Optimization of EGPRS Link Adaptation

Thesis work presentation 2007-01-16

Author: Supervisor: Instructor:

Jussi Nervola Professor Riku Jntti M.Sc. Petri Grnberg

2007 Nokia

2007-01-16

jussi.nervola@nokia.com

Contents
Objectives of the thesis Introduction
Basics of EDGE and EGPRS EGPRS link adaptation Starting point for the thesis - performance with original link adaptation

Methods
Link adaptation optimization work

Results of the optimization

Laboratory measurement results Live network measurement results

Conclusions

2007 Nokia

2007-01-16

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Objectives of the Thesis

Problem:
Current EGPRS link adaptation (LA) algorithm is not behaving ideally in all radio conditions. LA is not using the most suitable Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) in every radio condition. That reduces the performance of the system.

Objective:
To adjust the operation of the EGPRS link adaptation so that its performance it at the ideal level (i.e. LA chooses the best MCS in every radio condition) If ideal performance level can be achieved the quality of the service will be improved:
Increased throughput Smaller latency Improved coverage for EGPRS service

2007 Nokia

2007-01-16

jussi.nervola@nokia.com

EDGE and EGPRS

AuC Authentication Centre BSC Base Station Controller
Air A-bis A-ter A

BTS Base Transceiver Station PSTN EIR Equipment Identity Register HLR AuC
Gr

MS

BTS

BSC+PCU

TC
Gb

MSC/VLR
Gs

GGSN Gateway GPRS Support Node

HLR Home Location Register MS Mobile Station MSC Mobile Switching Center Internet PCU Packet Control Unit SGSN Serving GPRS Support Node TC Transcoder VLR Visitor Location Register

EIR

Gn

BTS

SGSN

GGSN

Base Station Subsystem

Network Switching Subsystem

EGDE (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution) offers both packet switched and circuit switched data services for the users of GSM network:
Packet switched EGPRS (Enhanced General Packet Radio Service) Circuit switched ECSD (Enhanced Circuit Switched Data)

EGPRS has been more popular among the manufacturers than ECSD Link adaptation is working on the Air-interface between MS and BTS and is controlled by the PCU in BSC

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2007-01-16

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EGPRS Link Adaptation

In wireless networks the quality of the connection can change from very good to very poor in short time

8.8 kbps 11.2 kbps 14.8 kbps 17.6 kbps 22.4 kbps

MCS-1 22 MCS-2 28 MCS-3 37 MCS-4 44 MCS-5 56 MCS-6 74

EGPRS has nine different Modulation and Coding Schemes (MCS-1 MCS-9) in order to optimize the performance in different radio conditions. All coding schemes have different amount of robustness and error correction.
When user bit rate is low, robustness is high (e.g. MCS-1) When user bit rate is high, robustness is low (e.g. MCS-9)

RLC/MAC block (radio block)

redundancy from channel coding RLC data block, number of bytes

Two modulations are used:

GMSK (Gaussian Minimum Shift Keying) for MCS-1 MCS-4 8-PSK (8-Phase Shift Keying) for MCS-5 MCS-9

29.6 kbps
44.8 kbps 54.4 kbps

MCS-7 56 MCS-8 68 MCS-9 74 74 68 56

MCS that offers the best performance in current radio environment should be selected Automatic selection of most suitable MCS is called link adaptation. The selection is based on link quality measurements

59.6 kbps

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Starting Point for the Thesis Performance with Original Link Adaptation
LA is unable to change to GMSK modulation LA uses MC S-9 although MC S-8 w ould offer higher throughput

Throughput performance of link adaptation is compared to the performance of all MCSs

FTP Th ro u g h p u t ( relat ive)

DL FTP Throughput, variable RX-Level, 4 TSLs

1.00 MCS=1 MCS=2 MCS=3 MCS=4 MCS=5 MCS=6 MCS=7 MCS=8 MCS=9 LA on 0.40 0.30 0.20 0.10 0.00 -70 0.90 0.80 0.70 0.60 0.50

Throughput is measured with FTP application in variable RX-level environment Ideal LA would follow the envelope of the throughput of different MCSs Problem:
Original link adaptation was not always choosing most suitable MCS

-110

-105

-100

-95

-90 RX- Level ( d Bm)

-85

-80

-75

LA is unable to change to GMSK modulation

UL FTP Throughput, variable RX-Level, 2 TSL
1.20 MCS=1 MCS=2 MCS=3 1.00

FTP Throughput (relative)

