Drop-call Analysis

2010-8-25

Analysis procedure Neighbor list analysis Coverage analysis Handover analysis Signaling analysis

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analysis procedure
Drive test tools:
Qualcomm test UE/Moto A835 test UE Agilent scanner 6455c Agilent 6474A software

Post processing tools:

ACTIX Analyzer V2.0

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analysis procedure
Drop call event definition:

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analysis procedure
Drop call analysis procedure

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analysis procedure
1. To get the information about:
the place of the drop call, in the edge of the 3G coverage or not which 3G cells related the distance between related 3G cells and the drop call point which 3G cell the call dropped on.

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analysis procedure
2.To analyze Neighbor list:
to find out any cell not defined in the neighbor list. the best serving 3G cell before the call dropped the best serving 3G/2G cell after the call dropped the existing neighbor list of the best serving 3G cell
intra-freq HO neighbor list inter-freq HO neighbor list inter-RAT HO neighbor list

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analysis procedure
3. To analyze the coverage:
the pilot coverage
CPICH transmission power Coverage limited System interference Poor uplink coverage Poor downlink coverage pilot pollution

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analysis procedure
3. To analyze the coverage:
the service coverage
Service related Maximum downlink transmission power SIR before the call dropped Max uplink transmission power allowed for UE Actual uplink transmission power before the call dropped

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analysis procedure
4. To analyze the handover:
the signal change
Source cell Target cell

insufficient handover area

Too late to add new cell Too early to delete old cell

ping-pang handover

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analysis procedure
5. To analyze the signaling:
for confused drop call signaling in UE side in conjunction with signaling in network side Different interface: Iu, Iub, Iur, Uu Different layer: NAS, RRC

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Analysis procedure Neighbor list analysis Coverage analysis Handover analysis Signaling analysis

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Neighbor list analysis

There maybe missing neighbor if the best serving cell is not the same one before and after the call dropped. Before the call dropped, the best serving cell maybe not the signal strongest cell Before the call dropped, the best serving cell should be picked out by the latest measurement control message and corresponding 1d event measurement report.

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Neighbor list analysis

Compare the scanner data with UE data
prior to the drop, the CPICH Ec/Io (and CPICH RSCP) degrades for UE ONLY while scanner shows no degradation prior to the drop, the best server for the UE is not the same as that of the scanner

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Neighbor list analysis

Dropcall position

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Neighbor list analysis

Active set and monitor set information

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Neighbor list analysis

Radio parameters information

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Neighbor list analysis

CPICH EcIo Compare between scanner and UE

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Neighbor list analysis

CPICH RSCP compare between scanner and UE

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Neighbor list analysis

SC compare between scanner and UE

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Neighbor list analysis

The measurement control message from cell SC358
measurement control_sc358

Conclusion: cell SC364 should be defined in the neighbor list of cell SC358 to avoid the dropcall in this place
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Analysis procedure Neighbor list analysis Coverage analysis Handover analysis Signaling analysis

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Coverage analysis
System Interference:
Both scanner and UE, the signal strongest cell CPICH_EcNo_in_ActiveSet < -15 dB And, CPICH_RSCP_in_ActiveSet > -80 dBm

Poor Uplink Coverage:

Both scanner and UE CPICH_EcNo_in_ActiveSet > -15 dB And, CPICH_RSCP_in_ActiveSet > -95 dBm And, UeTransmittedPower > 15 dBm

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Coverage analysis
Poor Downlink Coverage:
Both scanner and UE , the signal strongest cell CPICH_EcNo_in_ActiveSet < -15 dB And, CPICH_RSCP_in_ActiveSet < -95 dBm And, UeTransmittedPower < -15 dBm. Both scanner and UE , the signal strongest cell CPICH_EcNo_in_ActiveSet < -15 dB And, CPICH_RSCP_in_ActiveSet < -95 dBm And, UeTransmittedPower > 10 dBm.

