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BSC3119 Nokia BSC/TCSM, Rel. S12, Product Documentation, v.

Soft Channel Capacity in BSC

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Soft Channel Capacity in BSC

The information in this document is subject to change without notice and describes only the product defined in the introduction of this documentation. This document is intended for the use of Nokia's customers only for the purposes of the agreement under which the document is submitted, and no part of it may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or means without the prior written permission of Nokia. The document has been prepared to be used by professional and properly trained personnel, and the customer assumes full responsibility when using it. Nokia welcomes customer comments as part of the process of continuous development and improvement of the documentation. The information or statements given in this document concerning the suitability, capacity, or performance of the mentioned hardware or software products cannot be considered binding but shall be defined in the agreement made between Nokia and the customer. However, Nokia has made all reasonable efforts to ensure that the instructions contained in the document are adequate and free of material errors and omissions. Nokia will, if necessary, explain issues which may not be covered by the document. Nokia's liability for any errors in the document is limited to the documentary correction of errors. NOKIA WILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE IN ANY EVENT FOR ERRORS IN THIS DOCUMENT OR FOR ANY DAMAGES, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL (INCLUDING MONETARY LOSSES), that might arise from the use of this document or the information in it. This document and the product it describes are considered protected by copyright according to the applicable laws. NOKIA logo is a registered trademark of Nokia Corporation. Other product names mentioned in this document may be trademarks of their respective companies, and they are mentioned for identification purposes only. Copyright Nokia Corporation 2007. All rights reserved.

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Contents

Contents
Contents 3 List of tables 4 List of figures 5 Summary of changes 7 1 2 3 3.1 3.2 3.3 4 Overview of Soft Channel Capacity in BSC 9 Requirements for Soft Channel Capacity in BSC 11 Technical description of Soft Channel Capacity in BSC 13 BSC radio network configuration with Soft Channel Capacity in BSC Radio channel allocation with Soft Channel Capacity in BSC 14 Interworking 16 User interface of Soft Channel Capacity in BSC 23 13

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List of tables Table 1. Table 2. Table 3. Table 4. Maximum number of TCHs per BCSU 13 14

Maximum number of simultaneously active TCHs per BCSU Number of active TCHs depending on the activation type Soft Channel Capacity interworking 17 15

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List of figures

List of figures Figure 1. Figure 2. Example of active traffic channel limits per BCSU Example of cell capacity assurance algorithm 16 14

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Summary of changes

Summary of changes

Changes between document issues are cumulative. Therefore, the latest document issue contains all changes made to previous issues.

Changes made between issues 3-1 and 3-0


Information on Inter-System Direct Access has been removed from Technical description of Soft Channel Capacity in BSC, as it is no longer relevant.

Changes made between issues 3-0 and 2-2


Chapter Overview of Soft Channel Capacity in BSC
Other related topics in BSC/TCSM documentation have been updated.

Chapter Technical description of Soft Channel Capacity in BSC


Nokia BSC3i High Capacity Base Station Controller has been added to tables 1 and 2. CS connection of DTM call has been added to table 3.

Changes made between issues 2-2 and 2-1


Chapter Technical description of Soft Channel Capacity in BSC Trunk Reservation has been added to table 4. Chapter User interface of Soft Channel Capacity in BSC Error code TOO MANY SCC CHANNEL PER AMR HR CHANNEL IN BSCU has been replaced with error code AMOUNT OF SOFT CHANNELS IN BSC EXCEEDS AMR HR LICENCE CAPACITY.

Changes made between issues 2-1 and 2-0


Chapter User interface of Soft Channel Capacity in BSC

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Counters of Soft Channel Capacity measurement and Traffic measurement have been added.

Changes made between issues 2-0 and 1-0


Chapter Overview of Soft Channel Capacity in BSC
Information on licensing added.

Chapter Requirements for Soft Channel Capacity in BSC


Information on half rate TRX licences removed. Information that Soft Channel Capacity requires that AMR HR is in use added.

Chapter Technical description of Soft Channel Capacity in BSC


Figure 2 changed: information on TRX 4 assured TCH capacity added to BTS 4.

Chapter User interface of Soft Channel Capacity in BSC


New sections Error codes,Alarms, and Counters added. The document has also been revised throughout to comply with the latest documentation standards.