MCS=4 MCS=5 MCS=6 MCS=7 MCS=8 MCS=9 LA on 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80

Solution:
Change to GMSK modulation has to be done earlier (when link quality decreases) MCS-8 should be used more

-110

-105

-100

-95

-90 RX-Level (dBm )

-85

-80

-75

0.00 -70

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2007-01-16

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Operation of EGPRS Link Adaptation

In EGPRS link quality is measured in terms of Bit Error Probability (BEP). BEP values are received in measurement reports from MS and BTS
Mean 8-PSK BEP and coefficient of variation of 8-PSK BEP Mean GMSK BEP and coefficient of variation of GMSK BEP

MCS is selected according to BEP values by using look-up tables

1. Selection of modulation 2. Selection of MCS
from GMSK MCS-selection table or from 8-PSK MCS-selection table (below, from 3GPP specification)

2007 Nokia

2007-01-16

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Optimization Work
Methods:
Measure the performance of the current link adaptation (LA) Specify new parameter / table values for LA Measure the performance of the optimized LA and adjust values further

The measurements were executed in laboratory using real network elements:

MS

BTS

BSC

SGSN

GGSN

Server

Three different laboratory scenarios:

Variable RX-level, Variable C/I and Fading with variable RX-level

Measured quantities:
Downlink and Uplink throughput (with FTP and HTTP) RTT (with ping)
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Results of the Optimization Summary

Laboratory measurements RX-level C/I DL DL Throughput improvement +7% +15% Coverage improvement +4 dB +1 dB UL UL Throughput improvement +17% +3% Coverage improvement +5 dB +6 dB

Live Measurements drive route DL

Throughput improvement +11%

Coverage improvement <not measured> UL

Throughput improvement +31%

Coverage improvement <not measured>

After the best version of optimized link adaptation was chosen, the performance improvement was verified with several MSs in laboratory and live network Good results achieved through the optimization work:
System performance was improved in all cases Throughput performance was improved in whole cell area in average by +11% Coverage of EGPRS service was improved by 1 6 dB depending on the conditions

On the following slides some of the measurement results are explained briefly
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Results of the Optimization Laboratory Measurements Variable RX-level Scenario

UL Throughput, variable RX-Level, 2 TSL
100%

Throughput performance was compared:

Original LA Optimized LA Optimal LA
Throughput (relative)

Original LA Optimized LA11 Optimal LA 80%

60%

40%

20%

Uplink throughput performance of optimized LA is at the ideal level with all MSs
Downlink throughput performance of optimized LA is at the ideal level with new MSs With some older MSs there is 1 2 dB wide area where throughput is not optimal. This is not a problem in fading environment.
10 2007 Nokia 2007-01-16 jussi.nervola@nokia.com

0% -110 -105 -100 -95 -90 RX-Level (dBm ) -85 -80 -75 -70

DL Throughput, variable RX-Level, 4 TSLs

100% Original LA Optimized LA11 6280 Optimized LA11 7270 Optimal LA 60% 80%

Throughput (relative)

40%

20%

0% -110 -105 -100 -95 -90 RX-Level (dBm ) -85 -80 -75 -70

Results of the Optimization Live Network Measurements

Drive tests executed in Ruoholahti with Nokia UltraSite FTP throughput was measured on uplink and downlink separately Improvement in average Downlink FTP throughput +11% Improvement in average Uplink FTP throughput +31%

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Uplink Throughput Performance

RLC uplink throughput figures along different parts of the route:

RX-level during this part of the route: -85 -105 dBm

RX-level during this part of the route: -70 -88 dBm

Original link adaptation

RX-level

Original link adaptation

RX-level

Optimized link adaptation

Optimized link adaptation

RX-level RX-level

-> Reason for improvement: Earlier change to GMSK modulation

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-> Reason for improvement: Using more MCS-8 instead of MCS-9

Conclusions
The results achieved in the thesis are well in accordance with the original objectives Performance improvement of optimized link adaptation was clearly seen in laboratory and live network The optimized link adaptation version created in this thesis is available for the customers in newest BSC software update in 1/2007 Further Study Items
Measurements with various MSs from different vendors

Effect of certain GSM features (such as frequency hopping) on Link Adaptation

Analysis in commercial operators networks by using BSC KPI (Key Performance Indicator) data Link adaptation algorithm enhancement by introducing new algorithm inputs
This would optimize modulation change with all MSs also on static conditions

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Thank You! Questions / Comments ?

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2007-01-16

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