Pilot Pollution Pilot pollution is a type of co-channel interference in CDMA systems caused when the pilot code from

a distant cell or base station is powerful enough to create an interference problem. Hard Handover Hard handover means that all the old radio links in the UE are removed before the new radio links are established. Hard handover can be seamless or non-seamless. Seamless hard handover means that the handover is not perceptible to the user. In practice a handover that requires a change of the carrier frequency (inter-frequency handover) is always performed as hard handover. Soft Handover Soft handover means that the radio links are added and removed in a way that the UE always keeps at least one radio link to the UTRAN. Soft handover is performed by means of macro diversity, which refers to the condition that several radio links are active at the same time. Normally soft handover can be used when cells operated on the same frequency are changed. Softer handover Softer handover is a special case of soft handover where the radio links that are added and removed belong to the same Node B (i.e. the site of co-located base stations from which several sector-cells are served. In softer handover, macro diversity with maximum ratio combining can be performed in the Node B, whereas generally in soft handover on the downlink, macro diversity with selection combining is applied. Intra-frequency measurements: measurements on downlink physical channels at the same frequency as the active set. A measurement object corresponds to one cell. Inter-frequency measurements: measurements on downlink physical channels at frequencies that differ from the frequency of the active set. A measurement object corresponds to one cell. Techniques to increase capacity also may increase co-channel interference. In AMPS, GSM and IS-136 networks, calls are assigned specific frequencies. In GSM and IS-136, calls also are assigned specific timeslots within those frequencies. Design engineers are careful to plan which frequencies can be used at which base stations, the idea being to keep an adequate distance between the reuse to ensure they won't interfere with each other. This is co-channel interference.

Dynamic Channel Allocation

Most infrastructure vendors also have implemented a dynamic channel-allocation feature in their networks. Essentially, this feature allows a set of frequencies to be assigned to base stations and allows the network to choose which frequency channels to use for each call across a cluster of sites. Without this feature, a set of frequencies would be assigned to each sector, but all might not be used simultaneously, depending on demand. With dynamic channel allocation, the network is able to determine what channels are free in a specific cluster of sites at the time of the call and assign the channels dynamically as needed. This can help design engineers use co-channels closer together in many cases. Related to this is the concept of frequency hopping, in which, during the process of a call, multiple channels are used to spread the transmissions among many channels, again with the idea of negating the effects of interference on any given channel. The first step in troubleshooting co-channel problems is to identify that you have a cochannel problem in the first place. Such interference would manifest itself in the form of RF losses and handoff failures, in addition to poor call quality. In digital systems, there also will be an increase in the bit error rate (BER). Network design can cause two specific types of interference co-channel, as described above, when the same channel is used too close together, and adjacent channel, when the adjacent channel is used too close together. Adjacent-channel interference is essentially the same as co-channel, except that the interferer generally must be higher in power than the signal of interest to cause problems, and, of course, the interfering signal is in the adjacent channel as opposed to the same channel. There is a variety of opinions on when co-channel interferers begin to cause problems. Generally, in IS-136 systems, most people choose 17dB below the signal of interest as a good threshold. Drive-test gear available today can measure the power from specific base stations at any given location. In this way, an engineer can measure the power of both base stations and determine whether there is a co-channel problem. The obvious solutions are changing frequency assignments; however, antenna re-orientations, power and parameter changes also can be used.

Pilot Pollution
In IS-95 and 3G CDMA-based wireless formats, co-channel interference is inherent to the network design at a couple of levels. Each user is assigned a code instead of a specific frequency. In this way, all of the users actually transmit in the same frequency channel. A complex power-control system in these formats helps ensure that any one user is not overpowering another user. CDMA networks are designed so a set amount of users still can maintain a quality uplink and downlink in a cell's coverage, even though all of the power for all of the users is at