Coverage Limited

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Coverage analysis
Pilot pollution:
4 or more pilots with their Ec/No above -15 dB are in the active or monitored set

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Coverage analysis
To analyze the coverage, need to
Analyze the pilot coverage in conjunction with the service coverage Analyze the uplink coverage in conjunction with the downlink coverage Analyze the scanner data in conjunction with the UE data Analyze the CPICH RSCP in conjunction with CPICH Ec/Io, SC
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Coverage analysis
Dropcall position

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Coverage analysis
Active set and monitor set information

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Coverage analysis
Radio parameters information

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Coverage analysis
CPICH Ec/Io

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Coverage analysis
CPICH RSCP

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Analysis procedure Neighbor list analysis Coverage analysis Handover analysis Signaling analysis

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Handover analysis
Handover type:
Intra-freq HO Inter-freq HO Inter-RAT HO

insufficient handover area ping-pang handover

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Handover analysis
Signal strength change

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Handover analysis
Scanner Best Server Drop calls and scrambling code plot Scrambling Code plot

It shows that drop call 1 occurred at an area of frequent change of best server as shown by the scanner scrambling code plot
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Handover analysis
Drop Call Number 1 (with Ec/Io from scanner & UE at time of drop) Drop Call 1 (UE vs. scanner best server)

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Handover analysis
compare Ec/Io from both scanner and UE at the time of the drop:
the UE Ec/Io to drop to < -21 dB while the scanner remained above -11 dB.

Comparing the best servers from the UE and the scanner at the time of drop:
for the scanner and UE SC008 is the best server prior to the drop. However, about 30 seconds before the drop, the scanner selected SC018 as the best server while the UE continued to have only SC009 in its active set resulting in the drop call. Immediately after the drop, the UE camps on SC018.
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Handover analysis
Drop Call Number 1 (Active & monitored sets at time of drop)

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Handover analysis
Examining the UE Active and Monitored set:
does not show SC018 to be measured by the UE prior to the drop. This scenario resembles a missing neighbour problem, although in this case the two cells in question are neighboured.

It seems that the best servers changes from SC009 to SC011 and then to SC018 were too fast for this UE to perform soft handoff on time. Although, other UEs may have succeeded in performing soft handoff in such conditions, it is important to improve the cell dominance in the affected area.

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Handover analysis
RSCP coverage from SC018 at the location of the drop, SC018 should not be the best server... the cells is extending into a large area. E.g. around the location of drop call, SC018 RSCP is > -75dBm Cell SC018 clearly requires some down tilting to control its interference into the area of Drop 1

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Handover analysis
Drop Call 1 Summary:
The drop call appears to be associated with unnecessary change of best servers caused by excessive dominance of SC018. To improve the dominance in the affected area, SC018 should be considered for downtilting

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Analysis procedure Neighbor list analysis Coverage analysis Handover analysis Signaling analysis

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Signaling analysis
CS Normal release procedure

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Signaling analysis
1.UE sends message RRC_UL_DIR_TRANSF to RNCIE nas message is 0325means disconnect message of call control sublayer in NAS layer 2.RNC sends message RANAP_DIRECT_TRANSFER to CNIE nas message is 0325means disconnect message of call control sublayer in NAS layer 3. CN sends message RANAP_DIRECT_TRANSFER to RNCIE nas PDU is 832dmeans release message of call control sublayer in NAS layer 4.RNC sends message RRC_DL_DIRECT_TRANSF to UEIE nas PDU is 832dmeans release message of call control sublayer in NAS layer

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Signaling analysis
5.UE sends message RRC_UL_DIR_TRANSF to RNCIE nas PDU is 032ameans release complete message of call control sublayer in NAS layer 6. RNC sends message RANAP_DIRECT_TRANSFER to CNmeans release complete message of call control sublayer in NAS layer 7.CN sends message RANAP_IU_RELEASE_COMMAND to RNCstart release Iu interface resource 8. RNC sends message RANAP_IU_RELEASE_COMPLETE to CN

