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SMS Roaming
Troubleshooting

Ft Lauderdale
March, 2008
 Contents

• Assumptions
• Background
• Reference documentation/Tools
• Possible Problems
• Troubleshooting Process

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 Assumptions

• Voice Roaming working

– System Determination
– Registration
– ANSI-41 authorization
• Focus on SMS-specific issues
• Assume element/link failures alarmed
– Focus here on subscriber-reported issues
• Not addressing Billing issues
– In general assume billing records produced at MC
• Post-implementation issues
– Assume initial testing completed

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 Background – Roaming Architecture
• ANSI-41 network elements involved in SMS Roaming:
– Message Center (MC) – aka Short Message Service Center
(SMSC). Store and forward function for messages. End-point for
SMS communication with a Mobile Station (MS)
– Mobile Switching Center (MSC) – Includes (for convenience)
the VLR and Base Station. ANSI-41 to IS-2000 interface, and
relay point for SMS messages
– Home Location Register (HLR) – Stores subscriber location and
profile information. Doesn’t see actual SMS message contents
– Roaming Service Provider (RSP) – Usually present in CDMA-
CDMA roaming today. Provides signaling connectivity and ANSI-
41 translation. Looks like an MSC/VLR to the home network, and
an HLR/MC to the serving network.

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 Background – Message Flows (1 of 3)
• Mobile-Terminated (MT):

HLR MSC
3

5
4. MC
1. Message
sendsarrives
messageat MC,
to MSC
addressed
using the
to MS
address
MC received in the previous step – SMS Delivery
2. MC To
queries
PointHLR for MS location – SMS MS
1 Point (SMDPP) message
Request (SMSREQ) message
5.
3. MSC deliverssubscriber
HLR checks message tois MS over the returns
authorized, air
address (SMS_Address from registration time)
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 Background – Message Flows (2 of 3)
• Mobile-Terminated with delayed delivery (MT):

HLR MSC
3

4 8
59

MC
1 - 4. As per previous 7 slide 6 
5.Message
9.
7. MS goesaccess
System into
is coverage
delivered hole, message
successfully
plus pending to MS
flag triggerdelivery
MSC MS
1 fails.
Other
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notification
advice “SMS Delivery
scenarios
MC that MSareisPending”
available–flag
possible for
–if HLR
MS
knows
6.
SMSNotification
Some that
time
subscriber
later,
(SMSNOT)
MSisreturns
unavailable,
message
to coverage,
it will issue
the
makes
8. MC
SMSNOT
resends
system instead
access
SMDPP of the MSC
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 Background – Message Flows (3 of 3)
• Mobile-Originated (MO) – Indirect Routing
• Indirect routing means that the message is routed
through the originator’s MC:
2

MSC

1. The MS originates a short message

3 MC
MS
2. The MSC sends the message to the MC for this
MS (SMDPP)
3. The MC analyzes the destination address, and
routes the message on. If the destination is a MS
which belongs to another MC, the message will
be sent to that MC
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 Reference Documentation

• There are several sources of information you can turn to

when faced with a problem:
– General Reference
• ANSI-41 standard
• ANSI-41 textbook
• SMPP standard
– Roaming-specific
• SMS Roaming Reference Document
– Carrier-specific
• TDS
• SMS Roaming Partner Qualification Form
• SMS Test Plan Results
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 Tools
• Tools available to assist in troubleshooting:
– HLR
• O/b Subscriber profile, registration status
– MC
• O/b message queue, maybe subscriber profile
• Billing records
– MSC/VLR
• I/b subscriber profile/status, SMSDPF?
• No billing records produced
– Protocol Analyzer
• Real time, may be swamped by roaming traffic
– RSP Trace
• See message delivery attempts, longer storage
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 Possible Problems (1 of 5)

• List some potential areas where problems can arise:

• Subscriber Provisioning
– Home vs Roaming
• Some HLRs define a separate value of SMSTERMREST and
SMSORIGREST to be sent to MSCs designated as “roaming”.
– Unusual values
• The most common values for these parameters are 0 (Block all) and
3 (Allow all). Other values might be handled poorly…
– Service Option
• Specific service options are defined for SMS (6 & 14). Usually
however these aren’t required to be present in the CDMASOL.

