International J ournal of Engineering & Technology IJ ET-IJ ENS Vol: 10 No: 01 75

AbstractNetwork audit is necessary to judge the network

performance and maintain QOS standards. The network audit
identifies inconsistencies or limitations in current overall network
design, helps to improve processes resulting in optimized network
and improved quality of service. Radio Access Network audit
includes many aspects of network like performance, neighbor,
parameter, frequency, competitive benchmark audits. In this paper,
real GSM Radio Access network evaluated, and different issues,
findings, trials and improvements have been summarized and
observations/recommendations have been listed to correlate the
practical aspects of RF optimization, which affect the performance,
and QoS of an operational cellular network.

Index terms RAN, BSC, MSC, BTS, CSSR, CDR, HSR, TCH,
COVERAGE, QUALITY, KPI, DT and QoS.
I. INTRODUCTION

The mobile communication aims to offer anytime and anywhere
communications between any objects. GSM , One of the fastest
growing and most demanding of all telecommunications
technologies .
GSM Network usually called as cellular network (as the whole
coverage area is divided into different cells and sectors) is
comprised of a mobile Station (MS) which is connected to the
Base Transceiver Station (BTS) via air interface. In addition to
other hardware, BTS contains the equipment called Transceiver
(TRX), which is responsible for the transmission and reception
of several radio frequency (RF) signals to/from the end user
.BTS is then connected to the base station controller (BSC) via
abis interface. BSC usually handles radio resource management
and handovers of the calls from one BTS (or cell/sector) to the
other BTS (or cell/sector) equipped in it. BSC is then connected
to Mobile Switching Centre (MSC).

This paper focuses on audit of radio access part of GSM
network, suggestions to optimize the network and post
optimization benchmarks. Following is sequence of Objectives.

1. Network Audit and Recommendations
2. Optimization Plan and Cluster optimization
3. Post Optimization Evaluations (Benchmark
Improvements)

II. RADIO ACCESS NETWORK AUDIT
The ultimate purpose of the audit is to establish a baseline that
measures overall network design, quality, performance and
process, and to identify and characterize the areas where
improvement can be achieved. The audit is usually a
comparative process and requires an initial baseline of KPIs
and/or objectives. These can be derived from the design
guidelines, service requirements, customer expectation, market
benchmarks and others. The comparative baseline and/or the
KPIs can be re-adjusted during the audit itself to improve its
diagnostic capabilities.
Benefits of Network Audit.
Key benefits of network audit are:
Identify actions to improve network quality in problem
areas.
Discover inconsistencies or limitations in current overall
network design.
Discover practices or processes that can be improved or
optimized
Results in improved Network quality , thereby reduced
churn
Optimize overall network design:
Reduction of excess network elements
Postponement future CAPEX, leading to CAPEX
savings
It takes only a delay in the CAPEX for few BTSs to justify
the network audit investment
Streamline processes:
OPEX savings

Network Audit Steps

The audit has 3 distinct steps:

1. Information gathering (The Diagnosis)
2. Information analysis and results (The Prognosis)
3. Recommendations (The Cure)
III. INFORMATION GATHERING (DATA COLLECTION)
Following data will be collected for radio network audit
1. BSS Network Design and Performance Data.
All Site Data : sites position, antenna types, height,
tilt electric and Mechanical) and azimuth, sector
power, number of sectors, Number of TRXs per
sector
Macro Site data and Micro Layer data
BSC and transcoder designs
Coverage data
Neighbor List
Handover Parameter
Frequency Plan and Interference Analysis
OMC Statistics.
Drive Test Statistics.
Radio Access Network Audit & Optimization in GSM
(Radio Access Network Quality Improvement Techniques)
Mudassar Ali, Asim Shehzad, Dr. M.Adeel Akram.

