LTE ERAB Success Rate - Our Technology Planet

11/27/2017 LTE ERAB Success Rate - Our Technology Planet
Our Technology Planet Home Telecom IP Networking Product Reviews Discussion Forum Abo
The Technology and Our World Today
KPI Optimization: LTE ERAB Success Rate
Home Telecom KPI Optimization: LTE ERAB Success Rate
E-mail Subscription
Please enter your e-mail address

order to receive post updates
Your email:
Subscribe Unsubscribe
We respect your privacy and assu

that your e-mail will not be share
any 3rd parties
Connect with Us on Linked
Ali Khalid
Haider Khalid
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Google+ Pinterest WhatsApp
The second major KPI for LTE is the LTE ERAB Success Rate which is also part of the accessibility. After Like Us on Facebook
the UE has completed the RRC Connection which has been explained in my previous article, LTE KPI
Optimization: RRC Success Rate, it needs to get a Bearer assigned to it to initiate services. The bearer
can be default (usually Data QCI9) or dedicated (VoLTE QCI1). During initial access, the default bearer is
added and that constitutes the major portion of the total ERABs.
Firstly, lets understand the de nition and points where the ERAB KPI is pegged. After the UE sends the
RRC Setup Complete message to the eNB, the eNB sends a S1 Initial UE Message to the MME indicating
the purpose of the UE (Attach, TAU, CSFB, Service Request etc) and its credentials. Once the MME
receives this message and it decides that a bearer is required, it will send an Initial Context Setup
Request to the eNB. This message is considered as the ERAB Attempt as it contains the bearers to be
added along with their QCI values. The eNB receives this message and adds the DRB (Data Radio Bearer)
based on the bearer pro le in Initial Context Setup Request. But before the eNB can add bearers, it
needs to activate the security for the connection. This is done by the Security Mode Command which
carries the ciphering and integrity protection algorithms. After this the eNB sends a RRC Connection
Recon guration message to the UE which adds a DRB and it includes the con guration for the DRB like
bearer identity, PDCP & RLC con guration (AM/UM etc). SRB2 is also added at this point with this
message. The UE receives these messages and recon gures the connection. Then the UE responds with Follow Us on Twitter
Security Mode complete and RRC Connection Recon guration Complete messages. As the eNB receives
https://ourtechplanet.com/lte-erab-success-rate/ 1/10
these messages, it sends an Initial Context Setup Response to MME and this message is considered as Tweets by OurTechPlanet
the ERAB Success.
Popular Posts
LTE Throughput Optimization:

PDCCH Capacity Enhancemen
KPI Optimization: LTE ERAB Su

Rate
Understanding MPLS Basics
LTE Network Entry Steps
What is the Best Android Phon

2017?
Common Failures In ERAB Setup Phase

Recent Posts
Now lets understand the common failures that usually cause a ERAB setup failure. Most of the times,
the ERAB setup failures can be divided into two broad categories
Common Types of Port-Channe
Radio Induced ERAB Setup Failures
KPI Optimization: LTE Call Drop
MME Induced ERAB Setup Failures All About MPLS VPNs
Lets have an in-depth look at both of them and nd ways to tackle them LTE Throughput Optimization:
PDCCH Capacity Enhancemen
Radio Induced ERAB Setup Failures
SFP Transceivers Explained
Radio Link Failure
Consider a UE that receives Security Mode Command but fails to maintain radio connection afterwards.
This can happen in following two scenarios:
1. N310 consecutive out-of-sync events and T310 expiry Recent Comments
N310 indicates an interval of 200 consecutive PDCCH decoding failures. Simply put, if the UE fails to
decode PDCCH for 200ms, it will be considered one N310. If the N310 value is 2 then it means that if the tom on Understanding MPLS B
UE fails to decode PDCCH for 400 ms, it will have exceeded the con gured N310 threshold. Once, N310 Sufyan on LTE Frame Structure
has been exceeded, the UE starts timer T310 and if the UE is unable to retain the connection (still unable Simple
to decode PDCCH) before T310 expires, the UE will initiate RRC ReEstablishment. Lets understand with
an example. Consider N310 of 2 and T310 of 500ms, then the UE will initiate RRC Connection Ali Khalid on PCI Planning: Fact
ReEstablishment after 900 ms (N310 = 400ms + T310 = 500ms). Myths
Ali Khalid on LTE KPI Optimizat

