Interference Solutions

GSM Network Interference & Solutions
i
Contents
1 GSM Frequency Allocation....................................................................................................................... 1
2 Phenomena & Classification of Interference ........................................................................................... 3
2.1 Phenomena & Classification of Interference..................................................................................... 3
2.2 Internal interference.......................................................................................................................... 3
2.2.1 Interference due to unreasonable frequency planning............................................................ 3
2.2.2 Interference due to skip-zone coverage.................................................................................. 3
2.2.3 Interference due to equipment problem.................................................................................. 4
2.3 External interference......................................................................................................................... 5
2.3.1 Interference due to unreasonable setting of repeater.............................................................. 5
3 Flow of Handling Interference Problem.................................................................................................. 7
4 Analytical Methods of Interference Problem......................................................................................... 11
4.1 Statistical analysis of network performance indicators................................................................... 11
4.1.1 Statistics of interference band.............................................................................................. 11
4.1.2 Statistics of handover due to UL/DL interference................................................................ 11
4.1.3 Collection of UL/DL RQ samples during speeches............................................................. 11
4.2 Parameter checking and analysis.................................................................................................... 12
4.2.1 Checking of parameters related to transmitting power......................................................... 12
4.2.2 Checking frequency planning parameters............................................................................ 14
4.3 Investigation of hardware fault....................................................................................................... 14
4.3.1 Analysis of OMCR warning................................................................................................. 14
4.3.2 Checking of latent equipment fault...................................................................................... 15
4.4 Drive Test and Call Quality Test..................................................................................................... 15
4.5 Analytical method of external interference..................................................................................... 17
ii
4.5.1 Repeater checking.................................................................................................................17
4.5.2 Confirm external interference with SITEMASTER.............................................................17
4.5.3 Confirm external interference with NetTek Analyzer...........................................................19
5 Typical cases ..............................................................................................................................................21
5.1 Interference exists in a cell ..............................................................................................................21

1
1 GSM Frequency Allocation
GSM frequency includes EGSM/PGSM/DCS1800, whose allocation is shown
in Table 1-1.
Table 1-1 GSM frequency allocation
Frequency band UL frequency DL frequency Duplex interval Band width
Carrier
frequency
interval
EGSM+GSM900 880MHz ~915MHz 925MHz~960MHz 45MHz 35MHz 200kHz
DCS1800 1710MHz~1785MHz 1805MHz~1880MHz 95MHz 75MHz 200kHz

