Analysis of Handover Problems on GSM Networks

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Analysis of Handover Problems on GSM Networks

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Analysis of Handover Problems on GSM Networks

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 Analysis of Handover Problems on GSM Networks

 Generally, handovers can be classified into the following types. These problems
directly lead to poor user experience and complaints. Therefore, methods of quickly
and even automatically optimizing the handover success rate must be worked out to
improve network quality and user experience.
 No handover performed: Call drops occur.
 Handover failure: Call quality is affected, and poor call quality leads to call drops.
 Frequent handovers: Call quality is affected, and the system load increases.
 In a handover on a GSM network, which is a hard handover, a call must exit the
original channel before being handed over to a new channel. Therefore, if
handovers are performed frequently, interruptions occur during handovers,
interrupting calls and affecting call quality.
 Downlink call quality is poor due to slow handovers.

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 Analysis of Handover Problems on GSM Networks

 Checking alarms
 Check alarms related to board faults, transmission faults, and clock faults.
 Analyzing traffic statistics
 BSC performance measurement
 Inter-cell handover performance measurement
 Incoming/outgoing handover performance measurement
 Undefined neighboring cell performance measurement
 Performing drive tests
 Analyzing signaling messages
 Analyze signaling messages over the Um interface, Abis interface, and A interface.

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Analysis of Handover Problems on GSM Networks

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 Analysis of Handover Problems on GSM Networks

 TOP cell problems: Sort cells according to handover success rates and numbers of
handover failures to screen out 5% to 10% of these cells. If the handover success rate
becomes normal after these cells are removed, these cells are the TOP cells with low
handover success rates.
 Network-wide problem: If the handover success rate on the entire network does not
improve significantly after the TOP cells are removed, the problem is a network-wide
problem.

 Integrated problem: If the handover success rate on the entire network improves but is still
lower than the original one (or lower than the target) after the TOP cells are removed, the
problem is an integrated (TOP cells and network-wide) problem.
 Note: The preceding standards are for reference only. During actual operations,
locate handover problems based on factors such as the targets of handover success
improvement, types of TOP cell problems and difficulties and costs of handling, and
room for network-wide optimization. In normal conditions, perform handover
optimization for TOP cells and network-wide handover optimization concurrently,
namely, resolve the preceding integrated problem.

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 Analysis of Handover Problems on GSM Networks

 Before analzying the problem of a low handover success rate, perform the following steps for
handover classification:
 1. Determine the scope of the handover failure by analyzing traffic statistics. If the handover
success rate is low in all cells, locate the problem by checking handover parameters, A interface
circuits, and BSC clock.
 2. In other cases, screen out the TOPN cells with the lowest handover success rates. Then,
locate problems for each cell by performing the step described in the preceding page.
 3. You can check whether any radio interface problems exist based on the difference between
the handover success rate and the radio handover success rate. The radio handover success rate
is higher than or equal to the handover success rate. If the handover success rate is much lower
than the radio handover success rate, check whether any terrestrial link or capacity problems
exist. If the difference between these two rates is insignificant, check whether any coverage or
interference problems exist.
 4. Query the outgoing handover success rate and incoming handover success rate in the
handover performance measurement to check whether incoming handovers or outgoing
handovers fail Then, analyze the performance measurement of outgoing handovers and
incoming handovers in the cells with low handover success rates. Based on the performance
measurement of outgoing handovers, check the cells to which handovers fail. Analyze the
counters H382A: Failed Incoming Inter-Cell Handovers (Congestion), K3014: Traffic Volume on
TCH, and K3045: Congestion Rate on TCH (All Channels Busy) of all the cells with incoming
handover failures.
 5. Query the counters TCH Availability Ratio and RR307: TCH Availability of the target cell to
check whether any device faults exist.
 6. Query the number of A interface failures and the number of terrestrial link interruptions
during TCH occupation to check whether any terrestrial link device faults exists.

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Analysis of Handover Problems on GSM Networks

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 Analysis of Handover Problems on GSM Networks

 Calculate the traffic per channel. For cells with excessive traffic, resolve the problem
by lowering the threshold for busy traffic (For example, enable the AMR algorithm and
adjust the AMR TCH/H Prior Cell Load Threshold. For a concentric cell, adjust the
TCH Traffic Busy Overlay Threshold, TCH Traffic Busy Underlay Threshold, and TCH
Traffic Busy Threshold) or by expanding the TRX capacity. The adjustment principle
is to properly lower the values of the preceding parameters for heavily congested cells.

