they are system supervision oriented. The PM type 110 will be activated in a permanent way on the whole BSS and will suit the needs of DICO and METRICA post processing tools. It will also be used for OMC-R MD counters calculation. It will increase the performance in the sense that it may be activated on all the BSSs providing with complete supervision without overloading the system. The types 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 28 may still be activated in order to provide with more details for investigation purpose. They may be activated on a number of N cells with 1 < N< 40 even if permanent types 100, 110, 7, 8, 9 are ongoing. - cell allocation (set of frequencies which are assigned to a cell), - mobile allocation (combination of frequencies to be used by a radio channel), - channel types (traffic channel, signalling channel, ...), - frequency list (list of frequencies assigned to a radio carrier), - hopping sequence number (key for the sequence of frequencies). The modifications requested by the NMC will be checked by the OMC-R prior to their application within the BSS. Each individual request (may be a grouping of several modifications) must be consistent in itself and with respect to the existing situation.
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59 04 00: BSS configuration management

Configuration management encompasses the display of actual resources and the control of these resources. The Alcatel O&M strategy allows the operator to perform three levels of network configuration: - hardware configuration, providing information about the hardware resources used throughout the BSS network, - logical configuration, providing means to display, modify or delete logical parameters such as cell characteristics, handover parameters, radio parameters,.... - software configuration, providing means for an orderly transfer, execution and evolution of BSS software and databases packages. 59 04 10: Date/time management An operator can handle the date and time settings in a BSS. The current date/time can be requested from a BSS and displayed. Date/time settings can be set or adjusted from the OMC-R in order to synchronise OMC-R and BSS. 59 04 20: Software configuration management The BSS software is loaded in the BSC file structure. This can be done from either the OMC-R or a terminal attached to the BSC (e.g. at first installation of the BSS, when no software is available on the BSC disk). In normal operation, the BSS software is downloaded from the OMC-R over the OMCR - BSS communication link. The software configuration management allows an operator to: - download new software from the OMC-R file store into the BSS file store, - monitor a download or activate a process in progress, - abort a download at any stage, - activate a new software version in the BSS, BSC or BTS, - accept or reject a new version of software after validation, - view the current software version in a BSS. 59 04 30: Hardware management Hardware configuration at the OMC-R allows the operator to: - view the BSSs used within the OMC-R controlled region,
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- request a report from the BSS on the current configuration of its components (BSC, transmission equipment, BTS). This report describes the configuration in terms of Managed Objects (Security Blocks (SBL)), their relationships (a hierarchy of SBLs), and their attribute values (Replaceable Items or RITs and physical locations), - view the X.25 address of the BSS from the OMC-R. 59 04 40: Logical configuration management from OMC-R The BSS operational behaviour is influenced by the setting of the logical parameters and the allocation of resources, that is the mapping between logical and physical resources. The Operator can use the OMC-R logical parameters forms to display, or modify logical parameters, provided that the appropriate access rights are assigned. Parameter groups exist for the Carrier Units, Frequency Hopping Systems, BTS hardware parameters and timers, Terrestrial and Radio Channel management, BSC parameters. The ability to change these parameters depends on their relationships with one another, and on the ability of the BSS to incorporate changes in the operational environment. However, it is possible to change the values of parameters without causing any unit outages, interrupting of calls in progress, or generating momentary inconsistencies in the definition of the cellular environment. Note : The OMC-R menu window presents a default value In Traffic (IT) when unlocking a cell. 59 04 50: BTS frequency modification from OMC-R Thanks to the remotely tunable cavity or to the wideband combiner feature, the Alcatel BTS supports remote modification of frequency from the OMC-R. When a new radio configuration is applied on a cell, the OMC-R performs the following operations : - In case of a modification of a frequency, the OMC-R performs an automatic reconfiguration of cavities and CU to cope with all FHSs and channels impacted by this change. - If the BCCH frequency is modified, update of handover links towards the cell : - The OMC-R informs automatically all its cells that perform handover with the cell being modified about the change. - Update of roaming links towards the cell.
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59 04 60: File management This feature provides the operator with file manipulation facilities, and management of the Solid State Disk (SSD) in the BSC. The SSD consists of two logical disks with shadow copies (if two CPR are installed). Files can be copied between SSD disks: from SSD to the OMC-R, and from SSD to the BSC PC resident local terminal. Files can be deleted from one or both SSDs. If a file is deleted using the BSC terminal, then it is deleted from one SSD. The OMC-R can interrogate the SSD file directory to verify its contents, such as its SSD identity, name and reference, type and size, access and status information, creation date and time, modification date and time... 59 04 70: BSC cascade loading This feature, by distributing the software loader to different BSC boards, and cascading this function allows parallel loading operation enabling a significant reduction of the BSC loading time.
59 05 00: BSS Fault management

BSS fault management refers to the detection diagnosis, correction and prevention of faults and error conditions in the BSS. It includes such capabilities as alarm display, alarm processing and storage, and fault isolation. 59 05 10: Alarm handling A fault in the BSS results in a local alarm message which will be spontaneously reported to the OMC-R by an "alarm begin" message. If the conditions for an alarm are no longer met (e.g. because the faulty device has been replaced or because a threshold value is no longer exceeded) the local alarm will be removed and an "alarm end" message will be sent to the OMC-R. The OMC-R functions related to alarm handling are: - reception of all alarm messages, mapping of their external categories (defined by the network element) to internal message classes and translation into an understandable text format, - display of formatted alarm messages and/or route them to a printer, - monitoring of the network elements for alarm and status reports, - alarm filtering, processing and storage (define severity i.e. categorisation of alarms according to their impact on the PLMN behaviour), - alarm retrieval (from the database),
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- night time concentration (routing of alarms managed by several OMC-Rs to one single terminal, especially during off-hours). 59 05 20: Test handling Test management supports the operator to perform tests and to retrieve and present the test results. Tests may be performed in every BSS element in case of maintenance actions, e.g. after failures have been detected or after a device has been replaced. Diagnosis tests can be triggered from the OMC-R: after the test run, the results will be transferred automatically to the OMC-R and will be stored in the OMC-R database. Running diagnosis tests can be stopped from the OMC-R. A special function "verify device" is provided to trigger a diagnosis test together with the appropriate status changes. The "disable", "test" and "init" action sequence is performed by using one operator command. The sequence of operations is autonomously performed by the BSS. 59 05 30: Equipment handling The OMC-R fault management features the isolation of a BSS device from traffic and its restoration to traffic after repair. The operator may set time frames for the smooth isolation of devices carrying traffic. While a device is isolated from traffic, the operator may trigger diagnosis tests for reasons of preventive maintenance or fault pinpointing after alarms. Tests results are presented to the operator and stored in the OMC-R database. The operator can initiate the entire sequence of device isolation, testing and restoration through one command input. BSS processors may be restarted or reloaded as a means of repair of transient software faults. The OMC-R functions related to equipment handling are: - modification of device state (e.g. enable, disable), - display of equipment status read state), - restart of devices (a single processor, a complete BTS, a complete BSC), - reset of devices (a single processor, a complete BTS, a complete BSC). 59 05 40: Fault management of OMC-R - BSS interface The user can start a test in order to check the data consistency between the BSS and the OMC-R database. The execution of this command will re-synchronise the OMC-R and the BSS database in the case any inconsistencies were found. The following data are checked: - list of active alarms, - configuration data (HW configuration and SBL states), - BSS time (within a specified accuracy), - BSS parameters, - performance management job data.
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The user is informed about the inconsistency by a report. 59 05 51: Automatic recovery procedure in case of BTS failure - GSM 900
The Alcatel BSS supports the automatic recovery for GSM 900 BTS TRX failure. It means that in case of any TRX failure the BTS will be reconfigured to remain operational using n-1 TRX. This reconfiguration is valid for TRX carrying the BCCH, or SDCCH. It is available in both frequency hopping mode or non frequency hopping mode. 59 05 52: Automatic recovery procedure in case of BTS failure - GSM 1800 The Alcatel BSS supports the automatic recovery for GSM 1800 BTS TRX failure. It means that in case of any TRX failure the BTS will be reconfigured to remain operational using n-1 TRX. This reconfiguration is valid for TRX carrying the BCCH, or SDCCH. It is available in both frequency hopping mode or non frequency hopping mode. 59 05 60: BSC switching matrix supervision Certain types of Digital Switching Network equipment failures or malfunctions cause network alarms to be generated.
59 06 00: BSS MMC functionality

