Frequency Hopping

Frequency hopping is the technique of improving the signal to noise ratio in a link by
adding frequency diversity. The base station commands the mobile station to activate
frequency hopping as the mobile station moves toward the edge of a cell or into an
area of high interference. When frequency hopping is activated in the mobile station,
the base station assigns the mobile station a set of RF channels, rather than a single
RF channel. A frequency hopping algorithm is also assigned to the mobile and is used
to inform the mobile of the pattern of the available frequencies it is to use. In a
GSM/GPRS/EGPRS network, frequency hopping is specified in individual cells based
on the number of frequencies offered by a specific cell. The advantages that frequency
hopping offers are:

 Improved voice quality and prevention of dropped calls in GSM

 Improved data throughput in GPRS and EGPRS

Overview

The test set offers two basic forms of frequency hopping algorithms: cyclic and
pseudo random. When set to the cyclic form, the test set and the mobile station are
cycled through a fixed repeated pattern of frequencies. There are a total of 64 different
frequency patterns that the test set can generate and use. The hopping sequence the
mobile station uses depends on the Hopping Sequence Number (HSN) specified in the
test set. An HSN of zero corresponds to the cyclic hopping sequence, and values 1
through 63 correspond to the pseudo random patterns. The ARFCNs used in the
hopping sequence pattern are determined by the contents of the test set's Mobile
Allocation (MA) Table. The entry of the MA Table at which the hopping sequence
begins is called the Mobile Allocation Index Offset (MAIO). Note that an MAIO of
zero corresponds to the first entry of the MA Table.

An MA Table is a list of the ARFCNs present in the Cell Allocation (CA) Table that

share the same frequency band. There is a separate MA Table for each frequency
band. The ARFCNs in the MA Table must be chosen from the test set's Cell
Allocation (CA) Table because the CA Table contains all the ARFCNs available for
use in the cell. If a handoff to another band occurs, the test set uses the MA Table for
the band that it was instructed to handoff to.

The following table shows which ARFCNs represent each frequency band in the test
set's default CA Table. The default CA Table contains all the ARFCNs listed in the
third column. There is a separate MA Table for each frequency band. The values in
each row of the third column show the MA Tables for each corresponding frequency
band. For example, when the test set's selected frequency band is PCS, the default
values contained in MA Table for the PCS band are: 520, 661,810. Note that there the
default MA Table for the T-GSM810 band is empty.

Frequency Band ARFCN Range Default ARFCN

DCS 512 to 885 520, 661, 810, 885
EGSM 0 to 124 and 975 to 1023 1, 124, 975
GSM450 259 to 293 259, 293
GSM480 306 to 340 306, 340
GSM750 438 to 511 438, 511
GSM850 128 to 251 128, 251
PCS 512 to 810 520, 661, 810
PGSM 1 to 124 1, 124
RGSM 0 to 124 and 955 to 1023 1, 124, 955, 975
T-GSM810 350 to 425 none

The MA Tables and the CA Table can be manually or automatically configured.

Sixteen is the maximum number of entries for an MA Table.

When the MA Table is configured automatically, any changes to the CA Table are
populated in the MA Table of the appropriate frequency band. The state of each entry
in an MA Table can be manually set.

To maintain measurement accuracy, the measurement down converter is set to an

ARFCN in the selected MA Table. This ARFCN is called the Measurement ARFCN.

  
NOT
E
In order for frequency hopping to occur, the Frequency Hopping State parameter must
be enabled and there must be more than one ARFCN in the MA Table for the selected
band.

