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Radio Measurements in B11

MS is connected (TCH/SDCCH). The serving cell gives the MS the list of the neighbor cells to listen to. Every SAACH, the MS reports to the serving cell via a measurement report message: Received level of 6 best cells (which can change) DL Level and Quality of the serving cell. RXQUAL Range =[0.14% to 18.10%] Binary Range = [0,7] 0=0.14% and 7=18.10% The lower the physical or binary value, the lower the bit error rate, and the better the quality. 0-2 is excellent, 3=good, 4 =ok, 5=bad, 6=very bad and 7 is not acceptable. For each MS connected to the BTS (TCH/SDCCH): UL received level and quality is measured every SAACH The Timing Advance is computed The UL information is gathered into the measurement report. This is the message result sent by the BTS to the BSC The BSC is computing algorithms usually using average value (sliding window) of these measurements

The BTS sends a SYS_INFO_5 message that contains the list of neighbor cells for connected mode (The SYS_INFO_2 message contains the list of neighbor cells for idle mode). Sys info 2bis, 2ter, 5bis and 5ter are also used for multiband networks. MS Reporting depends on EN_INTERBAND_NEIGH and on MULTIBAND_REPORTING parameters. The MS may report: 6 strongest cells of any band (MULTIBAND_REPORTING=0), or 5 strongest cells of the serving band +1 strongest cell of another band (MULTIBAND_REPORTING =1) or, 4+2 (MULTIBAND_REPORTING =2 ), or 3+3 (MULTIBAND_REPORTING =3)

RXLEV

The BTS starts sending MEASUREMENT RESULT messages as soon as it receives the RL ESTABLISH INDICATION message from the MS. The BTS stops sending the MEASUREMENT RESULT messages upon receipt of one of the 2 following messages: DEACTIVATE SACCH RF CHANNEL RELEASE

Range = -110dBm to -47dBm Binary Range = [0,63] 0=-110dBm and 63= -47dBm

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Radio Measurements in B11


Every SAACH Multiframe, the BTS: Receives the MEASUREMENT REPORT message from the MS. For Power Control and HO Algorithms, this message contains DL measurements, and in the layer 1 header, the power used by the MS. Does UL Measurements Reports the UL and DL measurements to the BSC in the MEASUREMENT RESULT message

The input flows: UL Radio Signal: Radio Signal Received on the Air Interface BS_TXPOWR_CONF: BS Transmit power currently used by the BTS DTX_DL: Indicator of DL DTX use.

Output flows: Abis MEASUREMENT RESULT message Internal Flows: Radio measurements Air MEASUREMENT REPORT message (DL) containing DL MS radio measurements UL Radio measurements (Quality and Level) and a flag indicating whether DTX was used in the DL. Timing Advance: Last TA calculated by the BTS MS_TSPWR_CONF: last reported value of MS power (reported by the MS) BS_TXPOWR_CONF: value of the BS transmit power currently in use BFI_SACCH: bad frame indicator of the SACCH Block produced every SACCH Multiframe (#480ms): 0 = SACCH Frame successfully decoded and 1 =SACCH Frame not successfully decoded Basically, the MEASUREMENT RESULT message is composed of: L1 info: SACCH Layer 1 header containing MS_TXPWR_CONF and TOA L3 info: MEASUREMENT REPORT from the MS. This message contains the DL measurements and neighbor cell measurements. UL measurements performed by the BTS BTS Power Level used

MS_TXPWR_CONF is the actual power emitted by the MS. TOA is the timing advance. SACCH BFI is the bad frame indicator with values 0 or 1: 0 means that the BTS succeeded in decoding the measurement report. How are the neighbor cells coded? BCCH1 index in BA List/ BSC1; BCCH2 index in BA List/ BSIC 2 because it does not receive LAC/CI (too long) but BCCH and replies with BCCH/BSIC

Structure of a Measurement Report

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Radio Measurements in B11


Extended Measurement Reporting Mechanisms MEASUREMENT RESULT is NOT forwarded to the BSC, instead a MEASUREMENT RESULT with indication no_MS_Results is sent to the BSC. In particular, the BTS must identify the level of the BCCH frequency of the serving cell (which must always be part of the frequencies to monitor) and apply it as the RXLEV_DL in the Radio Measurement Statistics. The other frequencies will be considered in the same way as the BCCH Frequency of neighbor cells: they will be linked to the neighbor level and C/I statistics Repeated SACCH and Repeated DL FACCH Optional Feature: Extended Measurement Order includes the MAFA Frequencies the MS is asked to measure. EMO sent once to the MS on SACCH after TCH Seizure. Extended Measurement Results include the average signal level measured on each MAFA Frequency over 1 SACCH mf duration. EMR received once per call on SACCH. When the BTS receives a CHANNEL ACTIVATION with the Extended Measurement Order included, it must send this information on the SACCH to the corresponding MS only once. When the BTS has to send this information, it must replace the sending of system information 5, 5bis, 5ter or 6 by this information. At the next SACCH Mf, the BTS must resume sending of this system information by the replaced one. The EMO must be sent after 2 complete sets of nd SYS_INFO5 and 6, i.e. after the 2 SYSINFO 6 after the reception of SABM. This guarantees the MS has received a complete set. Then, the BTS normally receives from the MS an EXTENDED MEASUREMENT RESULT with the level of the frequencies to monitor. The BTS must make the correlation between these levels and the frequencies contained in the latest EMO information, after having decoded them, according to the order of the ARFCN. The EXTENDED EN_REP_DL_FACCH EN_REP_SACCH

