HANDOVER PARAMETERS IN LTE
Asad Basit
Electrical Department
Comsats institute of Information Technology
Asadbasit46@gmail.com
Abstract-Handover is the decisive part in
mobile communication because it
transfers ongoing data and calls from one
point to another point when the UE (user
equipment) moves. In order to reduce HO
failures self-optimization algorithms are
deployed
Automatic configuration and optimization
is a key concept in LTE. Thus self-
organized solution for the LTE handover
parameters is proposed, based on the
mobility performance indicators. This
paper explained the major events and
process that are involved in Handover
process.
I.INTRODUCTION
Handover is a procedure for assuring that
users can move freely within a network.
Since its success rate is a key indicator of user
satisfaction. It is vital that this procedure
happens as fast and as frequently as possible.
In currently deployed setup, handover
optimization is performed manually. This
approach is time consuming and cannot be
carried out as often as needed. Thus by
developing self-optimizing algorithm that
can tune parameters of the handover process,
this enables a better overall network
performance and quality of service
(QOS).The main targets are reducing the
number of HOs that are begin but not carried
out to execution which results in HO failures,
repeated back and forth HOs between two
base stations often called ‘ping- pong’ HOs
and calls being dropped.
Handover can be defined by a very precise
flow of events. The main challenges facing is
finding the perfect balance between the
control parameters of the HO process and
ensure that the network is in stable point for
a long time. This paper describes the
measurement parameters involved in HO
process and Handover process carried out in
LTE.
II.METRICS
The metrics used in handover parameter
optimization are further sub divided into
system metrics, control parameters and
assessment metrics. The received power
(RSRP) and signal-to interference and noise
(SINR) and received signal quality (RSRQ)
are system metrics. They are used to select
the connected cell and possible handover
candidates. The control parameters are tuned
by the optimization algorithm to increase the
HO performance of the network. The metrics
are used as measurements during the
optimization process and as performance
indicators for the optimization algorithm
evaluation.
III. SYSTEM METRICS
In LTE or other cellular networks, UE report
some kind of signal to base station for various
decision making. This could be used for
better uplink scheduling, cell selection,
downlink scheduling, multipath propagation
and other location based services. These
includes the following i-e RSRP, RSRQ,
SNR, RSSI etc.
A. RSRQ (Reference Signal Received
Power)
RSRP (Reference Signal Receive Power) is
the average power of Resource Elements
(RE) that carry cell specific Reference
Signals over the entire bandwidth. Its
typically range is about -44 to -130dbm.This
measurement is used in RRC idle/connected,
HO scenarios, Cell Selection/Reselection.
RSRP measures only the Reference signal
(RS) power and excludes all noise and
interference power. The RSRP is calculated
from the cell transmit power (Pc), the path
loss values from the users to different cells
(Lue) and additional shadow fading with log-
normal distribution and a standard deviation
of 3db (Lfad).The resulting RSRP values are
calculated per cell c and user UE by :
RSRP c, ue = Pc – Lue – Lfad
Since this measures only the reference power,
we can say that this is the strength of the
wanted signal. But it does not gives any
information about signal quality. RSRP tells
us the signal strength of the desired signal,
not the quality of signal. For quality of the
signal information we use another parameter
called RSSQ.
B. RSRQ (REFERENCE SIGNAL
RECIEVED QUALITY)
Although RSRP is an important measure, but
it gives no indication of signal quality. RSRQ
is defined as (N x RSRP)/RSSI, where N is
the number of RBs over the measurement
bandwidth. Thus this is not the direct
measurement, it is a derived value from
RSRP and RSSI. By dividing RSRP by RSSI,
it could give some information about
interference also tells about the strength of
the wanted signal. Measuring RSRQ
becomes important near the cell edge when
decisions need to be made, regardless of
absolute RSRP, to perform a handover to the
next cell. Reference signal receive quality is
used only during connected states. Inter and
intra frequency absolute RSRQ accuracy
varies from ±2.5 to ±4 db.
C. RSSI (RECEIVED SIGNAL
STRENGTH INDICATOR)
RSSI is a measurement of all the power
contained in the applicable spectrum (1.4, 3,
5, 10, 20 MHz). This could be data channels,
control channels, adjacent cell power, and
background noise. Thus RSSI is a parameter
which provides information about the total
received wide-band power including all
interference. The RSSI is the total power that
UE observes across the whole band, this
includes power from the serving cell,
adjacent channel interference and co-channel
non-serving cell signal, thermal noise within
the specified band.
IV. CONTROL PARAMETERS
The control parameters are tuned by the
optimization algorithm to increase the HO
performance of the network. The metrics are
used as measurements during the
optimization process and as performance
indicators for the optimization algorithm
evaluation. After UE reports the signal
strength of the serving and neighbor cell.
Then control parameters are deployed to
make the handover successful. These
parameters includes event A1 to A5 and B1,
B2, MRO, offset, Time to trigger, thus to
increase the success rate of handover.
V. MEASUREMENT REPORT
TRIGGERING
After UE measure the signal strength of its
serving cell and the neighbor ones. Then it
reports the result to eNB, periodically or
when a measurement event is triggered as one
of the reporting criteria set by measurement
configuration is satisfied.
For LTE, the following criteria specified
reporting and events:
 Event A1: Serving cell becomes
better than threshold.
