16 - OMO333000 BSC6900 GSM V9R13 Handover Problem Analysis ISSUE 1.00

GSM Handover
Problem Analysis
www.huawei.com
Copyright © 2011 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Objectives
 Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:
 Understand the Measurement Points and Performance
Index of handover
 Analyze, locate and solve handover problems
Copyright © 2011 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved. Page1
Contents
1. Handover Process Flow
2. Measurement Points and Performance Index of Handover
3. Analysis of Handover Problem
4. Handover Cases
Handover Process Flow
MSC2
Search target
cell（7）
Handover MSC1
judgement（4）
Inter-MSC H.O
BSC1 CGI（6）（8）
H.O request（7）
BTS1 Channel active

（5） BSC2
Preprocessed MR
（3）
BTS2
BA2 table（1）
MS
MR（2）
Contents
2. Measurement Points and Performance Index

of Handover
4. Handover Cases
Measurement Points of Intra BSC Handover
MS BTS1(target) BSC BTS2 or BTS1(original) MS MSC
Measurement Report from MS
CH300: Internal Intra-Cell Handover Requests

CH320: Incoming Internal Inter-Cell Handover Requests
Channel_Activate CH310: Outgoing Internal Inter-Cell Handover Requests
Channel_Activate_Ack
Handover Command (Old FACCH)

CH301: Internal Intra-Cell Handover Commands
CH321: Incoming Internal Inter-Cell Handover Responses
Handover Access (New FACCH)
Handover_Detect (Incoming Internal Inter-Cell Handovers)
PHYINFO CH311: Outgoing Internal Inter-Cell Handover Commands
PHYINFO
First SABM
Establish_IND
UA
Handover Complete (New FACCH) CH303: Successful Internal Intra-Cell Handovers

CH323: Successful Incoming Internal Inter-Cell Handovers
CH313:Successful Outgoing Internal Inter-Cell Handover
Handover_Performed
Performance Index of Intra BSC Handover (Cell)
RH303B:Internal Handover Success Ratio per Cell ＝
CH303: Successful Internal CH323: Successful

Intra-Cell Handovers + Incoming Internal
Inter-Cell Handovers
×100％
CH300: Internal Intra-Cell CH320:Incoming Internal
Handover Requests + Inter-Cell Handover
Requests
Internal Handover Success Ratio per Cell <= Intra-BSC Radio Handover Success Rate
RH303C: Intra-BSC Radio Handover Success Rate ＝
CH303: Successful Internal CH323: Successful

Intra-Cell Handovers + Incoming Internal
×100％
CH301: Internal Intra-Cell CH321:Incoming Internal
Handover + Inter-Cell Handover
Commands Responses
Performance Index of Intra BSC Handover (BSC)
ZK3174: Internal Handover Success Ratio per BSC ＝
ZCH303:Successful ZCH323: Successful Internal

Internal Intra-Cell + Incoming Cell
Handovers per BSC Handovers per BSC
×100％
ZCH300: Internal Intra- ZCH320: Internal Incoming
Cell Handover + Cell Handover
Requests per BSC Requests per BSC
Internal Handover Success Ratio per BSC <=

Radio Handover Success Ratio per BSC
ZK3175: Radio Handover Success Ratio per BSC＝
ZCH303:Successful ZCH323: Successful Internal

Internal Intra-Cell + Incoming Cell
Handovers per BSC Handovers per BSC
×100％
ZCH301:Internal Intra-Cell ZK3190:Internal Incoming
Handover Commands + Cell Handover
per BSC Commands per BSC
N
Internal Incoming Cell Handover Commands per BSC ＝ Incoming Internal Inter - Cell Handover Responses
i 0
Measurement Points of Inter-BSC Handover
MS BTS(Original) BSC(Original) MSC BSC(Target) BTS(Target) MS

Measurement Report
Measurement Report
Handover Required
CH330: Outgoing External Handover Request
Inter-Cell Handover Requests CH340:Incoming External Inter-Cell Handover Requests
Channel_Active
Channel_Active_ACK
Handover_Request_ACK
Handover Command CH341:Incoming External Inter-Cell Handover Responses
CH331:Outgoing External Inter-
Cell Handover Commands
Handover Access
Handover Detect
Handover Complete
Handover Complete
CH343:Successful Incoming External Inter-Cell Handovers
CH333:Successful Outgoing Clear Command (HO Successful)
External Inter-Cell Handovers
RF Channel Release
Clear Complete
Performance Index of Incoming External Inter-
Cell Handover(Cell)
TH343: Success Rate of Incoming External Inter-Cell Handovers＝