3
2 Phenomena & Classification of
Interference
2.1 Phenomena & Classification of Interference
If interference exists in a cell, the following phenomena may appear: poor
speech quality, on-and-off speech, metallic ring/noise, call drop and unable to
establish calls, which can be complained by subscribers or detected in DT;
changes on indicators, like sudden deterioration in call drop rate handover
success ratetraffic volumecongestion rate and interference band, can also
reflect interference in a cell.
Interference in GSM system falls into internal interference and external
interference, which is subdivided into UL interference and DL interference.
Internal interference refers to unreasonable frequency planning or system
hardware fault, which can result in decrease in service quality; external
interference refers to unknown signal sources, which seriously interfere the
network signal from outside and cause decrease in service quality.
2.2 Internal interference
Internal interference is mainly caused by the following factors: unreasonable
frequency planning, skip-zone coverage, equipment hardware problem.
2.2.1 Interference due to unreasonable frequency planning
If frequency and adjacent cell relation are set unreasonable in network
planning because of planning tools or human mistakes, interference will be
reflected in too large DL_RxQuality, MS unable to access into network, poor
speech quality, and call drop.
2.2.2 Interference due to skip-zone coverage
If engineering parameters and network parameters are not set correct in
planning, the actual cell coverage can greatly exceed requirement; too large
coverage will increase interference.
4
Setting of engineering parameters:
Engineering parameters mainly consist of antenna parameters. Antennas
differentiate from each other in terms of antenna gainhorizontal beamwidth
vertical beamwidthfront-to-back ratio, etc., and they are suitable for different
types of landforms and network coverage. Therefore, its very important to
choose the suitable antenna in accordance with the specific coverage
requirements. Any deviation of antenna down-tilt in planning or mishandle in
installation regardless of planning data will cause cell coverage to exceed the
actual coverage needs, which will result in interference to other cells and
influence network service quality. Therefore, when interference exists in
network, checking antenna parameters is a must.
Setting of network parameters:
Network parameters include: minimum access level, BTS transmission power,
MS max transmission power, handover thresholds, etc.. Improper setting of
these parameters will result in skip-zone coverage problem and interference
as well.
2.2.3 Interference due to equipment problem
Deterioration of antenna performance: antenna belongs to passive device, and
its not easy to be broken, but once it is damaged or its performance
deteriorates, poor speech quality will be resulted.
Header problem: GSM RF signal is micro wave signal. Poor contact between
any of these parts TRXCDUfeeder cableantenna will cause too large
VSWR and increase in inter-modulation, and interference as a result.
Inverse connection of antenna: this is a common problem, which will cause
dramatic discrepancy between the actual cell frequency and that set in
planning; co-channel and adjacent-channel interference, call drop and
handover problem will be resulted too. For network with fewer frequencies,
influence of inverse connection on network quality can be much more
remarkable.
TRX problem: if TRX performance decreases during operation because of
problem in production, TRX may enlarge circuit self-excitation, which will
cause problems like stronger interference, shrunk coverage and difficult
Chapter 2 Phenomena & Classification of Interference
5
access.
Clock failure: large deviation on BTS clock will lead to two results. On one
hand, itll make it difficult for MS to access BTSs, thus result in MS handover
failure or make MS unable to reside in cells under the BTS; on the other hand,
it makes the BTS unable to decode the MS signal, leading to error code. What
we need to note is that clock failure doesnt actually bring interference,
however, increased transmission error code will cause decrease in speech
quality.
CDU/divider fault: because active amplifier is used in CDU divider,
self-excitation is easy to be caused when problem occurs.
Spurious signals & intermodulation: if the out-band spurious signals in TRX
or power amplifier exceed standards, or the isolation of transmit-receive of
the duplexer in CDU is too small, interference to receive channel will be
caused. Intermodulation among passive devices like antenna and feeder
cables will be resulted as well.
2.3 External interference
External interference refers to interferences caused by wide-band repeater,
CDMA system (trailing signal), or signal jammer, but not due to equipment
problem or unreasonable frequency planning. This kind of interference is
difficult to detect without specific devices.
2.3.1 Interference due to unreasonable setting of repeater
Unreasonable setting of repeater can lead to interference to surrounding
signals. In order to save investment and increase coverage range, the small
BTSs in towns usually adopt repeater to amplify signals. However, currently
the most widely used repeater is 900MHz wideband amplifier, which directly
amplifies received signals and then transmits them; besides, BTS and repeater
are connected with radio method, and there are usually some problems in
repeater planning and site selection interference to signals around is easy to
be resulted.
Repeater interference falls into two types:
6
1. If the installation of repeater is not up to standard, there may not be
enough insulation between the donor antenna and the subscriber
antenna, and self-excitement is easy to be formed, thus the BTS
performance will be affected.
2. As for repeater which adopts wideband nonlinear amplifier, its
intermodulation indicator is far larger than that requested in the
protocol. If the power is high and the intermodulation quantity is large,
interference to surrounding BTSs is easy to be resulted.

