Gprs and GSM Svs User Guide

Service Verification Solution
for GPRS and GSM

User Guide
December 2002
Confidential and Proprietary
Actix SVS-GP1-V1.00-UG-E01-2002-12-10
Copyright  1998-2002 Actix Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
No part of this publication may be copied, photocopied, reproduced,

transmitted, transcribed, or reduced to any electronic medium or machine-
readable form without the prior written consent of Actix Ltd.
All brand names and product names included in this book are trademarks,
registered trademarks, or trade names of their respective holders.
Contents
1 ABOUT SVS FOR GPRS AND GSM .........................................................3
INTRODUCTION TO SVS GPRS AND GSM......................................................3
2 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS .......................................................................4
RECOMMENDED SYSTEM CONFIGURATION .......................................................4

MINIMUM SYSTEM CONFIGURATION .................................................................5
3 CONFIGURING SVS FOR GPRS AND GSM ............................................6
CONFIGURING NETWORK INFORMATION ...........................................................6

Network data format suitable for SVS ............................................................. 6
Network data format suitable for the Network Explorer................................... 8
Importing network information using Network Explorer................................. 10
Setting a network information file .................................................................. 12
Setting the binning......................................................................................... 13
CONFIGURING MAPS ....................................................................................14
Adding map backgrounds and layers ............................................................ 14
Configuring cells on the map......................................................................... 16
COMBINING FILES IN SVS ............................................................................17
4 USING SVS GPRS...................................................................................20
USING SVS GPRS ANALYSES .....................................................................20

ABOUT SVS GPRS APPLICATIONS ..............................................................23
DT GPRS MM/SM Procedures and IP Data Summary ................................. 23
DT GPRS Radio Link Performance Analysis ................................................ 23
DT GPRS MM/SM PROCEDURES AND IP DATA SUMMARY REPORTS.............25
MM Attach Detach report .............................................................................. 25
Other MM Procedures report......................................................................... 28
PDP Context report ....................................................................................... 29
AA PDP Context report ................................................................................. 31
Other SM Info report...................................................................................... 32
TCP data summary report ............................................................................. 35
DT GPRS RADIO LINK PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS REPORTS ...........................36
Coding Schemes and Throughput per TS report .......................................... 36
Actix SVS for GPRS and GSM User Guide Contents 1

Timeslot allocation statistics report ............................................................... 37
Level and Quality report ................................................................................ 38
RLC and LLC Throughput Stats report.......................................................... 40
RLC Throughput and Coding Scheme report................................................ 42
RLC Throughput and Level report................................................................. 43
RLC Throughput and Quality report .............................................................. 44
RLC and LLC Throughput per TBF report..................................................... 45
BLER and Retransmissions report ................................................................ 47
USING SVS GSM ANALYSES .......................................................................49
DT Design Validation and Quick Analysis ..................................................... 49
DT Handover settings and Power Control..................................................... 54
COMBINED ANALYSIS OF USER APPLICATIONS, IP PROTOCOLS AND RADIO LINK .62
COMBINED ANALYSIS OF RADIO NETWORK AND IP/APPLICATION LAYERS ...........65
Example 1 ..................................................................................................... 66
Example 2 ..................................................................................................... 71
DATA SOURCES FOR SVS GPRS AND GSM.................................................77
5 INDEX ......................................................................................................78
2 About SVS for GPRS and GSM User Guide Actix SVS for GPRS and GSM
1 About SVS for GPRS and GSM
Introduction to SVS GPRS and GSM

Actix GPRS and GSM Service Verification Solution (SVS) provides
a novel approach to troubleshooting and verifying service quality
levels of GSM networks and GPRS packet data, before and after the
launch of new data services. It is also a powerful aid for radio
network optimization of GPRS services. SVS includes GSM drive-
test analysis tools and the Radio Link Analysis Solution.
GPRS and GSM SVS is part of the "A Platform" family of solutions:
data-analysis solutions for streamlining the introduction of new
wireless technologies and optimizing the performance of both
existing and new technologies. All Actix Solutions embody our
extensive experience as the market leader in optimization solutions
for CDMA and GSM. All of the lessons learned and the techniques
developed over a 10-year period have been incorporated into these
powerful, vendor independent solutions.
For a more detailed presentation on the benefits of SVS, please refer
to the GPRS and GSM SVS overview included in the installation CD.
For additional information on Actix Solutions, including white
papers and other literature, please refer to www.actix.com.
Actix SVS for GPRS and GSM User Guide About SVS for GPRS and GSM 3
2 System requirements
The following section defines the recommended and minimum

system requirements for successfully running Actix A-SVS for
GPRS and GSM.
If you install the Analyzer on a system that does not meet the
recommended configuration requirements, you may experience the
following limitations:
• You may be unable to process large amounts of data
• You may experience delays when trying to perform certain

tasks
• You may not be able to take advantage of some mapping

capabilities
• Analyzer’s advanced correlation and analysis capabilities

may not perform as desired
Recommended system configuration

Processor (CPU) Pentium III 700-MHz or higher
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP
Memory (RAM) 512 Megabytes
Available Hard Disk Space 15 Gigabytes (about 80MB for the
application; most of this space is for
drive test data files, map
information, and virtual memory
needs)
note A paging file size of at least 1 GB is recommended on Windows 2000 and

NT systems. You can set the paging file size by modifying the System
properties from the Windows Control Panel.
4 System requirements User Guide Actix SVS for GPRS and GSM
Minimum system configuration
Processor (CPU) Pentium II 333-MHz or higher
Operating System Microsoft Windows 98 (or later)
operating system, Microsoft
Windows NT Workstation operating
system version 4.0 Service Pack 3 or
later, Microsoft Windows 2000
Professional or later operating
system.
Memory (RAM) 128 Megabytes
Available Hard Disk Space 1 Gigabyte (for the application, drive
test data files, map information, and
virtual memory needs)
note A paging file size of at least 1 GB is recommended on Windows 2000 and

NT systems. You can set the paging file size by modifying the System
properties from the Windows Control Panel.
Actix SVS for GPRS and GSM User Guide System requirements 5
3 Configuring SVS for GPRS and GSM
Configuring network information

