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OMF000401 Case Analysis -- Handover


ISSUE 2.0
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References

31160978-BSC Traffic Statistic Manual Volume I 31033203-BSS Troubleshooting Manual

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Upon completion of this course, you are supposed to be able to:


Understand the principles of handover Analyze and solve handover problems

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Chapter 1 Measurement Points of Handover Chapter 2 Handover Data Process Chapter 3 Analysis of Handover Problem

Chapter 4 Handover Cases

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Measurement Points of Intra BSC Handover


MS BTS(Source) BSC BTS(Target) MSC Measurement Report Measurement Report
Attempted internal inter cell H.O

Handover decision
Channel Activation Channel Activation ACK Handover Command (Old FACCH) Handover Access (New FACCH) Handover Complete (New FACCH) RF Channel Release Handover Performed
Successful internal inter cell H.O Internal inter cell H.O

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Measurement Points of Intra BSC Handover


Handover formula definition

Inter cell radio handover success rate =(Successful incoming internal inter cell handovers + Successful outgoing internal inter cell handovers) / (Incoming internal inter cell handovers + Outgoing internal inter cell handovers )

Internal inter cell handover success rate =(Successful incoming internal inter cell handovers + Successful outgoing internal inter cell handovers) / (Attempted incoming internal inter cell handovers + Attempted outgoing internal inter cell handovers)

Inter cell radio handover success rate >= Internal inter cell handover

success rate

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Measurement Points of Inter-BSC Handover


MS BTS(Source) BSC MSC BSC BTS(Target)
Attempted outgoing inter BSC inter cell H.O

Measurement Report Handover Required


Attempted incoming inter BSC inter cell H.O

Handover Request Channel ACT Channel ACT ACK Handover Request ACK Handover Command Handover Access Handover Detect Handover Complete
Successful incoming inter BSC H.O

Handover Complete

Clear Command (HO successful)


Successful outgoing inter BSC H.O

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Measurement Points of Inter-BSC Handover


MS BSC-A MSC-A
Prepare_HO

MSC-B

VLR-B

BSC-B

MS

HO-Required

Allocate_HO_NUM Send_HO_Report Send_HO_Report_ACK HO-Request

HO-Command

Prepare_HO_ACK IAI ACM

HO-Request-ACK

Process_Access_Signalling Clear-Command Clear-Complete Send_End_Signal_ACK Send_End_Signal

HO-Access
Some intermediate steps are omitted

HO-Complete

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Measurement Points of Inter-BSC Handover


Inter BSC handover Success rate

=(Successful incoming inter BSC inter cell handovers + Successful outgoing inter BSC inter cell handovers) / (Attempted incoming inter BSC inter cell handovers + Attempted outgoing inter BSC inter cell handovers )
Incoming BSC handover Success rate

=(Successful incoming inter BSC inter cell handovers) / (Attempted

incoming inter BSC inter cell handovers)


Outgoing BSC handover Success rate

=(Successful outgoing inter BSC inter cell handovers ) / (Attempted

outgoing inter BSC inter cell handovers)


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Chapter 1 Measurement Points of Handover Chapter 2 Handover Data Process Chapter 3 Analysis of Handover Problem Chapter 4 Handover Cases

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Handover Data Process


Handover judgement4 BSC1 Search target cell 7 MSC2 MSC1 Inter-MSC H.O8 CGI6 H.O request7 BTS1
BA table1

Preprocessed MR3

Channel active 5 BTS2

BSC2

MS MR2

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Handover Data Process


BCCH frequencies of all adjacent cells in BA2 table are sent to

MS on system message 5.
MS reports measurement report to BSS. It includes the BCCH ,

BSIC and signal level of the adjacent cells and serving cells.
When the measurement report is preprocessed, BSC

determines the CGI of all adjacent cells through BCCH frequency and BSIC .
BSC executes handover judgment flow such as basic cell

ranking . Once a proper target cell is found, the handover request message which includes the target cell CGI will be sent to MPU of BSC , and then MPU will confirm the module ID of the cell based on the CGI.

