Huawei GSM Interference Analysis Training PDF

Internal
GSM Interference Analysis

www.huawei.com
HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD.
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To introduce affection brought by

interference to the GSM system, fault
location method and troubleshooting
method, this course hereby lists out
the possible interference sources, and
offers description of cases to facilitate
fault location and troubleshooting.
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Page 1
Upon completion this course, you will be

able to:
Understand the cause of interference

and master the method of locating the
interference source;
Master the method of overcoming
interference.
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Page 2
Chapter 1 Overview
Chapter 2 Location and Clearance of
Interference
Chapter 3 Case Analysis
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Page 3
Affection of Interference
When there is interference in the network, the subscribers usually encounter the following
phenomenon:
The subscriber cannot hear the voice , and the background noise is too loud.
When fixed telephone subscriber calls MS subscriber, or MS subscriber calls fixed

telephone subscriber, call drop occurs after du, du , du is heard.
The conversation cannot be carried on smoothly, and call drop often happens.
When interference exists in the network, from the result of traffic statistic, there are some
characteristic as following.
There are Level 4~Level 5 interference band in TCH measurement function , and the
measurement value is more than 1.
Congestion rate is comparatively high.
The call drop rate is higher than other cells.
The handover success rate is low.
Through Drive Test, it is found that:

It is difficult to handover .
The Rx level is high, but the quality is bad.
Through tracing the Abis interface signaling with signaling analyzer (MA10/K1205), it is
found that the bit error rate is higher than other cells.
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Page 4
Classification of Interference Sources

Natural Noise
Atmosphere noise
Galaxy noise
Solar noise (quiet period)
Man-made Noise
Interference of ignition systems of vehicles or other engines

Interference of electronic communication system
Interference of power line
Interference of scientific research, medical and household
appliances
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Main Interference Sources Affecting Mobile

Communication
Internal interference
TRX fault: if the performance of TRX is reduced due to manufacture cause

or application, which will cause self-excitation of TRX amplification circuit
resulting in interference.
CDU or divider fault: as active amplifier has been adopted for the divider
and divider module of CDU, self-excitation might be caused when fault
occurs.
Spurious emission and inter-modulation: if out-band spurious emission
index of BTS TRX or amplifier exceeds the limit, or isolation between TX
and RX of the duplexer in CDU is not enough, all these will form
interference on the receiving channel. Inter-modulation may also occur in
passive equipment such as passive antenna and feeder.
Improper frequency planning:
Co-frequency interference
Adjacent frequency interference

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Communication
Repeater interference
As the installation of repeater is non standard, causing insufficient

isolation between the donor antenna and the subscriber antenna, so
self-excitation is caused. This affects normal working of BTS that
the repeater belongs to.
For the repeater adopting wideband non-linear amplifier, the inter-
modulation index far exceeds the requirement of the protocol. If the

power is comparatively high, the inter-modulation component will be
large, and this will cause interference to the BTS around.
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Communication
External interference
Interference of other communication equipment with high power:

Radar station: From 70s~80s of the 20th century, the frequency used by the
decimeter wave radar was similar to that of GSM, and its transmitting power
was very high, which generally reached tens and hundreds of kilowatts, so
the out-band spurious emission is comparatively large. Thus, it easily
causes interference to the BTS.
Analog BTS: The frequency band used by the analog mobile BTS overlaps
with the GSM frequency band in certain segment.
Communication equipment at same frequency band: As the types of
communication equipment are so many, some manufacturers maybe adopt
the frequency band but doesnt comply with the current communication
standards. As the GSM frequency band is occupied by the equipments,
8
HUAWEI
TECHNOLOGIES
CO.,caused
LTD.
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interference
will be
within
thereserved
GSM systemPage
coverage
area.
Chapter 1 Overview
Chapter 2 Location and Clearance of Interference
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Page 9
Discovering Interference via OMC Traffic