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Overview of Soft Channel Capacity in BSC

Overview of Soft Channel Capacity in BSC


Soft Channel Capacity increases the traffic channel (TCH) limit on the BSC2i and BSC3i platforms. The existing limit of the number of traffic channels per BSC is doubled. You are allowed to configure all the radio traffic time slots of all the half rate (HR) capable TRXs to dual rate (DR) support. The overall traffic processing capacity of the BSC is not increased. The traffic processing capacity of the BSC remains on the level defined in Product Descriptions. Soft Channel Capacity is a licence-based software. Its use is controlled by a capacity licence based on the number of TRXs. With one TRX licence you can have eight additional AMR HR channels. For more information on Licensing, see Licensing in BSC.
Benefits

With Soft Channel Capacity you can fully utilise the AMR HR application software in the existing networks without deploying more BSCs. With Soft Channel Capacity it is possible to configure all radio traffic time slots to dual rate support.
Related topics in description
.

Requirements for Soft Channel Capacity in BSC Technical description of Soft Channel Capacity in BSC User interface of Soft Channel Capacity in BSC

Other related topics in BSC/TCSM documentation


.

Plan
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Transmission . Nokia BSS Transmission Configuration

Reference . Counters

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1 Traffic Measurement 2 Resource Availability Measurement . 109 Soft Channel Capacity Measurement Parameters . BSS Radio Network Parameter Dictionary Printouts/Error codes . General Error Messages of System
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Descriptions . Product Descriptions . Product Description of Nokia BSC2i and BSCi High Capacity Base Station Controller . Product Description of Nokia BSC3i High Capacity Base Station Controller . Functional Area Descriptions . Radio Network Performance . Radio Channel Allocation . Traffic Reason Handover in BSC . Operability . Licensing in BSC . Feature Descriptions . Radio Network Performance . GSM-WCDMA Interworking . Common BCCH Control in BSC . Enhanced Speech Codecs: AMR and EFR . Direct Access to Desired Layer/Band . Data . (E)GPRS in BSC . HSCSD and 14.4 kbit/s Data Services in BSC . Value Added Services . Wireless Priority Service in BSC

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Requirements for Soft Channel Capacity in BSC

Requirements for Soft Channel Capacity in BSC


Software requirements

Soft Channel Capacity requires that AMR HR is in use.


Hardware requirements

Soft Channel Capacity requires BSC2i or BSC3i. In BSC2 the existing limit on number of traffic channels per BSC is not changed.
TRXSIG Capacity

The restrictions set by the TRXSIG capacity are also valid with Soft Channel Capacity. You should not create more radio channels per TRX than recommended in Nokia BSS Transmission Configuration.
Related topics

Overview of Soft Channel Capacity in BSC

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Technical description of Soft Channel Capacity in BSC

3
3.1

Technical description of Soft Channel Capacity in BSC


BSC radio network configuration with Soft Channel Capacity in BSC
With Soft Channel Capacity the limit of the number of traffic channels (TCHs) per BCSU is doubled. The new limits are shown in table Maximum number of TCHs per BCSU.

Table 1. BSC type


BSC2i BSC3i 660

Maximum number of TCHs per BCSU Number of TCHs in the BCSU


1024 1760 3200

BSC3i 1000/2000

With these new limits it is possible to configure all radio traffic time slots to dual rate support. Increasing the limits means that more TCHs can be created in the radio network than are allowed to be activated simultaneously. This is extra TCH capacity.
Related topics

Overview of Soft Channel Capacity in BSC

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3.2

Radio channel allocation with Soft Channel Capacity in BSC


Maximum number of simultaneously active traffic channels per BCSU

The limits of the number of simultaneously active traffic channels (TCHs) per BCSU are shown in table Maximum number of simultaneously active TCHs per BCSU.

Table 2. BSC type


BSC2i BSC3i 660

Maximum number of simultaneously active TCHs per BCSU Number of simultaneously active TCHs in the BCSU
512 880 1600

BSC3i 1000/2000

The number of active traffic channels per BCSU is maintained in the BSC. The Radio Resource Management part of the BSC controls the usage of traffic channels. If the number of active traffic channels in the BCSU reaches the limit value, it is not possible to activate a new traffic channel in the TRXs controlled by that BCSU until an active traffic channel has been released. Below is an example of active traffic channel limits per BCSU.

BSC2i BCSU 1 BCSU 1: 600 TCHs created 512 TCHs active BCSU 2: 500 TCHs created 500 TCHs active BCSU 3: 600 TCHs created 450 TCHs active

BTS 1 TRX 1 TRX 2 TRX 3

BCSU 2

BCSU 3

Figure 1.

