Dropped

Calls

There is a wide range of factors can result in that a subscriber fails to complete a call
satisfactorily. The only problem many subscribers will tolerate in a public network is a busy tone
from the called party. Unfortunately, reality does not always match expectations when it comes
to mobile network, which results in customers complaining about poor performance of
the service. They will eventually change operator if the perceived bad performance
continues.A subscriber should be able to place calls satisfactorily and hang up in its own time,
regardless of the technical reasons for call-completion problems.
Dropped calls show the number of abnormal disconnections during call setup or during
conversation.Use the different counters for dropped calls, i.e. dropped calls due to low signal
strength, bad quality, too high timing advance and miscellaneous to get an indication of the
reason for possible bad performance.The mechanisms behind dropped calls on TCH and SDCCH
are described below:
1. Radio Link Time-Out
Every time a SACCH message can not be decoded the radio link time-out counter is
decreased by 1. If the message can be decoded the counter is incremented by 2.
However, the value can not exceed the initial value. The initial value is set by the
parameter RLINKT for radio link time-out in the mobile station and by RLINKUP for
time-out in the BSC.If the mobile moves out of coverage and no measurement reports
are received in the BSC, there will be a radio link time-out and the message Channel
Release (cause: abnormal release, unspecified) is sent to the mobile station and the
SACCH is deactivated in the BTS. A Clear Request message is sent to the MSC. To be
sure that the mobile has stopped transmitting the BSC now waits RLINKT SACCH
periods before the time slot is released and a new call can be established on the
channel.

2. Layer 2 Time-Out
If the BTS never get an acknowledge on a Layer 2 message after the time
T200XN200, the BTS will send Error Indication (cause: T200 expired) to the BSC,
which will send Channel Release (cause: abnormal release, timer expired) to the
mobile station and a Clear Request to the MSC. The SACCH is deactivated and the
BSC waits RLINKT SACCH periods before the timeslot is released and a new call can
use the channel. This is only valid if the call is in steady state, i.e. not during
handover or assignment.

3. Release Indication
When the BTS received a layer 2 DISC frame from the mobile it replies with a Layer 2
UA frame to the mobile station and a Release Indication to the BSC.The system does
only react on Release Indication if it is received during a normal disconnection
situation. If such a message is received unexpectedly this will usually cause radio link
time-out or timer T200 expiration as the mobile station stops the transmitting of
measurement reports. It is also possible that the release will be normal depending on
when the Release Indication is received.

4. MSC Time-Out
Normal Release:
If the MSC never received a response on a message (e.g. Identity Request) and there is no radio link timeout or layer 2 time-out, the MSC will send a Clear Command to the BSC. The time-out is depending on the
message. When receiving Clear Command, the BSC will send a Channel Release (cause: normal release) and
then deactivates the SACCH.
Reject (only SDCCH):
If the MSC never receives a response on the first message after Establish Indication, the MSC will send a
reject message. If the connection was a Location Update it will be a Location Update Reject (cause: network
failure) and if the connection was a mobile originating call (CM Service Request) a CM Service Reject (cause:
network failure) will be sent. The MSC will then send a Clear Command to the BSC and the call is cleared by
Channel Release (cause: normal release).
5. Assignment to TCH
Before sending an Assignment Command from the BSC at TCH assignment, the following two criterion have
to be fulfilled:
a.
b.

There must be a TCH channel available, i.e. no

congestion
b. The locating algorithm must have received at
least one valid measurement report If either of the
criterion is not fulfilled, Assignment Command will
not be sent and a Channel Release (cause:
abnormal release, unspecified) will be
From a system point of view, the dropped calls on the SDCCH are more serious. A radio link timesentfor
to approximately
the mobile station
and a Clear Request to
out on the SDCCH will occupy an SDCCH sub-channel
(RLINKUP+RLINKT)/2
the MSC. From a subscriber point of view, the most
seconds and increase the risk for SDCCH congestion.
serious dropped calls are those that interrupts an
ongoing conversation, i.e. a call dropped on the
TCH. If the call is dropped on the SDCCH the user
simply re-dials again and hopefully succeeds with
the new call setup.

CONERRCNT is one counter of object type

MOTS, which indicates abnormally
terminated connections on one time slot
and is incremented for TCH and SDCCH
when a connection is dropped. The
counter CONERRCNT should be used to
identify
problem device and interference on a
certain channel. The counter will identify a

Notice!!!
When a call is abnormally disconnected, that is CLEAR REQUEST
is sent to
the MSC, a check is made in the function Assignment or
Handover if any of
the following type of urgency state existed. If more than one
type of urgency
state are indicated by the locating procedure, the following
priority (highest
priority first) is used to determine the type of urgency state:
1 Excessive TA
2 Low signal strength in downlink and/or uplink
3 Bad quality in downlink and/or uplink
4 Sudden loss of connection
When the type of urgency state is determined, one of the
counters for this
urgency state is stepped. It should be noticed that at most one
counter is incremented
for a dropped connection (except for low signal strength where
at

