Course 1

Table of Content
Training Description
Training Description This training presents drive test methodology and reporting both in 2G and
3G networks. Explain about drive test Key Performance Indicator and how to improve drive test
KPI with analysis and solution.
Training Objectives
At the end of these training sessions, participant will be able to:
Understand drive test methodology and reporting
Understand drive test 2G and 3G Drive test KPI
Be able to make drive test performance report
Be able to make performance analysis and solution for drive test improvement

Index
Session 1
Introduction to RF Engineering
2G RF Parameters
3G RF Parameters
Drive test KPI (CSSR, CCSR, HOSR, Throughput)
Reporting with Map Info
Session 2
Drive test & Methodology
Analysis - 2G Coverage Problem
Analysis - 2G Quality Problem
Analysis - 3G Coverage Problem
Analysis - 3G Quality Problem
Session 3
Analysis - Handover & Cell Reselection
Session 4
Analysis - Events Failure Call Fail, Call Drop (CS & PS)
Analysis - Drive test for Special Issue & Special Purpose

1.1 Introduction to RF Engineering

Radio-frequency engineeringis a subset ofelectrical engineeringthat deals with devices that
are designed to operate in theradio frequency (RF) spectrum. These devices operate within the
range of about 3kHzup to 300GHz.
Radio-frequency engineering is incorporated into almost everything that transmits or receives
aradio wave, which includes, but is not limited to,mobile phones,radios,Wi-Fi, and two-way
radios.
Radio-frequency engineering is a highly specialized field falling typically in one of two areas:
1. Providing or Controlling coverage with some kind of antenna/transmission system
2. Generating or Receiving signals to or from that transmission system to other communications
electronics or controls.
Telecommunication
Telecommunicationis communication at a distance using electrical signals or electromagnetic
waves. Examples oftelecommunications systemsare the telephone network, the radio
Technology
2.5G
3G
4G
broadcastingsystem,
computer 1G
networks 2G
and the Internet.
First Design
1970
1980
1985
1990
2000
Generation
Implementati
1982
1991
1999
2002
2010
on
Broadband IP-oriented
Analog
Digital
Packaged
Service
data upto 2 multimedita
Voice Voice, SMS
Data
mb/s
data
TDMA,
EvDo,
GPRS,
Standards
AMPS
CDMA,
WDCMA,
WiMAX, LTE
EDGE
GSM
HSDPA
Data
1.9kbps 14.4 kbps 384 kbps
2 mbps
200 mbps
Bandwidth

1.2 GSM RF Parameters

Rx Level
Rx Quality
Frame Erasure Rate ( FER )
Bit Error Rate ( BER )
Carrier to Interferer ( C/I )
Speech Quality Index ( SQI )

Rx Level
The power level corresponding to the average received signal level of the downlink as
measured by the mobile station.
Its has range from -50 dbm to 120 dbm.
Level lower than -90 dbm shows low signal levels.
Amplifiers, New site proposal, Hardware check could alter the low signal level.
There are two types of RxLevel values,FULLandSUB.
Rx Quality
The level corresponding to the mobile station's perceived quality of the downlink signal.
RxQual measured on the basis of BER. It has range from 0 to 7.
Quality higher than 4 can result in Call drops, Call blocks, Muted calls, Handover failures,
Interference.
Numerous alternatives could be used to make the quality normal, which can include setting RF
parameters from OMC.
There are two types of RxQual values,FULLandSUB.

1.2 GSM RF Parameters

Frame Erasure Rate ( FER )
A speech quality degrade factor that indicates fading and interference.
Normally should be less than 4%.
FER greater than 4% that degrades Rx Level, Rx Quality, BER, SQI and C/I indicates fading that
leads to Call drops, Call blocks, Muted calls and Handover failures.
FER plays a major role in troubleshooting of Interference.
Bit Error Rate ( BER )
The number of received bits that have been altered due to noise, interference and distortion,
divided by the total number of transferred bits during a studied time interval.
For a perfect system, no bits are to be lost.
Loss of bits can result in fading and interference that leads to Call drops, Call blocks, Muted
calls and Handover failures.
Carrier to Interferer ( C/ I )
Cochannel interference is the term used for interference in a cell caused by carriers with the
same frequency present in other cells.
Normal Range of C/I should be greater than 12 dB.
Value lower than 12 dB indicates interference with a certain frequency that could be cochannel or adjacent channel interference.
Neighbor sites should be properly planned to overcome interference problems.

