GSM Network Capacity Planning

Trunking

Traffic Theory -- Traffic Intensity -- Grade of Service Traffic Channels Dimensioning

SDCCH Channels Dimensioning

Trunking

LOCAL SWITCH

GATEWAY SWITCH

So, What is the objective behind Capacity Planning ?

Estimating the optimum number of resources required in a system to meet the desired performance requirements.

Traffic Theory
Terminologies

Traffic Intensity Busy Hour Request Rate ( BHCA ) Set-up Time Holding Time Blocked Call Grade of Service (GoS)

Traffic Theory
Traffic Intensity

TRAFFIC INTENSITY IS MEASURED ON 1 CALL PER-HOUR BASIS OR 1 CALL PER MINUTE BASIS

THE UNIT OF MEASUREMENT IS ERLANGS

Au = uH
Au : Traffic in Erlang generated by each user H : Average duration of call / 60 (per hour basis) u : Average no of calls per hour

A = U Au
A : Total traffic offered by the system U : Total number of users

Traffic Theory
Traffic Intensity ... Contd. In GSM, we have two types of Traffic Intensities TCH Traffic Intensity = Avg no of calls x Avg duration of call Average duration of call = 120 secs Average number of calls = 0.75 -- 1.5 ( range ) Traffic generated on TCH will range between 0.025 -- 0.05 erlang

Traffic Theory
Traffic Intensity ... contd and ...
SDCCH Traffic Intensity = Avg no of SDCCH usages x Avg usage time

Avg no of SDCCH usage = 1(for a TCH call) + 3 updates = 4 Average usage time = 4 secs Traffic generated on SDCCH will be typically 0.0044 erlang

Traffic Theory
Busy Hour

1 Hour of the day in which Traffic is maximum Also referred to as Peak Hour. Busy Hour is not a fixed hour, its timing will vary in different locations

Busy Hour may also be different for different resources

SDCCH busy hour -- typically morning hours ( frequent on/offs and updates) TCH busy hour -- heavy call traffic hour ( could be back-home hours )

Traffic Theory
Request Rate ( BHCA )

No of requests(or attempts) for a resource in the busy hour SDCCH Request Rate -- No of RACH's + No of Handover Requests for SDCCH TCH Request Rate -- No of RACH's in a cell with cause as MOC or MTC + No of Handover Request for TCH

Traffic Theory
Set up Time

Average time spent on a resource before getting response from the called end.
Typically 3 - 5 secs for GSM Holding Time Average time spent on any dedicated resource. SDCCH Holding time ( typically 3 - 4 secs) TCH Holding time ( actual call duration + Alerting )

Traffic Theory
Blocked Call A call request rejected due to unavailability of resource. Indication of Congestion

In GSM a call can be blocked due to unavailability of : AGCH SDCCH TCH How many blocked calls can you tolerate ?

Traffic Theory
Grade of Service Percentage requests blocked in an hour

Ability of the user to access the system during busiest hour

Benchmark to define desired system performance

GOS and blocking are same. A network is non-blocking if the communication resources equals the number of users.

Conventionally used value of GOS is 2 %

TYPES OF TRUNKING SYSTEM

Blocked Calls Cleared System
Requested is immediately cleared (forgotten) at blocking Erlang B table is used to estimate traffic for a GOS

No. of channels C

Capacity (Erlangs) for GOS = 1% = 1.5 % =2%

= 5%

2 7
8

.153 2.50
3.13

.190 2.74
3.40

.223 2.94
3.63

.381 3.74
4.54

14
15 16 22 30 37

7.35
8.11 8.88 13.7 20.3 26.4

7.82
8.61 9.41 14.3 21.2 27.4

8.20
9.01 9.83 14.9 21.9 29.6

9.73
10.6 11.5 17.1 24.8 31.6

Types of Trunking Systems

Assumptions deciding Erlang B table :

A request for channel may come at any time. All free channels are fully available for servicing calls until all channels are occupied. Call durations are exponentially distributed. Longer calls are less likely to happen. Traffic requests also follows exponentially distribution of inter-arrival times. Mulitple requests will not occur at regular intervals. Inter-arrival times of call requests from different users are independent of each other.

There are finite number of channels available in the trunking pool.