Deep Dive: RRC Success Rate
Merleau on PCI Planning: Facts

Myths
Amazon A liate Disclosu
Our Technology Planet is a partic

in the Amazon Services LLC Assoc
Program, an a liate advertising
program designed to provide a m
for sites to earn advertising fees
advertising and linking to Amazo
2. Maximum RLC retransmission count exceeded
Consider that the UE receives both the Security Mode Command and the RRC Connection
Recon guration message. Now, it has to transmit the Security Mode Complete and RRC Connection
Recon guration Complete message in Uplink. However, if the eNB fails to decode these responses, it will
send a NACK to the UE or the eNB may not send anything if it completely fails to even receive these
messages. The RLC layer in the UE is con gured to resend the message if the message is not
acknowledged. So, the RLC layer will keep resending until a valid acknowledgement is received. But the
RLC cannot resend the same message inde nitely and it has a upper limit of retransmissions. Once that
limit is reached, the RLC will not retransmit again and the UE will consider that the radio link is
compromised. This will trigger a RRC ReEstablishment Request.
However, in both these cases, the RRC ReEstablishment Request will be rejected by the eNB since
processing this request requires to have a valid UE context at the eNB. But since the UE did not respond
to Security Mode Command, so the eNB does not consider the context to be active yet and rejects the
RRC ReEstablishment Request. At the same instance, the eNB will send Initial Context Setup Fail to MME
indicating an ERAB Setup Failure.
Optimization
Such issues can be reduced by increasing the N310 & T310 value. For instance, if the value of N310 is
increased from 2 to 6 and T310 is increased from 500ms to 1000ms, then the UE will wait for 2200ms
instead of previous 900ms and there is more chance that N311 will be triggered. N311 is the In-Sync
value and so it is the opposite of N310. T310 stops if N311 is triggered. If N311 is 1 then it means that UE
needs 100ms of successful PDCCH decoding to stop T310. So, there is a higher probability of triggering
N311 if the value of N310 and T310 is big.
Similarly, if the RLC retransmission count threshold is increased from 8 to 16, then the RLC will
retransmit 16 times instead of 8 times which will increase the probability that the eNB might be able to
decode the message and prevent RLF.
No Response From UE
In this case, the UE receives the Security Mode Command and the RRC Connection Recon guration
messages in downlink but does not respond to these messages in uplink. This can result in the Inactivity
Timer expiry and the eNB will send a UE Context Release Request to the MME during ERAB setup phase
which will cause the ERAB setup failure. Lets see why this scenario happens in live networks. Once a UE
receives a downlink message which needs a response, it will need an uplink allocation to send a
response. In order to get an uplink allocation, the UE requests the eNB by using a Scheduling Request
Indicator or SRI. The UE sends a SRI based on the SRI Con guration shared with it in the RRC Connection
Setup Message. The SRI Con guration tells the UE about the periodicity of the SRI and it determines the
subframe where the UE will send the SRI. So, the eNB will look for that UEs SRI in that subframe only
and based on that, the eNB allocates an uplink resource to the UE by instructing the UE on the PDCCH.
Now, the vendors have moved to adaptive SRI intervals which can result in a new SRI con guration in
the RRC Connection Recon guration message. There are UEs that do not support this change of SRI
con guration and they keep using the old SRI con guration. So, once they have received the Security
Mode Command and the RRC Connection Recon guration messages in downlink and they want to
respond in uplink, they will have to send a SRI rst. The UE will be sending SRI according to the old SRI
Con guration shared in RRC Connection Setup message while the eNB will be looking for the UEs SRI in
the subframe de ned in SRI Con guration of RRC Connection Recon guration message. This will result
in a scenario where the eNB will consider that there is no response from UE and once the inactivity
timer is expired, the ERAB setup will fail.
This can also happen if the UE is in poor coverage or if the PUCCH has high interference. The UE will
keep sending SRIs in the correct location on PUCCH but the eNB might not be able to read them
resulting in a similar scenario as explained above.
Optimization
If such a scenario is observed consistently, it will be a good idea to shift from an adaptive SRI period to a
xed SRI period. This will avoid recon guring the SRI periodicity and will prevent this issue.
Also, using PUCCH enhancements like IRC on PUCCH can help reduce the probability of such issues.
RLC Mode Issue

