OMF000404

Case Study Call Drop

Issue 2.0

Huawei Confidential. All Rights Reserved

References

31160978-BSC Traffic Statistic

Manual Volume I

31033203-BSS Troubleshooting
Manual

Internal Use

Objectives

Upon completion of this course, you are

supposed to be able to:

Understand the principles of call drop.

Analyze and solve call drop problems

Internal Use

Chapter 1 Principle of call drop

Chapter 2 Analysis of call drop

Chapter 3 Call drop cases

Internal Use

Chapter 1 Principle of call drop

Section 1 Definition of call drop
Section 2 TCH call drop
Section 3 SDCCH call drop

Internal Use

Definition of Call Drop

There are two types of call drop: TCH call drop and SDCCH call drop:
TCH call drop means TCH channel is released abnormally after it is
occupied successfully.
SDCCH call drop means SDCCH channel is released abnormally after it
is occupied successfully.

Internal Use

Chapter 1 Principle of call drop

Section 1 Definition of call drop
Section 2 TCH call drop
Section 3 SDCCH call drop

Internal Use

Causes of TCH Call Drop

Usually, the typical causes for sending the Clear_Request message are as
follows:
Radio interface failure
O&M intervention
Equipment failure
Protocol error
Preemption

Internal Use

Formula of TCH Call Drop Rate

Formula of TCH call drop rate

TCH call drop rate=TCH call drops / Successful TCH seizures (all)

Internal Use

Measurement Point of TCH Call Drop

10

Internal Use

Measurement Point of TCH Call Drop

11

TCH serves as traffic channel, BSC receives ERROR INDICATION

message from BTS.
TCH is seized as traffic channel, BSC receives CONNECT FAILURE
INDICATION message from BTS.
In assignment procedure and handover procedure, failure of decoding
HANDOVER DETECTION and HANDOVER COMPLETE message.
TCH serves as traffic channel, incoming BSC handover initiated and the
timer for the target cell to wait for HANDOVER COMPLETE message
expires.
TCH serves as traffic channel, outgoing BSC handover initiated and the
timer for the source cell to wait for CLEAR COMMAND message from MSC
expires (T8 expires).
In intra-BSC handover procedure, the target cell sends Inter Clear Request
to the source cell when the timer for the target cell to wait for HANDOVER
COMPLETE from MS expires, in this case, this item is measured in the
source cell.

Internal Use

Measurement Point of TCH Call Drop

12

In Intra-BSC handover procedure, the source cell, excluding the source cell
for directed retry, measures the item when the timer for the source cell to
wait for Inter Clear Request with cause value HANDOVER COMPLETE
from the target cell expires.
In Intra-BSC handover procedure, when the target cell AM/CM net-drive
fails (due to timeout or negative acknowledgement), the target cell sends
Inter Clear Request to source cell, in this case, this item is measured in the
source cell.
In the case that MS reverses to the original channel after intra BSC
handover fails, the source cell first releases the terrestrial connection but
the AM/CM re-net-drive fails (due to timeout or negative acknowledgement).
In this case this item is measured in the source cell.
The resource of the lower_priority call will be preempted by the
higher_priority call if MSC and BSC both supports preemption, which will
cause call drop.
This item is measured when the RSL link of the TRX that the call is using
disconnects, which will cause call drop.
Internal Use

TCH Call Drop - Assignment

MS

BSC

BTS

MSC

ASSIGNMENT REQUEST
CHANNEL ACTICATION
CHANNEL ACTIVATION ACK
ASSIGN CMMAND
SABM
UA

ESTABLISH INDICATION

ERROR INDICATION
CONNECTION FAILURE INDICATION

A1
A2

13

Internal Use

TCH Call Drop Intra-BSC Handover

MS

BSC'

BSC Ori-Cell

BSC Tag-Cell

BSC''

