GSM Paging Problems & Solutions

ZTE university

Training goals

To master the definition of paging indicators To master optimization strategy of paging problems To know relevant counters and key parameters

Contents

Indicator definition Optimization strategy Key parameters Typical cases

Indicator definition

GeneralPaging success rate is an important network quality indicator in GSM network; it directly influences the incoming calls completion rate, radio system call completion rate and some other network indicators. Paging performance is crucial because it determines whether all mobile phone subscribers can be MTC successfully. Therefore, it is very necessary to intensify the optimization analysis to improve paging success rate.

Calculate formulapaging success rate paging response times / paging request times*100%.

The definition of paging request times: The summation of all paging messages sent by MSC in the local area, excluding the second paging message. The measurement point is MSC.

The definition of paging response times: The summation of all Paging Res messages that MSC receives in the local area, including the second paging response. Measurement point is MSC.

Indicator definition

The relevant counter of ZTE BSS side

V3 counter
C900060002 C900060001 Definition and Definition and measurement point

measurement point

C901110006 Definition and measurement point C900060137 Definition and

measurement point

Indicator definition

Paging principle

Radio paging is the communication process in which MSC finds out MS through paging. MSC can carry out the next-step call connection only after it finds out the mobile subscriber. Schematic diagram of paging message sending

Indicator definition

Basic signaling flow of radio paging

Contents

Indicator definition Optimization strategy Key parameters Typical cases

Optimization strategy

Reasons for low paging success rate

Paging failure usually concentrate on these aspects
MS dont receive PAGING message
Related messages arent sent to MSC when MS is responding PAGING

PAGING message cant be sent on radio channel

Special situation

LINK load is so high that it makes bottom layer SCCP message lost. MSC/VLR, BSC flux control makes message be discarded. When the load is high, message queuing time gets longer so that Unfavorable transmission link quality makes bottom layer LAPD message lost. T3212 is set unreasonably. Too many paging messages make message lost on radio interface MSC redundant cell data makes BSC paging times abnormal.

the message cant be sent to MS in time

(such as sending sms to multi subscribers, and so on)

Optimization strategy

Causes which affect paging success rate

Paging failure usually concentrate on these aspects
MS dont receive PAGING PAGING message Related messages arent sent to MSC when MS is responding PAGING

PAGING message cant be sent on radio channel

Special situation

Coverage reason . Frequent MS reselection. Frequent Location update. MS cant monitor messages on BCCH while doing GPRS services. Paging group is set unreasonably that makes paging time too long or Twice paging time is set unreasonably. Frequencies of adjacent cells differ greatly so there are frequent

paging lost; especially two adjacent cells paging groups are different.

reselections; different monitor time makes paging lost easily.

Optimization strategy

Causes which affect paging success rate

Paging failure usually concentrates on these aspects
MS doesnt receive PAGING message Related messages arent sent to MSC when MS is responding PAGING

PAGING message fails to give off via radio channel

Special situation

SDCCH congestion. SDCCH assign failure. Unbalanced uplink and downlink; weak uplink.

Bad transmission link makes message lost

Optimization strategy

Causes which affect paging success rate

Paging failure usually concentrates on these aspects
MS dont receive PAGING message Related messages PAGING arent sent to MSC when MS is MSC responding PAGING Special situation

PAGING message cant be sent on radio channel

two MS are calling one mobile phone at the same time, MSC connects one MS as MOC and replies another MS no paging response. MSC Paging message sending time is unreasonable: MSC releases the call before MS releases it and MSC sends new paging at the same time,

consequently gets a reply of no paging response.

Optimization strategy

step1
Expel the abnormal phenomeno n caused by system

Optimization steps and methods

step2
Check MS latest activity status

step3
Eliminate GPRS influence

step4
Indicator analysis

step5
Radio parameter checking and optimizatio n

step6
MSC paging strategy analysis

step7
Field test

Check flux control alarm and see whether MSC/VLR/BSC has flux control alarm. Maintain trunk link on

A/Abis interface, observe signaling load on A/Abis interface, increase signaling link in time and decrease
paging failure caused by too high signaling load. Check whether BTS has transmission transient interruption alarm. Observe whether it is multifarious to reselect phenomenon, if it is already needed to modify reselection parameters (CRO, TMO and PT etc.). Check whether MSC database has redundant data.

Optimization strategy

step1 Expel the abnormal phenome non caused by system

Optimization steps and methods

step2 step3 step4 Indicator analysis step5 Radio parameter checking and optimizati on step6 MSC paging strategy analysis step7 Field test Check MS Eliminate latest GPRS activity influence status

Presently only VLR probe can be used to check MS latest

activity status.
Record signaling on SGSN, MSC, and ABIS interface in the test to judge MS activity.

Optimization strategy

step1

Optimization steps and methods

step2 step3 step4 step5 step6 step7

Expel the abnormal phenome non caused by system

Check MS Eliminate latest GPRS activity influence status

Indicator analysis

Radio parameter checking and optimizati on

MSC paging strategy analysis

Field test

Check whether GPRS routing area is set reasonably. Routing areas of one site shall be the same, routing areas of cells where

frequent reselections occur shall be the same.