This is rarely seen in networks when a UM mode (Unacknowledged Mode of RLC) QCI is used for UEs
which do not support UM mode. A common example is the QCI7 which is a Non-GBR QCI de ned for live
streaming or voice services and it usually works in UM Mode. But there are many UEs which do not
support UM mode and the eNB simply fails to add a bearer with UM mode for them. This issue can be
seen from the counters as it will show that ERAB failures on Radio interface are happening only on QCI7
or any other QCI which is set to UM Mode.
Optimization
Simply changing the RLC mode for the QCI from UM to AM should solve this issue.
Security Mode Failure

Another issue that is a bit rare is the Security Mode Failure issue. In this case, the UE receives the
Security Mode Command from the eNB but responds with a Security Mode Failure message.
Consequently, eNB sends Initial Context Setup Failure to the MME resulting in ERAB setup failure. This
happens if the security con guration on the eNB is not supported by the UE or sometimes it can happen
if the UE cannot handle both the Security Mode Command and the RRC Connection Recon guration
together. In most of the cases, this turns out to be the terminal issue.
MME Induced ERAB Setup Failures
Lets have a look at the MME induced ERAB failures. This may come as a surprise but most of the MME
induced ERAB setup failures in commercial networks are actually caused by the radio interface and not
the MME. I know it is hard to understand but those of you who have delved themselves in RRC and S1
traces will understand it more clearly once I explain this issue.
As explained in the section above, when the UE experiences a RLF after receiving the Security Mode
Command, it can try RRC ReEstablishment which actually tells the eNB that there was a RLF on the UEs
side. Consider a UE experiencing a RLF before it receives the Security Mode Command. The UE can only
send a RRC ReEstablishment after security is activated but if the UE experiences a RLF before the
Security Mode Command has been received, it cannot send a RRC ReEstablishment Request.
Now, consider that the UE experiences RLF after RRC Setup Complete message and before Security
Mode Command, this UE will go to idle and retry a new RRC connection by sending another RRC
Connection Request. Lets say that the UE sends a RRC Connection Request to another eNB (eNB2) and
that eNB2 will start processing it. The eNB2 does not know that the eNB1 already has a ERAB setup
process going on for this UE. The eNB2 will send a S1 Initial UE Message to MME for this UE and the
MME will see that it already has another ERAB setup process going on with eNB1. So, for MME to initiate
the new ERAB setup process by sending Initial Context Setup Request to eNB2, it needs to rst stop the
process on eNB1, as it cannot have separate context of same UE on two di erent eNBs. As a result, the
MME will send a UE Context Release Command to eNB1 asking to abort the ERAB setup process. The
eNB1 is trying to nd the UE over the air interface and once it receives the Context Release Command
from MME, it will consider that the MME aborted the ERAB setup and will peg it as a MME induced ERAB
setup failure. eNB1 will send an Initial Context Setup Failure to MME and the ERAB setup on eNB1 will be
pegged under MME induced failure. However, this issue was actually caused due to radio issue but the
eNB1 was not able to nd that out.
This issue can also happen if the UE sends the second RRC Connection Request to the same eNB or even
to the same cell. At RRC level, the eNB does not check TMSI value and the UE is referenced by its CRNTI.
So, if the same UE sends another RRC Connection Request to the same eNB, it will allocate a new CRNTI
and will consider it a new connection. But when the eNB will send S1 Initial UE Message to MME, the
MME will check the TMSI and will send UE Context Release Command to the previous session resulting
in ERAB setup failure on the rst process.
Another scenario that can cause a MME induced ERAB Setup failure is the Initial Context Setup Timer on
the MME. If that timer is set to small value and eNB is waiting for the UE to respond to Security Mode
Command, the MME will send UE Context Release Command due to timeout. This will also result in a
MME induced ERAB Setup Failure.
Optimization
There is no real optimization on the rst scenario as it is purely a coverage issue and coverage
enhancement by physical or soft changes can be done to mitigate it. The second scenario can be
minimized by increasing the Initial Context Setup Timer on the MME.
In case of any queries or feedback, please drop a comment below and I would love to respond and help.
Bio Latest Posts
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Google+ Pinterest WhatsApp
October 11, 2017 Ali Khalid Telecom

ERAB Success Rate, LTE KPI Optimization, Radio Link Failure
Previous Understanding MPLS Basics
Next SFP Transceivers Explained
32 thoughts on KPI Optimization: LTE ERAB Success Rate
Luqman Mehmood says:

October 11, 2017 at 1:00 pm
Once again excellent sharing !

