5G NR Cluster Optimization Guide (NSA)

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■Common coverage problems include weak coverage, cross-area coverage,
unmaintained coverage, poor SINR, and anchor point coverage optimization
■The overall principle of coverage optimization is to ensure that the main lobe direction
of the antenna feeder covers the road as much as possible through azimuth angle
optimization and adjustment, avoids side lobe coverage of the road, road coverage
without missing adjacent areas, no handover, no ping-pong switching, and no pilot
pollution
Weak coverage optimization

・Weak coverage definition:

Generally, weak coverage is defined as the sampling point area where the SSB RSRP is
lower than -93dbm (different areas and different customer requirements vary). Generally,
weak coverage will lead to problems such as difficulty in access, low speed, and poor
performance.
■Weak coverage optimization method:
Prioritize the weak coverage adoption points with RSRP <-93dBm, conduct on-site
antenna surveys, optimize, and adjust coverage in conjunction with adjacent cells and
strengthen coverage. After optimization, it is necessary to ensure that the average level
of the cell reaches above -80dbm. The relevant optimization measures are as follows:

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Antenna azimuth angle adjustment: It is necessary to ensure that the main lobe direction
of the antenna covers the road, strengthen road coverage, and it is prohibited to use side
lobes to cover the road.
Antenna down tilt adjustment: After optimizing the azimuth angle of weak coverage
areas, if the mechanical down tilt is less than or equal to 15 degrees, priority is given to
adjusting the electronic down tilt to enhance coverage. When the electronic down tilt
angle is less than -5 degrees, the coverage is still weak. It is recommended Enhanced
coverage with mechanical tilt-up.
Power adjustment: Provide a power adjustment plan based on actual problems on site.
Site rectification: For weak coverage areas caused by beautification covers or the inability
to adjust the antenna due to obstruction, height of the site, stuck antenna, etc., it is
necessary to promote rectification by the office as soon as possible to avoid problems
caused by the inability to adjust the antenna Weak coverage.
Additional sites: Due to the excessive distance between sites or obstructions around
them, the weak coverage points that still cannot be solved have been optimized on-site
and additional sites need to be added. For sites with a site separation of more than 800
meters, it is recommended to add macro sites directly in the middle. For sites with
obstructions and if the weak coverage distance is small, such as within 1 meter, the
micro-site solution can be used. If conditions permit, ordinary macro-site solutions are
given priority.
Note: It should be noted that when adjusting the antenna, you need to focus on whether
adjusting the antenna to solve a certain weak coverage area will cause a new weak
coverage area to appear.
Cross-area coverage optimization
Definition of cross-area coverage: Cross-area coverage means that the coverage area of
some base stations exceeds the planned range, forming a discontinuous dominant area
within the coverage area of other base stations, causing problems such as ping-pong
handover and poor SINR, which requires focus and optimization in the field. .
Cross-area coverage optimization method:
Antenna azimuth angle adjustment: Check the antenna feed coverage direction at the
station to confirm that the main lobe direction of the site has not shifted to the planned
coverage area of the site, that is, it is required to ensure that the main lobe covers the
planned coverage area of the cell as much as possible.
Down tilt angle optimization adjustment: On the premise of ensuring the rationality of
the azimuth angle, the coverage area of the cross-area area is reduced through
mechanical down tilt angle reduction. When the mechanical down tilt angle reaches 15
degrees, the coverage area is reduced through electronic down tilt angle adjustment. For
landscaping If the box or the antenna cannot be adjusted on the station, the electronic

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down tilt angle can be used to compress the small coverage area, but it is first
recommended to reduce the coverage area through mechanical down tilt adjustment.
Site rectification: For cross-area coverage caused by the inability to adjust the antenna
feed due to beautification covers and other reasons, especially for sites that require
azimuth adjustment, it is necessary to promote the bureau's rectification as soon as
possible.
Power adjustment: For cells with cross-area coverage, it is prohibited in principle to
reduce the coverage of the cell through power reduction.
It must be solved through antenna feeder adjustment. Because the power class is
reduced, the overall service channel is also reduced.
Under MU space division, which has a greater impact on performance.
Unowned coverage optimization

●The optimization methods for unmaintained coverage and pilot pollution are roughly
the same, with slightly different definitions, as follows:

●Unowned coverage is defined as the RSRP difference between the serving cell and
neighboring cells is less than 6db and the number of cells is greater than or equal to 3.