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Handover Data Process


MPU sends handover request message to the module and makes

statistics of "outgoing inter cell handover request". At the same time BSC send the channel active to the BTS.
If the target cell triggered by BSC is an external cell, the CGI of the target

cell and service cell is sent to MSC on the handover required.


By matching the CGI of the target cell, MSC searches target cell . Once

the cell is found, MSC will confirm which BSC is belonged to, and send the handover request message to this BSC.
If there is no CGI of the target cell , MSC will check Adjacent MSC Table"

and find the target MSC, then send the handover request message to that MSC.

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Chapter 1 Measurement Points of Handover Chapter 2 Searching Process of Handover Data Chapter 3 Analysis of Handover Problem Chapter 4 Handover Cases

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Analysis of Handover Problem


Types of handover problems Locating handover problem Causes of handover problem

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Types of Handover Problems

Types Possible Results No handover Cause call drop Handover failure Affect the conversation quality, and call drop. Frequent handover Affect the conversation quality and increase load of the system

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Locating Handover Problem


Traffic statistics analysis

Measurement of BSC overall performance Measurement of inter cell handover performance Measurement of outgoing/incoming inter cell handover performance Measurement of performance of undefined adjacent cell
View alarm

Board fault, transmission, clock, etc.


Drive test Signaling analysis

A interface, E interface, Abis interface


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Causes of Handover Problem


Coverage

Interference

Antenna and feeder system Base station hardware

Transmission
BSC hardware Data Configuration A interface Target cell congestion Cooperation with equipment of other manufacturers

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Causes of Handover Problem


causes
Coverage Interference Antenna and feeder system BTS hardware transmission

Types

No H.O

H.O failure

Frequent H.O

BSC hardware
Data configuration A interface Target cell congestion H.O between equipment of different manufactures
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Coverage and interference at radio interface

Coverage: Poor coverage: forest, complicated topography, building direction and indoor coverage

Isolated site: no adjacent cell


Over shooting: island effect result in no adjacent cell Interference: MS can not access network or receive any signal.

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Island effect results in handover failure


There is no adjacent cell, so handover becomes impossible.

Non-adjacent cell

Adjacent cell N1

Service cell
Non-adjacent cell Adjacent Cell N2 Non-adjacent cell Isolated island resulting from over shooting Adjacent Cell N3

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Antenna and Feeder System


High Voltage Standing Wave Ratio (VSWR) Antenna is not properly installed Antenna is not parallel The azimuth and downtilt are not correct Poor antenna isolation value RF cables, connection are loose or incorrect

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BTS hardware

CDU, splitter/combiner failure TRX failure TMU failure

Clock failure
Internal communication cable

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Analysis of Handover Problem


Transmission

Transmission is not stable Serious BER in transmission


Fault of BSC Hardware

Clock board: the faulty clock board causes clock inconsistency between base stations.

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Data configuration
Unsuitable setting of handover hysteresis and handover priority.
Unsuitable setting of P, N value of statistic time Unsuitable frequency and adjacency relation configured in BA1/BA2 table

CGI, BCCH and BSIC in "External Cell Description Table" are different from those in the opposite BSC.
The DPC of BSC in MSC "LAI and GCI Table" is incorrect.

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Analysis of Handover Problem

A interface problem Basically, the insufficient link resource results in the abnormal handover, as well as abnormal communication. Circuit pool numbers are different ,causing the handover failure.

Target cell congestion

The target cell is congested, which causes the handover failure. Then the target cell should be expanded or reduce its traffic .

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Analysis of Handover Problem

Handover between equipment of different manufacturers

The signaling at A interface, E interface of the opposite equipment are not matched to our equipment and can not be recognized or supported, which causes the handover failure, such as voice version, handover number, TUP circuit, addressing mode (CGI or LAI).

