Cell Selection/Reselection – C1

The MS, when not in the process of making a call, will camp on the most suitable
BCCH Assuming the MS is switched on, contains a SIM card and is in the system
coverage Area.
In the idle state the MS receives a list of neighbors cell frequencies broadcast on The
BCCH of the serving cell. The MS will tune to each of these frequencies in turn, gain
synchronization and check the
Following information towards a possible cell reselection.
1. Correct PLMN
2. Cell bar
3. Location area
4. P1 & P2 (C1 parameters)

Assuming the first two of these criteria are met the major factor used by the MS for
cell Reselection is the perceived transmission quality between the MS and the
potential cell Known as C1. The criterion on which C1 is Calculated takes into account
the RXLEV of the BCCH, the maximum output power of MS and other cell specific
parameters.
C1= (A – Max. (B, 0))
A= RXLEV Average – P1
B= P2 – Max O/P Power of MS
P1 and P2 are the cell specific parameters
P1= rxlev_access_min which determines the min RXLEV required for the MS to
access the system.
.P2= ms_txpwr_max_cch which determines the maximum output power at which
the MS can access the system.
The MS will only select cells of positive C1 and when a choice between cells of the
same Location area has to be made the cell of best C1 is chosen.
In the formula ‘A’ determines the down downlink path, and ‘B’, the uplink. To reach a
positive C1 value ‘A’ must be positive, this will indicate that the received downlink
power is greater than the minimum required for that cell. If the value for ‘B’ falls
negative, this indicates that the mobile is more than capable of meeting the required
access power, in this case a value of 0 is used instead. A positive value for ‘B’
indicates a poorer uplink path.
The following statement summarizes this calculation:
‘A’= + value –> Good downlink path
– Value ->-poor downlink path
‘B’= – value –> Good uplink path
+ Value –> Poorer uplink path

Cell Reselection C2
C2 is an option GSM feature which can only be used for cell reselection, it can be
Enabled or disabled on a cell basis. If C2 parameters are not being broadcast the C1
Process is used for reselection. The formula below shows that C2 is firmly based on
the Original C1 calculation .
C2= C1 + cell_reselect_offset – temporary offset * H (penalty time –T)
(For penalty time <31)
H= 0 if T > penalty time
H= 1 if T < penalty time
C2= C1 – cell_reselect_offset
(for penalty time= 31)
Whilst idle the mobile will maintain a list of the strongest 6 neighbors being
monitored from the idle ba list. This will be constantly updated and reselection
parameters regularly checked. At least every 5 seconds the MS will calculate C2 for
the server and C2 for neighbors, if the C2 for the best neighbor exceeds that of the
server for a period of 5 seconds then reselection will take place. If the neighbor is in
a different location area then cell_reselect_hysteresis is also considered for the
same period. The parameters affecting C2 are broadcast on BCCH system
information to an idle mobile and are described below:
cell_reselect_param_ind
This parameter is used by CRM to determine if C2 parameters should be broadcasted
or not. In any case, this field will be broadcasted and read by the MS as the PI bit. A
phase 2 MS will read the C2 parameters, if present, and use them for reselection. A
phase 1 MS is not capable of using C2 parameters, the C1 algorithm will be used for
reselection.
cell_reselect_offset
An integer code specifies the cell_reselect_offset in dBs. This offset could be either
positive or negative depending on the value of penalty_time.