Low Average CQI Issue

Investigation, Analysis & Solution

Final Version
May 26, 2016

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Contents
1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 3
2. CQI and Reporting Mechanism ............................................................................................................ 3
2.1 CQI Calculation ............................................................................................................................. 3
2.2 CQI Reporting: Wideband vs Sub-band ....................................................................................... 3
2.3 CQI and Modulation Coding Scheme (MCS) Relationship .......................................................... 4
3 Investigation and Solution Steps ......................................................................................................... 4
4 Analyzing CQI over PIANO.................................................................................................................... 5
5 PiWEB CQI Analysis .............................................................................................................................. 9

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 1. Introduction

The purpose of this document is to investigate the low CQI issue and to determine
necessary next steps to improve the CQI.

2. CQI and Reporting Mechanism

2.1 CQI Calculation

CQI is calculated based on SNIR and SNIR is calculated based on RSRP. Thus, CQI is
calculated based on the RSRP level. That means high RSRP should lead to high CQI and vice
versa. Each UE in the network periodically reports CQI back to eNB and eNB uses CQI values for
modulation selection and resource assignment during packet scheduling process.

2.2 CQI Reporting: Wideband vs Sub-band

UEs can calculate and report CQI for each PRB, for group of PRBs or for the entire band.
If UE reports CQI for a group of PRBs, it is called as subband CQI (SB-CQI) reporting mechanism.
If UE reports CQI for the entire bandwidth, it is called wideband CQI reporting (WB-CQI, please
see Fig.1). Wideband CQI reporting is the default setting for Huawei 3900 eNB.

Figure 1. Wideband vs. Subband CQI Reporting

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2.3 CQI and Modulation Coding Scheme (MCS) Relationship

High throughput is achieved under high modulation schemes, and high modulation can be used
under high CQI values. Fig.2 shows the mapping table between CQI and Modulation used for a particular
CQI level. Low CQI values will lead to low MCS levels and vice versa. For instance, eNB will select QPSK
for CQI 1 (low CQI level), and eNB will select 64QAM for CQI9.

Figure 2. CQI to MCS Mapping

3 Investigation and Solution Steps

Average CQI is lower than 7 for a particular region or cluster. Following steps can be taken
to find the root cause of the issue and solve the issue,
1. First check is about how the average CQI is calculated for the region,

a. Is the average formula correct for CQI calculation?

b. Does each eNB report the CQI calculated in the average? Any CQI data missing
during the calculation?

2. Second check is whether there is any low RSRP and SNIR issue in this particular region
or not. If there is low SNIR issue in the cluster, check the following,

a. Is there any antenna related power issue?

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 b. Is EPRE set to 18.2 dBm in all eNBs constituting the cluster?
c. Any overshooting nearby sites?

3. Third check is LTE UE penetration in the region. If UE penetration is low, there will be
less number of CQI reports, and that might lead to low CQI reports. If the site and
cluster load is more than 40%, there will be more CQI reports with more diversified
values and this will increase the average CQI,

a. Check DL PRB utilization, low PRB utilization might lead to low CQI value.
Conversely, high CQI utilization might lead to higher average CQI value.

4. Fourth check is L.ChMeas.CQI.DL.BorderUE counter. This counter shows the number of

CQI reports sent by cell edge UEs. This counter should be monitored for at least 72
hours or 3 days for high traffic sites and should be monitored for 7 days for low traffic
sites.

a. If the number of cell edge users is high in sites under analysis, low
average CQI is expected in those sites.
b. If the cluster has sites having high number of cell edge users, low average
CQI is expected in those sites.

4 Analyzing CQI over PIANO

1- Log into PIANO with your credentials. Figure 3 shows login screen.

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 Figure 3. PIANO Login Window

2- After login, you will see the interface given in figure 4.

Figure 4. PIANO Interface after Login

3. In order to add specific KPIs to cell specific performance analysis, click on

Manage KPIs given in the top middle part of the interface.

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 Figure 5. Manage KPIs

4. You should select the KPI category to list the KPIs specific to LTE. Select
'CELL_LTE' under dropdown menu under Manage KPIs pop up window. (Figure
4)

Figure 6. Select LTE Specific KPIs

5. In order add KPIs, click on ADD button. This action will add KPI to the window on
the right.
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 Figure 7. Add Specific KPIs

6. Zoom onto the map, and click on a cell to see 'Cell Properties' and 'KPI
Trends'. Under 'KPI Trends', you will see drop down menu. You should select CQI from
this menu to see CQI trends.

Figure 8. Cell Specific Properties and KPI Trends

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7. Under KPI trends tab, you can select to see any KPIs. Please note that all KPIs
listed under the KPI Trends tab are added using the 'Manage KPIs' section on top
middle.

Figure 9. CQI Trends for a Specific Site

5 PiWEB CQI Analysis

1- You need to log into PiWEB. Please enter your username and password to login.
Figure 10 shows the login screen.

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 Figure 10. PiWEB Login

2- All 4G Related KPIs and counters are listed under '4G Statistics' section on the
main UI after login. Among these reports, you should select the 'Quality' report section
under 'Quality' folder.

Figure 11. 4G Statistics Section

3. After you select 'Quality' report, you will see Fig.12. You should select the
duration you want to run the report for. You can select yesterday, last 3 days, last week
etc.
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 Figure 12. Date Selection for Report

4. You can click on KPIs section to see the list of KPIs included in this report. There
are 6 KPIs in this particular report. This is depicted in figure 13.

Figure 13. List of KPIs Included in the Report

5- Figure 14 shows the average CQI levels in the last column in a table format.

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 Figure 14. Average CQI values in a Table

6- Average CQI values can also be shown in graphical format to see if there is any
particular trend. Figure 15 shows the data in graphical format.

Figure 15. Average CQI in Graphical Format

7- You can also view the average CQI data in an interactive graph format. You
should select the 'Interactive Chart' format from the top left in order to accomplish this.
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 Figure 16. Interactive Chart

8- You can save average CQI graph in jpeg or PDF format by clicking menu like
icon on top right. Figure 17 shows the menu option to export the graph.

Figure 17. Exporting the Graph

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