59 06 10: BSC terminal This feature enables the connection of a PC to a BSC, using the V24 interface, to get access to local terminal functions. The BSC terminal provides the MMI to the BSC. It can be used for off-line processing of DOS facilities and of built-in services such as: - Managing the authorisation control. This service permits the definition of passwords and the action allowed table for each user. Action types are pre-defined entries in this table, - Managing the result report output. This service offers the selection of immediate/not immediate results and provides the user with facilities for retrieving result reports, - Building a BSC system disk. This service enables the user to prepare a software load towards the BSC SSD or any software replacement action.
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In local mode, the terminal can trigger the locally available BSS commands dealing with: - Logical configuration management, such as: - data and time management, - initial software downloading for the BSS, - file management. - Fault management, such as: - fault reporting, - test handling, - equipment handling. - BTS downloading. 59 06 20: BTS terminal This feature enables the connection of a PC to a BTS, using a V.24 interface, to get access to a local terminal function. A parallel interface allows for fast download of a standalone BTS. The operator is able to tune and test the BTS by using the local PC, whatever the BTS function mode (i.e. standalone or connected to a BSC). After a successful logon procedure (access is password controlled), the operator gains access to the following services: - local configuration display, - BTS tests, - control of the RF transmission: ON/OFF, - display of the list of alarms in force, - local equipment handling facilities such as reset. 59 06 30: TSC terminal This feature allows a PC to be connected to a TSC using a V.24 interface. The operator is then able to test and set-up the A-ter Sub Multiplexer as well as A-bis interface equipment by using this local TSC/PC terminal. The following types of functions are available after a successful logon procedure (access is password controlled): - local configuration (e.g. setting of the Qmux address), - loop test facilities, - display of alarms (alarms in force table, for all transmission equipment).
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59 07 00: Separate management of BTS Tel. and BTS O&M function

This feature consists in the introduction of two new entities (SBL) manageable independently by the operator : The first one, BTS_TEL represents the ability of a cell to perform its telecom function. The operator can control (lock or unlock) the telecom service cell by cell. This is particularly interesting in the case of multi sector station unit sharing BTS when the operator wants to shut down or restart one cell over three, but not the complete site. The second one, BTS_O&M represents the operation and maintenance functions of a BTS (i.e. a station unit). Once again, the operator may wish to simply start up a BTS equipment, for validation purposes, without authorising the telecom service to take place (e.g. commissioning of a new BTS, not yet accepted). When under repair a BTS can be isolated from the rest of the network if BTS O&M is put out of service. Within an Alcatel BTS, the telecom and O&M functions are quite independent and do not react the same way to operator actions and to faults.
59 08 00: O&M improvements linked to evolution of internal BSS model

From BSS release B3 on, the internal data model of the BSS has been simplified to provide: - Three independent models for each sub-system (BSC, BTS and Transmission), facilitating the alarm filtering at sub-system level (e.g. New Alcatel TSC filtering functions) - Introduction of a BTS model independent of the architecture (Models G1, G2 and Micro BTS with the same entities) - Simplification of the recovery mechanism (same behaviour in case of a CU or FU failure).
59 08 50: Year 2000 handling

This feature guarantees that the operation of the system will be unaffected by moving on to year 2000. Possible problems might result from the way some software components involved in the operation of the system handle dates in a too simple way, mistaking then January 1, 2000 for January 1, 1900; or from the fact that year 2000 is or is not considered as a leap year; or from wrong assumptions on which day in the week it will be, and so on.
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In releases providing this feature, application software of equipment composing the Alcatel BSS will have been checked and tested so as to guarantee that this change of date will not affect the operation of the system. More precisely, the possible problems will have been identified and either a solution will be directly implemented in the delivered software, either the additional software to be delivered before Year 2000 will have been identified and will be compatible with the delivered software. This results from the fact that for some software components included in our system, the appropriate change providing Year 2000 compliancy will only come later than our release; as far as third party softwares are concerned, two situations may thus occur : - either the supplier has committed to support year 2000 with the software version available at the time of delivery of our release, - either the supplier does not commit on this version but only on a later version, and a retrofit will have to be done later (but before Year 2000) as part of maintenance of the system It should be noted that third party softwares that may be known outside the scope of our system as not Year 2000 compliant but that have been succesfully tested for their use in our system should not be retrofitted with a Year 2000 compliant new version, except if explicit agreement from Alcatel has been given based on the consideration that their new version also is compatible with our system and that the relevant tests have been conducted.
59 09 00: Usage state on demand

The usage state is defined in the ISO 10164-2, it has 3 possible values : idle, active and busy. Each state value corresponds to a level of activity. Depending on the telecom traffic the usage state value will change. The usage state will be available with the SBLs RTS (Radio channel) and ACH (A itf channel) which are handled by the BSC. The operator will first activate the collection of the data from the BSC. The selection made by the operator must include the Cell-Id (possibly a list) for the RTSs usage state or the DTC number (possibly a list) for the ACHs usage state. The display will also provide information relative to the context. In addition a monitoring mechanism will be provided which gives a quick overview of the resource usage (RTS or Aitf). This mechanism is associated with a display which is periodic.
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59 10 00: Alerter in BSC- Alarm on abnormal transaction

