Feature Description 70/221 04-LZA 701 6017/1 Uen AG20C

SSB Power Boost

Contents

1 SSB Power Boost Overview

The feature allows for increased SSB power in NR.

Access Type NR
Feature Identity: FAJ 121 5239
Value Package Name: Advanced Coverage Extension
Value Package Identity: FAJ 801 4006
Node Type: Baseband Radio Node
Licensed feature. One license is required for each
Licensing:
node.

Summary
The SSB is transmitted in a subset of PRBs. SSB power can be boosted by using the power gained from muted PDSCH
PRBs in Mid-Band cells and from unused PRBs in High-Band cells. While borrowing power from PDSCH PRBs for SSB, the
total transmission power of the gNodeB is maintained as the configured maximum transmission power.

Increased SSB power enables the faster setup and better coverage of SCG radio resources.

In High-Band cells, the feature improves coverage on the cell edge so that the UE can detect reference signals at a greater
distance. In addition, increased SSB transmission power reduces the received power difference between wide and narrow
beams. This can potentially improve UE beam refinement depending on UE implementation.

Additional Information
Information and topics related to this feature can be found in the following documentation:

– 3GPP TS 38.212; NR; Multiplexing and Channel Coding

– 3GPP TS 38.213; NR; Physical Layer Procedures for Control

– 3GPP TS 38.214; NR; Physical Layer Procedures for Data

– 3GPP TS 38.215; NR; Physical Layer Measurements

– 3GPP TS 38.321; NR; Medium Access Control (MAC) Protocol Specification

– 3GPP TS 38.331; NR; Radio Resource Control (RRC) Protocol Specification

Related concepts
Feature Operation of SSB Power Boost
Related tasks
Activate SSB Power Boost

2 Dependencies of SSB Power Boost

 In Mid-Band cells, the feature has a number of hardware requirements and a limitation. In High-Band cells, this feature
is related to another feature and only the 50 MHz and 100 MHz bandwidths are supported.

Feature Dependencies
For Mid-Band cells, there are no dependencies to other features.

Table 1 Feature Dependencies for High-Band Cells

Feature Relationship Description

Mixed Bandwidth Support for Carrier
Aggregation High-Band (FAJ 121
5272)
Physical Layer High-Band (FAJ 121
4903)
If the SSB Power Boost feature is used
together with this feature, the
NRCellDU.ssbPowerBoost attribute
Related
must be configured differently
depending on the used bandwidths and
radio types.
The SSB Power Boost feature can
increase the SSB transmission power in
Related
High-Band cells. This increase can
improve cell edge coverage.

Hardware
In Mid-Band cells, the SSB Power Boost feature is supported on all eCPRI sub-band radio units. In addition, the feature can
also be used with the following full-band AAS radio units:

– AIR 3218

– AIR 3219

– AIR 3227

– AIR 3228

– AIR 3236

– AIR 3258

– AIR 3268

– AIR 3278

– AIR 6449

– AIR 6419

Limitations
In High-Band cells, the feature is deployed only to the 50 MHz and 100 MHz bandwidths.

Network Requirements
The feature requires ENM version 21.1 or later to operate.

3 Feature Operation of SSB Power Boost

For Mid-Band cells, the feature requires the configuration of an attribute to operate. The actual value of power boosting
in a Mid-Band cell is indicated by a read-only attribute. In High-Band cells, the configuration of the related attribute is
determined by the supported bandwidth.
The SSB is transmitted in a subset of PRBs exclusively. In this way, SSB power can be increased, while the total
transmission power of the gNodeB does not exceed the maximum transmission power.

Operational Process in Mid-Band Cells

SSB power boosting can be configured with the NRCellDU.ssbPowerBoost attribute. Boosting power can reach up to 4
dB or 6 dB in cells of the different supported bandwidths. The used radio configuration indicates if the maximum power
can be reached in a specific supported bandwidth. The NRCellDU.actualSsbPowerBoost attribute shows the actual
value of power boosting in Mid-Band cells.

Table 2 Boosting Power Configuration in Supported Bandwidths

Supported Bandwidth (MHz) Maximum Boosting Value (dB) Boosting Value Dependent on Radio
Configuration
20 4 No
30
40
50
60
6 Yes
70
80
90
100

Note: The AIR 6488 and other similar radio units cannot always reach a power boosting value of 6 dB. These radio units
divide the cell bandwidth into sections that consist of 53 PRBs. If the SSB is in the middle of a section, the power
boosting value cannot reach 6 dB, because the radio unit cannot use the transmission power of two sections at the
same time. The power boosting value can only reach 6 dB if the SSB is near the border of two sections and the
radio unit can use the transmission power of two sections.