Can you share more detail on Abnormal release.MME in H**** Vendor?
How to minimize it
REPLY
Ali Khalid says:

Thanks. I am planning to write on Drop Rate next so I will cover this topic in detail.
REPLY
Apur says:
Will wait for sure. You are sharing it in excellent way to understand
REPLY
SAGAR says:
November 19, 2017 at 7:20 pm
ur knowledge sharing technique is awesome. Thank you so much for such brilliant
explanation.
REPLY
Ali Khalid says:

November 22, 2017 at 11:46 am
Thanks
REPLY
Umair says:
Excellent easy to grab!!!
REPLY
Ali Khalid says:

Thanks Umair!
REPLY
Sohail says:
Excellently written. Good tips on optimisation.
REPLY
Ali Khalid says:

October 12, 2017 at 5:50 am
Thanks Sohail!
REPLY
Abhi says:
October 11, 2017 at 10:20 pm
Hi Ali,
Can you please tell me where i can nd Initial Context Setup Timer value on H*****i system
REPLY
Ali Khalid says:

This timer is on the MME as the MME sends the Initial Context Setup Request and the eNB needs to
respond to it. So, the timer value can be checked with MME guys. However, if you put a trace on a
top site, you can parse the ERAB Setup Failures and look into the MME induced ERAB failures. Now
if you calculate the time delta between Initial Context Setup Request and UE Context Release
Command, there will be a value that will be higher than others. The timer induced setup failures
will have a the same time value but other type of failures will be random. This should give you an
idea of the timer settings on the MME.
REPLY
Abu Yousef ElMasry says:

October 15, 2017 at 10:30 am
Salam Ali,
Thanks for this great & simple topic about ERAB.
Would you please clarify the L.E-RAB.FailEst.RNL & L.E-RAB.FailEst.RNL.other counters under Huawei KPIs,
and which of the above reasons will be counted for the L.E-RAB.FailEst.RNL.other counter?
REPLY
Ali Khalid says:

All Radio failures are covered under RNL while UE capability type issues are covered under other
failures.
REPLY
Puspendu Chatterjee says:

Excellent Content , Can you please share the optimisation plan for E-RAB Drops due to UE lost cases ..
REPLY
Ali Khalid says:

Thanks. The Drop Rate KPI is de nitely going to be there. You can subscribe for the updates
REPLY
Col O P Aurora says:

Thanks for such a useful & informative article
REPLY
Ali Khalid says:

Thanks
REPLY
Keshav says:
Very nice explained.. RCA & Optimization
REPLY
Ali Khalid says:

Thanks for the support
REPLY
Vijyant says:
October 21, 2017 at 10:45 pm
p
Good one Khalid bhaikeep rockin
REPLY
Ali Khalid says:

Thanks Vijyant
REPLY
dhayanithi says:
Hi Khalid,
Regarding RLC Mode issue you had suggested to go for AM instead of UM. It is costly as more resource is
consumed for AM mode than UM. The UE mode con guration is driven by eNB RRC . So for sure the UE
ERAB failure is not due to Mode support issue at UE side.
REPLY
Ali Khalid says:

It is costly, that is why vendors have introduced enhancements on the RLC layer. If these
enhancements are activated, the eNB changes the RLC mode to AM for the UEs that do not support
a UM mode for their bearer. Coming to the second point the QCI is sent by the core and if the
core sends a QCI to the eNB that requires a UM mode, the eNB will reject it since the the UE does
not support UM mode and consequently, the ERAB setup will fail.
REPLY
dhayanithi says:
In general at S1AP the ERAB setup can fail if the corresponding QCI is not supported at eNB as eNB is
developed to support only certain QCI only or due to QoS IE parameter encode issue or due to ERAB ID
clash issue, or Even as part of the RRM RBC the setup can fail due to restriction in QCI support (resource
crunch), but I strongly feel the mode failure is not an issue. The QCI is decided based on service ow
between the AF and the UE at application interface level and eNB decides the Mode.
RRC level The bearer setup happens using RRC Recon g and the UE uses the con g send by eNB RRC.
The UE RRC uses the eNB RRC con g to set up its corresponding layer. The UE RRC can report con g
failure only due to ASN violation, Mandatory eld missing or it can even initiate Re-establishment. There is
no way for UE to report mode not supported.
Do you say even the QCI 1, QCI 2 all can be con gured to AM mode instead of UM. If so then we end up
more jitter and more delay in voice packet which is not agreed for these service.
REPLY
Ali Khalid says:

For the Mode issue, I have seen it in three networks. It was veri ed from the UEs capability that it
does not support UM mode and then from the CHR as well that it is rejected due to the mode
support. So, I have no doubt on the issue itself.
Coming to the second thing about QCI1 ofcourse it needs UM. The idea is not that we need to
change mode to AM but if QCI-7 is being used then enabling this enhancement resolves the ERAB
failures due to this issue. It is not applicable to QCI1 as that is only used in the network for VoLTE
and UEs supporting VoLTE also support UM.
REPLY
Orial says:
You are right about this case, I also encounter the same issue on my network specially with
roaming users that mostly used QCI7 for some services and normally the eNb cfg will reject
them. Going in CHR analyze for this type of error will tell the same exact reason, and also
the bit 7 in the FGI will show 0. So phones that dont support Volte and are LTE mostly have
QCI 7 con gured for UM only mode. We cannot change the phone cfg but a work around is
map QCI7 with AM and you are set to go. And yes MME can solve this issue easily :).
Nice explanation keep up the good work.
REPLY
Ali Khalid says:

Thanks Orial
REPLY
WAJID ALI SHAH says:

Excellent.
REPLY
shashi says:
Good sharing..
Can we discuss on topics for call muting & how can we overcome it. Thanks
REPLY
Ali Khalid says:

I will explain that in the VoLTE sessions
REPLY
Umer Aftab says:

Excellent stu Ali .. Keep rocking.
REPLY
Ali Khalid says:

Thanks Umer
REPLY
Leave a Reply
Your email address will not be published. Required elds are marked*
Comment
Name* Email* Website
Post Comment
Copyright All rights reserved.

Contact Us FAQ Privacy Policy
Clean Corporate by WEN Themes

LTE ERAB Success Rate - Our Technology Planet

Загружено:

Сведения о документе

Авторское право

Доступные форматы

Поделиться этим документом

Поделиться или встроить документ

Параметры публикации

Этот документ был вам полезен?

Это неприемлемый материал?

Авторское право:

Доступные форматы

LTE ERAB Success Rate - Our Technology Planet

Загружено:

Авторское право:

Доступные форматы

11/27/2017 LTE ERAB Success Rate - Our Technology Planet

KPI Optimization: LTE ERAB Success Rate

Home Telecom KPI Optimization: LTE ERAB Success Rate

Please enter your e-mail address

We respect your privacy and assu

Connect with Us on Linked

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Google+ Pinterest WhatsApp

LTE Throughput Optimization:

KPI Optimization: LTE ERAB Su

Understanding MPLS Basics

LTE Network Entry Steps

What is the Best Android Phon

Common Failures In ERAB Setup Phase

1. N310 consecutive out-of-sync events and T310 expiry Recent Comments

Ali Khalid on LTE KPI Optimizat

Merleau on PCI Planning: Facts

Amazon A liate Disclosu

Our Technology Planet is a partic

2. Maximum RLC retransmission count exceeded

RLC Mode Issue

Security Mode Failure

MME Induced ERAB Setup Failures

Bio Latest Posts

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Google+ Pinterest WhatsApp

October 11, 2017 Ali Khalid Telecom

Previous Understanding MPLS Basics

Next SFP Transceivers Explained

32 thoughts on KPI Optimization: LTE ERAB Success Rate

Luqman Mehmood says:

Once again excellent sharing !

Ali Khalid says:

Ali Khalid says:

Excellent easy to grab!!!

Ali Khalid says:

Excellently written. Good tips on optimisation.

Ali Khalid says:

Ali Khalid says:

Abu Yousef ElMasry says:

Thanks for this great & simple topic about ERAB.

Ali Khalid says:

Puspendu Chatterjee says:

Ali Khalid says:

Col O P Aurora says:

Thanks for such a useful & informative article

Ali Khalid says:

Very nice explained.. RCA & Optimization

Ali Khalid says:

Thanks for the support

Good one Khalid bhaikeep rockin

Ali Khalid says:

Ali Khalid says:

Ali Khalid says:

Ali Khalid says:

WAJID ALI SHAH says:

Ali Khalid says:

I will explain that in the VoLTE sessions

Umer Aftab says:

Excellent stu Ali .. Keep rocking.

Ali Khalid says:

Name* Email* Website

Copyright All rights reserved.

Вам также может понравиться