×100％
CH340:Incoming External Inter-Cell Handover Requests
Success Rate of Incoming External Inter-Cell Handovers <=

External Incoming Radio Handover Success Ratio per cell
RH303D: External Incoming Radio Handover Success Ratio per cell ＝

CH341:Incoming External Inter-Cell Handover Responses
×100％
Performance Index of Incoming External Inter-
Cell Handover (BSC)
ZK3178: External Incoming Cell Handover Success Ratio per BSC ＝
ZCH343:Successful External Incoming Cell Handovers per BSC

×100％
ZCH340:External Incoming Cell Handover Requests per BSC
External Incoming Cell Handover Success Ratio per BSC <=

External Incoming Cell Radio Handover Success Ratio per BSC
ZK3179: External Incoming Cell Radio Handover Success Ratio per BSC＝
ZCH343:Successful External Incoming Cell Handovers per BSC

×100％
ZK3191:External Incoming Cell Handover Commands per BSC
N
External Incoming Cell Handover Commands per BSC ＝ Incoming External Inter - Cell Handover Responses
i 0
Performance Index of Outgoing External
Inter-Cell Handover(Cell)
TH333: Success Rate of Outgoing External Inter-Cell Handover ＝
CH333: Successful Outgoing External

×100％
CH330:Outgoing External Inter-Cell
Handover Requests
Success Rate of Outgoing External Inter-Cell Handover <=

External Outgoing Radio Handover Success Ratio per cell
RH303E: External Outgoing Radio Handover Success Ratio per cell＝
CH333: Successful Outgoing External

CH331:Outgoing External Inter-
×100％
Cell Handover Commands
Performance Index of Outgoing External
Inter-Cell Handover(BSC)
ZK3176: External Outgoing Cell Handover Success Ratio per BSC ＝
ZCH333:Successful External Outgoing

Cell Handovers per BSC
×100％
ZCH330:External Outgoing Cell
Handover Requests per BSC
External Outgoing Cell Handover Success Ratio per BSC <=

External Outgoing Cell Radio Handover Success Ratio per BSC
ZK3177: External Outgoing Cell Radio Handover Success Ratio per BSC ＝
ZCH333:Successful External Outgoing

Cell Handovers per BSC
×100％
ZCH331:External Outgoing Cell
Handover Commands per BSC
N
External Outgoing Cell Handover Commands per BSC ＝ Outgoing External Inter - Cell Handover Commands
i 0
Performance Indices of BSC Overall Handover
ZK3180: Handover Success Ratio per BSC ＝

[(ZCH313: Successful Internal Outgoing Cell Handovers per BSC+
ZCH333:Successful External Outgoing Cell Handovers per BSC )/
(ZCH310: Internal Outgoing Cell Handover Requests per BSC +
ZCH330:External Outgoing Cell Handover Requests per BSC )]*100%
Handover Success Ratio per BSC <=

Radio Handover Success Ratio per BSC
ZK3181: Radio Handover Success Ratio per BSC＝
[(ZCH313:Successful Internal Outgoing Cell Handovers per BSC +

ZCH333:Successful External Outgoing Cell Handovers per BSC )/
(ZCH311:Internal Outgoing Cell Handover Commands per BSC +
ZCH331:External Outgoing Cell Handover Commands per BSC] *100%
Measurement Points of Inter-MSC Handover
MS BSC-A MSC-A MSC-B VLR-B BSC-B MS