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Chapter 1 Measurement Points of Handover


Chapter 2 Searching Process of Handover Data Chapter 3 Analysis of Handover Problem Chapter 4 Handover Cases

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Handover Case 1
Fault Description

A 1800 cell of a dual-band network (all the 1800 cells belong to


one BSC), the incoming handover success rate of incoming BSC and intra BSC are low from the beginning of the service, while the outgoing handover success rate of intra-BSC and inter-BSC are normal.

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Handover Case 1
Analysis:

Register the traffic statistics and analyze whether the low handover success rate is due to the failure of handover from all cells to this cell or from some few cells. If handover fails from some few cells to this cell, check the handover data and see whether there is co-channel and co-BSIC problem. If handover fails from all other cells to this cell, check the data of this cell. If data cause is ruled out, check the hardware carefully. Check the alarm or perform drive test to locate uplink fault or downlink fault. Check step by step and find out the cause.

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Handover Case 1
Solution:
Register the incoming inter cell handover measurement function and find that the

successful rate of handover from all other cells to this cell is low, although it is not always 0 percent. Based on careful data checking, the data of this cell is correct.
Perform drive test and find that the downlink signal is normal but almost all

handovers to this cell are failure. Near the BTS, the handover is successful occasionally. Perhaps the problem is with the uplink signal.
Check the uplink channel, antenna, CDU, they are no problem. Change the TRX ,

everything is normal.

Conclusion:
The symptom is that the uplink and downlink at UM interface are unbalanced so

uplink voice quality is bad.

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Handover Case 2
Fault Description:
After LAPD software upgrade of a dual-band network on 19th September, it was found that some cells in module 4 under 1800 network are seriously congested (4050), and overall handover

indices of BSC come down from 95 to 90. From "Inter -cell


Hanover Measurement Function, it was found that besides module 4, some cells of other modules also suffer from the problem that inter cell handover success rate is low. After 19th September, the situation became worse.

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Handover Case 2
Analysis:

Check whether it is attributed to LAPD software upgrade. Analyze traffic statistics and the main causes of the failure to locate the problem.

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Handover Case 2
Solution:
Check whether it is attributed to LAPD software upgrade.

After the upgrade, not all cells under module 4 are congested and the handover indices of some cells are not low. Upgrade isnt the cause.
Analyze traffic statistics:

Congested cells are mostly at site A and site B. Their traffics are lower than before the upgrade. It is a pseudo congestion. The cells where handover success rate is low are mostly at site A, B, C, D and E , the main cause of the failure is timer timeout.
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Handover Cases 2
Solution:
Check alarm: At 19:31 of 18th September, the clock system

alarms of site A and site B occurred. It is found that 13M clock isnt synchronous. The clock problem result in low handover success rate of the two sites. Such impact spread to the adjacent cells of these two cells and even affected the whole network.
Analyze handover data and traffic statistics: All cells where

handover success rate is low are adjacent to A and B except A and B themselves.
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Handover Cases 2
Solution:
Reset site A and site B, the clock system is recovered, and the handover success rate inter/intra BSC goes up to 93. The problem is solved.

Conclusion:
The problem in clock system will result in low handover success rate. Pay attention to the alarm console and the excursion of the clock system.

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Handover Cases 3
Fault Description:
Huawei BSC and another manufacturers BSC (S vender) are connected to the same MSC. After cutover, MS can not handover from S BSC to Huawei BSC but opposite is normal.

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Handover Cases 3
Analysis:

Since incoming BSC handover request times is 0 but the


outgoing handover is normal. Carefully check the outgoing inter-cell handover signaling and handover data at S BSC.

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Handover Cases 3
Solution:
Trace interface message. After receiving HO-REQUEST
message, Huawei BSC returns HO-FAILURE message immediately. In normal conditions Huawei BSC should return

HO-REQ-ACK message. Carefully analyze HO-REQ message


and HO-FAILURE message.

