Self Organizing Networks (SON)

Overview
Drivers for Self Organizing Networks

Parallel operation of LTE with 2G and 3G networks

Large and complex number and structure of network parameters
Expanding number of Base Stations
OPEX reduction - Reduce human interaction

Configure & optimize the network automatically

But allow the operator to be the final control instance
Main Functionalities of SON
Self-configuration (Plug and Play):
Automated network integration of new eNB
by auto connection and auto configuration
Simplified installation, faster roll out
Automated neighbour configuration (X2)
Physical Cell ID
Self-optimization (Auto Tune):
Auto-tune the network (coverage and
capacity) with the help of UE and eNB
measurements on local eNB level and/or
network management level
Energy savings
Mobility Robustness
Load Balancing
RACH Optimization
Inter-cell interference coordination
Self-healing (Auto Repair):
Automatic detection and localization and
removal of failures:
HW/SW-Failure Mitigation
Cell Outage Detection and Outage Mitigation
Automatic Alarm Reaction
Self-planning:
Dynamic re-computation
of network plan due to capacity extensions,
traffic monitoring or optimizations
Often going along with self-optimization
(efficient way of network growth support)
3GPP: SON in Standardization
2007
2008 2008 2009 2009 2010 2010

SON in 3GPP
Rel. 8 Rel. 9 Rel. 10

Automated configuration of Remaining/spill over(s) Rel. 8 Interference Reduction

Physical Cell ID
ANR
Self-configuration of eNBs
Automatic Software Management
Self Configuration
Automated configuration of
Physical Cell ID
Inter RAT ANR
Automatic Radio Configuration
Function
Coverage and Capacity
optimization
Mobility Load Balancing
Mobility Robustness optimization
Avoidance of Drive Tests
SON Evaluation Scenario
Inter Cell Interference
Coordination
Coverage and Capacity
optimization (spill over,
new features like relays)
Mobility Robustness optimization
(spill over,
new features like relays)
Energy Savings
Control and Resource
optimization of Relays

Self Optimization
RAN3
Cell outage compensation/ Self Healing
SA5
mitigation
Self Healing
SON Features Examples
Self Configuration
SON: LTE BTS Plugn Play

One touch deployment

Auto connection &
configuration,
Factory Assembly & On-site installation remote
Pre-Configuration (Field service) commissioning

One Touch deployment : Network

Management
Auto connection to the network
with PKI based node
authentication
Auto configuration of SW and eNB
configuration data
Automated deployment of
licenses
Automated integration into the
access- core- and network- MME SAE-GW / PDN-GW
management network Feature ID(s): LTE154 (LTE 720)
PKI = Public Key Infrastructure
Self Configuration Procedure

NetAct
SON
Coordinator
IP Backhaul
NetAct
Services
4. Auto SW &
Configuration
5. Auto X2 download
set-up
Certification &
3. Authentication Registration
& PKI Authority
Certificate
Download

GW

6. Auto S1 set-up DHCP

2. IP address Server
allocation
1. auto-connect
to backhaul PKI = Public Key Infrastructure
DHCP = Dynamic Host Control
MME Protocol

Feature ID(s): LTE720

PCI Management

Automated PCI assignment and collision detection

Each cell of a LTE network needs to have a Physical Cell ID (PCI) assigned
Since the PCI range is limited to 504 values neither the neighbours of a cell, nor
the neighbours of the neighbours shall have the same PCI value
Handling phases:
1) Central optimized assignment for initial PID assignment for Flexi Multiradio
BTS via NetAct Optimizer
PCI assigned based on distance and actual adjacencies
2) Collision Detection with alarming in Flexi Multiradio BTS
Collision: two neighbour cells with the same PCI
During the X2 setup the neighbour information is exchanged, Flexi Multiradio
compares its own PCI with the ones of the neighbours activating an alarm if
collision
3) Automatic Collision Resolution via NetAct Optimizer
If collisions detected (via alarm) then optimization can be manually or automatically
triggered several times a day Feature ID: LTE468
Automated Neighbor Relation (ANR) Configuration
Neighbour relations are important as wrong neighbour definitions cause HO
failures and dropped calls
Self configuration of relations avoids manual planning & maintenance

ANR covers 4 steps:

1) Neighbour cell discovery
2) Neighbour Sites X2 transport configuration discovery (i.e. Neighbour Site IP@)
3) X2 Connection Set-up with neighbour cell configuration update
4) ANR Optimization