3 Flow of Handling Interference
Problem
General flow of handling interference is shown in Fig 3-1:

Fig 3-1 Flow of handling interference

7
8
1. When interference exists, subscribers will complain about poor speech
quality, which can be detected by DT; speech will be on and off, and
there is metal noise during speech; its unable to establish calls and call
drops are easy to happen.
2. Check indicators like BER, RxQual statistics, idle interference band,
statistics of handovers due to UL/DL interference, etc.. Carry out
DT/CQT to confirm the cells and frequencies being interfered, when
its necessary.
3. When interference exists in several cells of an area:
First find out if any sites (incl. repeaters) are added recently, if all the
frequencies are re-planned or any changes on settings of parameters are
made; if there are no changes on network, we can deduce that the
interference is probably due to external factors, such as interferences
from CDMA system (trailing signal), signal jammer, etc.; as for
internal interference caused by changes on network configuration, we
can restore the configuration parameters or re-plan them; as for
external interference, we can use devices to investigate and locate
problems.
4. When interference exists in all carriers of a cell:
Its recommended to check VSWR, antenna, divider and duplexer, etc.;
check whether power parameter/skip-zone coverage parameter/antenna
parameters are set correct; check whether repeater is installed and
whether its setting is reasonable. If interference still exists after the
investigation, use frequency scanning meter to further locate the source
and eliminate the interference finally.
5. If interference just exists in some carriers:
We recommend checking of frequency planning data to locate the
carriers being interfered; check power parameter and engineering
parameters of antenna; observe OMCR fault warning, check hardware
like carriers, antenna, divider, duplexer, etc., focus on checking of
carriers. If interference still exists after these procedures, use frequency
scanning meter to further locate the source and eliminate the
Chapter 3 Flow of Handling Interference Problem
9
interference finally.

11
4 Analytical Methods of Interference
Problem
For interference, we can investigate and locate and solve the problem through
the following methods.
4.1 Statistical analysis of network performance indicators
4.1.1 Statistics of interference band
When TCHs are in idle status, UL noise/interference is constantly being
monitored by BTS, and the measurement result will be analyzed, and
interference level will be sent to BSC in 6 levels. The levels can be divided at
OMCR, whose default values are 10, 15, 20, 25, 63 -100dBm, -95dBm,
-90dBm, -85dBm and -47dBm. Through adjustment on the boundary of
interference band, we can find out the severity of interference. Interference
band of cell level is counted in basic measurement, and that of TRX level is
counted in TRX measurement.
4.1.2 Statistics of handover due to UL/DL interference
We can judge whether interference exists through statistics of handover
caused by UL/DL interference.
4.1.3 Collection of UL/DL RQ samples during speeches
RxQual is an indicator to reflect speech quality, which is based on error rate
and falls into 8 grades (07). In basic measurement, speech quality of all
grades (07)UL/DL is counted into RQ sample statistics, which clearly
reflects the situation when subscribers are influenced during speeches.