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Analysis of Handover Problems on GSM Networks

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 Analysis of Handover Problems on GSM Networks

 When the MS reports Protocol error unspecified, the problem is possibly caused by
unexpected interference if the information about the target cell of the handover is not
found in a measurement report before the handover command is delivered.

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Analysis of Handover Problems on GSM Networks

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 Analysis of Handover Problems on GSM Networks

 The symptom of a hardware fault is that the alarm system reports the associated
alarm information. First, handle these hardware fault alarms. If the hardware fault
alarms are cleared, check the traffic measurment information and analyze handover
counters.
 View information about alarms, such such transmission alarms, board
communcation alarms, SWR alarms, and clock alarms, to check whether any
device faults occur. Check whether the antennas are connected inversely.
 Query the counters, for example, RK3255: TRX Usability, of the target cell to check
whether any device faults occur.
 Query the counters, such as A3129G: Failed Assignments (A Interface Failure) and
Measurement of Call Drops Due to Abis Terrestrial Link Failure to check whether any
terrestrial link device faults occur.

 Poor handovers are also attributable to inaccurate BSC clock or BTS clock. Clock
inaccuracy may affect cell reselection and handover counters. For details about
locating clock problems, see later sections.
 For resolving a device fault problem, contact GBSS engineers.
 Main BTS hardware faults include splitter/combiner faults, TRX damage, DTMU
damage, clock faults, internal communications cable faults, and antenna faults.
 Main BSC hardware faults include clock inconsistency between BTSs due to a clock
board fault and faults of the boards on a channel.

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 Analysis of Handover Problems on GSM Networks

 Handling procedure
 Check the hardware data configuration. If the data configuration of the cell with the
fault and that of the neighboring cells have not been modified recently but handover
problems occur, check whether the problems are due to a BTS hardware fault.
 If handover problems occur in only one cell served by the BTS, check whether the
problems are due to a hardware fault that occurs in the cell. For example, if a TRX is
damaged, calls fail to be handed over to the TRX.
 If similar problems also occur on the co-site neighboring cells, check whether the
problems are due to a fault on the hardware shared by the cells. For example, check
whether a TMU fault exists.
 You can locate the preceding problems by blocking certain TRXs. If the handover
success rate becomes normal after a TRX is blocked, check whether the TRX is fault or
whether any combiners or antennas associated with the TRX are faulty.
 If the downlink and downlink signals of a TRX are severely imbalanced, handover
problems often occur. For example, handovers are performed frequently and the
handover success rate decreases.
 By performing signaling message trace on the Abis interface, check whether the
signaling in the cell works properly. For example, check whether the quality of uplink
and downlink received level in the measurement report is good.
 If the quality of the receive level of the half-rate and full-rate channels in the
measurement report is poor, the cell has a hardware fault or is so seriously
affected by interference that signaling messages cannot be exchanged properly,
causing handover problems.

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 Analysis of Handover Problems on GSM Networks

 Asynchronous clock and BTS clock instability are important causes for call drops during handovers.
The BTS clock must be kept stable. Otherwise, handovers fail and an excessive number of calls are
dropped due to clock instability.
 When the 13 M Clock Maintenance Alarm is generated, the BTS BSIC cannot be unlocked and the
handover success rate in the serving cell decreases.
 If the clock reference source is abnormal, offset may occur between the clock of the BTS and
that of other BTS. As a result, abnormalities may occur when the MS performs a handover.
 To resolve the problems of clock out of lock and abnormal clock reference source, check alarm
information first. Check whether the E1 Local alarm or E1 Remote alarm is generated. If yes,
handle the alarm according to the alarm handling manual. After the alarm is cleared, observe
the handover success rate. Then, check the transmission line clock of the BTS. Use a frequency
meter to test whether the offset of the transmission line clock of the BTS is greater than 0.05 ppm ;
If the offset is greater than or equal to 0.05 ppm, the transmission clock is abnormal, the E1
transmission line or optical transmission line may be faulty, or the clock source is faulty. In this case,
rectify the transmission line faults by performing segment-based loopback, ending the alarm
handling procedure. If the problem persists, perform level-4 BTS reset. Then, observe the alarms and
handover success rate. If the problems persists, replace the TMU.
 The criteria for determining whether the BTS clock, BSC clock, and MSC clock are asynchronous are
as follows:
 MSC: △f/f（ offset ）≤ 1E-8
 BSC or BTS: △f/f (offset) ≤ 5E-8
 Due to clock inaccuracy, the MS cannot properly decode the BSCIs of neighboring cells.

