Key Factors that affect 5G Throughput, Possible Causes and Ways to optimize

1) Grant and RB which can be caused by:

a) Insufficient Traffic - it is when the tb0TbByteLenth >= waitingData, then it means that the incoming
traffic is insufficient.
Handling process: Using gNB MAC Padding Packet Injection to check whether the Uu interface is OK or
not. If MAC Padding packet injection result is perfect it means that Uu interface RF quality is
not problem. Need to further perform the TCP problem analysis to investigate further for the
insufficient incoming traffic

b) AMBR Rate Limiting - it is when either the quota slices of SIM cards are insufficient, packet loss occurs
on the core network, resulting in a low downlink rate; UE AMBR limitation; QCI-level PDCP, RLC, and
MAC parameters setting; or when the UE cannot exceed the core network APN AMBR limit
Handling Process:
A. To avoid reaching the quota of SIM cards, it is recommended that offline charging be used
for SIM card charging.
B. For the UE AMBR limitation, make sure that the UE AMBR is enough which can be queried
over the S1 interface under (NGAP_INIT_CONTEXT_SETUP_REQ (SA)), X2 interface
(SgNB_Add_Req (NSA)), or S1AP_INITIAL_CONTEXT_SETUP_REQ (NSA) messages
C. The APN AMBR can be queried from the Attach accept message in the drive test log. The APN
AMBR can be calculated using the NSA APN AMBR Calculator. The UE AMBR limits the non-
GBR rate of the UE, and the APN AMBR limits the rate of each APN of the UE.

c) DCI and multi-user scheduling - this is when there are too many online users or background users or
insufficient downlink scheduling.
Handling Process:
A. Online / background users can be check using the Users Statistic Monitoring in U2020.
B. OSS number of users can be crosschecked thru KPI counters: N.User.RRCConn.Max,
N.User.RRCConn.Avg, N.User.RRCConn.Active.Avg, N.User.RRCConn.Active.Max.
C. CCE allocation failures can be analyzed based on the schErrCode field in the CellDT 537
tracing result. The value of the schErrCode field is 0x0 when the scheduling is successful and
is not 0 when the scheduling fails.
D. PUCCH Resource Allocation Failures (SchErrCode 0xd0003) must L3 Check PUCCH-related
configurations. Run the LST NRDUCELLPUCCH command to check whether the baseline
recommended value is used.
E. Scheduling Failure Due to Insufficient CCE Resources (SchErrCode: 0xc0331) can be optimize
by adjusting the uplink CCE ratio (specified by NRDUCellPdcch.UlMaxCcePct) and disable
SIB1: NRDUCellRsvd.RsvdParam140 in NSA scenarios. (in 20A: CCE uplink-downlink
configuration adaptation)
F. Insufficient scheduling caused by gap measurement on the NR side due to LTE inter-
frequency gap measurement (schErrCode 0x110319) can be optimize by disabling periodic
inter-frequency and inter-RAT MR measurement for NSA UEs

Reference: 5G Throughput Issue Troubleshooting Guide1.7

 d) PDCP & RLC & MAC – when the setting are not properly configure, this affects the throughput
Handling Process:
A. PDCP Problems (via IFTS Tracing)

1. Packet Loss Due to PDCP Buffer Full - UlDownOverBuffPkts/ulDownOverBuffBytes: Number of

packets / bytes discarded due to full buffer in the downlink TCP services: If packet loss occurs
when the buffer is full, TCP retransmission occurs and the TCP rate is low. During UDP packet
injection: If packet loss occurs when the buffer is full, you are advised to reduce the UDP packet
injection rate. The same is true in the upstream direction.
2. Packet loss due to PDCP timeout - UlDownDscdTimerDscdPkts/ulDownDscdTimerDscdBytes:
Number of discarded packets / bytes in the downlink due to the timeout of the discard timer. If
the length of the PDCP buffer exceeds the value of the timer, the data packets are discarded. If
the value of the downlink timeout timer gNBPdcpParamGroup.DlPdcpDiscardTimer is infinitely
long, the PDCP packet loss does not occur. The same is true in the upstream direction.
3. PDCP/RLC SN Length Configuration Problem - In the SCG scenario, the PDCP is on the NR side, and
the PDCP SN length on the NR side is the same as the RLC SN length. 18bit. The default value of
RLC SN is 18bit. If 12 bits are configured at the PDCP layer, the PDCP receive side may be out of
synchronization. In this case, a UE PDCP is retransmitted multiple times and new packets are
delivered continuously. The SN on the receive side of the RLC SDU is reversed, leading to disorder,
the traffic at the application layer may fluctuate to the bottom.
gNBPdcpParamGroup.DlPdcpSnSize, gNBPdcpParamGroup.UlPdcpSnSize
4. In the DC offloading scenario, the PDCP packets received by the UE are discontinuous, and the
downlink packets are transmitted over the NR and LTE air interfaces at the same time. Finally, the
PDCP packets are sorted at the PDCP layer of the UE and finally sent to the application layer. If
the PDCP SN sequence number is discontinuous for a long time, the PDCP and application layer
rates on the UE side may fluctuate or decrease. Downlink parameter
gNBPdcpParamGroup.UePdcpReorderingTimer. The recommended value is 300 ms. Uplink
parameter gNBPdcpParamGroup.gNBPdcpReorderingTimer. The recommended value is 300 ms.

