GSM BSS Network PS KPI (RTT Delay) Optimization Manual

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Product Name GSM BSS Product Version

Confidentiality Level INTERNAL Total 31 pages

GSM BSS Network PS KPI (RTT Delay) Optimization Manual

(For internal use only)

Prepared by

GSM&UMTS Network Performance Research Department

Date 2008-12-20 Date Date Date

Reviewed by Reviewed by Granted by

Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.

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Revision Record
Date 2008-12-20 2008-12-25 Version 1.0 1.0 Description Draft completed Revised according to review comments Author Geng Haijian Geng Haijian

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Contents
1 Overview......................................................................................................................................... 7
1.1 Definition ......................................................................................................................................................... 7 1.2 Ping Process Analysis....................................................................................................................................... 7 1.3 Introduction to Delay in the GPRS/EGPRS System ........................................................................................ 9

2 Analysis and Optimization of the RTT Delay ...................................................................... 10

2.1 TBF Establishment and Release Delay Optimization .................................................................................... 13 2.2 Data Transmission Delay Analysis ................................................................................................................. 14 2.3 System Processing Delay ............................................................................................................................... 16 2.4 Transmission Delay between Network Elements ........................................................................................... 16

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Figures
Figure 1 Execution result of the Ping command ................................................................................................... 8 Figure 2 Capturing Ping service packets ............................................................................................................... 8 Figure 3 Ping flow when the TBF establishment or release flow is not optimized ............................................. 10 Figure 4 Message tracing at the GB interface ..................................................................................................... 11 Figure 5 Comparison of interface tracking (left, corresponding to line 24 in Figure 4) and Ethereal tracking (right) ................................................................................................................................................................... 11 Figure 6 Um interface access flow (the first Uplink ACK message contains the TLLI for settling the conflict) 12 Figure 7 Um interface tracking the second Ping data .......................................................................................... 12 Figure 8 TEMS interface tracks the block which is not received by the network side when the uplink sends blocks with BSN number 4 and 5 during the second Ping ................................................................................... 13 Figure 9 Packing a Ping packet at each protocol layer ........................................................................................ 15

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Abstract and Abbreviation

Keywords
Ping, RTT delay

Abstract
Ping is used to test the RTT delay that affects the utilization rate of bandwidth. This document describes the basic process of the Ping service and the method for reducing the RTT delay.

Acronyms and Abbreviations

Acronym and Abbreviation GPRS EGPRS MS CQT DT RTT ICMP PCU BSS BSC BTS TBF RLC MAC MCS Full Spelling General Packet Radio Service Enhanced GPRS Mobile Station Call Quality Test Drive Test Round Trip Time
Internet Control Message Protocol

Packet Control Unit Base Station System Base Station Control Base Transceiver Station Temporary Block Flow Radio Link Control Media Access Control Modulation and Coding Scheme

References
[1] TCP/IP Detail Volume 1, by W.Richard Stevens, in April, 2008 [2] GPRS Network Technology, prepared by Motorola Engineering Institute, on June 1, 2005

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[3] GSM PS Wireless Performance Baseline (field version), prepared by the GSM Solution Testing Department, on September 3, 2008

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Overview

This document describes the role of the RTT delay, each occurrence of the RTT delay in the GPRS network, and methods of reducing the RTT delay. The fault identifying tools in this document mainly refer to TEMS and Ethereal/Wireshark. These tools can be used to trace or browse the information at the NE side. To analyze the RTT delay, you need to collect the following data: signaling traced by the TEMS, packets captured by the Ethereal/Wireshark at the MS side, signaling traced on the BSS PS Um interface, and signaling traced on the BSS PS Gb PTP. The description in this document is based on the condition that no download or upload problem exists. In other words, no such fault as channel fault, link out of synchronization, or packet loss on the interface, occurs.

