General Guidelines for RF

Hidden Faults Rectification

Purpose:

The purpose of this document is to provide the general guidelines for RF

hidden faults (Main/diversity, link imbalance & TRX Efficiency Issues) rectification for
both field teams as well as the back office team.
Issues:
Mostly hidden faults are the result of some intra/inter sector swap or some
faulty equipment. Below is the pictorial description of some of the issues which can
be observed and actions to counter them both for BTS 3012 & BTS 3900.
Inverse connection of
antennas between cells: intercell handover counters

Crossed pair of antennas

between cells: difference
between the main antenna
level and the diversity
antenna level
counters
Fault of an antenna:
1. VSWR alarms
2. Difference between the
main antenna level and the
diversity antenna level
3. Difference in average
downlink level among tunnels
counters
Fault of the RX:
Difference between the main
antenna level and the
diversity antenna level
counters
Fault of the TX:
Power query and comparison

BTS 3012
Inverse connection of
antennas between cells: intercell handover counters

Crossed pair of antennas

between cells: difference
between the main antenna
level and the diversity
antenna level
counters
Fault of an antenna:
1. VSWR alarms
2. Difference between the
main antenna level and the
diversity antenna level
3. Difference in average
downlink level among tunnels
counters
Fault of the connecting
line between modules:
Difference between the main
antenna level and the
diversity antenna level

BTS 3900
BO team should check all the TRX level stats (main/diversity, link imbalance & TRX
efficiency) before addressing any issue. Also check the alarms, output power &

transmit/receive mode (single/double feeder etc.).In addition team should verify

configuration with the filed team for rectification.
Audit Guidelines:
1. First and foremost step is to confirm the co-ordinates of the site so as to
negate the difference between planned and physical data.
2. Then check the azimuths of all sectors both for 2G and 3G. In case site has
separate antennas for 900 & 1800 band note the azimuth for both antennas
separately.
3. Note the type of antenna being used e.g. dual band, single 900 & single 1800
etc.
4. Check the Mechanical tilts and electrical tilts (900 & 1800 separate in case of
dual band antenna).
5. Check the antenna height in each sector.

2G Cable Tracing:
1. First identify the sector e.g. A, B or C etc with the help of compass and then
do the feeder cable tracing.
2. Do the cable tracing from the antenna to the BTS cabinet not the other way
around.
3. Before tracing the cables, confirm the running configuration of boards from
M2000 with the help of back office P.O.C. Board numbering usually starts from
0 and goes till 5. Sometimes we have separate cabinets for 900 & 1800 so it
is very important to confirm the board configuration before doing any
changes.
4. Always do cable tracing one by one, say 900, at a time and not mess up all
the things.
5. Make sure all the cables are terminating at the correct boards as per
configuration.
6. Check for transmit/receive swap (details given below).
7. Check for Main/Diversity swap (details given below).
8. Check for CPRI cable swap (details given below).
9. Check for diplexer swap (details given below).
Below is the simple block diagram for Antenna system to identify different parts.

2G Possible Issues:
Below are some of the cases which can result in partial/sector swap.
i.

ii.
iii.

iv.

v.

Inter-sector swap
i.
900 cables of one sector are going in the 900 board of other sector.
ii.
900 cables of one sector are going in the 1800 board of other sector.
iii.
1800 cables of one sector are going in the 900 board of other sector.
iv.
1800 cables of one sector are going in the 1800 board of other sector.
Intra-sector swap
i.
900 cables are going to 1800 board.
ii.
1800 cables are going to 900 board.
Transmit & Receive swap
i.
Transmit is going to receive & receive is going to transmit within the
same sector.
ii.
Transmit is going to receive of other sector.
iii.
Receive is going to transmit of other sector.
iv.
Transmit is going to transmit of other sector.
v.
Receive is going receive of other sector.
Main & diversity swap
i.
Main is going to diversity & vice versa within same sector.
ii.
Main 1800 is going to main 900 & vice versa within same sector.
iii.
Main 1800 is going to main 900 & vice versa of other sector.
iv.
Diversity 1800 is going to diversity 900 & vice versa within same
sector.
v.
Diversity 1800 is going to diversity 900 & vice versa of other sector.
vi.
Main of one sector is going to main of other sector.
vii.
Diversity of one sector is going to diversity of other sector.
CPRI cable swap

i.

vi.

CPRI cable of one sector connected to the board of other sector. This
can be confirmed with back office support.
Cable terminating in wrong Diplexer
i.
900 cables terminating in 1800 diplexer and vice versa.
ii.
900 cable going directly to board whereas 1800 comes through
diplexer.
Some of the issues observed during recent activities are listed below:

Straight
Jumper being
used rather
than curve

3G Cable Tracing:
CP cable coming from RRUs should terminate in correct WBBU board. Ports
are in sequence i.e. port 1 for sector 1, port 2 for sector 2 and port 3 for
sector 3.

TRX Efficiency & Link Imbalance Issue:

For TRX efficiency & Link imbalance issues you need to check
connectors/jumpers connections and their condition (sometimes water sticks in
connectors & they get rusty) in addition to the steps mentioned above. If nothing is
obvious use site master for sweep test.
Note:
Most of the cases can be resolved by keeping above cases in mind but please
note that rectification may not be limited to only these cases.

Back Office Support:

Responsibilities of back office support for hidden faults rectification are listed
below:
Clearly communicate the problem to the field team e.g. which sector has the
issue, either 900 or 1800 TRXs are suffering with hidden faults, suspected
sectors for swap from DT results etc.
Confirm the site configuration in coordination with the FME i.e. ask the FME to
turn off the particular board and confirm the same from M2000.
Activate the 15 minutes MRs(to save the time of field teams) on the M2000
for counters S4556 & S4557 for diversity;
S462A,S462B,S462C,S462D,S462E,S462F,S462G,S462H,S462I,S462J & S462K
for UL/DL ; CR440A, CR440B, CR443A, CR443B, R4419A & R4419B for
Immediate Assignment Success Rate, Handover Success Rate & Assignment
Success respectively. Please note that all these MRs to be checked at TRX
level.
After the rectification pull out the MRs against the counters mentioned above
to ensure:
For Diversity Issues:
Main Level (dBm) =10*log(S4556)-120
Diversity Level (dBm) = 10*log(S4557)-120
Main Level (dBm)-Diversity Level (dBm)< |+/-8|
For UL/DL Issues:
Downlink Path Imbalance Issue >>> [(Level1 + Level 2)/(Level1+Level2
+Level11)]*100>30%
Uplink Path Imbalance Issue >>> [Level 11/(Level1+Level2
+Level11)]*100>25%
For TRX Efficiency:
ASR_900 TRXs> 85%
ASR_1800 TRXs> 90%
HSR_900 TRXs> 85%
HSR_1800 TRXs> 90%
Also check the traffic carried by the particular cell through monitor channel
status in M2000 after the activity.
If the problem still persists after all the activities ask the FME to do sweep
test with site master to look for faulty connectors, jumpers etc.

Note: It is advisable to check the busy hour stats on the morning of next day to
ensure that issue is rectified fully & ask the FME to revisit the site if need be.

THE END