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 Analysis of Handover Problems on GSM Networks

 Check whether any data modifications are made to the cell, BSC, or MSC with the
problem before the handover problem occurs. Locate data configuraiton problems in
the following aspects:
 Neighboring cell check: Check whether any redundancy neighboring cells are not
configured and whether any neighboring cells have the same BCCH and the same BSIC.
 Cooperation data on the A interface: encryption, authentication, half-rate, EFR, AMR,
protocol versions (Phase 2 and Phase 2+), circuit pool No., and CGI.
 Handover-related parameters: handover algorithm switch, cell hierarchy and priorities,
handover threshold, handover hysteresis (time hysteresis and level hysteresis), penalty
time, and timers
 Check of neighboring cells and cooperation data on the A interface is the basic work.
Handover-related parameters are the advanced optimization contents. You can use the
Nastar analysis tool to check neighboring cells. For data cooperation on the A interface,
first ensure consistent parameter settings on the BSS side and NSS side. If necessary,
perform signaling trace (by using the LMT or a signaling analyzer) for in-depth analysis. For
handover-related parameters, analyze whether incoming handovers or outgoing handovers
are poorer. For example, check which type of handovers are performed more frequently
and fail more frequently. Check whether the associated parameter settings are proper.
Then, adjust the parameter settings as required.

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Analysis of Handover Problems on GSM Networks

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 Analysis of Handover Problems on GSM Networks

 Symptom of a fault due to improper data configuration: The MS does not perform any handovers or perform
handovers frequently. As a result, the handover success rate decreases.
 The handover decision algorithm is controlled by handover parameters. If handover parameters are set improperly, the MS
possibly does not perform any handovers or performs handovers too frequently. In this case, do as follows:
 Check whether the PBGT handover threshold is set properly in the data configuration.
 Avoid an excessive handover threshold. Otherwise, handovers are difficult. Also avoid a handover threshold that is too
small. Otherwise, handovers are performed frequently. Set a proper handover threshold to prevent ping-pong handovers.
Prevent parameter settings much larger or smaller than the defaults.
 Check whether the parameters of the candidate cells for handovers are set properly in data configuration.
 Check that all neighboring cells are configured properly. Otherwise, the MS cannot perform handovers to a
neighboring cell that is not configured.
 Check whether the handover hysteresis is set properly in the data configuration.
 Avoid setting excessive handover hysteresis. Otherwise, handovers are difficult. Also avoid setting handover
hysteresis that is too low. Otherwise, handovers are performed frequently.
 Check whether the handover hysteresis is set properly in the data configuration.
 Avoid setting excessive handover hysteresis. Otherwise, handovers are difficult. Also avoid setting handover hysteresis
that is too low. Otherwise, handovers are performed frequently.
 Prevent the same BCCH and the same BSIC in neighboring cells in the data configuration.
 Avoid setting neighboring cells that have the same BCCH and the same BSIC.

 Handovers fail due to CIC circuit faults.

 Assume that the CIC circuit allocated by the Handover REQ message received by the target BSC is marked as
BLOCK in the BSC. Therefore, the BSC returns a Handover Failure message carrying cause value Abis
Terrestrial Link Failure to the MSC. In this case, check that the circuit statuses on both sides of the A
interface are the same.
 You can locate handover failures due to inconsistent circuit statuses by performing signaling trace on the A interface on
the maintenance console. Handover Failure Perform signaling trace on A interface and find the Handover Failure
signaling message using filter. Open the Handover Failure signaling message to check whether the cause value is Abis
Terrestrial Link Failure.