HO-Required Prepare_HO Allocate_HO_NUM
Send_HO_Report
Send_HO_Report_ACK
HO-Request
Prepare_HO_ACK HO-Request-ACK
IAI
HO-Command ACM
HO-Access
Process_Access_Signalling
HO-Complete
Send_End_Signal
Clear-Command
Clear-Complete
Send_End_Signal_ACK
Contents
3.1 Types of handover problems
3.2 Locating handover problem
3.3 Causes of handover problem
Types of Handover Problems
 Types － Possible Results
 No handover － Result in call drop
 Handover failure － Affect the conversation quality, and call drop
 Frequent handover － Affect the conversation quality and

increase load of the system
Method of Locating Handover Problem
 Traffic statistics analysis
 Handover Failure/Attempt/Success Measurement per BSC
 Incoming/Outgoing Internal/External Inter-Cell Handover Measurement per Cell
 GSM Cell to GSM Cell Incoming/Outgoing Handover Measurement
 Neighbor Cell Level Measurement per Cell
 View alarm
 Board fault, transmission, clock, etc.
 Drive test
 Signaling analysis
 Abis interface, A interface, E interface
Causes of Handover Problem
 Coverage
 Interference
 Antenna and feeder system
 BTS hardware
 Transmission
 BSC hardware
 Data Configuration
 A interface
 Target cell congestion
 Cooperation with equipment of other manufacturers
Causes of Handover Problem
Causes Types No H.O H.O Failure Frequent H.O
Coverage √ √ √
Interference √
Antenna and feeder system √
BTS hardware √
Transmission √
BSC hardware √
Data configuration √ √ √
A interface √ √ √
Target cell congestion √ √
H.O between equipment of √

different manufactures
Problem in Coverage and Interference
 Coverage
 Poor coverage: forest, complicated topography, building direction
and indoor coverage
 Isolated site: no adjacent cell
 Over shooting: island effect result in no adjacent cell
 Interference
 MS can not access network or receive any signal.
Island Effect Results in Handover Failure
There is no
adjacent cell, so
handover becomes Non-adjacent
impossible. Adjacent
cell
cell N1
Service cell
Non-adjacent
cell Adjacent
Cell N2
Non-adjacent Adjacent
cell Cell N3
Isolated island
resulting from
over shooting
Problem in Antenna and Feeder System
 High Voltage Standing Wave Ratio (VSWR)
 Antenna is not properly installed
 Antenna is not parallel
 The azimuth and downtilt are not correct
 Poor antenna isolation value
 RF cables, connectors are loose or incorrect
Problem in BTS Hardware
 DDPU,DCOM, splitter/combiner failure
 TRX failure
 DTMU failure
 Clock failure
 Internal communication cable failure
Problem in Transmission and BSC Hardware
 Transmission
 Transmission is not stable
 Serious BER in transmission
 Fault of BSC Hardware

 Clock board: the faulty clock board causes clock inconsistency
between base stations.
Problem in Data Configuration
 Unsuitable setting of handover hysteresis and handover priority.
 Unsuitable setting of P, N value of statistic time
 Unsuitable frequency and adjacent relationship configured in

BA1/BA2 table
 CGI, BCCH and BSIC in "External Cell Description Table" are

different from those in corresponding BSC.
 The DPC of BSC in MSC "LAI and GCI Table" is incorrect.
Problem in A Interface and Target Cell
 A interface problem
 Basically, the insufficient link resource results in the abnormal
handover, as well as abnormal communication.
 Circuit pool numbers are different, causing the handover failure.
 Target cell congestion

 The target cell is congested, which causes the handover failure.
Then the target cell should be expanded or reduce its traffic .
Problem in Cooperation between manufactures
 Handover between equipment of different manufacturers

 The signalings at A interface, E interface of the opposite
equipment don’t match with our equipment and cannot be
recognized or supported, which causes the handover failure,
such as voice version, handover number, addressing mode
(CGI or LAI).
Contents
2. Measurement Points and Performance Index of Handover
4. Handover Cases
Handover Case 1
 Fault Description
 A 1800 cell of a dual-band network (all the 1800 cells belong to one
BSC), the incoming handover success rate of intra-BSC and inter-BSC
are low from the beginning of the service, while the outgoing handover
success rate of intra-BSC and inter-BSC are normal.
Handover Case 1
 Analysis
 Register the traffic statistics and analyze whether the low handover
success rate is due to the failure of handover from all cells to this cell or
from some few cells.
 If handover fails from some few cells to this cell, check the handover data
and confirm whether there is co-channel and co-BSIC problem.
 If handover fails from all other cells to this cell, check the data of this cell.
 If data problem is excluded, check the hardware carefully. Check the
alarm or perform drive test to locate uplink fault or downlink fault. Check
step by step and find out the cause.
Handover Case 1
 Solution
 Register the incoming inter cell handover measurement function and find that
the successful rate of handover from all other cells to this cell is low, although it
is not always 0 percent. Via careful data checking, confirm that the data of this
cell is correct.
 Perform drive test and find that the downlink signal is normal but almost all
handovers to this cell are failure. But near the BTS, the handover is successful
occasionally, perhaps the problem is with the uplink signal.
 Check the uplink channel, antenna, DDPU, there are no problem. Change the
TRX, everything is normal.
 Conclusion
 The symptom is that the uplink and downlink at Um interface are unbalanced
so uplink voice quality is bad.
Handover Case 2
 A subscriber complains that the signal in a place on his way to office
is not good. Call drops occurs several times when he drives his car.
The phenomenon is that the conversation is suddenly interrupted.
The handset signal bar indicates no signal, and then normal again
after several seconds.
Handover Case 2
 Analysis
 Neighbor cell relationship
 Isolated island effect
 Geographical factors of buildings and mountains result in the