This feature provides the generation of warnings to the OMC-R operator when abnormal behaviour of the BSS are detected. Different alerters are provided by the BSC, covering different kinds of potential wrong behaviours. Because alerter mechanisms are running independently of the PM job activation, no extra load is adding by activating an alerter. It is up to the operator to activate or not the alerters within the BSCs. All alerters may run simultaneously within BSCs. Alerters are based on computation made locally in the BSC on PM counters, and comparison made with limits which represents the limits of normal behaviour. These borders are tunable from the OMC-R in order to benefit from the field experience. Following potential problems are monitored: Abnormal Low Traffic on SDCCH compared to other BSS cells, Inconsistency in terrestrial channel states, Abnormal behaviour of TCH channel (average TCH occupancy time too long or to short). This feature can be used in addition to RX/TX supervision to monitor the accurate behaviour of the air interface.
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60 00 00: BSS FAULT MANAGEMENT 60 10 00: BSS fault management in OMC local mode:
The BSS is controlled from the Alcatel OMC-R which functions may be accessed either directly from the OMC-R HMI (called hereafter local mode), or from the Q3 interface (if this option is chosen). From the OMC-R terminals (in local mode), the operator can trigger the locally available BSS commands dealing with fault management, such as: - fault reporting, - test handling, - equipment handling. 60 10 10: alarm handling The OMC-R HMI allows the operator to perform the following functions: - display a list of current alarms, - enable or disable the display of unsolicited alarm reports. 60 10 20: equipment handling The OMC-R HMI allows the operator to perform the following functions: - reset or restart an SBL, - verify an SBL, - initialize an SBL, - disable an SBL, - read the status of an SBL, 60 10 30: test handling The OMC-R HMI allows the operator to perform the following functions: - perform diagnosis test on a Security Block (SBL), - test a Radio Time Slot (RTE loop test). 60 10 40: graphic network display for fault management The Graphical Network status Display (GND) of the OMC-R provides overall and detailed views on the BSS network status to the operator. The user is supported with the animated representation of the current status of resources and the equipment making up the BSSs controlled by the OMC-R.
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The operator can select between three GND modes: the Equipment mode, the Resource mode, and the mixed mode where both equipment and resources are shown at once. The Resource mode is used to display the overall availability status of all telecom resources (e.g. Cell, TCH, RSL...) located at a selectable locality (BTS, BSC, MSC) or in a High Density Area (HDA); The display is available at 3 levels : 1 Is the common entry level for both modes; When geographical view is selected, the OMC-R displays a map, where NEs are positioned according to their geographical co-ordinates; It supports different icon for representing localities (such as BTS, BSC, MSC) or for HDA (indicating groups of NEs with the same geographical co-ordinates); these icons are animated: their colours give information on the current status of their associated NEs. 2 Provides a symbolic representation of the NEs and their environment at a single locality; at this level the user can select a cell or a BSC. 3 Provides more details about a cell or a BSC; information on telecom resources is displayed by means of pie-charts. The Equipment mode is used to display hardware and software configurations and related status information; The display is available at 3 levels : 1 Is the same than in the Resource Mode but in addition the user has the ability to get a detailed map of the HDAs indicating the single NE locations; the icon's colour indicates the NE status. 2 Provides a symbolic representation of single localities and the links to connected NEs; in this level the user can select an icon and go to level 3 for further information. 3 Is the Object level; there are five possible displays of NEs objects: the one related to a BSC, related to BTS, related to TC Unit, related to A links, related to A-bis links. The icon's colour represents the object elements statuses. The mixed mode of the GND allows the operator to have a synthetic presentation of both Resource and Equipment modes. Furthermore, the OMC-R GND offers all facilities for an easy and efficient surveillance of the network:
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- it includes all facilities for a selective surveillance of the network by means of filter criteria (possibility to apply alarm filter criteria in the object status indication), - it includes all facilities for monitoring the network by means of a dedicated window where the user can group all selected network objects he wants to be monitored, - it includes zooming/unzooming facilities (i.e. to rescale the maps), as well as explode facilities to enable the user to see the elements making up an upper level object. - it is also possible to display the alarm list for selected object, - Index cards are available to display additional information such as cell identities. 60 10 95: Multi BTS selection for MD warnings An MD warning job is a user job performed at the OMC-R on BSS raw counters aiming at detecting an abnormal behaviour in the system. Counters are processed and the result of the job is compared to a threshold predefined by the operator. An alarm is sent whenever the threshold is overcome. This new facility is introduced to take into account the morphostructure of a site in the assesment of the system behaviour. Indeed, it is well known that the traffic conditions in a urban area, suburban or rural area differ considerably and performance thresholds applied should consequently vary. With this facility, the operator will get the MD warning job run on a set of up to 40 cells upon which the same threshold is applied. As a result, with the increasing number of cells being managed by one BSC, it will be possible to partition these cells in groups according to the traffic mix they support, apply a specific warning threshold for each group and therefore perform a fine tuning in the performance assesment.
60 20 00: BSS fault management mediation towards the NMC

60 20 10: Mediation of ISO formatted alarms to the NMC The Alcatel alarms are translated into ISO formatted alarms, i.e. alarm notifications which contains the alarm category, the probable cause and the perceived severity. Within the specific problem is coded the BSS alarm class, alarm type and alarm number. In addition to these information, the BSS Alcatel object which has emitted this alarm is mentioned in the additional information field of the notification.
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60 30 00: Dynamic alarm filtering