the same frequency. Any extra energy in the band for example, energy from the adjacent cells that are transmitting at the same frequency can cause problems. This is mitigated with the soft-handoff concept: a mobile can receive signals from separate base stations simultaneously, combining them to actually create a more robust connection. Too much of anything is never a good thing. If more than four base stations reach a mobile with enough power, the mobile will not be able to receive all of them, and the excess energy only will add to the noise floor, thus lowering the signal-to-noise ratio, which dictates the BER or call quality. In CDMA circles, this is called pilot pollution rather than co-channel interference. Pilot pollution generally is the result of putting too many cell sites too close together at too high a transmit power. In CDMA network design, capacity is directly related to how close the cell sites are to each other. Like the 2G TDMA systems discussed previously, design engineers must move cell sites closer together to gain capacity. Again, the tradeoff is the potential for pilot pollution. Pilot pollution can be identified with today's drive-test gear fairly easily, specifically with the use of an independent PN scanner. This scanner can look at the power in all of the PN offsets, the specific code offset that identifies base stations in CDMA networks. Via post processing, these tools then can show locations where the condition exists. Often in CDMA, the solution is to lower pilot power, although antenna re-orientations are also common solutions.

Uplink Issues
Pilot pollution is related specifically to the downlink in today's CDMA systems. The uplink also has concerns that are related to co-channel use. Depending on the cell radius, only a certain number of wireless phones will be able to transmit in the same frequency channel before the base station will begin to have trouble receiving the signals. Even though the complex power-control systems in CDMA allow all of the handsets to transmit at a power level such that at the base station they are all equal, as the base station is receiving the signal from one phone, all of the other phones' energy adds to the noise of the received S/N ratio. At some point, this noise rise will be so high that the S/N ratio will not be high enough to support receiving the call adequately. Many consider this noise rise the capacity-limiting factor of a cell. This is one of the main reasons for the recent proliferation of tools designed to make the handsets transmit at lower powers, yet with high call quality. For example, the superconductor-based filter and low-noise amplifier system can lower the handset transmit powers by as much as 3dB to 5dB by increasing the base station's sensitivity. In this way, more phones can be established on a call before the noise level increases too much, and the uplink capacity is increased.

As carriers try to squeeze more capacity out of 2G TDMA and CDMA systems, the drive will be to deploy more sites closer together. This means co-channel interference, whether on the uplink or the downlink, may surface. Understanding this up-front in the networkdesign phase, whether in a brand new digital overlay or simply a capacity offload deployment, is the easiest way to head off problems later. Troubleshooting the condition, however, is not terribly difficult with the tools available today, assuming over-burdened performance engineers have the time available to perform such tasks.

CC - Cause Code - Call Control Layer (TS GSM 04.08 Ann.H): 001 Unassigned (unallocated) number 002 No route to specific transit network 003 No route to destination 004 Send special info tone 005 Misdialled trunk prefix 006 Channel unacceptable 007 Call awarded and being delivered in establ.channel 008 Operator determined barring 009 Preemption - circuit reserved for reuse 016 Normal call clearing 017 User busy 018 No user responding 019 No answer from user (user alerted) 020 Subscriber absent 021 Call rejected 022 Number changed 026 Non-selected user clearing 027 Destination out of order 028 Invalid number format 029 Facility rejected 030 Response to STATUS ENQUIRY 031 Normal, unspecified 034 No circuit/channel available 038 Network out of order 039 Permanent frame mode connection out of service 040 Permanent frame mode connection operational 041 Temporary failure 042 Switching equipment congestion 043 Access information discarded 044 Requested channel/circuit not available 046 Precedence call blocked 047 Ressource unavailable 049 Requested facility not subscribed

050 Requested facility not subscribed 053 Outgoing calls barred within CUG 055 Incoming calls barred within CUG 057 Bearer capability not authorized 058 Bearer capability not presently available 062 Inconsistency in designed outg. access inf. and subscr. class 063 Service or option not available, unspecified 065 Bearer capability not implemented 066 Channel type not implemented 068 ACM equal to or greater than ACMmax 069 Req.facility not implemented 069 Requested facility not implemented 070 Only restricted digital bearer cap. is available 079 Service or option not implemented, unspecified 081 Invalid call reference value 082 Identified channel does not exist 083 A suspended call exists, but this call identity does not 084 Call identity in use 085 No call suspended 086 Call having the requested call identity has been cleared 087 User not member of CUG 088 Incompatible destination 090 Non-existing CUG 091 Invalid transit network selection 095 Invalid message, unspecified 096 Mandatory information element is missing 097 Message type non-existing or not implemented 098 Message incompatible with call state or mesg type non-existent or not implemented 099 Information element non-existent or not implemented 100 Invalid information element contents 101 Message not compatible with call state 102 Recovery on timer expiry 103 Parameter non-existent or not implemented - passed on 110 Message with unrecognized parameter discarded "Protocol error, unspecified 113 Interworking, unspecified