TCH and SDCCH DROP CALL COUNTERS

COUNTERS
DESCRIPTION

COUNTERS
CDIS_OTH

CNDROP - CDISSS - CDISQA - CDISTA

SDCCH drop due to other reasons

CDISQA

CDISQA

Total SDCCH Drop due to Bad Quality

CDISSS

CDISSS

Total SDCCH Drop due to Low Signal Strength

CDISTA

CDISTA

Total SDCCH Drop due to Excessive Timing Advance

CNDROP

CNDROP

Total Dropped SDCCH Connections

CNRELCONG

CNRELCONG

Released SDCCH connections due to TCH Congestion

CNROCNT

CNROCNT

Total Accepted Random Accesses

CNUCHCNT

CNUCHCNT

Total Number of Defined SDCCH's

TFDISQABL

TFDISQABL

Total TCH Drop due to Bad Quality Both link

TFDISQADL

TFDISQADL

Total TCH Drop due to Bad Quality Down link

TFDISQAUL

TFDISQAUL

Total TCH Drop due to Bad Quality Up link

TFDISSBL

TFDISSBL

Total TCH Drop due to Low Signal Strength Both link

TFDISSDL

TFDISSDL

Total TCH Drop due to Low Signal Strength Down link

TFDISSUL

TFDISSUL

Total TCH Drop due to Low Signal Strength Up link

TFDISTA

TFDISTA

Total TCH Drop due to Excessive Timing Advance

TFMSESTB

TFMSESTB

Total TCH Connections FR

TFNDROP
TFSUDLOS

TFNDROP
TFSUDLOS

Total Dropped TCH Connections FR

Total Sudden Loss

TCH and SDCCH DROP CALL FORMULA

T_DR-C

100 * TFNDROP / TFMSESTB

T_DR-S

100 * TFNDROP / ( TFCASSALL + ( SUMIHOVERSUC SUMIHOSUCBCL - SUMIHOSUCWCL ) - ( SUMOHOVERSUC - Dropped TCH Connections of Total Conn. Terminated in the Cell FR
SUMOHOSUCBCL - SUMOHOSUCWCL ) )
and HR

T_DR_BQ_BL

100 * TFDISQABL / TFNDROP

T_DR_BQ_DL

100 * TFDISQADL / TFNDROP

T_DR_BQ_UL

100 * TFDISQAUL / TFNDROP

Dropped
Droppe
Dropped
Dropped
Dropped
Dropped

T_DR_ERL

60 * TFNDROP / ( PERLEN * ( TFTRALACC / TFNSCAN ) )

Dropped TCH Connection per Erlang FR and HR

T_DR_ERLM

Erlang Minutes per Dropped TCH Connection FR and HR [min]

T_DR_OTH

PERLEN * ( TFTRALACC / TFNSCAN ) / ( TFNDROP )

100 * ( SUMOHOVERCNT - SUMOHOVERSUC SUMOHORTTOCH + SUMEOHOVERCNT SUMEOHOVERSUC - SUMOHORTTOCH ) / ( TFNDROP )
100 * ( TFNDROP - ( TFDISSBL + TFDISSDL + TFDISSUL +
TFDISQABL + TFDISQADL + TFDISQAUL + TFDISTA +
TFSUDLOS) ) / TFNDROP

T_DR_SS_BL

100 * TFDISSBL / TFNDROP

T_DR_SS_DL

100 * TFDISSDL / TFNDROP

T_DR_SS_UL

100 * TFDISSUL / TFNDROP

T_DR_SUD

100 * TFSUDLOS / TFNDROP

Dropped Connections at Low SS downlink of Total Number of

Dropped TCH C
Dropped Connections at Low SS uplink of Total Number of Dropped
TCH Con
Suddenly lost Connections of Total Number of Dropped TCH
Connections

T_DR_TA
S_DR-C
S_DR_BQ
S_DR_ERL
S_DR_ERLM

100 * TFDISTA / TFNDROP

100 * CNDROP / CMSESTAB
100 * ( CDISQA + CDISQASUB ) / CNDROP
60 * CNDROP * CNSCAN / ( CTRALACC * PERLEN )
( CTRALACC * PERLEN ) / ( CNDROP * CNSCAN )

Dropped TCH due to Excessive Timing Adv. FR and HR

Dropped SDCCH Connections of Total SDCCH Connections
Dropped SDCCH Connections due to Bad Quality
Number of Dropped SDCCH Connections per Erlang
Erland Minutes per Dropped SDCCH Connection [min]

S_DR_HO

100 * ( CCHHOCNT - CCHHOSUC - CCHHOTOCH ) / CNDROP

100 * ( CNDROP - ( CDISSS + CDISSSSUB + CDISQA +
CDISQASUB + CDISTA ) ) / CNDROP
100 * ( CDISSS + CDISSSSUB ) / CNDROP
100 * CDISTA / CNDROP