The alarm configuration and filtering feature of the OMC-R is meant to ease operator maintenance of the system. It will meet two requirements. First when an operator wants to ignore completely (mask) a unit instance because of on-going maintenance or commissioning actions (e.g. an equipment is under repair which makes its environment to detect its deficiency). Second when the operator wants to adjust the alarm category to his own perception of the severity. The feature allows to change the alarm category, (e.g. a "prompt maintenance alarm" (pma) ) is defined "very prompt maintenance alarm" (vpma) for an equipment in a particular unit instance). A special category (ignore) makes the corresponding alarm to be filtered out. It is possible to display on demand how the "filter" parameters have been set.
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61 00 00: BSS PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT 61 10 00: BSS performance management in OMC local mode
This paragraph deals with functions accessed directly from the OMC-R HMI (called hereafter local mode). 61 10 10: management of BSS measurement jobs Performance measurements are provided at the OMC-R HMI to enable the network operator to continually monitor the status of the network and to provide rapid response to customer queries. Measurement parameters include start and end times, periodic execution such as a weekly pattern, reporting intervals (multiples of 15 minutes up to 12 hours) and the measurement type. Checks are performed to establish the viability and integrity of the measurement parameters. The measurement is assigned a reference number for ease of identification and retrieval. 61 10 20: scheduling of measurement jobs The measurement jobs can specify BSS measurement types, i.e. packages of BSS counters. Every measurement job can be associated with up to 4 measurement periods (including a start time and a stop time) a day, each period having its own reporting period . In addition a weekly schedule can be programmed which tells the day of week when the measurement is to be activated. 61 10 30: text oriented display of measurement results Measurements results can be displayed at the OMC-R in a text-oriented form. 61 10 40: storage of BSS measurement results BSS measurements results are stored as files in disks located at the OMC-R. Result files are stored for a maximum duration of 5 days but can be archived using back-up and restore facilities if need be. 61 10 44: Access to additional GSM 12.04 counters The following GSM 12.04 Annex B counters are made available on the OMC-R export interface. These 12.04 counters did already exist in release B4 but some are now available for more causes, it means new dedicated Alcatel counters, in release B5. 1) List of release B5 changes, at BSC and BTS level
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1.1) Measurements related to the BSC B.1.1.11 Successful Internal Handovers per cause This 12.04 counter is now available for two new causes, given in two new Alcatel counters: * MC79 = HNDV_REQD_PREFERRED_BAND (per cell) on RTCH, type 110, This counter shall provide a count of the number of handover alarms with a cause value of "preferred band handover" on a TCH channel. It should be noted that even though a handover may be required, it will not necessarily be attempted. Both FR and HR RTCH transactions are concerned by this counter. * C119 = HNDV_REQD_PREFERRED_BAND (per cell) on SDCCH, type 28. This counter shall provide a count of the number of handover alarms with a cause value of "preferred band handover" on an SDCCH channel. It should be noted that even though a handover may be required, it will not necessarily be attempted. 1.2) Measurements related to the BTS B.2.1.7 Successful IMMEDIATE ASSIGNMENT Procedures, per cause
This 12.04 counter is now available for a new cause: * MC02h = NBR_DCCH_CALL_ESTABL_ORIG (per cell), type 110. This counter shall be incremented whenever an SDCCH Sub-channel is successfully seized by a Mobile, as part of a Mobile Originating procedure for normal or emergency call establishment. 2) List of GSM 12.04 Annex B counters supported by Alcatel release B5 Measurements related to the BSC: B.1.1.4 B.1.1.5 B.1.1.6 B.1.1.7 B.1.1.8 B.1.1.9 B.1.1.10 B.1.1.11 B.1.1.12 B.1.1.13 Attempted Transmission of Paging Messages, per BSC Unsuccessful Transmission of Paging Messages, per BSC Attempted IMMEDIATE ASSIGNMENT Procedures, per BSC Successful IMMEDIATE ASSIGNMENT Procedures, per BSC Successful Internal Handovers, intra-CELL, per BSC Unsuccessful Internal Handovers, intra-CELL, per BSC Successful Internal Handovers per BSC Successful Internal Handovers per cause Unsuccessful Internal Handovers with reconnection to old channels, per BSC Unsuccessful Internal Handovers with loss of connection, per BSC
Measurements related to the BTS: B.2.1.2 B.2.1.3 B.2.1.4 B.2.1.5 Attempted Transmission of Paging Messages (the PCH) Unsuccessful Transmission of Paging Messages (the PCH) Attempted IMMEDIATE ASSIGNMENT Procedures Successful IMMEDIATE ASSIGNMENT Procedures
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B.2.1.7 B.2.1.10 B.2.1.11 B.2.1.12 B.2.1.13 B.2.1.15 B.2.1.16 B.2.1.17 B.2.1.18 B.2.1.19 B.2.1.20 B.2.1.21 B.2.1.22 B.2.1.23 B.2.1.24 B.2.1.25 B.2.1.27 B.2.1.30 B.2.1.31 B.2.1.32 B.2.1.33 B.2.1.34 B.2.1.35 B.2.1.36 B.2.1.37 B.2.2.1 B.2.2.2 B.2.2.3 B.2.2.4
Successful IMMEDIATE ASSIGNMENT Procedures, per cause Number of Available TCHs Mean number of busy TCHs Maximum number of busy TCHs Mean number of idle TCHs per interference band Successful TCH seizures Attempted TCH Seizures meeting an TCH blocked state All Available TCH Allocated Time Mean TCH busy time Mean TCH queue length Number of lost Radio links while using a TCH Number of Available SDCCHs Mean number of busy SDCCHs Maximum number of busy SDCCHs Attempted SDCCH Seizures meeting an SDCCH blocked state All Available SDCCH Allocated Time Number of lost Radio links while using an SDCCH Successful Internal Handovers, intra-CELL Unsuccessful Internal Handovers, intra-CELL Attempted incoming Internal inter CELL Handovers Successful incoming Internal inter CELL Handovers Attempted outgoing Internal inter CELL Handovers Successful outgoing Internal inter CELL Handovers Unsuccessful Internal Handovers with reconnection to old channels Unsuccessful Internal Handovers with loss of connection Attempted incoming Internal inter CELL Handovers per originating CELL Successful incoming Internal inter CELL Handovers per originating CELL Attempted outgoing Internal inter CELL Handovers per target CELL Successful outgoing Internal inter CELL Handovers per target CELL
61 10 50: OMC-R processing of BSS measurements results OMC-R processed measurements are also called mediated measurements. It consists of several raw counters which are processed on-line by OMC-R and then provide users with more meaningful information (e.g. : GSM 12.04 counters). The mediated job results will be reported to the OMC-R operator periodically. Detailed list of the processed counters is described in Performance Management - Counter catalogue for Release B4 document (ref. 3DC 21090 0001 TQZZA).
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61 10 60: graphic display of processed measurements results: The user specifies the start time, stop time, job name and one counter to be displayed for a mediated job. The results will then be graphically displayed and refreshed according to the granularity period and already stored files. The user can select evaluation functions like maximum, minimum or average to analyse the results. 61 10 70: OMC-R activity measurements These are native Solaris measurements dedicated to the UNIX machine running the OMC-R application (e.g. %CPU time, % Memory,...). 61 10 80: generation of warnings (alarms) upon meas. results value In case of exceeding pre-defined thresholds upon measurements results, an warning message is sent to the OMC-R user at the end of the granularity period. The minimum granularity period is 15 minutes. 61 10 90: display of warning (upon meas.) The warning are sent in the message window for the OMC-R. In OMC-R these notifications will be logged in the message log.
61 20 00: BSS performance management mediation towards the NMC