1.2 GSM RF Parameters

Speech Quality Index ( SQI )
SQI is an estimate of the perceived speech quality as experienced by the mobile user, is based
on handover events and on the bit error and frame erasure distributions.
SQI should be greater than 18.
Low SQI indicates degraded speech quality and interference.
RF parameter tuning could level the SQI back to its normal value.
Other RF Parameters
MS Power Control Level: MS power control level indicates the transmit power
controlscheduled by the basetransceiverstation(BTS). This parameter is valid only in
dedicated mode. Generally it's ranges from 0 to 31.

DTX:DTX means for Discontinuous transmission. DTX is a mechanism which allows the radio
transmitter to be switched off during speech pauses. This feature saves the power
consumption of the Radio transmitter, which is important for User Equipment(UE) or Mobile
station(MS) and it's also decreases the overall interference level on the radio channels
affecting the capacity of the network.

TA: TA means for timing advance. TA represents the length of time takes to reach a signal from
base station to the mobile station (MS). In GSM TA value changes after every 550meters.TA
values ranges from 0 to 63. That is a GSM cell can cover maximum (63 X 550) = 34.6 km.

RLT Counter (Cur):RLT Counter(Cur) means Radio link timeout counter (current).This
parameter defines the value of the radio link counter.RLT Counter(Cur)ranges of 0 64.
When RLT counter (Cur) reaches zero it results in normal DROP Call.

RL Timeout Counter (MAX):This parameter defines the maximum value of the radio link
counter.RLT Counter(MAX) range from 4 64 in step size of 4.

1.3 UMTS RF Parameters

RSSI
RSCP
EcIo
CQI

RSCP
The Received Signal Code Power (RSCP) is the collected RF energy after the correlation /
descrambling process, usually given in dBm. Because this process already filters out the signal
with the correct code (the code meant for the specific UE), the RSCP can not be calculated back to
the total received RF power that a normal monitoring receiver or spectrum analyzer measures.
Instead, a correlation receiver has to be used and the RSCP has to be measured for the specific
code only, in the code domain. Only this code power is of interest for the following receiver stages
when judging on the quality of the reception.
EcIo
This is the ratio of the received energy per chip (= code bit) and the interference level, usually
given in dB. In case no true interference is present, the interference level is equal to the noise
level. However, in a UMTS network the UE normally receives signals from multiple base stations,
all transmitting on the same frequency. Therefore it is possible that even at a location close to a
base station, with a high RSCP, no logon is possible, due to high interference levels from a second
nearby base station. This effect is called pilot pollution and network planners try to avoid too
close spacing of base stations to minimize regions where it can occur.
RSSI
The Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) is a value that takes into account both RSCP and
Ec/I0. It is usually given in dBm and can be calculated as follows:
RSSI [dBm] = RSCP [dBm] - Ec/I0 [dB]

1.3 UMTS RF Parameters

CQI
CQI stands for Channel Quality Indicator. As the name implies, it is an indicator carrying the
information on how good/bad the communication channel quality is. This CQI is for HSDPA.
CQI is the information that UE sends to the network and practically it implies the following two
i) Current CommunicationChannel Quality is this-and-that..
ii) I (UE) wants to get the data with this-and-that transport block size, which in turn can be
directly converted into throughput
In HSDPA, the CQI value ranges from 0 ~ 30. 30 indicates the best channel quality and 0,1
indicates the poorest channel quality. Depending which value UE reports, network transmit
data with different transport block size. If network gets high CQI value from UE, it transmit the
data with larger transport block size and vice versa.

1.3 UMTS RF Parameters

ACTIVE SET(Serving Set)
User information is sent from all these cells. In FDD, these are cells that are involved in Soft
Handovers.-The UE shall only consider active set cells included in the variable CELL_INFO_LIST for
measurements. i.e.. Active set cells not included in the CELL_INFO_LIST shall not be considered in
any event evaluation and measurement reporting.
MONITORED SET( Neighbor Set)
These are cells which are not included in the CELL_INFO_LIST. These are cells that can be possibly
become anActive set.
The cells only measured by the UE and not part of the Active Set. The monitored set can consist
of intra-frequency, Inter-Frequency and Inter-RAT cells.
DETECTED SET(Unmonitored Set)
These are cells which detected by UE, which are neither in the Active set nor in the Monitored set.
( Missing Neighbor Definitions )
Reporting of measurements ofdetected set is only applicable to Intra-Frequency measurements
made by UEs in CELL_DCH state