MM - Cause Code - Mobility Management Layer (TS GSM 04.08 Ann.G): 000 No error 002 IMSI unknown in HLR

003 Illegal MS 004 IMSI unknown in VLR 005 IMEI not accepted 006 Illegal ME 011 PLMN not allowed 012 Location area not allowed 013 Roaming not allowed in this location area 017 Network failure 022 Network congestion 032 Service option not supported 033 Service option not subscribed 034 Service temporarily out of order 038 Call cannot be identified (call RE)

RR - Cause Code - Radio Resource Management Layer (TS GSM 04.08 Ann.F): 000 Normal release 001 Unspecified 002 Channel unacceptable 003 Timer expired 004 No activity on the radio path 005 Pre-emptive release 008 Handover impossible, timing advance out of range 009 Channel mode unacceptable 010 Frequency not implemented 065 Call already cleared 097 Message type not compatible with protocol state 101 No cell allocation available 111 Protocol error unspecified

GSM Equipment and Network Error Codes

We try to keep this list up-to-date, so please send your comments to support@activexperts.com. To show these errors on your GSM device, instead of the standard "ERROR" response, send the following commands to the GSM device:

AT+CMEE=1 AT&W

CME ERROR's (GSM Equipment related codes)

Error CME ERROR: 0 CME ERROR: 1 CME ERROR: 2 CME ERROR: 3 CME ERROR: 4 CME ERROR: 5 CME ERROR: 6 CME ERROR: 7 CME ERROR: 10 CME ERROR: 11 CME ERROR: 12 CME ERROR: 13 CME ERROR: 14 CME ERROR: 15 CME ERROR: 16 CME ERROR: 17 CME ERROR: 18 CME ERROR: 20 CME ERROR: 21 CME ERROR: 22 CME ERROR: 23 CME ERROR: 24 CME ERROR: 25 CME ERROR: 26 CME ERROR: 27 CME ERROR: 30 CME ERROR: 31 CME ERROR: 32 CME ERROR: 40 CME ERROR: 41 CME ERROR: 42 CME ERROR: 43 CME ERROR: 44 Description Phone failure No connection to phone Phone adapter link reserved Operation not allowed Operation not supported PH_SIM PIN required PH_FSIM PIN required PH_FSIM PUK required SIM not inserted SIM PIN required SIM PUK required SIM failure SIM busy SIM wrong Incorrect password SIM PIN2 required SIM PUK2 required Memory full Invalid index Not found Memory failure Text string too long Invalid characters in text string Dial string too long Invalid characters in dial string No network service Network timeout Network not allowed, emergency calls only Network personalization PIN required Network personalization PUK required Network subset personalization PIN required Network subset personalization PUK required Service provider personalization PIN required

CME ERROR: 45 CME ERROR: 46 CME ERROR: 47 CME ERROR: 48 CME ERROR: 100 CME ERROR: 103 CME ERROR: 106 CME ERROR: 107 CME ERROR: 111 CME ERROR: 112 CME ERROR: 113 CME ERROR: 126 CME ERROR: 132 CME ERROR: 133 CME ERROR: 134 CME ERROR: 148 CME ERROR: 149 CME ERROR: 150 CME ERROR: 256 CME ERROR: 257 CME ERROR: 258 CME ERROR: 259 CME ERROR: 260 CME ERROR: 261 CME ERROR: 262 CME ERROR: 263 CME ERROR: 772

Service provider personalization PUK required Corporate personalization PIN required Corporate personalization PUK required PH-SIM PUK required Unknown error Illegal MS Illegal ME GPRS services not allowed PLMN not allowed Location area not allowed Roaming not allowed in this location area Operation temporary not allowed Service operation not supported Requested service option not subscribed Service option temporary out of order Unspecified GPRS error PDP authentication failure Invalid mobile class Operation temporarily not allowed Call barred Phone is busy User abort Invalid dial string SS not executed SIM Blocked Invalid block SIM powered down

