UMTS Call Drop

UMTS Call Drop Analysis
ZTE University
Content
Definition of Call Drop

Reasons of Call Drop
Analysis of Call Drop
Parameters of Call Drop
Case of Call Drop
Type of Call Drop Definition
Call termination not through the normal hang up process,
that is dropped calls.
Tow types of call drop definition:
Definition of drive test indicators
Definition of network management indicators
Definition of Drive Test Indicators
The definition of drive test:
Call drop rate= Number of call drop times/Number of call setup
success times
Number of call setup success times+1:After the Alerting message
is received
Number of call drop times+1:(Air interface signaling at
the UE side)
The Connect ACK message is not received but the System
Information message is received.
After the Connect ACK message is received, RRC Release
message received and the reasons is Not Normal.
After the Connect ACK message is received, any of the CC
Disconnect, CC Release, CC Release Complete message
received and the reasons is Not Normal.
number of call setup

success times+1
UE Voluntarily Initiated Signaling Release
Definitions of Network Management Indicators
The definition of the network management:
CS _ CDR
CSRabrelTriggedByRNC
*100%
CSRABSetupSuccess
CSRabrelTriggedByRNC+1:(Iu interface signaling at the
RNC side)
When the RNC send the Iu Release Request or RAB Release
Request message to the CN.
Definitions of Network Management Indicators
RNC CN
RAB
RELEASE R EQ UEST
RNC CN
IU RELEASE REQUEST
Counters of Call Drop Reasons
Release Counter Reason
Type
C301230315 Iu connection release request by UTRAN for CS domain in cell,
Repeated Integrity Checking Failure
Release due to UE generated signalling connection release
Radio Connection With UE Lost
timer TRELOCoverall expiry
Iu C301230319 Iu connection release request by UTRAN for CS domain in cell,
Release Failure in the Radio Interface Procedure
O&M Intervention
Release due to Overload Control
Unspecified Failure
UTRAN Generated Reason
Counters of Call Drop Reasons
Release
Counter Reason
Type
RAB release number request by UTRAN in cell for CS

C301230361
domain,RAB pre-empted
C301230362
domain,Release due to UTRAN in cell Generated Reason
RAB RAB release number request by UTRAN in cell for CS
C301230363
release domain,Iu UP Failure
C301230364
domain,Release due to Overload Control
C301230365
domain,Unspecified Failure
Content

Case of Call Drop
Call Drop Reasons
Poor Coverage
Unconfigured Neighbor Cell
Handover
Interference
PSC Confliction
Engineering Error
Poor Coverage
Service Type Requirement of RSCP (dBm) Requirement of Ec/Io (dB)

AMR12.2K -105 -13
CS64K -100 -11
PS384K -95 -10
HSDPA -90 -8
RSCP and Ec/Io threshold for different services

Poor Coverage
The decision whether it is problem of uplink or downlink
poor coverage is based on the power of dedicated channel
before call drop.
UL Poor Coverage:
TX power reaches the maximum
UL BLER is poor
NodeB report RL failure
DL Poor Coverage:
TX power reaches the maximum
DL BLER is poor
Scanner:
If the RSCP and Ec/Io of the cell with the best coverage are poor,
you can infer that the coverage is poor.
Unconfigured Neighboring Cell
Missed neighbor cell.
Removal of key neighbor cells caused by combination of
macro diversity.
Untimely update of the external cell information.
Handover
The handover process is incomplete
Radio Environment becoming bad, UE can not receive the Active
Set Update
UE RNC
Measurement Report (1A event)
Active Set Update
Active Set Update Complete

Handover
Ping-pong Handover
In a short time, UE send different Report for delete or add cell A
UE RNC
Measurement Report (1B event,
Delete cell A)
Active Set Update (Delete cellA)
Measurement Report (1A event,

Add cell A)
Active Set Update (Add cell A)

Interference
Reasons for Pilot Pollution:
Cross-cell coverage of high Node-B
Node-B in ring layout
Signal distortion caused by street effect or strong reflection
Interference
Judgment of DL interference:
CPICH RSCP of the active set is large than -85dBm
Ec/Io is lower than -13dB
Reason of DL interference:
Pilot pollution
Unconfigured neighboring cell
Interference
Judgment of UL interference:
The average RTWP of an idle cell exceeds -100dBm
The max RTWP is around -90dBm
Reason of UL interference:
Intra-RAT interferences
Inter-RAT interferences.
Case-Interference
UL interference = -93(dBm)
Case-Interference
PSC Confliction
When analyzing such call drop, check Cell ID in the call
drop signaling besides PSCs because the neighbor
relation is identified by Cell ID.
PSC Confliction
Cell A and Cell B are configured as neighbor cell for each other.
Cell C and Cell B are not configured as neighbor cells for each other.
Cell A and Cell C have the same PSC.
PSC Confliction
Cell A is the neighbor cell of Cell B.