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 Analysis of Handover Problems on GSM Networks

 Impacts on the wireless network peformance: If these timers are too longer, channel
resources may be wasted and congestion occurs. If these timers are too short, the
handover success rate may decrease.
 T3105 means the time interval at which a PHY INO message is sent to the MS. When
a PHYSICAL INFORMATION message is sent, T3105 is started on the network. If the
timer expires before a correct frame is received from the MS, a PHYSICAL
INFORMATION message is resent and the timer restarted. The maximum number of
times of resending PHYSICAL INFORMATION messages is Ny1. A handover can be
performed successfully only when Ny1 x T3105 is greater than T3124 + delta (delta
indicates the time period starting from the expiry of T3124 to the receipt of a
HANDOVER FAILURE message by the original BSC). Used for the occupation
process in asynchronous handovers, T3124 is started for the receipt of a PHYSICAL
INFORMATION from the network side. T3124 is started when the MS sends the
HANDOVER ACCESS message on the main DCCH for the first time and is stopped
when the MS receives a PHYSICAL INFORMATION message. Sending of Access
BURST messages is stopped. The physical channel in sending mode and reception
mode is activated for access when needed. If the types of channels allocated in the
HANDOVER COMMAND messages are SDCCH (+ SACCH), T3124 is set to 675 ms.
In the case of other channel types, T3124 is set to 320 ms.

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 Analysis of Handover Problems on GSM Networks

 Symptom of target cell congestion: After initiating a handover request, the MS cannot apply for
a channel. As a result, the handover fails.
 The causes for cell congestion are as follows:
 The number of subscribers in the cell increases sharply, exceeding the designed
maximum number of subscribers.
 The cell has to serve an excessive number of subscribers due to improper parameter
settings.
 The number of subscribers handed over to the cell increases due to improper handover
parameter settings.
 After a handover fails due to target cell congestion, penalize the target cell to prevent the MS
from attempting handovers to this target cell again. You are advised to set Penalty Allowed
to YES.
 Check whether the channel state of the congested cell is normal. If the TRX is faulty or the
channel state is abnormal, rectify related faults.
 If the adjustment of a full-rate channel as a half-rate channel is not allowed for the cell, you are
advised to adjust the channel attributes (full rate and half rate) using BSC6900 LMT and
enable TCH Rate Adjust Allow for all the TRXs of the cell. If the adjustment of a full-rate
channel as a half-rate channel is allowed for the cell, properly lower the threshold for busy
traffic to allocate a half-rate channel in advance for system capacity expansion. If the problem
persists after the preceding operations are performed, resolve the congestion problem using
cell splitting and cell capacity expansion. If capacity expansion cannot be completed within a
short time, set Reserved Channel Number to 1 or 2 to reserve channels for handovers. This
reduces the number of handover failures due to congestion and improves the handover
success rate.

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 Analysis of Handover Problems on GSM Networks

 Due to target cell congestion, outgoing handovers from the source cell to the target
cell fail and incoming handovers to the cell fail.
 Query the counters of the target cell, for exmaple, Number of Failure incoming Cell
Handovers(congestion), TCH Congestion(busy), and TCH Traffic, to check
whether the handovers are poor due to target cell congestion. When the traffic in
the target cell is busy, handovers fail because no channel is available. In this case,
you can expand the capacity of the target cell or decrease the coverage area.
 Query the number of incoming handovers and that of outgoing handovers. Check
whether the target cell congestion is due to improper handovers. Improper
handovers can be reduced by modifying handover parameter settings properly.

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 Analysis of Handover Problems on GSM Networks

 Record the counter Channel Assignment Failures (All Channels Busy). By analyzing
this counter, you can clearly know the number of times when all channels are busy or
channels are not configured during the procedures, such as immediate assignment,
assignment, intra-BSC intra-cell handovers, intra-BSC incoming handovers, and inter-
BSC incoming handovers, and the assignment of SDCCHs, TCHFs, and TCHHs by
the BSC. Then, adjust the target cell based on the information about handover failures.
In the case of SDCCH congestion, enable dynamic SDCCH assignment. In the case
of TCH congestion, lower the threshold for half-rate channel assignment to assign
half-rate channels for mitigating congestion. In addition, you can set 1 or channels
reserved for handovers.

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Analysis of Handover Problems on GSM Networks

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 Analysis of Handover Problems on GSM Networks

 When the network is affected by major interference, the signal receiving quality often
degrades. As a result, the number of interfered or poor handovers increases and the
proportion of PBGT handovers decreases. The service quality of the live network
degrades to a certain extent, affecting user experience and even the handover
success rate.
 Common interference includes co-channel interference and adjacent channel
interference. CDMA interference and heavy multiplexing of band E leads to constant
poor quality; If idle burst function is not manually disabled after being enabled, the
interference with the entire network also increases, the background noise increases,
and the network-wide quality degrades. As a result, the handover success rate
decreases.