Operational Process in High-Band Cells

In High-Band cells, the feature requires the configuration of the NRCellDU.ssbPowerBoost attribute, depending on the
supported bandwidth.

When the SSB Power Boost feature is activated together with the Mixed Bandwidth Support for Carrier Aggregation High
Band feature, the following configuration applies:

– For the AIR 5121 and AIR 5331 radio types, the NRCellDU.ssbPowerBoost attribute must be set to the same
value. This value has to be a maximum of 2 dB.

– For CPRI AAS radio types in the 100 MHz bandwidth, the NRCellDU.ssbPowerBoost attribute must always be
configured 3 dB higher than for the 50 MHz bandwidth.

Increased SSB power allows UEs on the cell edge to attempt random access on both High-Band and Mid-Band cells. UEs
with limitations in other channels can fail the random access attempt, causing KPI degradation. To prevent UEs on the cell
edge from attempting random access due to higher SSB power, the value of the
ReportConfigB1GUtra.b1ThresholdRsrp attribute has to be increased with the same value configured for the
NRCellDU.ssbPowerBoost attribute.

For Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) deployments, the value of the ReportConfigB1GUtra.b1ThresholdRsrp attribute
does not have to be increased, as high power UEs do not have limitations in the uplink channels.

The increased SSB power is considered during EMF monitoring in the SSB channel.

Related Information
Mixed Bandwidth Support for Carrier Aggregation High-Band
 Physical Layer High-Band

4 Network Impact of SSB Power Boost

The feature can increase coverage and improve UE performance.

Capacity and Performance

The SSB Power Boost feature can affect throughput due to PDSCH PRB muting. The feature can also change uplink
transmission power due to its impact on uplink power control.

The feature offers the following benefits in the Mid-Band NSA and SA deployments:

– NR cell coverage can increase.

– Boosted SSB power can be configured for each cell and results in higher RSRP measurements.

– The number of random access preambles can increase.

In NSA, the latency of setting up SCG radio resources can be shortened, as the B1 event measurement report can be
quicker in case of poor UE coverage.

Boosted SSB power attracts UEs on the cell edge that did not select the cell. As a result, the lack of enhancement for
channeling traffic can degrade retainability.

In High-Band, the feature improves coverage on the cell edge and increases the channel analyzing performance of the UE.

Interfaces
For High-Band cells, the following elements are updated in the NR Uu interface:

– SSB power boost is added to the ss-PBCH-BlockPower field. SSB transmit power is indicated to the UE in the ss-
PBCH-BlockPower field in the ServingCellConfigCommonSIB IE. The UE uses the ss-PBCH-BlockPower
field to compute path loss.

– The value of the powerControlOffsetSS parameter in the RRCReconfiguration message is calculated by the
gNodeB based on the values configured for the following attributes:

• NRCellDU.ssbPowerBoost

• NRCellDU.trsPowerBoosting

Other Network Elements

No impact.

Related reference
Performance of SSB Power Boost

5 Parameters for SSB Power Boost

In Mid-Band and High-Band cells, the feature requires the configuration of an attribute. In Mid-Band cells, a read-only
attribute indicates the actual value of power boosting.

Parameters
In Mid-Band and High-Band cells, the feature requires the configuration of the NRCellDU.ssbPowerBoost attribute. The
NRCellDU.actualSsbPowerBoost attribute shows the actual power boosting value in Mid-Band cells.
 Table 3 Parameters

Parameter Type Description

NRCellDU.actualSsbPowerBoost
NRCellDU.ssbPowerBoost
ReportConfigB1GUtra.b1ThresholdRsrp Affecting
Introduced See MOM description.
Introduced See MOM description.
In High-Band cells, the value of this
attribute has to be increased with the
same value configured for the
NRCellDU.ssbPowerBoost
attribute. For fixed wireless access
deployments, the recommendation to
increase the B1 RSRP threshold is not
applicable.

6 Performance of SSB Power Boost

In Mid-Band, the feature is associated with a KPI, a PI, PM counters and an event. In High-Band, the feature is
associated with PM counters and an event.