Cell D is the neighbor cell of Cell C.
Cell A and Cell D have the same PSC.
PSC Confliction
Cell B and Cell D are not configured as neighbor cell for each other.
Cell A is the neighbor cell of Cell B.
Cell E is the neighbor cell of Cell D.
Cell A and Cell E have the same PSC.
Engineering Error
Call drops caused by engineering error:
Reversely-connected antenna
An excessive VSWR
Multi-band antenna problem
Leakage of signals from indoor distribution system
Call drop caused by unsteady transmission
Case-Engineering Error
Content

Case of Call Drop
Common Analysis Methods for Call Drop
Analyzing Call Drops by DT
Analyzing Call Drops by Traffic Statistics
Analyzing Call Drops by DT
Call drop data
Call drop spots
Stability of the primary serving cell
RSCP and Ec/Io of the primary
serving cell
Reproducing of problems with DT
Analyzing Call Drops by Traffic Statistics
The commonly used KPI analysis
method is the TOP cell method,
which means the top cells will be
screened out according to certain
index, then these top cells are
optimized and then the top cells
are selected again. After several
repetitions, the related KPI can be
speedily converged.
Multi-Dimension Analysis
Multi-dimension analysis is carried out from different
perspectives.
For the call drop problem, not only the call drop itself, but
also related factors such as
access
handover
traffic statistics
time
RTWP
Multi-Dimension Analysis
Cell ID
Cell Name
CS Call Drop Rate [%]
Number of Successful CS RAB establishment
Total Abnormal Release
Repeated Integrity Checking Failure
Radio Connection With UE Lost
Abnormal Iu Released TRELOCoverall expiry
Number, by Cause Failure in the Radio Interface Procedure
Unspecified Failure
UTRAN Generated Reason
Release due to UTRAN in cell Generated Reason
Abnormal RAB Released
Iu UP Failure
Number, by Cause
Unspecified Failure
CS Traffic [Erl]
PS Traffic [Kbyte]
HSDPA RLC Throughput [Mbps]
Max Cell Freq RTWP [dBm]
Average Cell Freq RTWP [dBm]
Max Cell Freq Tcp [dBm]
Average Cell Freq Tcp [dBm]
Max HSDPA users in cell
Average HSDPA users in cell
Max HSUPA users in cell
Average HSUPA users in cell
Trend Analysis
Accident Analysis
Check the equipment alarm
and system log of this period to
find out hardware problems;
Check the transmission of this
period;
Check whether the upgrade or
cell blocking is performed
during this period;
Check whether there is an
occasion with abrupt high traffic
requirements such as a concert,
game, or exhibition.
Ranking Analysis
Ranking analysis
Ranking analysis is carried out through classifying data into top N and bottom N
data from a large amount of data.
Index Reason of failure for Handover Failure times Percent(%)
1 Failure when getting the decision of handover from database 0 0
2 Timeout for setup of service channel in handover 0 0
3 Failure for decision of NodeB hard handover 0 0
4 Failure when build the service channel 0 0
5 Timeout for waiting for the handover of UE complete 0 0
10 Other errors 3104 9.24
12 Basic channel switch, cannot find appointed frequency 0 0
13 Basic channel switch, failed to allocate the resource 0 0
14 Basic channel switch, failed to setup channel board 0 0
21 Not enough resource for channel 0 0
22 OVSF code is not engough 0 0
24 Timeout for handover of UE 29966 89.16
25 The frequency is configured in the neighbouring cell list 0 0
26 Overload for power allocation of the frequency for the service cell 0 0
27 There is no idle channel in service cell 0 0
29 There is not suitable frequency in service cell 0 0
30 Different reason of failure for several service cells 0 0
32 Can not find UE 416 1.24
34 Abnormal release in CN 9 0.09
Cause-and-Effect Analysis
For a certain effect, the cause-and-effect analysis is
performed to locate the causes that may result in the effect
and to determine the influence of the causes.
For example, the call congestion of a cell may be caused
by insufficient capacity of the hardware, of the downlink, or
of the uplink.
Content