 Event A2: Serving cell becomes less
than the threshold.
 Event A3: Neighbour cell becomes an
offset better than the serving cell.
 Event A4: Neighbour becomes offset
better than threshold.
 Event A5: Serving cell becomes
worse than a threshold.
For inter-RAT mobility, the following
criteria for reporting and events.
 Event B1:Neighbor cell becomes
better than threshold.
 Event B2: Serving cell becomes
worse than threshold.
A. EVENT A3 IN LTE:
A3 event in LTE is used for intra-LTE
handover in LTE. When neighbor LTE cell
become stronger than source LTE cell than
UE will trigger event A3 and send
measurement report containing RSRP and
RSRQ along with target cell PCI to eNodeB.
Then eNodeB send RRC reconfiguration
message to UE which contains other
handover parameters.
The user equipment uses parameters sent by
the RBS to determine when to perform
handover measurements. Measurements
commences on the serving and neighboring
cells when the RSRP of the serving cell falls
below the value defined in the s-
Measure parameter.

Figure 1
UE uses either RSRP or RSRQ
measurements to determine whether to enter
the EventA3 condition. The trigger Quantity
A3 parameter is used to configure whether
RSRP or RSRQ values are used to trigger
EventA3. Measurements of RSRP and RSRQ
are performed on the serving and detected
neighboring cells. The measured values of
RSRP and RSRQ then filtered based upon the
settings of the parameter filter Coefficient E-
Utran RSRP and filter Coefficient E-Utran
RSRQ parameters.
The filter averages a number of
measurements in order to filter out the impact
of large scale fast fading. The user equipment
then uses an offset value, a3 offset, and a
hysteresis value, hysteresis A3, to determine
whether to trigger the Event A3
Entering A3 Event conditions are defined by
the following
Mn−HysteresisA3>Ms+a3offset
Mn = measured value of the neighboring cell
(either RSRP or RSRQ)
Ms = measured value of the serving cell
(either RSRP or RSRQ)
Once Event A3 is triggered, the user
equipment will wait a pre-determined time
(timeToTriggerA3) before it commences
sending measurement reports to the serving
RBS. These measurement reports contain
measurements for the serving cells and up to
three detected intra frequency neighbor cells.
The report Quantity A3 parameter indicates
whether RSRP or RSRQ measurements, or
both, are to be included in the measurement
reports.
The parameter report Interval A3 determines
the time interval between measurement
reports. The parameter report Amount
A3 indicates how many reports to send; a
value of 0 indicates that the reports should be
sent indefinitely whilst the EventA3
condition is active. The user equipment uses
the same offset and hysteresis values to
determine when to leave EventA3 when the
serving cell improves in RSRP or RSRQ
relative to the neighboring cells. The formula
used by the UE is given by:
Mn + HysteresisA3 < Ms + a3offset
B. A3 OFFSET
This parameter can be found in 3GPP
36.331.The value sent over the RRC interface
is twice the value configured, that is, the UE
has to divide the received value by 2.The role
of the offset in Event A3 is to make the
serving cell look better than its current
measurement in comparison to the neighbor.
C. HYSTERESIS A3
The role of the hysteresis in Event A3 is to
make the measured neighbor look worse than
the serving one, to ensure it is really stronger
before the UE decides to send a measurement
report to initiate a handover.
D. TIME TO TIGGER A3
In Event A3 the role of ttt is to avoid ping-
pong effect. Time to trigger A3 typical values
are [0, 40, 64, 80, 100, 128, 160, 256, 320,
480, 512, 640, 1024, 1280, 2560, 5120]
milliseconds.
Cell Individual offset E-UTRAN:
This parameter is applied individually to each
neighbor cell with load management
purposes. The higher the value given to a
neighbor cell, the “more attractive” it will be.
This parameter can only be used in an RRC
connection reconfiguration.
CONCLUSION
There are always increasing demands of high
speed data applications in wireless systems
with seamless and fast access of
communication services and better QOS.
LTE required such algorithm which
automatically optimize and configure the
So Automatic configuration and optimization
of networks is a key concept in LTE. There
are some important parameters described in
the paper which are involved in the HO.
Event A3 is the most important parameter
widely used in LTE handover process.
REFERENCES
[1] NTT DoCoMo, “Evaluation of Rel-8
LTE mobility performance”, 3GPP
R2-093273, May 2009.
[2] Capdevielle, V., Feki, A., &
Fakhreddine, A. (2013, May). Self-
optimization of handover parameters in LTE
networks. In Modeling & Optimization in
Mobile, Ad Hoc & Wireless Networks
(WiOpt), 2013 11th International
Symposium on (pp. 133-139). IEEE.
[3] Legg, P., Hui, G., & Johansson, J. (2010,
September). A simulation study of LTE
intra-frequency handover performance.
In Vehicular Technology Conference Fall
(VTC 2010-Fall), 2010 IEEE 72nd (pp. 1-5).
IEEE.
[4] Ismail, M., Yusof, A. L., Ya'acob, N.,
Ali, S. N., Rosdi, M., & Zainali, M. A.
(2013, August). The performance of intra
and inter handover with overlapping cell in
LTE based network. In System Engineering
and Technology (ICSET), 2013 IEEE 3rd
International
Conference on (pp. 148-151). IEEE.