Example of active traffic channel limits per BCSU

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Technical description of Soft Channel Capacity in BSC

In the example above it is not possible to allocate a traffic channel in TRX 1 or in TRX 2. In BCSU 1 the maximum number of traffic channels is already activated. In BCSU 2 all the traffic channels are already activated. It is possible to allocate a traffic channel only in TRX 3. If TRX 3 happens to be in use already, it is not possible to allocate a traffic channel in the cell even if there were free channels in TRX 1. The principles of calculating the number of active traffic channels are described in table Number of active TCHs depending on the activation type.

Table 3. Activation type


Full rate single slot CS call Half rate single slot CS call 2 time slot multislot CS data call 3 time slot multislot CS data call 4 time slot multislot CS data call (E)GPRS territory time slot Dynamic SDCCH time slot CS connection of DTM call

Number of active TCHs depending on the activation type Number of active TCHs
1 1 2 3 4 1 1 1

Cell capacity assurance

Cell capacity assurance algorithm ensures that a sufficient number of traffic channels can be activated in each cell of the network at any time even if there is extra TCH capacity created in the radio network. This algorithm assures that the minimum number of the calls that can be set up in each cell of the network at any time is equal to the number of the created TCH TSLs in the cells, that is, the cell capacity assurance level is 100%. Below is an example of the cell capacity assurance algorithm.

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Soft Channel Capacity in BSC

BSC2i BTS 1: assured capacity 6 TCHs 2 active TCHs BTS 1 TRX 1 BCSU 1 BTS 3 TRX 3 BTS 3: assured capacity 6 TCHs 2 active TCHs

BTS 2: assured capacity 6 TCHs 2 active TCHs

BTS 2 TRX 2

BCSU 2

BTS 4 TRX 4 TRX 5

BTS 4: TRX 4 assured TCH capacity activated

BCSU 1: 600 TCHs created 500 TCHs active BCSU 2: 500 TCHs created 490 TCHs active

Figure 2.

Example of cell capacity assurance algorithm

The assured TCH capacity of BTS 1, 2, and 3 together is 18 traffic channels. Only 6 traffic channels are currently active in those BTSs. The maximum number of simultaneously active traffic channels in BCSU 1 is 512. Five hundred (500) of them are already active. Thus it is not possible to activate a traffic channel in TRX 4 of BTS 4. The free resources of BCSU 1 must be saved for BTS 1, 2, and 3 to assure sufficient number of calls in each of the BTSs. In BTS 4 it is possible to allocate a traffic channel only in TRX 5 at the moment.
Related topics

Overview of Soft Channel Capacity in BSC

3.3

Interworking
The extra TCH capacity created in the radio network has effects on various operating and application software in the BSC. The effects are described below.

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Technical description of Soft Channel Capacity in BSC

Table 4. Operating/application software


Congestion time

Soft Channel Capacity interworking Interworking


The BSC starts the congestion time if the number of idle channels in the BTS goes to zero. If there is extra TCH capacity created in the BTSs, it is possible to have the radio channel allocation attempts rejected because of a lack of traffic handling capacity in the BCSU even if the congestion time is not shown in the statistics. Intra-BTS handovers are started for the single-slot circuit switched (CS) calls in the BSC to enable the (E)GPRS territory upgrade or the HSCSD upgrade. The BSC starts these handovers based on the number of idle channels in the BTSs. If there is extra TCH capacity created in the BTSs, it is possible to have handover attempts started and rejected because of a lack of traffic handling capacity in the BCSU although there are idle channels in the BTSs. For more information, see (E)GPRS in BSC and HSCSD and 14.4 kbit/s Data Services in BSC.

Intra-BTS handovers due to (E)GPRS or HSCSD

(E)GPRS margins

The (E)GPRS territory upgrade and downgrade decisions are based on the number of idle time slots in the BTS. If there is extra TCH capacity created in the BTS, the downgrade margin does not work optimally. The (E)GPRS territory downgrade caused by the increasing CS traffic is not started as early as in the situation without extra TCH capacity. The effects can be reduced by setting the BSC parameters free TSL for CS upgrade (CSU) and free TSL for CS downgrade (CSD) to maximum values. For more information, see (E)GPRS in BSC.

