AMR OPTIMIZATION

GUIDELINES
Topics

› AMR Overview

› AMR Parameter Overview

› Capacity and Coverage

CHIRAG SETHI | Ericsson Internal | 2010-04-20 | Page 2

AMR OVERVIEW
Before & After AMR
› Before AMR the GSM operator had available on the air interface:

– 2 different Channel Type (Full Rate & Half Rate)

– 2 different channel Coding (1 @ Full Rate & 1 @ Half Rate)

› With the introduction of AMR the GSM operator has available on the air interface:

– 2 Different Channel Type (Full Rate / Half Rate)

– 14 Different Channel Coding (8 @ Full Rate & 6 @ Half Rate)

› The reason of the introduction of 2 different Channel Types is

– Exploit where possible the capacity of the TRX

– Cope w/with temporary increase of traffic

› The reason of the 14 different Channel Coding is to use in every moment of the
conversation the best trade off between Channel Coding and Speech Coding.

– Increased Speech Coding ~ Increased Voice Reconstruction Accuracy

– Increased Channel Coding  Increased Robustness  Good FER in poor C/I environment

CHIRAG SETHI | Ericsson Internal | 2010-04-20 | Page 4

AMR Idea
› The AMR idea is based on the fact that in soft limited RF environments (poor
C/I):

– Speech coding can be decreased in order to improve channel coding

– Overall result is an improved voice quality (in terms of FER)
– For AMR, the speech and channel coding data rates are dynamically adapted to
best fit the current RF channel conditions.

› AMR consists on a family of codec with different Channel Coding operating

in GSM Full Rate (FR) and Half Rate (HR). The aim is to improve channel
(FR/HR) quality by adapting the most appropriate channel codec based on
the current radio conditions.

› With AMR, the speech capacity is increased by using the half rate (HR)
mode and still maintaining the quality level of current FR calls.

› The idea behind the AMR codec concept is that it is capable of adapting its
operation optimally according to the prevailing channel conditions.

CHIRAG SETHI | Ericsson Internal | 2010-04-20 | Page 5

AMR Codec
› GSM FR/EFR channel gross bit-rate is 22.8 kbps in GSM FR/EFR:

– 13 kbps /speech coding

– 9.8 kbps /channel coding
› Note that HR channel gross bit rate 11.4 kbps
› For AMR case, different codec use different bit rate to encode speech
(source coding). The rest of the gross bit-rate is used for channel protection

25
Channel bit-rate (kbit/s)

Channel coding
20 Speech coding

15
Robustness

10

5
Speech Qual
0
FR FR FR FR 7.4 FR 6.7 FR 5.9 FR FR HR HR 7.4 HR 6.7 HR 5.9 HR HR
12.2 10.2 7.95 5.15 4.75 7.95 5.15 4.75

AMR codec mode

CHIRAG SETHI | Ericsson Internal | 2010-04-20 | Page 6

Algorithms Related to AMR
› Codec Mode Adaptation Algorithm = Link Adaptation Algorithm

-> It selects the best codec

› Channel Mode Adaptation Algorithm

-> It changes the channel rate between FR and HR codec

Set of Codecs Codec Mode Adapt.

Channel Mode Adaptation AMR

CHIRAG SETHI | Ericsson Internal | 2010-04-20 | Page 7

 AMR Codecs AMR Full Rate performance compared to
Voice quality Full Rate EFR in Clean Speech
Full Rate Half rate MOS (Mean Opinion Score)
5.0
12.2 AMR codecs:
10.2 8 for FR and 6
4.0
for HR
7.95 7.95 6 dB gain in
3.0 performance
7.4 7.4
6.7 6.7 2.0 EFR
AMR FR
5.9 5.9
5.15 5.15 1.0
No Errors 16 dB C/I 13 dB C/I 10 dB C/I 7 dB C/I 4 dB C/I
4.75 4.75
AMR Half Rate performance compared to
Robustness Full Rate in Clean Speech
MOS (Mean Opinion Score) Quality loss of
› New AMR family of codec tolerate 6 dB 5.0 ~ 0.2 between
AMR HR and
higher interference than current GSM FR
4.0
EFR codec
› Can be directly utilized for higher 3.0
capacity with Frequency Hopping
2.0 AMR HR
– Higher interference tolerance AMR FR
– Reduced time slot occupancy 1.0
No Errors 19 dB C/I 16 dB C/I 13 dB C/I 10 dB C/I 7 dB C/I 4 dB C/I

