Performance Assessment of HSDPA Networks From
Outdoor Drive-Test Measurements
Joaquin Matamales, David Martin-Sacristan, Jose F. Monserrat and Narcis Cardona
iTEAM, Institute of Telecommunications and Multimedia Applications
{joamaca,damargan,jomondel,ncardona}@iteam.upv.es
Abstract— The introduction of High Speed Downlink Packet
Access (HSDPA) implies an enormous challenge for all mobile
industry agents. All network operators must ensure complete
availability of services by diligently planning and tuning their
networks. Drive-test and Call-tracing tools significantly help to
assess the user plane performance but they can be also useful for
troubleshooting potential problems in the cellular roll out. This
paper offers some measurement results from an actual HSDPA
network obtained with a conventional drive test tool in the
campus of the Polytechnic University of Valencia. Using these
measurements a set of processing methods are proposed to detect
some of the indicators of HSDPA performance degradation, such
as poor coverage level, interfering coverage, pilot pollution, pilot
overshooting, missing neighbors or pilot surprise. Application
examples of all these methods are provided and analyzed.
Keywords: Measurement Based Optimization, 3G Radio
Planning, HSDPA performance evaluation
I. INTRODUCTION
The current evolution of 3G networks in Europe is driven
by new and faster data services and the introduction of HSDPA
technology to support it. This growth adds more constraints to
the Radio Access Network (RAN) configuration in order to
offer the required transmission capacity while maintaining the
Quality of Service (QoS) indicators above acceptable levels.
One of the major drawbacks of Wideband Code Division
Multiple Access (WCDMA)-based technologies, like the
Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) [1], is
that its performance is highly dependent on the interference
level, which at the same time is related to the load of the cells
[2]. This makes crucial to find an optimization process that
ensures the minimum interference levels by adjusting the
configuration of some parameters of the RAN, so as to reach
the maximum feasible QoS.
All possible optimization techniques start with the measure
of Key Performance Indicators (KPI) obtained at different
elements of the Network, being the most used the Operations
and Maintenance Centre (OMC) and the Testing Equipment
(Call-Tracing terminals and Drive-Test (DT) tools) [3]. When
the performance is evaluated from the user point of view, there
are two main types of equipment that can be used [4]:
conventional drive-test tools, where signaling of layers 2 and 3
of the radio interface is stored, and Pilot Scanning tools, which
are based on the received radio signals analysis and
simultaneous decoding of all the Common Pilot Channel
(CPICH) codes of the network.
978-1-4244-2517-4/09/$20.00 ©2009 IEEE
Figure 1. Grid of measured points on the UPV Campus map
First option, conventional drive-testing equipment, that at
the end consists of a commercial terminal configured in
engineering mode plus a computer to capture and analyze the
signaling of the Uu interface, is normally used to verify the end
to end performance of the network [5], to assess the QoS
perceived by the final user [6] and to check some mobility
issues like handovers [7]. Meanwhile, Pilot Scanning, or in
general the digital drive-testing, is preferred for coverage
evaluation [8] and detecting the most frequent problems of the
WCDMA Radio Access: poor coverage level, interfering
coverage, pilot surprise, pilot overshooting, pilot pollution and
missing neighbors.
The study presented in this paper aim at evaluating the
possibilities of conventional drive-test tools to perform
diagnostics of the RAN configuration, since they are a more
economic and simple option for large-scale optimization in 3G
Networks. To illustrate such possibilities and to find its
limitations, a measurement campaign on a HSDPA network in
operation has been performed on the Campus of the
Polytechnic University of Valencia.
II. DRIVE-TEST MEASUREMENT PARAMETERS
When a network is tested from the radio interface, normally
using drive-test equipment, a limited set of quality parameters
and indicators can be obtained. The most relevant ones for the
assessment of a WCDMA network are:
- Radio link quality parameters, mainly CPICH
Received Signal Code Power (RSCP) and CPICH Ec/Io.
- Radio Resource Management data, related to
Neighbors Lists, Handover parameters, Cell Reselection
procedures and Active Set Management.
- Quality of Service indicators, measuring Throughput
in MAC and Application Layers, Block Error Rate (BLER)
and Mean Opinion Score (MOS) for video quality.

