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GSM Interference Analysis

GSM Interference AnalysisTable of Contents

Table of Contents
Course Description ................................................................................. 1
Introduction to Course 1
Course Objective 1
Relevant Materials .....................................................................................1
Chapter 1 Overview ................................................................................... 2
1.1 Affection of Interference on Network .....................................................2
Interferences Sources ............................................................................... 3
1.2 Classification of Interference Sources ...................................................3
1.2.1 Natural Noise ......................................................................................3
1.2.2 Man made Noise .................................................................................3
1.3 Main Interference Sources Affecting Mobile Communication ................4
Discovery of Interference ......................................................................... 6
1.4 Discovering Interference via OMC Traffic Measurement........... ............6
1.5 OMC Alarm and Subscriber Complaint.................................................. 8
1.6 Discovering Interference via Drive Test..................................................8
Chapter 2 Location and Clearance of Interference Source ...................9
2.1 Recommended Procedures for Location and Clearance of
Interference.9
2.1.1 Determine Interference Cell according to Key Performance Index
(KPI) .............................................................................................................9
2.1.2 Check Alarm of OMC ..........................................................................9
2.1.3 Frequency Planning Check .................................................................9

2.1.4 Check Parameter

Setting of Cell.................................................................10
2.1.5 Drive Test..........................................................................................10
2.1.6 Interference Clearance .....................................................................10
2.2 Location and Clearance of Hardware Fault.....................................................
10
2.2.1 Antenna Performance Degradation ..................................................10
2.2.2 Water Seepage of Antenna or Feeder ..............................................11
2.2.3 Jumper Connector Fault....................................................................12
2.2.4 Antenna Connected Inversely ...........................................................12
2.2.5 Incorrect Jumper Connection of BTS ................................................14
2.2.6 TRX Fault...........................................................................................14
2.2.7 Clock Unlocking ................................................................................16
2.2.8 Summary ..........................................................................................17
2.3 Intra-network Interference ....................................................................18
2.3.1 Co channel Interference ...................................................................18
2.3.2 Adjacent-channel Interference ..........................................................20
2.3.3 Interference Caused by Over-coverage ...........................................22
2.3.4 Interference Caused by Aggressive Reuse ......................................23
2.4 Repeater Interference ..........................................................................23
2.5 Off-network Interference ......................................................................24
2.5.1 Microwave Interference ....................................................................24
2.5.2 High power Broadcasting Station Interference ................................25
2.6 Other Phenomena Causing Interference .............................................26
2.7 False Interference ............................................................................... 27
Chapter 3 Anti-interference Measures ...................................................29
Chapter 4 Interference Test Tools ..........................................................30
4.1 Brief introduction to Spectrum Analyzer ..............................................30
4.2 Directional Antenna .............................................................................30
Chapter 5 Way to Test Interference .......................................................31
5.1 The way to Test Internal Interference .................................................31
i

Course Description
Introduction to Course
To introduce
affection brought by interference to the GSM
system, fault locationm e t h o d a n d t r o u b l e s h o o t i n g m e t h o d , t h i s c
o u r s e h e r e b y l i s t s o u t t h e p o s s i b l e interference sources, and offers
description
of
cases
to
facilitate
fault
location
and
troubleshooting. The
main
contents of the course
a r e a s f o l l o w s : o v e r v i e w , classification of interference source, judgment
method, location and troubleshooting, anti-interference measures, introduction
to instrument interference test, etc.

Course Objective
After completed the course, you can:
get the cause of interference and master the method of locating the
interference source
Master the method of overcoming interference.

Relevant Materials
i
n
a

n
c
r

t
e
s

e
S
k

f
t

e
a

r
r

e
w

GSM Principle
and Network Optimization Han Binjie Mobile Communication Engineering
Lu ErRui

Chapter 1 Overview
Frequency resource is a kind of rare resource. In GSM system,
frequency reuse is very necessary for GSM system to provide enough capacity.
Frequency reuse means that same frequency can be used simultaneously in several
cells when the distance between them is far enough. The distance between
the cells allocating the same frequency is called the reuse distance. And the
ratio between
the
reuse
distance
andthe cell radius is called cofrequency interference factor. For certain frequency resource, the network
capacity will be larger if the frequency reuse is more tight, but the interference will
be stronger because the reuse distance becomes nearer .The interference caused by
frequency
reuse
is
called
internal
network
interference
(iti s a l s o c a l l e d i n t e r n a l s y s t e m i n t e r f e r e n c e ) . B e s i d e s , t h e G S
M n e t w o r k m a y b e affected by interference from other communication
systems. Judging from the aspects such as conversation quality, call
drop, handover and congestion, it is found that interference situation is one of
the most important factor that affects the network. How to reduce or eliminate
interference
is
now
becomingt h e p r i n c i p a l t a s k o f n e t w o r k p l a n n i n g a n d o p t i m i z a t i o
n . T h i s d o c u m e n t h e r e i n provides a systemic description of interfere
nce source, interference location andtroubleshooting on the basis of experience of
experts.

1.1 Affection of Interference on Network

When there is interference in the network, the subscribers
usually encounter the following phenomenon:
During conversation, the subscriber usually cannot hear the
voice and the back ground noise is too loud.
When fixed telephone subscriber calls MS subscriber, or MS
subscriber calls fixed telephone subscriber, call drop occurs after
Du, du, du is heard.
The conversation cannot be carried on smoothly, and call drop often happens.
When interference exists in the network, from the result of traffic
statistic, there are some characteristic as following.

1.T h e r e a r e L e v e l 4 ~ L e v e l 5 i n t e r f e r e n c e b a n d i n T
C H m e a s u r e m e n t function , and the measurement value is more than 1.
2.Congestion rate is comparatively high (As there is interference in SDCCH
channel, immediate assignment or TCH assignment will fail).
3. The call drop rate is higher than other cells.
4. The handover success rate is low.
5. Through Drive Test, it is found that:
6. it is difficult to handover .
7. The Rx level is high, but the quality is bad.
8.
Through tracing the Abis interface signaling with signalin
g a n a l y z e r (MA10/K1205), it is found that the bit error rate is higher than
other cells

Interference Sources
1.2 Classification of Interference Sources
The interference sources of mobile communication system/noise are mainly
classes as follows:

1.2.1 Natural Noise

Atmosphere noise
Galaxy noise
Solar noise (quiet period)

1.2.2 Man-made Noise

Interference of ignition systems of vehicles or other engines
Interference of electronic communication system;
Interference of power line
Interference of scientific research, medical and household appliances;
Research data of ITT, America on the above noise/interference is shown as follows

In the figure, Ta denotes the noise temperature, Fa denotes equivalent

noise factor, and the relation between the two is as follows:
Fa= 10log Ta/To
Wherein, To=290
0

K.From the research data of ITT, it can be viewed that the atmosphere
noise and solar n o i s e i s c o m p a r a t i v e l y l o w i n
30~1000MHz, which can be ignored.
And above100MHz, as the radio noise of galaxy is lower
t h a n t h e t h e r m a l n o i s e o f t y p i c a l receiver; the interference can be
ignored as well. Thus, natural noises (atmosphere noise, galaxy noise
and solar noise) are unnecessarily considered for the mobile
systems above 450MHz, 800MHz, 900MHz, 1800MHz and 2000MHz
[3]. The affection of sunspot fastigium on mobile communication is
temporarily unknown, but scientists b e l i e v e t h a t s u n s p o t
f a s t i g i u m h a s g r e a t a f f e c t i o n o n t h e e l e c t r i c p o w e r a n d co
mmunication.According to the research of National Bureau of Standards
(NBS), it is found that the man-made noise is one of the main interference
sources. Among those man-made
interference/noise sources, certain interference is uncontrollable,
such as ignitioninterference of vehicle engine, electric power inte
rference and industrial electric equipment interference. However,
certain interference, such as interference between communication
equipment and internal network interference, which can be overcome by
reasonable, network planning and system optimization. The latter is main
research field of this document.

1.3 Main Interference Sources Affecting Mobile Communication

In mobile communication system, when BTS receives the
s i g n a l s f r o m t h e M S comparatively far away, it will encounter interference from
the ambient communicationequipment,and BTS or MS of the same system
[3]
, as shown in the figure below

Figure 1.2 Schematic diagram of mobile communication interference

The main interference of this part is as follows: Hardware fault:
TRX fault: if the performance of TRX is reduced due to
manufacture cause or application, which will cause self-excitation
of TRX amplification circuit resultingin interference.
CDU or divider fault: as active amplifier has been adopted
for the divider and divider module of CDU, self-excitation might be
caused when fault occurs.
Spurious emission and inter-modulation: if out-band spurious
emission index of BTS TRX or amplifier exceeds the limit, or isolation
between TX and RX of theduplexer in CDU is not enough, all these
will form interference on the receivingchannel. Inter-modulation may
also occur in passive equipment such as passiveantenna and feeder.
Internal network interference:
Improper frequency planning:
Co-frequency interference
Adjacent frequency interferenceRepeater interference:It is commonly
adopted that coverage of BTS is extended with repeater in the
earlys t a g e n e t w o r k c o n s t r u c t i o n . D u e t o i t s o w n c h a r a
c t e r i s t i c s , i t w i l l e a s i l y c a u s e interference to the BTS if
it is improperly used. For repeater, there are mainly
twointerference modes:
As the installation of repeater is non
standard, causing insufficient isolationbetween the donor
antenna and the subscriber antenna, so self-excitation
iscaused. This affects normal working of BTS that the repeater
belongs to.
For the repeater adopting wideband non-linear amplifier, the
inter-modulationindex far exceeds the requirement of the protocol.
If the power is comparativelyh i g h , t h e i n t e r modulation component will be large, and this wi
l l c a u s e interference to the BTS around.
Interference of other communication equipment with high power:
Radar station: From 70s~80s of the 20 thecentury, the
frequency used by thedecimeter wave radar was similar to that
of GSM, and its transmitting power wasvery high, which generally
reached tens and hundreds of kilowatts, so the out b a n d

spurious emission is comparatively large. Thus

i t e a s i l y c a u s e s interference to the BTS.
Analog BTS: The frequency band used by the analog mobile BTS
overlaps withthe GSM frequency band in certain segment.
Communication equipment at same frequen
c y b a n d : A s t h e t y p e s o f communication equipment
are so many, some manufacturers maybe adopt thefrequency band
but doesnt comply with the current communication standards.As the
GSM frequency band is occupied by the equipments, interference will
becaused within the GSM system coverage area
Discovery of Interference
To solve the interference problem and improve the conversation quality,
find out theinterference first, and the
n use
proper means for locating the interference, and at lasteliminating or
reducing interference.The methods available for discovering the
interference in GSM system are as follows:OMC traffic measurement, OMC
alarm, Drive Test and subscriber complaint, etc. Asthe puissant tools,
special test equipment such as signaling analyzer and spectrumanalyzer are
commonly unused in this stage.
1.4 Discovering Interference via OMC Traffic Measurement
After a network on srvice, following traffic measurement tasks should be
registered todiscover the problems in time: TCH measuremen functiont,
SDCCH measurementfunction and handover measurement function. After
task registration, check the trafficstatus of various cells, handover and
traffic measurement indices related to cellquality to discover the
cells with potential interference.What needs to be mentioned is that only
the existence of the potential interferencec a n b e j u d g e d a c c o r d i n g
to the checking
r e s u l t s . To f i n d o u t w h e t h e r t h e r e i s interference actually, or there are
other problems, location and analysis is needed.
1. Discovering potential interference via traffic statistics result
Check the Average TCH busy time (second) in TCH measurement
function of eachcell, the reason is that this index can show the TCH mean
occupied time (s), which isusually called TCH mean holding time in the
BSC of other manufacturer, within themeasurement period. If it
is found that the Average TCH busy time (second) of certain cell is

comparatively short (such as less than 10s), then maybe there is

stronginterference in the cell, causing that handover/call drop happens due
to bad qualityafter TCH channel occupied to MS.Certainly, if hardware fault
occurs in certain TRX (non-BCCH or non-SDCCH carrier)of a cell, the case
mentioned above will also appear.
2. Discovering interference via handover data
The handover measurement data reflects the mobility of the subscribers
within
thec e l l u n d e r m e a s u r e m e n t . G e n e r a l l y, w e c a n d i v i d e t h e
h a n d o v e r d a t a i n t o t w o categories for analysis, intra-cell handover
and inter-cell handover.