1.4 Drive Test KPIs

S.No
1
2
3
4
5
6

Drive Test KPI Item

Call Setup Success Rate (CSSR)
Call Drop Rate (DCR)
MOS
HO success rate (HOSR)
Voice Call Setup Time( MO/MT)
RxQual sample

PDP Context Activation Success Ratio

PDP Context Call Drop Ratio

9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16

Ping 32bytes RTT

Attach Success Rate
Web browsing HTTP Throughput
Web browsing session Time
Session Success Rate (access & data transfer)
Attach Setup Time
PDP Context Activation Time
Average FTP Application Throughput (all FTP
average value)

Service
Voice (2G/3G)
Voice (2G/3G)
Voice (2G/3G)
Voice (2G/3G)
Voice (2G/3G)
Voice (2G/3G)
GPRS/EDGE/UMTS/L
TE
GPRS/EDGE/UMTS/L
TE
EDGE/UMTS/LTE
EDGE/UMTS/LTE
EDGE/UMTS/LTE
EDGE/UMTS/LTE
EDGE/UMTS/LTE
EDGE/UMTS/LTE
EDGE/UMTS/LTE
EDGE/UMTS/LTE

Session 2

Index
Drive testingis a method of measuring and assessing the coverage, capacity and
Quality of Service(QoS) of a mobile radio network.
The technique consists of using a motor vehicle containingmobile radio networkair interface
measurement equipment that can detect and record a wide variety of the physical and virtual
parameters of mobile cellular service in a given geographical area.
By measuring what a wireless network subscriber would experience in any specific area, wireless
carriers can make directed changes to their networks that provide better coverage and service to
their customers.
Drive testing[1]requires a mobile vehicle outfitted with drive testing measurement equipment. The
equipment are usually highly specialized electronic devices that interface to OEM mobile
handsets. This ensures measurements are realistic and comparable to actual user experiences.
Session 2
Drive test & Methodology
Analysis - 2G Coverage Problem
Analysis - 2G Quality Problem
Analysis - 3G Coverage Problem
Analysis - 3G Quality Problem
Session 3
Analysis - Handover & Cell Reselection
Session 4
Analysis - Events Failure Call Fail, Call Drop (CS & PS)
Analysis - Drive test for Special Issue & Special Purpose

Drive Test Methodology

Drive testingis a method of measuring and assessing the coverage, capacity andQuality of
Service(QoS) of a mobile radio network.
The technique consists of using a motor vehicle containingmobile radio network,air
interfacemeasurement equipment that can detect and record a wide variety of the physical and
virtual parameters of mobile cellular service in a given geographical area.
By measuring what a wireless network subscriber would experience in any specific area, wireless
carriers can make directed changes to their networks that provide better coverage and service to
their customers.
Drive testingrequires a mobile vehicle outfitted with drive testing measurement equipment. The
equipment are usually highly specialized electronic devices that interface to OEM mobile
handsets. This ensures measurements are realistic and comparable to actual user experiences.

Data collected during drive testing

Drive test equipment typically collects data relating to the network itself, services running on the
network such as voice or data services, radio frequency scanner information and GPS information
to provide location logging.
The data set collected during drive testing field measurements can include information such as:
Signal intensity
Signal quality
Interference
Dropped calls
Blocked calls
Anomalous events
Call statistics
Service level statistics
Quality of Service information
Handover information
Neighboring cell information
GPS location co-ordinates

Drive Test Methodology

Types of drive testing
Drive testing can broadly be categorized into three distinct topics:
Network benchmarking (Cluster, Region, City/Town, Highways, Railways)
Optimization and troubleshooting (Site/Cell, Cluster, Highways, Railways)
Service quality monitoring (Site/Cell, Cluster, Highways, Railways)
The result produced by drive testing for each of these purposes is different.

Coverage Problem
Bad coverage :
A network facing coverage problems has bad RxLev. RxQual can be bad at the same time.
Sometimes the RxLev can look OK on the street (i.e. from drive test) but coverage inside the
buildings can be poor due to building losses. Building losses can range from 10 to 30 dB or more.
.