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Signaling analysis
9.RNC sends message RRC_RRC_CONN_REL to UEstart release RRC connection 10. UE sends message RRC_RRC_CONN_REL_CMP to RNC 11.RNC sends message NBAP_RL_DEL_REQ to Node Bstart release Iub interface resource 12. Node B sends message NBAP_RL_DEL_RSP to RNCend the whole release procedure

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Signaling analysis
PS normal release procedure

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Signaling analysis
1.UE sends message RRC_UL_DIR_TRANSF to RNCIE nas message is 0a46, indicates message deactivate PDP context request in session management sublayer. 2.RNC sends message RANAP_DIRECT_TRANSFER to CNIE nas pdu is 0a46, indicates message deactivate PDP context request in session management sublayer 3. CN sends message RANAP_DIRECT_TRANSFER to RNC, IE nas pdu is 8a47, indicates message deactivate PDP context accept in session management sublayer. 4. CN send message RANAP_RAB_ASSIGNMENT_REQ to RNC, IE RAB list including RAB ID to point out which RAB need to be released.

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Signaling analysis
5. RNC sends message RRC_DL_DIRECT_TRANSF to UE, IE nas message is 8a47, indicates message deactivate PDP context accept in session management sublayer. 6. RNC send message NBAP_RL_RECFG_PREP to NODEB 7. NODEB send message NBAP_RL_RECFG_READY to RNC 8. RNC send message RRC_RB_REL to UE, start to release RB

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Signaling analysis
9. NODEB sends message NBAP_RL_RECFG_COMMIT to RNC 10. UE sends message RRC_RB_REL_CMP to RNC, indicates the traffic RB release completed 11. RNC sends message RANAP_RAB_ASSIGNMENT_RESP to CN, indicates the RAB release completed 12. CN send message RANAP_IU_RELEASE_COMMAND to RNC, start to release Iu resource: RANAP layer resource and ALCAP layer resource
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Signaling analysis
13. RNC send message RANAP_IU_RELEASE_COMPLETE to RNC 14.RNC send message RRC_RRC_CONN_REL to UE, start to release RRC connection 15. UE send message RRC_RRC_CONN_REL_CMP to RNC 16.RNC send message NBAP_RL_DEL_REQ to NODEB, start to release Iub resource: NBAP layer resource, ALCAP layer, and PHY layer 17. NODEB send message NBAP_RL_DEL_RSP to RNC, the whole release procedure completed

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Signaling analysis
compare with the CS release procedure:
PS Step1~3 is corresponding to CS step 1~6, to release NAS step411 are special for PS PS step1217 is the same as the CS step7 12

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Signaling analysis

If RSCP & Ec/Io degrades before drop for BOTH scanner and UE then check for coverage problems If prior to the drop, the Ec/Io (and RSCP) degrades for UE ONLY while scanner shows no degradation, then the following checks should be made:
Is the best server for the UE is the same as that of the scanner? (If not, its possible that the UE failed to perform soft handoff) Does UE camp on new cell immediately after drop? If the UE camps on a new cell after the drop, was that cell neighboured to the previous cell? (if not, consider adding this neighbour) Was the UE measuring this neighbour? Were there too many and too quick changes of best server making it difficult for UE to perform measurements and SHO in time. (if this is the case: improve cell dominance through antenna optimisation)

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Signaling analysis
Does the UE Tx power increase to max prior to dropping call while Ec/Io level remains good?
If the Tx power increase is gradual and UE is far from site the failure is due to uplink coverage limitation If the increase is sudden and UE may be not be too far from site - Check uplink load from SIB7 following drop call is it unusually high?
If uplink load is reported to be high, confirm from network stats that the high load is due to genuine traffic otherwise check for a possible site fault If uplink load is not high, problem could be due to possible power control failure.

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Signaling analysis
If the above steps do not reveal the causes of the drop calls then analysis of the messages should be carried out to determine the sequence of events prior to the drop call. If the drop call does not appear to be RF related and the RF conditions at the location of the drop appear to be good then no further work is needed as part of the RF Optimisation. However, exact location of the drop should be marked for later comparisons with future drive surveys (if unexplained drops keep occurring at the same location, more detailed investigation will be required to establish the exact causes).
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