1.1 Definition
The RTT delay refers to the time elapsed for a packet to the destination and back again. What impact does the RTT delay have on the system? Why do telecom operators need to assess the RTT delay? In the case that the RTT delay is long, the confirmation of the data at the application layer takes a long time. Therefore, at the slow startup phase, windows are displayed after a long delay, and the time to reach the congestion threshold is prolonged; at the congestion control phase, the increase in windows size is also slow. In this case, when the RTT delay is long, the bandwidth utilization rate is low.

1.2 Ping Process Analysis

The RTT delay is often tested through the Ping command. The Ping service is based on the ICMP protocol. The client sends an ICMP echo request packet to the server. After receiving the request, the server encapsulates the data that is contained in the request into an ICPM response packet and sends it back to the client. The following figure shows the result of the Ping command:

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Figure 1 Execution result of the Ping command

In the Ping command, -n indicates the number of Ping times, and -l indicates the size of a Ping packet. After the Ping command is run, the RTT delay of each Ping packet will be displayed. After the execution of the Ping command is complete, the minimum, maximum, and average delay of the Ping packet will be displayed. In the Windows operating system, the time precision is 1 ms. Figure 2 shows the data traced by the WireShark. Figure 2 Capturing Ping service packets

8 indicates the echo requests, and 0 indicates the echo response times.

Identify a process, and allow the terminal to perform multiple Ping operations at the same time. Number every Ping request packet. Give the corresponding Ping echo packet a same serial number to calculate the delay

When the default settings of the Windows operating system are used, the interval for sending two Ping requests is 1 second, as indicated by the interval between the two packets in Figure 2. If the delay of the Ping echo response packet is larger than 1 second, the next Ping request is sent immediately after the echo response packet is received. In addition, if an echo response packet is not received within 5 seconds, a message indicating request time out is returned. This means that the peer is not reachable. The peer is not certainly unreachable. A possible cause is that the peer network firewall blocks Ping packets.

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1.3 Introduction to Delay in the GPRS/EGPRS System

Generally, when calculating delay, factors such as the network load and changes made in the intermediate network to data packet authority are not considered. The delay in the GPRS or EGPRS system includes the system processing delay, transmission delay between network elements, data transfer delay, and TBF establishment and release delay. The system processing delay depends on the hardware processing capability of the system. The transmission delay between network elements is related to the interface transmission mode. The data transfer delay is related to the size of the Ping packet and the encoding rate employed. The TBF establishment and release delay is related to the access method (for example, one-phase access or two-phase access) and the optimization methods related to TBF establishment or release at the network side.

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Analysis and Optimization of the RTT Delay

Figure 3 shows the transmission process of a Ping packet in the case that no function is enabled. Figure 3 Ping flow when the TBF establishment or release flow is not optimized
Network layer at the client layer MS RLC/MAC layer PCU RLC/MAC layer Network layer at the server

ICMP echo request

Uplink TBF establishment request Assigning uplink resource RLC data blocks that carry the ICMP echo request

ICMP echo request ICMP echo response

RTT delay

Assign downlink resources Assignment success confirmation RLC data blocks that carry the ICMP echo request ICMP echo response

As shown in Figure 3, the Ping flows involves the establishment of the downlink TBF, transmission of uplink and downlink data blocks, and data assembly at the MS side and client side. The Ping delay is analyzed as follows: 1. Check whether delay is incurred at the core network side (data is traced on the Gb interface). If the delay is incurred, contact Huawei technical support engineers of the core network for help. Otherwise, go to the next step. Compare the delay of the first Ping packet and that of consecutive Ping packets, and determine which one is longer. If the delay of only the first Ping packet is long, check whether the TBF establishment flow is normal.
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2.

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If the delay of consecutive Ping packets is long, check whether the TBF establishment/release optimization flow is started, whether the parameter settings are improper, and whether the deferred release times out due to faults in data transmission. If the delay of certain packets among the consecutively sent Ping packets is long, check factors such as the encoding rate, channel quantity, and error blocks in data transmission.