●Pilot pollution is defined as the RSRP difference between the serving cell and
neighboring cells is less than 6db and the number of cells is greater than or equal to 3,
and RSRP >= -105 dBm
Unowned coverage optimization method:
Unowned coverage means that there is no obvious dominant cell in the area or frequent
handovers caused by too frequent replacement of the dominant cell, which in turn
reduces the system efficiency and increases the possibility of call drops. Based on the
test LOG analysis, the RSRP difference is screened out and the number of cells is less
than 6db. All communities greater than or equal to 3, according to on-site actual
According to the actual test situation, the main coverage cell in the problem area is
planned, and through RF optimization and adjustment, the
coverage of the dominant cell is enhanced while the coverage of the interfering cell is
reduced, as follows:
1) Dominant cell judgment and coverage enhancement: Based on the distance principle
and combined with on-site testing (if the main coverage cell is blocked, it is necessary to
find a sub-optimal path cell as the main coverage cell), determine the main coverage cell
in this area. If the main coverage cell level Below -88dbm, improve coverage according to
the "weak coverage" optimization idea, that is, first adjust the azimuth angle to ensure
that the AAU is facing the road coverage, and then adjust the down tilt angle to enhance
coverage;

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2) Interference avoidance in non-main coverage cells: For on-site surveys of non-main
coverage cells, if there is no need for road coverage, the site will optimize and adjust the
azimuth angle to mainly cover residential areas, factories, etc. to avoid overlapping
coverage caused by the main coverage roads in the community. High, if there are other
road coverage requirements, it is necessary to ensure other road coverage through
azimuth and down tilt angle optimization to avoid interference caused by overlapping
coverage caused by unreasonable coverage.
3) Power adjustment: For main coverage and non-main coverage cells, in principle, the
transmission power of the cell can be increased, but it is prohibited to reduce the power.
If the optimization adjustment cannot be optimized or the problem cannot be solved
through background electronic tilt adjustment, the power can be appropriately reduced.
SINR optimization
Weak coverage, overlapping coverage, and cross-area coverage will all cause poor SINR.
In the process of SINR optimization and improvement, we must first solve the problems
of weak coverage, high overlapping coverage, unowned coverage, and handover
problems, and then focus on sorting out and optimizing adjustments for SINR
differences. , For high-quality lines or key areas, the average SINR is required to be above
15db, and for general areas, it is required to be above 12db. Therefore, the site is required
to be organized according to the main service area of the covered road, and the area
without road coverage must be adjusted to the traffic coverage area.
SINR optimization method
On-site areas with SINR less than 5 sampling points or areas with average community
SINR less than 12db are prioritized for analysis. Generally, poor SINR is mainly caused by
interference from neighboring cells. Specific optimization measures are as follows:
1) Determination and adjustment of interfering cells: Based on the test LOG and on-site
survey, determine the interfering cells within the main coverage cell. Based on the on-site
survey of the interfering cells, determine whether the azimuth angle is reasonable, that
is, the azimuth angle mainly covers the planned road, and at the same time, press the
mechanical down button appropriately. The tilt angle shrinks the coverage of the
interference cell and minimizes the interference to the main coverage cell.
2) Optimization of non-covered road communities: Adjust non-covered road
communities to residential areas, and mainly cover residential areas to reduce
interference to roads.
3) Handover band SINR optimization: It is required that the adjacent cell RSRP-serving
cell RSRP must not exceed 5 adoption points at plus or minus 3db, and the adjacent cell
RSRP-serving cell RSRP must not exceed 10 adoption points at plus or minus 5db, so as
to reduce the handover band as much as possible The impact of excessive overlap
coverage on SINR

