White Paper:

Path_Balance (PB)

Abstract
The purpose of this document is to provide the local office and operator with
a method to troubleshoot and analyze poor PB issues on CTU2s and CTUs.

Justin Annes and Julien Drouet

Revision 1.0
Initial Release

BTS Center of Excellence

Global Telecom Solutions Sector
Motorola, Inc
November 23, 2004

Troubleshooting guide for poor PB

Revision History
Date

Version

Issued By

Changes

23 Nov 2004

1.0

J. Annes

Original

J. Drouet

References
Ref.
1

Version

Issued By

V8.15.0 (2002-06)

3GPP ESTI 5.08

GSR6 (HII)
02 May 2003

68P02901W56-M

68P02902W02-A

GSD Documentation

68P02902W96 -B

GSD Documentation

1.0

BTS CoE DE

1.0

BTS CoE DE

Title
3rd Generation Partnership Project;
Technical Specification Group GSM/EDGE
Radio Access Network;
Radio subsystem link control
(Release 1999)
Maintenance Information
GSM Statistics Application
Service Manual Horizonmacro outdoor
Category 523 Maintenance Information
(Maint.)
Chapter 3 - FRU replacement procedures
Service Manual: Horizon II macro
Chapter 7: FRU replacement procedures
IOI Debug Guide
TX Antenna VSWR and Reverse Power
Paper

Table of Contents
1.
2.
3.
4.

Overview ................................................................................................................ 3
Description of the path balance statistic ................................................................. 4
Possible sources for poor PB ................................................................................. 6
Data and information to be gathered ...................................................................... 8
4.1.
General information.......................................................................................... 8
4.2.
TEST #1: Calibration issue............................................................................... 9
4.3.
TEST #2: Cabinet/Cabling issue .................................................................... 14
4.4.
TEST #3: Environment issue.......................................................................... 15
APPENDIX 1 ................................................................................................................. 18
Page 2 of 19
Motorola General Business Use

Troubleshooting guide for poor PB

1. Overview
Path balance (PB) is usually monitored by customers to ensure optimal performance of the
network. This document is going to provide customers or local office an understanding of
the variables that affect PB and how the number is calculated. Additionally this document
will provide an analytical and systematic method to identifying the root cause of poor PB.
Understanding the scope of the problem
Customers and local offices need to understand the scope of the PB issue and the extent of
the problem. PB alone should not be used to identify faulty components of a BTS.
However, PB could help identify issues such as inaccurate calibrations. An occurrence of
poor PB along with another bad statistic, will typically point to another issue.
It is important to identify if the problem is isolated to a single radio or if the problem is
present on all the radios of the site:

If the problem exists on one radio, customers can try to change the configuration of the
site (e.g. move the RTF of the poor PB DRI to another DRI) and check if the problem
followed the RTF or stayed on the DRI.

If the problem is on all or multiple radios of the site then focusing on the cabinet
cabling, the surf, and the environment might shorten the investigation.
NOTE:
Poor path balance alone is not a reason to suspect a problem with the
network/radio. The limit of 11010 is not a hard limit, only a guide and is highly dependant
on how well the equipment has been setup. Past investigation have concluded that radios
are returned only to find the problem is due to improper site configuration/cabinet
calibration or bad cabling.
Recalibration and verification of the poor PB radios
Performing a cabinet offset calibration (TX/BAY CAL) on the radio exhibiting the problem can
quickly resolve the problem since invalid/inaccurate calibration has been identified as a
recurrent issue on customers networks. First step should always be to verify and calibrate
when troubleshooting poor PB.
Poor installation/maintenance (Cabling)
During initial installation/deployment, it is critical that care is taken on the equipment.
Damaged connectors, cables, poor ANT VSWR and dropped equipment can lead to poor PB
statistics. A regular maintenance schedule is recommended to inspect and identify faulty
components before a problem becomes worse.
Presence of interference in the RF environment
Sometimes poor cell planning or the presence of other equipment near by, transmitting at
the same frequency of the wireless equipment can result in interferences. When another
piece of equipment or equipment not meeting ETSI guides for spurious emission generates
power in either the TX or RX operating frequency of the radio, this will increase the rx_lev
the power measured by the mobile or the BTS. These types of interference will typically
also cause IOI ad BER issues, if the interfere signal is large enough. However smaller levels
on interference might only cause 1-4dB of error. Tools are available to scan the RF
environment of the site and check if poor PB is due to an abnormally noisy RF environment.
The remaining of this document will describe in detail how to proceed in the poor PB
investigation and will provide tools and tips to root cause the poor PB issue.
Page 3 of 19
Motorola General Business Use