Take the Ping test shown in Figure 1 as an example. The data traced on the Gb interface shows that no large delay is incurred in the core network. Figure 4 Data traced on the Gb interface
A short delay of 20 ms is introduced to the core network.

The delay of the first Ping packet is 767 ms, a little longer than the usual value. As shown by the signaling, downlink pre-establishment is not started (Downlink pre-establishment should be started when the first Uplink ACK message is sent. The downlink pre-establishment is started if the downlink assignment message is sent after the first Uplink ACK message is sent); one uplink channel is used and uplink and downlink encoding rates are relatively low (this will be described in the process of the second Ping packet). Among the consecutive Ping packets that are sent, the delay of certain Ping packets is long. Based on the process of the second Ping packet shown in Figure 1, you can locate the data of this Ping on the Gb interface. Figure 5 shows the two data blocks corresponding to the process of the second Ping packet. Figure 5 Comparison between the data traced on the Gb interface (on the left side, corresponding to line 24 in Figure 4) and that traced by using the Ethereal (on the right side)

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If no long delay is incurred on the Gb interface, the delay is mainly caused by factors on the Um interface. If a lot of services are being processed in the existing network, you must locate the data of the MS and check the first Uplink ACK message that is used to settle the conflict, as shown in Figure 6. Figure 6 Um interface access flow (the first Uplink ACK message contains the TLLI for settling the conflict)

This is one-phase access. Find the last immediate assignment message and you can see that the uplink TFI in the message is 10. Find the next downlink assignment message and you can see that the MS is addressed based on uplink TFI 10 and that the downlink TFI of the MS is 13. Locate the data blocks transmitted on the Um interface from the Gb interface. You can identify the specific data blocks according to the contents of the entire LLC PDU on the Gb interface and the contents of the RLC data blocks on the Um interface, as shown in Figure 7. Figure 7 Data related to the second Ping operation traced on the Um interface

As shown in Figure 7, the uplink and downlink encoding rates are relatively low; the uplink uses only one channel; the first sending of uplink data blocks with BSN number 4 and 5 are not received by the network side. The uplink encoding rate is relatively low because the default encoding rate is MCS2, which is not adjusted in time. Based on the configuration, the uplink encoding rate is adjusted according to the downlink encoding rate. In this case, it can be inferred that the downlink encoding rate is not adjusted. The default downlink encoding rate is MCS6; however MCS2 is used instead. This is because the sublink cannot be bound. Only one channel is used on the uplink because it is still in one-phase access and the time to obtain two uplink timeslots is not reached. The uplink data blocks with BSN number 4 and 5 are not received by the network side. However, the quality of the Um interface is good. The possible cause is that faults occur on the link and channel on the uplink G-Abis interface. Such a long delay would not occur even if two blocks are lost, as the data blocks should be continuously dispatched in the delay release state in the case that the channel is not
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multiplexed by other MSs. Figure 8 shows the message traced by using the TEMS on the Um interface (in Mode ReportPH PDCH Block Header DL Report). Figure 8 Tracing the data blocks with BSN number 4 and 5 that are not received by the network side by using the TEMS on the Um interface

It can be seen that the MS has not received corresponding downlink blocks (even if there is no data block, the network side will send Dummy blocks for dispatching at the uplink).

If many downlink blocks are not received by the MS, it is probable that the transmission link is faulty. Step 2 Analysis shows that the fault is probably caused by the link quality. Check whether an alarm indicating loss of synchronization on the link is generated and whether the BTS clock is synchronized with the BSC clock, and check the bit error rate on the G-Abis interface. In the laboratory environment, the BTS clock is confirmed to be in free-run state. The file attached provides the Ping operation related data traced the configuration data. Based on the preceding analysis, you can try to analyze the long delay in the fourth Ping operation.