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 Analysis of Handover Problems on GSM Networks

 Main interference sources affecting GSM systems include the interference from outside of the network,
interference from inside of the network, interference due to hardware faults, and interference due to
repeaters.
 Interference from outside of the network: Such interference is mainly caused by TV stations, high-
power broadcasting stations, radars, and high-voltage power lines. You may locate the interference
source using a spectrum analyzer and directional antennas.
 Interference due to repeaters: Interference occurs if the sites where repeaters are used and antenna
installation locations are improper or the number of times of amplifying uplink and downlink signals is
set improperly. In addition, interference often occurs because a wireless broadband repeater
amplifies all the received in-band signals.
 Interference due to hardware faults: Such interference is characterized by strong interference signals
and a long duration of interference. Interference due to inter-modulation is closely related to the
traffic volume. You can verify such interference by enabling test idle timeslot on LMT.
 Interference from inside of the network: Such interference is co-channel interference or adjacent
channel interference caused by improper frequency planning, excessive frequency multiplexing, or
coverage overlap. Generally, such interference increases as the traffic volume increases.
 In terms of the handover procedure, the number of handovers due to poor quality and interference
increases if the interference is high; In terms of handover results, the larger the number of handover
failures, the larger the number of handover failures and reestablishment failures.; In terms of test
methods, you can check the interference by performing drive tests, CQT tests, querying traffic
statistics (interference band counters, frequency scan performance measurement, and received
quality/level performance measurement), and using the Nastar tool (for frequency check). Based on
the results of the above-mentioned analysis, adjust frequencies or control coverage overlap to
reduce interference. When analyzing the interference problem, consider factors such as frequency
hopping, PBGT handovers, and coverage control.

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 Analysis of Handover Problems on GSM Networks

 Interference may be sourced from inside or outside of the network and exist in the uplink or
downlink signals. Multiple methods are available for locating interference. Generally, you can
locate interference by performing the following steps:
 analyze the traffic statistics to identify places possibly affected by interference.
 Based on user complaints, perform drive tests in the places possibly affected by
interference and check the interference with downlink signals. Use drive test tools to check
whether any places exist where the received level is high but the call quality is poor. In
addition, you can lock frequencies with a test MS and perform dialing tests. Check whether
the interference affects a specific frequency.
 Analyze the frequency planning to check whether co-channel interference or adjacent
channel interference occurs due to improper frequency planning. Adjust the frequencies
possibly affected by intererence to check whether the interference can be avoided and
reduced.
 Certain optical repeaters extend their source signals, often causing co-channel interference.
Therefore, when implementing optimization, check the frequencies of source signals and
those of the cells near the repeaters to ensure that the frequency interval is greater than
400 K. If a repeater is used in the serving cell, perform the following data configuration:
Choose SET GCELLSOFT > Directly Magnifier BTS Flag. Select YES.
 Check whether the interference is due to an equipment-related fault.
 If the interference still cannot be eliminated after the preceding operations are performed,
perfrom frequency scans using a spectrum analyzer to identify frequencies affected by
interference and locate the interference source.

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 Analysis of Handover Problems on GSM Networks

 You can obtain the information about the interference with uplink signals by checking the interference band
distribution in the traffic statistics. If the proportion of interference bands 3 to 5 is high, uplink signals are
affected by severe interference. You can check the interference with downlink signals by performing drive
tests or by analyzing the receive quality measurement counters.

 If interference exists in a cell, the TCH call drop rate is high. In addition, the handover success rate is low and
the proportion of handovers due to poor quality is large.
 Observing the interference with uplink signals by analzying the interference bands in the traffic
statistics
 Generally, if an idle channel appears in interference bands 3 to 5, interference exists. In the case
of interference from inside of the network, the interference increases as the traffic volume increases.
Generally, interference from outside of the network is unrelated to traffic volume increase.
Interference bands are reported to the BSC in RF resource indication messages when the BTS TRX
channel is idle. The RF resource indication messages indicate the uplink features of the radio channel
occupied by the MS, namely, the interference with the uplink signals. If the current signal is busy, it is
difficult to report resource indication messages. Therefore, the measurement of interference
bands must also be considered comprehensively.
 Receive level performance measurement (providing the matrix relationship between level and quality)
 This is a measurement task per TRX. If the number of times (when the level is high but the quality
is low) is excessive, the frequencies of the TRX board are affected by co-channel interference,
adjacent channel interference, or interference from outside of the network.
 Proportion of handovers due to poor quality
 In cell performance measurement and inter-cell handover performance measurement or outgoing
handover performance measurement, outgoing handover requests due to various reasons are
measured. If an excessive number of handovers are performed due to poor quality, interference exists.
In addition, if an excessive number of handovers are performed due to poor uplink signal quality,
uplink signals are affected by interference. If an excessive number of handovers re performed due to
poor downlink signal quality, downlink signals are affected by interference.

