DESCRIPTION 1/1551-CRT 240 09 Uen B

A-Interface Cause Codes

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Contents
1 General
1.1 Revision Information
1.2 Introduction

2 Messages Sent from the BSC

2.1 Clear Request

3 Glossary

4 Reference List

1 General

1.1 Revision Information

This document is based upon 1/1551-CRT 240 09, revision A.

The document is changed as below:

 More detailed explanation that statistic counters for dropped

connections are not stepped according to cause value, is added in Section
2.1.1.

 Some editorial changes. Chapter 3 and 4 are added.

1.2 Introduction

In some 48.008 messages sent between the BSC and the MSC the Information
Element (IE) Cause is included (see Reference [1]). The purpose of the IE is to
explain to the receiving node why a message is sent. It can be an order to act on
a connection or a resource, or it can be to explain why a given order could not be
executed.

In this document the values of IE Cause of message CLEAR REQUEST is

described. In Section 2.1.1 the relation between CLEAR REQUEST and statistic
counters is also described.

2 Messages Sent from the BSC

2.1 Clear Request

2.1.1 General

The CLEAR REQUEST message is sent to the MSC when BSS has detected a fault
that severely affects the connection. The message contains the IE Cause that
indicates the reason for the release.

When CLEAR REQUEST is sent to the MSC, at least one statistic counter is
stepped indicating that a connection is dropped. The counters for dropped calls
are not related to the cause value sent in the CLEAR REQUEST message. Which
counter to be stepped is only decided according to type of channel, channel rate
and subcell. Additional statistic counters are stepped if urgency state applies.
Independent of cause value the BSC checks if urgency state is indicated for the
dropped connection. If urgency state is indicated, some counter indicating
urgency condition is stepped. Which counter depends on the type of urgency
state, type of channel and channel rate (see Reference [2]).

2.1.2 Cause values

The following cause values can be sent from the BSC in CLEAR REQUEST.

Cause Reason Detected by

0=Radio Air interface BSC
Interface
message Excessive TA
failure
Too many measurement generations missing

Too many measurement generations missing

and excessive TA
Air interface BSC

MS lost at Assignment Command or Handover

Command
Air interface BTS
 T200 expired

Unsolicited DM response in multiple frame

established state

Sequence error
HW, GS fault BSC/TRC
1=Radio Air interface, for prioritized mobile that is BSC
Interface queued
Failure
Excessive TA

Too many measurement generations missing

Too many measurement generations missing

and excessive TA
32=Equipment HW BSC/TRC
Failure
Transcoder resource fault

Other equipment failure

Abis BSC/BTS

LAPD link disturbance

LAPD link fault

TRA or transmission device fault

BTS fault report class 1

Abis BTS

Transmission failure
Ater BSC/TRC

Transmission setup failure timeout on Ater

SCCP connection failure

Reset Circuit from TRC

Terrestrial resource failure

Manual intervention BSC/TRC

Blocking of transcoder
Manual intervention BSC

Blocking BPC
 Load BPC

Function change BPC

New SW started BPC

Air interface BTS

Connection failure to MS at handover

Air interface BSC

Terrestrial resource failure

32=Equipment Other BSC
Failure
(continue) Operational recovery failed

The BPC is being created or is about to be

deleted

Reconfiguration of BTS equipment 1

Reconfiguration of BTS equipment 2

TAS system error

TRXC failure

TGC changeover failure

Other
33=No Radio No radio resource available, timeout of BSC
Resource assignment timer (T_ASSREQ) for priority
Available connection
34=Requested A-interface, terrestrial resource unavailable BSC
terrestrial
resource
unavailable
41=Preemptio Preemption BSC
n
80=Terrestrial A-interface, terrestrial resource allocated BSC
circuit already
allocated
86 Excessive TA (SDCCH) BSC
87 Excessive TA (TCH/F) BSC
88 Excessive TA (TCH/H) BSC
89 Suddenly lost connections (TCH/F) BSC
90 Suddenly lost connections (TCH/H) BSC
91 Suddenly lost connections, overlaid subcell BSC
(TCH/F)
92 Suddenly lost connections, overlaid subcell BSC
(TCH/H)
98 Low signal strength down or uplink per cell BSC
(SDCCH)
99 Low signal strength down or uplink per overlaid BSC
subcell (SDCCH)
100 Low Signal Strength, bothlink (TCH/F) BSC
101 Low Signal Strength, bothlink (TCH/H) BSC
102 Low Signal Strength, overlaid subcell (TCH/F) BSC
103 Low Signal Strength, bothlink, overlaid subcell BSC
(TCH/H)
104 Low Signal Strength, downlink (TCH/F) BSC
105 Low Signal Strength, downlink (TCH/H) BSC
106 Low Signal Strength, downlink, overlaid subcell BSC
(TCH/F)
107 Low Signal Strength, downlink, overload subcell BSC
(TCH/H)
108 Low Signal Strength, uplink (TCH/F) BSC
109 Low Signal Strength, uplink (TCH/H) BSC
110 Low Signal Strength, overlaid subcell (TCH/F) BSC
111 Low Signal Strength, uplink, overlaid subcell BSC
(TCH/H)
112 Low quality, down or uplink per cell (SDCCH) BSC
113 Low quality, down or uplink per overlaid subcell BSC
(SDCCH)
114 Bad quality, bothlink (TCH/F) BSC
115 Bad quality, bothlink (TCH/H) BSC
116 Bad quality, bothlink, overlaid subcell (TCH/F) BSC
117 Bad quality, bothlink, overlaid subcell (TCH/H) BSC
118 Bad quality, downlink (TCH/F) BSC
119 Bad quality, downlink (TCH/H) BSC
120 Bad quality, downlink, overlaid subcell (TCH/F) BSC
121 Bad quality, downlink, overlaid subcell (TCH/H) BSC
122 Bad quality, uplink (TCH/F) BSC
123 Bad quality, uplink (TCH/H) BSC
124 Bad quality, uplink, overlaid subcell (TCH/F) BSC
125 Bad quality, uplink, overlaid subcell (TCH/H) BSC

The cause values 86 - 125 can only be received when reporting of Dropped Call
Reason to the MSC is activated (command RAEPC). If Dropped Call Reason to the
MSC is inactive the cause value 0 or 1 is received instead.

3 Glossary
BPC
Basic Physical Channel

BSC
Base Station Controller

BSS
Base Station System
BTS
Base Transceiver Station

HW
Hardware

IE
Information Element

LAPD
Link Access Protocol on the D-channel

MSC
Mobile Services Switching Centre

TA
Timing Advance

TGC
Transceiver Group Controller

TRA
Transcoder and Rate Adapter

TRC
Transcoder Rate Adaptor Controller

TRXC
Transceiver Controller

4 Reference List

[1] 3GPP TS 48.008, (GSM Specification) Mobile Switching Centre - Base Station
System (MSC-BSS) Interface Layer 3 Specification.
[2] Counters in the Measurement Data Base for Traffic and Event Measurements
in Radio Network, (Function Specification)