Troubleshooting guide for poor PB

2. Description of the path balance statistic

As required in ETSI 05.08 [REF 1], one task of the BSS is to generate raw statistics for
reporting network performance. The OMC-R processes these raw statistics to create custom
statistics. One of these statistics is path balance (PATH_BALANCE). This measurement is
known at the OMC as PATH_BALANCE [REF 2].
The Path balance (PB) statistic provides an indication of the RF link between the MS and
BTS. In order to optimize the RF link, one has to make sure that all path losses in RX and
TX are accounted for. If an imbalance of loss is reported in either the RX or the TX, it can
indicate an invalid power level reading, an invalid calibration, a failed RF component of the
BTS, or an unaccounted piece of equipment such as a preamp. An operator may be able to
use the PATH_BALANCE statistic to identify a fault in the RX or TX signal path.
The OMC PATH_BALANCE metric is a statistic derived on a timeslot basis and calculated
using four parameters:
1. Mobile Tx power The TX power level reported by the MS (ms_txpwr_dBm)
2. Mobile Rx power The RX power level reported by the MS (ms_rxlev__dBm)
3. BTS Tx power The TX power level reported by the BTS (bts_txpwr_dbm)
4. BTS Rx Power The RX power level reported by the BTS (bts_rxlev_dbm)
To calculate path_balance:
path_balance = ((ms_txpwr_dbm ms_rxlev_dbm)
(bts_txpwr_dbm bts_rxlev_dbm)) +110
or
path_balance = path_loss_difference + 110
Path_loss_difference = uplink path loss downlink path loss
uplink path loss = mx_txpwr_dbm ms_rxlev_dbm
downlink path loss = bts_txpwr_dbm bts_rxlev_dbm
Note: Path balance expects one stage of combining at the bts when calculating
bts_txpwr_dbm. If there is no combining or there are two stages of combining, then the PB
number will be off by at least 3. Amplifiers external to the cabinet; mast mount pre-amps,
power amps excreta, are not included in the calculation and will have a larger impact on the
PB number. If any of this is the case then expect the PB number to ALWAYS be off from the
nominal 110 by as much error as the additional component is adding/subtracting in gain.
bts_txpwr_dbm = (maximum output power of BTS) (TX power of the call)
If down link power control is used then the bts_txpwr_dbm value will change over time.

Page 4 of 19
Motorola General Business Use

Troubleshooting guide for poor PB

Maximum Output Power of BTS is a constant calculated by the Software and assumes there
is one stage of combining and that the calibration has been done to get the output power to
the correct value. If there is an extra stage of combining, there will be approximately a 3
dB difference in the path balance calculation.
TX Power of the Call - The amount of attenuation that has been placed on the call. This will
be the value that is sent from the Software to the radio.

Uplink path loss is the signal loss from the mobile to the BTS.
Downlink path loss is the signal loss from the BTS to the mobile.
When investigating path_balance issues keep in mind the following:

Uplink Receive Power - Reported by the BTS XCVR as the RXLEV seen at the antenna
port of the BTS.
o

Relies on a proper RX Bay Level Offset Procedure having been run to

accurately measure the gain of the components between the radio and the
antenna port.

Uplink Transmit Power - Reported by the mobile in the uplink SACCH

Downlink Receive Power - Reported by the mobile in the uplink SACCH

Downlink Transmit Power - Calculated based upon two pieces of information. First is
the XCVR type as an index into a look-up table which gives the maximum power
level for this radio type. The second is the downlink transmit power level being
commanded for that timeslot transmitting to the mobile. This calculation does not
take into account the following pieces of information:
o

Relies on the Tx Cell Site Offset Procedure being run to get to those power
levels mentioned below

Does not take into account any other BTS configurations that may result in a
change in output power (2nd stage of combining, preamp, repeater, etc.)

