Absolute priority based cell reselection

The cell ranking algorithm (reselection based on thresholds) does not allow the network
operator to control easily cell reselection between different RATs. Some parameters can be
used to favour reselection to a given RAT, but it gets all the more complex as more RATs are
involved and if thresholds/offsets vary dynamically.

Therefore Release 8 introduced another degree of control on the RAT (or frequency) to be reselected.
This mechanism is called absolute priority based cell reselection. A priority is assigned per WCDMA
frequency, LTE EARFCN or group of GSM ARFCN, which are referred as “layers”. The principle of
priority based reselection is that the UE should always try to camp on the highest priority layer. It will
measure (and possibly reselect to) lower layer only in case the serving cell quality becomes too low.

This feature is mandatory for multi-RAT UEs supporting LTE.

Although the principle of priority based cell reselection is quite simple, the description is split into
several 3GPP specifications. The purpose of this document is to give an overall description, point to
the relevant parts of the 3GPP specification, describe the basic scenarios and give some hints about
abnormal cases in order to create good test coverage. Then it illustrates how test scenarios can easily
be written with RTD.

Although the priority based reselection principle is the same for all RATs, the parameters are a bit
different. Therefore they are going to be described separately in the following sections.

Absolute priority based cell reselection

References:
Priority characteristics
Use case 1: the UE is camped on GSM
Parameters involved in the priority based algorithm
Measurements on neighbour RATs
Cell reselection criterion
Blacklisting of EUTRAN cells
Barred cells
Cells not suitable
Abnormal case
Fragmentation of SIquater for multi RAT UE
Use case 2: the UE is camped on UTRAN
Parameters involved in the priority based algorithm
Measurements on inter-frequency, inter-RAT cells
Cell reselection criterion
Mobility states
Blacklisting of EUTRAN cells
Abnormal cases
 Cells barred, cell access restriction and not suitable cells
Use case 3: the UE is camped on EUTRAN
Parameters involved in the priority based algorithm
Measurements on intra-frequency cells
Measurements on inter-frequency and inter-RAT cells
Cell reselection criterion
Mobility states

References:
Reference to 3GPP Release 8 specification
TS 45.008 Digital cellular telecommunications system (Phase 2+); Radio subsystem link control
(3GPP TS 45.008 version 8.11.0 Release 8)
TS 44.018 Digital cellular telecommunications system (Phase 2+); Mobile radio interface layer 3
specification; Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol (3GPP TS 44.018 version 8.12.0 Release 8)
TS 44.060 Digital cellular telecommunications system (Phase 2+); General Packet Radio Service
(GPRS); Mobile Station (MS) - Base Station System (BSS) interface; Radio Link Control / Medium
Access Control (RLC/MAC) protocol (3GPP TS 44.060 version 8.12.1 Release 8)
TS 25.133 Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); Requirements for support of radio
resource management (FDD) (3GPP TS 25.133 version 8.14.0 Release 8)
TS 25.304 Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); User Equipment (UE) procedures
in idle mode and procedures for cell reselection in connected mode (3GPP TS 25.304 version 8.12.0
Release 8)
TS 25.331 Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); Radio Resource Control (RRC);
Protocol specification (3GPP TS 25.331 version 8.15.0 Release 8)
TS 36.133 LTE; Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Requirements for support of
radio resource management (3GPP TS 36.133 version 8.14.0 Release 8)
TS 36.300 LTE; Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) and Evolved Universal
Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN); Overall description; Stage 2 (3GPP TS 36.300 version
8.9.0 Release 8)
TS 36.304 LTE; Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); User Equipment (UE)
procedures in idle mode (3GPP TS 36.304 version 8.10.0 Release 8)
TS 36.331 LTE; Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Radio Resource Control
(RRC); Protocol specification (3GPP TS 36.331 version 8.14.0 Release 8)

Priority characteristics
A priority is an integer that ranges between 0 and 7, 7 being the highest priority. Two different
frequencies from the same RAT can have the same priority, but two different RATs can never have
the same priority. This is in order to avoid ping pong between different RATs.
This priority is broadcasted in system information. The layer priority should be consistent: it should
remain the same when broadcasted on different RAT (i.e. if GSM has prio 4 in GSM system
information, it should have priority 4 as well in WCDMA system information).