Measurement
Discovering potential interference via traffic statistics result
Check the Average TCH busy time (second) in TCH measurement

function of each cell, the reason is that this index can show the
TCH mean occupied time (s), which is usually called TCH mean
holding time in the BSC of other manufacturer, within the
measurement period. If it is found that the Average TCH busy time
(second) of certain cell is comparatively short (such as less than
10s), then maybe there is strong interference in the cell, causing
that handover/call drop happens due to bad quality after TCH
channel occupied to MS.
Certainly, if hardware fault occurs in certain TRX (non-BCCH or
non-SDCCH carrier) of a cell, the case mentioned above will also
appear.
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Discovering interference via handover data

When certain cell initiates handover, if the average receiving quality
(uplink) is 4 (this is true when there is no frequency hopping, if there is,

it should be 5), and the mean receiving level is 25(-85dBm), then it is
possibly caused by uplink interference.
When certain cell initiates handover, if the times of receiving quality
level above 5 is more than that below 4, then there may be uplink
interference as well.
If the times of certain cell attempts to initiate handover (uplink/downlink
quality) is more than 10% of total handover attempt times, then there
may be interference in the cell. The two indices are all related to quality
handover threshold and interference handover threshold within the cell
parameters.
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Discovering potential interference via call

drop index
If the call drop times of certain cell is rather higher the the other with
same traffic load, and the main cause of call drop is owning to
connection fault, then it is possibly caused by interference.
If the average receiving level during call drop is comparatively high
(25), while the average receiving quality level is 6, then the cell
should be listed into the interference source.
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Discovering potential interference via interference

band
BTS will utilize an idle TS in a frame to scan the uplink frequencies of
the frequencies used by TRX, and then make measurement to the level
5 interference band. The default setting of interference bands in BSC of
Huawei is as follows: 110, 105, 98, 90, 87 and 85 (unit: -dBm)
Compared with other measurement indices, the measurement index of
interference band can reflect the cell interference situation more directly,
but it can only reflect whether there is interference in the uplink.
If the values of interference band 4 and interference band 5 are
comparatively large (1), then, there may be co-frequency interference

in the cell. If the measurement values mainly distribute in interference
band 1 and interference band 2, then the possibility of interference will
be small. However, if there is comparatively high value in band 3, then
attention should be paid to this.
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OMC Alarm and Subscriber Complaint

Subscriber complaint is also important clew for finding the potential
interference. Information which should be collected from user complaint

includes MS number, MS model, called number and fault phenomenon
of calling side and fault phenomenon of called side and particular fault
location, etc. If the alarm information is more detailed, it will be more
easily to find out the network problems.
When there is interference in the network, the direct feelings of the
subscriber may be: heavy noise, both parties or either party cannot hear
each other clearly, call drops and call cannot be put through, etc. Thus,
when many subscribers within the same area complain the same
problem, then work should be done to check whether there is
interference in the area.
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Discovering Interference via Drive Test

there are two Drive Test methods available: idle mode test and dedicated
mode test.
Under the idle mode, the test equipment can measure the signal level of both
serving cell and adjacent cell. In addition, the equipment can also perform
frequency scanning test to the specified frequency or frequency band.
Under dedicated mode test, the test equipment can measure the signal levels,
receiving qualities, power control registrations and time advance, etc. of both
the serving cell and adjacent cells. When high level (30) and low quality
(Rx_Qual6) remain in certain section, it can be concluded that interference
exists in the section. Further, part test equipment can directly display the
frame elimination rate (FER). Generally when the FER 25%, subscribers can
feel the discontinuous voice, that is to say, interference exists in this section of
highway.
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Recommended Procedures for Location and

Clearance of Interference
Determine Interference Cell according to Key Performance Index (KPI)
Check Alarm of OMC
Frequency Planning Check
Check Parameter Setting of Cell

Drive Test
Interference Clearance
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Brief introduction to Spectrum Analyzer

Spectrum Analyzer is a broadband signal receiver with high performance which can display
the spectrum of the receiving signals.