B. RLC problems
1. RLC SN Length Configuration Problem The recommended value of RLC SN is 18bit. If the value is
smaller than the value of 18bit, the number of windows is insufficient. The value cannot be greater
than the length of PDCP SN. gNBRlcParamGroup.DlRlcSnSize, gNBRlcParamGroup.UlRlcSnSize
2. RLC mode configuration has a direct impact on rate fluctuation. If the UM mode is used, packet
loss occurs in the protocol, which has a direct impact on the upper-layer TCP services. If the bit
error rate over the air interface is high, the TCP send window is quickly converged and the rate
drops. If the AM mode is used, the protocol does not allow packet loss. In the baseline version,
the AM mode must be set to gNBRlcParamGroup.RlcMode.

PDCP/RLC layer parameters corresponding to Default QCI with recommended value are shown below:

MO Parameter ID QCIx Recommended Value

gNBPdcpParamGroup PdcpParamGroupId None
gNBPdcpParamGroup DlPdcpDiscardTimer INFINITY

Reference: 5G Throughput Issue Troubleshooting Guide1.7

 gNBPdcpParamGroup UlPdcpDiscardTimer INFINITY
gNBPdcpParamGroup gNBPdcpReorderingTimer MS300
gNBPdcpParamGroup UePdcpReorderingTimer MS300
gNBPdcpParamGroup DlPdcpSnSize BITS18(18)
gNBPdcpParamGroup UlPdcpSnSize BITS18(18)
gNBPdcpParamGroup PdcpReportPollingPeriod MS10(10)

MO Parameter ID QCIx Recommended Value

gNBPdcpParamGroup PdcpParamGroupId None
gNBPdcpParamGroup DlPdcpDiscardTimer INFINITY
gNBPdcpParamGroup UlPdcpDiscardTimer INFINITY
gNBPdcpParamGroup gNBPdcpReorderingTimer MS300
gNBPdcpParamGroup UePdcpReorderingTimer MS300
gNBPdcpParamGroup DlPdcpSnSize BITS18(18)
gNBPdcpParamGroup UlPdcpSnSize BITS18(18)
gNBPdcpParamGroup PdcpReportPollingPeriod MS10(10)

MO Parameter ID QCIx Recommend Value

gNBDUMacParamGroup MacParamGroupId None
gNBDUMacParamGroup DlGuaranteedRate 0
gNBDUMacParamGroup UlGuaranteedRate 0
gNBDUMacParamGroup DlSchPriWeightFactor 700
gNBDUMacParamGroup UlSchPriWeightFactor 700

e) TCP Problem
Handling Process:
1. Create an IFTS tracing task.
On U2020, choose U2000->Monitor->Signaling Trace->Signaling Trace
Management->NR->Information Collection->IFTS Trace. Select L2 and enter the trace number
3201.
2. UE reconnection: After an IFTS tracing task is created in a cell, the task is not started. The tracing
task can be triggered only after the RRC connection is established. Therefore, you need to re-
access the UE to be traced.
3. Save the result. To stop a tracing task, right-click the task and choose Stop. If the Status is Finished,
click Export to save the tracing result to tmf format.
4. Data Processing. After the IFTS 3201 packet is captured, use the PDCP_MyLDT (integrated in the
5G FMA) to obtain the Pcap file.