Check whether routing area update cycle time is set reasonably. Use mobile phone that has no GPRS function to test.

Optimization strategy

step1

Optimization steps and methods

step2 step3 step4 step5 step6 step7

Expel the abnormal phenome non caused by system

Check MS Eliminate latest GPRS activity influence status

Indicator analysis

Radio parameter checking and optimizati on

MSC paging strategy analysis

Field test

Check SDCCH congestion status, check indicators in traffic statistic such as SDCCH congestion rate which shall be 0 or close to 0 generally. Eliminate No Paging Response caused by SDCCH congestion. Analyze whether MTC success rate is abnormal. Analyze whether cell location update times is abnormal. Analyze system average TA and maximum TA to judge whether overlapping exists.

Optimization strategy

step1

Optimization steps and methods

step2 step3 step4 step5 step6 step7

Expel the abnormal phenome non caused by system

Check MS Eliminate latest GPRS activity influence status

Indicator analysis

Radio parameter checking and optimizati on

MSC paging strategy analysis

Field test

Check parameter setting related to paging, access, immediate assignment. Check whether T3212 , RxLev Access Min IDETTIM are set reasonably. Whether LAC division is reasonable, whether overlapping area of several LAC is reasonable. BTS maximum paging capacity shall not be exceeded; once the paging capacity is not enough, we shall consider splitting LAC.

Optimization strategy

step1

Optimization steps and methods

step2 step3 step4 step5 step6 step7

Expel the abnormal phenome non caused by system

Check MS Eliminate latest GPRS activity influence status

Indicator analysis

Radio parameter checking and optimizati on

MSC paging strategy analysis

Field test

Check whether system capacity supports multi paging; if yes, analyze influence of multi paging to the system. MSC is in charge of forming paging message and resending the message if there is no response.

The interval between two paging is a very important parameter. In radio aspect, the longer is the interval between two paging, the smaller is the relativity with radio environment for MS while responding paging, the easier for MS to respond paging message successfully. But if the interval between two paging is set too long, then MOC subscriber will be at a waiting status for a long time and MOC subscriber may hang up.

Optimization strategy

step1

Optimization steps and methods

step2 step3 step4 step5 step6 step7

Expel the abnormal phenome non caused by system

Check MS Eliminate latest GPRS activity influence status

Indicator analysis

Radio parameter checking and optimizati on

MSC paging strategy analysis

Field test

Field test is the most important step, from which we can only capture the real phenomenon. If the problem is easily to be discovered in common mobile phone rather than test mobile phone, we need to test two SIM cards that belong to the same paging group and then we can judge whether common mobile phone cant respond the paging message correctly after paging message has been sent. Observe whether frequent reselection occurs, modify reselection parameter (CRO, TMO, PT, etc.) if necessary. Test whether blind area exists.

Contents

Indicator definition Optimization strategy Key parameters Typical cases

Key parameters

Calculation of paging group that mobile phone belongs to

Principle

In GSM system, paging messages are sent in groups; each MS can only monitor the paging group which it belongs to while monitoring paging message and ignoring other paging group. MS even turns off some hardware power to save power consumption during the period when other paging groups are sending paging message (thats the reason of DRX). We can ascertain MS paging group according to its IMSI, systems CCCH number, multiplexing frame number that paging group occupies, AGCH reserved blocks as well as the combination of BCCH and SDCCH. Detailed calculation method is as follows (the result is determined by two parameters CCCH_GROUP and PAGING_GROUP): CCCH_GROUP=((IMSI mod 1000) mod (BS_CC_CHANS*N)) div N PAGING_GROUP=((IMSI mod 1000) mod (BS_CC_CHANS*N)) mod N

Calculation method

Key parameters

Calculation of paging duration

RACH
Max Retrans

BS PA MFRMS

Tx-integer

relevant parameters

Key parameters

Multi-frame number of paging channel BsPaMframs

This parameter indicates the number of multiframes of 51 TDMA frame of MSes in the same paging group, to which the paging message is transmitted. (BS-PA-MFRMS )

Paramete r value 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

BS_PA_MFR MS 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 45 30 23 18 15 13 11 10

Original DSC value in idle mode of circuit switch

BsPaMframs means the number of multiframes which can form a cycle of paging subchannel.

This parameter is mainly calculated for MS to judge which paging group it belongs to so as to monitor the corresponding paging subchannel.

BsPaMframs makes a broadcast to the MS in a cell by RIL3_RR SYSTEM INFORMATION TYPE3.

Key parameters

Multi-frame number of paging channel (BsPaMframs)

Configuration principles:

On condition that there is no paging channel overload, this parameter should be as small as possible. Usually, for high traffic location areas, the parameter should be 8/9; For medium traffic location areas, the parameter should be 6/7; For low traffic location areas, the parameter can be 4/5; The default value can be configured as 5. It is suggested that cells in one location area should have the same value.