2.1 TBF Establishment and Release Delay Optimization

1. Uplink TBF establishment delay optimization An uplink TBF can be established under two situations: one-phase access and two-phase access. In one-phase access, it takes about 193 ms from the sending of a channel request to the assignment of uplink resources. In two-phase access, it takes about 452 ms from the sending of a channel request to the assignment of uplink resources. The access method is determined by the MS. However, the network side can specify the access as two-phase access, which, however, is not recommended. Check whether the network side specifies two-phase access by entering the super user mode and choosing Configure BSC Attributes > Software Parameters > Force MS to Phase2 Function Switch. The switch should be set to Not Force.

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In two-phase access, the most time-consuming part is the process of assigning single block> the two-phase access request of the MS on the single block. You can modify the value of Delay Blocks of Uplink Single Block Assignment from 9 to 6 by entering the super user mode and choosing Configure BSC Attributes > Software Parameters >Delay Blocks of Uplink Single Block Assignment. In this way, the delay can be reduced by about 60 ms.
Delay Blocks of Uplink Single Block Assignment considers the delay incurred during the transmission of the immediate assignment from the PCU to the MS, including the transmission delay and the delay caused by the queuing of the immediate assignment message at the BTS side. In the laboratory, no fault occurs when Delay Blocks of Uplink Single Block Assignment is set to 6. In the actual network, however, if the number of paging and access requests is great, setting Delay Blocks of Uplink Single Block Assignment to 6 may cause the problem that the MS receives the assignment message at a time later than the time of the assigned block. In this case, the channel request must be re-sent. Therefore, set Delay Blocks of Uplink Single Block Assignment to 6 only in the case of competition of the RTT delay performance with peer vendors.

2. Uplink TBF release delay optimization After all uplink data blocks are sent, the release procedure of uplink TBF can be started. But after the uplink TBF is released, it takes a long time to establish the downlink TBF. In addition, for consecutive Ping packets, each Ping operation requires the re-establishment of an uplink TBF, which is quite time-consuming. Therefore, the release of an uplink TBF is very often delayed. Usually, the uplink extension function is enabled. To enable this function, choose Configure Cell Attributes > GPRS Attributes > PS Network Optimization Parameters > Inactive Delay of Extended Uplink TFB(ms), and set Inactive Delay of Extended Uplink TFB(ms) to a proper value. The recommended value is 2000 ms.
The uplink extension function should be supported by the MS. As the interval for two Ping packets is 1 second, Inactive Delay of Extended Uplink TFB(ms) should be set to a value that is larger than 1 second.

3. Downlink TBF establishment delay optimization Normally, the downlink TBF establishment starts when the downlink data reaches the PCU. But for common PS services, the uplink TBF is established first, and downlink data is available. Therefore, the product provides the downlink pre-establishment function. You can enable this function by entering super user mode, choosing Configure BSC Attributes > Software Parameters > Support advance downlink TBF establishment, and setting Support advance downlink TBF establishment to Optimize with ALL TLLI. In this case, after the uplink TBF is established, the establishment of the downlink TBF is immediately triggered. 4. Downlink TBF release delay optimization The release of the downlink TBF should also be delayed to avoid repeated establishments of the downlink TBF when consecutive Ping packets are sent. To enable this function, choose Configure Cell Attributes > GPRS Attributes > PS Network Optimization Parameters > Release Delay of Downlink TFB(ms) and set Release Delay of Downlink TFB(ms) to a value larger than 1000 ms. The recommended value is 2400 ms.

2.2 Data Transmission Delay Analysis

Figure 9 shows how a 32-byte Ping packet is encapsulated at each protocol layer.
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Figure 9 Ping packet encapsulated at each protocol layer

Ping 32-byte packet ICMP header
IP header 20 bytes
SNDCP header 4 bytes
LLC header SNDCP header 3 bytes 4 bytes

Ping packet data 32 bytes

ICMP header 8 bytes ICMP header 8 bytes ICMP header 8 bytes

Ping packet data 32 bytes Ping packet data 32 bytes Ping packet data 32 bytes Ping packet data 32 bytes
SNDCP header 3 bytes SNDCP header LLC header 3 bytes 3 bytes