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Analysis of Handover Problems on GSM Networks

 Receive level performance measurement

 For TRXs, record the mean receive level grade for reference.
 Call drop performance measurement
 Record the mean level and quality during call drops for reference.
 CS KPIs > Outgoing Intra-BSC Handovers > Attempts of Outgoing Cell
Handovers Intra-BSC (Quality) and Attempts of Outgoing Cell Handovers
Intra-BSC (Other Reasons)

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 Analysis of Handover Problems on GSM Networks

 Eliminate interference from inside of the network and interference from outside of the network by taking
different measures. Eliminate interference from outside of the network by the related radio administration
committee. Eliminate interference from inside of the network by adjusting the network.
 To resolve the interference problem, first perform drive tests to identify the cells or frequencies seriously
affected by interface on the live network. Then, perform routine RF optimization measures, such as
adjusting the tilt angles of antennas, replacing frequencies, adjusting the transmit power, and adjutsing
the cell coverage area. You can also take auxiliary measures to record interference band measurement
and estimate the interference with downlink signals.
 1. Perform drive tests to check the road sections affected by interference and signal quality
distribution. Identify the cells in which coverage overlap causes interference. Based on the actual
conditions, avoid interference by adjusting the BTS transmit power, tilt angles of antennas, or
frequency planning in related cells.
 2. Use discontinuous transmission (DTX), frequency hopping, power control, and diversity.
 You can take these measures to lower the system noise and enhance the anti-interference level
of the system. DTX, which can be uplink DTX or downlink DTX, can reduce the valid duration of
transmission to lower the interference level of the system. However, DTX must be adjusted on
the basis of the actual wireless environment and the relationship with neighboring cells. When
the quality of the signals received by the MS is poor, using DTX may lead to call drops With the
DTX downlink function enabled, the transmit power of the BTS increases when the subscriber is in
conversation after call setup. When no call is placed, the transmit power of the BTS decreases. On
the one hand, the interference with other BTSs is reduced. On the other hand, if interference exists
around the BTS, discontinuous transmission of downlink signals worsens the call quality. When the
transmit power of the BTS decreases, call quality degrades and even call drops occur in places where
the receive level is low but interference is strong.
 3. Eliminate interference due to the equipment, such as self excitation of TRX boards and antenna
inter-modulation interference.

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 Analysis of Handover Problems on GSM Networks

 Symptoms of coverage problems are low handover success rate, call drops and poor voice quality, poor
user experience, noise and metal sound during conversation.
 Coverage problems are classified into three types.
 Coverage overlap: Coverage overlap is due to an edge threshold that is too low, excessive BTS
power, and improper antenna tilt angles, causing co-channel interference and decreasing the
handover success rate.
 Low handover success rate due to the isolated island effect: For example, the coverage of the
serving cell greatly exceeds the neighboring cells and no neighbor relationship is configured between
the serving cell and the neighboring cells. In this case, handover failures often occur at the edge of
the serving cell.
 Coverage loopholes due to weak coverage
 To resolve the coverage problem, identify the coverage problems on the live network based on the drive test
reports of network optimization and perform RF optimization.
 For a cell with coverage overlap and no neighboring cells configured, supplement the neighboring
cells to reduce the call drops that occur because no appropriate cell is available. In this case,
eliminate the coverage overlap by reducing the antenna tilt angle for the BTS
 Identify the regions with insufficent coverage.
 Perform drive tests to identify the regions with insufficient coverage. For places without
continuous coverage, for example, isolated sites and BTSs in a mountainous area, add BTSs to
form continous coverage. Alternatively, improve thee coverage of the BTSs by taking other
measuring, for example, increasing the maximum transmit power of the BTSs and adjusting the
azimuth angles, tilt angles, and mount heights of antennas. In adddition, check whether the
coverage problems are due to terrains or topographical features, for example, tunnels, large
shopping malls, metro entrance and exit, underground parking lot, and low lands. Generally, call
drops often occur in these places. Use micro cells for coverage in these places.