International J ournal of Engineering & Technology IJ ET-IJ ENS Vol: 10 No: 01 76
2. Major Complaints from Customer Care.
3. Revenue Churn report from Revenue assurance
department
IV. INFORMATION ANALYSIS-RADIO NETWORK AUDIT FLOW
CHART

Algorithm for audit methodology used for test case of
network of city K is given in Fig.1



Fig.1 Radio Network Audit Flow Chart
V. RADIO NETWORK PERFORMANCE AUDIT

All the events being occurred over air interface are
triggering different counters in the Base Station Controller
(BSC). The KPIs are derived with the help of these counters
using different formulations.

A. Accessibility
Service accessibility is : The ability of a service to be obtained,
within specified tolerances and other given conditions, when
requested by the user. In other words:
Network to Accesses Calls Total
Setup Calls l Successful of NO Total
ty Acessibili
_ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _
=
Listed below are the KPIs connected to accessibility.
1. Paging Success Rate
The paging success rate measures the percentage of how many
paging attempts that have been answered, either as a result of the
first or the second repeated page.
Paging of Time
sponses Paging of Time
PSR
_ _
Re _ _ _
=

Possible reasons for poor Paging Performance could be:
Paging congestion in MSC
Paging congestion in BSC
Paging congestion in Base Transceiver Station (BTS)
Poor paging strategy
Poor parameter setting
Poor coverage
High interference

2. SDCCH Access Success Rate.
SDCCH access success rate is a percentage of all SDCCH
accesses received in the BSC.
Possible reasons for poor SDCCH Access Performance could be:
Too High Timing Advance (MHT)
Access Burst from another Co-channel, Co-BSIC Cell
Congestion
False Accesses due to High Noise Floor
Unknown Access Cause Code

3. SDCCH Drop Rate
The SDCCH DROP RATE statistic compares the total number
of RF losses (while using an SDCCH), as a percentage of the
total number of call attempts for SDCCH channels. This statistic
is intended to give an indication of how good the cell/system is
at preserving calls.
Seizures SDCCH
Drops SDCCH
Rate Drop SDCCH
_
_
_ _ =
Possible reasons for SDCCH RF Loss Rate could be:
Low Signal Strength on Down or Uplink
Poor Quality on Down or Uplink
Too High Timing Advance
International J ournal of Engineering & Technology IJ ET-IJ ENS Vol: 10 No: 01 77
Congestion on TCH

4. Call Setup Success Rate
The Call Setup success rate measures successful TCH
Assignments of total number of TCH assignment
attempts.
( ) Rate Success Assignment TCH Rate Congestion SDCCH CSSR _ _ _ * _ _ 1 =
( ) ( ) 100 * reRate ment_failu TCH_Assign 1 * tion_Rate TCH_Conges 1 *
_Attempts SDCCH_Call
flows SDCCH_Over
1 CSSR =

Reasons for low call setup success rate could be:
TCH congestion
Interference
Poor coverage
Faulty HW units

5. Call Setup TCH Congestion Rate
The Call Setup TCH Congestion Rate statistic provides the
percentage of attempts to allocate a TCH call setup that were
blocked in a cell.
Attempts TCH of No
HO Excluding Blocks TCH of No
Rate Congestion TCH Setup Call
_ _ _
) _ ( _ _ _
_ _ _ _ =
Possible reasons for call setup block could be:
Increasing Traffic Demand
Bad Dimensioning
HW Fault & Installation Fault
High Antenna Position
High Mean Holding Time (MHT)
Low Handover Activity
Congestion in Surrounding Cells

B. Retain ability
Service retain ability is The ability of a service, once obtained,
to continue to be provided under given conditions for a
requested duration. In other words:
setup calls Successful Total
Completed Calls Total
y tainabilit
_ _ _
_ _
Re =
Listed below are the KPIs connected to retain ability.
1. Call Drop Rate
This KPI gives rate of drop call. Percent of TCH dropped after
TCH assignment complete.
successes HO Outgoing Successes HO g Inco DR g inco successes Assignment Normal TCH
Drops TCH Total
CDR
_ _ _ _ min _ min _ _ _
_ _
+ +
=