The receiving signal resolution bandwidth (RBW): namely the minimum signal bandwidth
the Spectrum Analyzer can recognize. The smaller the parameter is, the higher the
receiving sensitivity of instrument.
Input frequency: the frequency range the Spectrum Analyzer can receive.
Sensitivity: generally the minimum receiving level with 1Hz signal bandwidth is defined as
receiving sensitivity of the Spectrum Analyzer. The receiving sensitivity of HP85 series
Spectrum Analyzer can be below -142 dBm.
Video Filter Bandwidth (VBW): it refers to the bandwidth of the intermediate filter after
Frequency mixing of the Spectrum Analyzer. The smaller the bandwidth is, the smoother
the curve is;
Central frequency (F0): it refers to the central frequency of the spectrum that the Spectrum
Analyzer can test;

Bandwidth (SPAN): it refers to the spectrum span the Spectrum Analyzer can test;
Input signal attenuation (ATT): when there is large signal input, it is required to make
attenuation on signal properly. The Spectrum Analyzer itself may produce large number of
inter-modulation components without attenuation. So it will influence the veracity of the
testing result.
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Directional Antenna
Directional antenna is used for searching interference sources.
The stronger the directionality of antenna is, the higher the

antenna gain is. And the ability to search will become better.
So the logarithm-period antenna with broad frequency band is
the best choice. This kind of antenna has broad frequency
band, high antenna gain and strong directionality.
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The way to Test Internal Interference
Set the Spectrum Analyzer to proper state:

For 900M BTS: f0=902MHz,SPAN=30MHz,ATT=0,RBW=30kHz,VBW=30kHz;
For 1800M BTS: f0=1715MHz,SPAN=10MHz,ATT=0,RBW=30kHz,VBW=30kHz.
Screw out the connector of output port of CDU divider, then connect the output signal of the divider to
the Spectrum Analyzer to carry out a test. If the fractional frequency spectrum level is less than 80dBm,
it shows that there is no internal interference; if more than 80dBm, it shows that CDU or TRX inside
Base Station are under interference or self-excitation.
If internal interference exists, further make sure that it belongs to CDU or TRX. At first confirm TRX
carrier board, cut down the cable via which TRX is connected to divider, and use the Spectrum Analyzer
to test the main or diversity connector of TRX. If the fractional frequency spectrum level is less than
80dBm, it shows that TRX is normal, otherwise it is required to change carrier board.
The three steps above aim at interference measure for the uplink frequency band. If there is suspect that
interference exists in the downlink frequency band, please follow steps below.
Check interference of transmission band. First, set the Spectrum Analyzer in transmission frequency
band of the BTS. Due to the large ouput power of BTS, attenuation should be made on the input signal.
Generally ATT is set as 40dB, then the tx_test signal of CDU should be imported to the Spectrum
Analyzer to be observed to make sure weather interference signal is generated.
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The way to Test External Interference

When we are sure that interference is caused by the external cause, first we should
confirm the location of interference source and the spectrum distribution state.
First, set the Spectrum Analyzer to proper state.
Choose output port of divider of cell under interference.
Screw out the selected connector, then use Coaxial Cable to import the output
signal of divider to the Spectrum Analyzer;
View the spectrum distribution state of the Spectrum Analyzer, and find out the
abnormal interference signal. The way to calculate the level of interference
signal is as follows:
Antenna port interference level = interference level tested by the Spectrum
Analyzer 15dB Tower Top Amplifier Gain + 3dB cable loss 7dB divider
gain.
The maximum interference level at antenna port without influence on system
= -108dBm sensitivity 9dB co-channel interference protection= -117dBm
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The way to Search External Interference Sources