Priorities can be common or individual. Common priorities define the general behaviour for inter-RAT
reselection within one cell and apply to UEs that do not have individual priorities. They are
broadcasted in the system information.
Individual priorities override common priorities. They are provided through dedicated signalling
(channel release in GSM, RRCConnectionRelease in UTRAN and EUTRAN) to a UE and are user
specific. They could be used for example to prioritize a layer to provide high data rate for premium
users. The Subscriber Profile ID for RAT/Frequency (SPID) is an index referring to user information
(e.g mobility profile, service usage profile). The information is UE specific and applies to all its Radio
Bearers. It can be used by the network to assign individual priority. See TS 36.300 for reference SPID
values.

Individual priorities are only valid until a change of PLMN is performed, or the UE is switched off, or
new individual priority is received that override previously assigned ones, or the validity timer expires
(i.e., T320 in EUTRA, T322 in UTRA and T3230 in GERAN). These timers are optionally provided to
invalidate the priority after some time (see TS 44.018 section 3.2.3.3).

Use case 1: the UE is camped on GSM

If the UE has received SI2quater containing E-UTRAN priority information, it shall use priority based
cell reselection. Otherwise cell ranking based reselection applies.

Parameters involved in the priority based algorithm

The parameters below taken from SI2quater (see TS 44.018 Table 10.5.2.33b.1: SI2quater Rest
Octets information element).

Serving Cell Priority Parameters

GERAN_PRIORITY: GERAN priority (note that this priority applies to all GERAN cells, unlike
UTRAN and EUTRAN where different frequencies can have different
priorities)
THRESH_Priority_Search:Rxlev Threshold under which the UE shall start monitoring lower priority
layers
THRESH_GSM_low: Threshold where GSM should start considering reselection to lower priority
layers
H_PRIO: Hysteresis used for reselection to lower priority layers
T_Reselection: Minimum duration during which the target cell should be “better” than
serving in order to perform cell reselection

UTRAN Priority Parameters (per UTRAN frequency index)

UTRAN_FREQUENCY_INDEX: Index of the frequency layer in the 3G frequency list
UTRAN_PRIORITY: Priority of UTRAN frequency
THRESH_UTRAN_high: Threshold used when this UTRAN layer priority is higher than GSM serving
cell priority
THRESH_UTRAN_low: Threshold used when this UTRAN layer priority is lower than GSM serving
cell priority
UTRAN_QRXLEVMIN: Minimum RSCP required on UTRAN. Used to calculate the Srx parameter
in the reselection criterion
Note that it is possible for the network to specify DEFAULT_UTRAN_PRIORITY,
DEFAULT_THRESH_UTRAN and DEFAULT_UTRAN_QRXLEVMIN that apply to all frequencies of
the 3G frequency list that were not assigned specific parameters.

E-UTRAN Neighbour Cells parameters (per EARFCN)

Measurement Bandwidth: Specifies the minimum value of the channel bandwidth of all valid E-
UTRAN cells on the specified EARFCN. It is defined by the parameter
Transmission Bandwidth Configuration, NRB(see 3GPP TS 36.104). The
 values indicate the number of resource blocks over which the mobile
station could measure.
E-UTRAN_PRIORITY: Priority of EUTRAN frequency
THRESH_E-UTRAN_high: Threshold used when this EUTRAN layer priority is higher than GSM
serving cell priority
THRESH_E-UTRAN_low: Threshold used when this EUTRAN layer priority is lower than GSM
serving cell
E-UTRAN_QRXLEVMIN: Minimum RSRP required on EUTRAN. Used to calculate
the Srx parameter in the reselection criterion

Measurements on neighbour RATs

The UE measures periodically the signal level on layers that have higher priority than the serving
GSM cell. The frequency of measurements is defined on other RAT is not defined explicitly but the
requirements on the reselection time to other RAT are defined accurately in the TS 45.008 section
6.6.4.
The UE starts measuring on lower priority layers in case the serving cell Rxlev on the serving cell falls
below THRESH_Priority_Search.

Cell reselection criterion

UE calculates the following values (TS 45.008 section 6.6.6):
SUTRAN = QrxlevmeasUTRAN - UTRAN_QRXLEVMIN
SEUTRAN = QrxlevmeasEUTRAN - E-UTRAN_QRXLEVMIN
SGSM = C1

The UE shall reselect to a higher priority layer in case:

 UTRAN target: SUTRAN > THRESH_UTRAN_high for more than T_Reselection

 EUTRAN target: SEUTRAN > THRESH_E-UTRAN_high for more than T_Reselection

If more than one cell meets the cell reselection criteria above, the UE shall reselect the cell with the
highest Srxlev level among the cells meeting the criteria on the highest absolute priority layer.