Key parameters

The maximum retransmission number (MaxRetrans)

Description:

RACH is an ALOHA channel. In order to improve the success rate of MS access, the network allows MS to send several channel request messages before it receives an immediate assignment message. The maximum number of allowed retransmission is decided by MaxRetran. 0 1 2 3 MaxRetrans

The maximum number of retransmission

1 2 4 7

This parameter notifies MS in a cell by RIL3_RR SYSTEM INFORMATION TYPE1, 2, 2bis, 3 and 4.

Key parameters

The maximum number of retransmission (MaxRetrans)

Configuration of MaxRetrans can refer to the following methods:

For a cell, whose radius is more than 3 kilometers, and which has a relatively low traffic, it can be configured as 7 times so as to improve MS success probability of MS access; For a cell, whose radius is less than 3 kilometers, and which has a medium traffic, the parameter can be configured as 4 times; For micro cells, it is suggested that the configuration should be 2 times; for micro cells with a high traffic or cells which has an obvious blocking, it is suggested that the configuration should be 1 time. The default value is configured as 2.

Key parameters

TxIntegerDescription:

TxInteger parameter is used to calculate the number of time slot between every two transmissions, when MS continuously send several channel requests. This parameter is used to decide the random delay time. This parameter notifies MS in a cell by RIL3_RR SYSTEM INFORMATION TYPE1, 2, 2bis, 3 and 4. MS sends a channel request message to the network as follows: The interval between the time when MS sends an immediate assignment message and the time when the first channel request message is sent (time slot number ) is a random number among { 0,1,,MaxT,8-1 }; The interval (time slot number) between two continuous channel request messages is a random number among {S,S+1,,S+T-1}.

T is the slot time number represented by TxInteger parameterNote: It isnt TxInteger itselfthe values of S are in the following table:

Key parameters

The values of S and T

Number of time slot represente d by TxInteger 3, 8, 14,50 4, 9, 16 5,10,20 6,11,25 7,12,32 SCCCH doesnt combine with SDCCH 55 76 109 163 217 SCCCH doesnt combine with SDCCH 41 52 58 86 115

TxInteger 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Number of time slot represented 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 14 16 20 25 32 50

Contents

Indicator definition Optimization strategy Key parameters Typical cases

Typical cases

indicator optimization of some area

Malfunction description

Paging success rate keeps 92% which is in a low position in the whole province. The operator demands a full mark indicator that is 94. According to MSC SY01 statistic, LAC21088 uses TMSI paging and second paging mode with an interval of 8 seconds. The number of first paging times on busy hour on the existing network is 53653, the number of success paging times is 49192 and the number of failure times is 4461; the number of second paging success times is 1009. From the statistic analysis we can see that the second paging success ratio is only 1009/4461*100%=22.61%, which is relatively low.

Malfunction analysis

Typical cases

indicator optimization of some area

Malfunction analysis

Do system DT in this area city and we find out in the test that area is a typical mountainous area; due to lack of sites, there are blind areas in an urban area. Now there are totally 211 sites in this area with 70 sites in the urban area. Most sites are isolated on the edge, therefore bad coverage is a main reason for low paging success rate.

Typical cases

indicator optimization of some area

Malfunction solution

Modify the value of parameter BS_AG_BLK_RES from 2 to 1, and the number of corresponding blocks for PCH is 8.; Increase the value of BS_PA_MFRAMS from 3 to 5; Modify the value of parameter TX_INTEGER from 14 to 12 Modify the value of parameter RXLEV_ACCESS_MIN from 10 to 8 Modify the value of timer T3212 RXLEV_ACCESS_MIN from 10 to 8

Typical cases

Indicator optimization of the paging success rate in one operator

The result

After adjusting the upper parameters on June 23rd, the paging success rate in this area increases by 1% and it is close to 94%, which is shown in the following figure.

Question1

Calculate which paging group the subscriber belongs to

Channel combination BCCH doesnt combine with SD
Bs-Pa-MFRMS

CCCH channel 2

2
Which paging group

AGCH reserved block 2

Subscribers IMSI

does the subscriber belong to

460007248009188

The

result indicates that in the GSM network, which is configured according to the figure above,

the subscriber sends the paging message through the 13th (count from 0) paging group of the 1st

CCCH channel (count from 0).

Question 2

Calculation of paging time

RACH retransmission number

Paging cycle
5 51multi-frames

Tx-integer
32

32

Radio paging time

Tx-integer

14

The length of paging time is closely related to the configuration of radio parameters,
especially Tx-integer.

Question 3

The relationship between paging zone and paging

No PCH
Percentage of call completed 60

overflow
Call duration 45S

Traffic E

Location area

BHCA ??

BS_PA_MFRMS ??

Cell_paging_total_ multiFrame_count

Max_multiFrame_count

The length of paging time is closely related to the configuration of radio parameters,
especially Tx-integer.