61 30 00: Access to PM raw counters via binary files: This feature provides with an export interface for performance management (PM) raw counters dedicated to external PM processing systems. The access is performed through two files stored in the OMC-R : - a configuration file from which the topology of the BSS can be readout, - a binary format file to retrieve the PM raw counters. An external PM processing system such as Metrica will read the first one before retrieving the PM raw data in the second one. The export procedure could be performed by FTP or RCP. The measurement types involved primarily concern counters rather than observations. They belong to measurement types 1,2,4,5,6,7,8,9,18,19,25,26,27,28,100.
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62 00 00: BSS CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT 62 10 00: BSS management functions: conf. management in OMC local mode:
The BSS is controlled from the Alcatel OMC-R which functions may be accessed either directly from the OMC-R HMI (called hereafter local mode), or from the Q3 interface (if this option is chosen). In local mode, the OMC-R HMI allows the user to perform the BSS commands dealing with logical configuration management, such as: - data and time management, - initial software downloading for the BSS, - file management. 62 10 10: date/time management Date/Time management is required for the purpose of ensuring proper synchronisation of the BSSs with the OMC-R. The OMC-R HMI allows the operator to: - display the current date and time used in the BSC, - modify the current date and time used in the BSC, - adjust the current time used in the BSC. 62 10 20: BSS software versions management This feature provides control of the availability and integrity of software versions for new deliveries, fault corrections and database changes. hierarchical master file concept. The version control system provides for three different versions: - a new version: downloaded to the BSS but not necessarily active, - a running version: the currently active version, - a backup version: the normal operational version (the disk copy of the running version, except when the newly activated one has not yet been accepted), The BSS maintains records of the different software packages, master files, relevant application files and applicable databases for each loadable entity. Each application file referenced in the BSC and BTS master files is held only once on the BSC disk to reduce storage requirements. The BSS provides the facility to report the version status for a BSS software package. This is implemented by the use of a
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62 10 30: software package computation (masterfiles only) The Utilities menu of the BSC terminal is featuring a "CPR load request" function allowing the operator to start an out of action BSC or to load a new software. The load request initiates loading of one of the CPRs with the software and data of a specific build. This load request initiates selection of a build directory and a BSS masterfile from the build directory. 62 10 40: BSC files management The BSC disk operations functions available at the OMC-R HMI allow the operator to transfer, delete and move files, format the disk and back up the Data Load Segment (DLS). The available functions are the following: - transferring files from the BSC terminal (PC) to the BSC, and vice-versa, - transferring files from one BSC to another BSC, - backing up the Data Load Segment (DLS), that is copying the DLS file from an SSD to the hard disk of the BSC terminal for back up purpose, - formatting a solid state disk (SSD) from the content of a specified file, - formatting a duplex SSD, using information from the mate SSD, - viewing SSD information such as type of SSD, type of formatting, directory content, - deleting, erasing, purging (i.e. deleting older versions) and renaming BSC files. 62 10 50: BSS hardware management : DLS upload/download (*) In order to support hardware management via Data Load Segment (DLS) upload/download for the purpose of making on line changes to the BSC database, the DLS upload and download commands are available at the OMC-R HMI. (*) the OMC-R controls BSS equipment. 62 10 60: BSS HW management: off line modif of HW param of BSC database In order to secure the BSS hardware modification actions, it is important : - Not to disturb the operational system - Make sure the data being modified is perfectly in line with operational parameters - Make sure that the change is consistent and will not penalise the system behaviour when applied. To respect those 3 conditions, BSS hardware management actions are performed in 3 steps: - Upload of the reference configuration (62 10 50), - Modification and verification of the modified data (CMA : 62 30 00),
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- Download and application of the new data (62 10 70), HW modification are thus performed off-line using the Configuration Management Application available on the OMC-R. 62 10 70: On-line modification of BSC database This feature supports on-line replacement of whole or part of BSC database. Alcatel knows how it is critical for the operator to be able to administrate its network without impacting telecom services. This is why Alcatel provides a mechanism for replacing on line the whole database, or part of it using delta files. This second mechanism, also know as steerfile mechanism can be used by the OMC-R operator when performing small modification on his network (e.g. add a TRX to an existing BTS using CMA, or 62 10 60). The configuration management application imposes an outage only for the elements which are involved in the configuration process (e.g. a BTS). 62 10 80: On-line BSS cell, radio and handover parameters management The BSS cell, radio and handover parameters such as location updating periodicity can be modified on line from the OMC-R HMI. 62 10 90: audit of OMC-R database (comparison with BSS databases) This feature guarantees at any time the synchronisation between the OMC-R and the BSC Databases. It can be triggered from the OMC-R HMI.
62 20 00: BSS configuration management mediation towards the NMC

62 20 10: date/time management: The object modelling the OMC function at the interface with the NMC contains an attribute representing the date and time which can be tuned by the NMC. 62 20 20: BSS software version control from the NMC: A software object class is defined within the object model available at the interface with the NMC. It gives which are the running version, the backup version and the fallback version. Depending on the location of the software object within the model, it refers either to the bsc or the bts. These objects are created autonomously by the OMC-R.
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62 20 30: BSS cell, radio, handover parameters upload/modif. upon NMC request: The logical configuration is applicable to the objects adjacentCellAlcatelHandover,
adjacentCellAlcatelReselection, bsc, bts, handoverControlAlcatel, powerControlAlcatel. All these object classes contain attributes which can be modified by the NMC. All these object classes are created autonomously by the OMC-R on the interface except those relative to the adjacency relationships (adjacentCellAlcatelHandover, adjacentCellAlcatelReselection). 62 20 40: Audit of OMC-R database upon NMC request: A special action enables to trigger from the NMC an audit between the OMC-R and the BSS which aims to line up the two DBs. In turn the NMC might decide to perform an "audit" with the OMC-R, i.e. to retrieve all the information contained in the object model. 62 20 50: Microcellular environment parameters: The parameters specific to a micro-cellular environment, i.e. cell type, specific HO parameters (averaging window size, inhibition/activation of new HO types, thresholds ... ) and specific Adjacent cell HO parameters , are available on the NMC-OMC interface. The access is provided through the handoverControlAlcatel and adjacentCellAlcatelHO, bts and bsc (if applicable to all concerned bts ) MOCs . This feature includes micro-cell, overlaid-cell and umbrella-cells. 62 20 60: Concentric cell parameters: The parameters specific to a concentric cell, i.e. cell type, specific HO and PC parameters, zone (outer or inner) type are available on the NMC-OMC interface. The access is provided through the handoverControlAlcatel, powerControlAlcatel, BaseBand Transceiver and bts MOCs. 62 20 70: Extended cell parameters: The parameters specific to an extended cell, i.e. cell type, mate cell id are available on the NMCOMC-R interface. The access is provided through the bts MOCs.
62 30 00: Configuration Management Application (CMA)

The Configuration Management Application running on the OMC-R aims at:
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- providing commands for efficient hardware reconfiguration, - providing commands to define connectivity between NEs. This is then a unique configuration application for radio and transmission equipment. It gives the ultimate autonomy to customers to tune their networks. The Configuration Management Application insures: - the consistency between all system databases, - the security in execution of commands. The Configuration Management Application offers a user friendly MMI (based on a graphical presentation). It runs on the same HW platform as the OMC-R. 62 30 01: Extension/reduction of BSS HW on OMC-R platform (CMA) BSS hardware extension & reduction can be performed from the OMC-R platform. This feature supports the following functions: - modify a BSS, that is replace software, modify BSS parameters, add/delete BTS(s), Move BTS(s), Change X.25 connection mode on BSC side (PSDN or direct lines through interface A at transcoder), - modify a BTS, that is add/delete TRX(s), change BTS family, - modify a BSC, - modify Interface A domain, that is add/delete A-trunk, add/delete TRCU or SM, add/delete an SM highway, - modify Interface A-bis domain, that is change transmission type in star or chain configuration, add/delete BIE at BSC side, add/delete A-bis highway. - modify a BSS, that is extract CMA data (export BSS data to Alcatel premises), reload CMA data (re-initialize BSS in CMA from Alcatel premises), Move a BSC from an OMC-R to another OMC-R (export/import BSC CMA data),
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62 30 02: Extension/reduction of BSS HW on OMC-R platform (CMA) using graphical interface: BSS hardware extension & reduction can be performed from the OMC-R platform using the graphical interface of CMA. This feature is already described in 62 30 01 but is here available from a graphical interface.
62 60 00: BSS O&M FUNCTION

The new OMC-R generation, A1353-RA, is introduced to replace the former OMC-R generation, OMC-2.
62 66 40 (35 10 00): Call Tracing