The ideal path_balance number is 110 as this will indicate that the RF loss of the downlink is
exactly equal to the RF loss of the uplink. However it is important to note that always
achieving a number of 110 might not be possible because this number takes into account
the variation of different mobiles, tolerances of the BTS TX and RX power reporting, and
losses in the antenna TX and RX paths. At peak network loads, this number might be seen
to drop. This is not an indication of a failure only an indication of a raised noise level of the
Page 5 of 19
Motorola General Business Use

Troubleshooting guide for poor PB

RF environment. In-band interference in the receive or transmit frequencies can also cause
a path balance number to be less than optimal, as the mobile or the BTS will measure a
higher rxlev than expected.
The mobile TX and RX power levels are averaged over a period of time. Typically hundreds
to thousands of mobiles will connect to a radio over a long period of time. Since there is a
large sample of mobiles reporting TX and RX power levels, these number should show a
normal distribution meaning that over time inaccuracies in any one mobile will have little
affect on the PB number. This means that it takes an error at the BTS TX and/or RX path
loss or power reporting to cause a continuous change in the PB number. If a TX loss
problem exists then the number will typically increase, if TX gain problem then the number
will decrease, if an RX loss problem then the number will typically decrease, if an RX gain
problem then the number will typically increase. If there is also an IOI issue then there is
either a problem with the RX path or interference on the RX frequency.
PB acceptable limit:
There is a range in which if exceeded the OMC software will peg the statistic. This range is
100 to 120 or 11010. The more the path balance number deviates from the ideal 110
number, the more likely there is a problem with the equipment. However this number when
slightly out of range does not indicate a failure of the equipment. Also a wrong PB number
might only indicate that a component such as a preamp is unaccounted for. Typically if the
number is significantly far away from 110, then the poor path_balance will be accompanied
by another bad statistic such as high IOI, high BER or a high number of dropped calls. Note
that it is acceptable to have PB values varying throughout the day since there will most
likely be more interferences in the natural environment during peak hours of the day than
during non-peak hours.

3. Possible sources for poor PB

There are three different possible known sources of poor PB:
Invalid or inaccurate TX/BAY CAL
o If the radio is a new spare it comes with default CAL data and must be TX and RX
offset calibrated within the slot it will function in
o If the radio was swapped from one slot to another and preserve bay level cal feature
is not enabled, a recalibration of the TX and RX is necessary to achieve more
accurate PB stats
o If an expansion cabinet is added to the configuration it might be necessary to
recalibrate the TX and RX
o If external combining, filtering or amplification is added to the configuration a TX or
RX calibration is required. In some cases this might be impossible
HW/Connection problem with the cabinet slot/cabling/antenna:
An element in the received path might have failed, or might not be used or installed
correctly: backplane, cabling, bad connectors, a bad duplexer
HW problem with the DRI:
A HW component of the transceiver (CTU or CTU2) can have failed which results in
abnormal noise in the transceiver or loss of output power.
In this document, we will describe how to identify if the high IOI problem falls in one of
these categories. Your investigation will follow the graph below.
Page 6 of 19
Motorola General Business Use

Troubleshooting guide for poor PB

Poor PBI
detected?

Yes

- Contact the network

optimization team and/or
- Modify the frequencies
to be used on this sector

Section 4.1: Gather generic

configuration information on
the radio and the site.
Fix VSWR
issue and
monitor PB

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

TEST #1
Section 4.2: Is the VSWR
good?

TEST #2
Section 4.3: Is the
calibration data accurate?

TEST #3
Section 4.4: Is the problem due
to other HW failure?

TEST #4
Section 4.5: Is the problem
due to the environment

No

No

Calibrate the radio

and monitor the
PB again

Yes

No

- Contact the local office to see if there is a know

issue affecting the PB number and to see if an SR
has already been opened
-Open an SR (provide a description of the problem
and attach the logs you gathered during your
investigation) AND
-Contact the network optimization team

Page 7 of 19
Motorola General Business Use

Return or fix
the faulty
equipment
and monitor
the PB again

Troubleshooting guide for poor PB

4. Data and information to be gathered

WARNING: Throughout this procedure, keep logs of all MMI commands and all the
results or you tests.
4.1.