Case of Call Drop
Optimization Methods for Call Drop
Engineer optimization:
Directional angle, downtilt, position of Antenna, type of Antenna,
Transmit power of BS, position of BS, new BS.
Radio parameter optimization:
Time to Trigger, CIO, threshold of enabling/disabling Compression
Mode, Maximum transmit power of DL RL, Threshold of Inter-
frequency and Inter-system.
Time To Trigger
Abbreviated Name TrigTime[MAX_INTRA_MEAS_EVENT]
Description This parameter indicates the time difference between having detected
the event generation and reporting the event. Only when the event
generation is detected and still meets all requirements of event
triggering after Time to trigger, the event can be triggered and
reported. The larger the value is, the stricter the judgment is for the
event to be triggered. The parameter should be set according to the
actual requirements. Sometimes, if it is set too large, the quality of
calls may decrease.
Range and Step (0, 10, 20, 40, 60, 80, 100, 120, 160, 200, 240,320, 640, 1280, 2560,
5000)ms
Default Value UE Event Report Parameters for CPICH Ec/No:
[200,640,320,320,200,200, 320]ms
UE Event Report Parameters for CPICH RSCP:
[200,200,200,200,200,200,200]ms
Detected Set Measurement Parameters for CPICH Ec/No: [200]ms
Detected Set Measurement Parameters for CPICH RSCP: [200]ms
Time To Trigger (TTT) refers to the interval between the detection and reporting of
events (1A, 1B, 1C, and 1D). The setting of TTT has an impact on the promptness of
handovers.
Cell Individual Offset
Abbreviated Name CellIndivOffset
Description An offset is allocated for each cell being monitored. The offset can be
positive or negative. Before the UE judges whether an event occurs,
adds the offset to the measurement result. If the PCPICH uses a
positive offset, the UE sends the measurement report just like
PCPICH is x dB better than the actual case. Or, if the PCPICH uses a
negative offset, the PCPICH report is limited. When the cell individual
offset is used, the corresponding cell is possibly (at least temporarily)
the target cell of the handover or removed from the active set.
Range and Step OMCR: [-10, 10] dB, step 0.5
RNC: D=(P+10)*2, [0, 40]
Default Value 0dB
A higher value of this parameter results in easier soft handovers, more UEs in the soft
handover state, and more used resources.
A lower value results in more difficult handovers.
The CIO has an impact on the non-best cell. In detail, the CIO is effective for 1a events
in neighboring cells and effective for 1b events in cells to be deleted.
Threshold of Enabling/Disabling Compression
Mode
Abbreviated Name ThreshUsedFreq[MAX_INTER_MEAS_EVENT]
Description This parameter indicates the absolute threshold that is required to be
configured for event 2b/2d/2f (used when judging the quality of the
currently used frequency.
Range and Step CPICH RSCP: [-115, -25] dBm, step 1dBm
CPICH Ec/No: [-24, 0] dB, step 1dB
Default Value UE Inter-frequency Event Report Parameters for CPICH Ec/No:
[-24,-13, -24,-13,-24,-8]dB
UE Inter-frequency Event Report Parameters for CPICH RSCP:
[-115,-95,-115,-95,-115,-80]dBm
The compression mode is used in inter-frequency and inter-system handovers.
The compression mode is enabled before the handover.
Currently, the compression mode is enabled by the 2D event and disabled by the 2F
event.
The measurement can be RSCP or Ec/Io. By default, the RSCP is currently used.
Maximum Downlink Transmit Power of Radio
Link
Abbreviated Name MaxDlDpchPwr
Description This parameter indicates the maximum downlink DPCH transmission
power. When performing the downlink inner loop power control, the
new transmission power must be smaller than or equal to the
configured DPCH Maximum DL Power. If the newly computed
transmission power is larger than the configured DPCH Maximum DL
Power, make it equal to the configured DPCH Maximum DL Power.
Range and Step [-35, 15] dB, step 0.1 dB
If call drop occurs frequently in a cell due to coverage problem, increase the maximum
downlink transmit power of services.
However, a user in the edge area may consume great transmit power, which affects
other users and reduces the downlink capacity of the system.
If users fail to access a cell due to heavy traffic, consider changing the value of this
parameter to a smaller value.
Link
Conversational DL 3.4kbps Signaling(AM): 0 dB
Conversational DL 13.6kbps Signaling:0dB
Conversational DL WAMR 6.60~23.85kbps: 0dB
Conversational DL 64kbps (PS Conversational Video): 3dB
Conversational DL NAMR 4.75~12.2kbps: 0dB
Conversational DL CS 28.8kbps: -6dB
Conversational DL CS 32kbps: -4dB
Conversational DL CS 64kbps: 3dB
Streaming DL CS 14.4kbps: -7dB
Streaming DL CS 64kbps: 3dB
Streaming DL PS 16kbps:-4dB
Streaming DL PS64kbps: 1dB
Interactive DL PS 8kbps:-8dB
Interactive DL PS 16kbps:-4dB
Interactive DL PS64kbps: 1dB
Background DL PS 8kbps:-8dB
Background DL PS 16kbps:-4dB
Background DL PS64kbps: 1dB
Link
Streaming DL CS64kbps: 3dB
Interactive DL PS 1.2Mbps: 4dB
Background DL PS 1.2Mbps: 4dB
Streaming DL PS 1.2Mbps: 4dB
Threshold of Inter-system handover
Abbreviated Name Thresh[MAX_RAT_MEAS_EVENT]
Description This parameter indicates the absolute threshold of the UTRAN cell
quality that UE uses to judge event 3a. The range and unit of the
parameter relate to the measurement quantity of UTRAN system.
Range and Step CPICH RSCP: [-115, -25] dBm, step 1dBm
CPICH Ec/No: [-24, 0] dB, step 1dB
Default Value UE Event Report Parameters for Own System CPICH Ec/No:
[-6,-24,-24,-24]
UE Event Report Parameters for Own System CPICH RSCP:
[-95,-115,-115,-115]
When the measured value of inter-system neighboring cell signal exceeds the
specified threshold, handover is triggered.
If you set this parameter to a small value, handover is triggered ahead of time. If
you set this parameter to a great value, handover is delayed.
Timer and Counter Related to Call Drop
Default
Name Description Value Range
Value
T312 of connection mode, that is, the time when
T312
the UE waits for L1 synchronization indicator when (1..15)s 1s
Connected
the special physical channel is set up
N312 of connection mode, that is, the number of
(1, 2, 4, 10, 20, 50,
N312 synchronization indicators that the UE should
100, 200, 400, 1
Connected receive continuously from L1 before the special
600, 800, 1000)
channel is set up successfully
Waiting time after the DPCCH channel set up in
T313 (0..15)s 3s
CELL_DCH mode loses synchronization
Maximum number of lost synchronization indicators (1, 2, 4, 10, 20, 50,
N313 20
that the UE receives continuously from the L1 100, 200)
Time of cell update, existing in T314-related radio (0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 12,
T314 4s
bearer when wireless connection fails 16, 20)s
Time of cell update, existing in T315-related radio (0,10, 30, 60, 180,
T315 30s
bearer when wireless connection fails 600, 1200, 1800)s
Maximum number of synchronization indicators (1, 2, 4, 10, 20, 50,
N315 that the UE receives continuously from L1 in T313 100, 200, 400, 1
activated state 600, 800, 1000)
Waiting time after initiating requests to access
T309 (1..8)s 3s
other RATs, such as GSM
Content