weak signal
 The signal of a cell suddenly fades drastically due to buildings
 BTS equipment or intermittent transmission
Handover Case 2
 Solution
 Via DT, it shows that the signal of several cells is D
strong and is -70 to -80 dBm, so it is unlikely that 3
the problem is caused by bad signal. A

2
 We obtain further information from the subscriber B
3
and know that the driver at that time drive very fast.
Therefore it supposed that this problem may occur
under high speed movement. Then perform drive
test again under high speed for several times and 1
the call drop recurs. C
Handover Cases 2
 Solution
 Cell 1 of BTS C is far away from cell 3 of BTS D
and the two cells are not defined as neighbor cells. D
Thus an isolated island is generated, handover 3
cannot be performed, and call drop arises. The A

special thing about this isolated island effect is that 2
B
it occurs at high speed. Therefore troubleshooting is 3
difficult.
 After a neighbor relation is added, this problem is
solved. On the other hand, because this problem
1
occurs due to insufficient time to hand over, the
C
handover decision time is reduced so that the
handover can happen timely.
Handover Cases 3
 This case occurs during the drive test at a new site.
 Even when the receive level of serving cell B is higher than the receive
level of neighboring cell M, handover is triggered from cell B to cell M.
Handover Cases 3
 Analysis
 The possible causes of the handover from a cell with a higher level to a
cell with a lower level cell are as follows:
1. The PBGT handover threshold for traffic adjustment is lower than 64.
2. The handover is emergency handover due to the heavy load or low
quality of the original cell with the higher level.
3. The priority of the cell with the higher level is lower than the priority of
the cell with the lower level.
Handover Cases 3
 Solution
 Analyze the drive test data and find that the downlink receive
quality and level of the serving cell are normal. Thus, the handover is not
associated with the downlink receive quality and level.
 Check the data configurations and find that the handover due to heavy load
is disabled. Thus, the handover is not due to heavy load.
 Check the BSC parameter configurations. The result shows that the
threshold for the PBGT handover from cell B to cell M is 68 and that the
handover hysteresis is 4. Thus, the handover is not PBGT handover.
Handover Cases 3
 Solution
 Check the priority settings of the cells. The result shows that cell B is at level 2
on layer 3 and that cell M is at level 1 on layer 3. Check the inter-layer
handover threshold and hysteresis. The result shows that the inter-
layer handover threshold is 20 and that the inter-
layer handover hysteresis is 5. Thus, when the receive level of cell M is higher
than -85 dBm, handover is initiated from cell B to cell M.
 Modify the priority level of cell B to level 1. In this way, the cells are at the same
priority level. The handover problem is solved.
Handover Cases 4
 At a suburban area in city A, Huawei BTS3012 M-2 cell, incoming
handover success rate lower than 70%, the number of incoming
handover failures at busy hours is greater than 35.
Handover Cases 4
 Analysis
 The hardware such as clock board is checked and no problem is found.
 Register the traffic measurement of the cell incoming handover, it is found that
most of the handover failures occur from the external N-1 cell of the BTS of
company S.
 The field drive test shows that in times of handover failure, there occurs a
neighbor frequency in the neighbor cell frequency list. It is suspected that the
handover failures are caused by downlink inter-frequency interference.
 We trace and analyze the handover failure signaling and finds that sometimes
the handover failures occur when the MS receives the handover command
and sends access pulses to the target cell and sometimes the handover
failures occur when the MS reports the SABM frame.
Handover Cases 4
 Solution
 Therefore the conclusion is that the MS fails to correctly decode the
physical message due to the downlink inter-frequency interference,
or the MS fails to receive the UA frame from the target cell, resulting
in handover failure.
 The cell frequency is planned again and is changed from 113 to 121.
The problem is solved.
Handover Cases 4
 Handling Procedure
 The BTS hardware alarms are checked.
 The cell incoming handover traffic measurement is registered.
 Drive test to trace the signaling.
 The cell frequency is modified.
 The traffic measurement is checked and it is confirmed that the number of
incoming handover failures decreases and the incoming handover success
rate reaches 92%.
 Suggestion and Summary