If SGSM < THRESH_GSM_low for more than T_Reselection for the serving cell and all GSM
neighbours, the UE shall reselect to

 UTRAN target: SUTRAN > THRESH_UTRAN_low for more than T_Reselection

 EUTRAN target: SEUTRAN > THRESH_E-UTRAN_low for more than T_Reselection

 If no target cell is fulfils the conditions above, then the cells satisfying the condition

SUTRAN/EUTRAN > SGSM + HPRIO should be considered in decreasing order of SUTRAN/EUTRAN.

A UTRAN FDD cell shall only be reselected if, in addition to the criteria above, its measured Ec/No
value is equal to or greater than FDD_Qmin - FDD_Qmin_Offset (as broadcasted in SI2ter and
SI2quater).

A E-UTRAN cell shall only be considered for reselection if not included in the list of not allowed cells.

If a UTRAN or a E-UTRAN cell has not been assigned a priority, it shall not be considered for
reselection. (Since the priority is optional in SI2quater, it could be that the neighbour cell
is ont assigned any priority.)

The cell reselection to higher layer and cell reselection to lower layer are illustrated on
figures Figure 1 and Figure 2. Note that there is another scenario where no lower priority cell fulfils
SEUTRAN > THRESH_E-UTRAN_low for more than T_Reselection, and in that case the UE shall
reselect a lower priority cell fulfilling SEUTRAN > SGSM + HPRIO.
Figure 1: reselection to a higher priority RAT (Here the serving cell is GSM and the higher
priority cell is a EUTRAN cell)

Figure 2: reselection to a lower priority RAT (Here the serving cell is GSM and the lower
priority RAT is EUTRAN)
Conditions 1) and 2) are fulfilled => Trigger a cell reselection to the low priority
(EUTRAN) cell.

Blacklisting of EUTRAN cells

The mobile station shall not perform measurements or attempt reselection to the EUTRAN “Not
Allowed Cells” sent in the Measurement information or in the SI2quater. (see 44.018 section 9.1.54)
There are 3 different way to describe a blacklist of EUTRAN cells (see TS 44.060 section 12.57):
 - explicit list of 9 bit long physical cell IDs
- PCID bitmap group, a 6 bit long bitmap where each bit stand for a range of 84 cell IDs (to
cover all the 503 possible physical cell IDs).
- PCID pattern: a pattern of 1 to 9 bits which is applied to the most significant bit of the
physical cell ID of the EUTRAN neighbour cells. Depending on the pattern sense, a match
between the pattern and the physical cell ID will include or exclude the cell.

Barred cells
See TS 45.008 section 6.6.6.
In case a target UTRAN cell is barred, the UE shall not attempt any reselection during Tbarred (value
defined on the barred UTRAN cell).

In case a target EUTRAN cell is barred, the UE shall not attempt any reselection during up to 20
minutes.

Cells not suitable

See TS 45.008 section 6.6.6.
In case the UE attempts reselection to a UTRAN cell which is not suitable (either belonging to the "list
of forbidden LAs for roaming" or belonging to a PLMN which is not indicated as being equivalent to
the registered PLMN), the UE may abandon further reselection attempts towards this UTRAN cell and
all other cells on the same frequency, for a period of up to 20 min.
In case the UE attempts reselection to a E-UTRAN cell which is not suitable due to being part of the
"list of forbidden tracking areas for roaming" (see 3GPP TS 24.301), and if the MS has received the
PCID to TA Mapping information element (see 3GPP TS 44.018 and 3GPP TS 44.060) for the
frequency of the cell, it shall abandon further reselection attempts towards this E-UTRAN cell and any
E-UTRAN cell which is known to belong to the same Tracking Area

Abnormal case
See TS 45.008 section 6.6.6.
The serving cell has no allocated priority. Then it shall be assigned a “negative” priority so that a
reselection is triggered as early as possible.