Case of Call Drop
Neighboring Relation Adjustment
Reason
High call drop rate caused by improper neighbor list configuration
Description
The call drop rate of the TRI135W-1 cell corresponding to RNC1 in
Libya is always around 3%, and no hardware alarm is generated.
The cell coverage is mainly on the sea.
After the neighbor relation is adjusted, the CS call drop
rate of TRI135W-1 decreases from 3 to 1.3%.
74
Main parameters:
Cells in the system
Troubleshooting process:
The cell with SC 9 is in the detection set and cannot be added to
the active set when the quality of the serving cell with SC 74 is
extremely poor. This is a typical unconfigured neighboring cell.
Solution:
Adjust the neighbor relation: Add the cell with SC 9 to the
neighbor list of the cell with SC 74.
Result:
In the same test, the cell with SC 9 is in the active set of the
serving cell with SC 74. When the signal cell with SC 9 is strong
enough, the UE hands over from the serving cell to the cell with
SC 9.
74
74
Soft Handover Parameter Optimization
Reason:
Low handover success rate because of improper soft handover
parameter configuration
Description:
The success rate of the handover from sector 1 (SC 436) of the
Shuqian Lu site to sector 2 (SC 434) of the Meihuacun hotel is low.
This area is within the Shuqian Lu section.
Main parameters:
Soft handover 1a/1b event handover threshold, trigger time
The signal quality of the Shuqian Lu section is poor and unstable because
there are overpasses in this section, Because the comparative threshold
decision algorithm is used, a cell with poor signal quality may be added to the
active set if the 1a threshold is excessively high. If the RNC sends the
ActiveSet Update Command message to instruct the UE to enter this cell, the
soft handover may fail because the radio link cannot be set up due to poor and
unstable signal quality of this cell.
Adjust the 1a/1b event handover threshold and trigger time
of cell 436.
Lower the 1a event handover threshold and shorten the
trigger time to ensure that the cells with good signal quality
can firstly enter the active set.
Raise the 1b event handover threshold and extend the
trigger time so that the cells are not deleted too early due
to drastic signal deterioration.
Result
After the parameter optimization, cell 434 of the BS-1 (Meihuacun
hotel site) can be added to the active set quickly and is not deleted
too early.
According to the drive test result from more than 100 times of
handover tests, the success rate of the handover between the BS-2
(Shuqian Lu site) and the BS-1 (Meihuacun hotel site) increases
greatly.
Data Configuration Optimization in 2G/3G
Handover
Reason
Call drop because of incorrect data configuration
Description
When the 2G/3G handover tests are performed at the boundary of
the 3G network, the handover from the 3G network to the 2G
network succeeds in the west to east direction, but the handover
fails in the east to west direction.
Main parameters
BSC ID, LAC, NCC, and BCCH of the 2G neighboring cell
fail 3G
2G
Handover
Troubleshooting process
Because the handover from 3G network to 2G network fails, you
should firstly check whether 2G neighboring cells are configured. If
all 2G neighboring cells are configured, go to the next step.
Record whether the 2G Sagem UE starts the compression mode
when the signal quality of a 3G UE is lower than the threshold for
starting the compression mode, and record the CI of the 2G cell
where the compression mode is started.
You can find that the UE starts the compression mode after the
preceding step is performed. The signaling is as follows:
Handover
However, after the UE starts the compression mode, the
repositioning fails. The signaling is as follows:
And the cause of the repositioning failure is as follows:
According to the preceding signaling analysis, you can