 The downlink interference is not represented in the interference band and the
range affected by the partial downlink interference is small. We may miss the
faulty place during the drive test due to selection of the drive route. It is
desirable to perform careful drive test on the abnormal cells.
Handover Cases 5
 One BSC6000 has very low HO attempt & during many drive
test no HO at all.
 KPI indicate that there is very low HO attempt with good success
rate.
 From Drive test using TEMS, we found out “Missing Neighbor
Detection” message appears in neighbor list when MS still try to
make HO to serving cell.
 The figure below and the corresponding KPI statistics table is
presented as below.
Handover Cases 5
Handover Cases 5
 Analysis
 Neighbors cell configuration is incorrect
 Data configuration has some problem, such as “NCC Permitted”
Handover Cases 5
 Solution
 Compared with other BSC, found out the handover attempts are less than
other BSCs even under the same condition.
 Checked the neighbor cell configuration, for some cells, there were some
neighboring cells missing, but after adding, the problem still existed.
 Checked "NCC permitted" , we found that the configuration in the problem

BSC is set to be 11110000, that is, enabling NCC 4~7 handover while
disabling NCC0~3, but the neighboring cells' NCC is 0~3.
 Changed “NCC Permitted” to be 11111111, the problem is solved.
Handover Cases 5
 Suggestions and Summary:
 “NCC Permitted” parameter is an important parameter to impact on

handover but always been neglected, and if the similar phenomenon
happened, this is a clue to solve this problem.
Handover Cases 6
 A GSM network, where one MSC is attached with two BSC, is all
configured with Huawei equipment. When the two BSC are cutovered,
the successful handover rate from BSC1 to BSC2 is 0, but the
opposite is normal. Intra-BSC1 and intra-BSC2 handover are normal.
0 successful
BSC1 handover rate BSC2
Normal successful
handover rate
Handover Cases 6
 Analysis
 Register “outgoing inter-cell handover measurement function” of
BSC1 and “incoming inter-cell handover measurement function”
of BSC2.
 Check the data related to handover of BSC1 and BSC2.
 Analyze signaling of handover failure.
Handover Cases 6
 Solution
 Check all data of inter-BSC handover: external cell description data
table, BA2 table, CGI of MSC. No problem is found.
 Trace A interface message of BSC1 and BSC2. After BSC1 sends

"HO-REQUIRED", BSC2 has not received "HO-REQUEST" message,
but opposite is normal.
 The path of data search: MSC goes to "LAI and GCI Table" according
to the CGI of the target cell in "HO-REQUIRED" message, and sends
HO request to the correct BSC base on the description of the DPC of
the cell given in the table.
Handover Cases 6
 Solution
 The HO-REQUEST message, which should have been sent to BSC2,
is sent to BSC1. It is DPC error. After correction, the problem is solved.
 Conclusion
 For the data of inter-BSC handover, besides checking whether CGI at
MSC side is consistent with that of opposite and BSC, check whether
the DPC is correct. MSC look up target DPC based on the CGI of the
target cell. When the DPC is incorrect, "HO-REQUEST" will be sent
to wrong BSC.
Handover Cases 7
 After all BTSs of a certain BSC32 are swapped to the BSC6000, the PBGT
handover proportion decreases from the average value 60% to 40%. The
number of bad quality handovers increase. It is assumed that the problem is
caused by the interference and coverage.
 Note:
 The PBGT handover proportion is one of the key indexes that the operator
uses to evaluate the network coverage quality.
 PBGT Handover Proportion = PBGT Handover Requests/Total Handover

