OMF000403

GSM Interference Analysis

ISSUE 1.0

Huawei Confidential. All Rights Reserved

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.

Internal Use

Objectives

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.

Internal Use

Chapter 1 Overview
Chapter 2 Location and Clearance of Interference
Chapter 3 Case Analysis

Internal Use

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.
Internal Use

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

Internal Use

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

Internal Use

Main Interference Sources Affecting Mobile 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 intermodulation 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.

Internal Use

Main Interference Sources Affecting Mobile 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, interference will be caused within the GSM system
coverage area.

Internal Use

Chapter 1 Overview
Chapter 2 Location and Clearance of Interference
Chapter 3 Case Analysis

10

Internal Use

Discovering Interference via OMC Traffic Measurement

11

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 nonSDCCH carrier) of a cell, the case mentioned above will also appear.

Internal Use

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.

12

Internal Use

Discovering potential interference via call drop index

13

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.

Internal Use

Discovering potential interference via interference band

14

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

15

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

16

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.

Internal Use

Recommended Procedures for Location and

Clearance of Interference

17

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

Internal Use

Brief introduction to Spectrum Analyzer

18

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.
Internal Use

Directional Antenna

19

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.

Internal Use

The way to Test Internal Interference

20

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.
Internal Use

The way to Test External Interference

21

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

Internal Use

The way to Search External Interference Sources

22

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.

Internal Use

Chapter 1 Overview
Chapter 2 Location and Clearance of Interference
Chapter 3 Case Analysis

23

Internal Use

Antenna Performance Degradation

24

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

Internal Use

Antenna Performance Degradation

25

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.
Internal Use

Antenna Performance Degradation

26

Fault location process

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.
Internal Use

Antenna Performance Degradation

27

Fault location process

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

28

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.

Internal Use

Antenna Connected Inversely

29

Fault location process

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 far-away 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.

Internal Use

Antenna Connected Inversely

30

Fault location process

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.

Internal Use

Co-channel Interference

31

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.

Internal Use

Co-channel Interference

32

Fault location process

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.

Internal Use

Co-channel Interference

33

Fault location process

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.

Internal Use

Co-channel Interference

34

Fault location process

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.
Internal Use

Co-channel Interference

35

Fault location process

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 co-channel
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 co-channel interference (downlink) is
solved.

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Adjacent-channel Interference

36

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

Internal Use

Adjacent-channel Interference

37

Fault location process

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.

Internal Use

Adjacent-channel Interference

38

Fault location process

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.

Internal Use

Interference Caused by Over-coverage

39

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

Internal Use

Interference Caused by Over-coverage

40

Fault location process

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.
Internal Use

Interference Caused by Over-coverage

41

Fault location process

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%.

Internal Use

Repeater Interference

42

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

Internal Use

Repeater Interference

43

Fault location process

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.)
Internal Use

Repeater Interference

44

Fault location process

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.
Internal Use

Microwave Interference

45

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.

Internal Use

Microwave Interference

46

Fault location process

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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Microwave Interference

47

Fault location process

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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Microwave Interference

48

Fault location process

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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False Interference

49

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.

Internal Use

False Interference

50

Fault location process

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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False Interference

51

Fault location process

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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False Interference

52

Fault location process

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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Summary

Summary

53

Overview
Location and Clearance of Interference
Case Analysis

Internal Use

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