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Table 4. Operating/application software


Wireless Priority Service in BSC

Soft Channel Capacity interworking (cont.) Interworking


The Wireless Priority Service (WPS) in BSC is an application software. The Radio Channel Allocation for the Public (RCAP) algorithm is based on the traffic load situation in the cell. The BSC checks the cell resource usage based on the BSC parameters: WPS priority capacity (WPIC) and WPS preference capacity (WPEC). If there is extra TCH capacity created in the cell, it is possible that the round robin allocation is invoked too late and there is no resources available for an incoming Public user in the cell. This situation can be avoided by reducing the values of the WPIC and WPEC parameters and increasing the value of the BSC parameter: public served count (PSC). The values of the WPIC and WPEC parameters should be reduced in relation to the amount of extra TCH capacity in the network. If the number of TCHs has been doubled in the network, the values of the parameters should be halved. For more information, see Wireless Priority Service in BSC and BSC radio network object parameters in BSS Radio Network Parameter Dictionary.

Directed Retry for queued WPS user

The BSC checks the cell resource usage of the target cells based on the BSC parameters: WPS priority capacity (WPIC) and WPS preference capacity (WPEC). If there is extra TCH capacity created in the cell, it is possible that a Directed Retry handover for a queued WPS user is started to a cell which actually is congested and the WPS call setup is interrupted. This situation can be avoided by reducing the values of the WPIC and WPEC parameters. The values of these parameters should be reduced in relation to the amount of extra TCH capacity in the network. If the number of TCHs has been doubled in the network, the values of the parameters should be halved. For more information, see Wireless Priority Service in BSC and BSC radio network object parameters inBSS Radio Network Parameter Dictionary.

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Technical description of Soft Channel Capacity in BSC

Table 4. Operating/application software

Soft Channel Capacity interworking (cont.) Interworking


The BSC initiated traffic reason handover is a part of an Advanced Multilayer Handling application software in the BSC. The BSC checks the traffic load situation in the serving cell based on the BSC/BTS parameter: AMH upper load threshold (AUT). If the traffic load of the serving cell exceeds the AUT parameter, the BSC tries to hand over calls to other less loaded cells. If there is extra TCH capacity created in the serving cell, the handovers are started later than without extra capacity. It is possible that the cell is already congested but the handovers are not started because of the extra TCH capacity. The effects can be minimised by reducing the value of the AUT parameter. The load of the target cell in the BSC TRHO attempt is checked based on the BSC/BTS parameter: AMH max load of target cell (AML). If the traffic load in the target cell is below the AML parameter, the call is handed over to the target cell. The aim is to avoid making handovers from one congested cell to another. If there is extra TCH capacity created in the target cell, the handover can be made to a cell which already is almost congested. The effects can be minimised by reducing the value of the AML parameter. The values of the AUT and AML parameters should be reduced in relation to the amount of extra TCH capacity in the network. If the number of TCHs has been doubled in the network, the values of the parameters should be halved. For more information, see RF Power Control and Handover Algorithm.

BSC initiated Traffic Reason Handover (BSC TRHO)

MSC initiated TRHO

The BSC reports the number of idle traffic channels in the cells to the MSC. If there is extra TCH capacity created in the cell, it is not necessarily possible to allocate all the reported idle channels of a cell simultaneously. As a consequence the MSC may start handovers from one congested cell to another. For more information, see Traffic Reason Handover in BSC.

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Table 4. Operating/application software

Soft Channel Capacity interworking (cont.) Interworking


DADL/B is an application software in the BSC. When DADL/B is activated, the BSC checks the traffic load situation in the accessed cell based on the BTS parameter: BTS load threshold (BLT). If the traffic load of the accessed cell exceeds the BLT parameter, the BSC tries to direct the call to another layer or band of the network. If there is extra TCH capacity created in the accessed cell, the calls are not directed to another layer or band as early as without extra TCH capacity. The effects can be minimised by reducing the value of the BLT parameter. The value of the BLT parameter should be reduced in relation to the amount of extra TCH capacity in the network. If the number of TCHs has been doubled in the cell, the value of the parameter should be halved. For more information, see Direct Access to Desired Layer/Band.

Direct Access to Desired Layer/Band (DADL/B)

Load distribution between BTSs of the segment

The load distribution between different BTSs in a segment is controlled with the BTS parameter: BTS load in SEG (LSEG). For each call the BSC checks the resource usage of each BTS of the target segment based on the LSEG parameter . The BSC then decides to which BTS the call is directed. The aim is to keep the load of each BTS within the limit that the LSEG parameter defines. If there is extra TCH capacity created in the segment, the calls are not directed, for example, to a non-BCCH layer of the segment as early as without extra TCH capacity. The effects can be minimised by adjusting the value of the LSEG parameter. The value of the LSEG parameter should be reduced in relation to the amount of extra TCH capacity in the network. If the number of TCHs has been doubled in the BTS, the value of the parameter should be halved. However, if the value of the LSEG parameter has already been set to a low value (about 10% or lower), there is not necessarily any need to change the value. In this case the load distribution between layers in the segment works well also with the extra TCH capacity. For more information on the load distribution between the BTSs of the segment, see Common BCCH Control in BSC.

