Inter Frequency Handover

UMTS on 2nd Carrier

 Inter-Frequency Handover
• Inter-frequency handover (IFHO) allows the
UTRAN to switch the serving frequency of the
UE during dedicated channel state.
• Like the inter-RAT handover, the inter-frequency
handover procedure consists of two steps:
– The inter-frequency measurements
– The inter-frequency handover
• Since IFHO is a hard handover, it employs
compressed mode to facilitate inter-frequency
measurements.
 Enabling IFHO
RNC
Parameter Level at&t Default Comment

Indicates if the RNC supports Inter-Frequency Handover.

fddIfHoSupp RNC FALSE * * Should be set to TRUE to enable IFHO.
For performing IFHO or IRAT HO for UEs that have drifted to
another RNC, the SRNC needs to know the handover type for cells
in the DRNC. This information is set in defaultHoType in the
WcdmaCarrier MO and is defined for each carrier that serves as a
DRNC. IFHO_PREFERRED = 0, GSM_PREFERRED = 1
defaultHoType RNC 1* NONE = 2 *Should be set to 0 to allow IFHO in the drift RNC.

Cell
Parameter Level at&t Default Comment
This parameter indicates per cell if GSM HO, IFHO or none shall
be attempted: IFHO_PREFERRED = 0, GSM_PREFERRED = 1
hoType Cell 1* NONE = 2 * Should be set to 0 to enable IFHO.

UeRc
Parameter Level at&t Default Comment

Indicates per UeRc state if Inter-Frequency HO is allowed;

C_IfHoAllowed UeRc 0* 0 = Not Allowed, 1 = Allowed * Should be set to 1 to enable IFHO

Indicates per UeRc state if Inter-RAT HO is allowed;

C_gsmHoAllowed UeRc 1 0 = Not Allowed, 1 = Allowed
 IFHO Block Diagram
1
Call Start: DCH ESTABLISHED AND UE
CAPABILITIES CHECK

2 CONNECTION QUALITY MONITORING START

This part is
common to
IF and IRAT 3 BAD QUALITY DETECTED
(event 2d or 6d)

no  IF neighbours exist AND

 hoType condition fullfilled AND
yes  IFHO allowed for current UeRc

4 IF EVALUATION START IF EVALUATION STOP

(Compressed Mode)

4a GOOD QUALITY DETECTED

4b AS or RAB state change (event 2f or 6b)
 IF neighbours not available OR yes
 IFHO not allowed for current UeRc

5 IFHO CONDITIONS FULLFILLED

(event 2b)

6 IFHO EXECUTION UE moves to new carrier

 2 Connection Quality Monitoring Connection Quality Monitoring consists of measurements based on:
•DL P-CPICH Ec/No and DL P-CPICH RSCP measurements running
in parallel;
•UL UE Tx power measurements.
uplink
Ue Tx Power

downlink

CPICH RSCP  quality = good if all

CPICH Ec/No measurement items are good
 quality = bad if at least
one measurement is bad

CONNECTION QUALITY MONITORING

Configurable Ec/No RSCP UeTxPwr Max UE Tx pwr for

thresholds for DL UL based event
based event triggering
triggering

bad good bad good good bad

 Bad Quality Detected
3
BAD QUALITY DETECTED
(event 2d or 6d)

RNC
UE RRC Connection Request

MEASUREMENT REPORT
RRC Connection Setup
Reporting event type
RRC Connection Setup Complete • Event 2d with indication if it is referring to
RRC Measurement Control
Ec/No or RSCP measurements
• Event 6d (UETX pwr)
RRC Measurement Report

Connection Quality Status Update Ec/No RSCP UeTx

e2d Ec/No e2d RSCP e6d

E E OR R R OR T T
e2f Ec/No e2f RSCP e6b
Event 2d: If the WCDMA quality on the current used frequency goes below usedFreqThresh2d threshold minus the corresponding
hysteresis, and the condition is maintained during timeToTrigger2d. (can be EcNo or RsCP)

Event 6d: If the UE Tx Power reaches the maximum and the condition is maintained during a time period timeToTrigger6d
Event 2f: If the WCDMA RAN quality on the current used frequency goes above usedFreqRelThresh2f+usedFreqThresh2d threshold plus
the corresponding hysteresis, and the condition is maintained during timeToTrigger2f. (can be EcNo or RsCP)

Event 6b: If the UE Tx Power goes below ueTxPowerThresh6b threshold, and the condition is maintained during a time period
timeToTrigg6b
 IFHO Evaluation Start
4 Compress Mode

• Compressed Mode Methodology is dependant on the Bearer type:

– For conversational bearers, compressed mode is accomplished by accelerating the
data transmission rate (by halving the spreading factor) for a brief period of time
to allow a break in transmission for IFHO OR IRAT measurements
– For non-conversational class bearers, data transmission is briefly suspended by
higher layers (layer2) to allow for IFHO or IRAT measurements to be performed
• Due to limitations in the Compressed Mode gap patterns used, measurements
for Inter-Frequency Evaluation and Inter-RAT Evaluation are not performed
simultaneously. A decision has to be made on whether evaluation should be
made for Inter-Frequency handover or Inter-RAT handover or Inter-RAT Cell-
Change.
• The type of handover to be attempted is set by the parameter
hoType (IFHO_PREFERRED, GSM_PREFERRED, NONE) and
per carrier frequency for external DRNC cells (defaultHoType).
 IFHO Condition Fulfilled
5
IFHO CONDITIONS FULFILLED (event 2b)

UE RRC Connection Request

RNC
Ec/No or RSCP Ec/No / RSCP
RRC Connection Setup
Used frequency Non-used frequency
RRC Connection Setup Complete

RRC Measurement Control

Execute handover
(event 2b)
RRC Measurement Report
Start IF meas.
RRC Measurement Control

RRC Measurement Report

Condition on used frequency:

• Ec/No < UsedFreqThresh2dEcno + UsedFreqRelThresh4_2bEcno - Hyst4_2b / 2
• RSCP < UsedFreqThresh2dRscp + UsedFreqRelThresh4_2bRscp - Hyst4_2b / 2
• RSCP < UsedFreqThresh2dRscp + UsedFreqRelThresh4_2bRscp + utranRelThreshRscp - Hyst4_2b / 2

AND
Condition on non-used frequency:
•Depending on whether the IF measurements were started
due to Ec/No or
• Ec/No > NonUsedFreqThresh4_2bEcno + Hyst4_2b / 2
•RSCP or AND
•UE Tx power • RSCP > NonUsedFreqThresh4_2bRscp + Hyst4_2b / 2
time
5 IFHO Condition Fulfilled
• If the Inter-Frequency Handover Evaluation
receives an event 2b MEASUREMENT REPORT
while it is already processing another
MEASUREMENT REPORT, the new one is
buffered.
• There is one buffer for the only specified
event 2 MEASUREMENT REPORT. The buffer
holds only the last received report so a new
received report overwrites a report already in
the buffer.
• If no event 2b report is buffered, then IFHO
attempts shall be repeated. The number of
 IFHO Execution
6 Flow Diagram
IFHO EXECUTION

• The Execution part assesses the amount

of resources in the target WCDMA RAN
cell, according to the proposal received
from the Inter-Frequency Handover
Evaluation algorithm. It interacts with the
Capacity Management functions.

• If the attempt succeeds, the actions

necessary to fulfill the handover proposal
are executed.

• If execution fails, exception handling is

performed to return to stable situation and
keep the UE connection on the source
WCDMA RAN frequency.
 IFHO – Parameters
Parameter Level at&t Default Comment

Threshold for event 2d (the estimated quality of the currently used

-12 (HHO) WCDMA RAN frequency is below a certain threshold).
usedFreqThresh2dEcNo Cell -15 (SHO) Used if measurement quantity is configured to be Ec/No.
Threshold for event 2d (the estimated power level of the currently used
-103 to -109 (HHO) WCDMA RAN frequency is below a certain threshold).
usedFreqThresh2dRSCP Cell -112 (SHO) Used if measurement quantity is configured to be Rscp.
Time in milliseconds (ms) between detection of event 2d and sending
of the measurement report, when the measurement quantity is CPICH
timeToTrigger2dEcNo RNC 320 EC/NO.

Time in milliseconds (ms) between detection of event 2d and sending

of the measurement report, when the measurement quantity is CPICH
timeToTrigger2dRSCP RNC 320 RSCP.

hysteresis2d RNC 4 Hysteresis for event 2d (Unit: 0.5 dB).

Relative threshold for event 2f vs event 2d for the used frequency
usedFreqRelThresh2fEcno RNC 2 when the measurement quantity is Ec/No.
Relative threshold for event 2f vs event 2d for the used frequency
usedFreqRelThresh2fRscp RNC 6 when the measurement quantity is RSCP.
Time in milliseconds (ms) between detection of event 2f and sending
of the measurement report, when the measurement quantity is CPICH
timeToTrigger2fEcNo RNC 640 EC/NO.
Time in milliseconds (ms) between detection of event 2f and sending
of the measurement report, when the measurement quantity is CPICH
timeToTrigger2fRSCP RNC 640 RSCP.

hysteresis2f RNC 2 Hysteresis for event2f (Unit: 05.dB).