1 selected using the reference of the correlation distance in urban
0.95
Correlation Factor ρ
0.9
0.85
0.8
0.75
-20 -10 0 10
Distance (m)
Figure 2. Spatial correlation of UMTS Ec/Io
Measurements presented in this paper were taken at the
University Campus in Valencia, as shown in Fig. 1, testing an
HSDPA network of one of the 3G Spanish operators and
according to the 3GPP recommendations [9]. The equipment
used was a drive-test terminal equipped with the software
Nemo-Outdoor. Since the measurements were performed in a
set of static positions, not any information on handover
procedures or any other dynamics of the RAN management
was available. Nevertheless, as explained below, significant
information for the diagnostic of the Radio Access Network
Configuration is obtained with the proposed procedure.
From the set of measured parameters, some diagnostics of
the RAN status were obtained, detecting these potential events
to be corrected in the optimization phase:
- Poor Coverage Levels
- Interfering Coverage
- Pilot Surprise
- Pilot Overshooting
- Pilot Pollution
- Missing Neighbors
III. MEASUREMENT SETUP
Measurements were taken on a uniform grid of outdoor
static positions. This methodology is slightly different from the
usual drive-test procedure, which is done while moving the
testing vehicle along a route, and has the drawback of
consuming more time to obtain results on each measured point.
At the same time it presents some advantages because
continuous measures in the same point are captured, improving
the cancellation of some systematic errors by properly
windowing and averaging data.
Measured points were spaced 17 meters, storing 60 samples
during 30 consecutive seconds (data was captured every 0.5
seconds). This measurement time was 1000 times the
coherence time of a Rayleigh-fading Channel corresponding to
a low mobility or pedestrian user moving at 3 km/h, so that the
average of the samples could be considered independent of the
fast fading.
Concerning spatial separation of the measures, this was
scenarios, which is about 20 m. Measurements were performed
according to the 17 m grid shown in Fig. 1, using a diagonal
interpolation down to 12 m only for graphical purposes. This
was also validated after measuring the Ec/Io by calculating the
spatial correlation of its values. As seen in Fig. 2, the auto-
correlation is about 0,87 for 12m separation and above 0,8 for
the 17m case, high enough to avoid missing information on
RAN performance.
IV. DETECTION OF RAN CONFIGURATION PROBLEMS
The obtained drive-test files were processed to diagnostic
some typical problems arising not only in the first stages of the
cellular deployment but also when new infrastructure is
20
installed or when the number of users increases or new services
are added. The diagnostics described in this paper are the most
common in WCDMA networks and procedures are based on
the measured indicators previously mentioned.
A. Poor Coverage Levels
Immediate information that can be obtained by analyzing
the drive-test measurements is the detection of areas or
positions where the radio coverage from UMTS Terrestrial
RAN (UTRAN) cells is of poor quality. The procedure uses the
CPICH RSCP and Ec/Io values, searching for those points
where the best server RSCP is below -100 dBm, as well as
those with poor quality, meaning Ec/Io below -12dB.
These values for the signal and quality thresholds have
been selected based on previous field trial experiences.
B. Interfering Coverage
A second problem that can be easily detected is the effect
of interfering coverage. It is related to areas where the CPICH
of a cell is received with high signal level but with a quality
low enough to avoid using that link. In such case, the signal
contributes only to the total downlink interference on those
areas.
This procedure uses the measured RSCP and Ec/Io of the
detected cells. When in any of the measured points the RSCP
from a certain cell is above -90dBm and the Ec/Io is below
-12dB, the cell is marked as producing interfering coverage in
that position.
There are many possible ways of correcting this situation,
which will vary depending on the rest of RAN configuration.
First option is reducing the range of the interfering cells, but
some exceptions can be found to this rule, mainly for co-siting
and neighboring cells.
This problem is frequently found for cells where
propagation conditions benefit long range coverage towards
certain directions or over open areas (like parks, wide avenues
...) within urban scenarios. In this last case, pilot pollution is
often detected as well.
C. Pilot Surprise
Another problem found in areas where some street canyons
or confinement of propagation is observed between two distant
cells is the Pilot Surprise. In some specific routes, like turning a
corner, a strong signal from a cell that is not in the Active Set 480