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Anchor coverage optimization.
In NSA networking scenario, 4/5G can be used as two separate networks for coverage
optimization.
After anchor point optimization, it is necessary to ensure that the coverage area of the
anchor point is greater than or equal to the 5G coverage area.
Anchor point coverage needs to satisfy RSRP >-95Bm&SINR>-3dB >95%, the average
SINR needs to be greater than >12dB, the specific optimization method.
The method is consistent with conventional LTE coverage optimization and will not be
summarized in this article.
Parameter problems on the current network are mainly caused by abnormal 4/5G
neighbor cell configuration (missing configuration or PCI conflict) and unreasonable leg
addition/leg deletion threshold settings.
Abnormal neighbor cell configuration (missing configuration or PCI conflict) causes
secondary station addition not to be initiated.
Front-end test analysis:
After the anchor station receives the B1 measurement report, no RRC connection
reconfiguration for secondary cell addition and NR secondary station link establishment
attempt events are observed.

At this time, the backend engineer can be notified to verify the problem point involving
the 4-5 neighbor cell configurations of the anchor point, or the verification can be carried
out after signaling tracking (signaling tracking can locate the problem more accurately,
but it is more time-consuming).

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Signaling trace judgment method:
The Uu interface finds the CallId corresponding to the 5G B1 measurement report, and
then goes to the X2 interface to see if there is an SgNB_Add_Req message corresponding
to the CallId.
SgNB_Add_Req message.

Go to the X2 interface to see if there is a SgNB_Add_Req message corresponding to

the CallId:

B1/A2 threshold setting is unreasonable.

Unreasonable threshold settings for B1/A2 may result in delayed step additions or
premature deletion and withdrawal, and may also cause repeated deletions. Generally
recommended values are as follows:
A2: -105dBm~-110dBm;
B1-A2 is around 5dB;
Note: Analyze the threshold configuration of B1 and A2 based on the problems in the
actual drive test.
•The unreasonable setting of B1 resulted in delay in adding legs in time.
When the UE moves to the 5G NR cell coverage area, but has not yet reported B1 to add
a 5G neighbor cell, and no other abnormalities are found in the background query,
it is necessary to check whether the RRC reconfiguration message sent by the 4G network
side is set appropriately and whether the leg-adding threshold is set appropriately.
The specific parameter locations are as follows:

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•A2 setting that is too large results in premature leg deletion
When the UE is in a 5G NR cell and the 5G signal is good, it suddenly reports A2 leg
deletion, resulting in a reduction in 5G NR coverage. It is necessary to check the RRC
reconfiguration cell on the NR side. The specific parameter locations are as follows:

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Unreasonable configuration of PRACH root sequence in NR cell causes random
access failure.
If the PRACH root sequence configuration of the NR cell is unreasonable (for example,
the root sequence configuration is consistent), it will cause random access failure.

NR random access failed.

●PRACH root sequence solution

1) If the PRACH root sequence is inconsistent with the plan, notify the backend personnel
to make modifications according to the plan, and then retest.
2) If there is a problem with the PRACH root sequence, contact the project planner to re-
plan, notify the back-end staff to make changes, and then conduct retesting.
Handover optimization mainly solves problems such as missing 5G neighboring cells,
ping-pong handover, PCI confusion, and specific determination and optimization
methods.
Method, please click: Optimization of 5G NR wireless network handover problem.

●4/5G neighborhood optimization

4/5G neighbor cell optimization based on on-site test progress:

Through on-site testing, we added missing neighbor cells. After adding NR neighbor cells,
we need to check the neighbor relationship of the corresponding anchor point LTE and
the corresponding anchor point relationship of NR need to be sorted out to avoid
configuring neighbor cells between NR cells. The anchor point has no neighbors.

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Regarding the anchor point residence ratio, the optimization method is as follows:
1) Set the threshold of B1/A2 reasonably to avoid adding legs late or deleting them
prematurely. Regarding the threshold setting of B1/A2,
Please refer to the following principles:
A2: -105dBm~-110dBm;
B1-A2 is around 5dB;
2) Anchor priority policy deployment verification to ensure that NSA users occupy the
anchor carrier frequency as much as possible.
3)Optimization of neighboring cells, including optimization of anchor point neighboring
cells and 5G neighboring cells.
4) Optimize the coverage of NR and anchor points to ensure continuous coverage of
anchor points and NR.

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