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 Analysis of Handover Problems on GSM Networks

 Rectifying hardware faults

 Perform drive tests to check whether the coverage area is too small due to a
hardware fault. If the call drop rate increases abruptly and other counters of the
site are normal, check whether the neighboring cells work properly (Possibly a
downlink fault occurs, for example, a problem with the TRXs, diversity unit, or
antennas. If an uplink fault occurs, the failure rate of outgoing handovers from
the original cell is high).

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 Analysis of Handover Problems on GSM Networks

 You can check coverage by performing indoor drive tests and outdoor dialing tests. If
the test result shows that the downlink receive level is too low (lower than -100 dBm),
causing network access failure or poor quality, or no neighboring cell is available for
handover for a long time and the level quality deteriorates continuously, coverage
problems exist.
 Drive tests
 Identify the regions with insufficient coverage based on user complaints and
perform drive tests within a large scope. Check whether signal levels and
handovers are normal. Check whether any call drops occur.
 Traffic measurement
 Based on the traffic measurement information collected by the M2000, query
the overall call drop rate of the BSC and identify the cells with a high call drop
rate and related counters, which assist in fault analysis and identification.
 The following page lists some traffic measurement tasks and counters.

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Analysis of Handover Problems on GSM Networks

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 Analysis of Handover Problems on GSM Networks

 Generally, the handover success rate is low due to imbalance between the uplink and
downlink when the uplink signal strength is weak. For example, due to problems with
the hardware such as the combiner, the uplink channel loss is excessive and the
uplink signal strength is weak. As a result, the incoming handover success rate is low.
Generally, when the incoming handover success rate is low, high-traffic blind areas
exist or MS access is difficult with a weak uplink signal strength due to data problems
(for example, incorrect CGI in the cell description table, lack of a measurement
frequency for BA1 or BA2, or co-channel or adjacent channel interference). In this
case, perform the following procedure for tests and analysis. Check whether the state
of the hardware and maintenance boards of the cells is normal and whether any
hardware fault alarms or SWR alarms are generated. Refresh the channel state and
check whether the TCH can be occupied properly. After rectifying any hardware or
channel faults, check the handover data configuration. Ensure that the data
configuration is the same as the parameter baseline. Record cell-level handover
counters. Check whether the success rate of the handovers among certain cells
remains very low. For the cells in which the handover success rate remains low,
perform drive tests. Perform forced handovers and lock the main BCCH as the calling
party and called party respectively. Based on the handovers, the called party, and the
calling party, determine the problems with the uplink and downlink signals. If the
uplink loss is excessive, replace the combiner and then perform tests for observation.
 Resolve the problem of imbalance between the uplink and downlink by implementing
RF optimization.

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Analysis of Handover Problems on GSM Networks

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 Analysis of Handover Problems on GSM Networks

 The symptom of an inter-BSC or inter-MSC handover failure is that no handover can be

performed between BSCs or MSCs.
 The causes for inter-BSC handover failures or inter-MSC handover failures are as follows:
 The cell data configuration related to MSC handovers is incorrect.
 The cell data configuration related to the target BSC handovers is incorrect.
 The MSC and BSC interpret the handover signaling over the A interface in different ways.
As a result, signaling cooperation over the A interface fails.
 Clocks are not synchronous between BSCs.

 Check whether related data configuration on the MSC and that on the cells in which handovers
fail are correct. For example, chech whether the cell CGIs and office directions of the cells are
correct. Rectify any incorrect data configurations and then check whether handovers are
successful.
 Check whether the neighboring cell configuration of the source BSC and target BSC involved
in the handovers is correct. Rectify any incorrect configurations and then check whether
handovers are successful.
 Perform signaling trace on the A interface. Check whether the signaling cooperation in
handover flows between the source BSC and MSC and between the MSC and the target BSC
is normal. For example, check whether any flow exists where the BSC releases handovers
abnormally. If an abnormal flow exists, locate the cause for the abnormal flow. Rectify the fault
and then check whether handovers are successful.
 Check whether the source BSC and target BSC involved in the handovers lock the upper-level
clock of the MSC. If the BSC does not lock the clock of the MSC, find the cause for the clock
lock failure. Rectify the fault and then check whether handovers are successful.