-60
(AS) can suddenly be detected at the receiver. Then, the AS is 384

start being actualized, but the process takes even some seconds 288 -70

to be completed, and during that time the interference level 192

-80
remains high enough so as to cause a call drop. 96
-90

Pilot Surprise areas can be identified by analyzing the 0

0 96 192 288 384 480 576 672 768 864 960 1056 1152 1248 1344 1440

RSCP maps of every cell and calculating the spatial gradient of 480

-6
this value. Those points where the gradient is high should be 384
-8
studied in detail, mainly checking the Ec/Io of the best server at 288

that position, because when this value falls below a threshold

-10
192

on the order of -15 dB, the call will be dropped. 96

-12

-14

D. Pilot Overshooting 0
0 96 192 288 384 480 576 672 768 864 960 1056 1152 1248 1344 1440

Pilot Overshooting refers to problems caused by excess of
coverage range from a certain cell. Two possible indicators are
considered for this case: when CPICH of any cell is detected
far from its site and no coverage was expected there from such
cell according to the initial planning configuration, or when it
is detected beyond the first ring of neighboring cells.
The detection of pilot overshooting from drive-test
measurements requires additional information about the
geographical position of sites. Drive-test files capture Global
Positioning System (GPS) information together with the radio
interface parameters, so it will be possible to determine
distances from measures to each detected cell.
The criterion used in this study is to consider a cell is Pilot
Overshooting if the distance to the points where it is detected is
double or above the mean distance between neighbor sites. The
result has to be checked in specific areas where the topology of
the RAN sites is very irregular, being an example of this the
limits of urban areas.
E. Pilot Pollution
A very common problem found in WCDMA networks is
the Pilot Pollution that is observed in areas where the AS size
is lower than the number of pilot codes detected within the AS
range calculated in terms of the downlink Ec/Io [8].
_ _ (1)
_
In the HSDPA network analyzed in this paper, to decide
whether a cell is polluting or not, an AS size of 3 and a
threshold of 10 dB have been considered. The procedure uses
the DT files for each measured position to sort the detected
cells in terms of the Ec/Io, selecting only those having an Ec/Io
above -12 dB and not below 10dB of that of the best server.
First 3 cells of the list are assumed to be active links to that
point, but the rest are considered producing pilot pollution. The
threshold of 10 dB is higher than the typical AS window, and
corresponds to the value below which the contribution of new
links to the combining gain in the Rake receiver is negligible
[2].
To quantify the effect of every polluting cell, a value of the
amount of pollution it produces has been calculated. This value
is proposed to be the ratio between the Ec/Io of the best server
and the polluting cell. Following this approach, a polluting cell
detected with an Ec/Io 3 dB below the best server has a
polluting factor of 0.5.
Figure 3. (Upper) average RSCP (dBm), (lower) average Ec/Io (dB)
F. Missing Neighbors
Initial planning of WCDMA Networks assumes a specific
relationship between the coverage areas of the neighboring
cells and, on that basis, the Monitoring Set (MS) lists are
created for each cell. With the drive-test equipment it is
possible to scan not only the MS cells but any of the Detected
Set (DS) cells.
The problem of missing neighbors can, of course, be fixed
when the drive-test terminal detects very often a cell which is
not in the current MS list. The obvious recommendation should
be adding the cell to the list, because otherwise the mentioned
cell can only contribute to the interference and could never be
included in the AS.
Using DT measurements the neighbors list can be
corrected, most frequently to add missing cells to such list but
sometimes to delete some of it, so as to avoid monitoring cells
never detected in operation. The procedure to identify cells to
be added is simply based on comparing Ec/Io values of the DS
cells to those of the MS and AS. When a DS cell is reported a
significant number of samples with Ec/Io values higher than
those of the MS cells, the recommendation will be adding the
cell to the MS list.
V. ANALYSIS OF A REAL HSDPA NETWORK
This chapter analyses the status of one of the HSDPA
networks in operation in Valencia. Results of applying
previous diagnostics are obtained from the outdoor drive-test
measurements taken over the University Campus.
Fig. 3 represents the mean values of the CPICH RSCP and
Ec/Io for the best server at every measured position. White areas
correspond to the buildings where no measurements have been
taken in this study, since the objective was to validate outdoor
drive-test measurements as the first option for large-scale radio
network optimization.
As seen in Fig. 3, both values of RSCP and Ec/Io are
acceptable in almost all the positions on this scenario.
Concerning coverage, the poorest area is the Western part of
the Campus, with RSCP around -90 dBm and Ec/Io about
-14dB. On this area the provision of some data services will be
difficult if no changes on configuration are applied.
 480
540
384
520
288
500
192
480