In the cell under interference, select a test point without building obstruction.
Set the Spectrum Analyzer, and connect the directional antenna.
If there is rotatable platform, the antenna can be placed on it, and make the wave
beam of the antenna point to the front, and the antenna with vertical polarization
should be placed vertically; if there is no interferent signal, one can raise the
antenna over head with hands. Rotate the antenna slowly, and at the same time
view the change of signal of the Spectrum Analyzer. Once there exists abnormal
signal, fix the orientation of the antenna immediately and change uptilt of the
antenna to make the receiving signal to the strongest.
Analyze the signal spectrum distribution carefully, and confirm that it is interference
signal, record the signal strength and record the azimuth and downtilt of antenna
wave beam.
Find new test point along with the direction of antenna wave beam, then return to
step 2 to carry out a test till interference source is found.
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Chapter 1 Overview
Chapter 2 Location and Clearance
of Interference
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Antenna Performance Degradation

Fault description: There are 5 BTSs for a certain network in a
county configured as S4/4/4 and 6/6/6, the BTS type includes

BTS20 and BTS30. The interference band 5 in TCH
measurement function of some cells is over 15, and there is no
alarm information in OMC
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Fault location process
Register the statistics task of interference band of 24 hours for the cell with
problems, it is found that interference band 5 mainly occurs in daylight, and in the
small hours near middle night, the interference band value is almost 0.
After opening the idle BURST of all BTSs and transmitting it in the early morning, it
is found that the interference band occurs. It disappears after transmitting is
stopped. It can be judged from this phenomenon that the interference comes from
internal network and has nothing to do with other equipment.
No frequency in the network and data are modified before the interference occurs,
accordingly, the interference is irrelevant with the frequency planning.
It can be seen from the above second and third points that the problem is relevant
with the BTS equipment.
Observe the RXM test interface of CDU with the spectrum analyzer in peak hour in
the daylight, it can be seen that unstable strong broadband interference and rise of
back noise occur.
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First replace all boards (TRX, CDU, FPU, HPA, and power board) of this BTS
(BTS20, with Tower Top Amplifier) one by one, at the same time observe the
spectrum signal of RXM test interface, it can be seen that interference exists all
the time. This indicates that the interference is relevant with the antenna feeder
(including divider, combiner, feeder, antenna, lightning arrester, Tower Top
Amplifier, jumper and connector) instead of the board.
Since the above BTS under test has the Tower Mount Amplifier, the antenna and
feeder check is inconvenient, replace another BTS30(S4/4/4) (dual-CDU, and
dual-polarization antenna) with interference and check the antenna feeder.
Since no interference exists in one of the cells while strong interference exists in
another two cells in the BTS, interchange the antenna and feeder (changing the
jumper at the top of the cabinet) of the cells which are with and without
interference in the BTS in the evening. Then send idle BURST, it is found that the
interference follows the antenna and feeder. This step helps further locate the fault
which should exist in antenna and feeder system.
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The situation remains the same even after replacing lightning arrester of antenna
feeder and checking all jumper connectors. Then it can be sure that fault exists in the
feeder or antenna.
Replace the jumper (i.e., antenna) at the top of the tower, it is found that the
interference follows the antenna, so the feeder fault can be excluded while the
antenna fault is quite possible. (It should be noted that the external interference at
this step cannot be excluded because the actual installation place of the antenna
does not change, but the external interference has already been excluded in the
above step. )
Finally check the antenna. The strong interference disappears immediately after the
antenna is replaced on the tower by using the dual-polarization antenna. For further
verification, replace the antenna of one cell with strong interference in another BTS20
with a new one, and then the interference disappears, thus the problem is solved
here.
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Antenna Connected Inversely