62 66 50 (35 10 10): BSS Basic Trace based on IMSI, on HLR activation (GSM 12.08) Tracing using the mobile identity allows the operator to obtain call path information on a specific mobile station's call connection from different network elements in the network together with traffic data and other events related to the call. The BSC trace record contains information related to radio channel activity. The Basic trace type is implemented in the Alcatel BSS. The trace is initiated and conveyed to the BSC via the HLR and MSC/VLR in the MSC_INVOKE_TRACE trace invocation message. The following trace related functions are available from the OMC-R : - Trace control - Trace record contents display - Trace data archiving 62 66 70 (35 10 20): Trace triggered on TS by OMC-R The goal of the trace invocation procedure is the production of a trace record associated with a particular transaction and its provision by file transfer from the BSS to the OMC-R or the Local terminal. The contents of the trace data will be reported to the OMC-R or Local Terminal right upon termination of the associated transaction. This means that the call will be traced until either the call is released, or the call is handed over to another BSS (external handover). In case of intra BSS handover, call trace continues. The trace data contains: 1 SDCCH and TCH observation.
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2 Internal, incoming and outgoing handover observation. 3 Radio Time Slot measurement observation. 4 CIC information (Circuit Identification Code).
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63 00 00: OMC-R SYSTEM 63 01 00: Remote X.25 graphic access (centralised SW architecture)
This feature is available only in connection with the distributed OMC-R configuration using a front end MMI workstation over an X.25 based WAN. With help of this feature the graphical MMI capabilities are available at remote sites.
63 02 10: Distributed OMC-R architecture with front end HMI server

In case of long distance remote terminals, graphical information would take a lot of time to be transferred. Then it was mandatory to offer the possibility of remote HMI server (through X.25 link). It means that only necessary data will be transferred between the OMC-R site and the remote site. All the MMI aspects are handled by the HMI server.
63 02 20: Access to several OMC-R from an HMI server

The HMI server function can run on one remote workstation connected to the OMC-R host through a WAN (usually a X.25 network). Such a workstation can be either connected to a single OMC-R or several ones. In this latter case the operator can open sequentially user sessions on these OMC-R from this terminal.
63 03 00: Remote ASCII terminal

VT100 compatible terminals can be remotely connected to the OMC-R, using a X.25 link. These terminals can only use the command mode MMI with restricted features (e.g. no spontaneous alarm display).
63 04 00: Menu and command mode oriented MMI

The user has the possibility to select either the menu mode or the command mode of his terminal.
63 05 00: Graphic object oriented MMI (in addition to existing modes)

The OMC-R Graphical Network Display (GND) is an advanced OMC-R feature for monitoring and managing the BSSs controlled by this OMC-R. The GND supports functions in the area of : - Configuration management, - Fault Management.
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The GND provides an easy to use interface that allows the operator to quickly determine the status and obtain information about Telecom resources and network equipment with the aid of graphical objects. The BSS objects may be presented either using a geographical view (objects are positioned according to their location), or a logical view (called BSS view) showing the objects and their links when relevant. The GND can be customised to meet customer requirements and adapt look and feel to specific needs. Background maps of the GND are optional. Detailed maps can be provided for high Density areas (HDA). The display is possible at three levels (OMC-R region, area and locality). When selecting an object, the user may perform actions on that object by means of pop-up menus. these actions are, mainly: - Show alarm list, - Modify the object administrative state, - Access to the OMC-R forms, - Switch between geographical and BSS views, - Change the icon shape (default icons are provided, e.g. for micro cells, umbrella cells,...), - Select an object to be monitored in a dedicated window, - Delete the object (GND object only), - Remove object from locality. The GND obtains its data directly from the OMC-R information model (e.g. adding an NE by an OMC-R user will automatically update the GND).
63 06 00: Messages handling

The various functions available at the OMC-R HMI are: - receiving of alarms messages (e.g. reports from applications, spontaneous system messages, or alarms indicating a fault.), - storing of received alarms/messages in a database, - routing of received alarms/messages to the authorized user and/or printer, - indicating of the need for alarm or error acknowledgment to the user (alarms, errors and warnings are to be acknowledged depending on their respective classes and acknowledgment levels), - user access to stored messages (depending on user access rights), - retrieval of stored alarms/messages, - output of stored alarms: messages to terminal and/or printer, - setting of the acknowledgment level by a privileged user, - back-up and restoration of alarms/messages reports,
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- automatic purge of alarms/messages following back-up on tape, - setting of print level by a privileged user.
63 07 00: Access rights mgt based on user id/device id/command

The OMC-R user access can be limited to certain applications or management areas (group of applications). Access to unallowed applications/management areas will be denied. The user access rights can be limited corresponding to certain device groups. Access from unallowed devices will be denied, as well as application functions which are not supported by the terminal. The MMI manages the access rights to network elements: it defines which network elements the user is allowed to access from certain terminals. In the Command mode, the MMI generates command lists defining the set of commands which the user is authorised to call. Reduced command lists are generated corresponding to the user's access rights.
63 08 00: Login monitoring

Login and logout procedures of OMC-R sessions are logged for each device. Logging is provided in case of accepted application calls.
63 09 00: OSI Q3 oriented interface to BSS (FTAM IS and CMISE DIS)

For O&M signalling between BSS and OMC-R, an Object Oriented interface based onto an Alcatel Management Information Base is used. The fundamental building blocks which compose the ISO conform protocol stack are the following: - Layer 7 - Layer 7 - Layer 7 - Layer 7 - Layer 6 - Layer 5 - Layer 4 : : : : : : : Common Management Information Service Element ISO 9596 (CMISE), File Transfer, Access and Management Protocol ISO 8571 (FTAM), Remote Operations Service Element CCITT X.229 / ISO 9072 (ROSE), Association Control Service Element CCITT X.227 / ISO 8650 (ACSE), Presentation Protocol CCITT X.226 / ISO 8823, Session Protocol CCITT X.225 / ISO 8327, Transport Protocol CCITT X.224 / ISO 8073,
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- Layer 3 - Layer 2 - Layer 1
: : :
CCITT X.25 / ISO 8208, CCITT X.25 / ISO 7776, The connection between the BSC and the OMC-R can be via a X.25 network using X.25 Modems. A routing via a time slot of the A interface is also possible. The physical connection between the BSC and the OMC-R may be secured when using a redundant X.25 link.
63 10 00: OSI Q3 interface to the NMC (FTAM IS and CMISE IS):

The OSI stack which is used for the Q3 interface to the NMC is based on X.25 for the lower layers, on a transport layer class 0 and 4 according ITU-T X224, a session layer according to ITU-T X225 and a presentation layer according to ITU-T X226. For the application layer, it relies on ROSE according to ITU-T X229, ACSE according to ITU-T X227, CMISE according to IS 9596 and FTAM according to ISO 8571. The Q3 interface provides an information model which is lined up with the ETSI GSM 12.20 model for the BSS aspects. Moreover support objects like log and efd are also supplied.
63 10 02: Q3 interface based on Ethernet

The Q3 interface between OMC-R and NMC can be provided, based on Ethernet.
63 10 10: Q3 Multimanager
With this feature, the OMC-R provides with an enhanced Q3 open interface. Through this interface, the main functions fault management, configuration management and reportings will be managed by external Q3 managers. Several managers, provided they are Q3 compliant, will be able to operate simultaneously with the OMC-R . The benefit for the operator is to operate these functions from different managers : one of their own and as an alternative the generic Alcatel NMC. Technical details on the complete Alcatel Q3 implementation can be found in the document : OMC-R Q3 functional description.
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63 11 00: Alarm callout function