Inter-cell handover There are many reasons of MS

triggering handover The handover measurementindices mainly used for
judging whether there is interference are as follows: times of attempt to
initiate handover (downlink quality), times of attempt to initiate
handover (uplink quality), times of receiving quality level (0~7) when
initiating handover (uplink)and average receiving quality when initiating handover
(uplink).When certain cell initiates handover, if the average receiving quality
(uplink) is

4(this is true when there is no frequency hopping, if there is, it should be

5), and them e a n r e c e i v i n g l e v e l i s

25(-85dBm), then it is possibly caused by

u p l i n k interference.When certain cell initiates handover, if the times of
receiving quality level above 5 ismore than that below 4, then there may be uplink
interference as well.If the times of certain cell attempts to initiate
handover (uplink/downlink quality) is

more than 10% of total handover attempt times, then there may be
interference in thecell. The two indices are all related to quality

handover threshold and interference handover threshold within the

cell parameters.

Intra-cell handover For intra-cell handover, there is also measurement

items such as intra-cell handover request times (uplink/downlink quality)
and the interference situation. If the intra-cellhandover is caused by
uplink/downlink quality, and the proportion taken up by totalintra-cell
handover times among the total inter-cell handover times is
comparativelyhigher than that of others, then there may be interference in
the cell.The handover measurement index is closely related to the setting
of cell
parameters.T h e r e d u c i n g o f h a n d o v e r j u d g m e n t t h r e s h o l d a n
d P / N d u r a t i o n c a n m a k e t h e handover more sensitive, and
cause more handovers. And on the contrary,
handover t i m e s w i l l b e r e d u c e d . Too f e w h a n d o v e r t i m e s m a
y b e n o g o o d t o t h e n e t w o r k performance at whiles, and affect the
handover success rate directly. However,
toom a n y h a n d o v e r i s n o g o o d e i t h e r . A s f o r t h e
hard handover attribute of GSM,h a n d o v e r i s a l s o t h e m
ain cause of call drop. According to the online data
measurement, the proportion that one handover per
c o n v e r s a t i o n w i l l b e comparatively reasonable.
3. Discovering potential interference via call drop index
Call drop is one of the network faults un-acceptable for
t h e s u b s c r i b e r s . T h e measurement indices related to call drop are as
follows: SDCCH/TCH call drop times,wireless link broken times when
SDCCH/TCH occupied (connection failed) and meanuplink/downlink quality
in case of SDCCH/TCH call drop.If the call drop times of certain cell is
rather higher the the other with same traffic load,and the main cause of
call drop is owning to connection fault, then it is possibly caused
by interference.If the average receiving level during call drop is
comparatively high (

25), while thea v e r a g e r e c e i v i n g q u a l i t y l e v e l i s

6 , t h e n t h e c e l l s h o u l d b e l i s t e d i n t o t h e interference
source.
4. Discovering potential interference via interference band
BTS will utilize an idle TS in a frame to scan the uplink frequencies of the
frequenciesused by TRX, and then make measurement to the level

5 interference band. Thedefault setting of interference bands in BSC of

Huawei is as follows: 110, 105, 98, 90,87 and 85 (unit: -dBm),
corresponding to the following interference bands in trafficmeasurement:
Table 2.1
Interference bandI

Compared with other measurement indices, the measurement index of

interferenceband can reflect the cell interference situation more
directly, but it can only reflect whether there is interference in the
uplink.If the values of interference band 4 and interference band 5 are
comparatively large(

1), then, there may be co-frequency interference in the cell. If the

measurementvalues mainly distribute in interference band 1 and
interference band 2, then thepossibility of interference will be small.
However, if there is comparatively high valuein band 3, then attention should be
paid to this

Note: As Huaweis measurement method of interference band is based on

cell,
thev a l u e o f i n t e r f e r e n c e b a n d o f c e r t a i n T R X t h a t s u f f e r s
s e r i o u s c o - f r e q u e n c y interference will be comparatively small in large
site type (S8/8/8). The reason is thatthis value has been averaged by the
values of other seven TRX without interference.Thus, the values cannot
reflect the actual interference condition.
1.5 OMC Alarm and Subscriber Complaint
OMC alarm subsystem can report the hardware fault of BTS side. Before
starting tolocate the interference source, analysis must be performed to the

alarm informationfirst. Before implementation of any optimization works, it

is wise to eliminate hardwarefault first.What needs to be mentioned is that
the interference, whether from MS or other BTS,cannot be judged via the alarm
information of alarm subsystem.Subscriber complaint is also important
clew for finding the potential interference. Information which should
be collected from user complaint includes MS number, MSmodel, called
number and fault phenomenon of calling side and fault phenomenon
of called side and particular fault location, etc. If the alarm information is
more detailed,it will be more easily to find out the network
problems.T h e d e s c r i p t i o n o f s u b s c r i b e r c o m p l a i n t i s c o m p a r
a t i v e l y f u z z y. H o w e v e r , i t i s reasonable if the subscriber cannot tell
you where the interference is, the reason ist h a t t h e y d o n t k n o w
m u c h a b o u t t h e c e l l u l a r n e t w o r k a c t u a l l y. W h e n t h e r e
i s interference in the network, the direct feelings of the subscriber may
be: heavy noise,both parties or either party cannot hear each other clearly,
call drops and call cannotbe put through, etc. Thus, when many
subscribers within the same area complain thesame problem, then work
should be done to check whether there is interference inthe area.
1.6 Discovering Interference via Drive Test
D r i v e Tes t i s a m e t h o d t h a t i s m o s t c o m m o n l y u s e d t o f i n
d o u t p r o b l e m s . T h e suspicion of interference gained by the methods
described above, namely, analysis of traffic measurement and subscriber
complaint, should also be verified via drive test.Note that the Drive Test
can only check the downlink interference. During
actualimplementation, there are two Drive Test methods
available: idle mode test andspecial mode test.Under the idle mode, the
test equipment can measure the signal level of both
servingc e l l a n d a d j a c e n t c e l l . I n a d d i t i o n , t h e e q u i p m e n t c a
n a l s o p e r f o r m f r e q u e n c y scanning test to the specified frequency or
frequency band.During test, round-trip test should be performed to the object
BTS.Under special mode test, the test equipment can measure the signal
levels, receivingqualities, power control registrations and time advance, etc.
of both the serving celland adjacent cell. When high level (

30) and low quality (Rx_Qual

6) remain incertain section of highway, then, it can be concluded that

interference exists in thesection. Further, part test equipment can directly
display the frame elimination rate(FER). Generally when the FER

25%, subscribers can feel the discontinuous voice,that is to say,

interference exists in this section of highway (FER measurement of ANTis
inaccurate.)
Chapter 2 Location and Clearance of InterferenceSource
The most important process during optimization is how to locate
the fault in thenetwork which requires much experience. The
above section only reveals that the interference may exist in the
network, but the causes of interference vary such as co-frequency or
adjacent frequency interference in the system, spurious interference
of high-power transmitting equipment around, the self-excitation of the
transmitter, etc.
2.1 Recommended Procedures for Location and Clearanceof
Interference
2.1.1 Determine Interference Cell according to Key Performance Index
(KPI)
The sudden deterioration of such indices as call drop rate, handover
success rate,traffic, congestion rate, interference band indicates that
interference exists in the cell.At this time, check the log of the
operation on the cells is required. Check whether BTS hardware
is added or modified, and data is modified recently, or whether
theoccurrence of the interference is associated with these operations in
terms
of time.I f n o d a t a m o d i f i c a t i o n i s p e r f o r m e d i n t h i s d u
r a t i o n , i t c a n b e s u r e t h a t t h e interference comes from the
hardware or external of the network. It is
recommendedt o c h e c k t h e h a r d w a r e f i r s t , i f i n t e r f e r e n c e s t i l
l e x i s t s a f t e r t h e h a r d w a r e f a u l t i s excluded, then check whether
external interference exists (the method for checkingexternal interference,
please refer to the chapter infra).
2.1.2 Check Alarm of OMC
Sometimes, the high call drop rate, low handover success rate and high
congestionrate may be relevant with the equipment fault, check of OMC
alarm record will sparemuch time spent in judgment and analysis. Similarly,
the association of alarm recordwith the deterioration of these indices in
terms of time is analyzed here.It should be noted that most alarms of OMC
aim at the hardware fault of the such asTRX no power output, etc. For
most potential fault in optimization such as TRX or CDU receiving
performance degradation, self-excitation, etc., the alarm informationcannot
be reported. (Compared with digital components, the analog components suchas
microwave and so on are more difficult to detect)