Types of Trunking Systems

Blocked Calls Delayed System

GOS ( delay calls) = exp ( - ( C - A ) t / H ) C = No of channels, A = Traffic Intensity obtained from chart, t = Time (secs ) for which call is delayed H = Average duration of calls GOS ( blocked delayed calls ) = GOS x GOS (delay calls) GOS = Targetted GOS

Traffic Channel Dimensioning

Calculation of no of TCH required in a cell* depends on : GOS & Traffic Intensity Traffic Intensity = No of users x Traffic Intensity per user No of users depends on demographic data as : Population Distribution Car usage distribution Income Fixed Line data Service cost Mobile Phone cost

* Cell area depends on propagation factors

Estimating No of users and Traffic

Example : Car usage distribution

1L

1L
2L

1L

4L streets = 1.1 Km 2L streets = 2.1 km 1L streets = 6.4 km

Avg Spacing between vehicles = 10m Total vehicles in 100% street congestion case = 1500 For 50% penetration = 750 users

2L 1L 4L 2L 1L

Traffic = 750 x 0.025 = 18.5 erl; corresponds to 27 TCH's

Estimating Channels from last case

Traffic Intensity = 750 x 0.025 = 18.5 erlangs At GOS of 2 %, we need 27 TCH's & 9 SDCCH's. A cell configured with 4 ARFCN with B+D & 1 D config, will provide 12 SDCCH's and 30 TCH's which satisfies. Another method of achieving is with 2 sectors, each having 2 ARFCN's , with B & D config, which will give 8 SDCCH and 14 TCH in each sectored cell .

Cell Configuration

1L

1L 2L

1L

2L 1L

4L
2L 1L

CONNECTIVITY PLANNING

WHAT TO CONNECT ?

MSC ----MSC ----MSC ----BSC ----BSC -----

PSTN

BSC
TRANSCODER *

TRANSCODER *
BTS

Speech on Terrestrial circuit

BTS Abis
S 0 1 2 3

BSC A
S 0 1 2 3

Transcoder

16 Kbps 13 Kbps

16 Kbps S

64 Kbps

0 1 A 2 3

MSC

Air Interface

BTS

13 Kbps

TCH/SDCCH are the traffic resources

8 PCHN on 1 ARFCN
Minimum 1 PCHN required for CCCH / and SDCCH 1 ARFCN gives 7 TCH max and 4 SDCCH min. TCH's and SDCCH's can be altered by adding carriers and channel configurations

Abis Interface

E1 / T1

Abis is a G.703 interface. It could be E1 or T1 Abis carriers Traffic information of all the mobiles in the cells controlled by the BTS. Abis also carries signaling information between BTS and BSC Signaling over Abis is done by LAPD protocols LAPD has several modes of implementation --- LAPD --- LAPD Concentrated --- LAPD Multiplexed Each TCH/F on Air Interface requires 16kbps sub-channel on Abis. 16 kbps subchannel on Abis is a nailed connection also known as RTF

Abis Interface
LAPD Modes
LAPD Signaling for each TRX is on a dedicated 64 Kbps circuit Maximum Signalling for 10 Transceivers on 1 E1 link

64 kbps 64 kbps 64 kbps 64 kbps 64 kbps 64 kbps 64 kbps 64 kbps 64 kbps 64 kbps

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Sync TRX Signaling 4 Traffic Channels 4 Traffic Channels TRX Signaling 4 Traffic Channels 4 Traffic Channels TRX Signaling 4 Traffic Channels 4 Traffic Channels

} 1 TRX } 1 TRX } 1 TRX

Abis Interface
LAPD Modes
LAPD Concentrated mode 1 Signaling for 4 TRX's is on a dedicated 64 Kbps ciruit Maximum Signalling for 13 Transceivers on 1 E1 link

64 kbps 64 kbps 64 kbps 64 kbps 64 kbps 64 kbps 64 kbps 64 kbps 64 kbps 64 kbps 64kbps

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Sync 4 x TRX Signaling 4 Traffic Channels 4 Traffic Channels 4 Traffic Channels 4 Traffic Channels 4 Traffic Channels 4 Traffic Channels 4 Traffic Channels 4 Traffic Channels 4 x TRX Signaling

} 1 TRX } 1 TRX

} 1 TRX } 1 TRX

Abis Interface
LAPD Modes
LAPD Concentrated mode 2 Signaling for All TRX's is on a dedicated 64 Kbps circuit Maximum Signaling for 15 Transceivers on 1 E1 link

64 kbps 64 kbps 64 kbps 64 kbps 64 kbps 64 kbps 64 kbps 64 kbps 64 kbps 64 kbps 64 kbps

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Sync ALL TRX Signaling 4 Traffic Channels 4 Traffic Channels 4 Traffic Channels 4 Traffic Channels 4 Traffic Channels 4 Traffic Channels 4 Traffic Channels 4 Traffic Channels 4 Traffic Channels

} 1 TRX
} 1 TRX } 1 TRX } 1 TRX

Abis Interface
LAPD Modes
LAPD Multiplexed Signaling for each TRX is on 16kbps subchannel. Maximum signaling for 15 TRX's on