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Technical description of Soft Channel Capacity in BSC

Table 4. Operating/application software


Dynamic SDCCH reconfiguration

Soft Channel Capacity interworking (cont.) Interworking


The last idle TCH TSL of a cell is not supposed to be reconfigured to SDCCH. In case of the last idle TCH TSL the FACCH call setup is applied. However, if there is extra TCH capacity created in the cell, it is possible that the dynamic SDCCH reconfiguration causes temporary TCH congestion in the cell. For more information on Dynamic SDCCH, see Radio Channel Allocation.

GSM-WCDMA Inter-System Handover (ISHO)

The GSM-WCDMA Inter-System Handover (ISHO) from a GSM to a WCDMA RAN cell for speech calls is started on the basis of the traffic load in the serving GSM cell. The load in the serving cell is checked with the handover parameter: min traffic load for speech call (LTSC). The handover is not started until the load in the serving cell exceeds the threshold. If there is extra TCH capacity created in the serving cell, the handovers to the WCDMA RAN cell are not started as early as without extra TCH capacity. The effect can be minimised by reducing the value of the LTSC parameter. The value of the LTSC parameter should be reduced in relation to the amount of extra TCH capacity in the network. If the number of TCHs has been doubled in the cell, the value of the parameter should be halved. For more information on ISHO, see GSM-WCDMA Interworking.

Trunk Reservation

Trunk Reservation does not work optimally if extra TCH capacity has been created in the BSC. The Trunk Reservation algorithm takes into account all the created radio interface traffic channels. If extra TCH capacity has been created in the BSC, the Trunk Reservation algorithm cannot ensure that there is always capacity available for the priority user in a cell.

Related topics

Overview of Soft Channel Capacity in BSC

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User interface of Soft Channel Capacity in BSC

User interface of Soft Channel Capacity in BSC


MML commands
.

Transceiver Handling (command group ER)


With the ERM command you can modify the full rate (FR) radio time slots to dual rate (DR) support.

Base Station Controller Parameter Handling (command group EE)


With the EEI command you can check the number of real TCHs under BCSUs.

Licence and Feature Handling (command group W7)


With the W7I command you can check the status of the licence. With the W7M command you can modify the status of the licence.

Error codes
.

SOFT CHANNEL CAPACITY LICENCE EXCEEDED

With this error code the BSC informs you that the maximum amount of soft channels in the BSC is exceeded.
.

AMOUNT OF SOFT CHANNELS IN BSC EXCEEDS AMR HR LICENCE CAPACITY

With this error code the BSC informs you that there are more soft channels configured in the BSC than AMR HR licence allows.
.

SOFT CHANNEL CAPACITY FEATURE IS NOT IN USE IN BSC

With this error code the BSC informs you that Soft Channel Capacity is not in use in the BSC. For more information, see Licensing in BSC and General Error Messages of System.

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Alarms

7746 CH CONGESTION IN CELL ABOVE DEFINED THRESHOLD Because of Soft Channel Capacity there is a new field in this alarm. For a more detailed description of this alarm, see Base Station Alarms (7000 7999).
Counters

The following new counters to Soft Channel Capacity measurement are introduced:
.

109000 PEAK BUSY TCH PER BCSU 109001 AVE BUSY TCH PER BCSU 109002 AVE BUSY TCH PER BCSU DENOMINATOR 109003 TOTAL TCH BUSY TIME PER BCSU

Also the following counter is added to Traffic measurement:


.

001216 TCH REQ REJ DUE TO LACK OF RES PER BCSU

When Soft Channel Capacity is active and there are extra TCHs created in a cell, it is possible that radio channel allocation attempt is rejected because of the lack of BCSU capacity even if there are free radio traffic channels in the cell. In this case the existing traffic measurement and resource availability counters are augmented as if the radio channel allocation attempt was rejected because of a lack of radio resources. The following counters are an exception:
.

2026 TOTAL CHANNEL BUSY TIME 2044 FULL RATE radio CONGESTION TIME 2045 HALF RATE radio CONGESTION TIME

These counters do not show congestion time unless all the radio traffic channels of the cell have been occupied. For more information, see
.

1 Traffic Measurement 2 Resource Availability Measurement 109 Soft Channel Capacity Measurement

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User interface of Soft Channel Capacity in BSC

Related topics

Overview of Soft Channel Capacity in BSC

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