Fault description: the interference bands 4 and 5 often occur
in the traffic measurement after certain BTS is on service, the

inter-cell handover success rate is very low and the congestion
rate is up to 5%. There is no alarm in OMC.
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Since the interference bands 4 and 5 occur along with low handover
success rate and congestion, it is doubted that the interference causes the
above phenomena.
Check the frequency planning first, no problem is found. The external
interference becomes the chief consideration after the frequency planning
problem is excluded. Change the original used frequency 9 into the faraway frequency 94 to avoid external interference, but situation si the same.
Confirmation made with the operators branch office indicates that the BTS
is remote and without any high-power radio equipment nearby. It looks as if
the frequency planning or external interference should be excluded.
Since handover failure is involved at the same time, it is found that
handover failure occurs between cells 1 and 3 according to the registration
of outgoing/incoming cell handover performance measurement.
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The congestion analysis indicates that TCH assignment failure is usually

caused by uplink. After registering the traffic measurement of
uplink/downlink balance, it is found that the measurement item of
uplink/downlink balance for cell 1 and cell 3 focus on level 1 and 11. This
indicates that severe imbalance occurs between uplink and downlink.
The imbalance between uplink and downlink, in combination with much

handover failure in cell 1 and 3 turn the doubt to the antenna and feeder
which may be connected inversely.
On-site examination indicates that the antennas of cell 1/2/3 become
crossed pair which causes the transmitter antennas of cell 1 and 3 to stay
in the same cell, while the receiver antennas of them connect to another
cell. The interference band and congestion disappear and the handover
is all right after it is corrected.
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Co-channel Interference
Fault phenomenon: The co-channel interference of Huawei
early 2.0 BTS (O2) in certain area leads to high call drop rate
and poor voice quality. Serious interruption with occasional
strong noise (whizz in general) occurs. It is after the BTSs
normal running for a certain time that the call drop occurs.
Located in a little town (Du city) on the border of the city, the
BTS is surrounded by the BTSs of the other manufacturer.
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The frequencies assigned for the BTS are 64, and 92 (64 is of BCCH
frequency).
In the optimizing test, the receiving quality (quality level is less than 3) is
continuously good as the downlink signal level is -95dBm in the
direction away from Huanggang and Du City. In the direction from Du
City to Huanggang, the receiving quality is also good when the receiving
level is more than -70dBm. Then move forward until to the place where
TA=5, the receiving quality is sometimes good, and sometimes more
than 5 in about 1 minute when the receiving level is about -75dBm. And
network-drop occurs frequently when Idle-mode test is made at this
place. It is suspected that downlink interference may exist on BCCH
frequency.
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Carry out continuous conversation test with one test MS and scan
test for 64# frequency with another MS. The test carried out again
in the section from Du City to Huanggang reveals that the signal
strength of 64# frequency is already less than -100dBm near the
Huanggang, and call drop already had occured. But the signal
strength of 64# frequency rises up to -65dBm and disappears
after a duration of 100 seconds when entering the downtown area
of Huanggang. So it can be judged that the co-channel
interference may be from the TCH frequency of cell nearby.
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Page 32
Carry out continuous conversation test with one test MS and scan test for 64#
frequency with another MS. The test carried out again in the section from Du City to
Huanggang reveals that the signal strength of 64# frequency is already less than 100dBm near the Huanggang, and call drop already had occured. But the signal
strength of 64# frequency rises up to -65dBm and disappears after a duration of 100
seconds when entering the downtown area of Huanggang. So it can be judged that
the co-channel interference may be from the TCH frequency of cell nearby.
Carry out scan test for this frequency after arriving at the hotel, the signal level still
remains high, but the conversation is not implemented on this frequency. The next
day, carry out designated scan test at the place with the strongest signal of this
frequency in the street of Huanggang, and test in Idle mode with another test MS.
From the system message, it can be confirmed that 64# frequency is assigned to the
TCH in HG08 cell with BCCH frequency 45, and the conversation is actually
established once on 64# frequency in multiple times of conversation tests.
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The interference disappears after the application is made to