As well as geographical data, it is also useful to display your
network information on a map window.
You must have your network information defined in a text file
(usually called "cellrefs", although the file can have any name)
before you can import it into SVS. You can use the Network Explorer
to import, view and edit the cellrefs file.
Network data format suitable for SVS

If the network information is in the following tab-separated format,
then you can select it from the Tools menu selection Preferences,
and through CellRefs, File Location.
The column headings and example file are shown on the next page.
6 Configuring SVS for GPRS and GSM User Guide Actix SVS for GPRS and GSM
Configuring SVS for GPRS and GSM 7
The column headings are:
GSM_Site=
1 Site_Name
2 SiteID
3 Latitude
4 Longitude
GSM_Cell=
GSM_SiteIDForCell
5 Sector_ID
6 Azimuth
7 Beamwidth
8 EIRP
9 BCCH
10 MCC
11 MNC
12 LAC
13 CI
14 BSIC
Here is the example file:
Actix SVS for GPRS and GSM User Guide

; #NetworkData - datafile
GSM_Site 91WON3 91WON xx.xxxxxxxxxxxxx y.yyyyyyyyy
GSM_Site 91WRS3 91WRS xx.xxxxxxxxxxxxx y.yyyyyyyyy
GSM_Site 91ZEC3 91ZEC xx.xxxxxxxxxxxxx y.yyyyyyyyy
GSM_Site 91ZEL0 91ZEL xx.xxxxxxxxxxxxx y.yyyyyyyyy
GSM_Site 91ZOC3 91ZOC xx.xxxxxxxxxxxxx y.yyyyyyyyy
GSM_Site 91ZOT0 91ZOT xx.xxxxxxxxxxxxx y.yyyyyyyyy
GSM_Site 91ZUL3 91ZUL xx.xxxxxxxxxxxxx y.yyyyyyyyy
GSM_Cell 02AER 02AER1 40 65 69 206 1 102 12611
GSM_Cell 02AER 02AER2 160 65 72 206 1 102 12612
GSM_Cell 02AER 02AER3 280 65 66 206 1 102 12192
GSM_Cell 02AGM 02AGM0 0 360 62 206 1 402 12339
GSM_Cell 02ALI 02ALI1 70 65 80 206 1 402 12774
GSM_Cell 02ALI 02ALI2 190 65 69 206 1 402 12775
GSM_Cell 02ALI 02ALI3 310 65 63 206 1 402 12776
GSM_Cell 02ALS 02ALS0 0 360 64 206 1 702 12503
Network data format suitable for the Network Explorer
If the network information is in the following tab- or comma-
separated format, then you can import it from the Tools menu
selection Network Explorer.
F
o
r
m
a
t
g
r
o
u
p
1 Site Name string
2 SiteID string
3 Latitude Degrees -360 to 360
4 Longitude Degrees -360 to 360
5 Sector_ID string
6 Azimuth Degrees -360 to 360
7 Beamwidth Beamwidth Angle 0 to 360
8 EIRP integer
9 BCCH GSM ARFCN 0 to 885
10 MCC GSM MCC 0 to 999
11 MNC GSM MNC 0 to 99
12 LAC GSM LAC 0 to 65535
13 CI GSM CI 0 to 65535
14 BSIC GSM BSIC 0 to 77
Actix SVS for GPRS and GSM User Guide Configuring SVS for GPRS and GSM 9
Importing network information using Network Explorer
note This will overwrite your existing cellrefs.txt file, so you may want to create a
backup of that file and keep it in a safe location before following these steps.
1 From the toolbar, click Import and select Import From New
Template.
note You can also right-click to display the pop-up menu, select Import and then
Import From New Template.
2 Select the appropriate network data file.
3 Click Open to display the Custom Import Wizard.
Figure 1: Import Wizard page 1
Note the Data Preview section, which is common to both tabs

of the dialog. The name of the selected text file appears at the
top of the section. The pane below the file name shows how
the contents of the selected text file will be imported, based
on the current import selections.
4 Type in a meaningful Description for the template.
5 Set the Column Delimiter, Number of rows to be ignored
and Array (list) Separator according to the format used in
your network information file.
note Avoid using the same character as a column delimiter, array separator or
decimal separator.
6 Set the other parameters as appropriate.
7 Click on the Column Settings tab.
The Column Settings tab allows you to associate a network

parameter with a column of data in the text file.
Figure 2: Import Wizard page 2
Note that each of the field names has an associated icon:
Key fields – you must select a field type for this field, but
you cannot set a default value.
Required fields – these must be bound to a particular type

or must have a default value set.
Other fields – binding particular field types or setting

default values is not strictly necessary for this field.
8 Under the Columns heading, click on a setting for a
particular field.
9 Select a column description from the drop-down list. The

Wizard then displays the selected parameter against the
appropriate column.
10 Set the default value for that field as appropriate.
11 Continue for all appropriate columns.
12 Click Finish when all the columns have been assigned. The
new cell information will be added at the bottom of the
existing list in the Network Explorer.
note If any errors occurred during the import, a message box will let you know. All
errors that occurred during the import are written to the file 'error.log' in the
\actix\analyzer\bin\cellrefs folder.
If the cellplan file is updated, you can use the template you have created on
the new file. Because you can reuse the template, you do not have to repeat
work you have already done, including the column-by-column parameter
assignment.
Setting a network information file

1 From the Tools menu, select Preferences to open the
Preferences dialog.
2 Click on File Location to display the Open dialog.
Figure 3: File Location in the Change Preferences dialog
3 Select the cellrefs.txt file and click OK.
4 Click OK to close the Preferences dialog.