General information

In this section, we want to have a snapshoot of:

the radios state and configuration, and

the sites performance.

Please answer the following questions below before you change anything in the site:

Is there TX combining or is there an amp in the TX or RX after the cabinet?

How many radios/sectors are affected?

What type of radio is affected (CTU, CTU2, both)?

For all radios affected, get OMC INTF_ON_IDLE statistic.

Monitor PB, BER, call drop rates and IOI performance, if High IOI please see IOI white
paper

Did the problem start after an upgrade, a cell replanning, or HW change?

Check with the Local Office if there is a known issue

Run the following commands for the site at the MMI-RAM:

disp_proc 0
disp_proc <site number>
state <site number>
disp_cell_status <site number>
disp_gsm_cell <site #>
disp_hop <site #>
disp_hop <cell_number> active
state <site #> rtf

* *

disp_neighbor <cell id>

disp_act_alarm <site number>

Run (at the MMI-RAM) the following commands for ALL DRIs/RTFs that of the site:

disp_rtf_chan <site> <RTF id 0> <RTF id 1>

disp_eq <site number> rtf <RTF id 0> <RTF id 1>
disp_eq <site number> dri <DRI id 0> <DRI id 1> full
disp_cal_data <site_number> dri <DRI id 0> <DRI id 1>

Provide a map showing where the sites are and their respective frequencies.

Page 8 of 19
Motorola General Business Use

Troubleshooting guide for poor PB

4.2.

TEST #1: Check Antenna VSWR

The fist step due to convenience is to check the VSWR of the affected antenna. It has
been seen in some cases that poor antenna VSWR can lead to bad path_balance
numbers. An instrument is required to place between the antenna and the BTS to
measure VSWR. A good VSWR should be less than 2.61 or a return loss higher than 6dB.

If there is a VSWR problem, then the result for TEST #1 is NO and you should resolve the
VSWR issue and monitor the PB again. Please refer to REF 6, which is a paper written to
resolve VSWR issues.

Otherwise if VSWR is ok go to (4.3) below

4.3.

TEST #2: Calibration issue

In this section, we will verify that the calibration data is valid for the antenna and
branch(es) being used. (Note: It is recommended to calibrate all antennas but in some
cases, only the antenna being used is calibrated by the customer).

4.3.1. Verification that the calibration data is valid

Verification that the calibration data is valid:

(a) CTU radio

At the EQCP MMI prompt, enter the following commands:
EQCP TEST > calchk
EQCP TEST >
RX Branch 1:
AIC
AGC
BAY
BBG
DCO
FREQ
IFG
RSSI
TX
DET
PWR
TX
VVA

CAL
YES
YES
YES
YES
YES
YES
YES
YES
CAL
YES
YES
YES
YES

CHECKSUM
RX Branch 2: CAL CHECKSUM
0001
AIC
YES
0007
d3f0
AGC
YES
b845
7f3b
BAY
YES
7f3b
002a (This is for both branches.)
3ef0
DCO
YES
169b
ffe3
FREQ
YES
fe21
0006
IFG
YES
0005
a19a
RSSI
YES
a0ce
CHECKSUM
5865
04a2
0000
a3c7

Verify that the "CAL" value for the row titled BAY is "YES".
If there is a NO, then the result for TEST #2 is NO and you should recalibrate the radio and
monitor the PB again. If IOI is also occurring then please reference the IOI white paper and
perform specific tasks.
Otherwise if calibration data is ok go to (4.3.2) below
Page 9 of 19
Motorola General Business Use

