2G basic checks after swap

2G basic checks after swap

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2G basic checks after swap

Purpose of the document.......................................................................................................... 2

1.1

Alarm check ............................................................................................................... 3

1.2

VSWR check ............................................................................................................... 4

1.3

TRX usability check .................................................................................................... 4

1.4

UL and DL balance level check................................................................................... 5

1.5

Main Diversity balance check ................................................................................. 8

1.6

Noise floor monitoring ............................................................................................ 10

1.6.1

Real time noise floor monitoring..................................................................... 10

1.6.2

Noise floor observation using performance counters..................................... 11

1.7

Transmission quality check...................................................................................... 12

1.8

Crossed feeders check ............................................................................................. 13

Purpose of the document

This document shall help RNO team to deal with 2G swapped sites verification &
troubleshooting.
It describes basic checks which shall be performed after swap to find out swap
and/or hardware related issues; hence future network performance degradation
can be avoided.

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2G basic checks after swap

1.1 Alarm check

The alarm check is the first step which shall be performed after swap to find out
issues that can affect site performance.
If a severe alarm, that can affect sites performance, is discovered the OMC
team shall be notified.
In U2000 choose Browse Alarm List for the particular site or group of sites
(Picture 1 , Picture 2)

Picture 1

Picture 2
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1.2 VSWR check

With the VSWR query we can determine whether the antenna & cabling system
is installed properly. This prevents system (including BTS and antenna) failures
and ensures subsequent network optimization. The tested BTS can be identified
by BTSID or BTSNAME. The reading of VSWR value should be below 2.
Check VSWR with MML commands in U2000:
DSP BTSBRD:INFOTYPE=RUNPARA,IDTYPE=BYID,BTSID=50;
(test for BTSID=50)
If BTSNAME is used:
DSP BTSBRD:INFOTYPE=RUNPARA,IDTYPE=BYNAME,BTSNAME="BAHLH03";
(test for BTSNAME=BAHLH03)

1.3 TRX usability check

In case of hardware failure or transmission problem some of the TRX defined in
the cell may not be used by the BTS. This cause two main problems: lack of
capacity and high assignment failures due to the fact that the call setup starts on
the SDCCH allocated on the first TRX but then TCH may be allocated by the
system on a TRX which is out of use.

It is recommended to check counter RK3255:

ID

Counter

Description

1278087446

CELL.TRX.CFG.AVAIL.RATE

RK3255:TRX Usability

Description
This counter provides the rate of available TRX in a cell to TRX configured in the
cell.
Measurement point
See measurement points of the counters in the formula.
Formula
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TRX Usability = [Number of available TRXs in a cell] x {100}/[Number of

configured TRXs in a cell]
Unit
per cent [%]
If this counter is less than 100 % - alarms and further hardware check is
necessary.

1.4 UL and DL balance level check

The balance between UL and DL is an important indication of the TRX
performance. The Measurement Reports received by the BSC contain the uplink
receive levels and the downlink receive levels.
The balance between UL and DL can be checked only for non-BCCH TRXs (BCCH
has no power control)
The uplink/downlink balance counter is calculated through the following
formula:

Uplink/downlink balance = uplink path loss - downlink path loss

= (actual TX power of the UE - uplink receive level) - (TRX power on top of the cabinet downlink receive level)
TRX power on top of the cabinet = TRX initial power - TRX power level x 2 + fine tune of
power - combination loss - downlink dynamic power control level x 2 + dynamic PBT gain
Where:
TRX initial power: the power corresponding to the TRX power type, expressed in dBm;
Fine tune of power: power fine tune of the TRX;
Power loss in combination: combination loss of the cell x (0.1);
Dynamic PBT gain: if the dynamic PBT function is enabled in the call, the dynamic PBT gain is
3 dB; otherwise, the dynamic PBT gain is 0 dB.

The results in dB are graded from levels 1 to 11, and the number of MRs of each level
is calculated:

Level 1: <= -15 dB

Level 2: -14 dB, -13 dB, -12 dB, -11 dB

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Level 3: -10 dB, -9 dB, -8 dB

Level 4: -7 dB, -6 dB, -5 dB
Level 5: -4 dB, -3 dB, -2 dB
Level 6: -1 dB, 0 dB, 1 dB
Level 7: 2 dB, 3 dB, 4 dB
Level 8: 5 dB, 6 dB, 7 dB
Level 9: 8 dB, 9 dB, 10 dB
Level 10: 11 dB, 12 dB, 13 dB, 14 dB
Level 11: >= 15 dB

Related counters:
ID

Counter

Description

1278276417

TRX.BALANCE.LEV.1

S462A:Number of MRs (Uplink-and-Downlink

Balance Level = 1)

1278276418

TRX.BALANCE.LEV.2

S462B:Number of MRs (Uplink-and-Downlink

Balance Level = 2)

1278276419

TRX.BALANCE.LEV.3

S462C:Number of MRs (Uplink-and-Downlink

Balance Level = 3)

1278276420

TRX.BALANCE.LEV.4

S462D:Number of MRs (Uplink-and-Downlink

Balance Level = 4)

1278276421

TRX.BALANCE.LEV.5

S462E:Number of MRs (Uplink-and-Downlink

Balance Level = 5)

1278276422

TRX.BALANCE.LEV.6

S462F:Number of MRs (Uplink-and-Downlink

Balance Level = 6)

1278276423

TRX.BALANCE.LEV.7

S462G:Number of MRs (Uplink-and-Downlink

Balance Level = 7)

1278276424

TRX.BALANCE.LEV.8

S462H:Number of MRs (Uplink-and-Downlink

Balance Level = 8)

1278276425

TRX.BALANCE.LEV.9

S462I:Number of MRs (Uplink-and-Downlink

Balance Level = 9)

1278276426

TRX.BALANCE.LEV.10

S462J:Number of MRs (Uplink-and-Downlink

Balance Level = 10)

1278276427

TRX.BALANCE.LEV.11

S462K:Number of MRs (Uplink-and-Downlink

Balance Level = 11)

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If there is a lot of MRs in Level from 1 to 3 or from 9 to 11 this indicates high

unbalance in the cell see Picture 5.
Mentioned counters can be collected using U2000:

Picture 3

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Correct balance can be seen on the Picture 6 (most of the MRS in the Level 5,6 and 7)

Picture 4

1.5 Main Diversity balance check

Uplink GSM signal is received by two branches: main and diversity. The BTS
measures those two signals and if there is big difference between them this
indicates problem with feeders, antennas, etc. in one of the branches.
The information about Main/Diversity balance can be obtained from U2000 by
choosing counter S4556 and S4557:
Related counters:
ID

Counter

Description

1278281472

TRX.EXT.MAIN.RX.AVR.LEV

S4556:Average Main Level in the

Customized MR

1278281473

TRX.EXT.SUB.RX.AVR.LEV

S4557:Average Diversity Level in the

Customized MR

On the Picture 7 and Picture 8 high unbalance between main and diversity
branch can be observed.
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Picture 5

Picture 6

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1.6 Noise floor monitoring

There are two main ways to monitor noise floor. Real time monitoring and
through the counters.

1.6.1 Real time noise floor monitoring

Using U2000 functionality it is possible to monitor Noise Floor online for all TRX
within a cell.
Every timeslot (Channel) is measured. This way is also possible to find faulty
TRX - Picture 9

Picture 7
For example, if the Timeslots are in red color, they suffer very high interference.
There are 3 main reasons for such situation:
External interference
Faulty equipment
Very high passive intermodulation (mostly coming from the feeder/jumper
system)

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1.6.2 Noise floor observation using performance counters

The interference band is the uplink interference level of a channel reported by the
BTS to the BSC when the channel is idle. There are five levels of interference bands.
The threshold of each interference band is set as follows:
Interference band #

Rx Level

-110 dBm to -106 dBm

-105 dBm to -99 dBm

-98 dBm to -93 dBm

-92 dBm to -88 dBm

-87 dBm to -47 dBm.

The higher rank suggests higher interference levels. An idle channel at interference
band 4 or 5 suggests the existence of interference (from external sources or from
other users).
This measurement provides the average number of idle channels (TCHF, TCHH, or
SDCCH) whose interference level is in each interference band (1-5) per granularity
period.
Counter

Description

TRX.CH.IN.INTFR1.AVR.NUM.SD

AS4200A:Mean Number of SDCCHs in Interference

Band 1

TRX.CH.IN.INTFR2.AVR.NUM.SD

AS4200B:Mean Number of SDCCHs in Interference

Band 2

TRX.CH.IN.INTFR3.AVR.NUM.SD

AS4200C:Mean Number of SDCCHs in Interference

Band 3

TRX.CH.IN.INTFR4.AVR.NUM.SD

AS4200D:Mean Number of SDCCHs in Interference

Band 4

TRX.CH.IN.INTFR5.AVR.NUM.SD

AS4200E:Mean Number of SDCCHs in Interference

Band 5

TRX.CH.IN.INTFR1.AVR.NUM.FR

AS4207A:Mean Number of TCHFs in Interference

Band 1

TRX.CH.IN.INTFR2.AVR.NUM.FR

AS4207B:Mean Number of TCHFs in Interference

Band 2

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Counter
TRX.CH.IN.INTFR3.AVR.NUM.FR

Description
AS4207C:Mean Number of TCHFs in Interference
Band 3

TRX.CH.IN.INTFR4.AVR.NUM.FR

AS4207D:Mean Number of TCHFs in Interference

Band 4

TRX.CH.IN.INTFR5.AVR.NUM.FR

AS4207E:Mean Number of TCHFs in Interference

Band 5

TRX.CH.IN.INTFR1.AVR.NUM.HR

AS4208A:Mean Number of TCHHs in Interference

Band 1

TRX.CH.IN.INTFR2.AVR.NUM.HR

AS4208B:Mean Number of TCHHs in Interference

Band 2

TRX.CH.IN.INTFR3.AVR.NUM.HR

AS4208C:Mean Number of TCHHs in Interference

Band 3

TRX.CH.IN.INTFR4.AVR.NUM.HR

AS4208D:Mean Number of TCHHs in Interference

Band 4

TRX.CH.IN.INTFR5.AVR.NUM.HR

AS4208E:Mean Number of TCHHs in Interference

Band 5

The counters can be collected using U2000.

1.7 Transmission quality check

The transmission quality can be checked using LMT functionality. In Picture 10
problem with Secondary link is shown in this case OMC team should be
informed.

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Picture 10

1.8 Crossed feeders check

Crossed feeders can be found mainly while performing drive tests, analyzing
poor HOSR, DCR, etc.
It is recommended to perform a practical quick check after swap to get an
indication if there are cells that could have crossed feeders.
At the hourly cell level handover statistics from U2000 or Optima note the first
one or two neighboring cells with the highest number handover attempts. Then
check at the location map to see if those cells are pointing towards the direction
of the swapped cell. If they are pointing towards another cell of the same site
that could indicate a crossed feeder issue which has to be analyzed further.

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