You may now want to close and restart SVS for the change to take
effect.
Setting the binning

The adaptable data structure used by SVS lets you select different
data aggregation modes, or "bins", depending upon how you want
to view the data. SVS supports these binning modes:
• By Location/grid • By Time
• By Message • By Distance
For example, for Time binning, based on one-second intervals, data

values are sorted according to the time at which they were logged.
All values are sorted into one-second bins.
An averaging operation is then performed on the data collected in
each bin to produce a single value. This operation may be a simple
Mean or one of a number of other operations such as Mode or
Minimum value. The appropriate operation for each data attribute
is used automatically.
The net result of this process is a data set comprising values
averaged from the original set of data values. Therefore changing
the binning changes the way that data is presented in reports and
in other data views such as maps, charts and so on.
To change the binning mode

1 From the Tools menu, select Preferences to open the
Preferences dialog.
2 Open up the heading Binning and select the appropriate

binning mode.
3 Set any parameters related to the binning method - for

example, Distance (m) for Distance binning.
4 Click OK to accept the method and associated parameters.
All data will now be sorted into bins according to the

selected binning method.
Configuring maps
Adding map backgrounds and layers
1 Display a data attribute in a map window.
2 Click Layers to open the Layer Control dialog.
Figure 4: The Layer Control dialog
Checking one of these boxes for a layer controls:
Whether the layer is visible
Whether objects on it can be selected
Whether the layer can be annotated (clearing the box

'locks' the Annotations layer so no new annotations
can be added)
3 In the Layers box, click Add.
4 From the Open Layer dialog, select one or more MapInfo Map
(.tab) files.
MapInfo layers are named according to the geographic

location of the data—for example, the abbreviated US state
name and/or county name—and by the type of data
contained in the file.
5 Click Open to show the .tab file in the layer list.
The top of the layer list represents the uppermost layer in

this map window.
6 Click Up and Down to move your MapInfo file to the

bottom and 'Annotations' to the top.
7 Click Close to return to the map view.
In a new SVS installation, the map location defaults to 0°

longitude, 0° latitude, so you will need to check that the new
map layer is displayed correctly.
8 Pan the map viewing area by right-clicking in the map area,

then choosing Zoom, Go to Layer and selecting the new
map layer.
9 Use the Zoom and Pan controls to arrange the map as

required. To zoom in to an area, click Zoom In, then click
and drag a rectangle around the area of interest.
For some detailed layers, you can control at what degree of

magnification they become visible. This helps to minimize
map clutter.
10 Right-click on the map window and select Map Layers to

display the Layer Control dialog.
11 Select an appropriate layer.
12 Click Display to open the Display Properties dialog.
13 Check Display within Zoom range and enter "0" for Min
Zoom and "10" for Max Zoom.
Configuring cells on the map
1 From the View menu, select Display new Map.
2 From the Map window, click Cell Sites to open the Map
Options dialog.
Figure 5: Setting GSM Cell values
3 Ensure that SC, Field Style is set to "Color" and Beamwidth,

Field Style is set to "Symbol".
Combining files in SVS
Data from IP sniffer files can be combined with drive test data
collected at the same time. This allows a combined analysis of the
attributes referring to different layers (from the radio link till the
TCP/UDP), using tables, charts, queries and reports. Moreover, the
GPS coordinates in the drive test data can be matched to the IP
sniffer information, so the IP information can then be plotted on a
map. This process of combining data from different streams is
called superstreaming.
The drive test and IP sniffer files are collected on the same portable
computer, so the time alignment should match exactly. However,
sometimes there is a fixed time shift (for example, 1 or 2 hours),
depending on the time references of the two applications. This may
also occur if the Time offset setting under Tools/Preferences is not
zero.
To quantify the time difference, it is sufficient to see the time of the
first messages in the two files.
If the to files are in time alignment, use the Merge Method (see
below) Use timestamps, otherwise select Time offsets and enter
the time mismatch in seconds between the two files.
To Superstream the data

1 Open an IP Sniffer file and an Um drive test file to be
superstreamed.
2 From the Tools menu, select Create Superstream to open

the Superstreaming dialog.
Figure 6: The Superstreaming dialog
3 Select the appropriate streams.
4 Select the appropriate Merge Method settings for

synchronizing the data streams.
5 Click OK to begin the superstreaming process.

When the process is complete, the superstream is displayed in the
Workspace Explorer.
Figure 7:The new superstream in the Workspace Explorer
The normal data displays (maps, charts, tables, analysis reports)
may be used to examine the data.
Figure 8: Displaying pop-up options for the superstream
4 Using SVS GPRS
Using SVS GPRS analyses

SVS provides a novel top-down approach that allows you to start
from high level reports (focused on the content of the drive test and
on the high level problems, if any) and to drill down only if and
where it is necessary (time saving for the operators).
Data view Technique
High level Statistics shown in the Cell Explorer
Medium level The reports included in the modules
Drill-down capability Queries, charts, customized reports,

maps, etc.
The starting point for the Quality of Service Verification and

Troubleshooting tasks are the modules:
• DT GPRS MM/SM Procedures and IP data Summary
• DT GPRS Radio Link Performance Analysis

These are available under the Analysis menu. As with any of the
analyses created by Actix, these consist of a complete set of reports1
that combine the different key performance indicators, allowing
you to navigate to not only the problems but also the causes and
possible solutions.
1In order to improve the processing time, we recommend that you close the
Statistical Explorer (if open) before running the reports.
20 Using SVS GPRS User Guide Actix SVS for GPRS and GSM
The summary view for an analysis—called the Cell Explorer—shows
a statistical summary of the data and an appropriate set of reports.
The data can be broken down by a key dimension, such as "cell",
displaying a number of pertinent statistics for each value of the key
dimension that appears in the data, allowing you to focus quickly on
only those portions of the data that are of interest (for example the
cells with the highest BLER, as shown in Figure 9).
Figure 9: The Cell Explorer, showing the upper filtering and data display,
and the lower report selection panel
The dimension (cells) can be sorted by ascending or descending

values of a parameter (for example DL RLC throughput), by
clicking on the title of the column.
Actix SVS for GPRS and GSM User Guide Using SVS GPRS 21
By selecting a subset of the rows in the Cell Explorer before
choosing to run a report, you can filter the data in the reports to
include only data for the selected values of the key dimension (as
shown in Figure 10).
Figure 10: Example of report based on the selected cells
About SVS GPRS Applications
DT GPRS MM/SM Procedures and IP Data Summary

This application allows analysis of the procedures between the
Mobile Station and the SGSN (with success rates and causes for
failures), and provides a summary of packet data traffic. The
module contains these reports:
• MM Attach Detach
• Other MM Procedures
• PDP Context
• AA PDP Context
• Other SM Info
• TCP data summary (must be run on a superstream of an IP

sniffer file and the relevant drive test file)
DT GPRS Radio Link Performance Analysis