The alarm callout feature is intended to warn the maintenance staff of an alarm without having to watch continuously at the OMC-R screens. The feature is applicable to BSS alarms coming from a network of up to 25 OMC-Rs. The conditions for the triggering of the alarms can be predefined by the operator via a friendly graphical interface. The conditions may be activated only at a specified time for a specified duration. There are two ways to implement this feature : - the basic function hereafter described, - the remote printer derived function which is described in the feature 63 11 04. The two implementations are exclusive oneanother. In the basic function, two signalling devices are used : - a light panel equipped with leds switched on by a set of relay contacts, - a modem for remote alarm signalling. It enables the connection to up to sixteen city pagers to page automatically maintenance staff. It is therefore oriented to a decentralized management. These two devices are managed by a PC named ACO (Alarm Call-Out) PC which can be either locally connected (same LAN as the OMC-R) or remotely connected (connected to another LAN via a X.25 network).
63 11 04: Alarm callout function including remote printer

The remote printer implementation of the callout function is close to the basic callout function (see 63 11 00). It is also initiated when alarms match user defined criteria; it also calls for the use of a dedicated PC named RAP (Remote Alarm Printing) PC for the management of alarm signalling; it uses two alarm signalling devices. However, the devices will aim at different functions : - a printer connected to the RAP PC. Alarms will be displayed both on the PC screen and on the printer, - a remote customer machine connected to the PC to gather the alarms for all OMC-Rs. The remote alarm signalling is here rather oriented to a centralized management. The basic and the remote printer callout functions are mutually exclusive.
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63 12 00: Support of SUN OS

In the considered release, the OMC-R runs on a SUN platform with SUN OS operating system. This feature will be progressively replaced by the feature 63 13 00.
63 13 00: Support of SOLARIS OS

In the considered release, the OMC-R runs on a SUN platform with SOLARIS operating system. SOLARIS is the new SUN operating system : it allows multi processors environment.
63 14 00: Secured X.25 connection from BSC to OMC-R

This feature is meant to provide redundancy at X.25 connection level. Depending on the number of available X.25 links at each side (BSC and OMC-R) either a partial or a complete redundancy is possible. The main concept is to give the capability to define a primary link and a secondary link. A link definition combines the X.25 addresses of the OMC and the BSC (one address for each side) and the type of association (CMISE or FTAM). When an entity (the OMC-R or the BSC) wants to establish an association (CMISE or FTAM (*)), it tries to do it on the primary link, after several unsuccessful attempts it will try on the secondary link. Usually the primary link is not the same for the two types of association. (*) FTAM association can only be set up by the OMC-R.
63 15 00: Night time concentration

The Night Time Concentration (NTC) feature is dedicated to large networks. These networks require several OMC-Rs for control and supervision. In order to reduce maintenance personnel for night time hours, it is made possible to concentrate the vital maintenance functions for all BSSs on a particular terminal. This terminal is named the NTC Center. All incoming alarms will be routed to the NTC Center. The activation of the NTC mode together with the management of the alarm windows will be possible in two different modes :
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- X11 mode described in feature 63 15 01, - RPC mode described in feature 63 15 02. 63 15 01: Night time concentration X11 mode This feature implements the NTC mode in the following way : The X11 NTC mode is activated at the local OMC-R by the operator. Then the alarm messages are no longer available at local OMC-R but forwarded to the NTC Center. There will be several alarm windows displayed at the NTC Center : one per OMC-R in NTC mode. The operator can enter the menu tree of all the connected OMC-Rs. The terminal in use has a physical access (LAN) to all OMC-Rs. 63 15 02: Night time concentration RPC mode This feature implements the NTC mode in the following way : The RPC (Remote Procedure Call) is used between HMI function of the OMC-R supporting the NTC function and the remote OMC-Rs. The practical configuration will include a HMI server connected through RPC directly to the remote OMC-R's. The RPC NTC mode is activated by the NTC Center operator. The NTC Center will receive all the alarms from allocated OMC-R via Remote Procedure Calls. All the alarms are processed by a single procedure and they are displayed in a single alarm window.
63 16 00: Operation parameters back up

The OMC-R offers a manual on-line back up of the parameters which can be total or partial, the conditions are: - a back up description file detailing which parameters must be saved, - operation done on line, - pre-defined back up device (cartridge, diskette), - to be done on a single volume. In addition the archival and purge of logs can be performed manually. The OMC-R can perform an off line total restore (based on a Unix Shell script).
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63 18 00: OMC-NSS session from OMC-R terminal

A remote terminal interface allows access to OMC-NSS functions from the OMC-R terminals using the OMC-NSS command syntax. As a consequence it is possible from a common terminal to get access to an OMC-R and an OMC-NSS at the same time. In this case a window corresponding to an OMC-NSS session is displayed in addition to the usual OMC-R windows. Output reports of OMC-NSS commands will be transferred to the OMC-R and displayed at the terminal where the command was entered.
63 50 00: OMC-R Tools