CMS ERROR's (GSM Network related codes)

Error CMS ERROR: 1 CMS ERROR: 8 CMS ERROR: 10 CMS ERROR: 21 CMS ERROR: 27 CMS ERROR: 28 CMS ERROR: 29 CMS ERROR: 30 Description Unassigned number Operator determined barring Call bared Short message transfer rejected Destination out of service Unindentified subscriber Facility rejected Unknown subscriber

CMS ERROR: 38 CMS ERROR: 41 CMS ERROR: 42 CMS ERROR: 47 CMS ERROR: 50 CMS ERROR: 69 CMS ERROR: 81 CMS ERROR: 95 CMS ERROR: 96 CMS ERROR: 97 CMS ERROR: 98 CMS ERROR: 99 CMS ERROR: 111 CMS ERROR: 127 CMS ERROR: 128 CMS ERROR: 129 CMS ERROR: 130 CMS ERROR: 143 CMS ERROR: 144 CMS ERROR: 145 CMS ERROR: 159 CMS ERROR: 160 CMS ERROR: 161 CMS ERROR: 175 CMS ERROR: 176 CMS ERROR: 192 CMS ERROR: 193 CMS ERROR: 194 CMS ERROR: 195 CMS ERROR: 196 CMS ERROR: 197 CMS ERROR: 198 CMS ERROR: 199 CMS ERROR: 208 CMS ERROR: 209 CMS ERROR: 210 CMS ERROR: 211 CMS ERROR: 212 CMS ERROR: 213 CMS ERROR: 255 CMS ERROR: 300

Network out of order Temporary failure Congestion Recources unavailable Requested facility not subscribed Requested facility not implemented Invalid short message transfer reference value Invalid message unspecified Invalid mandatory information Message type non existent or not implemented Message not compatible with short message protocol Information element non-existent or not implemente Protocol error, unspecified Internetworking , unspecified Telematic internetworking not supported Short message type 0 not supported Cannot replace short message Unspecified TP-PID error Data code scheme not supported Message class not supported Unspecified TP-DCS error Command cannot be actioned Command unsupported Unspecified TP-Command error TPDU not supported SC busy No SC subscription SC System failure Invalid SME address Destination SME barred SM Rejected-Duplicate SM TP-VPF not supported TP-VP not supported D0 SIM SMS Storage full No SMS Storage capability in SIM Error in MS Memory capacity exceeded Sim application toolkit busy SIM data download error Unspecified error cause ME Failure

CMS ERROR: 301 CMS ERROR: 302 CMS ERROR: 303 CMS ERROR: 304 CMS ERROR: 305 CMS ERROR: 310 CMS ERROR: 311 CMS ERROR: 312 CMS ERROR: 313 CMS ERROR: 314 CMS ERROR: 315 CMS ERROR: 316 CMS ERROR: 317 CMS ERROR: 318 CMS ERROR: 320 CMS ERROR: 321 CMS ERROR: 322 CMS ERROR: 330 CMS ERROR: 331 CMS ERROR: 332 CMS ERROR: 340 CMS ERROR: 500 CMS ERROR: 512 CMS ERROR: 513 CMS ERROR: 514 CMS ERROR: 515 CMS ERROR: 516 CMS ERROR: 517 CMS ERROR: 518 CMS ERROR: 519 CMS ERROR: 520 CMS ERROR: 521 CMS ERROR: 522 CMS ERROR: 532 CMS ERROR: 534 CMS ERROR: 535 CMS ERROR: 538

SMS service of ME reserved Operation not allowed Operation not supported Invalid PDU mode parameter Invalid Text mode parameter SIM not inserted SIM PIN required PH-SIM PIN required SIM failure SIM busy SIM wrong SIM PUK required SIM PIN2 required SIM PUK2 required Memory failure Invalid memory index Memory full SMSC address unknown No network service Network timeout No +CNMA expected Unknown error User abort Unable to store Invalid Status Device busy or Invalid Character in string Invalid length Invalid character in PDU Invalid parameter Invalid length or character Invalid character in text Timer expired Operation temporary not allowed SIM not ready Cell Broadcast error unknown Protocol stack busy Invalid parameter