96 460

0 440
0 96 192 288 384 480 576 672 768 864 960 1056 1152 1248 1344 1440

Figure 4. Aplication Layer Throughputs (kbps) in FTP over HSDPA

The QoS perceived by the final user has been measured for
HSDPA services, in particular for File Transfer Protocol (FTP) Figure 5. Location of the nodes in the area under study
downlink sessions. Fig. 4 shows the results in terms of the
application level throughput. The areas of the campus with best 480
performance are those with good RSCP and Ec/Io levels, as 384
-80

expected, and are concentrated on the eastern part of the area -100

under study. 288

-120

192 -140
One of the drawbacks of using drive-test to evaluate 96 -160
performance appears at this stage: measurements are taken for 0
a single user in different positions and time instants. The 0 96 192 288 384 480 576 672 768 864
( )
960 1056 1152 1248 1344 1440

throughput in WCDMA will be strongly dependent on the load Figure 6. RSCP (dBm) in regions interfered by cell num. 99
of the cell and its services distribution, being both parameters 480 -80
not stationary in time between two measured positions. Despite 384
of this configuration, and noting that it is not for generality, as
-100

seen from these measurements, throughputs can fall down from

288 -120

500 kbps to less than 150 kbps when RSCP goes below -80 192 -140

dBm or Ec/Io below -10 dB. 96 -160

0
Some changes on the RAN configuration can be performed, 0 96 192 288 384 480 576 672 768 864 960 1056 1152 1248 1344 1440

