2

RADIO ENVIRONMENT
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CONTENTS

1 RADIO ENVIRONMENT.............................................................................4

1.1 Radio environment of an RCP ...........................................................6

1.1.1 Radio environment components..............................................6
1.1.2 Interrogating the radio environment.........................................8
1.2 Modifying the radio environment ......................................................10
1.2.1 Procedure for modifying the radio environment.....................10
1.2.2 Declaring/deleting cells..........................................................12
1.2.3 Declaring/deleting BSCs........................................................14
1.3 Review of RCP ↔ BSC communication...........................................14

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1-1 : Radio environment ..........................................................................................6

Figure 1-2 : Location area (LA) structure ............................................................................8

Figure 1-3 : RCP local signalling.......................................................................................14

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1 RADIO ENVIRONMENT

Objective:
To configure the radio environment at the RCP.

Content:
The current environment.
Cell, BSCs and LAs.

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1.1 Radio environment of an RCP

1.1.1 Radio environment components

The "radio environment" of an RCP is here defined as all the objects declared in
an RPC and describing the real radio environment of the RCP. In an A900 NSS
network, it comprises:
- the BSCs placed under the control of the RCP,
- the cells controlled by these BSCs,
- the LAs that form these cells,
• the LAs geographically adjacent to the space managed by this RCP (but
controlled by other RCPs) are called adjacent LAs.

BTS
BTS
BTS
BTS
BTS

BTS BTS

BSC BSC

SSP
RCP

NSS

FIGURE 1-1 : RADIO ENVIRONMENT

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(25)

150

(25)
(25)

(25)
(25)

200

150 KEY

150 50
300 (25) traffic in Erlangs (BTS)
300
150 traffic in Erlangs (BSC)

omnidirectionnal antenna

sectoral antennas
50
unidirectional antenna
100 50
50
base station

base station controller

FIGURE 1-2 : LOCATION AREA (LA) STRUCTURE

1.1.2 Interrogating the radio environment

The INTREV command is used to interrogate the cells of the RCP. The command
returns the cells grouped by LA.
The LAs are identified by a Code (LAC), the cells are numbered within an LA
(CELLID). The system also displays, for each cell, the BSC on which it depends.
A BSC is identified at the RCP by a name. INTBSC can be used to list the BSCs
of an RCP. For each, it gives its name, its SPC (in the RCP's local
communication network), its number (identifying it at the SSP) and all the cells
that it controls.
The adjacent LAs are declared twice: first as LAs managed by an adjacent MSC
(for H0), then as LAs managed by an adjacent VLR (to facilitate certain location
updates). The commands are respectively INTAML which returns for each
adjacent LA the name and global title of the MSC on which it depends and
INTAVL which returns for each adjacent LA the SPC of the MSC on which it
depends.

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1.2 Modifying the radio environment

To declare all the elements of an RCP's radio environment is beyond the scope of
this course. However, on some occasions, when there may be a large crowd
gathering (exceptional sporting event, concert, etc), the operator may be required
to modify his radio environment to cope with the large increase in traffic that could
result è there are three decision criteria:
1. cells may be added or removed (that is, LAs may be modified).
2. BSCs may be added or removed.
3. new adjacent LAs may appear and others may disappear.
1.2.1 Procedure for modifying the radio environment

Before making any change to the declared objects, it is important to check that the
information needed for the required modification is available. The recommended
approach is to draw a diagram of the initial situation (based on interrogation
procedures) and another diagram of the required final situation.
The procedure that follows must be repeated for all the RCPs affected by the
modification, in light of the above three criteria.
Procedure for each RCP concerned:
1. Are there cells to be deleted in an LA (or in a BSC) of this RCP? YES:
é delete the declaration of these cells (DELREV).
2. Are there BSCs to be deleted in this RCP? YES:
é delete the declaration of this BSC (DELBSC).
é cancel RCP ↔ BSC communication (ANSSU).
3. Are there BSCs to be added to this RCP? YES:
é create RCP ↔ BSC communication (ANSCR).
é declare the BSC (CREBSC).
4. Are there cells to be added to an LA (or to one BSC) of this RCP? YES:
é declare these cells (CREREV).

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5. Does an LA cease to be adjacent for this RCP? YES:

é delete the declaration of this LA as an adjacent LA (DELAML, DELAVL).
6. Does its MSC cease to be adjacent? YES:
é cancel RCP ↔ adjacent MSC communication (ANSSU).
7. Does an LA become adjacent for this RCP? YES:
é Does its MSC become adjacent?

YES:
é create RCP ↔ adjacent MSC communication (ANSCR).
é declare this LA as an adjacent LA by indicating the MSC's GT
(CREAML, CREAVL).
NO:
é declare this LA as an adjacent LA (CREAML, CREAVL).
Points 5 and 6 must be repeated for all the LAs concerned.
1.2.2 Declaring/deleting cells

Cells are declared by CREREV. It is important to specify:

- the number of the cell within the LA.
- the code of the LA to which it belongs.
- the name of the BSC on which it depends.
- the geographic area (GAN) on which it depends. This item of data is used for
routing emergency calls (example: 18 = fire service) to stations closest to the
caller. It must be completed on the basis of information from the SSP team.
- the address of the cell; the cell addresses default to the address of their MSC.
- the cell's charging zone (NCGZ). This data item is rarely used: in networks
where charging dependent on the caller's location is applied. It must be
completed on the basis of information from the SSP team.
A cell is deleted simply by DELREV.

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1.2.3 Declaring/deleting BSCs

A BSC is declared by CREBSC. It involves specifying:

- the name of the BSC (arbitrary)
- its SPC (in the communication network local to the RCP), as it was declared
when creating RCP ↔ BSC communication (ANS object),
- its number (value to be specified according to information from the SSP
team),
- its type (BSCTYP). This complex parameter conveys a set of BSC software
characteristics, an explanation of which is beyond the scope of this course.
We will therefore assume here that BSC is of a known type.
A BSC is deleted simply by DELBSC.

1.3 Review of RCP ↔ BSC communication

Communication between an RCP and the BSCs that it supervises is conducted in

a "local" signalling communication network. Message routing is based on SPCs
and GTs are not involved.
For the operator, all that is needed is to create the MTP objects (signalling link
set, signalling route set and ANS).
An RCP's local signalling network is in star configuration: a signalling link set links
the RCP to each of its BSCs, and to each SMIM module. These will be discussed
later.

Local communication network National

communication
network
SPd BSC1
Sig Link Set
SPe SPx
Sig. Link Set
BSC2
RCP
SPc Sig. Link Set

BSC3
Sig. Link Set
SPa
BSC4

SPb

FIGURE 1-1 : RCP LOCAL SIGNALLING

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