 IFHO – Parameters
Parameter Level at&t Default Comment

ueTxPowerThresh6b RNC 21 Threshold for event 6b.

Time between detection of event 6b and sending of the measurement
report.
timeTrigg6b RNC 1280
Time between detection of event 6d and sending of the measurement
N/A report
timeTotrigger6d RNC 320 * * Default value by Ericsson – has replaced timeTrigg6a
Relative threshold for event 2b vs event 2d, when the 2d measurement
with measurement quantity CPICH EC/NO was started.
This parameter is used to compute the absolute 2b Ec/No used
frequency threshold, by adding it to the current 2d Ec/No threshold
(absolute 2b Ec/No used frequency threshold = usedFreqThresh2dEcno
usedFreqRelThresh4_2bEcNo RNC -1 + usedFreqRelThresh4_2bEcno).
Relative threshold for event 2b vs event 2d when the 2d measurement
with measurement quantity CPICH RSCP was started.
This parameter is used to compute the absolute 2b Rscp threshold, by
adding it to the current 2d Rscp threshold (absolute 2b Rscp used
frequency threshold = usedFreqThresh2dRscp +
usedFreqRelThresh4_2bRSCP RNC -3 usedFreqRelThresh4_2bRscp).
Threshold for measurement 4 event 2b for the non-used frequencies
nonUsedFreqThresh4_2bEcNo RNC -13 when the measurement quantity is Ec/No.
Threshold for measurement 4 event 2b for the non-used frequencies
nonUsedFreqThresh4_2bRSCP RNC -105 when the measurement quantity is RSCP.
 IFHO – Parameters
Parameter Level at&t Default Comment
Relative threshold used during bad connection quality, when the
measurement quantity is CPICH RSCP.
The absolute 2b used frequency threshold will be calculated as:
absolute 2b Rscp used frequency threshold = usedFreqThresh2dRscp +
utranRelThreshRSCP RNC 5 usedFreqRelThresh4_2bRscp + utranRelThreshRscp.
Time between detection of event 2b and sending of the measurement
report, for measurement 4.
timeTrigg4_2b RNC 100 Unit: 1 ms
Hysteresis for measurement 4 event 2b.
Hyst4_2b RNC 10 Unit: 0.1dB
Maximum number of repeated proposals of non-used frequency cell(s)
IfhoAmountPropRepeat RNC 4 for handover based on the same measurement report
Minimum time interval between proposals of the same non-used
frequency cell for handover based on the same measurement report.
IfHoPropRepeatInterval RNC 5 Unit: 0.2 seconds
IFHO Scenario – Overlay
 Adding the second carrier where capacity increase is most needed.
 As the traffic in the network increases, the second carrier coverage is then
expanded gradually.

 Call continuity to support for

mobile units leaving and
entering the multi-carrier area
while in Cell_DCH stateis
UMTS F2
usually provided through IFHO

UMTS F1
IFHO Scenario – Overlay
Cell Reselection IFLS IFHO IRAT  F1 – IRAT and F2 - IFHO

IFHO IFHO IFHO F2  Border setting for 2d

thresholds for EDGE f2 cells.
usedFreqThresh2dEcNo,
IRAT IRAT IRAT IRAT IRAT F1 usedFreqThresh2dRSCP.
 Ensure quality on non used freq
GSM before event 2b.
nonUsedFreqThresh4_2bEcNo,
nonUsedFreqThresh4_2bRSCP
These thresholds should always
B B be higher than 2d triggers so
B ping-pong hard handovers don’t
B occuer.
UMTS F2
B B
B
B
B

UMTS F1
IFHO Scenario – Infill sites
 A F2 cell is added where there is a coverage hole.
 Scenario is only caused when F1 cell cannot be built in the area.
 Requires the spectrum to be cleared for both band!

 Long term plan should be to either

convert the F2 cell into F1 or dual
banding the infill site

UMTS F2

UMTS F1
IFHO Scenario – Infill sites
Cell Reselection IFHO IRAT  F1 – IRAT/IFHO and F2 -
IFHO
IFHO F2
 2d thresholds for F2 are set
to border settings for quicker
IRAT IFHO F1 IFHO
IFHO IRAT
 2d thresholds for F1 are set
GSM to interior settings for slower
IFHO.
Small road
Drop Call! Due to limitations in the Compressed
Mode gap patterns used, measurements
for Inter-Frequency Evaluation and Inter-
RAT Evaluation are not performed
simultaneously. A decision has to be
UMTS F2 made on whether evaluation should be
made for Inter-Frequency handover or
UMTS F1 Inter-RAT handover or Inter-RAT Cell-
Change.
Highway