Fig 4-1 Corresponding relation between RxQual and Ber
4.2 Parameter checking and analysis
4.2.1 Checking of parameters related to transmitting power
Unreasonable setting of transmitting parameters like MsTxPwrMaxCch
PwrReductionBsTxPwrMi, etc. may lead to interference.
If MsTxMaxCCH (the max power level of control channels) is set too large,
serious adjacent channel interference may be caused to the serving cell by
MSs around the BTS, which impedes MSs under the cell to establish calls and
affects speech quality; if its set too small, it will be hard for MSs at
boundaries of the cell to seize channels and the external interference can be
more serious.
PwrReduction refers to the static power class of TRX. In addition to the TRX
transmitting power stipulated by PwrReduction, a static power control shall
also be imposed, which means an extra restriction on the base of max
transmitting power, then we will get the real max transmitting power of TRX
(Pn), which can actually be used by TRX in the cell. Dynamic power control
functions on the base of max transmitting power (Pn) obtained after static
power control.
Minimum BS power level (BsTxPwrMin): when BTS communicates with MS,
its transmitting power is controlled by network. Network sets BTS power
through power command. BTS output power must be the transmitting power
12
Chapter 4 Analytical Methods of Interference Problem
13
stated by power command. When BSC is under power control, BsTxPwrMin
is the minimum transmitting power to be used by BTSs in the cell, and the
max power level of BTS is Pn.
Checking of parameters related to skip-zone coverage
In network planning, if engineering parameters and network parameters are
not set correct, too large coverage can be resulted, hence the interference
seriousness will greatly increase. Incorrect setting of parameters like MS
minimum receive level, BTS transmitting power, MS max transmitting power,
handover thresholds, etc. can lead to skip-zone coverage and interference.
RxLevAccessMin (minimum receive level allowed to access): in order to
prevent MS from accessing into network when its receive signal level is
rather low (access into network at low receive signal level can not guarantee
normal speeches), which causes unsatisfactory communication quality and
wastes radio resource of network, it is stipulated in GSM system that when
MS accesses into network, its receive level must be larger than a certain
threshold, the minimum receive level allowed to access (RxLevAccessMin).
MS max power level (MsTxPwrMax): when MS communicates with BTS, its
transmitting power is controlled by network. Network sets MS power through
power command, which is transmitted on SACCH (SACCH has two head
bytes, one of which is for power control, the other is for Time Advance). MS
must extract the head byte for power control from the UL SACCH, and adopt
the transmitting power stipulated by power control as output power. If MS is
not able to output the power stipulated, then the power it outputs shall be the
closest to the stipulated. When BSC is in power control, MsTxPwrMax is the
max transmitting power to be used by MSs in the cell area.
Checking engineering parameters of antenna
Engineering parameters mainly refer to those related to antenna. Signals of
different types of antenna vary in terms of gains, horizontal lobe, vertical lobe,
and front and back ratio, etc.; with these different features they suit for
different areas and network coverage. Therefore, its essential to choose
suitable antenna according to specific coverage requirements. If there is
deviation in antenna down-tilt during planning, or if equipment installation is
not up to standard according to planning data, it may result in real cell
14
coverage larger than the actual needs, which may interfere with other cells
and affect network service quality. Therefore, when interference occurs,
checking antenna parameters is a must.
4.2.2 Checking frequency planning parameters
As for the cell with possible interference, check frequency planning of the
cell and its neighbor cells. Find out distribution of BTSs and each cells
azimuth angle, draw a topological diagram and mark BCCH/TCH frequencies
and BSIC; compare the planned frequencies with those actually configured in
BSC, check whether discrepancy exists.
For boundary areas, its hard to get frequencies plan of external areas. In
order to precisely locate the interference in marginal networks, we can block
co-channel cells in the network; meanwhile, make tracing test with DT
devices at areas with emergence of large DL_RxQuality. If co-channel
interference does exist, the DL_RxQuality value shall become smaller after
the blocking of co-channel cells, thus we can adjust the cells frequencies to
eliminate the interference.
According to topological diagram of frequency planning, we can deduce if
possible co-channel/adjacent-channel interference exists in the network.
4.3 Investigation of hardware fault
4.3.1 Analysis of OMCR warning
Both BTS transmitting and receiving of signals are performed through
antenna-feeder system, therefore, installation quality and performance of the
system will have direct influence on not only speech quality, but radio signal
coverage and transceivers performance. When there is fault with antenna
transmitting system, transmitting signal will experience loss and BTS
coverage will be affected. If the fault is rather serious, BTS will shut the
transceivers connected with it. When there is fault with antenna receiving
system, the signals it receives from MS will become weak. If MS receive
signal within the BTS coverage is strong, it will be hard for the MS to seize
radio channel of the BTS, and speech quality will be affected and even call
drops can be resulted.
15
When antenna insulation isnt up to the standards, transmitting signal from
one transmitter may invade into another transmitter, and inter-modulate with
its transmitting signal, and the two signals will create a new combined
frequency signal, which will be transmitted along with normal signals. In this
case, interference to receiver will be inevitably resulted. Therefore,
up-to-standard installation of antenna-feeder system is the precondition for
ensuring speech quality. Besides, antenna-feeder system is the base for good
error control.
When checking hardware faults, first look at warning analysis at OMCR,
focus on checking whether fault warnings or VSWR warnings exist .
4.3.2 Checking of latent equipment fault
BTS wireless problems are mainly caused by defective UL unit parts. The
following procedures can be adopted to judge whether defective UL unit parts
is cause of problem:
Block the two inputs of TRX, observe UL interference band; if interference
band class is 0, its proved that TRX hasnt brought UL interference.
Input the two stimulations of TRX without connecting them to power
amplifier, observe UL interference band; if interference band class is 0, it
means external interference doesnt exist.
If serious UL interference exists even though there is no stimulation imposed
on power amplifier, disconnect the rack top feeder cables, and observe UL
interference band; if the interference isnt fading at all, then we can conclude
that the problem is with the divider unit.
If the UL interference disappears when the rack top feeder cables are
disconnected, we can infer that the problem has nothing to do with
equipment.
4.4 Drive Test and Call Quality Test
Drive test and call quality test are field test methods to reflect actual
interference situation. In CQT, we can actually feel the speech quality at areas
being interfered, and we can see call quality class on the test phone. If
coverage level is good, while in the mean time speech keeps on and off with
metallic noise or the speech quality class displayed on test phone remains
high, we can deduce that interference exists. Drive test can effectively detect
the location and degree of interference, which is convenient for analyzing the
cause of interference. Refer to Fig 4-2.