the customer to modify the frequency. At the same time, the
customer should adjust the adjacent cell relation of peer
equipment.
Carry out test again at the place where the original cochannel interference exists after the frequency is modified,
the call drop and network drop disappear, and conversation
quality Rx_Qual<3. It indicates that the problem of cochannel interference (downlink) is solved.
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Adjacent-channel Interference
Fault phenomenon:
The call drop ratio is universally high and even up to about
15% in busy hour after several BTSs are cut over. And it is
difficult for the call to be set up during on-site test. There is no
alarm message in OMC system
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All BTSs are connected to the same BSC, and call drop occurs after
cutover of new BTSs.
The transmission quality is good, and TRX test is carried out for the
above BTS with call drop and this indicates that each TRX is all right. No
fault is found by checking the data and carrying out the test for 32BIE
port corresponding to the BTSs. From the above analysis, the TRX fault,
BSC hardware fault, A interface circuit fault and transmission fault can be
excluded.
Analysis of traffic measurement result reveals that serious interference
occurs in each cell of the above several BTS. Most cells have
measurement values in interference band 4 and 5, and the number of
channels falling into interference band 5 in several cells is up to 7. So it
is sure that the interference in the above several cells is quite serious.
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It is found that there are many adjacent channels and the

frequency planning is irrational after checking the frequency
configuration of above BTSs and the adjacent cells. Especially,
the area where the above BTSs are located, is newly added, and
interference exists among them. And they also have interference
in between them and the surrounding running BTSs.
Call drop disappears after adjusting and loading the frequency
configuration of this area.
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Interference Caused by Over-coverage

Fault phenomenon: The hand over success rate of a certain GSM
network is low, the call drop rate is high and conversation quality is
poor. The hand over success rate is less than 80%, and the call
drop rate is more than 2%. It is found that there are many times of
downlink/uplink strength hand overs through view and analysis of
traffic measurement data. while there are many times of bad
downlink quality, and uplink strength among the times of
unsuccessful handover. The analysis of cause of call drop indicates
that the times of bad downlink quality are more than those of bad
uplink quality . There is no alarm message in OMC system
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Page 38

From the result of traffic measurement, it can be judged that downlink interference may
exist in the system or the coverage is not very good.
The actual result of Drive Test shows that the strength of outdoor signal can be up to 80dBm above in the downtown area, that is to say, the coverage is all right. But serious
over-coverage exists. For example, the service cell used in the building where BTS A is
located is cell B with the same BCCH frequency as cell A1, while cell B is 6 kilometers
away from BTS A in the suburb. In this way, the problem exists in two aspects:
1. The signal of cell B forms co-channel interference which leads to poor downlink
link quality in coverage area of cell 1 of BTS A. It is found that **** is displayed in
the test MS when this cell is locked during the test.
2. When cell B is selected as the service cell, its adjacent cell is only geographically
adjacent to it, while the cell near the BTS A does not function as its adjacent cell. So
when its signal is unavailable, the effect of isolated island will occur because the
signal of its adjacent cell is poor, too. Then hand over fault and even call drop will
easily occur. The on-site survey shows that the antenna of cell B is hung 50m
above. The data provided by the customer reveals that the tilt angle is 5, which is
actually far less than 5.
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The cause for bad network indices lies in over-coverage, so the

basic way is adopted to lower the antenna and adjust downtilt of it
to make actual coverage area consistent with planned coverage
area. Temporarily this problem can only be solved by adjusting the
network parameter. The following operations can be adopted: lower
the power level of cell B and add the adjacent cell of cell B, at the
same time increase the level threshold of candidate cell from 10 to
15. The network indices exhibit obvious improvement after the
above check and modification are performed for all cells in the
downtown area, moreover, the hand over success ratio rises up to
85%, while call drop ratio drops to 1.3%.
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Repeater Interference
Fault phenomenon: subscribers of a certain network complain that they
cannot occupy channel in some area for conversation since some day, or
noise is heavy after occupancy of channel though the signal of MS is strong
at this time. There are two directional BTSs in this area and both of them are
BTS30 with the version 05.0529. The azimuth of the first cell directs at north.
The BTS in this area works normally and the network indices conform to
requirement before the complaint. Both BSC and MSC are devices of
Huawei and two BTSs are connected in star mode. The traffic measurement
indices show that traffic of both BTSs decreases obviously after occurrence
of this problem, especially in the first and third cells. Although the signal of
channel is very strong, the quality of voice is poor. Then it can be seen from
traffic measurement that the interference band of these four cells is in class
three, four, and five, and 95% of channels are under interference. In addition,
interference of different classes also exists in other cells. So subscribers
complained strongly. And there is no alarm message in OMC system
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The feedback of subscribers shows the possible causes as follows: 1. Problem