  

Configuration of Frequency Hopping Parameters

Parameter GPIB Commands

Frequency
CALL:(PDTCH|PDTChannel):FHOPping[:STATe]
Hopping State
 Parameter GPIB Commands
Cell CALL:CA:TABLe
Allocation
(CA) Table CALL:CA:TABLe:POINts?
 GSM GPIB Commands
Mobile
Allocation CALL:TCHannel:MA:TABLe:CONFig:AUTO
(MA) Table
Configuration  GPRS/EGPRS GPIB Commands
Mode
CALL:(PDTCH|PDTChannel):MA:TABLe:CONFig:AUTO
 GSM GPIB Commands
Mobile
Allocation CALL:TCHannel:MA:TABLe[:AUTO]:[SELected]?
(MA) Table
Automatic  GPRS/EGPRS GPIB Commands
Configuration
CALL:(PDTCH|PDTChannel):MA:TABLe[:AUTO][:SELected]?
 GSM GPIB Commands
Mobile
Allocation CALL:TCHannel:MA:TABLe:MANual:[SELected]
(MA) Table
Manual  GPRS/EGPRS GPIB Commands
Configuration
CALL:(PDTCH|PDTChannel):MA:TABLe:MANual[:SELected]
 GSM GPIB Commands
Mobile
Allocation CALL:TCHannel:MA:TABLe:MANual:POINts:[SELected]?
(MA) Table
Points Manual  GPRS/EGPRS GPIB Commands
Configuration
CALL:(PDTCH|PDTChannel):MA:TABLe:MANual:POINts[:SELected]?
 GSM GPIB Commands
Mobile
Allocation
CALL:TCHannel:MA:TABLe[:AUTO]:POINts:[SELected]?
(MA) Table
Points
Automatic  GPRS/EGPRS GPIB Commands
Configuration
CALL:(PDTCH|PDTChannel):MA:TABLe[:AUTO]:POINts[:SELected]?
Mobile  GSM GPIB Command
Allocation
Index Offset CALL:TCHannel:FHOPping:MAIoffset:[SELected]
(MAIO)
 Parameter GPIB Commands

 GPRS/EGPRS GPIB Command

CALL:(PDTCH|PDTChannel):FHOPping:MAIOffset[:SELected]
 GSM GPIB Command
Hopping
CALL:TCHannel:FHOPping:HSNumber
Sequence
Number
(HSN)  GPRS/EGPRS GPIB Command

CALL:(PDTCH|PDTChannel):FHOPping:HSNumber
 GSM GPIB Command

CALL:TCHannel:MA:MEASurement:ARFCn:(SELected]
Measurement
ARFCN
 GPRS/EGPRS GPIB Command

CALL:(PDTCH|PDTChannel):MA:MEASurement:ARFCN[:SELected]

Operating Considerations

Frequency hopping can only occur when the Operating Mode is set to one of the
following: Active Cell (with GSM, GPRS or EGPRS as the Serving Cell), GSM TCH,
GPRS BCH+PDTCH, or EGPRS BCH+PDTCH. Frequency Hopping parameters can
be changed in any Operating Mode, but the test set's operation is not effected until it is
set to a valid Operating Mode.

The Cell Allocation (CA) table is transmitted on the BCCH whenever there is a
presence of a BCH.

Frequency Hopping in applicable to the following Connection Types: ETSI Type A,

ETSI Type B (Unack), ETSI Type B (Ack), BLER, Auto, SRB Looback.

The Operating Mode must be set to Cell Off before the CA Table can be changed. The
maximum number of entries the CA table and MA table can contain is sixteen, and the
MA values can only be chosen from the CA Table values.

If frequency hopping is enabled, the adjacent burst power implies the burst power
before and after the traffic channel bursts. The Adjacent Burst Power can be set using
the GPBI command: CALL:TCHannel:PREDuction:ADJacent or CALL:(PDTCH|
PDTChannel):PREDuction:ADJacent .
The RF Amplitude Offset applied to the Test Set's RF signal generator output (for
mobile station receiver measurements) is the middle frequency/offset pair in the RF
In/Out Amplitude Offset table. This single offset value is applied to the RF output for
all hopped channels. (Note: If there is an even number of frequency/offset pairs in the
RF In/Out Amplitude Offset table, the offset used is the higher of the two middle
pairs. For example, if there are 4 frequency / offset pairs, the offset of pair 3 is used).

When the BCH Type is set to Combined , Frequency Hopping cannot take place on the
SDCCH.