Requests
Handover Cases 7
 Analysis
 The possible causes of the decrease in the PBGT handover
proportion are as follows:
 The number of other handovers with a higher priority than that
of the PBGT handover increases. The possible causes are the
interference or coverage problems.
 The data configurations of PBGT handover change, thus
causing an increase in the condition of the PBGT handover and
a decrease in the number of PBGT handover attempts.
 16-bit value affects the priorities of many neighbor cells with
good levels.
Handover Cases 7
 Solution
 The problem may be caused by interference and coverage. Check the related
traffic measurement. The traffic indexes of the interference band before and after
the swap are low. The BTS hardware is operational.
 Check the parameters related to the PBGT handover, PBGT Handover Threshold
and Decision Time. The parameters of other handovers with higher priories than
PBGT handover are proper.
 Check the settings of the 16-bit priority. The inter-layer handover threshold and
hysteresis are greatly different from those configured on the original BSC. For the
existing network, the initial threshold is set to 25 and the hysteresis is set to 3. For
the original BSC, the initial threshold is set to 40 and the hysteresis is set to 1.
Handover Cases 7
 When analyzing the handover traffic measurement, the impacts of the

factors in the handover algorithm on the handover priority and
handover triggering conditions should be taken into account.
 The mapping of all parameters at the cell level is essential to the BSC
swap. If parameters are not configured according to the original
network, the network indexes may be affected. There are multiple
parameters at the cell level.
Handover Cases 8
 Huawei BTSs belong to Huawei BSC independently are inserted into a GSM900
network. After the cutover, the user complains that Huawei BTS handover is not
good and that the BSC outgoing handover success rate is below 85%. The drive
test shows that the serving cell is Huawei cell A and that then drive toward cell B.
The receiving level of cell A is -80 dBm (no downlink power control), while the
receiving level of the neighbor cell B of another BSC is -60 dBm. Handover does
not happen until MS passes across the cell B.
Non-Huawei BSC
Huawei BSC
No handover for
a long time？
-80dBm -60dBm
Huawei
Cell A Cell B
Handover Cases 8
 Analysis
 The reason that the receiving level of the neighbor cell is strong
enough to prevent handover is as follows:
 The BA2 table has the BCCH frequency of cell B but the handover
data, including parameters such as external cell CGI, BCCH, BSIC,
and "whether co-MSC“ are wrong.
 Congestion of cell B results in no handover.
 Other parameters are set incorrectly, resulting in no handover.
Handover Cases 8
 Solution
 Drive test shows that handover does not happen. To verify reasonableness of
the data, test MS is used to perform the forced handover. Handover succeeds.
 The traffic statistic of the non-Huawei BSCs is checked and confirm that there is
no congestion in the target cell B.
 Via drive test, it is found that all the new cells of Huawei BSC have this problem.
It is suspected that the problem is caused by a common parameter.
 The traffic measurement is analyzed and it is found that no PBGT handover

happens in the new BSC, while only edge handover happens when the edge
handover condition is satisfied, resulting in serious handover delay.
Handover Cases 8
 Solution
 One of PBGT handover condition is target cell must be the first position in the
16bit criterion. If “Co-BSC/MSC Adj” is set to YES, the cells that do not
belong to the same BSC/MSC are sorted at the last positions. Therefore the
PBGT handover of the BSC outgoing handover does not happen. After “Co-
BSC/MSC Adj” is set to NO, the problem persists.
 The data is further checked and it is found that the default parameter
configuration shows that internal cells of Huawei BSC are "layer 3, priority 1"
and the external cells are "layer 3, priority 2". Because PBGT handover only
happens at the same layer and the same priority, the default configuration
does not trigger PBGT handover.
 After changing all internal cells priority of Huawei BSC from 1 to 2, it shows
that PBGT handover happens by analyzing the traffic measurement. Drive test
shows that BSC outgoing handover is not delayed.
Handover Cases 8
 Note that the following two default parameters need to be modified in
the BTS and BSC insertion plan
1. Set “Co-BSC/MSC Adj” to NO
2. If there is no requirement for traffic balance, set the layer and priority of
the internal cells and external cells to the same layer and the same
priority.
Handover Cases 9
 The drive test of a network in an office shows that in the drive test in a
county, there is a strange phenomenon: when the receiving level of
the current serving cell (cell A) is as high as –45 dBm, the call still
hands over to a cell (cell B) with low level of –78 dBm. Viewed from
geographical location, this place should not be covered by cell B. The
frequency planning of the network is tight frequency reuse. Therefore
the conversation quality becomes worse after handover.
Handover occur from