63 50 10: OMC-R data export/import interfaces 63 50 12: PM data export An OMC-R software tool collects periodically the performance measurement result files (produced by BSS Performance Measurement jobs) from the OMC-R and transforms them from system format into a spread sheet file format for export and further analysis. Following BSS performance measurement types are supported : - BSS measurement type 1 - Traffic measurements - BSS measurement type 2 - Resource availability measurements - BSS measurement type 3 - Resource usage measurements for CCCH - BSS measurement type 4 - Resource usage measurements for SDCCH - BSS measurement type 5 - Resource usage measurements for TCH - BSS measurement type 6 - TCH handover measurements - BSS measurement type 7 - LAPD measurements - BSS measurement type 8 - X.25 measurements - BSS measurement type 9 - No.7 measurements - BSS measurement type 18 - A and A-bis interface analysis - BSS measurement type 19 - SMS measurements - BSS measurement type 25 - SCCP measurements - BSS measurement type 26 - Detailed handover measurements for serving cell - BSS measurement type 27 - Detailed handover measurements for target cell - BSS measurement type 28 - SDCCH handover measurements - BSS measurement type 100 - Cumulation of raw counters needed at BSS level The Collection period is defined by the operator. 63 50 14: Logical parameter export/import Logical Parameter Export :
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Extraction of the current logical parameters stored in the OMC-R database is provided through a OMC-R tool. This process can be either triggered for the whole network controlled by the OMC-R or for a part of the network of the OMC-R area. The extracted parameters are transformed into an object oriented ASCII file, building the output interface usefull for radio network planning or optimisation tools. Logical Parameter Import :
Logical Parameter Import tool generates a command file for BSS and OMC-R data base update, based on logical network parameter input file. The input file can be provided either by an external device (as radio network planning or optimisation tools) or by an internal graphical editor used for manual logical modification of current network configuration. The generated command file, transferred to the respective OMC-R, is then executed under the control of the OMC-R operator.
The major benefit for a network operator using these tools is the support of cumbersome network management tasks as - Modification of cell handover neighbouring relationships, - Network wide change of parameters, - Frequency reconfiguration, - Data exchange with Radio Network Planning and optimisation tools. Above software tools are multi-OMC-Rs tools, running on an additional server, connected to the OMC-Rs via a LAN. 63 50 20: BSS alarms post processing Statistical information of alarm occurrence in the Alcatel 900/1800 BSS are provided, as described below : - daily counting of alarms by type (e.g. processor restarts and resets) and by BSS, - weekly counting of alarms by type and by BSS, - weekly counting of TRX alarms, - weekly synthesis of processor unavailability (restarts and resets) by BSS,
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- weekly measurement of BTS and TRX unavailability time in minutes or average unavailability of BTS and TRX per minute (in units of 10-3), - weekly measurement of protocol instability, - weekly indicators for processor instability, radio sub-system unavailability. The analysis results are presented to the operator in different reports in tabular form. Six types of reports can be accessed: - report of daily raw counts, - report weekly raw counts, - report of weekly alarm synthesis, - history report of the last twelve weeks for BTS unavailability, - history report of the last twelve weeks for TRX unavailability, - history report of the last twelve weeks for System Quality Indicators (SQI). 63 50 30: BSS Performance Measurement results post processing Alcatel Performance Management post-processing application allows the operator to monitor the global QoS and perform RNO tasks on an Alcatel BSS network, but also to analyse and diagnose QoS problems down to the FU or TS level. Performance Management data are transfered from OMC-R to Performance Measurement postprocessing application and then processed for further storage. The PM post-processing application is able handle data managed by one or several OMC-Rs. The data can be analysed per Cell, per BSS, per operator defined Area (region) or for the complete Network The data processed originates from the following performance measurements running in the BSS network : type 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 26, 27, 28, 100 ; Types 26 and 27 are activated on demand. All other types are activated permanently. The PM post-processing application database contains data of the complete supervised network. This database is updated at each reporting period, taking into account the last transferred data. The database includes the BSS raw counters imported from the OMC-R and also indicators calculated from the counters. The counters and indicators are stored per time slot (TS), FU, Cell, BSS and the Network. They are stored per hour, per day, per week and per month. Due to the numerous data for TS and FU, related counters and indicators are stored per hour and day only. This feature requires additional hardware.
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63 50 32: Quality of Service reports The operator of the Performance Management post-processing application will be supplied with several report types : - Warning Reports and Top Cells Reports for indication of bad QoS regions. Warning Reports provide indicators computed across the whole network per Cell, BSC, Area or Network and Top Cells Reports identify cells with specific QoS behaviours. - Evolution Reports and Management Reports which provide global reports per Network, BSS or operator defined Area, for control of QoS evolution and management reporting, - Detailed Reports per cell; for support of radio parameter tuning (frequency plan, HO, dimensioning) tasks. The operator can request reports at any time. The PM post-processing application generates the requested reports from the data currently stored in its database. All reports are presented in graphical format, excepted for the Warning Reports which are given in tabular format. 63 50 34: Graphical report presentation The Graphical display generates all reports in a well ordered and very user-friendly manner. The following advanced display functions are available on each graph : - zooming on a graph which allow the user to magnify areas of interest. - maximising a graph to make it up the full size of the display window in order to get a better view of the data or prior to zooming. - advanced cursor and markers functions on windows carrying single or multiple graphs. 63 50 40: Logical parameters management 63 50 42: Extensive Logical Parameters management Logical Parameter Management tool allows modification of any changeable logical parameter. No calls are lost and minimum outage of single cells is needed only. Current logical network configuration (extracted from the OMC-R) can be modified through a manual graphical editor and then imported to update OMC-R and BSS data bases;
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The graphical editor user is able to select the parameter groups (such as BTS, BSC, BSS, cell handover relationships, frequencies etc... ) for display and modification purposes. The modification of the existing parameters can be done but it is not foreseen to add or remove BTSs, cell handover relationships and others because this kind of modifications can be better obtained by Network Optimisation Tools. 63 50 44: Fast Frequency Plan update Frequency plan modifications can be performed on Alcatel GSM 900/GSM 1800 network, in a time optimised way with a minimum outage of the network. Uploaded BSS databases, list of concerned BSS and frequency plan must be provided as inputs ; After the new data base or the steer file are produced, they can be applied using the general (Offline or On-line) OMC-R data base replacement functionality ; (off-line data base replacement involving short BSS outage while the new data base is activated ; on-line data base replacement involving no BSS outage, just the concerned cells will handle no traffic for a short frequency activation period)). No additional hardware is required therefore.
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End of Document
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GSM 900/GSM 1800 BSS Release B5 Feature Description

GSM 900/GSM 1800 BSS Release B5 Feature Description

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Reference 3DC 21081 0002 TQZZA

Internal Use; to be customised before delivery

GSM 900/GSM 1800 BSS Release B5 Feature Description

Reference 3DC 21081 0002 TQZZA

Internal Use; to be customised before delivery

GSM 900/GSM 1800 BSS Release B5 Feature Description

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Internal Use; to be customised before delivery

GSM 900/GSM 1800 BSS Release B5 Feature Description

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GSM 900/GSM 1800 BSS Release B5 Feature Description

15 00 00 (12 00 00): BSS CONFIGURATION 15 00 10 (12 02 00): Support of G2 BTS Family

15 00 20 (12 02 11): Support of Micro BTS (GSM 900)

Reference 3DC 21081 0002 TQZZA

Internal Use; to be customised before delivery

GSM 900/GSM 1800 BSS Release B5 Feature Description

15 00 70 (12 03 00): Support of BTS station unit redundancy

Reference 3DC 21081 0002 TQZZA

Internal Use; to be customised before delivery

GSM 900/GSM 1800 BSS Release B5 Feature Description

15 00 80 (12 12 00): Support of 3 dB wideband combiner (frequency modification from OMC-R)

15 01 00 (12 15 00): Tower mounted antenna preamplifier

Reference 3DC 21081 0002 TQZZA

Internal Use; to be customised before delivery

GSM 900/GSM 1800 BSS Release B5 Feature Description

Reference 3DC 21081 0002 TQZZA

Internal Use; to be customised before delivery

GSM 900/GSM 1800 BSS Release B5 Feature Description

15 01 10 (12 16 00): BTS transmission power before combiner

15 01 50 (12 19 00): Sectorized outdoor configurations with G2 BTS

Reference 3DC 21081 0002 TQZZA

Internal Use; to be customised before delivery

GSM 900/GSM 1800 BSS Release B5 Feature Description

15 01 60 (12 21 04): Availability of DR/EFR G2 BTS hardware

15 01 70 (12 22 00): Hardware upgrade for DR/EFR

15 02 00 (12 02 16): Support of Alcatel 9100 BTS family

Reference 3DC 21081 0002 TQZZA

Internal Use; to be customised before delivery

GSM 900/GSM 1800 BSS Release B5 Feature Description

15 02 80 (12 02 24): Auto configuration for Alcatel 9100 BTS

Reference 3DC 21081 0002 TQZZA

Internal Use; to be customised before delivery

GSM 900/GSM 1800 BSS Release B5 Feature Description

Reference 3DC 21081 0002 TQZZA

Internal Use; to be customised before delivery

GSM 900/GSM 1800 BSS Release B5 Feature Description

15 03 10 (12 13 98): Extended Cell

Reference 3DC 21081 0002 TQZZA

Internal Use; to be customised before delivery

GSM 900/GSM 1800 BSS Release B5 Feature Description

15 03 40 (12 02 28): Commissioning test for Alcatel 9100 BTS

Reference 3DC 21081 0002 TQZZA

Internal Use; to be customised before delivery

GSM 900/GSM 1800 BSS Release B5 Feature Description

15 03 50 (12 24 32): Multiband operation in one Alcatel 9100 BTS

15 04 00 (12 02 29): Support of Alcatel 910 Micro-BTS