Fig 4-2 Drive test
Different Drive Test software differs in parameters. For example, TEMS uses
BER&C/A, SQI and C/I, while ANT Technologies uses RXQUAL&FER to
illustrate interference.
C/I: refer to Table 4-1 for corresponding relation between co-channel C/I and
call quality.
Table 4-1 Corresponding relation between C/I and call quality
RxQual 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
C/I[dB] 23 19 17 15 13 11 8 4
SQI: SPEECH QUALITY INDEX is the comprehensive description of BER,
FER and HANDOVER EVENT by TEMS. Corresponding relation between
SQI and call quality is shown in Fig 4-3.
16

Fig 4-3 Corresponding relation between SQI and call quality
4.5 Analytical method of external interference
4.5.1 Repeater checking
Check engineering parameters or consult with operators (companies) to find
out if there is a repeater installed in the interfered area. If there is, carry out
frequency sweep and make further observations; or propose closing the
repeater and keep observing to see if the interference is solved.
4.5.2 Confirm external interference with SITEMASTER
SITEMASTER, which we are currently using, has the function of frequency
scanning with low sensitivity, so it can not be directly used in interference
analysis test. A Low-power amplifier is added to the front of SITEMASTER
by its producer, which increase the frequency-sweep generators ability to
analyze interference, thus our cost to purchase it is increased and as well as its
price. With the aim to utilize the SITEMASTER we currently possess in
interference analysis, we can connect the input port of frequency-sweep
generator to the output port of divider. ( refer to Fig 4-4)
17

Fig 4-4 Use SiteMaster to confirm external interference
For specific introduction of SiteMaster usage and operation, please refer to
the attached manual. We can adjust the frequency sweep bandwidth of
SiteMaster (referred to as SM hereafter) to 890915MHz, and observe the
background noise in the UL frequency band. If persistent UL level exists in a
certain frequency band, we should find out if UL interference exists or the
background noise is too loud. For example, in
Fig 4-5, persistent strong level exists within the bandwidth of 20MHz, we can
conclude that serious UL interference exists.

Fig 4-5 Analysis of SiteMaster frequency spectrum
18
4.5.3 Confirm external interference with NetTek Analyzer
Make UL interference analysis of GSM 900M UL frequency band with
frequency spectrometer-NetTek Analyzer(TEK company). The model we
usually use is YBT250.
4.5.3.1 Connection method
In order to obtain interference information with TEK frequency scanning
meter, there are several methods of connecting equipment; one is to use its
own test antenna, another is through connection to the output port of divider,
as shown in Fig 4-6:

Fig 4-6 Connection to divider output port
CDU
YBT 250
Feeder
Antenna
4.5.3.2 Oscillogram of interference
Fig 4-7 is the output graph of an interference test analysis, which shows the
frequency and strength of interference. This output is the average value of the
test results of one minute. Persistent observation is needed for confirming if
the interference continues.

Fig 4-7 YBT250 test graph I
19
4.5.3.3 Time scatter graph of interference
Common frequency spectrometer possesses no ability to record continuously,
but those produced by TEK provide an output function. See Fig 4-8:

Fig 4-8 YBT250 test graph II
After a certain period of test, we can see from the figure that at 909.780 there
is a persistent UL signal of about -73dBm. TEK frequency spectrometer
features in three dimensional recording of time, frequency and signal, which
is convenient for fixing the problem. The vertical bold red lines in the graph
represent the time duration, signal level strength and frequency (vertical
axis=time, horizontal axis=frequency, colour spectrum=strength).