high level to low level！
-45dBm -78dBm
Cell A Cell B
Handover Cases 9
 Analysis
 There are the following reasons that can lead to handover from a
high-level cell to a low-level cell.
 To adjust the traffic, the PBGT handover threshold is set to a value less
than 64.
 When emergent handover occurs, such as BQ handover (Because the

uplink quality is bad for interference, BQ handover occurs).
 Though the downlink signal level of the current cell is strong, the uplink
signal level is weak and already reaches the handover threshold.
 The layer and priority of the low-level cell is higher than those of the high-
level cell.
Handover Cases 9
 Solution
1. Check BSC data configuration
 It is found that the [PBGT HO Threshold]=70 and [Inter-cell HO

Hysteresis]=3. Therefore the handover is not a PBGT handover.
2. The drive test data shows that when a handover is triggered, both
the downlink receiving quality and the downlink receiving level of MS
in the serving cell are good.
 This excludes handover caused by downlink receiving quality

and level.
Handover Cases 9
 Solution
3. Check the cell priority
 It is found that cell B is at layer 3 with priority 1 while cell A is at layer 3 with
priority 2. [Inter-layer HO Threshold]=25 and [Inter-layer HO Thysteresis]=5.
 Therefore when the receiving level of cell B is greater than –80 dBm,
handover is triggered. The handover is a better cell handover from a cell in
a high receiving level to a cell in a low receiving level.
 In the initial data configuration, the BSC internal cells are designed at layer
3 with priority 1 and the external cells are at layer 3 with priority 2. The
engineer ever changed data during routine maintenance.
 The priority of cell A is changed to 1, and the priority of cell B is changed to
2, the handover becomes normal.
Handover Cases 10
 Huawei mini BTSs and NT BTSs are mixed in the network, so a few
Huawei BTSs are located in an area with many NT BTSs.
 One day the customer complains that during a drive test, handing
over from a Huawei mini BTS to a neighbor cell (NT BTS) is very
difficult, and that the handover request is not sent even when the
receiving level of the neighbor cell (NT BTS) is much stronger than
that of the serving cell (Huawei mini BTS). Sometimes handover does
not happen and the call drops.
 All the cells are in the same layer and the same priority. [Co-
BSC/MSC Adj] is YES. [Inter-layer HO Threshold]=25, and [Inter-layer
HO Thysteresis]=3.
Handover Cases 10
 Analysis
 Firstly, we suspected that the problem of failure to send handover
request is caused by improper neighbor cell relationship of the serving
cell or by incorrect frequencies in the BA1 table and BA2 table.
 The check result shows that the neighbor cell relationship is right
and that the frequencies are correct.
Handover Cases 10
 Analysis
 Secondly, since [Co-BSC/MSC Adj] is set to YES, compare the 16bit
value between serving cell and neighbor cell.
Rx_Lev In the same 14th bit 13th ~ 12th bit 10th ~5th bit
BSC
>= –88 dBm
Serving Cell / 0 00 0
< –88 dBm
Serving Cell / 1 00 0
>= –82 dBm
Neighbor Cell Yes 0 00 0
>= –82 dBm
Neighbor Cell No 0 01 0
< –82 dBm
Neighbor Cell Yes or No 1 00 0
①. All the cells are in the same layer and the same priority, and in the same MSC.
②. [Co-BSC/MSC Adj] is YES
③. [Inter-layer HO Threshold]=25(-85dBm), and [Inter-layer HO Thysteresis]=3dB
Handover Cases 10
 Analysis
 Thirdly, the geographical environment around the mini BTS is complex
and P/N = 5/4s, respectively.
 These values are large. Therefore sometimes when the MS receiving

level is lower than –88 dBm, the level decreases so rapidly due to the
complex terrain that call drop happens before handover succeeds.
 Therefore P/N are changed to 3/2s, respectively. In this case, handover