and to decide which are prior, some detailed analysis of the
surrounding cells is required. Fig. 5 shows the sites and cells
that are mainly affecting the coverage and quality of service in
this scenario of the HSDPA network.
University campus is served in a high percentage of the
area by the Node B located at the ETSIT building (in the centre
of the South part of the campus). Its three cells are numbered –
just for this paper purpose– 99,100 and 101, being 99 the cell
pointing more or less the North. See Fig. 5 to refer the rest of
cell numbers.
According to the procedures described in section IV, an
area with poor Ec/Io quality is detected in the central part of the
Campus. It corresponds to an open area with gardens and sport
fields surrounded by 3 floors buildings, and in these positions
the most of the indicators of defects in the RAN configuration
are found.
One of the major problems detected on this area is the
interfering coverage. The main contribution to it comes from
cells 99, 35 and 116. Looking at Fig. 5, it can be seen that cell
99 should be in the AS in soft or softer handover on that area,
and this is not what happens during operation. As seen in Fig.
6, by looking at the values of RSCP and Ec/Io out of the best
server area of cell 99, “interference coverage” values are found
(plotted in red colors). This result is obtained because RSCP of
cell 99 is high in that area but Ec/Io is poor, so that the receiver
cannot add the cell to the AS, contributing only as interferer.
The mentioned area should be covered by a co-sited cell, and
high RSCP values from cell 99 could be expected, so only
corrections to the antenna pattern seem feasible in this case.
Figure 7. RSCP (dBm) in regions interfered by cell num. 35
Some additional considerations about this interfered area
can be made. By measuring neighbor areas, it is found that the
eastern part of the campus is covered by cell 35 (850 meters
south from the campus), that is located quite away in
comparison with other neighbor cells. A possible reason for
this is that paths from cell 35 are less obstructed than those
from other cells closer to this area. Applying the “interference
coverage” criterion for the cell 35, it is obtained the plot of Fig.
7, where again areas in red are those interfered by cell 35. This
cell could be a strong candidate for a downtilt review or a
CPICH power correction to prevent this situation.
A third cell is producing interfering coverage on the same
area as shown in Fig. 8, but in this case the origin of the
problem is quite different. Cell numbered as 116 is pointing
+120º related to north (see Fig. 5) but is being detected with
high RSCP in some parts of the campus, contributing to
degradation of the service causing only interference. The
problem in this case has to be due to the antenna radiation
pattern or the reflections of the signal in a building close to the
cell site, probably not accounted in the initial deployment.
As proposed in section IV, other problems that can be
detected by the analysis of the drive-test measurements are
pilot surprise, pilot overshooting and pilot pollution.
 480
384
288
192
96
0
0 96 192 288 384 480 576 672 768 864 960
Figure 8. RSCP (dBm) in regions interfered by cell num. 116
Figure 9. Detection of a pilot surprise situation forced by cell num.100
Figure 10. Number of polluting cells at measured locations
A situation of pilot surprise has been found in the campus,
caused by cell number 100, which is pointing +120º
approximately. A user following the route marked in Fig. 9,
after turning the corner would suddenly receive a high RSCP
power from cell 100, enough to deeply decrease the Ec/Io and
force a call drop. Of course the probability of dropping will
vary depending on the load of the cells and the time spent to
AS actualization, which was measured in this network to be
around 2 seconds.
A case of pilot overshooting has been also detected. CPICH
of cell number 75 is received in some positions in the campus
with a RSCP above the values of the neighbor cells. As seen in
the maps (Fig. 5) cell number 75 is not in the first ring of
neighbor sites. Again, the most feasible solution seems to be
correcting the downtilt of the antenna of cell 75 or its CPICH
power.
Concerning pilot pollution, Fig. 10 shows the number of
polluting cells in all the measured points of the campus. West
end of the campus presents the higher number of polluters.
This is due to the characteristics of that area, wide open, not
close to any node and without a dominant best server over the
rest. Some cells are also affecting the eastern end of the area,
being cell number 75 the one with higher values of the
pollution factor, as defined in Section IV, with an average of
0.25 that is quite significant.
Last issue studied was the neighbors list. Following the
procedure described in section IV, no missing neighbors were
detected in the current lists of this RAN. Despite of this result,
it is worth noting that the neighboring lists in this particular
network have been created from the GSM measurements and
-80
have been corrected from previous outdoor drive-test
-100
measurements. The result of this initial tuning remains quite
-120 stable during operation, except of course if new cells are
-140 installed, and with a very important drawback: indoor users.
-160 Being the neighbors list optimal for the outdoor case, any user
inside a building is able to detect different neighboring
1056 1152 1248 1344 1440
relations, mostly if located in upper floors. This case is not
presented in this document since requires indoor measurements
or call-tracing from the OMC, and will be included in
forthcoming contributions.
VI. CONCLUSIONS
This paper has analyzed the possibilities that a conventional
drive-test tool offers to the optimization of UMTS Radio
Access Networks. Some procedures to be applied to the
measured files have been described in order to detect the most
common defects appearing in the initial operation phases of the
RAN, mainly with the inclusion of data services.
The HSDPA network operating in the area of the
Polytechnic University of Valencia has been measured and
analyzed according to those procedures, showing a general
good performance but arising some configuration problems.
The main conclusion of this study is that the conventional
drive-test tools are able to be used in large-scale optimization
procedure of the UTRAN, detecting conventional radio
coverage problems. This optimization phase is normally done
with low traffic load in the UTRAN, and correction of the
configuration can be crucial to assure good quality of service
once the number of users and data services starts growing.
Some work on combining the mentioned indicators is still
possible to improve the diagnostics and to better point out the
necessary appropriate optimization actions.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This work is funded by the Spanish Ministry of Industry,
Tourism and Trade and the FEDER program of the European
Commission under the project TSI-020100-2008-580.
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