Intercell Handover Request

CH ACT
CH ACT ACK
Intercell Handover Response
HANDOVER COMMAND

HANDOVER ACCESS
HANDOVER DETECT
SABM
UA
ERROR INDICATION

A1
CONNECTION FAILURE INDICATION

A2

14

Internal Use

TCH Call Drop - Incoming BSC Handover

MS

Other BSC

HUAWEI BSC

HUAWEI BTS

MSC

HANDOVER REQUIRED

HANDOVER REQUEST ACK

HANDOVER REQUEST
CH ACT
CH ACT ACK

HANDOVER COMMAND
HANDOVER ACCESS
HANDOVER DETECT

SABM
UA

ERROR INDICATION
A1

CONNECTION FAILURE INDICATION

A2

15

Internal Use

Measurement Point of Successful TCH Seizures

16

Measurement point of Successful TCH seizures

Upon BSCs reception of CHANNEL ACTIVATION ACKNOWLEDGE
message from BTS in very early assignment TCH process.
In the case the target cell of directed retry is located in other BSC and
directed retry succeeds, MSC sends CLEAR COMMAND message to
the originating BSC to release the original connection. This item is
measured when the originating BSC receives this message.
In the case the directed retry target cell is located in the same BSC and
the directed retry succeeds, target cell sends Inter Clear Request
message to the source cell to request to release the resource and the
original connection. This item is measured when the source cell
receives this message.

Internal Use

Measurement Point of Successful TCH seizures

17

Measurement point of Successful TCH seizures

This item is measured when BSC sends ASSIGNMENT COMPLETE
message to MSC after the assignment procedure is successfully
implemented.
In incoming BSC handover procedure, MS sends HANDOVER
ACCESS message to the BSC. This item is measured when BSC
receives HANDOVER DETECT message from BTS.
In the process of incoming internal inter cell handover and intracell
handover in BSC, MS sends HANDOVER ACCESS message to BSC.
BSC measures this item in the target cell when receiving HANDOVER
DETECTION message from BTS.

Internal Use

Successful TCH Seizure Very Early Assignment

Very early assignment process

MS

BTS

Channel Request (RACH)

BSC

MSC

Channel Required
Channel Activation (TCH or SDCCH)
Channel Activation Acknowledge
Immediate Assignment Command

Immediate Assignment (AGCH)

18

Internal Use

Successful TCH Seizure Assignment

Assignment process

MS

BTS

BSC

MSC
ASS_REQ

CH_ACT
CH_ACT_ACK
ASS_CMD
ASS_CMD
EST_IND
ASS_CMP

19

ASS_CMP

ASS_CMP

Internal Use

Successful TCH Seizure Intra-BSC Handover

Intra-BSC handover process

MS

BTS1

BSC

BTS2

MS

MSC

Measurement Report from MS

Channel_Active
Channel_Active ACK

HANDOVER COMMAND
HO_ Access

HO_Detect
PHY INFO
PHY INFO
First SABM
UA

Establish_IND

Handover Complete

20

HO_Performed

Internal Use

Successful TCH Seizure Inter-BSC Handover

Inter BSC handover process

MS

BTS1

BSC1

MSC

BSC2

BTS2

MS

Measure Report from MS

HO_Required
HO_Request
CH_ACT

Handover Command

HO_Request_ACK
HO_CMD

CH_ACT_ACK
HO_Access
HO_Detect

HO_Detect

PHY INFO
PHY INFO

Establish_IND First SABM

HO_CMP

Handover Complete

Clear_CMD
Clear_CMP

21

Internal Use

Chapter 1 Principle of call drop

Section 1 Definition of call drop
Section 2 TCH call drop
Section 3 SDCCH call drop

22

Internal Use

Formula of SDCCH Call Drop Rate

23

Formula of SDCCH call drop rate:

SDCCH call drop rate = SDCCH call drops/ successful SDCCH
seizures*100%

Internal Use

Measurement Point of SDCCH Call Drop

24

This item is measured when BSC receives ERROR INDICATION message

from BTS due to an abnormal case for a radio link layer connection.
This item is measured when BSC receives CONNECTION FAILURE
INDICATION message from BTS because an active connection has been
broken for some reason such as SDCCH link failure or hardware failure
(see GSM 0508 for details).
In incoming BSC handover procedure on SDCCH, this item is measured in
the target cell in the case of the failure of decoding HANDOVER
DETECTION and HANDOVER COMPLETE message.
In the process of incoming BSC handover on SDCCH, this item is measured
in the target cell when the timer for the target cell to wait for the
HANDOVER COMPLETE message expires.

Internal Use

Measurement Point of SDCCH Call Drop

25

In the process outgoing BSC handover on SDCCH, this item is measured

when the timer for the source cell to wait for CLEAR COMMAND message
from MSC expires (T8 expires).
In the process of intra BSC handover on SDCCH, this item is measured in
the source cell when the timer for the source cell or the target cell to wait for
HANDOVER COMPLETE message expires.
This item is measured when the RSL link of the TRX that the call is running
on disconnect, which will cause call drop, this item measures call drop on
SDCCH for RSL disconnection.

Internal Use

Measurement Point of SDCCH Call Drop

MS

BTS

BSC

MSC

Channel Request Channel Required

Channel Activation (SDCCH)
Channel Activation Acknowledge
Immediate Assignment

Immediate Assignment Command

Establish Indication (L3 Info)

Or:
Or:

Connection Failure
Error Indication

Abis Failure
Cell SDCCH Call Drop
(Subject to different cases)
26

Internal Use

Measurement Point of Successful SDCCH Seizures

27

In immediate SDCCH assignment procedure, this item is measured when

BSC receives CHANNEL ACTIVATION ACKNOWLEDGE message from
BTS.
In the process of incoming BSC handover on SDCCH. This item is
measured when BSC receives HANDOVER DETECTION from BTS.
In the process of incoming internal inter cell handover and intracell
handover in BSC.BSC measures this item in the target cell when receiving
HANDOVER DETECTION from BTS.

Internal Use

Chapter 1 Principle of call drop

Chapter 2 Analysis of call drop

Chapter 3 Call drop cases

28

Internal Use

Analysis of Call Drop

29

content
main causes of high call drop rate
troubleshooting of high call drop rate

Internal Use

Analysis of Call Drop

30

According to the definition of call drop measurement point, call drop is

usually caused by the following:
Radio link fault. During the communication, messages can not be
received correctly.
Abis link broken during conversation.
Call drop during handover.
Other system faults.
Timers that may cause call drops (BSC timer):
T3103: starting from sending HANDOVER CMD and ending at receiving
HANDOVER CMP. Time out of the timer will cause call drop.
T3109: starting from sending CHAN REL and ending at receiving REL
IND.

Internal Use

Radio Link Fault

Signaling process chart of radio link fault

MS

BTS

BSC

MSC

(1)
Measurement Report

(2)
Measurement Result
Connection Failure
Clear_REQ (Radio Interface Failure)

(3)

(1) Dadicated mode is created. (SDCCH/TCH)

(2) Activate Abis monitoring function.
(3)SACCH message block can not be decoded(uplink/downlink),
resulting in radio link timeout.

31

Internal Use

Radio Link Fault

32

Diagram of radio link timeout

Internal Use

T3103 Times Out

Handover process

MS

BTS1

BTS2

BSC

MSC

Handover Indication
CH_ACT
CH_ACT_ACK
Handover Command

Handover Command

Handover Access

Set T3103

HO_Detect

Physical Information (TA)

SABM

EST_IND

UA
Handover Complete

33

Handover Complete
Reset T3103

Internal Use

Causes of Radio Link Fault

34

The causes of radio link fault can be

Interference
>Internal interference
>External interference
>Equipment interference
Poor coverage
>Coverage hole
>Isolated island
>Uplink/downlink imbalance
Improper parameter setting
>Radio link timeout, SACCH multi-frames
>Handover parameters
>Power control parameters
Equipment problem (Antenna, feeder, combiner, TRX)
Clock problem
Transmission problem
Internal Use

Radio Link Fault - Interference

35

Category
Co-channel interference
Adjacent-channel interference
Inter-modulation interference and other external interference

Internal Use

Radio Link Fault - Interference

36

Solution
First check equipment problems.
Make an drive test, check the interference area and distribution of signal
quality. Find the interference frequency.
Further search for the interference source with the spectrum analyzer.
Activate hopping, DTX and power control functions to lower the internal
interference of the system

Internal Use

Radio Link Fault - Interference

37

Judgment Process
Analyze the occurrence regularity of interference band in the
traffic measurement.
Observe the receiving level performance
Find the poor quality handover rate
Observe receiving quality performance
Observe call drop performance
Observe whether there are many handover failures and reversion
failures.

Internal Use

Radio Link Fault - Coverage

38

Coverage:
Overshooting
Coverage hole
Signal attenuation
Incomplete definition of adjacent cells
Imbalance of uplink/downlink

Internal Use

Radio Link Fault - Coverage

39

Judgment Process
Power control measurement function
Receiving level measurement function
Cell measurement function/inter-cell handover measurement function
Call drop measurement function
Defined adjacent cell measurement function
Undefined adjacent cell measurement function
Outgoing inter-cell handover measurement function
Up-down link balance measurement function

Internal Use

Radio Link Fault - Coverage

40

Solution
Adjust network parameters
Add BTS

Internal Use

Radio Link Fault - Parameters

41

Main parameters that may affect the call drop rate:

Radio link timeout and SACCH multi-frames
RACH busy threshold and RACH minimum access level.
MS minimum receiving signal level
Call re-establishment permitted.

Internal Use

Radio Link Fault - Parameters

42

Main parameters that may affect the call drop rate:

NCC permitted
Handover related parameters.
Power control related parameters.
Frequency planning parameters

Internal Use

Radio Link Fault

43

Judgment process
System information data
Cell data
Radio link connection timer (T3105)
Maximum times of physical information
Call drop performance measurement function
Judge from the cause of call drop
>error indication
>connection failure.

Internal Use

Handover Problem

44

Judgment process :
In inter-cell handover measurement function, it occurs frequently that
the handover fails and the reversion also fails.
In inter-cell handover measurement function, handover failures with
successful reversions occur many times.
In undefined adjacent cell measurement function, observe the receiving
level of the undefined adjacent cells and number of the measurement
reports.

Internal Use

Handover Problem

45

Judgment process
In outgoing inter-cell handover measurement function, the outgoing
inter-cell handover success rate is low (for a certain cell). Find the
adjacent cell to which the handover success rate is low and find the
cause.
Incoming inter-cell handover success rate is low. The handover
judgment parameter setting of the target cell may be improper.
In TCH measurement function, handover times are not in normal
proportion to successful TCH seizures for call. (handovers/calls>3)

Internal Use

Equipment Problem

46

Call drop arising from equipment problem

Hardware problem
Transmission problem
Antenna and feeder fault
Other causes

Internal Use

Chapter 1 Principle of call drop

Chapter 2 Analysis of call drop

Chapter 3 Call drop cases

47

Internal Use

Call Drop Case 1

Fault Description
The BTS distribution of an area is as illustrated in the diagram (red
numbers stand for BCCH frequencies. No hopping, no DTX). Some
subscribers complain that call drop in second sector of base station C is
serious. Hardware fault has been ruled out.

please confirm whether the

frequency distribution in the
cells are resonable?

48

Internal Use

Call Drop Case 1

Analysis

49

From the analysis of BTS topology, it can be concluded that the

frequencies are well planned.
Next, check the interference band of traffic statistic.

Internal Use

Call Drop Case 1

50

Analysis

09:00-10:00

IB1

IB2

IB3

IB4

IB5

cell 1

2.85

14.25

1.14

0.27

0.54

cell 2

4.09

12.57

3.14

0.03

0.01

cell 3

2.92

13.27

0.25

0.37

03:00~04:00

IB1

IB2

IB3

IB4

IB5

cell 1

2.85

4.28

0.00

0.00

0.00

cell 2

4.09

2.89

0.00

0.00

0.00

cell 3

2.12

0.00

0.00

0.00

Internal Use

Call Drop Case 1

51

Troubleshooting
Conducting a drive tests, it is found that the quality is bad when the
receiving strength is high.
Check traffic statistic and it is found that when the call drop rate is high,
handovers are mostly caused by quality reasons, and channel
assignment failure rate is also high.
The conclusion is that there is interference from the analysis of
comprehensive traffic statistic and drive test.

Internal Use

Call Drop Case 1

52

Troubleshooting
A site investigation shows that the operator has a repeater. It is a
broadband repeater. It transmits the signals from a remote TACS site.
TACS signals are amplified and then there is interference in second
sector of base station C.
Problem has been located: interference causes the call drop.
Finally, lower the power of the repeater. The interference band reduce
to IB1. Now the high call drop rate problem at site C is solved.

Internal Use

Call Drop Case 1

53

Common methods of checking and clearing call drop due to interference

Rule out the internal interference caused by equipment problems and
check the separation of BTS transceivers, antenna feeder installation,
and so on.
Check the interference band
Drive test
Check traffic statistic of handover causes to get judgment
Clear uplink interference
Clear downlink interference
Check whether DTX, frequency hopping technology and power control
application are reasonable
Use PBGT handover algorithm flexibly to avoid co-channel and
adjacent-channel interference effectively.

Internal Use

Call Drop Case 2

54

Fault description
The call drop rate in cell 3 of a BTS is 10% accompanied with high
congestion rate, but call drop rate and congestion rate in cell 1 and cell
2 are normal.

Internal Use

Call Drop Case 2

55

Analysis
Check the related traffic statistic
>Check whether there is high interference band in TCH
measurement function.
>Check the situation of call drop in call drop measurement function.
>Check whether handover of the cell is normal.
Check whether there is interference through checking frequency
planning, moreover confirm whether there is external interference with
spectrum analyzer.
Drive test
Check the hardware

Internal Use

Call Drop Case 2

56

Troubleshooting
Block TRX in turn and the congestion rate is always quite high no matter
which TRX is blocked.
Check and analyze the traffic statistic, interference band and traffic
volume and call drop rate, and it is found that the interference becomes
more serious as the traffic gets high.
Change frequency. The frequency of cell 3 is changed to 1MHz away
from the original value. But the problem persists.
Judge whether the equipment is faulty.
Locate external interference.

Internal Use

Call Drop Case 2

57

Troubleshooting
Make a scanning test with a spectrum analyzer.
>A suspect signal with 904.14MHz center frequency, 300K bandwidth
is found. It is similar to an analog signal and it exists continuously.
>At the distributor output port of cell 3, the signal strength is 27dBm.
cell 2 is 40dBm, cell 1 is 60dBm. It accords with the degree of
interference.
>Traffic volume is higher in the day time than that at night.
Now the problem is found: 904MHz external interference source.

Internal Use

Call Drop Case 2

58

Conclusion: solution of interference

Solve internal interference through checking frequency planning.
After internal interference is excluded, we can
locate external
interference with spectrum analyzer.

Internal Use

Call Drop Case 3

Fault description
Subscribers complain that call drops often happen from on the 5th floor
and above in a building.

Subscriber complaint is also an important source of information

about the network quality.

59

Internal Use

Call Drop Case 3

60

Analysis
Perform on-site test
>There are call drops and noise on the site
>The test mobile phone shows that before the call drop the serving
cell is BTS-B. But this building should be covered by BTS-A.
Check traffic statistic
>BTS-B is about 9 kilometers away from this building. It is
determined that the BTS-B signal received in this area is coming
from some obstacles reflection. Thus an isolated island coverage is
formed in this area.

Internal Use

Call Drop Case 3

61

Analysis
Check data configuration
>In BSC data configuration, BTS-A is not configured as the
adjacency of BTS-B
Cause analysis of call drop
>When the MS uses the signal of cell 2 of BTS-B in this area, the
signal of cell 3 of BTS-A is strong. But cell 2 of BTS-B and cell 3 of
BTS-A are not adjacent, therefore, handover cannot happen.
>The signal in cell 2 of BTS-B is the result of multiple reflections.
When the signal of BTS-B received by the mobile phone gets weak
suddenly, an emergency handover is needed. But there is no
adjacent cell of BTS-B, so call drops will occur.

Internal Use

Call Drop Case 3

62

Troubleshooting
Modify the data in BA1 table, BA2 table and add adjacent cell
relationship, set cell 3 of BTS-A as an adjacent cell of cell 2 of BTS-B.
Optimize the network parameters to eliminate the isolated island.
The test results show that the call drop problem is solved.

Internal Use

Call Drop Case 3

63

Conclusiontwo methods to solve isolated island problem

Adjust the antenna of the isolated cell, to eliminate the isolated island
problem.
Define new adjacent cells for the isolated cell.

Internal Use

Call Drop Case 4

64

Fault description
In a drive test from A to B, it is found that there are many call drops at
entrance of a tunnel near a BTS due to slow handover.

Internal Use

Call Drop Case 4

Analysis
The tunnel is near the BTS. When the MS enters the tunnel, the power
of the target cell is -80dBm. But the signal of source cell goes down
quickly to less than -100dBm. Before the MS enters the tunnel, the
downlink power of the two cells is good and no handover is triggered.
When the MS enters the tunnel, the level of the source cell goes down
rapidly. The call drop occurs before any handover is triggered.

Think it over: How to solve problems of this type?

65

Internal Use

Call Drop Case 4

66

Troubleshooting
The adjusted parameters are listed below.

Parameter name

Value before
change

Value after
change

PBGT watch time

PBGT valid time

PBGT HO threshold

72

68

UL Qual. Thrsh.
(Emergency handover)

70

60

Min. DL level on
candidate cell

10

15

Internal Use

Call Drop Case 4

67

Conclusion: optimize and adjust handover parameters to reduce call drop

On condition that there is no ping-pang handover and excessive voice
interruption, PBGT handover can help to reduce interference and lower
call drop rate.
Set emergency handover thresholds properly, and make sure the
emergency handover can be triggered in time before the call drop so as
to reduce call drops.

Internal Use

Call Drop Case 5

68

Fault description
In the dial test, many call drops are found in cell 2.
Analysis
Check the traffic statistic and find out that TCH congestion rate of this
cell is over 10% and internal inter-cell handover failure rate is high. It is
found that one TRX board of this cell is abnormal in OMC. A preliminary
conclusion is that TRX board problem causes the call drop.

Internal Use

Call Drop Case 5

69

Troubleshooting
Lock the frequency with a test mobile phone and perform dial test for
many times. It is found that call drops only happen in timeslots 1, 3, 5, 7
while communications in timeslots 2, 4, 6, 8 are normal.
Move this board to another slot, and the problem still exists.
Move another good board to this slot, and the communication is normal.
Move this defective board to other cabinet, the problem arises.
When it is replaced, the communication is recovered.

Internal Use

Call Drop Case 5

70

Conclusion
The BTS test should guarantee that communication should be
successful not only in each TRX but also in each timeslot of the TRX.
It must be ensured that each TCH channel provides bidirectional high
quality communication.

Internal Use

Call Drop Case 6

71

Fault description
In dual-band network, when a call is setup in a GSM1800 cell and being
handed over to a GSM900 cell in the same site, the call drops in the
GSM900 cell in 2 to 5 seconds. The call drop rate in the GSM900 cell is
quite high.

Internal Use

Call Drop Case 6

72

Analysis
In the test it is found that the clock of GSM900 cell and GSM1800 cell
are not synchronized.
When a call set up in a GSM1800 cell and is handed over to a GSM900
cell, the drive test tool shows that FER increases to the maximum value
suddenly and then it goes down to zero gradually.
It is the same with the handover from GSM900 to GSM1800.

Internal Use

Call Drop Case 6

73

Troubleshooting
After adjusting GSM900 clock system, the abnormal call drop problem is
solved.

Internal Use

Call Drop Case 6

74

Conclusion
Clocks of GSM900 and GSM1800 should be exactly synchronized with
each other in a dual band network, otherwise there will be call drops
and handover failures.

Internal Use

Summary

Summary

75

Types of call drop

Measurement points of TCH call drop
Measurement points of SDCCH call
drop
Causes of call drop
Cases

Internal Use

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