KPIs
This feature is associated with one KPI in the Mid-Band SA deployment.

Table 4 Key Performance Indicators

KPI Description Formula

gNodeB Contention-Based Robust
Random Access MSG1 Success Rate
Describes how often a contention-
based random access MSG1 is 100 ×
transmitted successfully. The (NRCellDU.pmRadioRaCbAttMsg2 /
NRCellDU.pmRadioRaCbPreambles NRCellDU.pmRadioRaCbPreambles)
counter can increase due to SSB power [%]
boost, impacting MSG1 success rate.

The feature uses one PI in the Mid-Band NSA deployment.

Table 5 Performance Indicators

PI Description Formula
Describes the rate of the B1 event
measurement report. The
EUtranCellFDD.pmB1MeasRepEndcConfig
and the
100 × (pmB1MeasRepEndcConfig /
B1 Report Rate EUtranCellTDD.pmB1MeasRepEndcConfig
pmMeasConfigB1Endc)
counters can increase, as more UEs can detect
SSB after SSB power boosting. As a result, the
rate of the B1 event measurement report can
be impacted.

The amount of data transferred in the Mid-Band NSA deployment can increase. However, PDSCH PRB muting can
decrease downlink throughput on the gNodeB.

In High-Band, this feature has no associated KPIs or PIs.

Counters
In Mid-Band NSA and High-Band cells, the feature is observable with the help of the following PM counters:
 – EUtranCellFDD.pmB1MeasRepEndcConfig

– EUtranCellTDD.pmB1MeasRepEndcConfig

In some cases, the following PM counters can increase, affecting the EN-DC Setup Success Rate KPIs:

– EUtranCellFDD.pmEndcSetupUeAtt

– EUtranCellTDD.pmEndcSetupUeAtt

– EUtranCellFDD.pmEndcSetupScgUeSucc

– EUtranCellTDD.pmEndcSetupScgUeSucc

In Mid-Band SA and High-Band cells, the feature is observable with the help of the NRCellDU.pmRadioRaCbPreambles
PM counter.

Events
In Mid-Band and High-Band, the feature is associated with one event.
Table 6 Events

Event Description
This event occurs when an eNodeB receives the
RRCSCGFailureInformationNR message. The event
RRC_SCG_FAILURE_INFORMATION_NR
allows to check the reason for the failure of setting up SCG
radio resources.

7 Activate SSB Power Boost

To use the feature, it must be activated following the usual feature activation procedure.

Prerequisites

– The license key is installed in the node.

– CCTR is active for at least one week before this procedure to collect enough troubleshooting data.

Steps

1. Lock the cell.

2. Set the attribute featureState to ACTIVATED in the FeatureState=CXC4012500 MO instance.
3. Set the NRCellDU.ssbPowerBoost attribute to the applicable value.
4. Unlock the cell.

After This Task

Keep CCTR active for at least one week after this procedure for continued collection of troubleshooting data.

8 Deactivate SSB Power Boost

If the feature is no longer needed, it can be deactivated following the usual feature deactivation procedure. It must also
be deactivated before the activation of any conflicting feature.

Prerequisites
 – CCTR is active for at least one week before this procedure to collect enough troubleshooting data.

Steps

1. Lock the cell.

2. Set the NRCellDU.ssbPowerBoost attribute to 0.
3. Set the attribute featureState to DEACTIVATED in the FeatureState=CXC4012500 MO instance.
4. Unlock the cell.

After This Task

Keep CCTR active for at least one week after this procedure for continued collection of troubleshooting data.

Appendix A: Feature Change History

This section lists changes that affected this feature and the impact it had on the network.

Appendix A.a: 21.Q2: SSB Power Boost Enhancement for Mid-Band Cells
This feature enhancement deploys additional eCPRI and full-band AAS radio support, additional bandwidth support
and makes increased boosting power possible. The enhancement also introduces the configuration of a feature-related
attribute.

Feature Name: SSB Power Boost

Feature Identity: FAJ 121 5239
Value Package Name: Advanced Coverage Extension
Value Package Identity: FAJ 801 4006
Node Type: Baseband Radio Node
Access Type: NR

Benefits
The feature enhancement provides the following benefits:

– Boosted SSB power can be configured for each cell and results in higher RSRP measurements.

– In NSA, the latency of setting up SCG radio resources can be shortened, as the B1 event measurement report can be
quicker in case of poor UE coverage.