Troubleshooting guide for poor PB

(b) CTU2 radio

At the DSP MMI prompt, run the following commands:
CTU2.carA.ts_0>chg
Enter Password: pizza
Access Level 3 Granted
CTU2.carA.ts_0>cal_status tall
Cal Ca Br Status
Result
Valid Checksum
Ver S/HC
--------------------------------------------------------------------RF Lop A
0
pass valid 0x0672d5b5 1 / 1
RF Lop B
0
pass valid 0x0d7b5025 1 / 1
RX RF
A
0
pass valid 0x2ae0b9fc 1 / 1
RX RF
A
1
pass valid 0x2bb91f4a 1 / 1
RX RF
B
0
pass valid 0x2c1ed905 1 / 1
RX RF
B
1
pass valid 0x2b063b6b 1 / 1
RX IF
A
0
pass valid 0xc8bc3caf 1 / 1
RX IF
A
1
pass valid 0xc8d99f37 1 / 1
RX IF
B
0
pass valid 0xc8dadb3f 1 / 1
RX IF
B
1
pass valid 0xc8bfbd0a 1 / 1
RX FR
A
0
pass valid 0xa8fe3af6 1 / 1
RX FR
A
1
pass valid 0xa8e8ba39 1 / 1
RX FR
B
0
pass valid 0xa8fb5db7 1 / 1
RX FR
B
1
pass valid 0xa8f593e0 1 / 1
RX CAB A
0
pass valid 0x53703256 0 / 1
RX CAB B
0
pass valid 0x45562835 0 / 1
TX VVA A
0
pass valid 0xb0be7eb2 1 / 1
TX VVA B
0
pass valid 0x96686359 1 / 1
TX DSA A
0
pass valid 0x01a775df 1 / 1
TX DSA B
0
pass valid 0x01a7863a 1 / 1
TX FP
A
0
pass valid 0x09e81286 1 / 1
TX FP
B
0
pass valid 0x07c8ee22 1 / 1
TX Ver A
0
pass valid 0x064b1162 1 / 1
TX Ver B
0
pass valid 0x063b5e9a 1 / 1
TX CAB A
0
pass valid 0x019e2da9 1 / 1
TX CAB B
0
pass valid 0x01bd2da9 1 / 1
PA Det A
0
pass valid 0x15cc24be 1 / 1
PA Det B
0
pass valid 0xd7dc8932 1 / 1
PA VVA A
0
pass valid 0xda5d5f94 1 / 1
Verify that the rows for the "RX CAB A" and RX CAB B values are pass and valid.
If this is not the case, then the result for TEST #2 is NO and you should recalibrate the
radio and monitor the PB again. If IOI is also occurring then please reference the IOI white
paper and perform specific tasks.
Otherwise if calibration data is ok go to (4.3.2) below

Page 10 of 19
Motorola General Business Use

Troubleshooting guide for poor PB

4.3.2. Manual verification

It is important to verify that the bay level offset is accurate. This procedure can be
performed to manually identify an invalid offset as an invalid offset can cause PB
issues. A RX calibration that is off by 10dB will result in a path_balance that is 10
worse than normal.

WARNING: Be sure to take the radios connected to this duplexer out of service so that the
TX power is off.
For verification of the cabinet calibration follow the following procedure:
(1)
This procedure requires a signal generator to inject a RF signal into the antenna
(ANT) port of the duplexer. Therefore radio must be taken out of service.
At the RSS MMI prompt:
MMI-RAM 1015 -> lock <site> pchn <dri0> <dri1> <ts_number>
Example:
MMI-RAM 1015 -> lock 52 pchn 0 0 6
This command must be entered for each time slot of each DRI connected to the duplexer.
There should be no TX power into the duplexer.
(2) Disconnect the antenna from the duplexer
(3) Attach a good RF cable from the signal generator to the ANT port using appropriate
adapters
(4) Set the signal generator to a power level of -70dBm and the frequency of the desired
RX channel to be measured. See appendix for a list of ARFCNs and corresponding
frequencies. For this example we will use ARFCN 512 1710.2MHz
(5) Log into the radio and set the ARFCN being measured. For this example it is 512. At
the EQCP TTY ts a chan 512 .
(6) Now measure RXLEV. For CTU use self cal rx_lev, for CTU2 use rxlev.