*DR is directed retry

Possible reasons for TCH Drop Call Rate could be:
Low Signal Strength on Down or Uplink
Lack of Best Server
Congestion in neighboring cells
Battery Flaw
Poor Quality on Down or Uplink
Too High Timing Advance
Antenna problems
Low BTS Output Power
Missing Neighboring Cell Definitions
Unsuccessful Outgoing Handover
Unsuccessful Incoming Handover

2. Handover Success Rate

The handover success rate shows the percentage of successful
handovers of all handover attempts. A handover attempt is when
a handover command is sent to the mobile.
HOSR
Possible reasons for poor handover success rate could be:
Congestion
Link Connection or HW Failure
Bad Antenna Installation
The MS Measures Signal Strength of another Co-or-
Adjacent Cell than Presumed
Incorrect Handover Relations
Incorrect Locating Parameter Setting
Bad Radio Coverage
High Interference, Co-channel or Adjacent

VI. NEIGHBOR, PARAMETERS AND FREQUENCY AUDIT.

It is important for the neighbor list to be updated and optimized
as it directly affects handover decisions in a
mobile network. Wrong or missing neighbor relations may cause
an on-going connection to drop or be handed over to the wrong
neighbor cell. Excessive neighbor relations in a cell, on the other
hand, may cause wrong handover decision on the part of the
BSS because of inaccurate measurements. Neighbor relations
and parameters are cross checked to identify and remove
One way neighbors
Illogical neighbor Relations
International J ournal of Engineering & Technology IJ ET-IJ ENS Vol: 10 No: 01 78
Methods used to assign frequencies in the network are reviewed
and the steps are taken to control interference and maximize
network capacity through frequency planning. BCCH/BSIC
reuse is crosschecked. MA (Moblile Allocation) List is cross
verified.
VII. COMPETITIVE BENCHMARK AUDIT
In competitive benchmarking, coverage and quality comparison
of network is performed with competitors.
Below is coverage and quality comparison for two operators for
a city, Results are taken Drive test tool, TEMS.

Coverage Comparison :
As visible from Plots mentioned in Fig.2 and Fig .3 operator 1
have better coverage than operator 2. which is also visible in
KPIs.



Fig 2 . Coverage Plot for Operator 1 For City K :



Fig 3. Coverage Plot for Operator 2 for City K

Legend For Coverage is given below .


Formula For Coverage Rate:
100 *
_
90 _ _ _ _ _
_
Samples Total
dbm strength Signal having samples of No
Rate Covergae

=
Results for Coverage rate for operator 1 and operator 2 taken for
city K are given below
KPI Operator 1 Operator 2
COVERAGE
RATE 94.64% 72.77%
Quality Comparison:
As visible from plots mentioned in Fig 4 and Fig 5 , Operator 1
has better quality than operator 1 , which is also visible in KPIs



Fig .4 Quality Plots for Operator 1 For City K.


International J ournal of Engineering & Technology IJ ET-IJ ENS Vol: 10 No: 01 79

Fig. 5 Quality Plots for Operator 2 for city K

Legend For Quality Plots is as follows :




Formula for Quality:

Samples Total
Qual RX Qual RX Qual RX Qual RX Qual RX Qual RX Qual RX
Quality ceive
_
07 . ) 6 _ 5 _ 4 _ ( ) 3 _ 2 _ 1 _ 0 _ (
_ Re
+ + + + + +
=

Results for receive quality for operator 1 and
operator 2 taken for city K.

KPI Operator 1 Operator 2
Rx QUALITY 88.19% 87.18%

VIII. REFERENCES
[1] Halonen T., Romero J., Melero J.: GSM, GPRS and EDGE
Performance. J ohn Wiley & Sons Ltd, 2003. [2] ITU-T
recommendation G.1000 (2001), Communication quality of
Service: A framework and definition.
[3] J ens Zander. Radio Resource Management for Wireless
Networks. Artech House Inc., 2001
[4] Bilal Haider,M.Zafarrullah Khan, M.K.Islam: Radio
Frequency Optimization and QOS in operational GSM network.