This application allows analysis of the radio link performances, and
contains these reports:
• Coding Schemes and Throughput per TS
• Timeslot allocation statistics
• Level and Quality
• RLC and LLC Throughput Stats
• RLC Throughput and Coding Scheme
• RLC Throughput and Level
• RLC Throughput and Quality
• RLC and LLC Throughput per TBF
• BLER and Retransmissions
From the metrics in the Cell Explorer, you can identify any cells that
need specific analysis. Then by going through the reports on the
selected cells, you can investigate the possible causes.
For example, if the BLER is showing a bad behavior, it is possible to
analyze the signal level and the quality or of the interference, then
see the impact on the throughput, the relation with coding scheme
usage, and so on.
DT GPRS MM/SM Procedures and IP Data Summary reports
MM Attach Detach report

In this report, attach and detach procedures are analyzed.
The success rate is provided. It is important to note the difference

between "Attach Reject" and "Lost". The first is a failure message
received from the network; the second takes into account the
requests that receive no response from the network (so they are
lost). Only after four unsuccessful retries, the procedure is aborted
(see the note in the report).
The same apply to the detach procedure. For the detach, no

network response is expected in the case of mobile powering off.
The cause breakdown table highlights the causes of reject messages,

helping you to find the reasons for the failures. The Information
Element is not mandatory in these messages, but if present, the
table also shows the attach accept and detach request causes.
The attach type and attach results are shown here.
Figure 11: First two tables of example MM Attach Detach report
Figure 12: Second half of example MM Attach Detach report
Other MM Procedures report
The following procedures are shown (giving an indication of the
success rate):
• Routing area update
• P-TMSI reallocation (if requested by the network)
• Authentication and Cyphering

The causes for failures are presented, as well as the RA update
types.
Figure 13: Example Other MM Procedures report
PDP Context report
The following procedures are shown (giving an indication of the
success rate):
• PdP Context Activation
• Network originated PdP Context Activation (if network-

originated data calls are enabled, preliminary messages
precede PdP Context Activation)
• PdP Context Deactivation
• PdP Context Modification (especially with more advanced

features for QoS support, this procedure will be used to
modify the QoS provisioned to the subscribers and
negotiated between the MS and the SGSN)
For the meaning of "loss", refer to the first report and to the notes
below the tables.
Figure 14: Example top half of PDP Context report
Figure 15: Example bottom half of PDP Context report
AA PDP Context report
AA stands for Anonymous Access. The procedures of the previous
report are presented, in case the Anonymous Access is
implemented.
Figure 16: Example AA PDP Context report
Other SM Info report
This report presents the accessed APNs and the parameters
relevant for the QoS.
Figure 17: Example Other SM Info report, top tables
In particular, the NSAPI and SAPI (requested and negotiated, used

by the SNDCP and LLC layers to manage the QoS) and the QoS
classes (requested by the MS and obtained after negotiation with
the SGSN) are shown.
When QoS management is implemented, these statistics will be key

in verifying the correct dimensioning of the network to support the
subscribed QoS profiles (the QoS modification will be particularly
interesting).
The same parameters for the radio interface (Radio Priority) are
presented.
Figure 18: Example Other SM Info report, middle tables
Figure 19: Example Other SM Info report, bottom tables
TCP data summary report
This report applies to the super stream of drive test and IP sniffer
files, and shows a recap of the data sessions during the drive test.
These indicators are quite close to the application behavior because
signaling packets are excluded by the computation (the same
applies to the Uplink and Downlink throughput calculations).
The three main indicators are:
• The duration of the TCP transfers in milliseconds (the single

sessions and the total)
• The quantity of data sent and received in Kbytes
• The mean and maximum end-to-end round trip time

(calculated as the time between the transmission of an
Uplink TCP packet and the time of the reception of the
acknowledge) in milliseconds
Figure 20: Example of TCP data summary report
DT GPRS Radio Link Performance Analysis reports
Coding Schemes and Throughput per TS report

In this report, the value of the throughput (orange line) and the
coding scheme usage (CS1 and CS2 columns) is presented for every
possible number of allocated timeslots in downlink (from 1 to 4, for
the present mobiles).
Figure 21: Example DT GPRS Radio Link Performance Analysis report
It is important to note that coding scheme 1 is used for signaling,

while coding scheme 2 is preferably used by the allocation
algorithms to give higher throughput values, especially in good
radio conditions. Some vendors use dynamic algorithms to move
from CS1 to CS2 depending on the radio conditions, while others
have a fixed CS2 allocation. In this last case, CS1 is only given by
the signaling traffic.
Timeslot allocation statistics report
This report shows the percentage usage for the different number of
allocated timeslots, which can be combined with the results of the
previous report.
Figure 22: Example Timeslot allocation statistics report
Level and Quality report
This report gives an overview of the radio conditions on the cells
tested during the drive. Three graphs are shown:
• The distribution (vertical bars) and cumulative distribution

function or total (dotted line) of the samples of C value
(signal strength)
• The distribution (vertical bars) and CDF (dotted line) of the

samples of the received quality
• The interference analysis (obtained combining level and

quality measurements)
The last graph highlights the possible presence of interference,
when bad quality is shown in combination of good signal strength.
The information about C value and Quality are taken from the
acknowledge messages. For any given signal strength interval, the
number of occurrences (to weight the importance) and the mean
received level is presented.
Figure 23: C Value Distribution and Statistics from example Level and Quality report
Figure 24: RxQual distribution from example Level and Quality report
Figure 25: Interference Analysis from example Level and Quality report
RLC and LLC Throughput Stats report
This report provides statistics for the throughput for the
RLC/MAC and LLC layers, in both Uplink and Downlink
directions.
The first two graphs give the minimum, mean and maximum
values for the bit rate, and are useful as general references for radio
link performance.
Figure 26: Downlink RLC and LLC Throughput from

an example RLC and LLC Throughput Stats report
Figure 27: Uplink RLC and LLC Throughput from