The scope within ANR is to establish an X2 connection between source and

target nodes and for that it is necessary that source eNB knows the target eNB
IP@
How the source eNB gets the IP@ differentiates the ANR features:
Central ANR (RL10)
ANR (RL20)
ANR- Fully UE based (RL30)
3GPP ANR Configuration Principle
Neighbor Site
Site MME
UE eNB - A
eNB - B
connected

New cell
discovered

New cell
identified
by ECGI S1 : Request X2 Transport Configuration (ECGI)
relays
request
S1: Request X2 Transport Configuration

CM
S1: Respond X2 Transport Configuration (IP@)
relays
response
S1 : Respond X2 Transport Configuration (IP@)

CM
Add Site & Cell X2 Setup : IPsec, SCTP, X2-AP [site & cell info] Add Site & Cell
parameter of Parameter of
eNB-A eNB-B
CM CM
Neighbor Cell Tables in both eNB updated
ANR - Fully UE Based
Automated planning: NO configuration of any neighbor cell attributes, no
OAM needed

Fully 3GPP compliant

UE triggers X2 establishment first when unknown PCI is measured
UE is asked to measure ECGI by source eNB
Source eNB sends ECGI to MME eNBID#A eNBID#B
MME requests IP connectivity information (IP@) to the target eNB
MME forwards the target eNB IP@ to the source eNB
Source eNB established a X2 connection to the target neighbour sites X2-Interface
S1-Interface MME
X2-set up message used for exchange of all required neighbour information S1-Interface

Advantage
No manual neighbour planning
PCI: Physical Cell ID
requires SON/ANR supporting UE (report ECGIs) ECGI: E-UTRAN Cell Global Identifier

Feature ID: LTE782

Central ANR (Automatic Neighbour Cell Relation)

Self Configuration of Neighbour Relations for LTE

UE measurements are not taken into account

Central solution purely based in O&M: NetAct Configurator and
NetAct Optimizer
Optimizer creates neighbours for each site, then Configurator
adds the IP@ to the list and this is downloaded to the sites with the
configuration data.
- Neighbour relations (X2 paths) are already established as
part of the configuration
- UE measurements are ignored: if UE detects an unknown
neighbour (not part of the neighbour list created by Optimizer) this
is ignored

Feature ID: LTE539

LTE ANR

Automated planning: NO configuration of any neighbor cell attributes

NetAct Optimizer and Configurator create the list of potential neighbour cells and related IP connectivity
information

When UE reports an unknown PCI the source eNB looks for that PCI
in look-up tables to find the IP@ of the site hosting the PCI reported
UEs measurements taken into account to trigger the X2
connection
Once known target eNB IP@ the X2 connection is established and
information between neighbours is exchanged
Advantage:
Works with any UE (no need to report ECGI)
No neighbour site planning required

Feature ID: LTE492

Features Supporting Inter-RAT ANR

Automated planning on central NMS level

NetAct
Automated planning of UTRAN/GSM neighbours done via NetAct Optimizer
Configurator and Optimizer

2G/3G relevant data for Inter RAT relations is uploaded/retrieved

CM
from the existing configuration management database Configurator
CM

Optimizer calculates neighbour sites given by geo-locations

Configurator configures the neighbour cell lists and downloads the

plans UTRAN/GERAN
LTE CM
GERAN Domain Managers
UTRAN
No UE supporting UTRAN-ANR needed
UTRAN

GERAN

Features ID: LTE783 and LTE784

Synchronization of InterRAT Neighbours

Always up to date neighbour relations

Enhancement of Inter RAT ANR previous features

Update/synchronize automatically changes of Inter-RAT
neighbour information in case of relevant changes at the
2G/3G or LTE-side ensuring up-to-date Inter RAT
neighbour relationships
Changes to trigger update:
Site/cells addition deletion
Cell parameter changes
Alignment to LTE network through NetAct
Synchronization processes can be run automatically, be
scheduled or triggered manually by operator

Feature ID(s): LTE510

Optimization of Neighbour Relations
NetAct Optimizer (Intra-LTE)

Automatic neighbour relationship evaluation. OPEX reduction in managing neighbour relationships

NetAct Optimizer supervises the quality of the registered neighbour Optimizer

relations. Inefficient neighbour relations may be blacklisted for HO CM
PM
Analysis based on HO performance counters and configuration Configurator
information
Use cases:
Neighbours will insufficient HO performance can be blacklisted
Blacklisted Neighbours can be whitelisted (e.g. to re-evaluate
the performance due to changes in topology)
Neighbours can be marked by an operator so they are excluded
from optimization.
No HO
Optimization works in a mid to long term schedule