IP header 20 bytes

IP header ICMP header 8 bytes 20 bytes

As shown in Figure 9, the Ping packet is encapsulated at each layer, and when it reaches the RLC layer, it contains 73 bytes. Table 1 lists the sizes of an RLC data block in different encoding rates. Table 1 Payload of LLC layer data in the RLC data blocks in different encoding rates in EGPRS Channel Coding Scheme MCS-1 MCS-2 MCS-3 MCS-4 MCS-5 MCS-6 MCS-7 MCS-8 MCS-9 EGPRS RLC Data Unit Size (N2) (octets) Family 22 28 37 44 56 74 2x56 2x68 2x74 C B A C B A B A A

Table 2 Payload of LLC layer data in the RLC data blocks in different encoding rates in GPRS Channel Coding RLC Data Block Size Scheme Without Spare Bits (N2) (octets) CS-1 CS-2 CS-3 CS-4
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Number of Spare Bits 0 7 3 7

RLC Data Block Size (octets) 22 32 7/8 38 3/8 52 7/8

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22 32 38 52
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As listed in Table 1 and Table 2, the MCS6 coding scheme is required to send a Ping data block within 20 ms in the case of a single uplink channel. Thus, when you test the Ping delay, it is recommended that you use MCS6 as the default uplink or downlink coding scheme. For GPRS, two channels are required to send a Ping packet within 20ms when the MCS3 or MCS4 coding scheme is adopted. Therefore, when the Ping operation is initiated for the first time, the product regards the service as neutral by default. For an MS with the multislot class 10, three downlink channels and two uplink channels are assigned. For script compilation, if the Ping operation is started immediately after download services, it is recommended that you set the first bit of DSP Control Table 2 to ON. To enable this function, enter the super user mode, choose Configure BSC Attributes > Software Parameters >DSP Control Table 2, and set the first bit of DSP Control Table 2 to ON. If error blocks exist, the Ping delay may burst. This is because if the sent data is not confirmed by the peer, and the unconfirmed data blocks are not re-sent; in this case, the local end waits a long time for the peer to confirm the data blocks before re-sending the blocks. To solve this problem, a new function, PACK data block retransmission, is developed at the network side. When error blocks exist (especially in DT Ping tests), you need to check whether the current version supports the PACK data block retransmission function.

2.3 System Processing Delay

The processing delay for different BTS hardware versions is different. For the BTS3012, the delay of the new double-transceiver BTS3012 is 40 ms shorter than that of the old double-transceiver BTS3012. In addition, different MSs also have different delay. The delay of a Nokia N95 is 40 ms shorter than that of a Sony Ericsson K790.

2.4 Transmission Delay between Network Elements

The transmission delay between network elements is related to the transmission mode between network elements, mainly the transmission mode on the G-Abis interface (TDM/HDLC/IP). The uplink extension function, downlink release delay function, built-in PCU, and new double transceiver should fit into the transmission mode. Table 3 describes results of Ping test in the scenario where the wireless environment is good and the network load is not considered. Table 3 Results of CQT Ping Test First Pinged 32-Byte Packet (ms) 678 1061 503 Consecutive Pinged 32-Byte Packet (ms) 217 163 169

EDGE/GPRS Device

Built-in PCU; Abis TDM; K790 External PCU; Abis TDM; K790 EDGE Built-in PCU; Abis TDM; N95 Built-in PCU; Abis IP

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EDGE/GPRS Device

First Pinged 32-Byte Packet (ms) 392.56 704 782 565.53 337

Consecutive Pinged 32-Byte Packet (ms) 97 246 336 196 171

Built-in PCU; Abis IP(synchronization optimized) Built-in PCU; Abis TDM; K790 External PCU; AbisTDM; K790 GPRS Built-in PCU; Abis TDM; N95 Built-in PCU; Abis IP

3
The file attached provides the data traced in the Ping test.

Appendix

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