CHIRAG SETHI | Ericsson Internal | 2010-04-20 | Page 8

AMR Channel and Speech Codec
Channel Channel Source coding Net bit rate, Channel Channel
mode codec bit rate, speech in- band coding coding
mode channel bit - rate, bit - rate,
speech in - band
CH0 -FS 12.20kbit/s (GSM/EFR) 0.10 kbit/s 10.20 kbit/s 0.30 kbit/s
CH1 -FS 10.20 kbit/s 0.10 kbit/s 12.20 kbit/s 0.30 kbit/s
CH2 -FS 7.95 kbit/s 0.10 kbit/s 14.45 kbit/s 0.30 kbit/s
TCH/FR CH3 -FS 7.40 kbit/s (IS-641)
- 0.10 kbit/s 15.00 kbit/s 0.30 kbit/s
CH4 -FS 6.70 kbit/s 0.10 kbit/s 15.70 kbit/s 0.30 kbit/s
CH5 -FS 5.90 kbit/s 0.10 kbit/s 16.50 kbit/s 0.30 kbit/s
CH6 -FS 5.15 kbit/s 0.10 kbit/s 17.25 kbit/s 0.30 kbit/s
CH7 -FS 4.75 kbit/s 0.10 kbit/s 17.65 kbit/s 0.30 kbit/s
CH8 -HS 7.95 kbit/s (*) 0.10 kbit/s 3.25 kbit/s 0.10 kbit/s
TCH/HR CH9 -HS 7.40 kbit/s (IS-641)
- 0.10 kbit/s 3.80 kbit/s 0.10 kbit/s
CH10 -HS 6.70 kbit/s 0.10 kbit/s 4.50 kbit/s 0.10 kbit/s
CH11 -HS 5.90 kbit/s 0.10 kbit/s 5.30 kbit/s 0.10 kbit/s
CH12 -HS 5.15 kbit/s 0.10 kbit/s 6.05 kbit/s 0.10 kbit/s
CH13 -HS 4.75 kbit/s 0.10 kbit/s 6.45 kbit/s 0.10 kbit/s
(*) Requires 16 kbit/s TRAU.
.

In high-error conditions more bits are used for error correction to obtain error robust coding,
while in good transmission conditions a lower amount of bits is needed for sufficient error
protection and more bits can therefore be allocated for source coding

CHIRAG SETHI | Ericsson Internal | 2010-04-20 | Page 9

Codec Mode (Link) Adaptation
› Codec Mode Adaptation or Link Adaptation (LA) is the algorithm that selects which
codec has to be used each moment by the MS (in UL) or by the network (in DL
direction)

› The basic AMR codec mode sets for MS and BTS are provided by BSC via layer 3
signaling

› Both the MS and the network implement their own independent LA algorithms

› There are two link adaptation (LA) modes:

– ETSI specified fast LA  Inband codec mode changes on every other TCH frame = 40
msec
– Nokia proprietary slow LA  Changes only every SACCH frame interval = 480 msec

– The suggested LA rate is the fast one.

› LA algorithms are vendor dependant / proprietary

CHIRAG SETHI | Ericsson Internal | 2010-04-20 | Page 10
 Procedure for Codec Mode (Link) Adaptation
› 4.-DL
codec used
DL LA
›3.- Network
decides which
codec to use for DL › 1.-Which DL Radio
Conditions?

›2.-Request a
codec for DL

›2.-Command a
UL LA codec for UL

›1.-Which UL
radio
conditions?
› 3.-MS uses the
codec commanded
by the network for UL

CHIRAG SETHI | Ericsson Internal | 2010-04-20 | Page 11

In-band Signaling

CMI, C
CMR, MC
CMI

SF 2 SF 4CMR SF 6CMR CMR CMR CMR CMR CMR CMR

UL SF 1 SF 3
CMI SF 5 CMI SF 7 CMI CMI CMI CMI CMI CMI CMI
8
TDMA
frames
SF 2 CMI SF 4 CMI SF 6 CMI SF 8 CMI CMI CMI CMI CMI CMI

DL SF 1 SF 3
CMC SF 5 CMCSF 7 CMC
SF 9
CMC CMC CMC CMC CMC CMC

SF= Speech Frame CMC = Codec Mode Command time

CMI = Codec Mode Indicator CMR= Codec ModeRequest
CHIRAG SETHI | Ericsson Internal | 2010-04-20 | Page 12
Channel Mode Adaptation
› Channel Mode Adaptation is an HO algorithm that aims at
select the correct channel rate (FR or HR).
›The selection of the channel rate depends on 2 main
factors: load and quality Codec
Good
Load Quality
FR packing HR
FR unpacking HR
Bad
Quality

CHIRAG SETHI | Ericsson Internal | 2010-04-20 | Page 13

AMR FUNCTIONAL DIAGRAM

CHIRAG SETHI | Ericsson Internal | 2010-04-20 | Page 14

AMR PARAMETER OVERVIEW
Main Controlling Parameters
AMR FR and AMR HR are activated by changing BSC exchange properties.
Transcoder pools for AMR FR and AMR HR must also be defined in order for
AMR to work. Note if AMR HR shall be activated the feature Half Rate
Channels must have been purchased by the operator.

The following exchange properties is set by the BSC command RAEPC:

• AMRFRSUPPORT Indicates if AMR FR is turned ON or OFF and also which

full rate codec set that shall be used within the BSC.

• AMRHRSUPPORT Indicates if AMR HR is turned ON or OFF and also which

half rate codec set that shall be used within the BSC.