20

5 Typical cases
5.1 Interference exists in a cell
Problem description
Since March 2005, an operator has received a lot of complaints about poor speech
quality; sometimes calls even couldnt be setup; the caller could hear the counterpart,
but could not be heard.
Problem analysis
At the beginning we thought it was caused by poor signal. After on-site test, we found
it wasnt coverage problem. For example, when the level tested by MS was -85dbm,
UL call problem occurred, which was displayed as on-and-off speech, silence, metallic
noise and current noise, so we concluded that the problem was caused by interference.
Performance statistics at OMCR showed that the rank of idle channel interference band
was high.
Problem handling
Used interference tester YBT250 to test and eliminate interference.
Analysis of interference source in YBT250 test just connected to common CDU
Test connection graph:

Fig 5-1 Connection diagram of common CDU
Test result
21
Antenna
Common
CDU
YBT 250
Feeder
From Fig 5-2, we can see that CDMA wave form was strong when wave filter wasnt
used, the peak value reached about -35dbm (average about -60dbm), which was close
to GSM UL wave band and could cause UL interference to GSM network.
Average wave form of YBT250 test

Fig 5-2 Interference wave form graph I
From the figure above we can see that when wave filter wasnt used, the wave form of
both CDMA and GSM background noise was strong, thus interference occurred.
Three dimensional graph of interference tested by YBT250
22
Chapter 5 Typical cases

Fig 5-3 Scatter graph of interference time I
From Fig 5-3, we can see when wave filter wasnt used, wave form of CDMA was
strong, and that of GSM background noise on the right was high for a long period of
time.
Analysis of interference source in YBT250 test connected to common CDU+
CDMA wave filter

Fig 5-4 Connection graph with CDMA used
Test result:
In the test graph shown bellow, we can see that through common CDU and CDMA
wave filter, CDMA wave form was reduced to around -100dbm, but it still couldnt be
eliminated, thus CDMA frequency band still caused interference to the marginal area of
23
Antenna
Common
CDU
CDMA wave
filter
Feeder
YBT 250
GSM UL.
Refer to Fig 5-5:

Fig 5-5 Wave form of interference II
From Fig 5-5, we could see when CDMA wave filter was used, CDMA wave form
obviously became weak, but that at some points was still strong, and the background
noise in GSM frequency band became less as well.
Three dimensional graph of interference tested by YBT250
24

Fig 5-6 Scatter graph of interference time II
This graph illustrates that when wave filter was adopted, the UL interference in GSM
frequency band clearly became less.
Analysis of interference source in YBT250 test connected to IRCDU+ CDMA
wave filter

Fig 5-7 Connection graph of IRCDU+CDMA wave filter
Test result:
In Fig 5-8, the wave filtering effect of combination of IRCDUCDMA is much better
than that of other combinations. This combination can effectively filter CDMA waves
to below -104dbm. This kind of filtering effect can help completely avoid CDMA
25
Antenna CDMA wave
filter
IRCDU
YBT 250
network interfering GSM UL network.
The test result is shown in Fig 5-8:

Fig 5-8 Wave form of interference III
Fig 5-8 shows that when IRCDU+CDMA wave filter was adopted, CDMA waves can
be thoroughly filtered out, and there was no interference to GSM network any more,
and the background noise in GSM UL was reduced too.
Three dimensional graph of interference tested by YBT250:
26

Fig 5-9 Scatter graph of interference time III
From Fig 5-9, we can see that the result of wave filtering was good and stable; during
the test period, CDMA interference was almost eliminated.
Summary: the interference source was from CDMA system. Through comparisons of
tests above, we can see after IRCDU+CDMA wave filter was used, call quality
improved obviously.
27

Interference Solutions

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Interference Solutions

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

GSM Network Interference & Solutions

You might also like