(a)

CTU Radio

EQCP > .gsmfw

EQCP > test
WARNING: The EQCP is now in test mode.
EQCP TEST > ts a chan 512
EQCP TEST >
The data for all timeslots has been changed.
EQCP TEST >
EQCP TEST > self cal rx_lev
EQCP TEST >

Page 11 of 19
Motorola General Business Use

Troubleshooting guide for poor PB

Power into radio:

(AIC is assumed out.)

B1 Rx Lev:

-66.1049 dBm

B2 Rx Lev:

-105.4468 dBm

Power into cabinet:

B1 Rx Lev:

-71.4258 dBm

B2 Rx Lev:

-112.6094 dBm

EQCP TEST >

(b) CTU2 Radio

CTU2.carA.ts_0>
CTU2.carA.ts_0>ch
Enter Password: pizza
Access Level 3 Granted
CTU2.carA.ts_0>set_c cara
Setting carrier to carrier A
CTU2.carA.ts_0>
CTU2.carA.ts_0>ts a chan 512

Name

rx_synth_channel

TS
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
------- -------- -------- -------- -------- -------- -------- -------- ------State
OVRD
OVRD
OVRD
OVRD
OVRD
OVRD
OVRD
OVRD
OVRD
200
200
200
200
200
200
200
200
rt
21b
21b
21b
21b
21b
21b
21b
21b
Decimal Equivalent
OVRD
512
512
512
rt
539
539
539
Freq.
1710.2
1710.2
1710.2

Name

512

512

512

512

512

539

539

539

539

539

1710.2

1710.2

1710.2

1710.2

1710.2

tx_synth_channel

TS
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
------- -------- -------- -------- -------- -------- -------- -------- ------State
OVRD
OVRD
OVRD
OVRD
OVRD
OVRD
OVRD
OVRD
Page 12 of 19
Motorola General Business Use

Troubleshooting guide for poor PB

OVRD
200
rt
21b

200

200

200

200

200

200

200

21b

21b

21b

21b

21b

21b

21b

512

512

512

512

512

539

539

539

539

539

1805.2

1805.2

1805.2

1805.2

1805.2

Decimal Equivalent
OVRD
512
512
512
rt
539
539
539
Freq.
1805.2
1805.2
1805.2
CTU2.carA.ts_0>
CTU2.carA.ts_0>rxlev
TS

------- -------Hex

b9a1

Dec

47521

dBm

-70.371

TS

------- -------Hex

8736

Dec

34614

dBm

-120.789

CTU2.carA.ts_0>
(7) The CTU command will report both the cabinet and the radio power measured. The
CTU2 command will report only the cabinet power measured. The cabinet power reading
should be -70dBm +/-4dB or between -66 to -74dBm.
(8) If diversity is used, connect the signal generator to the appropriate diversity
connection on the SURF or SURF2. Repeat the procedure to measure reported power on all
utilized branches.
(9) Using a power meter and proper couple verify the TX power level.

If the radio reads a value that is off by more than 4dB on the main or diversity path, then
the result for TEST #2 is NO and you should monitor the PB again with the new RX
calibration offset values.
Other wise continue to section 4.3.3

4.3.3. Recalibration of the radio

Re-calibrate the radio according to the procedure described in REF [3] (CTU) or REF[4]
(CTU2) and then run the disp_cal_data <site_number> dri <DRI id 0> <DRI id 1>
command at the MMI-RAM.

Page 13 of 19
Motorola General Business Use

Troubleshooting guide for poor PB

Verify that the new calibration offsets are not too different from the initial ones you
got in Section 4.1 for this radio. To do that, use the CheckRecalibration_v01.xls
excel spreadsheet that can be found at http://compass.mot.com/go/153741877.
(1) Select the radios frequency (850, 900, 1800, or 1900)
(2) Copy and paste the initial and new values into the spreadsheet
(3) Look at the differences between the initial and new data. If the difference for the
antenna being used is more than 2 dB for most of the offsets, the result for TEST #2
is NO and you should monitor the PB again with the new RX calibration offset values.
Otherwise run section 4.4 below.

4.4.