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 Possible Problems (2 of 5)

• MSC Datafill
– SMSADDR Population
• MSC’s PC/GT in application layer
• ITU vs ANSI encoding can be tricky
• This value usually overwritten by the RSP
– MC address
• Required for MO-SMS.
• Associated by MIN range or HLR
• For roamers typically the same as the HLR address – i.e. RSP.

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 Possible Problems (3 of 5)

• RSP Datafill
– SMSADDR Population
• Overwrite with their own address
– MC address
• Required for MO-SMS
• Info supplied by home operator
• MC defined as valid sender for MT-SMS
– Addressing
• Map serve-supplied addresses to home-required values –
e.g. MDN in SMS_OOA.
• HLR Datafill
– SMSADDR (Again)
• Some HLRs statically define the SMSADDR against the MSCID
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 Possible Problems (4 of 5)

• User Error
– Wrong dialplan
• Enter destination address in format for visited country
• Enter a short code only valid for the visited network’s subscribers
• Message “Jamming”
– Subscriber not able to receive any messages
• Can occur when an overlength message arrives – this fails delivery
but remains at the front of the queue in the MC – it is attempted
again before any new incoming message
• Commercial Issues
– SMS Roaming not yet implemented in a particular market
• Customers often expect/assume SMS to be present wherever voice
roaming available
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 Possible Problems (5 of 5)

• Intermittent / Performance Issues

– Hardest to troubleshoot
• Often reported after subscriber returns home
• Roaming cases may actually provide more information – access to
trace information after-the-fact via RSP
– Examples:
• “I never received an important message, but I received other
messages”
• “I was powered on in good coverage for hours before my messages
arrived”
– Trending/aggregation may be important to decide if a bigger
problem exists

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 Troubleshooting Process

• General stages will be equivalent to other roaming

services
• Specific details will vary for SMS within the stages:
– Clarifying the issue
– Confirming expected behavior
– Investigation
– Resolution Actions
– Feedback/lessons

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 Clarifying the Issue
• Eliminate wider roaming issues
– Phone shows signal strength
– Make/receive voice calls
• SMS specific
– MO, MT or both affected?
– Exact destination address for MO issues
– Length of attempted message
• Impact
– User-, MSC-, HLR-, MC-, Application-, Operator-wide?
– Works at home?
• Time
– Used to work/never worked/past fault
Exchange troubleshooting information as specified by IRT
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 Confirming Expected Behavior

• Is SMS supposed to work for this market?

– Does troubleshooting team have access to an up-to-date list of
markets where MO/MT SMS is expected?
• Reference Check
– Test Results/TDS/RPQF
– Historical troubleshooting information
– Is this a new issue?

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 Investigation

• Checklist
– Subscriber authorized for SMS at HLR & VLR
– Check RSP tool for delivery attempts
• If not present, may not be reaching RSP (datafill error, link/element
outage) or may not be reaching RSP application layer (overlength)
• If present, check response. “Postponed” is the only SMSCAUSE
value that indicates a notification is pending
– Check MC logs/queue
• Retest
– Recreate issue if possible
– Capture complete logs with protocol analyzer or MC/MSC tool
– MC retry schedule may mask SMSNOT functioning

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 Resolution Actions

• Datafill errors: fix per operational policy

– e.g. maintenance window only
• Provisioning errors: fix 
• Subscriber “reset” actions
– E.g. power cycle, VLR clear at RSP
– May fix an unexplained problem
– May prevent the problem from ever being explained
– Balance between short- and long-term benefit to subscriber base
• Capability Gaps
– Escalate per company procedures