occurs in transmission and leads to error code; 2. Problem occurs in antenna
feeder; 3. Fault exists in TMU; 4. Internal or external interference may exist.
The traffic measurement console shows the possible reasons as follows: 1. There
may exist strong uplink interference signal in the north lean to west in this area.
This leads to interference of different levels in the first, second and third cells,
especially in the first and third cells;
It is found that it is difficult to put through the call in the first and third cells through
on-site dial test. Although the call is put through, the quality of voice is very poor,
and the voice is intermittent seriously with strong interference. If MS subscriber
calls fixed telephone subscriber in this area, it is hard for fixed telephone subscriber
to hear the voice clearly, instead, MS subscriber can hear fixed telephone
subscriber clearly. This also proves the above analysis that the interference may be
external (It can be judged from this point that interference only exists in uplink.)
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Carry out test on site with antenna feeder analyzer. No problem of BTS itself is
found, and the situation remains the same after TMU is replaced. Therefore, we ask
customers whether there are such newly constructed equipment as microwave
station, repeater, etc. surrounding the BTS. They told that they didnt set up them.
It is said that China Mobile sets up a repeater in the area, which is located about
two kilometers away in the north lean to the west of both BTSs of Huawei, and when
it is activated, the problem will occur in Huawei BTS. Then customers negotiated
with China Mobile several times. Finally China Mobile carried out on-site test with
Huawei engineers together, and found that only if the repeater is switched off, the
interference band and call become normal along with the recovery of Huawei BTS, if
the repeater is activated, problem will occur soon in Huawei BTS, i.e. call cannot be
put through, or interference is strong even after call is put through. The traffic
measurement relevant with interference band in two different cases was handed on
to China Mobile, and they approved our viewpoint.
Finally the problem is solved with the coordination of China Mobile.
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Microwave Interference
Fault phenomenon: it is found that call drop rate in the second
and third cell of a certain BTS (S2/2/2) in traffic measurement

increases abruptly. Call drop rate is up to about 20% at some
time.
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View of BSC traffic measurement shows that idle TCH number in interference
band in this BTS begins to increase in interference band 3-5 at about 8:30, in
interference band 4, 5 at 10:00, and in interference band 1 at about 22:00. It
can be judged from the above phenomenon that interference exists.
Since this BTS operates well before, the problem of frequency planning can be
excluded.
Perform power-off restart and replace board for BTS. But interference still
exists, so the possibility of TRX self-excitation can be excluded.
TRX management information reveals that interference exists in four boards of
the second and third cell in this BTS, and the possibility of damage of the four
boards at the same time is little, so the problem of TRX can be excluded. TRX
board is replaced for caution, but interference remains
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Page 45
View of all BSC traffic measurement data shows that interference of different
levels exists in the cells of all BTSs nearby, which is facing the same direction
as the second and third cells in this BTS. And sometimes SDCCH channels
in the cells with serious interference are all occupied at the same time, while
the occupancy ratio of SDCCH at the same time is very little according to the
amount of subscriber. So it can be sure that external interference exists in
uplink, but the interference may be relevant with direction instead of
frequency.
To further locate, jumpers of the first and third cell are interchanged on the
rack top. As a result, it is found that interference occurs in the first cell, but
interference disappears in the third cell, so this has proved the above
judgement.
Since interference is not relevant with frequency, BTS interference may be

caused by high-power signal sent into BTS system.
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Page 46
Measurement on BTS divider output port with spectrum analyzer shows