The FMA-IPPA data transmission tool simplifies TCP problem analysis. It is integrated in 5G-FMA tools,
It can be opened via FMA->Tools-> FMA IPPA

Reference: 5G Throughput Issue Troubleshooting Guide1.7

2) MCS & High BLER which can be caused by:

a) Coverage (test Location) - Coverage problems include weak coverage, overshoot coverage, and
overlap coverage.
Weak coverage: When a UE is located at the cell edge or is blocked by buildings, the UE may be in weak
coverage scenarios. In this case, the signal strength is low and the MCS is poor. Generally, the higher
the RSRP, the better the MCS. However, the SSB RSRP should not exceed -65 dBm. If the UE receives
too much power, clipping may occur on the receiver. As a result, the SINR decreases, the MCS
decreases, and the data rate decreases.
Overshoot coverage: Overshoot coverage causes co-frequency interference, incorrect handovers, a
large number of handover failures, and call drops due to non-handovers, which greatly affects the MCS.
Overlap coverage: Overlap coverage causes co-channel interference, which causes frequent handovers
and affects the MCS.
Handling Process:
Weak Coverage: This is a normal situation and needs to be resolved by the coverage enhancement
solution.
Overshoot/Overlap coverage: Physical parameters or power of overshooting cells need to be adjusted
to reduce overshooting interference

b) Interference – The causes of interference include Intra-system interference, inter-system interference,

and external interference.

Intra-system interference: Neighboring cell interference and Overshooting interference, clock out-
of-synchronization interference, loopback interference, and super-distance interference;

Inter-system interference: TDD-LTE interference; other operator 5G interference; Other system

interference

External Interference: Perform frequency scanning for external interference and enter the
interference analysis.

c) The MCS & RANK are fixed by parameters

Handling Process:
i. If the MCS value remains unchanged, the MCS may be fixed. In this case, check the MCS parameters.
a. NRDUCellRsvdParam.RsvdU8Param68: Indicates the fixed downlink MCS. 0: The
parameter does not take effect. 1-29: Indicates that the downlink MCS is fixed at 0-28.
Recommended value: 0
b. NRDUCellRsvdParam.RsvdU8Param66: Indicates the fixed uplink MCS. 0: The parameter
does not take effect. 1-29: Indicates that the uplink MCS is always 0-28. Recommended
value: 0

ii. If the rank value remains unchanged and the MCS is low, the rank may be fixed. In this case, check
the rank parameter.

Reference: 5G Throughput Issue Troubleshooting Guide1.7

 a. NRDUCellRsvdParam.RsvdU8Param67, downlink rank fixed value. 0: The parameter does
not take effect. 1-8 indicates that the downlink rank is fixed at 1-8. Recommended value:
0
b. NRDUCellRsvdParam.RsvdU8Param65, Uplink rank fixed value. 0: The parameter does
not take effect. 1-4: Indicates that the downlink rank is always 1-4. Recommended value:
0

d) Small Packets - When the proportion of small packets is high, the average MCS index is low due to the
small-packet MCS lowering algorithm even if the Uu interface condition is good.
Handling Process:
The “ReduceMcs0” field in the CellDT537 result can be used to check whether the MCS is reduced
due to small packets by compares it to the “rateMtcMcs”field. As shown in the following figure,
when the incoming traffic is insufficient (waiting data is small and usrschpdschDrbData is 0),
ReduceMcs0 is less than RateMtcMcs0, indicating that the MCS index is reduced for small packets.

e) Control Plan Problems can be NR release exception, NR SgNB addition exception, and NR SgNB change
exception
Handling Process:
A. Abnormal NR release event
i. SCG release due to LTE-to-NR handovers: No X2 interface is available between LTE and NR, or
the EN-DC switch is turned off on the LTE side (NSA_DC_CAPABILITY_SW).

ii. The LTE network normally releases the SCG. The possible cause is that the NR coverage is poor
and reaches the A2 threshold.

iii. NRSCellAbnormalRelease/NRERABAbnormalRel: indicates an NR service drop event. Possible

causes: UE problems, weak coverage, interference, parameter configuration, X2 interface
problems, transmission problems, and core network problems.
B. NR SgNB addition exception
The SCG does not add the strongest neighboring cell. The B1 measurement report contains
multiple NR PCIs, but the PCI at the top of the list does not match the PCI in the SCG addition
message. Possible cause: No neighboring LTE-to-NR cell is configured, the X2 interface is not
configured, NR PCI confusion occurs, or the NR target SgNB is transmission faulty.
C. NR SgNB change exception event
i. Missing event A3 measurement control: The SCG addition or SgNB change event does not
contain the eventId eventA3 IE. Possible cause: NR cells are not configured as neighboring NR
cells.
ii. Event A3 is reported but no handover is triggered. Possible cause: No neighboring NR cell is
configured, or NR PCI confusion occurs, or no X2 interface is configured for LTE-to-NR
handovers, or the target NR SgNB is transmission faulty.
iii. A3 measurement report but no handover to the strongest neighboring cell: The A3
measurement report contains multiple PCIs, but the PCI in the first place does not match the
PCI in the NR SgNB change message. Possible cause: No neighboring NR-to-NR cell, NR PCI
confusion, no X2 interface between LTE and NR, or SgNB is transmission faulty