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Handover Cases 3
Handover failure

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Handover Cases 3
HO-REQUEST

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Handover Cases 3
Solution
HO-FALUER: The cause of the failure is invalid message

content
HO-REQUEST: The difference is basically the Address

Indicator in comparison with the normal handover request message. HUAWEI BSC does not recognize case 41. The system thinks that Address Indicator must be 0x43. Inform the owner of network, modify the relation parameter, and this problem is solved.

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Handover Cases 3
Conclusion:
In cooperation with equipment of other manufacturers, faults can be located by analyzing the signaling.

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Handover Cases 4
Fault Description:
Huawei MSC cooperate with MSC of N (vender). The

communication is normal. The Huawei intra BSC handover and incoming BSC handover are normal, but outgoing BSC handover success rate is about 25%. The handover from the N BSC to Huawei BSC is successful, but opposite is failure sometimes.

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Handover Cases 4
Analysis:

Check handover data, including the external cell description


table, BA2 table, cell adjacency relation table inside Huawei BSC and N BSC and CGI at N MSC. If the data are correct, check outgoing BSC handover signaling.

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Handover Cases 4
Solution:
Check data: There is no fault in BSC and MSC of the two

venders.
Check alarm: BTS maintenance console, No.7 link and A

interface circuit are all normal.


Trace Huawei A interface signaling. After "HO-REQUIRED"

message is sent, "HO-COMD" command is not received from MSC.


Trace MAP message at E interface (inter-MSC) with a

signaling meter. It is found that after receiving HO-Number, Huawei MSC never sends IAI (Initial Address Information).
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Handover Cases 4
Solution:
Check HO-Number message from the opposite and find

that the handover code format is 130********(only a number of mobile telephone, no any prefix). But this mobile

company requires that roaming/handover between


exchanges should be in the format: 00+country code + roaming/handover number. In addition, Huawei equipment does not recognize the handover number without

00+country code. Therefore the signaling is halted.


Discuss with N, asking them to add "00+country code"

before the handover number. Then outgoing BSC handover is normal.


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Handover Cases 4
Conclusion:
Problems can be located quickly and accurately if you are familiar with the signaling flow of handovers.

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Handover Cases 5
Fault Description:
In the independent MSC networking of a dual band network, Huawei 1800 network cooperate with 900 network of vender A . After cutover, the successful rate of handover from M1800 to M900 is low (about 60 ), while the handover from M900 to M1800 are normal and the handover data are correct.

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Handover Cases 5
Analysis 1: Trace the signalings at A interface and E interface.
Normal signaling is as follow:
MS

BSC-HW

MSC-HW

MSC-B

VLR-B

BSC-B

MS

HO-REQUIRED

MAP_Prepare_HO

MAP_Allocate_HO_NUM MAP_Send_HO_Report
MAP_Send_HO_Report_ACK

HO-REQUEST

MAP_Prepare_HO_ACK
IAI

HO-REQUEST-ACK

HO-Command

ACM

MAP_Process_Access_Signaling MAP_Send_End_Signal Clear-Command Clear-Complete MAP_Send_End_Signal_ACK

HO-Access HO-Complete Intermediate steps are omitted.

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Handover Cases 5
Analysis 2: Abnormally signaling is as follow:
MS BSC-HW MSC-HW

MSC-B

VLR-B

BSC-B

MS

HO-REQUIRED

MAP_Prepare_HO MAP_Abort

HO-REJECT

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Handover Cases 5
Solution:
Analyze the Prepare-HO message sent from Huawei MSC

to the opposite. The voice version is full-rate version 1, 2 and half-rate version 1. It is a PHASE 2+ version. However

there is only full-rate version 1 in the message sent from


M900 to Huawei M1800. It turns out that the opposite does not support half-rate version, so the handover fails.
Modify A interface circuit pool table of Huawei MSC data,

only using full-rate version 1.


Then the outgoing BSC handover is normal.

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Handover Cases 5

Conclusion:
There are often many problems in coordination between the equipment of different manufacturers. However, problems can be located accurately by tracing signaling.