CHIRAG SETHI | Ericsson Internal | 2010-04-20 | Page 16

Parameters for Special Adjustments
› Codec sets 3 and 4 for both FR and HR channels can be defined per BSC using the command RLADC. The
following parameters are set using this command:
› SET Indicates which of the codec sets for a specific channel rate that shall be modified.
› MODE Specifies the codec modes that shall be included in the codec set. For Full Rate all 8 codec modes can
be used, expressed as a numeral between 1 and 8, and defined in ascending order.
› 1 = 4.75 kbps
› 2 = 5.15 kbps
› .
› .
› 8 = 12.2 kbps
› For Half Rate only the 5 lower codec modes can be used and at least one of the three modes 4.75 kbps, 5.15
kbps or 5.90 kbps must be included in the set. The reason for this is that one of these modes must be used as
initial mode to secure a good signalling quality on the Abis interface.
› 1 = 4.75 kbps
› .
› .
› 5 = 7.4 kbps
› THR Specifies the thresholds between the codec modes in the codec set, expressed as a numeral between 0
and 63, in steps of 0.5 dB.
› HYST Specifies the hysteresis values for the threshold in the codec set. It is expressed as a numeral between
0 and 15, in steps of 0.5 dB.

CHIRAG SETHI | Ericsson Internal | 2010-04-20 | Page 17

 AMR BSC Parameters
Parameter name Default value Recommended value Value range Unit
AMRFRSUPPORT 0 - 0 to 5 0=off,

1=Fullrate codec set 1,

2=Full rate codec set 2,

3=Full rate codec set 3,

4=Full rate codec set 4

5=Full rate codec set 5

AMRHRSUPPORT 0 - 0 to 4 0=off,

1=Half rate codec set 1,

2=Half rate codec set 2,

3=Half rate codec set 3,

4=Half rate codec set 4

SET - - FR3, FR4, HR3, HR4 Codec Set
MODE - - 1 to 8 Codec Mode
THR - - 0 to 63 Threshold
HYST - - 0 to 15 Hysteresis
CHIRAG SETHI | Ericsson Internal | 2010-04-20 | Page 18
Capacity and Coverage
AMR Effect on Capacity & Coverage
› AMR provides a significant performance enhancement that can be
translated into a tradeoff between quality and capacity
› AMR feature impact and deployment strategy depends strongly upon
the AMR capable mobile penetration
› AMR gains:

– Quality -> AMR maintains good speech quality in the situation where the
connection faces low C/I or low signal level. Also due to retransmissions
schemes used by these channels the probability of signaling success maintain
very high even for very degraded conditions
– Capacity -> HR utilization doubles the hardware capacity of the cell since two
half-rate connections can be allocated to fill only one timeslot. Practically the
gain is up to 150% higher capacity for the same quality
– Coverage -> additional 3-4 dB effective coverage
– Cost (HR hardware efficiency) -> 20-40% lower number of TRXs
– Improved BCCH plan: tighter frequency reuse or better quality with same
frequency reuse, potentially releasing frequencies to be used on the non-BCCH
layer

CHIRAG SETHI | Ericsson Internal | 2010-04-20 | Page 20

RXQUALITY vs. Average FER
2 sec Periods
Averaged RXQuality distribution in ROUTE 1 (TEMS) Average FER in 2sec periods
50% AMR-HR AHS4.75-AHS7.4 16dB Thr & 3dB Hyst
45%
25
40%
35%
20
30%
25%

Average FER
%

15
20%
15% 10

10%
5
5%
0%
0
RXQUAL0 RXQUAL1 RXQUAL2 RXQUAL3 RXQUAL4 RXQUAL5 RXQUAL6 RXQUAL7
RXQUAL1 RXQUAL2 RXQUAL3 RXQUAL4 RXQUAL5 RXQUAL6 RXQUAL7

Averaged RXQual distribution in ROUTE 1 Average FER in 2sec

› According to the average FER, RXQUALITY 5 can be considered still as

providing enough quality to serve AMR-HR. Also note that in such
conditions, most robust HR codecs will be used but for high capacity
networks this would be enough

CHIRAG SETHI | Ericsson Internal | 2010-04-20 | Page 21

Correlation RXQUALITY vs. FER
2sec Period
› With RXQuality 5, still AMR-HR can provide enough quality to serve traffic if high
capacity numbers are required.

(TEMS) Distribution of FER in 2sec per RXQUAL class for AMR-HR AHS4.75-AHS7.4 16dB and 3dB Hyst

100.00%

90.00%

80.00%

70.00% RXQual 1
RXQual 2
60.00%
RXQual 3
50.00% RXQual 4
40.00% RXQual 5
RXQual 6
30.00%
RXQual 7
20.00%
10.00%
.00% 10% of samples
RXQ
RXQ
ual 6
ual 7 having worse than
FE
R
RXQ
RXQ
ual 5 4% FER WITH
>0
% ER ual 4
>2
%F
FE
R RXQ
ual 3 RXQual 5
% R RXQ
>4 FE ual 2
8 % R RXQ
> FE ual 1
2%
>1

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