TEST #3: Cabinet/Cabling issue

In this section we will discuss the various items that could be broken or damaged on the
cabinet. In many situations all that is required is a close inspection of the cabinet looking
for damaged connectors and cables. There are three places to look to identify this type of
failure: TX path, RX path and the combined TX/RX path. There are two other possibilities,
though less likely, in which interference can be generated. These are after the duplexer
combining and a bad SURF/SURF2.
TX Path

Lock the radio and power down.

Inspect the short TX cable that goes from the CTU/CTU2 to the duplexer. Make sure
there are no cuts or frays or places where it looks like the cable is coming apart. If
there is damage replace the cable.

If the short TX cable looks ok, remove the cable connecting the CTU/CTU2 to the
duplexer. Inspect the center conductor on the cable, the CTU/2, and the duplexer. If
there is damage to the cable or the cables center conductor is bent, replace the cable.
If it looks like the CTU/CTU2 connector is damaged or loose, return the CTU/CTU2 for
repair and note the damaged connector on the RMA. Inspect the duplexer center
conductor and return if there is damage or if the connector is bent.

Inspect any other cables that might be used in the TX path such as cables connected to
combiners, add-on VSWR units, and external filters.
RX Path

Lock the radio and power down.

Pull out the radio and inspect the connectors on the back of the radio for damage.
Replace if damaged and make note of it on the RMA.

Remove the RX cable, for the desired path, from the duplexer and SURF. Inspect the
cable for damage and cuts. If it looks like the cable is breaking near the connector, it is
bad. Replace this cable as necessary. Also inspect the N-Type connector on the
SURF/SURF2 and the duplexer. Look closely at the center conductor to see if there is
any damage. If one prong is bent or missing or if the prongs are spread far apart, then
the connector is bad. Replace the unit and mark the reason on the RMA.

If it is ok to take down the entire site, the SURF/SURF2 can be removed to inspect the
SURF connectors. Again, look for any damage to this connector. Look closely to see if
prongs are bent or missing and center conductor is ok.
Page 14 of 19
Motorola General Business Use

Troubleshooting guide for poor PB

In some cases an external LNA is used before the duplexer to improve the sensitivity. If
this is the case try removing the LNA for a period of time to see if the interference goes
away. If an LNA is used, it is important to calibrate the cabinet with the LNA connected
to account for the extra gain.
RX/TX Path

Remove the ANT connector from the duplexer. Inspect both the antenna feeder cable
connector and the duplexer connector. Look closely for bent or missing pins/prongs. If
there is damage replace either the cable or duplexer. Measure the VSWR of the antenna. If
the VSWR is worse than 2.33 then inspect all cabling to and including the antenna. Check
for bad lightening arresters or other bad connectors.
External Combining, Filtering, Amplification
Motorola certifies all equipment used on the cabinet to ensure that a minimum amount of
interference exits. If add-on combining is used, it is important that (1) the part is rated to
handle the power and (2) the part does not generate any additional interference. If
interference is detected on a cabinet, and the problem does not appear to be related to the
environment, then try removing any external components not supplied by Motorola for a
period of time to see if the interference subsides.
SURF/SURF2
It is possible but not likely that the SURF/SURF2 might generate interference in the form of
an oscillation. There is no record of this type of occurrence but you can check it in two
ways.
1. The SURF/SURF2 can be swapped with another SURF/SURF2 to see if the problem
clears. This will require a cabinet TX and BAY RX offset calibration. If the
interference clears by simply swapping the SURF then return the SURF/SURF2 for
repair and note the failure on the RMA.
If you have found a faulty cable, connector, equipment, etc. then the answer to TEST #3 is
YES - replace the faulty part and re calibrate both the TX and BAY offsets. If no faulty
equipment is found the answer to TEST #3 is NO, continue to section 4.5

4.5.

TEST #4: Environment issue

In this section, we will check that there is not a signal in the radios environment at the
frequency (or frequencies) which the radio is tuned to.

4.5.1. Use of a spectrum analyzer

For this procedure, you will have to power down the whole sector for approximately
15 minutes
(1) Using the output of the disp_gsm_cell <site #> command, get the list of
frequencies the radio exhibiting poor PB uses.
(2) Turn off all of the radios of the site.