Fragmentation of SIquater for multi RAT UE

The SI2quater may be quite long since it contains UTRAN and EUTRAN neighbour cell information.
The maximum size of a BCCH message is 22 octets, therefore the SI2quater is split into several
instances. The networks broadcast one instance per multiframe and the acquisition by the UE can
therefore take some time.
For a UE that does not support UTRAN or EUTRAN, the START and STOP bit may be used to speed
up System information reading and several seconds can be saved at cell reselection by not reading
the instances containing information that is non relevant for the UE.
UTRAN information is not mixed with EUTRAN information. They are sent in different SI2quater
instances. If instances 0 to 1 contain UTRAN information, and instances 2 to 4 contain EUTRAN
information, then the UE that does not support EUTRAN may skip the reading of instances 2 to 4.
Figure 3: Priority based cell reselection in GSM
Use case 2: the UE is camped on UTRAN
In the GSM case, priority based reselection only involves reselection to other RATs, but in the UTRAN
case, it may involve reselection to other UTRAN frequencies.
It is a bit more complex than GSM since both the priority based and cell ranking based reselection
can be used at the same time: priority based reselection can apply to inter-frequency layers and cell
ranking based reselection to inter-RAT layers and vice-versa.
The priority based cell reselection applies for inter-frequency layers as soon as SIB19 as been
received and assigned at least one inter-frequency neighbour cell priority and threshold parameters.
Similarly it applies for inter-RAT layers as soon SIB19 as been received and assigned at least one
inter-RAT neighbour cell priority and threshold parameters.
Otherwise if no priority was provided the cell ranking algorithm shall apply.
If the priority based reselection applies and one cell has no priority or threshold assigned, it shall not
be considered for cell reselection. (see TS 25.304 , 5.2.6.1.4a)

Parameters involved in the priority based algorithm

Squal and Srxlev are defined as:
Squal = Qqualmeas – Qqualmin
Srxlev = Qrxlevmeas – Qrxlevmin

Serving Cell Priority Parameters

Sprioritysearch1: threshold on the serving cell Srxlev used to trigger measurement on lower priority
layers
Sprioritysearch2: threshold on the serving cell Squal used to trigger measurement on lower priority
layers
threshServingLow: threshold on the serving cell Srxlev used for reselection to lower priority layers
Treselection: provided in SIB3/4. Depend on the state DCH or FACH.

GSM/UTRAN/E-UTRAN Priority Parameters (same)

threshXhigh: threshold on the higher priority target cell Srxlev used to trigger reselection
threshXlow: threshold on the lower priority target cell Srxlev used to trigger reselection
qRxLevMinGSM: minimum signal level on GSM (used to calculate Srxlev for GSM)
qRxLevMinFDD: minimum signal level on UTRA (used to calculate Srxlev for UTRA)
qRxLevMinEUTRA: minimum signal level on EUTRA (used to calculate Srxlev for EUTRA)

Measurements on inter-frequency, inter-RAT cells

The UE measures periodically the signal level on layers that have higher priority than the serving
UTRAN cell.
The Thigher_priority_search period is defined as (60 * Nlayers) seconds, where Nlayers is the total
number of configured higher priority E-UTRA, UTRA FDD and UTRA TDD carrier frequencies and is
additionally increased by one if one or more groups of GSM frequencies is configured as a higher
priority.(see 25.133 section 4.2.2)
Table 4.1 in the same document defines more specifically measurement and evaluation periods
depending on the DRX cycle.

If SrxlevServingCell <= Sprioritysearch1 or SqualServingCell <= Sprioritysearch2, the UE shall

perform measurements on lower priority layers. (see 25.304 section 5.2.6.1.2a)
Cell reselection criterion
UE calculates the following values for the non serving cells:
SrxlevUTRAN = QrxlevmeasUTRAN - QrxlevMinUTRAN
SrxlevEUTRAN = QrxlevmeasEUTRAN - QrxlevMinEUTRAN
SrxlevGSM = Rxlev - Qrxlevmin

The 25.304, 5.2.6.1.4a explains the reselection criterion:

A reselection to a higher priority layer cell is triggered if its Srxlev is greater than threshXhigh during a
time interval Treselection.
If SrxlevServingCell < threshServingLow or SqualServingCell < 0, the UE shall first try to reselect to
a interfrequency cell with equal priority satisfying SrxlevnonServingCell,x > threshXlow during a time
intervalTreselection.
If not interfrequency cell satisfies this, it shall reselect to a RAT with lower priority
satisfying SrxlevnonServingCell,x > threshXlow during a time interval Treselection.

Note: new thresholds Threshx,high2 and Threshx,low2has been introduced in Release 9 that rely only
on Squal for the reselection criteria.

Mobility states
In UTRAN are defined mobility states. Depending on the number of reselections that occurred
previously, the Treselection value will be scaled to be larger in case of high mobility. This way the
number of reselections is reduced.
In all the above criteria the values of Treselections, Treselections,PCH or Treselections,FACH apply
for Treselection and are scaled according to the UE mobility state and target RAT, as specified in TS
25.304 section 5.2.6.1.1a.