The distributions of the throughput values—the bars indicate the
number of occurrences—are useful for studying the nature of the
traffic supported. FTP traffic will have a profile similar to Figure 31
with a throughput concentrated in the higher intervals, while the
profile generated by web browsing will be more scattered on the
different values, given the less regular pattern of the application
level. Accordingly, the Uplink throughput values of an FTP
download will be concentrated on low intervals, given by the
acknowledge messages.
Figure 28: Downlink LLC and RLC Throughput Distribution from

Figure 29: Uplink LLC and RLC Throughput Distribution from

RLC Throughput and Coding Scheme report
This report displays the coding scheme distribution correlated to
the throughput values of the RLC/MAC layer transmitted on the
radio interface.
High throughput values usually correspond to a high percentage of
Coding Scheme 2, while for lower levels of throughput CS1 usually
prevails, as signaling traffic is low throughput and uses the power
coding scheme.
In the combined graph, the RLC throughput distribution and
cumulative value are shown as colored areas. The trend lines
represent the percentage of the coding schemes.
In case there is no throughput in a certain interval, a default value
of 50% is assigned to CS1 and CS2.
Figure 30: Example Throughput and Coding Scheme report
RLC Throughput and Level report
The aim of this report is to show the mean signal level (right
vertical axis) for the different throughput values. The distribution
of occurrences is also reported to weight the importance of the
given results (left vertical axis).
Figure 31: Example RLC Throughput and Level report
RLC Throughput and Quality report
The aim of this report is to show the mean received quality (right
vertical axis) for the different throughput values. The distribution
of occurrences (left vertical axis) is also reported to weight the
importance of the given results.
Figure 32: Example RLC Throughput and Quality report
RLC and LLC Throughput per TBF report
This graph shows the mean DL throughput at RLC and LLC level
for any given TFI number.
Figure 33: Mean DL Throughput from an example RLC and

LLC Throughput per TBF report
Figure 34: DL statistics from an example RLC and
LLC Throughput per TBF report
BLER and Retransmissions report
This report shows the effect of the radio link quality in terms of
retransmissions in Uplink and Downlink (not all drive test
collection tools support this) and Block Error Rate (BLER).
For any interval of retransmission rate values (0 ≤ x < 1%, 1 ≤ x <
2%, etc.), the distribution (vertical bars) and the cumulative (trend
line) are represented. A similar approach applies to Block Error
Rate.
Figure 35: RLC Retransmission Rate from an example

Figure 36: Block Error Rates from an example
Using SVS GSM analyses
The GSM module of SVS includes the applications DT Design
Validation and Quick Analysis and DT Handover Settings and
Power Control Analysis, which are available from the Analysis
menu.
DT Design Validation and Quick Analysis

The set of reports contained in this application gives a summary of
voice traffic performance and allows a verification of the radio
network design.
Drive Test Call Details report

This report provides a complete overview of the content of the
drive test in terms of performed calls, call duration, performance
indicators (call setup success rate, call completion rate, handover
success rate and location update success rate) and a detailed list of
the procedural messages.
Various attributes of the file decoded from specific messages or
sequences of messages can be counted or combined to give general
indications, such as number of call setup procedures, call setup
success rate and call completion success rate, or Location Update
success rate in idle mode.
Figure 37: Example of the Call Details report
Design Validation report
Combining several of the elements described above into a single
stream of results will give a clear and efficient view of the overall
quality of the network design. It also let us efficiently identify the
nature of the problems along the test route.
In the report, the following information elements have been
combined:
• RxQual: the quality is considered acceptable if RxQual is

greater than or equal to three.
• RxLev: the level is considered sufficient if greater than or

equal to –85 dBm.
• Server Dominance: the serving cell is considered dominant if

there are less than three neighbors within 5 dB from the
server.
Based on these criteria the report calculates the percentage where a
good design is shown. "Good design" is defined to be the condition
where all three criteria are met. When at least criterion fails, this is
classified as bad design.
After the display showing the percentage of good design, details on
the sources of problems are shown. Combining the information, a
diagnosis can be performed (for example, all points where the level
is considered good and the quality is not acceptable may be
classified as points of interference).
Figure 38: Example of the Design Validation report
Measurement Reports contain information concerning receive level,

and in dedicated mode, the quality and timing advance.
The statistical distribution of these elements allows engineers to
assess the overall quality of the radio conditions on the test route.
Peaks in the distribution of level and quality measurements may
already give some indications about particular problems or specific
network settings related to power control or interference.
Timing advance distribution helps in identifying average serving
distance (the distance to the BTS serving the test mobile) and can
eventually indicate abnormally distant connections.
Neighbors within 5 dB from server report
To understand further the quality of the network design, this report
analyzes the relative level of reported neighbors along the drive
test route.
Figure 39: Example of the close neighbors report
The number of neighbors that are within a 5 dB range from the

serving cell receive level (including, of course, any neighbor for
which the level would be above the server) are counted, giving
indicator of the server dominance in each point of the test route.
Typically, one or two neighbors within this range may be
considered a "sane" situation. More than two neighbors within 5 dB
from the server typically indicates that there is no clear dominant
server cell in the area; therefore this is a potentially risky area,
subject to interference.
Two different reports have been designed to take into consideration
the case of single-band networks and dual-band networks. In the
latter case, the general approach is very similar to the single band
but the count of neighbors within 5 dB from the server no longer
makes sense since the 1800-layer will usually be at a level lower
than the 900-layer. So the analysis counts only those neighbors
within 5 dB in the same band.
DT Handover settings and Power Control