Lost Handovers of Total Number of Dropped SDCCH connections

T_DR_HO

S_DR_OTH
S_DR_SS
S_DR_TA

Dropped TCH Connections of Total TCH Connections FR and HR

Connections at Bad Quality both links of Total Number of

Connections at Bad Quality downlink of Total Number of
Connections at Bad Quality uplink of Total Number of
TC

Lost HOs of Dropped TCH Connections FR and HR

Dropped TCH Connections due to Other Reasons FR

Dropped Connections at Low SS both links of Total Number of
Dropped TCH

Dropped SDCCH Connections due to Other Reasons

Dropped SDCCH Connections due to Low SS
Dropped SDCCH Connections due to Excessive Timing Advance

Dropped Call Analysis

1. Check dropped calls per cell. Select cells with high dropped call rate.
2. Check reason for dropped calls for selected cells
3. Check ratio of lost handovers to dropped calls.
The reason is to determine if the high dropped call rate is related to
handover performance. Check also which cell relations that have more
dropped calls than the average neighbour relation.
4. Check dropped calls per TS to find faulty devices or interference. Check
BTS error log
Further activities:
. Run CTR/MTR/CER on the cell with high dropped call rate.
. Perform drive tests and site surveys.
. Check frequency plan, coverage and interference plots
. Check output power and cell parameter settings

Dropped Calls on SDCCH

Radio Link Layer Description
Counter Stepped
The following cases will step CNDROP.
Error indication (Sequence Error ) and Channel Release, abnormal release:
unspecified.
A fault has occurred on the radio link layer (GSM 08.58). This message is sent if the Layer 2
sequence counters on the air interface have failed and can not recover. An example when
this happens is when the BER is high and the
signal strength is low. This is thus caused by bit errors.
Radio Link Time-Out
The probable cause is low signal strength or high interference.
Time-Out on Layer 2: T200 Expiration
Probable reason is low signal strength or high interference.
Unexpected Release Indication
The reason to unexpected release indication could be that the mobile station
gets confused when the user behaves strangely
Abnormal Release unspecified

Release Indication SAPI 3, abnormal release unspecified

The system sends an Establish Request SAPI3 to establish a SAPI 3 link
for sending an SMS. If the mobile fails to reply on SABM the BTS sends
Release Indication and Error Indication: Timer T200. The system responds
to this by a Channel Release, abnormal release: unspecified. This case
can be caused by low signal strength or high interference.
Release Indication after no response from mobile station,
abnormal
release unspecified.
The mobile does not respond when it should. One case could be when no
Setup message is received from the mobile station. After ten seconds the
mobile station is releasing the connection. This will cause a radio link
time-out.
This is probably a mobile station error.
No Assignment Command, abnormal release, unspecified
The probably reason is either that no measurement reports are received
from the mobile station or congestion, and no available channels.
Unsuccessful Assignment on TCH, abnormal release
unspecified
The mobile never establishes itself on TCH and failed to return to SDCCH.
After a time-out in the BSC, the call is released by sending Channel
Release (cause: abnormal release unspecified) to the mobile station.

The following cases may occur:

1. Assignment Failure is sent, abnormal release unspecified The assignment to TCH failed but the
mobile succeeded to return to the old SDCCH. The system disconnects the call after a time-out and
sends Channel Release with cause abnormal release, unspecified.
2. Layer 2 time-out on Assignment Command
The mobile station does not send acknowledge on Layer 2, probably because of low signal strength or
bad quality. The mobile is lost.
3. Mobile fails to return to the old SDCCH, abnormal release unspecified The mobile received the
Assignment Command, fails to establish contact with TCH and finally fails to return to the old SDCCH.

Probable Reasons -Low Signal Strength on Down or Uplink

The reaon for poor coverage could be too few sites, wrong output power, shadowing, no
indoor coverage or network equipment failure.
Action: Check coverage plots.Check output power.Perform drive tests.Check BTS
error log
Solution: Add new sites. Increase output power. Repair faulty equipment.
Poor Quality on Down or Uplink
Action: Check C/I and C/A plots.Check frequency plan.Perform drive tests.
Solution: Change frequency. Use available radio features.

Too High Timing Advance

Action: Check if the cell parameter TALIM is < 63.Check if the co-channel cells are overheard.
Solution: Set TALIM to a value close to 63.Tilt antenna/reduce antenna height/output power,
etc. for co-channel cells.
Mobile Error
Some old mobiles may cause dropped calls if certain radio network features are used. Another
reaons is that the MS is damaged and not working properly.
Action: Check MS fleet.
Solution: Inform operator.
Subscriber Behaviour
Poorly educated subscribers could use their handsets incorrectly by not raising antennas,
choosing ill-advised locations to attempt calls, etc.
Action:Check customer complaints and their MS.
Battery Flaw
When a subscriber runs out of battery during a conversation, the call will be registered as
dropped call due to low signal strength.
Action:Check if MS power regulation is used. Check if DTX uplink is used.
Congestion on TCH

The SDCCH is dropped when congestion on TCH.

Action: Check TCH congestion chapter 3.3.
Solution:Increase capacity on TCH or using features like Assignment to anothercell, Cell Load
Sharing, HCS etc.