Capacity and Performance

Boosting power can reach up to 4 dB or 6 dB in cells of the different supported bandwidths.

Table 7 Boosting Power Configuration in Supported Bandwidths

Supported Bandwidth (MHz) Maximum Boosting Value (dB)(1) Boosting Value Dependent on Radio
Configuration
20 4 No
30 6 Yes
40
50
60
 Supported Bandwidth (MHz) Maximum Boosting Value (dB)(1) Boosting Value Dependent on Radio
Configuration
80
90
100
(1) In order to meet the emission measurement, power boosting cannot exceed 4 dB when SSB is on the band edge. When SSB is not on the band edge,
power boosting cannot exceed 6 dB.

This feature enhancement is associated with the gNodeB Contention-Based Robust Random Access MSG1 Success Rate
KPI in the Mid-Band SA deployment.

Operation
The feature enhancement allows SSB power boosting to be configured with the NRCellDU.ssbPowerBoost attribute in
Mid-Band cells. The used radio configuration indicates if the maximum power can be reached in a specific supported
bandwidth. The NRCellDU.actualSsbPowerBoost attribute shows the actual value of power boosting in Mid-Band
cells.

Interfaces
No impact.

Hardware
In Mid-Band cells, the SSB Power Boost feature is supported on all eCPRI sub-band radio units. In addition, the feature can
also be used with the following full-band AAS radio units:

– AIR 3227

– AIR 3228

– AIR 3236

– AIR 3278

– AIR 6449

Other Network Elements

ENM version 21.2 is required for this feature enhancement.

Appendix A.b: 21.Q2: SSB Power Boost for High-Band Cells

This feature enhancement allows increased SSB power for High-Band cells.

Feature Name: SSB Power Boost

Feature Identity: FAJ 121 5239
Value Package Name: Advanced Coverage Extension
Value Package Identity: FAJ 801 4006
Node Type: Baseband Radio Node
Access Type: NR

This feature enhancement enables the support of the SSB Power Boost feature for High-Band cells. It allows to configure
the NRCellDU.ssbPowerBoost attribute for 50 MHz and 100 MHz bandwidths.

Benefits
The feature enhancement improves coverage on the cell edge in High-Band cells so that the UE can detect reference
signals at a greater distance. In addition, increased SSB transmission power reduces the received power difference
between wide and narrow beams. This can improve UE beam refinement in some cases.

Capacity and Performance

Increased SSB power in High-Band cells allows for improved coverage on the cell edge.

Operation
The SSB Power Boost feature requires the configuration of the NRCellDU.ssbPowerBoost attribute to a specific value
range in High-Band cells. When the feature is used together with the Mixed Bandwidth Support for Carrier Aggregation
High-Band feature, the following configuration applies:

– For the AIR 5121 and AIR 5331 radio types, the NRCellDU.ssbPowerBoost attribute must be set to the same
value. This value has to be a maximum of 2 dB.

– For CPRI AAS radio types in the 100 MHz bandwidth, the NRCellDU.ssbPowerBoost attribute must always be
configured 3 dB higher than for the 50 MHz bandwidth.

Increased SSB power allows UEs on the cell edge to attempt random access. UEs with limitations in other channels can fail
the random access attempt, causing KPI degradation. To prevent UEs on the cell edge from attempting random access due
to higher SSB power, the value of the ReportConfigB1GUtra.b1ThresholdRsrp attribute has to be increased with the
same value configured for the NRCellDU.ssbPowerBoost attribute.

For Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) deployments, the value of the ReportConfigB1GUtra.b1ThresholdRsrp attribute
does not have to be increased, as high power UEs do not have limitations in the uplink channels.

Interfaces
The feature enhancement updates the following elements in the NR Uu interface:

– SSB power boost is added to the ss-PBCH-BlockPower field. SSB transmit power is indicated to the UE in the ss-
PBCH-BlockPower field in the ServingCellConfigCommonSIB IE. The UE uses the ss-PBCH-BlockPower
field to compute path loss.

– The value of the powerControlOffsetSS parameter in the RRCReconfiguration message is calculated by the
gNodeB based on the values configured for the following attributes:

• NRCellDU.ssbPowerBoost

• NRCellDU.trsPowerBoosting

Hardware
No special hardware requirements.

Other Network Elements

This enhancement requires ENM version 21.2 or later to operate.

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