that high-power signal exists on 904MHz frequency (5M away from the
used frequency), and this signal level come up to about 25dbm in BTS
with serious interference, while in other BTS it is about 50dbm. So it
can be judged that this signal has impact on BTS.
After frequency scanning around BTS with spectrum analyzer, it is found
that a microwave antenna outputting high-power signal is at a frequency
of 904.
When the microwave equipment is switched off and TRX management
information is traced, the interference disappeared.
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Page 47
False Interference
Fault phenomenon: the reconstruction of some office found
that the interference band of an S6/6/6 BTS20 in a county is

very high. Theinterference band of two cells in it changed from
5 to 7.
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Page 48
False Interference
During the past interference test ofthis office, some cells with high
interference band were located. This is because antenna intermodulation
resulted in the interference of normal signal in case of large traffic and it
made the interference band very high. So change the antenna, but the
interference band did not fall down obviously after that.
During the prior period, the frequency planning has been checked
several times, and the ad-frequency interference has been avoided
basically. At the same time the frequency that may cause third order
intermodulation in the cell has been adjusted. The problem of frequency
planning has been basically excluded. It is unknown whether there is
something wrong with Tower Top Amplifier, feeder or connector. But no
problem was found after checking the antenna feeder system of the BTS
several times.
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Page 49
False Interference
Trace the state of interference band of each channel via Maintenance

Console and find that high interference band mainly focuses on the four
TRXs of the cell.
First set the frequency with less interference to the TRX with more
interference, and find that the interference band does not change. It shows
there is no relation to the frequency. Whether there is something wrong with
TRX board or not is unknown. However, the situation is unchanged after the
TRXs were interchanged.
Then confirm the TRX numbers, and find that the four carriers come from the
same divider. From the above process, the problem may be the divider. But it
is found that the interference band becomes high when the BTS is expanded
from S4/4/4 to S6/6/6. While the combiner/divider used to be normal. Maybe
the devices break down after some time. So we decided to change the
combiber/divider to have a try.
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Page 50
False Interference
The idea that four carriers with high interference band are connected to
the same second level divider before the divider is changed. The 7-dB
gain of the divider has been considered during interference judgement.
However, if the DIP switch is not moved to the right place while cascaded,
the interference signal will be amplified by 7dB. Simultaneously, higher
interference band will exist because the calculating error of 2.0 station
itself is up to 5dB. Check the DIP switch of the divider. It was really not
moved to Off. After it is corrected, view the traffic measurement of
interference band 4 and 5. They fall down to 0. And there is a little value
on the interference band three.
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Page 51
Summary
Overview
Location and Clearance of Interference
Case Analysis
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Page 52
Thank You
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GSM Interference Analysis

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To introduce affection brought by

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Upon completion this course, you will be

Understand the cause of interference

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When fixed telephone subscriber calls MS subscriber, or MS subscriber calls fixed

Through Drive Test, it is found that:

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Classification of Interference Sources

Interference of ignition systems of vehicles or other engines

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Main Interference Sources Affecting Mobile

TRX fault: if the performance of TRX is reduced due to manufacture cause

Adjacent frequency interference

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Main Interference Sources Affecting Mobile

As the installation of repeater is non standard, causing insufficient

modulation index far exceeds the requirement of the protocol. If the

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Main Interference Sources Affecting Mobile

Interference of other communication equipment with high power:

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Discovering Interference via OMC Traffic

Check the Average TCH busy time (second) in TCH measurement

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Discovering interference via handover data

(uplink) is 4 (this is true when there is no frequency hopping, if there is,

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Discovering potential interference via call

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Discovering potential interference via interference

comparatively large (1), then, there may be co-frequency interference

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OMC Alarm and Subscriber Complaint

interference. Information which should be collected from user complaint

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Discovering Interference via Drive Test

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Recommended Procedures for Location and

Check Parameter Setting of Cell

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Brief introduction to Spectrum Analyzer

the spectrum of the receiving signals.

Analyzer can test;

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The stronger the directionality of antenna is, the higher the

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