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 Feedback

• How to ensure knowledge gained during troubleshooting

process is captured and available in the future?
– Knowledgebase
– Training
– Vendor follow-up
– Statistical analysis

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 Thank You!
dsalek@qualcomm.com

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 IS-2000 Air Interface Trace Example
• MT SMS sent over the Traffic Channel
• Originating Address changed to protect the innocent
Data Burst Message
ack_seq : 3
msg_seq : 4
ack_req : 1
encryption : 0
msg_number : 1
burst_type : 3
num_msgs : 1
num_fields : 139
Chari : 00 00 02 10 02 02 07 02 AA AA AA AA AA 80 06 01 04 08 78 00 03 10 00 60 01 61 13
63 16 0E 31 E8 C3 CB 9A EC 99 32 64 C9 93 26 5C 99 32 64 E5 9B 96 6E 59 33 66 CD 9B 36 6C
D9 9A B5 6B 9B 36 6C D9 B3 66 CD 9B 3E 7C F9 F3 E7 CF 9B 36 6C D9 B3 66 CD 9B 3E 7C F9 F3
E7 CF 9F 3E 7C F9 F3 E7 CF 9F 3E 7C F9 F3 64 C9 93 26 4C 99 32 35 68 D5 AB 56 AD 5A B5 6A
D5 AB 56 B9 3C 00 03 06 04 01 29 16 46 12 0C 00 0E 04 02 09 1A 00

00 SMS_MSG_TYPE = 0 -> SMS Point-to-Point (IS637B 3.4)

00 PARAMETER_ID = 0 > Teleservice Identifier (IS637B 3.4.3)
02 PARAMETER_LEN = 2
1002 IDENTIFIER = 0x1002 = 4098dec = CDMA CMT (ANSI-41-D)
02 PARAMETER_ID = 2 -> Originating Address
07 PARAMETER_LEN = 7
02aaaaaaaaaa80 Ft Lauderdale, March ’08
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00000010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010000000
 ANSI-41 Trace Example
• MO SMS captured between MSC and MC
• Identifying information has been removed
³ Ch#:SD7 ³ CCITT WHITE ³Flg:1 Cnt:14 Time:12:01:27.520 ³
³ 10000011 ³ BIB/BSN........... ³ 1/3 ³
³ 10000001 ³ FIB/FSN........... ³ 1/1 ³
³ ..111111 ³ SU type/length.... ³ MSU63 ³
³ 00...... ³ Spare............. ³ 0 ³
³ octet003 Service information octet..........................................³
³ ....0011 ³ Service indicator. ³ SCCP Signalling connection control part ³
³ ..00.... ³ Spare............. ³ 0 ³
³ 10...... ³ Network indicator. ³ N National network ³
³ octet004 International routing label........................................³
³ ........ ³ DPC: Zone-Net-SP.. ³ xxxx ³
³ ........ ³ OPC: Zone-Net-SP.. ³ xxxx ³
³ octet007 Signalling link selection..........................................³
³ 0000.... ³ SLS............... ³ 0 ³
³ octet008 Message type.......................................................³
³ 00001001 ³ Headers H1/H0..... ³ UDT Unitdata ³
³ octet009 Protocol Class.....................................................³
³ ....0001 ³ Protocol class.... ³ 1 ³
³ 1000.... ³ Message handling.. ³ Return message on error ³
³ octet010 Pointers...........................................................³
³ 00000011 ³ Pointer-> Called # ³ 3 ³
³ 00000111 ³ Pointer-> Call'g # ³ 7 ³
³ 00001011 ³ Pointer-> Data.... ³ 11 ³
³ octet013 Called Party Address parameter.....................................³
³ 00000100 ³ Parameter length.. ³ 4 ³
³ .......1 ³ SPC indicator..... ³ Address contains Signalling Ft Lauderdale, Point CodeMarch ³ ’08
23 ³ ......1. ³ SSN indicator..... ³ Address contains a Subsystem Sponsored
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³ ..0000.. ³ Global Title...... ³ No global title included ³