Reference: 5G Throughput Issue Troubleshooting Guide1.7

Key MCS and BLER Parameters with recommended value as shown below:

Recommended
MO Parameter ID Parameter Name
Value

NRDUCellPdcch PdcchBlerTarget Target PDCCH BLER 3

NRDUCellPdsch DlTargetIbler Downlink Target IBLER 10
NRDUCellPdsch FixedAmcStepValue AMC Fixed Step 20

Downlink Adaptive
NRDUCellPdsch DL_MCS_TABLE_ADAPT_SW@DlLinkAdaptAlgoSwitch Algorithm Switch 1
NRDUCellPdsch DlInitMcs DL Initial MCS 4
NRDUCellPusch UlTargetIbler Uplink Target IBLER 10

Adaptive Edge Experience

NRDUCellAlgoSwitch UL_IBLER_ADAPT_SW@AdaptiveEdgeExpEnhSwitch Improvement Switch 0

Adaptive Edge Experience

NRDUCellAlgoSwitch DL_PMI_SRS_ADAPT_SW@AdaptiveEdgeExpEnhSwitch Improvement Switch 1

Downlink AMC Variable

NRDUCellRsvdParam RsvdSwParam4_BIT11@RsvdSwParam4 Step Switch 0
NRDUCellRsvdParam RsvdU8Param66 Uplink MCS Fixed Value 0
NRDUCellRsvdParam RsvdU8Param68 Downlink MCS Fixed Value 0

Initial outer-loop MCS

NRDUCellRsvdParam RsvdU8Param69 adjustment value 0
NRDUCellRsvd RsvdParam6 DlVarIBLERtargetSwitch 0
NRDUCellAlgoSwitch Dl256QamSwitch DL 256QAM switch 1

3) Rank which can be caused by:

a) Weights & RANK Adaptation – affected by SRS/PMI weight configuration

i. When the SRS weight is used:
a. When SRS SINR> ThSRS, optimal spectral efficiency rank adaptation scheme is used.
b. When ThPMI < SRS SINR < ThSRS, Without boundary protection rank adaptation scheme is
used.
ii. When PMI weight is used, the rank adaptive scheme does not take effect and the RI reported by
the UE is used.
iii. When the PMI is not reported, or the handover is just performed, or the channel calibration failed,
the DFT weight is used, and the rank is selected according to the RI reported by the UE, by following
rules:

Reference: 5G Throughput Issue Troubleshooting Guide1.7

 a. If the CSI RI of UE is 1, select rank1.
b. If the CSI RI of UE is 2 ~ 3, select rank 2.
c. If the CSI RI of UE is 4 ~ 8, select rank4.
Handling process:
Check if the SRS / PMI parameter configuration is consistent with the recommended value

b) Terminal capability
Handling Process:
A. Non antenna switching UE:
i. Use PMI weight, RANK determined by the RI reported by UE. It is difficult to achieved
RANK4
B. Antenna switching UE:
i. Use SRS weight in good coverage area, RANK determined by the SRS measurement
result. Easy to achieved RANK4
ii. The UE reports the maximum MIMO layer capability and antenna switching capability
in the RRC_UE_CAP_INFO
c) Parameters & License
Handling Process:
A. Parameters
i. SRS and PMI weight adaptive switch should be on.
NRDUCellAlgoSwitch.DL_PMI_SRS_ADAPT_SW@AdaptiveEdgeExpEnhSwitch = 1
ii. RANK adaptive scheme under SRS weight. NRDUCellRsvdOptParam.Param1WithParamId120,
The recommended value is 0, indicating that this parameter does not take effect. By default, the
gNB uses the optimal spectral efficiency adaptive solution.
iii. Enable SU MIMO multi-stream function:

NRDUCellAlgoSwitch.DL_SU_MULTI_LAYER_SW@SuMimoMultipleLayerSw=1,
NRDUCellAlgoSwitch.UL_SU_MULTI_LAYER_SW@SuMimoMultipleLayerSw = 1

iv. Maximum number of MIMO layers:

a. Downlink: NRDUCellPdsch.MaxMimoLayerNum, 8T8R:LAYER_8(8 Layers). Other
scenarios: LAYER_16(16 Layers).
b. Uplink: NRDUCellPusch.MaxMimoLayerCnt. The recommended value is LAYER_4.
B. Licenses: If the license is not allocated, the RANK can only achieve 1. The maximum RANK cannot
achieve more than the allocated license Layer. Below are the licenses needed:

Model Description Sales Unit

NR0S0DLEPU00 License for the massive MIMO DL 2-layers extended processing unit (NR) per 2 Layers per Cell
NR0S0ULEPU00 License for the massive MIMO UL 2-layers extended processing unit (NR) per 2 Layers per Cell

Reference: 5G Throughput Issue Troubleshooting Guide1.7

 d) Alarm, Channel Calibration and Cell availability
Handling Process:
A. The below alarms have great impact on the throughput and handling of this alarms can be found
on the Alarm Management product documentation
Category Alarm Name
ALM-25954 User Plane Fault
Transmission ALM-25952 User Plane Path Fault
ALM-25959 User Plane Path Excessive Packet Loss Rate
ALM-29871 NR DU Cell TRP Capability Degraded
RF ALM-28754 RFC RF Port Input Power Out of Range
ALM-28751 Cell Capability Degraded

B. For Channel calibration, query the channel calibration result by running the following command
on the 5G MML: DSP NRLOCELLCHNCALIB. If the channel calibration fails, use command STR
NRLOCELLCHNCALIB to manually correct it.

e) Interference and CQI - In the peak throughput test scenario, the DMRS SINR must be greater than 30
dB. And ensures that the MCS is close to 27 and IBLER is close to 0%.
When interference signals exist in a cell, the uplink and downlink services of the cell are affected. As a
result, the access, call drop, and low rate occurred. If the high RSRP and low SINR (such as the average
RSRP >=-80dBm and average SINR <=15dB) and MCS are low, CQI is bad, BLER is high, then interference
can be analyze.
The causes of interference include Intra-system interference, inter-system interference, and external
interference.
o Intra-system interference: Neighboring cell interference and Overshooting interference, clock
out-of-synchronization interference, loopback interference, and super-distance interference;
o Inter-system interference: TDD-LTE interference; other operator 5G interference; Other system
interference
o External Interference: Perform frequency scanning for external interference and enter the
interference analysis.
f) RF Coverage and Quality which can be caused by weak coverage, overshoot coverage, and overlap
coverage leading to poorer CQI/RI reported by the UE and poorer SRS measurement result by the gNB.
g) Handovers
Handling process:
A. Inter-cell Frequent Handovers
After the handover, the UE initially accesses the network. The low RANK MSC ensures the access
success rate and handover success rate. After the handover, the initial RANK value is 1 by default,
which can be adjusted within 30 ms, the impact is small. However, if frequent handovers occur,
the RANK cannot be quickly adjusted. Therefore, the frequent handover areas need to be
optimized.
B. Strong neighbors but handover cannot be triggered
i. Neighborhood Check
ii. X2 interface Check

Reference: 5G Throughput Issue Troubleshooting Guide1.7

 iii. Target Cell Status Check
iv. Alarm Check: Check whether transmission exceptions occur on the X2 interface between the
primary cell and the 5G serving cell and between the 5G target cell and the 5G target cell.
v. Check whether any abnormal alarm is generated in the target cell.

h) Space environment factors

o The rich multipath scenarios such as rich corridor, rich buildings, which can easily reach a high
rank.
o At the near point of a site, the energy of each path is strong and the rank is high.
o In open scenarios, it is difficult to get multiple streams.
 In an open area, there is no reflection, therefore, RF downtilt adjustment can be used
to enhance refraction and reflection from ground.
 In an open area, if the mechanical downtilt angle is set to a small value, it is difficult to
achieve high rank MCS. In this case, increase the mechanical downtilt angle of the cell to
construct the ground reflection and improve the rank and MCS.
 It is recommended that the physical downtilt angle be set to about 8° in the initial
planning. The specific degree depends on the scenario and simulation.

Reference: 5G Throughput Issue Troubleshooting Guide1.7