is triggered very quickly at low level.
Handover Cases 10
 Solution
 The handover performance measurement is registered and it is
found that the cell has handover request and that the handover
success rate is high.
 The BSC incoming and outgoing handover performance
measurement is registered and handover happens normally between
the cell and a NT cell.
 Drive test shows that when serving cell is Huawei mini BTS and the
serving level is below –80 dBm, handover does not happen even
when the signal of the neighbor cell is much stronger than that of the
serving cell. But when the signal of the serving cell is –90 dBm,
sometimes handover happens and succeeds, sometimes due to
terrain reason, the level decreases so rapidly that handover does not
happen in time and result in call drop at last.
Handover Cases 10
 Solution
 It is confirmed that all the neighbor cells have configured in the
BA1/BA2 table and the corresponding frequency is correct.
 The handover-related parameter setting of the cell is configured to be
the same as that of other cells. The parameters that affect inter-BSC
cell handover are mainly checked and it is found that [Co-BSC/MSC Adj]
is set to YES and that P/N time of the edge handover and PBGT
handover are 5s/4s, respectively.
 The [Co-BSC/MSC Adj] is modified to NO and the P/N time of the edge
handover and PBGT handover are changed to 3s/2s, respectively.
 DT shows that handover happens when the MS receiving level is high.
Thank you
www.huawei.com

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GSM Handover

Copyright © 2011 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

 Analyze, locate and solve handover problems

2. Measurement Points and Performance Index of Handover

3. Analysis of Handover Problem

BTS1 Channel active

2. Measurement Points and Performance Index

3. Analysis of Handover Problem

Measurement Report from MS

CH300: Internal Intra-Cell Handover Requests

Handover Command (Old FACCH)

Handover Complete (New FACCH) CH303: Successful Internal Intra-Cell Handovers

RH303B:Internal Handover Success Ratio per Cell ＝

CH303: Successful Internal CH323: Successful

RH303C: Intra-BSC Radio Handover Success Rate ＝

CH303: Successful Internal CH323: Successful

ZCH303:Successful ZCH323: Successful Internal

Internal Handover Success Ratio per BSC <=

ZK3175: Radio Handover Success Ratio per BSC＝

ZCH303:Successful ZCH323: Successful Internal

MS BTS(Original) BSC(Original) MSC BSC(Target) BTS(Target) MS

TH343: Success Rate of Incoming External Inter-Cell Handovers＝

CH343:Successful Incoming External Inter-Cell Handovers

Success Rate of Incoming External Inter-Cell Handovers <=

RH303D: External Incoming Radio Handover Success Ratio per cell ＝

CH343:Successful Incoming External Inter-Cell Handovers

ZCH343:Successful External Incoming Cell Handovers per BSC

External Incoming Cell Handover Success Ratio per BSC <=

ZCH343:Successful External Incoming Cell Handovers per BSC

CH333: Successful Outgoing External

Success Rate of Outgoing External Inter-Cell Handover <=

RH303E: External Outgoing Radio Handover Success Ratio per cell＝

CH333: Successful Outgoing External

ZCH333:Successful External Outgoing

External Outgoing Cell Handover Success Ratio per BSC <=

ZCH333:Successful External Outgoing

ZK3180: Handover Success Ratio per BSC ＝

Handover Success Ratio per BSC <=

ZK3181: Radio Handover Success Ratio per BSC＝

[(ZCH313:Successful Internal Outgoing Cell Handovers per BSC +

MS BSC-A MSC-A MSC-B VLR-B BSC-B MS

3.2 Locating handover problem

3.3 Causes of handover problem

 Handover failure － Affect the conversation quality, and call drop

 Frequent handover － Affect the conversation quality and

Antenna and feeder system √

Target cell congestion √ √

H.O between equipment of √

 Isolated site: no adjacent cell

 Over shooting: island effect result in no adjacent cell

 Antenna is not properly installed

 Antenna is not parallel

 The azimuth and downtilt are not correct

 Poor antenna isolation value

 RF cables, connectors are loose or incorrect

 Internal communication cable failure

 Serious BER in transmission

 Fault of BSC Hardware

 Unsuitable setting of P, N value of statistic time

 Unsuitable frequency and adjacent relationship configured in

 CGI, BCCH and BSIC in "External Cell Description Table" are

 The DPC of BSC in MSC "LAI and GCI Table" is incorrect.

 Circuit pool numbers are different, causing the handover failure.