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Analysis of Handover Problems on GSM Networks

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 Analysis of Handover Problems on GSM Networks

 The preceding signaling flow shows that the MS sends a handover access message at
09:49:38 after receiving the handover command. The BTS soon detects the handover access
message and uses the Abis interface to send the BSC a HANDO_DET message, indicating
that the handover access message is detected. Then, the BTS sends six EST_IND messages
consecutively. This indicates that the BTS receives six layer 2 SABM frames from the MS.
According to the LAPDm protocol in GSM specifications, after being connected to a new
channel, an MS sends layer 2 SABM frames to establish a multi-frame operation mode. On
receiving an SABM frame, the BTS returns a UA message to the MS for acknowledgement. If
the MS receives a UA message within the specified timer (T200), the multi-frame operation
mode is established successfully. If the MS receives no UA message before T200 expires, the
MS resends SABM frames. The maximum number of SAMB frames to be resent is decided by
the N200. Generally, this value is set to 5 in N200_EST. If the MS still receives no UA
message when the number of resent SABM frames reaches the upper limit, the MS considers
that a lower layer failure has occurred. In the case of a handover, the MS returns to the original
serving cell. According to the signaling flow in cell A, which is the target cell of the handover,
the MS sends six SABM frames consecutively because it receives no UA message for
acknowledgement. This means that the downlink output power of TRX 2 in cell A is insufficient.
The measurement counters for the balance between the uplink and downlink are checked. The
result shows that the TRX is imbalanced in the uplink and downlink.
After the TRX is blocked, the handover success rate of cell A increases to 90% the next day.
 On August 6, fault diagnosis was performed for multiple times in the cell. The diagnosis result
shows that the imbalance in the uplink and downlink on TRX 2 is caused by a fault with an
antenna in the cell. The EDU of the cell was replaced with a CDU. In addition, after two TRXs
were combined, the antenna functioning properly is used for output. After the handling was
complete, the handover success rate of the cell increased greatly.

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 Analysis of Handover Problems on GSM Networks

 The information collected by the Nastar shows that frequencies 100 and 102 of Geda-
1 are the same as the BCCH and TCH of Donggugang-2. When the MS is handed
over from Donggugang-2 to Geda-1, co-channel interference is very high. As a result,
the handover success rate is low.

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 Analysis of Handover Problems on GSM Networks

 [Symptom]
A signaling analyzer is used to analyze the messages over the A interface and E
interface. The analysis result shows that after the GSM 1800 MHz BSC sends a
Handover Required message, the GSM 1800 MSC returns a Handover REJECT
message to reject the handover request.
Using the corresponding E interface (interface between the GSM 1800 MHz MSC and
GSM 900 MHz MSC), the GSM 1800 MHz MSC sends a Prepare Handover message
to the GSM 900 MHz MSC. The GSM 900 MHz MSC returns an Abort message.
As the success rate of the handovers from GSM 900 MHz to GSM 1800 MHz is high,
the Prepare Handover message sent from the GSM 900 MHz MSC to the GSM 1800
MHz MSC is checked. The voice version carried in the message is full-rate version is 1.
However, the voice version carried in the Prepare Handover message sent from the
GSM 1800 MHz MSC to the GSM 900 MHz MSC is full-rate versions 1, 2 and half-rate
version1, namely, PHASE 2+. The MSC provided by vendor A does not support
PHASE 2+. Therefore, handovers fail.
Modify the circuit pool table for the A interface in the MSC data by selecting only full-
rate version 1, after data loading is complete, the voice version carried in the Prepare
Handover message sent from GSM 1800 MHz to GSM 900 MHz is full-rate version 1
and 2. In this way, the dual-band handover success rate increases greatly.

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 Analysis of Handover Problems on GSM Networks

 If a cell has a low handover success rate, a high call drop rate, and the call drop type
of internal clearing, transmission problems on the Abis interface possibly exist in the
cell. The LADP trace result in the traffic measurement shows that there are problems
with the transmission link.

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Analysis of Handover Problems on GSM Networks

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Analysis of Handover Problems on GSM Networks

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