Available only for AMR calls regardless of whatever the type of AMR: Gains: Repeated SACCH: Extended Coverage and Reduction of Call Drops Repeated DL FACCH: Improves HO reliability of AMR Calls FR/HR NB/WB

MS 3GPP Release: Repeated SACCH is only supported by Rel 6 MS Repeated DL FACCH is mandatory for Rel 6 MS, but can be applied to a legacy MS

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Radio Measurements in B11


Additional Flag: REP_DL_FACCH_LEGACY_SUPPORT 0: Repeated DL FACCH enabled only for the AMR MS having indicated the support of the feature by repeated ACCH Capability bit = 1 1: Repeated DL FACCH enabled for all AMR MSs. This Parameter is relevant only if repeated DL FACCH (EN_REP_DL_FACCH) is enabled Function available on BSC Evolution only. The value 1 is used to tackle early implementations, i.e. for MS with repeated ACCH Capability bit=0 or MS without Repeated ACCH Capability bit (legacy MS)

When AMR Speech Codecs were introduced, the same ACCH (Associated Control Channels) as those used for traditional TCH/FR and TCH/EFR were reused. The consequence is that, in poor radioconditions, the more protected AMR Speech Codecs have now better performance (in terms of error rate) than the associated control channels. This results in an imbalance between voice and signaling. The SACCH is used mainly for the transmission of the radio measurement data. SACCH is also used for SMS transfer during a call. The BTS sends cell specific information (periodically SYS_INFO 5, 5bis, 5ter, 6) to the MS using SACCH. A FR TCH uses one TS per TDMA Frame, for each frame of the MF, except the frames 12 and 25. The TDMA Frame 12 is used to carry the SACCH and the TDMA Frame 25 is an idle frame. The SACCH MF/Block is composed of 4 SACCH Frames/bursts; thus the SACCH period is equal to 480ms. The FACCH is associated with a TCH, and is required to support the high-speed signaling needed during call establishment, and HO management. The occurrence of the FACCH is not fixed in the multiframe, as it is for the SACCH. Rather, the FACCH occurs on a TDMA Frame that is reserved for a TCH. The multiplexing of the TCH and FACCH is possible by means of the frame stealing. This means that a speech frame carried over a TCH can be replaced by a FACCH Frame.

Repeated DL FACCH: Principle Each DLFACCH frame is sent twice with exactly the same content. In case of these 2 DLFACCH frames are not decoded, they are soft-combined to succeed the decoding.

In case of TCH/FR the transmission of the repeated FACCH is done by leaving 1 TCH frame between the 2 LAPDm frames. Repeated DL FACCH: Dynamic Activation The FACCH frame is effectively repeated if: EN_REP_DL_FACCH =1 or 2, And AMR Codec Mode Request (CMR) < REP_DL_FACCH_THRES_AMR_XX (Where XX = FR/HR/WB)

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Radio Measurements in B11

EN_REP_DL_FACCH =1 enabled for LAPDm command frames. EN_REP_DL_FACCH =2: enabled for LAPDm command frames, and also for LAPDm response frames (valid only for the MS having indicated the support of the feature by Repeated ACCH Capability bit =1) Dynamic Activation is done as long as codec mode request CMR <= REP_DL_FACCH_THRES_AMR_XX Repeated DL SACCH: Principle If the MS cannot decode correctly a DL SACCH, the BTS will resend it. To indicate to the BTS the DL SACCH has to be repeated, the MS set the SRR bit to 1 in the UL SACCH Frame.

Repeated SACCH: Dynamic Activation RDSACCH Dynamic Activation The RDSACCH is activated if at least 3 SRR bit set to 1 have been received in the decision window. Decision Window Size = 10 successful UL SACCH periods. Inversely RDSACCH is deactivated if less than 3SRR bits set to 1 have been received in the decision window.

Additionally RDSACCH is also activated when UL RLT counter (S) becomes inferior or equal to a given value RADIOLINK_REP_DL_SACCH. Similar principle for RUSACCH dynamic activation RUSACCH is activated if at least 3 UL SACCH messages have not been correctly received before combining in a window whose size equal to 10 successive UL SACCH periods (inversely RUSACCH is deactivated if less than 3 UL legacy SACCH messages have not been correctly received before combining in the window, note this means the BTS always try to first decode the SACCH before any combining) At call start, RUSACCH is disabled by default. At the beginning of the call, the decision window is reduced to the number of elapsed SACCH periods but the threshold remains the same. Note that this means

Repeated UL SACCH: Principle If the BTS cannot decode correctly a UL SACCH, the MS will resend it. To indicate to the MS the UL SACCH has to be repeated, the BTS set the SRO bit to 1 in the DL SACCH Frame

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Radio Measurements in B11


the state of RUSACCH activation is updated in every SACCH period.

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