64 kbps 64 kbps 64 kbps 64 kbps 64 kbps 64 kbps 64 kbps 64 kbps 64 kbps 64 kbps 64 kbps

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Sync TRX Signaling/ 3 Traffic Channels 4 Traffic Channels TRX Signaling/ 3 Traffic Channels 4 Traffic Channels TRX Signaling/ 3 Traffic Channels 4 Traffic Channels TRX Signaling/ 3 Traffic Channels 4 Traffic Channels TRX Signaling/ 3 Traffic Channels 4 Traffic Channels

} 1 TRX } 1 TRX

} 1 TRX
} 1 TRX } 1 TRX

Abis Interface Capacity

Capacity on Abis is the number of 64 kbps circuits required

For Local Transcoding

Capacity = No of TCH at BTS + No LAPD signaling circuits + OML*

For Remote Transcoding

Capacity = No of TCH at BTS / 4 + No LAPD signalling circuits + OML*

Capacity = Number of 64 kbps circuits No of TCH = Sum of all TCH's in each sector at the BTS No of LAPD circuits = Depends on LAPD mode OML = optional ( vendor dependent )

Abis Interface Capacity

Example

1 cell = 15 x 16 kbps speech channels 3 cells = 45 x 16 kbps speech channels = 12 x 64 kbps speech channels 1 BTS = 12 + 1 ( RSL ) = 13 x 64 kbps channels

15 speech ch C1

BSC

C3
15 speech ch

C2 15 speech ch

Exercise !!!

A BTS has 3 sectored cells. Each cell has a subscriber capacity of 600, calculate the number of TCH and SDCCH required at GOS 2 % and also calculate the capacity on the Abis interface with LAPD concentrated mode 2 signaling.

BSC Capacity

Maximum BTS's

Capacity on "A" interface

BSC Capacity
Maximum BTS's

No of BTS's supported by the BSC is vendor specific It is generally based on either or both of below : 1. Maximum number of TRX's BSC can support (in terms of traffic) 2. Maximum number of PCM interfaces BSC can support.

Max PCM interfaces can be optimized by selecting BTS configurations

BSC Capacity

BTS configuration
Star Configuration BTS BTS

BSC

BTS

BTS

BSC Capacity BTS configuration

Chain Configuration

BSC

26 x 64 kbps ch 1 x E1

BTS

13 x 64 kbps ch 1 x E1

BTS

BSC Capacity BTS configuration

Loop configuration A

BTS A

B
BSC B A

BTS B

Exercise !
Each BTS needs 13 x 64 kbps circuits H

BTS
L N K

BTS BTS
J A

BTS

BTS
C

BTS

BTS
G

BTS
BTS
O M

BSC
BTS
F

BTS

BTS

BTS

BTS

Calculate the Number of E1 Links for each of the links ?

BSC Capacity
Capacity on "A" Interface
Capacity on A interface depends on Traffic of BSC at targeted GOS. Traffic of BSC = No of Subscribers under BSC x Traffic per Subscriber
From calculated traffic, using Erlang B table calculate the number of circuits required.

For Local Transcoding (BTS Side)

Capacity = No of Speech Circuits + Signaling Circuits

For Remote Transcoding (MSC Side)

Capacity = No of Speech Circuits/4 + Signaling Circuits

BSC Capacity
Signaling Circuit Capacity on A interface
Signaling circuits

SS7 : Used for MSC - BSC signaling OML : For OMC TBL : Transcoder BSC Link
Capacity for SS7 link

Calculate the BHCA per second

BHCA : No of SDCCH attempts (calls+updates) x No of Subscribers .

On average each attempt requires 6 signaling messages No of messages per second = 6 x BHCA per second On average each message is of 25 octets Capacity of Signaling circuit ( kbps ) = 25octets x No of messages per second

Transcoder - MSC Capacity

MSC

TRANS CODER

BSC

= 1 x E1 = 112 x 16 kbps chs + 3 Signaling +1 sync.

= 1 x E1 = 30 x 64 kbps chs+ 1 Signaling +1 sync. 4 x E1 = 120 x 64 kbps chs

MSC Capacity
MSC Capacity = No of Subscribers x Traffic per subscriber Long term calculation is based on Population Penetration

--- Population Penetration is the mobile population out of total population of PLMN ( city ) Population Penetration = Total Population x Penetration rate MSC Capacity = Population Penetration x Traffic per subscriber Example : For a city population of 10,000000 with penetration rate of 2 %. Traffic per subscriber is 0.05 Erl. Population Penetration = 200000 MSC Capacity = 10,000 Erlangs

Network Elements Capacity

MSC - PSTN Link Capacity

---------

Estimate the % of PSTN calls from Total calls Calculate the PSTN Traffic based on above estimation Set a GOS Calculate the no of channels by using Erlang B Table