Page 15 of 19
Motorola General Business Use

Troubleshooting guide for poor PB

(3) Using the diversity path of the SURF or SURF2, connect the sector of interest to
port 0B of the SURF/SURF 2.
(4) Connect the spectrum analyzer to the expansion port B of the Surf/Surf 2.
(5) Look for obvious spurs or humps in the noise floor on or near the center
frequency, narrow the span to 1MHz to determine how close to on-channel the
noise/spurs are.

Start with a wide bandwidth, this picture shows what a typical noisy site might look like.

Set the bandwidth to 1MHz to see if the spur lands on the RX channel you are investigating. In this case
the interfere is just left of center. This picture shows interference on the desired frequency.

Page 16 of 19
Motorola General Business Use

Troubleshooting guide for poor PB

This is what a clean or ideal environment should look like.

If you find spurs or humps on the frequencies being used by the radio then the answer to
TEST #4 is YES. Otherwise, its NO.

Page 17 of 19
Motorola General Business Use

Troubleshooting guide for poor PB

APPENDIX 1
ARFCN to Frequency Calculation:
The carrier spacing is 200 kHz.
The carrier frequency is designated by the absolute radio frequency channel number
(ARFCN). If we call Fl(n) the frequency value of the carrier ARFCN n in the lower band, and
Fu(n) the corresponding frequency value in the upper band, we have:
E-GSM
DCS 1800

Fl(n) = 890 + 0.2*n

Fl(n) = 890 + 0.2*(n-1024)
Fl(n) = 1710.2 + 0.2*(n-512)

1 n 124
975 n 1023
512 n 885

Page 18 of 19
Motorola General Business Use

Fu(n) = Fl(n) +45

Fu(n) = Fl(n) +95

Troubleshooting guide for poor PB

APPENDIX 2
QUICK GUIDE FOR FIELD ENGINEER

PB Issue Site Investigation Steps

Poor Path Balance:

1. Collect two weeks Path Balance data of sites (900 & 1800 CTU-Horizon) with low path balance
and high IOI from OMC. Analyze the PB trend chart. Collect log data and alarm info from both
MCUF and CTU. Also collect IOI, BER and TCH_RF_Loss rate. If Path Balance is only slightly
bad then there is no issue. Also if there are extra combining or amplification after the BTS then
do not pay attention to the Path Balance statistic.
2. Check the antenna VSWR. If VSWR is worse then 2.61:1 or return loss is worse than 6dB then
resolve VSWR issue. If not continue investigation.
3. Manually verify the BAY and TX CAL for accuracy. Inject a sigen into the ANT port at the
appropriate frequency and power level to verify RX cal. If inaccurate perform BAY/TX CAL.
Always perform BAY/TX CAL when replacing or swapping radios. Check the TX power out of the
radio and then out of the duplexer. If out of the radio is 2dB low need to return radio. If the power
out of the duplexer is more than 2dB lower that the radios output power then return the duplexer.
There should be some loss through the duplexer. Only a high dB error will result in a PB error.
4. Site investigation, visual check all RF connections on the suspect base station, make sure all
connections work, and there are no bent connectors, check below items:
a. Antenna connector (7/16 type);
b. DCF connector (N type, SMA, 7/16 type);
c. CTU Output connector (SMA type);
d. SURF RF connector (N type);
e. Check the VSWR, should be 2.33 or less
5. If the site has two stages antenna combining or combining after the duplexer then must accept
path_balance error of 3-4. If an LNA or preamp is used on the RX then must accept 10-20
path_balance error. If a repeater or external PA is used on the TX then must accept 10-20
path_balance error.
6. Change antenna of the DRI, to see if the problem clears
7. Swap radio to another slot, re-calibrate and monitor statistics.
Note: If there is high IOI, then most likely there is low path_balance, and the problem is at the RX or
interference. If there is only a path_balance problem then the issue is most likely due to a hardware
issue, meaning cables, antenna, duplexer, or CTU/CTU2. It is normal for path balance to vary throughout
the day as the RF interference increase along with the traffic load. Do not replace CTU/CTU2 if
path_balance varies only a little.

Page 19 of 19
Motorola General Business Use