infer that the UE does not recognize the BSC of the 2G cell
during the 3G-to-2G handover. In this case, the failure may
be caused by unconfigured BSC ID or LAC.
Handover
Solution:
Check the BSC and LAC of the target 2G cell on the CN. You can
find that the LAC is not configured. Then, reconfigure the LACs of
all 2G neighboring cells on the CN.
Result:
After the data is configured again, all 3G-to-2G handovers succeed.
Suggestion for similar problems:
In the 3G-to-2G handover, the BSC ID, LAC, NCC, and BCCH of
2G neighboring cells must be configured in the 2G neighboring cell
database of the OMCR and on the CN.
Call Drop Case-Handover
Delete Cell 51 and

Cell 53
Report e1A to add

cell 51 and Cell 53
into Active Set after
0.4 second
Report e1a to add

cell 51,64,53,52 to
Active Set
Continue report e1a to add

stronger cells to Active Set
But UE cannot receive the
AcitiveUpdate message because
the poor signal of the cells in
ActiveSet.
Call Drop
Happened

UMTS Call Drop

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

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

UMTS Call Drop

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

UMTS Call Drop Analysis

Definition of Call Drop

number of call setup

RAB release number request by UTRAN in cell for CS

Definition of Call Drop

Service Type Requirement of RSCP (dBm) Requirement of Ec/Io (dB)

RSCP and Ec/Io threshold for different services

Active Set Update

Active Set Update Complete

Measurement Report (1A event,

Active Set Update (Add cell A)

Cell A is the neighbor cell of Cell B.

Definition of Call Drop

Definition of Call Drop

Definition of Call Drop

And the cause of the repositioning failure is as follows:

According to the preceding signaling analysis, you can

Delete Cell 51 and

Report e1A to add

Report e1a to add

Continue report e1a to add

You might also like