2.1.3 Frequency Planning Check

If one cell is doubted with interference, check the frequency planning of this
cell andcells around. First you should be very clear about the BTS location
distribution anda z i m u t h o f e a c h c e l l , t h e n m a k e a d r a w i n g o f
t h e t o p o l o g y m a p , a n d m a r k t h e BCCH/TCH frequency and BSIC.
At the same time, make a comparison between theplanned frequency and
actually configured frequency in BSC to check whether thereis
discrepancy.Generally you can judge whether there is cofrequency and adjacent frequencyinterference according to accurate
topology map of frequency planning
2.1.4 Check Parameter Setting of Cell
Some cell parameters have impact on the interference
such as CRO,
handover threshold, handover judgment/statistics duration (P/N c
riteria), and adjacent cellrelation.If CRO is set too larger than the
neighbor cells, MS is drawn in this cell with in idlemode even the
actual Rx level lower than the cells around, so once C/I cannot
bemore than the threshold 12dB in case of conversation, interference will
emerge.If configuration of adjacent cell is omitted in adjacent cell
relation, MS will fail toh a n d o v e r t o t h e
cell with better signal level and
q u a l i t y, t h i s w i l l a l s o l e a d t o interference. Slight interference may
also occur in case of large handover threshold,a n d P / N
criteria as well as handover difficulty between cells. But
i t i s f a r m o r e dangerous if the value is too small, the frequent handover
not only increases the calld r o p r a t e , b u t a l s o t h e
s y s t e m l o a d , e v e n l e a d s t o d i s a s t r o u s r e s u l t , i . e . , B S C bre
akdown.
2.1.5 Drive Test
Drive Test is an effective way to locate the interference. The method is the
same asproblem location in 3.3. The difference is that the cell with
interference is highlightedduring the test when locate the interference.
2.1.6 Interference Clearance
Adjustments should be made respectively according to the above location
results. For details, please refer to the technical cases. Finally the effect of
interference clearancewill be evaluated according to KPI, and Drive Test result.The
specific methods for interference location and clearance are described in

form of cases as follows, at the same time the case ID is provided

for the convenience of consultation.
2.2 Location and Clearance of Hardware Fault
When a certain cell is doubted with interference through the
above analysis, it isrequired to check whether the BTS first where the
cell is located works normally or not. Check whether there is antenna
feeder alarm, TRX alarm, BTS clock alarm andso on remotely; check
whether there is antenna damage, water seepage,
feeder (including jumper) damage,
water seepage, CDU fault, TRX fault, incorrect BTS jumper
connection, system clock unlocked.
2.2.1 Antenna Performance Degradation
As one of the passive devices, the possibility of antenna damage is very
little, but thereal antenna damage or performance degradation will lead to
poor communicationquality.Case 0010761.
Fault description:
There are 5 BTSs for a certain network in a county configured asS4/4/4
and 6/6/6, the BTS type includes BTS20 and BTS30. The interference band
5i n T C H m e a s u r e m e n t f u n c t i o n o f s o m e c e l l s i s o v e r 1 5 ,
a n d t h e r e i s n o a l a r m information in OMC
Fault location process
1)
Register the statistics task of interference band of 24 hours for
the cell with
problems, it is found that interference band 5 mainly occurs in daylight, and
inthe small hours near middle night, the interference band value is
almost 0.
2)
After opening the idle BURST of all BTSs and transmitting it in the early morning,it is
found that the interference band occurs. It disappears after
transmitting isstopped. It can be judged from this phenomenon
that the interference comes from internal network and has nothing to do with
other equipment.
3)
No frequency in the network and data are modified before the
interferenceoccurs, accordingly, the interference is irrelevant with
the frequency planning.
4)
It can be seen from the above second and third points
t h a t t h e p r o b l e m i s relevant with the BTS equipment.

5)
Observe the RXM test interface of CDU with the spectrum analyzer in peak
hour in the daylight, it can be seen that unstable strong broadband
interference andrise of back noise occur.
6)
First replace all boards (TRX, CDU, FPU, HPA, and power board)
of this BTS(BTS20, with Tower Top Amplifier) one by one, at the
same time observe thespectrum signal of RXM test interface, it can be
seen that interference exists allthe time. This indicates that the interference
is relevant with the antenna
feeder (including divider, combiner, feeder, antenna, lightning arre
ster, Tower TopAmplifier, jumper and connector) instead of the board.
7)
Since the above BTS under test has the Tower Mount Amplifier, the antenna andfeeder
check is inconvenient, replace another BTS30(S4/4/4) (dual-CDU, anddualpolarization antenna) with interference and check the antenna feeder.
8)
Since no interference exists in one of the cells while strong interference
exists inanother two cells in the BTS, interchange the antenna and feeder
(changing
the j u m p e r a t t h e t o p o f t h e c a b i n e t ) o f t h e c e l l s w h i
c h a r e w i t h a n d w i t h o u t interference in the BTS in the evening.
Then send idle BURST, it is found thatthe interference follows the antenna
and feeder. This step helps further locatethe fault which should exist in antenna
and feeder system.
9)
The situation remains the same even after replacing lightning arrester
of antennafeeder and checking all jumper connectors. Then it can be sure
that fault existsin the feeder or antenna.
10)
Replace the jumper (i.e., antenna) at the top of the tower, it is
found that theinterference follows the antenna, so the feeder fault can be
excluded while theantenna fault is quite possible. (It should be noted that
the external interferenceat this step cannot be excluded because the
actual installation place of
thea n t e n n a d o e s n o t c h a n g e , b u t t h e e x t e r n a l i n t e r f e r e n c
e h a s a l r e a d y b e e n excluded in the above step. )
11)
Finally check the antenna. The strong interference disappears immediately
after the antenna is replaced on the tower by using the dual-polarization

antenna. For further verification, replace the antenna of one cell

with strong interference inanother BTS20 with a new one, and then the
interference disappears, thus theproblem is solved here.Sometimes the alarm
cannot be reported to the OMC alarm console after the antennais
damaged. While the antenna damage will lead to the degradation of the
radiationperformance and inter-modulation. And the inter-modulation
product is fed back to thereceiving channel of the BTS, generating
interference and effect the conversation quality. Similar case also includes
case 0017185.
2.2.2 Water Seepage of Antenna or Feeder
The water seepage of antenna and feeder will change the media structure
and bringhigh loss of radio signals. Fault cases in the on service
network indicate that thepossibility for water seepage of antenna
and feeder is less than that of antenna damage, while the former
often leads to the reduction of service range. And no casethat interference is
caused by water seepage of antenna and feeder till now

2.2.3 Jumper Connector Fault

The RF signal of GSM falls into the UHF signal, if loose contact exists in
any sectionf r o m T R X , C D U , f e e d e r
to antenna will lead to high VSWR, increase of intermodulation and interference.Case 0015118
Fault description:
the type of certain BTS is BTS2.0,site configuration is S242, MS isdifficult
to access cell 2, and also call drop often occurs during
conversation. It isfound that the interference band 4 and 5 appear in cell 2
interference band of the BTSby viewing the traffic measurement. Interference of
different value occur on severalcarriers of this cell through signaling
tracing, but interference band only occurs to i n t e r f e r e n c e
band 2 and 3 several days later. Though
t h e c o n v e r s a t i o n i s n o t affected, the interference does not
disappear. there is no alarm message in OMCsystem
Fault location process
1)
Check carefully the frequency planning of the BTS. The possibility of
internal co-frequency and adjacent frequency interference is excluded
because the BTSs inthis area are not so dense and with loose frequency reuse.
2)

It is found that though interference spectrum occurs, but the interference

signallevel is not too high when checking with spectrum analyzer.
3)
The interference still exists after replacing
carrier board, power amplificationb o a r d , p o w e r b o a r d , a n d C D
U. Subsequently the interference occurs anddisappears a
long with the operations of screwing up and screwing off
t h e connector at the exit of CDU.
4)
It is found that some scraps exist on the CDU output connector.
Screw up theconnector after blowing off the scraps, and since then,
interference never occurs.T h i s p r o b l e m b e l o n g s t o t h e
soft fault. The scraps
i n t h e c o n n e c t o r w i l l b r i n g unconspicuous interference, so exp
erience is quite important here. On the other hand, this problem
reminds us of the importance of checking the engineering qualitycarefully.
2.2.4 Antenna Connected Inversely
It is quite usually that the antenna is connected inversely, which will lead to
completedifference between the using frequency and the planned
frequency. It will also lead toco-frequency and adjacent frequency
interference, call drop, handover failure, etc. If the frequency resources for
operator is a few, antenna connected inversely will affectthe network quality
much more.Case0011108
Fault description:
the interference bands 4 and 5 often occur in the tr
a f f i c measurement after certain BTS is on service, the inter-cell handover
success rate isvery low and the congestion rate is up to 5%. There is no
alarm in OMC.
Fault location process
1)
Since the interference bands 4 and 5 occur along with low
handover
successr a t e a n d c o n g e s t i o n , i t i s d o u b t e d t h a t t h e i n t e r f e r
e n c e c a u s e s t h e a b o v e phenomena.
2)
Check the frequency planning first, no problem is f
o u n d . T h e e x t e r n a l interference becomes the chief considera
tion after the frequency planningproblem is excluded. Change the
original used frequency 9 into the farawayf r e q u e n c y 9 4 t o a v o i d e x t e r n a l i n t e r f e r e n c e , b u

t s i t u a t i o n s i t h e s a m e . Confirmation made with the

operators branch office indicates that the BTS is
remote and without any high-power radio equipment nearby. It looks as if
thefrequency planning or external interference should be excluded.
3)
Since handover failure is involved at the same time, it is found
that
handover f a i l u r e o c c u r s b e t w e e n c e l l s 1 a n d 3 a c
c o r d i n g t o t h e r e g i s t r a t i o n o f outgoing/incoming cell
handover performance measurement.
4)
The congestion analysis indicates that TCH assignment failure is usually
causedby uplink. After registering the traffic measurement of
uplink/downlink balance, itis found that the measurement item of
uplink/downlink balance for cell 1 and cell3 focus on level 1 and 11. This
indicates that severe imbalance occurs betweenuplink and downlink.
5)
The imbalance between uplink and downlink, in combination with much
handover failure in cell 1 and 3 turn the doubt to the antenna and
feeder which may beconnected inversely.
6)
On-site examination indicates that the antennas of cell 1/2/3
become crossedpair which causes the transmitter antennas of
cell 1 and 3 to stay in the
samec e l l , w h i l e t h e r e c e i v e r a n t e n n a s o f t h e m c o n n
e c t t o a n o t h e r c e l l . T h e interference band and congestion
disappear and the handover is all right after itis corrected.Case 0005237
Fault description
: t h e D r i v e Tes t f o r c e r t a i n n e t wo r k r e v e a l s t h a t t h
e B C C H frequencies of several cells is different from the design, the
adjacent cell relation isdisordered with serious co-frequency interference.
Moreover, with handover successrate affected, the conversation quality is poor, and
the call drop rate is very high.On-site detection reveals that the connections of
antenna feeder system in severalBTSs are disordered. Verify each cell with
the test MS, it is found that 3 sector cell of some BTSs are configured
correctly but rotated 120 clockwise, and crossed pair exists
between two cells of some BTSs, causing the TX/RX of two cells to cover
thesame area in the same direction.