Feature ID(s): LTE 771

PRACH Management

Automatic assignment of PRACH parameters during the initial eNB auto-configuration process
Configured PRACH parameters:
prachConfIndex, prachFreqOff, prachCS, rootSeqIndex
Assignment done for all cells of an eNB
Considering:
Own cell data
Configuration data from surrounding eNBs incl. subordinate cells
Feature delimitation:
No PRACH / RACH optimization
Based e.g. on counter or PM counter results
Does not change any data from surrounding eNBs and their subordinate cells
Runs only once during initial auto-configuration process
Benefit
No manual PRACH planning for new eNBs/cells required
Feature ID(s): LTE 581
SON Features Examples
Self Healing
Self Healing: Cell Outage Detection

Key Performance Indicators are evaluated to determine if

there can be a problem in the cell
The tools of NetAct Thersholder & Profiler are used to
provide the alarm generation in case of a problem
The feature rises an indication that there may be a problem
so that the operator must still check the situation
The failure scenarios are:
Cell availability
RACH failure rate
RRC connection setup failure
Data radio bearer setup failure rate
PDCP cell throughput
Uplink power measurements
To prevent false alarms KPIs are performed to hystorical
KPIs result values
Feature ID(s): LTE432 Cell Outage Detection
Self Healing: Cell Outage Triggered Reset

Automated cell service recovery

NetAct 3
Based on service alarm raised by Cell Outage Analyze the alarms and Create and send
Detection status of eNB commands for action:
Reset Cell or eNB
NetAct workflow is triggered automatically
Automated triggered action: Reset of BTS
Thresholder
Alarm cleared with actions & Profiler 2
NetAct
LTE432 BTS Site
Cell Outage Detection Manager
correlation

Monitor
1
Alarms, Counters 4
Feature ID(s): LTE502
Command: Reset
SON Features Examples
Self Optimization
Mobility Robustness (MRO)
Increased network performance by automatic adaptations

Optimizing the Intra-LTE (Intra-frequency) radio network HO-configuration for robustness of mobility
procedures (i.e. to avoid drops calls and radio link failures due to too early/late HOs)
MRO fine tunes based on long-running evaluation of KPIs / specific detections in eNBs / influenced by
operator policies
Fine tuning refers to the adjustment of HO related thresholds like HO offsets and Time to Trigger

Optimizer/Configurator

PM-history MRO MRO

-SF -SF
NetAct Height Measuremant data
Measurement data

CM PM CM PM

Performance Measurements Feature ID(s): LTE 533

Minimization of Drive Test (MDT)

LTE953 is a feature designed to replace currently expensive drive testing and is intended for use during
network deployment, optimisation and operation
LTE953 is an automated utilization feature of trace-related features LTE570 and LTE644:

LTE953
ReportInterval
ReportAmount
LTE644 Configurable Cell Trace Content
Collected
cell trace
data
LTE570 Periodic Measurements
ITFs and elementary
procedures for tracing

LTE953 logic flow:

Trace parameters are sent from NetAct TraceViewer to eNB via iOMS.
NetAct TraceViewer triggers eNB to start trace session
Capable MDT UEs provide measurements when triggered by eNB due to trace start
Measurements are sent to NetAct Trace Viewer for post processing and presentation
Postprocessing and analysis of collected trace data is not part of LTE953
Minimization of Drive Test (MDT)
MDT profiles
LTE953 MDT profile is a combination of selection rule, UE limitation rule & activation rule which together define the trace
session configuration intended to derive target conclusions

Selection rule: Selection of elementary procedures included in trace session

Examples: RRCConnectionReestablishment, S1 Uplink NAS Transport, X2 RLF Indication, ...

UE limitation rule: Upper limit of UE connections which have to be covered by trace session

Activation rule: Set of features which have to be activated during trace session
Example: LTE570 Periodic Measurements

Target conclusions can be derived from traced data via

postprocessing rules
Postprocessing rules are not part of LTE953, but they
implicitly define the MDT profile

Target conclusions defining LTE953 MDT profiles concern Potential coverage

coverage ... problems
... quality measurement
... problem detection Traced cell
... problem localization
Full SON support for distributed sites LTE1045

eNb 10km

RRH

NetAct would use co-ordinates of eNb, now can use

co-ordinates of remote Antennas.
This info used in; 20km
PCI management
ANR
Auto config
PRACH management RRH
ANR Inter RAT UTRAN
ANR Inter Rat GERAN
Sync of Inter RAT neighbors
THANK YOU