Blacklisting of EUTRAN cells

The "E-UTRA frequency and priority" IE in SIB 19 can contain a "Blacklisted cells per freq list"
information element. Cells within this list shall not be reconsidered for reselection (see TS 25.331).

Abnormal cases
There is no priority associated with the serving cell. The UE shall perform a cell reselection.

Cells barred, cell access restriction and not suitable cells

TS 25.304 section 5.2.6.1.3 describes the UE behaviour in case of access restrictions or cell
unsuitable for normal camping.
If the target cell is barred the UE shall select another cell and not try to reselect to the barred cell
during Tbarred (see section 5.3.1.1).
If the highest ranked cell or best cell according to absolute priority reselection rules is not suitable due
to being part of the "list of forbidden LAs for roaming" or belonging to a PLMN which is not indicated
as being equivalent to the registered PLMN, the UE shall not consider this cell and other cells on the
same frequency, as candidates for reselection for a maximum of 300s.
Use case 3: the UE is camped on EUTRAN
On EUTRAN, only the priority based cell reselection can apply. The cell ranking based reselection
does not exist on EUTRAN.

Parameters involved in the priority based algorithm

Squal and Srxlev are defined as:
Squal = Qqualmeas – Qqualmin
Srxlev = Qrxlevmeas – Qrxlevmin

Serving Cell Priority Parameters

Sintrasearch: Threshold below which the UE shall perform intra frequency measurements
Snonintrasearch: Threshold below which the UE shall perform inter frequency and inter RAT
measurements
Threshserving, low: Threshold below which the UE shall consider lower priority cells for cell
reselection

GSM/UTRAN/E-UTRAN Priority Parameters (same)

Qqualmin: Minimum quality level on a target cell to be considered for cell reselection
Qrxlevmin: Minimum signal level on a target cell to be considered for cell reselection
Threshx, high: Threshold to be fulfilled if priority is higher than the serving cell
Threshx, low: Threshold to be fulfilled if priority is lower than the serving cell

TS 36.304 section 5.2.4.2 describes when measurement are performed.

Measurements on intra-frequency cells

- If Sintrasearch is sent in the serving cell and SServingCell > Sintrasearch, the UE may choose to not
perform intra-frequency measurements.
- If SServingCell <= Sintrasearch, or Sintrasearch is not sent in the serving cell UE shall perform intra-
frequency measurements

Measurements on inter-frequency and inter-RAT cells

The UE shall perform measurements on E-UTRAN inter-frequency or inter-RAT frequency with a
higher reselection priority periodically according to TS 36.133 section 4.2.2.4 and 4.2.2.5.

The UE shall perform measurements on E-UTRAN inter-frequency with an equal or lower priority and
on inter-RAT frequency with lower priority:
- If Snonintrasearch is sent in the serving cell and SServingCell > Snonintrasearch UE may choose
not to perform measurements of E-UTRAN inter-frequencies or inter-RAT frequency cells of equal or
lower priority.
- If SServingCell <= Snonintrasearch or Snonintrasearch is not sent in the serving cell the UE shall
perform measurements of E-UTRAN inter-frequencies or inter-RAT frequency cells of equal or lower
priority according to TS 36.133 section 4.2.25.

Cell reselection criterion

TS 36.304 section 5.2.4.5 describes the cell reselection criterion:
Cell reselection to a cell on a higher priority E-UTRAN frequency or inter-RAT frequency than serving
frequency shall be performed if:
- SnonServingCell,x > Threshx, high during a time interval TreselectionRAT
- more than 1 second has elapsed since the UE camped on the current serving cell.
If no reselection to higher priority cell or intra-frequency cell is possible, cell reselection to a cell on a
lower priority E-UTRAN frequency or inter-RAT frequency than serving frequency shall be performed
if:
- SServingCell < Threshserving, low and the SnonServingCell,x of a cell of a lower priority E-UTRAN
frequency or inter-RAT frequency is greater than Threshx, low during a time
interval TreselectionRAT
- more than 1 second has elapsed since the UE camped on the current serving cell.

Mobility states
On EUTRAN are defined mobility states. Depending on the number of reselections that occurred
previously, the mobility state will be high, medium or normal and the Treselection value will be scaled
to be larger in case of high mobility. This way the number of reselections is reduced.
In all the above criteria the values of Treselections is scaled according to the UE mobility state and
target RAT, as specified in TS 36.304 section 5.2.4.3.