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Handover Cases 6
Fault Description:

A GSM network, where one MSC is attached with two BSC, is all
configured with Huawei equipment. When the two BSC are cutover, the successful rate of handover from BSC1 to BSC2 is 0, but opposite is normal. Intra BSC handover of BSC1 and BSC2 are normal.

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Handover Cases 6
Analysis:
Register outgoing inter-cell handover measurement

function of BSC1 and incoming inter-cell handover measurement function of BSC2.


Check the data related to handover of BSC1 and BSC2. Analyze signaling of handover failure.

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Handover Cases 6
Solution:
Check all data of inter-BSC handover: external cell description

data table, BA2 table, CGI of MSC. No problem is found.


Trace A interface message of BSC1 and BSC2. After BSC1

sends "HO-REQUIRED", BSC2 has not received "HOREQUEST" message, but opposite is normal.
The path of data search: MSC goes to "LAI and GCI Table"

according to the CGI of the target cell in "HO-REQUIRED"

message, and sends HO request to the correct BSC base on


the description of the DPC of the cell given in the table.

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Handover Cases 6
Solution:
The HO-REQUEST message, which should have been sent
to BSC2, is sent to BSC1. It is DPC error. After correction, the problem is solved.

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Handover Cases 6
Conclusion:
For the data of inter-BSC handover, besides checking whether CGI at MSC side is consistent with that of opposite and BSC, check whether the DPC is correct. MSC look up target DPC

based on the CGI of the target cell. When the DPC is incorrect,
"HO-REQUEST" will be sent to wrong BSC.

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Handover Cases 7
Fault Description:
A dual band network is a mixed networking of Huawei BSC (M1800) and vender N BSC (M900), attached to MSC of vender S. After the cutover, the successful rate of Huawei incoming BSC handover is always 8892, while outgoing BSC and intra-BSC handovers are normal (above 92). Furthermore, the cells with low successful

rate of incoming BSC handover are randomly distributed.

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Handover Cases 7
Analysis:

Since the handover success rate is not very low and the low ratio is not in some few cells, data problem is excluded. Perhaps it is due to some interference at the radio interface coverage hole. So, trace the signaling.

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Handover Cases 7
Solution:
Perform forced handover with a test mobile between

several cells where handover success rate is low. The forced handovers are all successful. Data problem is

excluded.
The interference band of cells is ideal, call drop and

congestion rate are normal. It is unlikely that the coverage and interference at the radio interface causes the problem.
Trace A interface signaling and compare the failure

signaling with success signaling:

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Handover Cases 7
A interface signaling analysis of inter-BSC handover in MSC:
Failure signaling:

Success signaling:

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Handover Cases 7
Solution:
The comparison result is that Huawei BTS has not detected

any MS access information (No HO DETECT signaling occurs). It shows that there is problem when the MS is accessing M1800 cells.
Reconfirm that there is no problem with the handover data,

otherwise the handover success rate will be very low.


Re-trace large number of handover signaling to find that all

failures are attributed to the same cause. In addition, the problem is the same: there are several handover requests in a call duration but all requests fail.
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Handover Cases 7
Solution:
Analyze other similarities of the failed message, to find that

the first 6 digits of IMEI numbers of these MS are all 449684. It shows that the handover problem is related to the MS.
Find the MS owners with the IMSI numbers and find that all

MS with handover problem are F MS. Not long ago it was

proved that this MS has poor insulation performance


between M900 and M1800, so it can not access M1800 network. Now the cause is found.
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Handover Cases 7
Conclusion: MS problem will also causes handover failure.
In this case the handover success rate is not very low, therefore

coordination problem is unlikely.


Trace the signaling to find the cause of the handover failure: BTS has not

received handover access message from MS.


Find the similarity of these MS through large amount of signaling tracing:

IMEI numbers are the same. Then it is found that the problem is on F MS.
The coverage of M900 is very good, F MS is always under M900 in idle

status. Therefore in a call, TCH assignment seldom fail, which will not result in high congestion rate. But in handover, problem is very likely to happen.
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