The set of reports contained in this application is aimed to verify
the handover and power control procedures and to help optimize
the related parameters.
HO Quality report
When evaluating the quality of the handover procedures in a
network, the classic indicator is the handover success rate. This is
based on a ratio between Handover Command and Handover
Complete signaling messages.
Figure 40: Example of the Handover Quality report
To gain a better view of the efficiency and appropriateness of the

handover procedures, we need to compare the quality of the radio
link before and after the handover. The time window is five
seconds before and after the handover.
A statistical comparative analysis of these average values indicates
if the handovers effectively improve the quality of the radio links.
In fact, under normal conditions, the quality after a handover
should improve.
This is visualized on a graph with:
• A statistical distribution of average quality before and after

handover. The distribution after handover normally shows a
shift of the distribution towards lower RxQual—that is,
higher quality. As a reference, also the overall quality
distribution in the entire trace is shown.
• A cumulative distribution of the previous indicators.
HO Level report
An interesting indicator in analyzing handover settings along a
drive test route is the level difference between the source cell and
the target cell. The distribution of the level is shown in the graphic
(again the time window is five seconds before and after the
handover).
The resulting dominant value should correspond to the handover
margin defined in the handover-algorithm parameter settings.
HO Interval report
Measuring the time elapsed between two consecutive handovers is
a good indicator of both the quality of the handover settings and
the quality of the network design.
Too many handovers at very short intervals will inevitably
influence the quality of the communications as perceived by the
users. There is always some loss of speech information during a
handover.
Figure 41: Example of the Handover Interval report
HO Classification report
Besides the quality difference, level difference and handover
intervals described above, a fast and efficient analysis process is to
classify handovers based on their type. Unfortunately, the cause
value for which the handover was triggered, which is the ideal
indicator in this type of analysis, is only available on the A-
interface in the network structure.
It is, however, possible to produce similar results to those obtained
from A-interface HO analysis. The handover types can be
computed from a combination of parameters, on which a statistical
analysis is then run in a second step.
Figure 42: Example of the Handover Classification report
Handovers can be classified according to the average value of the
following parameters or indicators, in a window corresponding to
the averaging window set in the handover algorithm
parameterization:
• Average quality before handover
• Average level before handover
• Average server and target cell level difference before

handover
By comparing these average values to the trigger levels defined in
the handover algorithm settings, we can create a matrix of
handover types.
A normal handover (better cell) should occur in the following
conditions:
• Average quality is acceptable (in the report: less than or

equal to 3)
• Average level is sufficient to guarantee the stability and

quality of the call (in the report: greater than or equal to –92
dBm)
• Level difference between server and target cell exceeds a

reasonable handover margin (in the report: greater than 6
dB)
MS Tx Power Distribution report
The statistical distribution of transmit power lets you evaluate the
quality of the network RF design and power control tuning along
the drive test route.
Figure 43:Example of the Power Distribution report
In a classical Power Control setting, power will always be at a

maximum at call setup or after a handover. Only after sufficient
measurement reports have been received by the BTS will the power
be adjusted down to the adequate level. So, a normal statistical
distribution would show the highest power levels as dominant. The
distribution should decrease until the lowest level is attained, as all
intermediate levels are necessary steps to reach a stable state.
Note that some equipment manufacturers propose specific settings
or algorithms to optimize the power level during handovers. The
influence of these algorithms and their efficiency can be visualized
on the MS Tx Power distribution plot, since not all intermediate
steps are used to reach a stable power level in this case. So, the
distribution will not be regularly decreasing towards lower Tx
power levels, but will present gaps. These will be more or less
visible, depending on the environment—urban with low Tx levels,
or rural with higher Tx levels.
From the total power samples, it is possible to compute the average
transmit power for the entire drive-test route. This is a good
indicator of the general design and behavior of the network. It is
also a perfect indicator for competitive benchmarking, as the
average power level directly influences the MS battery life.
In dual-band network, transmit power values in the 900-band and
in the 1800-band can easily be separated. In fact, all 900-band
power values are odd values, while 1800- power values are even
values. It is therefore very easy to compare results from the two
bands, or alternatively, to analyze them separately.
Ms Tx Power Step distribution

To investigate further the behavior of the Power Control
algorithm—and to verify that it is working according to the
scenario imagined by the optimization engineers when defining its
parameterization—we analyze the various power steps. A
statistical distribution of these steps will then reveal the behavior of
the Power Control mechanism.
A classical setting is to decrease the power by steps of two dB until
a suitable level is reached, and to increase the level by steps of four
to six dB if the quality or the level of the radio link becomes
insufficient. This will appear clearly on a statistical distribution,
where these specific values will be used most.
Other step values may show on the plot, and will give an indication
of the potential improvement of power usage by power
optimization algorithms during handover, for example. In fact,
during a handover, the classical approach is to return to maximum
transmit power on the new cell. This will induce positive power
steps that can be quite important, especially in an urban
environment were cells are generally very small, and consequently
very low power levels may be used.
MS Tx Power Step Interval Distribution report
Much in the same way that in the previous distribution we looked
at the changes in transmit power in terms of power steps, we can
gain a better understanding or appreciation of the Power Control
mechanism by looking at its behavior in time.
Usually, the Power Control algorithms include parameters that
control the interval between two consecutive power changes. This
is to allow the Mobile Station to effectively change its transmit
power, and for the Base Station to make enough control
measurements that the power has effectively been reduced or
increased.
Figure 44: Example of the Power Step Interval report
The statistical distribution of these intervals should clearly show a

peak corresponding to the interval value defined in the parameter
settings. Smaller values are usually related to handovers, while
bigger values indicate that the power has been stabilized. The latter
is a good indication of the proper tuning of the Power Control
algorithm, but also gives a view on the dynamics of the radio link.
A drive-test at low speed in an area of good coverage will show the
occurrence of longer intervals, while for a high-speed drive-test
along a highway, the power will almost never stabilize.
Combined analysis of user applications, IP protocols and
radio link
A complete set of indicators is available for the analysis of user
applications (http, WAP, e-mail, FTP, etc.) and the protocols (TCP,
UDP, ICMP, etc. on top of IP). These let you investigate the user
perception of the quality of the offered services.
You can build specific queries and reports to combine the
performances with the radio link status.
note The different vendors use similar methodologies for their drive-test data
testing products. However, they do use different terminology. The SVS
solution uses a common terminology, independent from any individual
vendor terminology.
From the drive test files2:..
Connection Measurements
• Connection Setup Time
• Connection Duration
• Connection Failures
• Successful Connections
• Dropped Connections
• Connection IP address
Application Measurements
• Application Throughput UL and DL (Average, Peak,
Minimum, Instantaneous)
• Application Received Bytes
• Application Transmitted Bytes
• Application Elapsed Time
2 The amount of attributes available varies depending on the collection device.
• Application Delay UL and DL (Average, Peak, Minimum,
Instantaneous)
• Application Round Trip Time (RTT)
• Application Round Trip Time Max
Protocol Measurements
• IP Throughput
• ICMP Throughput
• PPP Throughput
• TCP Throughput
• Protocol Received Bytes
• Protocol Transmitted Bytes
• Protocol Elapsed Time