Fault location process

1)
Make clear the frequency of several cells according to the
networking plandesign, and locate the erro with the test MS on site.
2)
Two methods can be adopted to correct the connection error and
verify theaccuracy.
3)
Method 1: there is one length flag every other 1m on 7/8 feeders, through
whichthe successive two length flags on 7/8 feeders corresponding to each
antenna ineach cell at the tower top can be observed and
recorded. So the increase or decrease of flag can be judged in case of
cabling of each feeder from the tower to the equipment room, then
check this flag at the side of lightning arrester of indoors
antenna. The length for each feeder from the tower top to
equipmentroom is basically the same, so the length flags at the two top
and at the side of lightning arrester can be used to judge to which
cell does the feeder
belong.C o r r e c t t h e c o n n e c t i o n a t t h e l i g h t n i n g a r r e s t e r o f
t h e a n t e n n a a f t e r c l e a r judgment is obtained. Finally correct the
incorrect flag.
4)
Method 2: the feeder flag of some BTSs may be
b l u r r y d u e t o s c r a t c h i n construction, or no method is available to
judge whether the feeder connection iscorrect. In this case, Drive Test can
be adopted for judgment. The judgment for TX/RX feeder of one cell is
easy and whether the connection is correct can beknown from the results
of Drive Test. But RXD transmits no signal, it is unable toknow whether the
antenna feeder is correctly connected through the Drive Test.At this time,
switch off the HPA of all carriers in the cell, and connect RXD feeder to
TX/RX output of the CDU where the main BCCH of cell is located, then
switchon the HPA for Drive Test. If correct frequency is received in the
specified cell,the connection of RXD feeder in this cell is correct,
otherwise, it is incorrect.From the Drive Test, the cell to which the RXD
feeder belongs can be obtained.
Correct the connection at the lightning arrester of antenna and attach new
flagagain after making a clear judgment of all feeders.
5)
Verification with Drive Test is required after correction.
2.2.5 Incorrect Jumper Connection of BTS

There are many jumpers from BTS TRX to the antenna, the confusion of
which willlead to high call drop rate.Case 0015303.
Fault description
: a newly constructed BTS is of S333 type and dual
- C D U configuration with the version as 05.0529. The subscriber
complains that it is difficultto make MOC or MTC in the areas covered by
this BTS since the on service. In thetraffic measurement, the SDCCH call
drop rate of one cell in this BTS is up to 50%.There is no alarm in OMC
Fault location process
1)
The causes for the above phenomenon may include:
interference, BSC dataerror, and hardware fault. The location will focus
on these 3 aspects.
2)
The dial test carried out by maintenance engineer of the operator indicates
thatthis fault phenomenon occurs in cell 3. The tick always occurs in the
MS andthe MS returns to the idle mode when it initiates a call, moreover,
only one in four and five times of calling is successful.
3)
From the traffic measurement, it is found that SDCCH call drop rate of this
cell isvery high, i.e., 50%, and moreover, all causes are radio link
loss
connections( e r r o r i n d i c a t i o n ) . B u t T C H a s s i g n m e n t i s n o r m
a l , s o i t c a n b e j u d g e d t h a t SDCCH call drop is the reason why the
MS is difficult to make MOCor MTC.
4)
Further analysis of the traffic measurement indicates that the interference
bando f t h i s c e l l i s n o r m a l , s o t h e i m p a c t o f i n t e r f e r e n c e o n
S D c a l l d r o p c a n b e excluded. Considering that this BTS is a
newly on service, the check should base on data and BTS hardware.
5)
A careful check of the data of this BTS including hardware data
and neworkplanning data shows that there is no error.
6)
It is found that there are 3 carriers in 3 cells of thi
s B T S w i t h d u a l - C D U configuration, the input of two
carriers, which should be connected to thecombiner input
end of CDU, is connected to TX-COMB and TX-DUP
e n d s instead. The fault does not exist after the connection is corrected.
2.2.6 TRX Fault

As the core component of BTS, the fault of

T R X w i l l l e a d t o t h e i n c r e a s e o f interference, decrease of coverage,
access difficulty, etc.Case 0011519
Fault description:
the subscriber reports that the conversation quality in the areanear certain
BTS in certain city is poor and with call drop. From the
cell measurementfunction report, it can be found that the average
idle TCH number of interferenceband 1 is 11.44 when BTS cell 2 is
busy; that of interference band 2 is 32.27; that of interference band 3 and 4
is 0 all the time; that of interference band 5 is 7.2. At thesame time it is
found that the number of TCH assignment failure of this cell is up to50, and
the call drop rate is about 10%. Since this site is on service for two years,
andrunning always stably . The BTS type is BTS20(M900) with
the configuration of S6/6/6, and the first 4 TRXs of each cell are
connected to the 4-in-1 combiner viarigid RF cable, while the last 2
are connected to the 2-in-1 combiner. The duplex TMA is installed
in the antenna and feeder system. No alarm information has beengenerated
recently

Fault location process

1)
On-site dial test and analysis of traffic measurement indicate that
this is aninterference case. Generally, the number of uplink TCH,
TCH congestion
andc a l l d r o p r a t e w i l l i n c r e a s e w h e n i n t e r f e r e n c e e x i s t s .
B u t f u r t h e r l o c a t i o n i s necessary to determine whether it is external
interference.
2)
For external interference, the interference source can be located
through thesignal strength within uplink band with spectrum analyzer.
3)
The cause of internal interference is basically the same with that
of adjacentfrequency interference. But the following will also lead to
internal
interference:the performance degradation of RF devices such as a
ntenna, Tower MountAmplifier, lightning arrester, combiner/divider, TRX
board, and so on, as well ast h e

loose contact of RF cable. This problem can be solved

b y r e p l a c i n g corresponding boards and devices.
4)
The co-frequency/adjacent frequency interference can be excluded
because thefrequency has already been rationally planed by the
optimization engineers. Theexternal interference is suspected. Then carry
out a test for the signal strength of whole uplink band in the air under
the tower with spectrum analyzer, and no stable signal of more than 100dB is found. This indicates that the interference isgenerated within the
network.
5)
Check the connection of antenna and feeder, no such ant
e n n a c o n n e c t e d reversely or loose contacted.
6)
Then replace the duplex TMA of cell 2 with normal Tower Mount Amplifier,
theinterference band has no change, it indicates that the interference is not
causedby Tower Mount Amplifier.
7)
Replace related devices in cell 2 with normal SPL, combiner and RF cable,
theinterference band has no change, too. So it can be sure that the
interference isnot caused by the above devices. So the location focuses on
the antenna andsuch boards as TRX, FPU, HPA, etc. Since
replacement of antenna is quitetroublesome, the board should
be located first. A valuable phenomenon is foundwhen interference is
located through blocking the baseband channel. That is,the number of
idle TCH in interference band 5 of the cell becomes 0 and
thecongestion rate and call drop rate are lowered obviously after BT10,
and BT11are blocked at the same time. From this phenomenon, it can be
sure that theinterference is caused by one or several boards among
TRX10, TRX11, FPU10,FPU11, HPA10, and HPA11.
8)
To further locate, the FPU10, FPU11, HPA10, HPA11, TRX10, TR
X11 andcorresponding boards in the cabinet of cell 3 are interchanged.
Then observe thecell performance measurement report. After TRX10,
TRX11 and TRX16, TRX17are interchanged, it is found that the
interference band 5 of cell 3 becomes 5.2.While both congestion rate and
call drop rate of cell 2 become 0, number of TCHoccupation fault 1, and
interference band 3, 4, and 5 0. This indicates that thefaulty board is just in
TRX16, and TRX17.
9)

Replace TRX16, and TRX17 respectively and observe the traffic

measurement.The traffic measurement obtained some time after TRX17 is
replaced indicatesthat the interference band 3, 4, and 5 of cell 3 become 0,
the congestion rate andcall drop rate 0, too. It can be known that
the interference is caused by self- excitation of TRX17 internal RF circuit and
performance degradation of devices.
10)
No call drop occurs and the voice is distinct when performing frequency
lockingdial test on each cells BCCH frequency.Case 0005940
Fault description:
congestion rate of 2 cells in BTS (S6/6/6)2 in certain county
isusually up to 10%. The careful view of traffic measurement
(TCH measurementfunction) reveals that about 7 TCHs in this cell often
stay in interference band 4~5, sothe interference maybe exist.
Fault location process

1)
To locate the frequency with interference, register the traffic measurement
of thecell (a period of 15 minutes) first. Block the carriers one by one. The
number of TCH in interference band 4 ~5 becomes 0 when
blocking carrier 8 (frequency28), indicating that the interference is from
the frequency.
2)
Connect the antenna and feeder of cell 2 with spectrum analyzer, set the
centralfrequency is frequency 28 (895.6MHZ). No external interference
exists throughobserving the level value. So the interference may come from the
equipment.
3)
Interchange the carrier board with interference in cell 2 with normal carrier
boardin cell 3, then observe the traffic measurement. It is found that the
number of idleTCH in interference band 5 of cell 3 becomes 0, while that in
cell 2 becomes 0,too. So it can be sure that the carrier board fault leads to
the interference.
4)
Use Maintenance ConsoleGSM Interface TracingABIS
Interface Tracing,and set the filtering condition to TRX
management message. Then it can befound that the radio
resource indication of all timeslots in this carrier

reportsinterference band 5. This helps further locate that the

carrier board is theinterference source.
5)
The problem is solved after this faulty carrier board is replaced.The selfexcitation of carrier board or the invalidation of devices will bring
stronginterference for the receiving device. So large amount of
assignment fault leads tohigh congestion rate of the cell.Case 0007646
Fault description:
The interference of a cell always falls into interference band 4 and5
through the analysis of traffic measurement of certain network,
and carrier 28 isunder the interference via tracing and analysis.
Fault location process
The interference source usually comes from radio commu
n i c a t i o n s y s t e m a s following.
1)
Carry out a test for the electromagnetic environment of the BTS with
spectrumanalyzer. Set the start scan frequency to 895MHz and
end scan frequency to8 9 6 M H z f o r t h e s p e c t r u m
a n a l y z e r , t h e n c a r r y o u t t h e t e s t i n d i f f e r e n t t i m e segments.
No continuous interference signal falls into this band, this indicatesthat the
interference maybe come from within the system and may be caused bythe
fault of certain part in the equipment.
2)
Replace the carrier board with interference and power amplifier board to
another cell at the same time, and register the traffic
measurement of 5 minutes. The interference disappears from original
cell and occurs in new cell, indicating thatthe interference may be
caused by self-excitation of carrier board or power amplifier board.
3)
Mark the carrier board and power amplifier board respectively, and replace
themto the two carriers free from interference. Then register the traffic
measurementof 5 minutes for tracing and observation, it can be
found that the interferenceoccurs to frequency where the carrier board
with mark is located.This problem is also caused by TRX self-excitation.
2.2.7 Clock Unlocking
The clock for the digital system similar to GSM is just like the nervous
system of theequipment, so the clock unlocking of BTS will cause
the BTS to go mad. On onehand, the large deviation of BTS clock will
bring difficulty for the MS to be locked inthe frequency of the BTS, and lead
to MS handover failure or unavailability of residingin the cell of the BTS. On the

other hand, it will cause the BTS to be unable to

decodet h e s i g n a l c o r r e c t l y. I t s h o u l d b e n o t e d t h a t t h e c l o c
k o u t - o f - l o c k w i l l n o t b r i n g interference, but the increase of error
code in transmission will lead to the decrease of
Fault description:
The customer adopts transmission timeslot multiplexer to save
thet r a n s m i s s i o n r e s o u r c e .
A f t e r b e i n g u s e d f o r s o m e t i m e , t h e s l o t m u l t i p l e x e r i s dam
aged because of the water seepage into the equipment room. After it
is replaced,a l l B T S 1 3 M c l o c k s u n d e r t h e c o m b i n e r a r e o u t
o f - l o c k , a n d i n t e r r u p t i o n a n d cacophony occur during
conversation. The inter-BTS handover is unavailable andcall drop rate
rises up. Many alarms of 13M clock out-of-clock occur in OMC
alarmconsole. The BTS is in free oscillation status through query of the
TMU status of BTS.
Fault location process
1)
Generally BTS clock out-of-lock is caused by the degradation of
transmissionquality and rise of BER. The clock out-of-lock of such a large
configuration BTS,according to the former experience and the phenomenon
of the problem, it is nottransmission equipment only
but the sharing equipment relevant with theseBTSs. Since these
BTSs are under different modules of the BSC, in addition, these
modules also support the BTS of other cities (where no clock out-of-lock
isfound), so BSC clock problem can be excluded. So emphasis should be
laid onthe physical link from the BSC to inter-BTS Abis interface.
2)
The check of alarm box shows no transmission alarm.
3)
Check the transmission of each BTS and test, The BER is not too high.
4)
Check BSC clock, the clock is in normal tracing status.
5)
Check of DDF shows that grounding is good and DDF combines grounding
withthe BSC.
6)
Disconnect the BTS under the slot multiplexer, and connect it
with the BSCdirectly via the jumper, skipping the slot multiplexer. It is

observed that the BTSclock changes from pull-in status to tracing status.
After removing the jumper andrestoring the original connection, the
BTS clock is out of lock. So the fault is relevant with the slot
multiplexer.
7)
Check of the
program in slot multiplexer shows that all ports are corre
c t l y defined.
8)
Check of grounding of slot multiplexer shows that the power
grounding is allright, but the protection grounding is not connected. All
BTS clocks can trace theupper-level clock normally after
connecting the protection grounding, so theproblem is solved..The
diversity of transmission connection from the BSC to the BTS will easily
lead toBTS fault because of the problem of certain process in the
connection.
Detailedu n d e r s t a n d i n g o f t h e n e t w o r k i s q u i t e n e c e s s a r y f
or solving the fault, and faultphenomenon can be used to
judge the possible causes. Especially the poor grounding
or contact will generate potential difference which will le
a d t o t h e degradation of transmission quality and affect the stable running of overall
network.
2.2.8 Summary
The fault of any one of the TRX, CDU, feeder, antenna, jumper, and
connector willlead to interference and call drop. This is also proved
by large amount of relatedcases. So check and clearance of BTS
hardware fault should be performed first
asi n t e r f e r e n c e i s f o u n d . A n d i n a d d i t i o n , B T S c l o c k o u t o f - l o c k w i l l a l s o l e a d t o interference and call drop.The hardware
fault, in most cases, can be easily located and handled by exchangingthe
board and analyzing the traffic measurement data. Certainly
the adoption of spectrum analyzer will help locate the problem faster. In
the case that interferenceoccurs suddenly in some cells during the running
of network data to which no datamodification is made, emphasis should be laid on
the clearance of hardware fault

The above interference related to the BTS, is mainl

y c a u s e d b y t h i r d o r d e r intermodulation, belongs to the uplink
interference and will be directly reflected in theinterference band.
2.3 Intra-network Interference
GSM intra-network interference mainly comes from cochannel/adjacent channeli n t e r f e r e c e s . I t i s u n a v o i d a b l e w h e
n C / I < 1 2 d B o r C / I a < - 6 d B . T h e a d o p t i o n o f aggressive
frequency reuse will also increase the probability of interference.
2.3.1 Co-channel Interference
Since frequency reuse in the GSM is unavoidable, co-channel
interference will beeasily caused when the reuse distance between two
cells using the same frequencyis too small compared with the cell
radius. The frequency reuse in many cases, according to the experience,
should be avoided

For A~D BTSs shown in the above figure, suppose that frequency N is
assigned for cell A-3, then frequency N cannot be assigned to A1, A2, B1,
B2, B3, C1, C2, C3, D1,D2, and D3; frequency N1 cannot be
assigned to A1, A2, A3, B1, C2, D1, and D2 (without frequency
hopping).The case of co-channel interference is scarce, there are
only one earlier case
ando n e c a s e i n l a b o r a t o r y f o r r e f e r e n c e b e s i d e s t h e

a b o v e c a s e o f c o - c h a n n e l interference that the antenna is connected

inversely.
Fault phenomenon:
The co-channel interference of Huawei early 2.0 BTS (O2)
incertain area leads to high call drop rate and poor voice quality. Serious
interruptionwith occasional strong noise (whizz in general) occurs.
It is after the BTSs
normalrunning for a certain time that the call drop occurs. Located
in a little town
(Du city)o n t h e b o r d e r o f t h e c i t y , t h e B T S i s s u r r o u n d
e d b y t h e B T S s o f t h e o t h e r manufacturer.
Fault location process
1)
The frequencies assigned for the BTS are 64, and 92 (64 is of BCCH
frequency).
2)
In the optimizing test, the receiving
q u a l i t y ( q u a l i t y l e v e l i s l e s s t h a n 3 ) i s continuously good as the
downlink signal level is -95dBm in the direction awayfrom Huanggang and
Du City. In the direction from Du City to Huanggang, thereceiving quality
is also good when the receiving level is more than -70dBm.
T h e n m o v e f o r wa r d u n t i l t o t h e p l a c e w h e r e TA= 5 , t h e
receiving quality issometimes good, and sometimes more
t h a n 5 i n a b o u t 1 m i n u t e w h e n t h e receiving level is about
-75dBm. And network-drop occurs frequently when Idle-mode test is made
at this place. It is suspected that downlink interference mayexist on BCCH
frequency.
3)
Carry out continuous conversation test with one test MS and scan test for
64#frequency with another MS. The test carried out again in the section
from Du Cityto Huanggang reveals that the signal strength of 64#
frequency is already lessthan -100dBm near the Huanggang, and call drop
already had occured. But thesignal strength of 64# frequency rises
up to -65dBm and disappears after a duration of 100 seconds when
entering the downtown area of Huanggang. So itcan be judged that the cochannel interference may be from the TCH frequencyof cell nearby.
4)

Carry out scan test for this frequency after arriving at the hotel, the signal
levelstill remains high, but the conversation is not implemented on this frequency.
Thenext day, carry out designated scan test at the place with the strongest
signal of this frequency in the street of Huanggang, and test in Idle mode
with another testM S . F r o m t h e s y s t e m m e s s a g e , i t c a n b e
confirmed that 64# frequency
isa s s i g n e d t o t h e T C H i n H G 0 8 c e l l w i t h B C C H
f r e q u e n c y 4 5 , a n d t h e conversation is actually established
once on 64# frequency in multiple times of conversation tests.
5)
The interference disappears after the application is made to the
customer tomodify the frequency. At the same time, the customer should
adjust the adjacentcell relation of peer equipment.
6)
Carry out test again at the place where the original co-channel
interferenceexists after the frequency is modified, the call drop and
network drop disappear,and conversation quality Rx_Qual<3. It indicates
that the problem of co-channelinterference (downlink) is solved.The GSM
is a duplex system, so the interface may occur on both the uplink
anddownlink frequencies. Current Drive Test tools are unable to measure
the co-channelinterference directly, the equipment such as SAFCO, and
ANT with so-called C/I testfunction actually test the C/A. And in
addition, the Drive Test equipment can only measure the downlink
frequency and nothing for the uplink frequency.The co-channel interference in
downlink frequency can be confirmed by using currentDrive Test equipment
to measure it indirectly. First, lock the test MS in the cell of theservice area
to carry out Drive Test of 2~3 hours in continuous conversation mode.
If t h e r e c e i v i n g s i g n a l
in some areas is a relatively high (e.g., -85dBm) while
t h e receiving quality is very low (e.g., RxQual>4), it is quite
possible that co-channelinterference exists in this channel.The
interference of uplink can be judged with the help of interference band
statisticsdata in traffic measurementCase 0008119
Fault phenomenon:
It is found in the training equipment room some day: it is hardfor the MS
to access the network in BTS30 under BSC2. Even it accesses
then e t w o r k n a r r o w l y , i t w i l l d r o p s o o n . T e s t M S
s h o w s t h a t t h e s i g n a l e x i s t s intermittently and the receiving
level is very high (about -50dBm).
Fault location process

1)
The correctness of the data configured by the trainees cannot be ensured
in thetraining equipment room. So load standard data (which is tested to
ensure thatcall can be connected) for BSC2, the fault still exists, so the
data problem can beexcluded.
2)
For the fault phenomenon, it is quite possible that fault occurs in
the carrier board. The fault still exists after replacing the TRX.
3)
Check each process related to the voice for the BT
S: TMU, DIP switch

backplane cable, etc. No problem is found, so the BTS is all right.

4)
Then focus is turned to the BSC. a BTS20 instead of BTS30 and
change thedata into BTS20 (in this way, overall check of BSC can be
performed).And thecall is set up easily , so the BSC is all right.
5)
At this time, it seems that there is no way out, but restore the BTS30,
however,the MS can call again after power-on loading.
6)
It seems that the problem is solved but the cause is still not
located. Carefulconsideration from the beginning to end reveals that all data of
BSC2 and BTS30are not modified, but BTS20 is switched off during BTS30
rollback. Think aboutthe phenomenon of the test MS: the signal exists
intermittently and the receivinglevel is very high (about -50dBm), it
is possible that BTS20 works interference onBTS30?
7)
Since BTS20 is in BSC1, check the data of BSC1. It is found that the
frequencyof BTS20 is set to be the same with that of BTS30. And the BSC2
data (BTS30),configured by the trainee, is loaded in BSC1 after it
is changed into BTS20,leading to the same frequency of BTS20 and
BTS30. The BTS30 is connectedwith the attenuator, and the signal is far
weaker than that of BTS20, so the MScannot access the BTS30, while can

access the BTS20 . In this way, you tend tothink that it is the fault
of BTS30, but the truth is hidden herein.
8)
The problem is solved after the frequency of BTS30 is modified.
2.3.2 Adjacent-channel Interference
For the cells to which the adjacent channel cannot be allocated, please
refer to thesection supra.Case 0003451Fault description: the customer
reports that the call drop often occurs in the office during
optimization of a certain area. The traffic statistic data and Drive Test data
arenormal, The BTS distribution and topology map of frequency planning
are shown asfollows:

In the figure, red stands for BCCH frequencies, while black for
TCH frequencies.
Fault location process
1)
T h o r o u g h t e s t r e v e a l s t h a t t h e l e v e l o f c h a n n e l 1 12 i s u p
t o - 7 3 d B m i n t h e position of call drop. First we think the test is
incorrect, but several tests indicatesthat channel 112 exists from BTS
A to B, and the level of which is even up to-70dBm at some
places. When the MS occupies the channel 111, call drop occurs
due to interference of channel 112.
2)
Test MS indicats that channel 112 is BCCH channel in D3 cell by
distinguishingCGI.
3)
Surveying in BTS D reveals that antenna of D3 cell is installed on a
platform atthe top of the building, while 8m away there is one house in
glass structure whichis 4m lower than the platform. Testing near the
antenna. The transmitting signalof antenna is about -26dBm, while
the strength of test signal near the glass is unexpectedly up to 14dBm. The signal by complete reflection of glass and leadsto overlap
,then cause interference and call drop.
4)
It is recommended that the customer should change the installation position
of the antenna.To meet the emergency: exchange frequency 111
of BTS A withfrequency 114; increase the downtilt angle of
antenna in A3 cell; adjust thedirection angle of frequency 113 in C1
cell to avoid the interference of frequency114 after the exchange.
5)
The test is all right after the modification. Frequency 113 of BTS C will work
nointerference for frequency 114, and the call drop disappears.Case
0004034Fault phenomenon: The call drop ratio is universally high and even
up to about 15%in busy hour after several BTSs are cut over. And it is
difficult for the call to be set upduring on-site test. There is no alarm
message in OMC system
Fault location process
1)
All BTSs are connected to the same BSC, and call drop occurs after
cutover of new BTSs.

2)
The transmission quality is good, and TRX test is carried out for the above
BTSwith call drop and this indicates that each TRX is all right. No fault is
found bychecking the data and carrying out the test for 32BIE port
corresponding to theBTSs. From the above analysis, the TRX fault, BSC
hardware fault, A interfacecircuit fault and transmission fault can
be excluded.
3)
Analysis of traffic measurement result reveals that serious interference
occurs ineach cell of the above several BTS. Most cells have
measurement values ininterference band 4 and 5, and the number of
channels falling into interferenceband 5 in several cells is up to 7. So it is
sure that the interference in the aboveseveral cells is quite serious.
4)
It is found that there are many adjacent channels and the frequency
planning isirrational after checking the frequency configuration
of above BTSs and theadjacent cells. Especially, the area where the
above BTSs are located, is newlyadded, and interference exists among
them. And they also have interference inbetween them and the surrounding
running BTSs.
5)
Call drop disappears after adjusting and loading the frequency
configuration of this area.
2.3.3 Interference Caused by Over-coverage
The objective of one rationally designed network is that each cell only
covers the areaaround the BTS and the MS resides in the nearest cell. The
over-coverage is that theservice range of a certain cell is too wide that the
signal level at an interval of morethan 1 BTS is still strong to let the MS
reselect or hand over to it. It is a phenomenonin which the actual cell
service range deviates from the designed service
range,leading to irrational traffic loading, interference,
call drop, congestion, hand over failure, etc.Case 0005164
Fault phenomenon:
The hand over success rate of a certain GSM network is low,the call drop
rate is high and conversation quality is poor. The hand over successrate is
less than 80%, and the call drop rate is more than 2%. It is found that there
aremany times of downlink/uplink strength hand overs through
view and analysis of traffic measurement data. while there are many
times of bad downlink quality, anduplink strength among the times of
unsuccessful handover. The analysis of cause of call drop indicates that the

times of bad downlink quality are more than those of baduplink quality . There
is no alarm message in OMC system
Fault location process
1)
From the result of traffic measurement, it can be ju
d g e d t h a t d o w n l i n k interference may exist in the system or the
coverage is not very good.
2)
The actual result of Drive Test shows that the strength of outdoor signal can
beup to -80dBm above in the downtown area, that is to say, the
coverage is allright. But serious over-coverage exists. For example, the
service cell used in thebuilding where BTS A is located is cell B with the
same BCCH frequency as cellA1, while cell B is 6 kilometers away from
BTS A in the suburb. In this way,
thep r o b l e m e x i s t s i n t w o a s p e c t s : 1 . T h e s i g n a l o f c
e l l B f o r m s c o - c h a n n e l interference which leads to poor downlink
link quality in coverage area of cell 1 of BTS A. It is found that **** is
displayed in the test MS when this cell is lockedduring the test. 2. When
cell B is selected as the service cell, its adjacent cell isonly geographically
adjacent to it, while the cell near the BTS A does not functionas its
adjacent cell. So when its signal is unavailable, the effect of
isolatedisland will occur because the signal of its adjacent cell is poor,
too. Then handover fault and even call drop will easily occur. The on-site
survey shows that theantenna of cell B is hung 50m above. The data
provided by the customer revealsthat the tilt angle is 5, which is actually
far less than 5

3)
The cause for bad network indices lies in over-coverage, so
the basic way isadopted to lower the antenna and adjust downtilt of it to
make actual coveragearea consistent with planned coverage area.
Temporarily this problem can onlybe solved by adjusting the network
parameter. The following operations can beadopted: lower the power level
of cell B and add the adjacent cell of cell B, at thesame time increase
the level threshold of candidate cell from 10 to 15.
Then e t w o r k i n d i c e s e x h i b i t o b v i o u s i m p r o v e m e n t a f t e r t h e
a b o v e c h e c k a n d modification are performed for all cells in the

downtown area, moreover, thehand over success ratio rises up to

85%, while call drop ratio drops to 1.3%.
2.3.4 Interference Caused by Aggressive Reuse
The capacity and quality are a pair of contradictions. In the downtown area,
there arelarge number of subscribers, so the frequency planning
technology of tight reuseshould be adopted to satisfy the
requirement of capacity. That is, the increase of capacity is traded by
the sacrifice of quality.The adoption of tight reuse in the place where the layout
of some BTSs is irrationalwill easily lead to collision of co-channel or
adjacent channel.Case 0017397
Fault phenomenon:
The interference of frequency hopping is serious and the
conversation is intermittent on a bridge, this network ado
p t s t h e m o d e o f 1 * 3 frequency hopping. There is no alarm.
Fault location process
1)
The signals on the bridge are disorderly due to distribution of
multiple BTSsaround the river. So the interference of frequency hopping
will easily occur whenadopting frequency hopping.
2)
First, adjust the antenna to make one main cell on the bridge, adjust the
antennaand transmission power of other cells to reduce the
strength of their
signalsr e a c h i n g t h e b r i d g e . T h e n c a r r y o u t t h e t e s t . I
t i s f o u n d t h a t t h o u g h t h e interference is reduced, yet the
interference of frequency hopping still cannot beunder control because
all signal receiving levels reaching the bridge are very high due to
the clearance around the bridge. Finally modify the frequency plan,and
adopt the frequency hopping plan of A+B, i.e., adopt 1*3 frequency
hoppingfor some cells, while 1*1 frequency hopping for other cells. The
interference of 1*3 frequency hopping occurs in co-directional cell, while
1*1 frequency hoppingaverages the interference. A combination of them in
some local areas is
better f o r t h e d i s p e r s i o n o f i n t e r f e r e n c e . T h e a c t u a l t e s t r e
s u l t i n d i c a t e s t h a t t h e conversation quality is improved significantly.
2.4 Repeater Interference
Repeater really exhibits a little convenience, so customers often make use
of it. Therepeater is also one of the main interference sources.Case 0017086
Fault phenomenon:

subscribers of a certain network complain that they cannotoccupy

channel in some area for conversation since some day, or noise is heavy
after occupancy of channel though the signal of MS is strong at this time.
There are twodirectional BTSs in this area and both of them are BTS30
with the version 05.0529.The azimuth of the first cell directs at north. The
BTS in this area works normally andthe network indices conform to
requirement before the complaint. Both BSC and MSCa r e
devices of Huawei and two
BTSs are connected in star mode.
The trafficmeasurement indices show that traffic of both
B T S s d e c r e a s e s o b v i o u s l y a f t e r occurrence of this problem,
especially in the first and third cells. Although the signal of
channel is very strong, the quality of voice is poor. Then it can be seen from
trafficmeasurement that the interference band of these four cells is in class
three, four, andfive, and 95% of channels are under interference. In
addition, interference of differentclasses also exists in other cells. So
subscribers complained strongly. And there isno alarm message in OMC system
Fault location process
1)
The feedback of subscribers shows the possible causes as follows: 1.
Problemoccurs in transmission and leads to error code; 2.
Problem occurs in antennafeeder; 3. Fault exists in TMU; 4. Internal or
external interference may exist.
2)
The traffic measurement console shows the possible reasons
as follows: 1.There may exist strong uplink interference signal in the
north lean to west in thisarea. This leads to interference of different levels in
the first, second and thirdcells, especially in the first and third cells;
3)
It is found that it is difficult to put through the call in the first and
third cellsthrough on-site dial test. Although the call is put through, the
quality of voice isvery poor, and the voice is intermittent seriously with
strong interference. If
MSs u b s c r i b e r c a l l s f i x e d t e l e p h o n e s u b s c r i b e r i n t h i s a r e a
, i t i s h a r d f o r f i x e d telephone subscriber to hear the voice clearly,
instead, MS subscriber can hear fixed telephone subscriber clearly. This
also proves the above analysis that theinterference may be external (It can
be judged from this point that interferenceonly exists in uplink.)
4)

Carry out test on site with antenna feeder analyzer. No problem of BTS
itself isfound, and the situation remains the same after TMU is replaced.
Therefore,
wea s k c u s t o m e r s w h e t h e r t h e r e a r e s u c h n e w l y c o n s t r u c t e
d e q u i p m e n t a s microwave station, repeater, etc. surrounding the BTS.
They told that they didntset up them. It is said that China Mobile sets up a
repeater in the area, which islocated about two kilometers away in the north
lean to the west of both BTSs of Huawei, and when it is activated, the
problem will occur in Huawei BTS.
Thencustomers negotiated with
China Mobile several times. Finally China Mobilecarried out on-site
test with Huawei engineers together, and found that only if therepeater is
switched off, the interference band and call become normal
alongwith the recovery of Huawei BTS, if the repeater is activated,
problem will occur soon in Huawei BTS, i.e. call cannot be put
through, or interference is strong even after call is put through. The
traffic measurement relevant with interferenceband in two different cases
was handed on to China Mobile, and they
approvedo u r v i e w p o i n t . F i n a l l y t h e p r o b l e m i s s o l v e d w i t h t
h e c o o r d i n a t i o n o f C h i n a Mobile.
2.5 Off-network Interference
External interference sources are TV station, high-power
broadcasting station,microwave, radar, high-voltage
power line, analogue BTS, CDMA, GSM BTS of another operater, etc.
2.5.1 Microwave Interference
Case 0001084Fault phenomenon: it is found that call drop rate in
the second and third cell of acertain BTS (S2/2/2) in traffic
measurement increases abruptly. Call drop rate is up toabout 20% at some
time.
Fault location process
1)
View of BSC traffic measurement shows that idle TCH number in
interferenceband in this BTS begins to increase in interference
band 3-5 at about 8:30, ininterference band 4, 5 at 10:00, and
in interference band 1 at about 22:00. It can be judged from the above
phenomenon that interference exists.
2)

Since this BTS operates well before, the problem of frequency planning can
beexcluded.
3)
Perform power-off restart and replace board for BTS. But interference still
exists,so the possibility of TRX self-excitation can be excluded.
4)
TRX management information reveals that interference exists in four
boards of the second and third cell in this BTS, and the possibility of
damage of the four boards at the same time is little, so the problem of TRX
can be excluded. TRXboard is replaced for caution, but interference
remains
5)
View of all BSC traffic measurement data shows that interference
of differentlevels exists in the cells of all BTSs nearby, which is facing the
same direction asthe second and third cells in this BTS. And sometimes
SDCCH channels in
thec e l l s w i t h s e r i o u s i n t e r f e r e n c e a r e a l l o c c u p i e d a t t h e s
a m e t i m e , w h i l e t h e occupancy ratio of SDCCH at the same time is
very little according to the amountof subscriber. So it can be sure that
external interference exists in uplink, but theinterference may be relevant
with direction instead of frequency.
6)
To further locate, jumpers of the first and third cell are interchanged on the
rackt o p . A s a r e s u l t , i t i s f o u n d t h a t i n t e r f e r e n c e o c
c u r s i n t h e f i r s t c e l l , b u t interference disappears in the third
cell, so this has proved the above judgement.
7)
Since interference is not relevant with frequency,
BTS interference may becaused by high-power signal sent into BTS
system.
8)
Measurement on BTS divider output port with spectrum analyzer
shows thath i g h power signal exists on 904MHz frequency (5M away from
t h e u s e d frequency), and this signal level come up to about 25dbm in
BTS with seriousinterference, while in other BTS it is about 50dbm. So it
can be judged that thissignal has impact on BTS.
9)
After frequency scanning around BTS with spectrum analyzer, it is found
that amicrowave antenna outputting high-power signal is at a frequency of 904.

10)
When the microwave equipment is switched off and
T R X m a n a g e m e n t information is traced, the interference
disappeared.
2.5.2 High-power Broadcasting Station Interference
Case 0000279
Fault phenomenon:
the quality of MS call is very poor in the morning of the third day
(Monday) after a BTS cutover, and it is hard to make calls 2 km away from
theBTS. The voice is under a serious interference, and the
complaint of subscriber increases obviously. Interference band is found large in
traffic measurement of OMC.
Fault location process
1)
When Drive Test is carried out around the BTS, it is found that MSs RX
signallevel (downlink level) has little change (about 60dBm), but the signal
quality RQhas too much change, it will jump from 0 to 7 and call drop
occurs.
2)
The fault remains the same after the TRX corresponding to the
frequency isreplaced. It is suspected that fault is caused by external
interference.

Measurement for external electromagnetic environment with HP8595E

spectrumanalyzer shows that strong interference exists around
the frequency of BTS.Through communicating with customer and the
Radio Resource ManagementCommittee, we get known that the
interference is caused by signals transmittedby one message transmitter of
some company, whose RF band is just adjacentto the planned GSM
frequency. This transmitter usually transmits every Monday,and no such
phenomenon is found in two days after BTS is activated

2.6 Other Phenomena Causing Interference

Sometimes
although
no
intra-network
and
ex-network
interference
exists,
fault
of s o m e d e v i c e s c a n a l s o m a k e c o n v e r s a t i o n q u a l i t y b a d .

S o m e c a s e s b e l o w a r e analyzed detailedly. They have high reference

value.Case 0015274
Fault phenomenon:
BSC has six modules. The whole BSC is cascaded with 150BTSs
(BTS312, 750TRX in total). One month after the capacity expansion of
BSCand MSC, customers report that there is serious voice quality problem
in the wholenetwork. There exists serious chink during conversation under
many BTSs. We cometo county A with serious complaint to make a dial
test. Fault phenomenon is found asfollows: there exists strong background
noise. It mainly contains sound of metal, suchas ting, dang and so on.
One party or both parties can not hear each other clearlywhen the noise is
serious (One party is in the range of coverage of this BTS and theother
under a normal BTS. When fault occurs the subscriber under this BTS can
noth e a r c l e a r l y, w h i l e t h e o t h e r c a n ) . W h e n t h e v o i c e
c h a n n e l o f t h e f a i l e d B T S i s occupied, all the voice channel of each
cell may have sound of metal. But it occurs just at some time. The
occurrence ratio is 10%. The signal of the MS is very good andthere is no
interference on the radio interface. The fault phenomenon occurs whent h e
r i n g b a c k t o n e i s s e n t b a c k . T h a t i s t o s a y, s o l o n g a s t h e
v o i c e c h a n n e l i s established, the fault will occur. Disturbance of
different degrees will exist duringnormal conversation. When the
fault is serious, one party (or both parties) can not hear clearly
during conversation. The fault has a certain continuity in terms of
time.Sometimes the probability of occurrence of metal chink is very high
and sometimesfault phenomenon cannot be captured. There is no alarm message
in OMC systemCause analysis: this case is about noise in voice
problem. It is usually caused byerror code. The possible cause
for error code is the fault of boards, connectors or wiring through
which the voice signal is sent. Besides, grounding, interference, clockalso
should be considered. Interference existing on radio link may also cause
error.The clock that is unsynchronized will cause frame slip or frame loss.
Different error codes have their certain regularity: as for error code
on wiring, if it is A interface or upper, noise and voice have
superimposed effect because
PCM sample value isinfluenced.
Therefore, the noise is regular and there is little fluctuation. If it is below
Ainterface, error
codes are also regular. However, because the compressed voice
signal is influenced, it needs decoding before hearing. Therefore , there is
great noisefluctuation. Some words are normal, while some words can not

be recognized, suchas bubbling sound, discontinuity, sound of metal and so on. As

for frame slip or frameloss of clock, it has a time regularity. For example, one
frame lost in several minutes.Therefore, noise occurs in time during
conversation. Combine the description of faultphenomenon, make specific
locating processing, refer to part of processing course.
Fault location process
1)
Check the BTS of county A: test transmission error code and find
transmission isw i t h o u t
error
code;
check TRX,
FPU,
combiner.
There
is
no
fault.
All
voicec h a n n e l o f e a c h c e l l m a y b r i n g a b o u t m e t a l c h i
n k . S o t h e p o s s i b i l i t y o f occurrence of TRX board fault
can be excluded. MCK board is normal. BTS clock state shows slow
pull-in or tracing. The clock is normal. So the possibilityo f b i t s l i p o r
fr ame loss caused b y clock fault can be excluded. Trace
A b i s interface information, judge the receiving quality of radio interface is
good
withouti n t e r f e r e n c e a c c o r d i n g t o t h e m e a s u r e m e n t r e p
o r t . T h e r e s u l t o f t r a f f i c measurement also shows that there is
no interference. Use Site master to testantenna feeder system. The
Standing Wave Radio is normal. BTS earth is good.From the above
analysis, it is sure that the problem has nothing to do with thisBTS.
2)
Make detailed dial test in B city (22 BTS totalled downtown) and C city (10
BTS in total in downtown) and find that some BTSs have the same fault
phenomenon.Analyze the commonness of each failed BTS and find
that these BTS are allunder BM4. Make sure whether all BTS under BM4 have
this case. Choose other BTSs under BM4 to make dial test and find
every BTS has this problem. AllBTSs under other five BM
modules have no this case through dial test.
Thep r o b l e m o f m e t a l c h i n k i s r e l a t e d t o B M 4 t h r o u g h a b o v
e l o c a t i o n , a n d t h e problem exists in one certain process of BM4
voice signal transmission path.
3)
Transmission path of voice signal: MS radio link (including antenna
feeder s y s t e m ) B T S ( E 1 l i n e ) B T S _ D D F
t r u n k t r a n s m i s s i o n BSC_DDF(E1 line)32BIE(HW
line)GNETGOPT(optic fiber)GFBIGCTNE3M
(E1 line or transmission device)MSMFTCMSC.
4)

Adopt locating method of analizing section by section. At first analyze and

seewhether there is something wrong with swithing
network board (GNET andGCTN) and fiber interface circuit: check the
connection and connector
betweenA M a n d B M 4 . T h e y a r e n o r m a l . U s e a b s o l u t e
a l c o h o l t o c l e a n t h e f i b e r connector, but the fault remains the
same. Exchange the third and fourth FBIs(including FBC)
corresponding to BM3 and BM4 with the first and second
FBIboard corresponding to BM1 and BM2, but the fault remains the same.
ChangeBM4 GOPT, but the fault remains the same. The possibility
of existence of circuiterror code in the part OPT(fiber) FBI can be
excluded. Swap BM4 GNETboard, the problem still exists; swap GCTN
board, the problem is still; exchangeGNET board with BM3, the problem is
still; exchange E3M board with BM3, theproblem is still.
5)
The same fault exists in all BTS under the whole BM4. Error
code should
note x i s t o n H W L i n e s b e t w e e n 3 2 B I E a n d N E T b o a r d
. T h a t i s b e c a u s e i t i s impossible that all HW Lines between 32BIE and
GNET board are not good.
6)
Check the connection line of BM4 from E3M to MSM carefully, and find that
theconnector of E3M is normal; check one connector of MSM and
find that thequality of the connector of trunk lines behind one MSM
(board No. is 3) is bad.Deformation and invagination occur on the
inner pin of one connector. Theresult is that the connector cannot
connect the connector of MSM board onbackplane well. The
cause lies in here. When the subscriber occupied TCSM under BM4
sound of metal may occur. The number of MSM of the failed TCSM is3, and the
number of FTC is 84, 85, 86, 87. A interface circuit CIC is 2336~2463.
7)
Redo the trunk connector, the fault is eliminated. During the conversation
under all BM4 there is no sound of metal.When MSC assigns circuit, the circuits
in the module that the signaling link belongs towill be selected with
higher priority. If the signaling of the MS call is
transmittedt h r o u g h m o d u l e 4 o f M S C , M S C w i l l a s s i g n
t h e c i r c u i t o f m o d u l e 4 f i r s t ( t h e corresponding CIC is from
2240 to 2815). The failed circuit (CIC is from 2336 to 2463)corresponds
to module 4 of MSC. So if the signaling of call is transmitted
throughmodule 4 of MSC, the rate for being assigned to the failed circuit is

very high. As for BSC, BTS of module 4 selects A interface link first
to transmit signaling. There are three links on module 4 of BSC, Two of
which correspond to module 4 of MSC. So if the MS is used under module
4 BTS, there is a possibility of 2/3 to be assigned to thecircuit of MSC
module 4. 128 of MSC module 4 circuits has fault (corresponding toBSC 4
module) (the proportion of failed circuit of MSC module 4 is
128/576) and itmay bring about problems of voice quality. The highest
rate of occurrence of fault (allhave fault when 128 circuits is busy) is about
2/3 * 128/576 = 15 %. In fact the fault of dial test under BTS is 10 % or so.
2.7 False Interference
Sometimes we made great efforts to check, but only find that it is false
alarm in the end. In fact the interference is false. Indeed it is better to have
no interference thanhave it.
Fault phenomenon:
the reconstruction of some office found that the interference band
of an S6/6/6 BTS20 in a county is very high. Theinterference band of two
cellsin it changed from 5 to 7.
Fault location process
1)
During the past interference test ofthis office, some cells with high
interferenceband were located. This is because antenna
intermodulation resulted in theinterference of normal signal in case of
large traffic and it made the interferenceband very high. So change the
antenna, but the interference band did not fall down obviously after
that.
2)
During the prior period, the frequency planning has been checked several
times,and the ad-frequency interference has been avoided basically. At the
same timethe frequency that may cause third order
intermodulation in the cell has been adjusted. The problem of
frequency planning has been basically excluded. It isunknown whether
there is something wrong with Tower Top Amplifier, feeder or connector. But
no problem was found after checking the antenna feeder systemof the BTS
several times.
3)
Trace the state of interference band of each channel via Maintenance
Consoleand find that high interference band mainly focuses on the four TRXs of the cell.
4)
First set the frequency with less interference to the TRX with more
interference,and find that the interference band does not change. It shows

there is no relationto the frequency. Whether there is something

wrong with TRX board or not
isu n k n o w n . H o w e v e r , t h e s i t u a t i o n i s u n c h a n g e
d a f t e r t h e T R X s w e r e interchanged.
5)
Then confirm the TRX numbers, and find that the four carriers
come from thesame divider. From the above process, the problem may
be the divider. But it isfound that the interference band becomes high when
the BTS is expanded fromS4/4/4 to S6/6/6. While the
combiner/divider used to be normal. Maybe
thed e v i c e s b r e a k d o w n a f t e r s o m e t i m e . S o w e
d e c i d e d t o c h a n g e t h e combiber/divider to have a try.
6)
The idea that four carriers with high interference band are connected to the samesecond
level divider before the divider is changed. The 7-dB gain of the divider has
been considered during interference judgement. However, if the DIP
switchis not moved to the right place while cascaded, the
interference signal will beamplified by 7dB. Simultaneously, higher interference
band will exist because thecalculating error of 2.0 station itself is up to
5dB. Check the DIP switch of thedivider. It was really not moved
to Off. After it is corrected, view the traffic measurement of
interference band 4 and 5. They fall down to 0. And there is alittle value on
the interference band three

Chapter 3 Anti-interference Measures

Anti-interference Measures of GSM are: Frequency Hopping, dynamic
power control,DTX. While the aggressive reuse is adopted, frequency
hopping and dynamic power control should be adopted as well.To adjust the
obliquity, azimuth, height
of antenna is also a main optimization way toreduce network interference.
The aim for adjusting is to make the real service
area of e a c h c e l l a p p r o a c h t o t h e d e s i g n e d s e r v i c e a r e a t o
r e d u c e o v e r - c o v e r a g e . t h e methods of adjusting antenna please refer to
relative guidance book.These antiinterference measures mainly aim at intra-network interference.
Whenthere is strong external interference, these anti-interference
measures can hardly takeeffect.By the way, remind everybody that

BSC of Huawei has the function of frequency hopping, power control

and DTX by default. However, for some equipment of someother vendors,
every function should be purchased by the operators themselves, andthe
price is very high. The currently serving network equipments of many
operatorsh a v e n o t h e s e f u n c t i o n s . D u r i n g o p t i m i z a t i o n a s T
h i r d P a r t y o r c o - o p e r a t i o n t o equipment of other vendors, please pay
attention to this matter
Chapter 4 Interference Test Tools
4.1 Brief introduction to Spectrum Analyzer
1)
At present, the main tool Huawei has for testing interference signal is
SpectrumAnalyzer. It is a broadband signal receiver with high
performance which candisplay the spectrum of the receiving signals.
The receiving sensitivity of signalbandwidth of xHz equals to 1Hz
sensitivity+10logx, e.g., the receiving sensitivityof GSM signal of 200kHz is:
-142dBm+10log(200*1000)=-89dBm;
2)
The receiving signal resolution bandwidth (RBW): namely the minimum
signalbandwidth the Spectrum Analyzer can recognize. The smaller the
parameter is,the higher the receiving sensitivity of instrument. That is to
say, the noise of theinstrument itself is less; The Spectrum Analyzer of
different types has differentreceiving frequency band and receiving
sensitivity. It is very important to makeuse of it correctly. A brief
introduction to several key indexes of the Spectrum Analyzer is
made as follows:
3)
Input frequency: the frequency range the Spectrum Analyzer can receive.
Thisindex determines the frequency range of interference signal that the
Analyser can test;
4)
Sensitivity: generally the minimum receiving level with 1Hz signal
bandwidth
isd e f i n e d a s r e c e i v i n g s e n s i t i v i t y o f t h e S p e c t r u m A n a l y z e
r . T h e r e c e i v i n g sensitivity of HP85 series Spectrum Analyzer can
be below -142 dBm.
5)

Video Filter Bandwidth (VBW): it refers to the bandwidth of the intermediate

filter after Frequency mixing of the Spectrum Analyzer. The smaller the
bandwidth is,the smoother the curve is;
6)
Central frequency (F0): it refers to the central frequency of the spectrum
that theSpectrum Analyzer can test;
7)
Bandwidth (SPAN): it refers to the spectrum span the Spectrum
Analyzer cantest;
8)
Input signal attenuation (ATT): when there is large signal input, it is
required tomake attenuation on signal properly. The Spectrum Analyzer
itself
may
producelarge number of intermodulation components without attenuation. So it willinfluence the
veracity of the testing result.The main technical indices of interference test
spectrum analyzer :

4.2 Directional Antenna

Directional antenna is used for searching interference sources.
The stronger thedirectionality of antenna is, the higher the antenna gain
is. And the ability to searchwill become better. So the logarithm-period
antenna with broad frequency band is thebest choice. This kind of antenna
has broad frequency band, high antenna gain andstrong directionality.

Chapter 5 Way to Test Interference

5.1 The way to Test Internal Interference
1.
Set
the Spectrum
Analyzer
to
proper
state:For 900M BTS: f0=902MHz,SPAN=30MHz,ATT=0,RBW=30kHz,VBW=30kHz;
For 1800M BTS: f0=1715MHz,SPAN=10MHz,ATT=0,RBW=30kHz,VBW=30kHz.2.
Screw out the connector of output port of CDU divider, then
connect the outputsignal of the divider to the Spectrum Analyzer
to carry out a test. If the fractionalfrequency spectrum level is
less than 80dBm, it shows that there is no internal interference; if
more than 80dBm, it shows that CDU or TRX inside Base Station
areunder interference or self-excitation.3. If internal interference exists,
further make sure that it belongs to CDU or TRX. Atfirst confirm TRX
carrier board, cut down the cable via which TRX is connected
todivider, and use the Spectrum Analyzer to test the main or diversity
connector of TRX.If the fractional frequency spectrum level is less than
80dBm, it shows that TRX isnormal, otherwise it is required to change
carrier board.The three steps above aim at interference measure for the
uplink frequency band. If there is suspect that interference exists in the
downlink frequency band, please followsteps below.4. Check interference
of transmission band. First, set
the Spectrum
Analyzer
intransmission frequency band of the BTS. Due to the large
ouput power of BTS, attenuation should be made on the input signal.
Generally
ATT
is
set
as
40dB,
thent h e
tx_test signal of CDU should be imported
to the
S p e c t r u m A n a l y z e r t o b e observed to make sure weather interference signal
is generated.
5.2 The way to Test External Interference
When we are sure that interference is caused by the external cause, first
we shouldconfirm the location of interference source and the
spectrum distribution state. Aconvenient way is to make use of
the existing antenna feeder of Base Station and low-noise amplifier
of Radio Frequency Front End to have a test.
1)
First, set the Spectrum Analyzer to proper state, please refer to
the chapter supra.
2)
Choose output port of divider of cell under interference. In order not to
influencethe normal operation of BTS, the free output port (with dummy
load) is generallychosen, either the main or the diversity can be selected.
3)

Screw out the selected connector, then use Coaxial Cable to import the
outputsignal of divider to the Spectrum Analyzer;
4)
View the spectrum distribution state of the Spectrum Analyzer, and find out
theabnormal interference signal. The way to calculate the level of
interference signalis as follows:Antenna port interference level =
interference level tested by the Spectrum Analyzer 15dB Tower Top Amplifier
Gain + 3dB cable loss 7dB divider gain.For example: Antenna port interference
level = - 65dBm-15+3-7=-84dBmNote: Cable loss may vary with cable
length.The standard for judging weather interference level has
impact on the system isdescribed as follows

(1) The maximum interference level at antenna port without influence on

system= -108dBm sensitivity 9dB co-channel interference protection=
-117dBm.

(2) The maximum interference level at divider output port without influence
onsystem = -117dBm+15-3+7 = -98dBm
5.3 The way to Search External Interference Sources
The location of interference source can be examined via BTS divider output
port. If itis required to find the more detailed location of
interference source, walk out of equipment room, and use
the directional antenna with strong directionality mentionedabove to make a
search, The steps for searching are as follows:
1)
In the cell under interference, select a test point without building
obstruction.
2)
Set the Spectrum Analyzer, and connect the directional antenna.
3)
If there is rotatable platform, the antenna can be placed on it,
and
make
thew a v e b e a m o f t h e
antenna
point to the
f r o n t , a n d t h e a n t e n n a w i t h v e r t i c a l polarization should be placed
vertically; if there is no interferent signal, one canraise the antenna over
head with hands. Rotate the antenna slowly, and at thesame time view

the change of signal of the Spectrum Analyzer. Once there exists

abnormal signal, fix the orientation of the antenna immediately and changeuptilt of the
antenna to make the receiving signal to the strongest.
4)
A n a l y z e t h e s i g n a l s p e c t r u m d i s t r i b u t i o n c a r e f u l l y, a n d c o
nfirm that it isinterference signal, record the signal stren
g t h a n d r e c o r d t h e a z i m u t h a n d downtilt of antenna wave beam.
5)
Find new test point along with the direction of antenna wave beam, then return tostep 2
to carry out a test till interference source is found