…and others specific of single applications (Web, Ping, FTP, WAP).
Using an IP sniffer allows an independent collection of many of the
previous attributes, complementing them with other parameters
such as:
For IP
• IP Address (source and destination)
• Header and Payload Length
• Indicators of QoS class (precedence, delay, reliability)
For TCP
• TCP port number (source and destination: it allows the
identification of the application)
• TCP connection establishment
• TCP connection closure
• TCP connection establishment abort
• TCP retransmissions
• TCP transmissions timeout
• Session Payload Length
• Acknowledges
• Time with no acknowledge
• TCP Session duration

and others.
Figure 45: Example of reports combining application and radio analysis
Combined analysis of radio network and IP/application layers
SVS GPRS provides the following features for advanced evaluation
of radio link and subscriber-perceived performance:
• Detailed attributes for every network layer up to the

application layer
• User-definable queries allow custom metric calculation

based on finite-state event detection and time-series
attributes
• User-definable reports to build ad-hoc statistical summaries

of subscriber perceived performance metrics
While investigating the data, users can also benefit from the
complete set of internal tools and features provided with SVS, such
as:
• Mapping, charting, and reporting modules
• Message and protocol stack browsers
• Time-series and multi-dimensional statistical query module
• Network element database
• Filtering and binning module
• Finite-state event detection engine
• Data merging and synchronization / correlation module
• Open data import and export module

These features are described fully in the online help.
Some examples of troubleshooting using ad hoc analysis are
provided below. You can use these as the basis for creating other
types of analysis, depending on the specific type of investigations
required.
Example 1
Operators are focused on verifying the service as perceived by the
subscribers. To do that, it is necessary to identify the services used
and evaluate the user perceived performance indicators (typically
throughput and delay).
It is possible to use predefined queries (provided during the
training courses) that give the overall view of the single tasks (FTP
sessions in this case):
Figure 46: List of application tasks displayed in the Statistical Explorer
The proposed drive test shows a connection (result of the PdP

Context Activation), and then a ping is performed. The ping—
although not a user application—is often used to provide an
indication of the minimum delay that the network can support.
The actual service used is an FTP download and upload of 30K and
15K. The throughput results are generally good: around 30kbps
using 3 timeslots (see Figure 47).
Figure 47: Timeslot allocation statistics report
Only one task (number 6, highlighted in Figure 46) is not showing a

performance in line with the others, and should be investigated in
more detail.
The following chart (Figure 48) enables us to visualize the content of
Figure 46, and shows the user-perceived metrics (application
throughput and delay), combined with the corresponding network
parameters (LLC and RLC throughput):
Throughput
discontinuity
Figure 48: Delay and throughput for the complete drive test
Again, task number 6 shows a throughput discontinuity,
responsible for the overall low throughput.
We can now investigate to see if radio events like cell reselection
are responsible for the throughput degradation. In Figure 49, the DL
TBF number (TFI) is displayed and shows a regular pattern.
Effect on
throughput of cell
reselection
Cell reselection
Figure 49: Cell reselection impact
The cell reselection has an impact on the next task but not on
number 6. We can focus on the task filtering it by selecting the task
in the Statistics Explorer and clicking the Filter button:
Figure 50: Filtering a task
Looking at the DT GPRS Radio link performance analysis module
(Figure 54) it is clear that one of the two cells driven during that
task (automatically everything has been filtered in accordance to it)
has a quality problem (mean Rx Quality = 3 with mean C-value of –
61 dBm):
Figure 51: DT GPRS Radio link performance analysis
To make this more explicit, the report on the level and quality can
be run on that cell. The interference analysis graph shows what is
clearly an interference problem:
Figure 52: DT GPRS Radio link performance analysis
The result of the analysis is, therefore, that the application is

showing a good performance, but a specific cell is showing
interference. This can then be eliminated, for instance by revising
the frequency plan.
Example 2
This example focuses on studying the throughput on the different
layers (application, TCP, IP and RLC), using the information from
the drive test combined with the IP sniffer data. The first step is to
display a summary with a query in the Statistics Explorer:
Figure 53: Downlink throughput study for the single tasks
The task type (i.e. application in use) is obtained using the TCP
source port number (that indicates the type of application that is
generating the downlink traffic) and ICMP type (some pings are
occurring between the FTP downloads).
The focus is on the first FTP session, filtering it and using the
reports of the radio link module. The radio performance is good:
level and quality, RLC and LLC throughput, timeslot allocation is 3
TS all the time, the CS used is CS2 92% of the time. However, the
throughput is not maintained at the maximum all the time—this is
unexpected since FTP is used and 3 timeslots are constantly
allocated.
Figure 54: Cell Explorer filtered on the first task:

level and quality are very good
Figure 55: Throughput report for the first task
Figure 56: Throughput and coding scheme per timeslot
If there is no radio problem, let us raise the analysis to the higher
layers, displaying the attribute TCP_Data_Pending_AckDL
(indicates the total bytes with an acknowledgement pending in
downlink), and TCP_Network_Bytes_Acknowledged (indicates the
total bytes acknowledged from every acknowledgement message):
Figure 57: TCP investigation on a chart
As we can see in Figure 57 in the red ellipse and in Figure 58 in the

corresponding red square, the packets in downlink are no longer
acknowledged, and the pending bytes accumulate until they reach
the size of the TCP receiving Window (equal to 16072 bytes, as
from Figure 58). At that point, the receiving buffer is full and the
packets would be discarded, so the transmission is stopped. In fact
the throughput goes to 0.
As we see from Figure 58, the packets are received on the PC COM
port (the sequence number continues to be incremented) but the
corresponding acknowledgements do not (the uplink packets
maintain the same acknowledgement number): the FTP application
on the PC is probably causing this. When it is able to send the
updated acknowledge, the transmission restarts.
Figure 58: TCP investigation on sequence numbers,

acknowledges and received bytes
Also in the rest of the session there are other events like this, but
they have a smaller effect on the throughput because the receiving
window does not saturate again (the acknowledges restart before
the pending bytes reach the window size).
So, in this example, an application problem was found in that the
FTP client on the PC was not able to process all the received data.
In case we want to analyze other tasks, we would need to go back
to the old query and disable the filter on task number 1, select
another task and repeat the analysis.
Data sources for SVS GPRS and GSM
SVS supports the following performance data sources for a wide
variety of test equipment vendors:
• Mobile Stations (Test and Commercial–Um interface)
• Scanners (Um interface)
• Call Trace devices for GSM
• IP Sniffers3 (supporting the WinPCAP architecture4)
Gb
SGSN
BSC
Um
BTS MS
A
MSC
OMC
Test Mobile and IP
Scanner Sniffer
Figure 59: Data sources used in SVS GPRS and GSM
IP and Application Layer performance data are supported for IP

“sniffers” powerful data collection software for collecting
messaging, events and statistics from IP links, as well as for vendor
specific data sets, typically integrated with drive-test hardware
solutions.
3 A suggested freeware IP sniffer is the ethereal software (please see: www.ethereal.com).
4 For references please see: http://winpcap.polito.it
5 Index
Level and Quality report, 37

A
AA PDP Context report, 30 M
Annotations, 14 map layers, adding, 13
attributes for analyzing user applications, 61 MM Attach Detach report, 24
MS Tx Power Distribution report, 58
B MS Tx Power Step Interval Distribution
BLER and Retransmissions report, 46
report, 60
C N
CDF, 37
Neighbors within 5 dB from server report,
Cell Explorer, 20
52
cellrefs, 6
network information file, setting, 11
cells, configuring, 15
Coding Schemes and Throughput per TS O
report, 35 Other MM Procedures report, 27
combining files in SVS, 16 Other SM Info report, 31
cumulative distribution function, 37
P
D PDP Context report, 28
Data sources, 76 Preferences dialog, 11
Design validation report, 50
Drive Test Call Details report, 48 R
RLC and LLC Throughput per TBF report,
DT GPRS MM/SM Procedures and IP data
44
Summary, 19, 22
RLC and LLC Throughput Stats report, 39
DT GPRS Radio Link Performance Analysis,
RLC Throughput and Coding Scheme
19, 22, 68
report, 41
H RLC Throughput and Level report, 42
HO Classification report, 56 RLC Throughput and Quality report, 43
HO Interval report, 55
HO Level report, 54 S
setting a network information file, 11
HO Quality report, 53
superstreaming data, 16
I system requirements, 4
importing network information, 9
T
K TCP data summary report, 34
key dimension, 20 Timeslot allocation statistics report, 36
L U
Layer Control dialog, 13 user applications, analyzing, 61
78 Index User Guide Actix SVS for GPRS and GSM

Gprs and GSM Svs User Guide

Caricato da

Informazioni sul documento

Titolo originale

Copyright

Formati disponibili

Condividi questo documento

Condividi o incorpora il documento

Opzioni di condivisione

Hai trovato utile questo documento?

Questo contenuto è inappropriato?

Copyright:

Formati disponibili

Gprs and GSM Svs User Guide

Caricato da

Copyright:

Formati disponibili

Service Verification Solution

for GPRS and GSM

Copyright  1998-2002 Actix Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

No part of this publication may be copied, photocopied, reproduced,

1 ABOUT SVS FOR GPRS AND GSM .........................................................3

INTRODUCTION TO SVS GPRS AND GSM......................................................3

2 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS .......................................................................4

RECOMMENDED SYSTEM CONFIGURATION .......................................................4

3 CONFIGURING SVS FOR GPRS AND GSM ............................................6

CONFIGURING NETWORK INFORMATION ...........................................................6

4 USING SVS GPRS...................................................................................20

USING SVS GPRS ANALYSES .....................................................................20

Actix SVS for GPRS and GSM User Guide Contents 1

Introduction to SVS GPRS and GSM

The following section defines the recommended and minimum

• You may be unable to process large amounts of data

• You may experience delays when trying to perform certain

• You may not be able to take advantage of some mapping

• Analyzer’s advanced correlation and analysis capabilities

Recommended system configuration

note A paging file size of at least 1 GB is recommended on Windows 2000 and

note A paging file size of at least 1 GB is recommended on Windows 2000 and

Configuring network information

Network data format suitable for SVS

Actix SVS for GPRS and GSM User Guide

1 Site Name string

3 Latitude Degrees -360 to 360

4 Longitude Degrees -360 to 360

6 Azimuth Degrees -360 to 360

7 Beamwidth Beamwidth Angle 0 to 360

9 BCCH GSM ARFCN 0 to 885

10 MCC GSM MCC 0 to 999

11 MNC GSM MNC 0 to 99

12 LAC GSM LAC 0 to 65535

2 Select the appropriate network data file.

3 Click Open to display the Custom Import Wizard.

Figure 1: Import Wizard page 1

Note the Data Preview section, which is common to both tabs

4 Type in a meaningful Description for the template.

6 Set the other parameters as appropriate.

7 Click on the Column Settings tab.

The Column Settings tab allows you to associate a network

Figure 2: Import Wizard page 2

Note that each of the field names has an associated icon:

Required fields – these must be bound to a particular type

Other fields – binding particular field types or setting

9 Select a column description from the drop-down list. The

10 Set the default value for that field as appropriate.

11 Continue for all appropriate columns.

Setting a network information file

2 Click on File Location to display the Open dialog.

Figure 3: File Location in the Change Preferences dialog

4 Click OK to close the Preferences dialog.

Setting the binning

For example, for Time binning, based on one-second intervals, data

To change the binning mode

2 Open up the heading Binning and select the appropriate

3 Set any parameters related to the binning method - for

4 Click OK to accept the method and associated parameters.

All data will now be sorted into bins according to the

2 Click Layers to open the Layer Control dialog.

Figure 4: The Layer Control dialog

Checking one of these boxes for a layer controls: