Analyzing Dropped Calls

Rev PA1 29/07/02 1

Agenda

• Overview
• Dropped Calls
 Excessive Timing Advance
 Low Signal Strength
 Bad Quality
 Sudden Loss
 Others
• Summary

Rev PA1 29/07/02 2

Overview

• Dropped calls – abnormal disconnections during call

setup/conversation

• Subscriber perception
 TCH drop interrupt conversation
 when SDCCH drop, user redial again

• Analysis focus on TCH drop

Rev PA1 29/07/02 3

Overview cont.
• TCH Drop
 Excessive Timing Advance
 Low Signal Strength
 Bad Quality
 Sudden Loss
 Other reason

• TxNDROP (x=F for full rate, x=H for half rate)

 total number of dropped TCH connections
 incremented when there’s abnormally terminated connections

Rev PA1 29/07/02 4

Dropped Call - Excessive Timing Advance
• Drop call due to excessive TA occurs when TA>TALIM .
Counter TxDISTA is incremented.

TxDISTA
T _ DR _ TA  100%
TxNDROP
• Probable reason
 Location : high site, site close to water - able to capture far away
traffic
 Parameters : 1) TALIM – low TALIM gives the perception that more
dropped calls are due to excessive TA
2) MAXTA – call release is TA>=MAXTA

Rev PA1 29/07/02 5

Excessive TA – troubleshooting

• Check MAXTA & TALIM. Setting MAXTA & TALIM to a higher value
( MAXTA=63, TALIM=62) could help

• If cell coverage is very large, can consider to reducing coverage by

down tilting, reducing antenna height, lowering output power

• If site is in rural area and need to cover large area – Extended Range
feature might be useful

Rev PA1 29/07/02 6

Dropped Call due to Excessive TA - Example
Top TCH Drop Call Reasons
25.00 3

2.5
20.00 Reason for excessive TA – isolated high site
2
15.00

1.5

10.00
1

5.00
0.5

0.00 0
Mon 1/4/02

Wed 3/4/02

Mon 8/4/02
Sat 30/3/02

Sun 31/3/02

Tue 2/4/02

Thu 4/4/02

Fri 5/4/02

Sat 6/4/02

Sun 7/4/02

Tue 9/4/02

Sat 13/4/02

Sun 14/4/02

Mon 15/4/02

Tue 16/4/02
Low Signal Strength Downlink Low Signal Strength Uplink Low Signal Strength Bothink Bad Quality Downlink
Bad Quality Upink Bad Quality Bothlink Excessive TA Sudden Drop
Other Reasons T_DR-S

Rev PA1 29/07/02 7

Dropped Call - Low Signal Strength

• Dropped calls due to low signal strength can occur in

downlink (DL), uplink (UL) or bothlink (BL)

• Related counters:
 TxDISSUL= dropped connections on low SS on UL
 TxDISSDL= dropped connections on low SS on DL
 TxDISSBL= dropped connections on low SS on BL

Rev PA1 29/07/02 8

Low SS - Formulas

TxDISSDL  TxDISSUL  TxDISSBL

T _ DR _ SS   100%
TxNDROP

TxDISSDL
T _ DR _ SS _ DL   100%
TxNDROP

TxDISSUL
T _ DR _ SS _ UL   100%
TxNDROP

TxDISSBL
T _ DR _ SS _ BL  100%
TxNDROP
Rev PA1 29/07/02 9
Low SS - Probable Reasons

• Isolated site
• Antenna/Feeders – too much downtilt, incorrect
orientation, hidden antenna, faulty antenna/feeders
• Output power – incorrect power settings
• BSC Exchange property – improper LOWSSUL/DL
settings
• Unforseen subscriber behaviour – use MS in lifts, car park
• Missing NREL
• Obstacles – building, hills, tunnel etc.

Rev PA1 29/07/02 10

Low SS – troubleshooting

• Check power settings (BSPWRB, BSPWRT), power

balance

• Check neighbour relations

i. use site position on map and manually determine neighbour
ii. use NCS/NOX to find suitable neighbour
iii. consistency check to find missing relations

• BTS error log – check for any hardware faults indicating

high VSWR

Rev PA1 29/07/02 11

Low SS – troubleshooting cont.

• Run MRR
– Check TA & RxLev distribution. If subs. are on low TA and low SS
drops, then might lack indoor/street coverage. If subs are on high
TA, that could indicate coverage gaps or missing neighbour relation
– Can also compare results with TCP coverage plots. This gives
indication of obstacles covering the antenna, faulty antenna/feeder
which might cause low SS
• Perform drivetest
– Check for missing neighbours, swapped feeders, probable
obstacles

Rev PA1 29/07/02 12

Low SS – troubleshooting cont.

• LOWSSUL & LOWSSDL settings

– The settings of LOWSSUL/DL influences the counter step
– If LOWSSDL & LOWSSUL have same value, than STS would
probably indicate most of the low SS drop is on the UL.
– Recommend to have LOWSSDL > LOWSSUL because MS&BTS
sensitivity different and SS on UL&DL are different

Rev PA1 29/07/02 13

Dropped Call due to Low SS – Example 1
Top TCH Drop Call Reasons
10.00 25

9.00 Reason : Island site with hilly and dense vegetation

8.00 surroundings 20

7.00

6.00 15

5.00

4.00 10

3.00

2.00 5

1.00

0.00 0
Sat 6/4/02
Sun 31/3/02

Mon 1/4/02

Tue 2/4/02

Wed 3/4/02

Thu 4/4/02

Fri 5/4/02

Sun 7/4/02

Mon 8/4/02

Tue 9/4/02

Sat 13/4/02

Sun 14/4/02

Mon 15/4/02

Tue 16/4/02
Low Signal Strength Downlink Low Signal Strength Uplink Low Signal Strength Bothink Bad Quality Downlink
Bad Quality Upink Bad Quality Bothlink Excessive TA Sudden Drop
Other Reasons T_DR-S

Rev PA1 29/07/02 14

Dropped Call due to Low SS – Example 2
Top TCH Drop Call Reasons
70.00 16

60.00 Solution: Define NREL and new site 14

12
50.00

10
40.00
8
30.00
6

20.00
4

10.00 2

0.00 0

Sun 17/3/02

Tue 19/3/02
Wed 6/3/02

Thu 7/3/02

Fri 8/3/02

Sat 9/3/02

Sun 10/3/02

Mon 11/3/02

Tue 12/3/02

Wed 13/3/02

Thu 14/3/02

Fri 15/3/02

Sat 16/3/02
Tue 5/3/02

Mon 18/3/02
Low Signal Strength Downlink Low Signal Strength Uplink Low Signal Strength Bothink Bad Quality Downlink
Bad Quality Upink Bad Quality Bothlink Excessive TA Sudden Drop
Other Reasons T_DR-S

Rev PA1 29/07/02 15

Dropped Call – Bad Quality

• Dropped calls due to bad quality can occur in downlink (DL),

uplink (UL) or bothlink (BL)

• Related counters:
 TFDISQAUL= dropped connections at bad quality on UL
 TFDISQADL= dropped connections at bad quality on DL
 TFDISQABL= dropped connections at bad quality on BL

* Setting of BADQUL and BADQDL influences the bad quality

counters

Rev PA1 29/07/02 16

Bad Quality - Formulas

TxDISQADL  TxDISQAUL  TxDISQABL

T _ DR _ BQ  100%
TxNDROP
TxDISQADL
T _ DR _ BQ _ DL   100%
TxNDROP
TxDISQAUL
T _ DR _ BQ _ UL  100%
TxNDROP
TxDISQABL
T _ DR _ BQ _ BL   100%
TxNDROP

Rev PA1 29/07/02 17

Bad Quality – Probable Reasons

• Frequency plan – adjacent and co-channel interference

• No dominant server – low SS
• Missing NREL – MS is not able to connect to strongest
server
• Hardware problems – antennas, feeders, connectors
• Environment – near open water
• External – other networks, microwave links, illegal
transmitters

Rev PA1 29/07/02 18

Bad Quality – troubleshooting
• Display C/I & C/A plots in TCP – check if cell is located in
an interference area.
• Consistency check/MCOM – to determine adjacent and
co- channel interference
• Check ICM – determine any uplink interference
• Check handover statistics and observe neighbour relation
with high number of BQ handover.This might give location
of BQ area
• Run MRR – check average RxQual in the cell
• Run FAS – displays interference level for selected freq.

Rev PA1 29/07/02 19

Bad Quality – troubleshooting cont.
• Perform drivetest
– can locate interferer by halting the effected cell & performing freq.
scanning to locate the interfering cell.
– can also use spectrum analyser
– check for missing NREL
• QLIMUL & QLIMDL – ensure correct settings.
Recommended QLIMUL/DL = 55 for hopping and
QLIMUL/DL = 45 for non-hopping
• Reduce interference – if can’t change freq, then consider
downtilt/power down interferer
• Use features – IHO,DTX, Frequency hopping, MS/BTS
Power Control
Rev PA1 29/07/02 20
Dropped Call due to Bad Quality – Example 1
Top TCH Drop Call Reasons
300.00 20

18
250.00
Reason: External Interference
16

14
200.00
12

150.00 10

8
100.00
6

4
50.00
2

0.00 0
Sat 9/3/02

Mon 11/3/02

Tue 12/3/02

Wed 13/3/02

Thu 14/3/02

Fri 15/3/02

Sat 16/3/02

Sun 17/3/02

Mon 18/3/02
Thu 7/3/02

Fri 8/3/02

Sun 10/3/02

Tue 19/3/02
Low Signal Strength Downlink Low Signal Strength Uplink Low Signal Strength Bothink Bad Quality Downlink
Bad Quality Upink Bad Quality Bothlink Excessive TA Sudden Drop
Other Reasons T_DR-S

Rev PA1 29/07/02 21

Dropped Call due to Bad Quality – Example 2
Top TCH Drop Call Reasons
200.00 10

180.00
Reason: Faulty antenna 9

160.00 8

140.00 7

120.00 6

100.00 5

80.00 4

60.00 3

40.00 2

20.00 1

0.00 0
Wed 6/3/02

Sat 9/3/02

Sat 16/3/02
Tue 5/3/02

Thu 7/3/02

Sun 10/3/02

Mon 11/3/02

Tue 12/3/02

Thu 14/3/02

Fri 15/3/02

Sun 17/3/02

Mon 18/3/02

Tue 19/3/02
Mon 4/3/02

Fri 8/3/02

Wed 13/3/02

Low Signal Strength Downlink Low Signal Strength Uplink Low Signal Strength Bothink Bad Quality Downlink
Bad Quality Upink Bad Quality Bothlink Excessive TA Sudden Drop
Other Reasons T_DR-S

Rev PA1 29/07/02 22

Dropped Call due to Bad Quality – Example 3
Top TCH Drop Call Reasons
70.00 1.4

60.00 Reason : Co-channel interference 1.2

50.00 Solution: Change to cleaner frequency 1

40.00 0.8

30.00 0.6

20.00 0.4

10.00 0.2

0.00 0

Sun 17/3/02
Sat 9/3/02

Sun 10/3/02

Mon 11/3/02

Tue 12/3/02

Wed 13/3/02

Thu 14/3/02

Fri 15/3/02

Sat 16/3/02

Mon 18/3/02

Tue 19/3/02
Low Signal Strength Downlink Low Signal Strength Uplink Low Signal Strength Bothink Bad Quality Downlink
Bad Quality Upink Bad Quality Bothlink Excessive TA Sudden Drop
Other Reasons T_DR-S

Rev PA1 29/07/02 23

Dropped Call – Sudden Loss

• Valid when none of the first 3 types of droppped calls (i.e.

excessive TA, low SS, BQ) are indicated and locating
procedure indicates missing measurement results from MS
• Related counter
– TFSUDLOS = dropped connections due to suddenly loss
connections

Rev PA1 29/07/02 24

Sudden Loss – Probable Reason

• Environment – sudden drop in SS, such as when

subscribers enter into building, lift, tunnel etc.
• Battery – MS battery finishes during conversation, or
battery being pulled out
• BTS/MS hardware fault
• Transmission fault – synchronization/ABIS link fault
• Interference – very sudden and severe occurrence of
interference or bad quality

Rev PA1 29/07/02 25

Sudden Loss – troubleshooting

• RLINKT & RLINKUP – check is correct settings. Consider

increasing for certain scenarios
• Check synchronization and link faults
• Check BTS error log
• Check if its related to human behaviour

Rev PA1 29/07/02 26

Dropped Call due to Sudden Loss - Example
Top TCH Drop Call Reasons
900.00 25

800.00
Reason : Co-channel interference 20
700.00

600.00 Solution : Change to less interfered frequency

15
500.00

400.00
10
300.00

200.00
5

100.00

0.00 0
Mon 1/7/02

Tue 2/7/02

Wed 3/7/02

Thu 4/7/02

Sat 6/7/02

Mon 8/7/02

Tue 9/7/02

Wed 10/7/02

Thu 11/7/02

Mon 15/7/02

Tue 16/7/02

Wed 17/7/02

Thu 18/7/02

Sat 20/7/02

Mon 22/7/02

Tue 23/7/02

Wed 24/7/02

Thu 25/7/02

Fri 26/7/02

Sat 27/7/02

Mon 29/7/02

Tue 30/7/02

Wed 31/7/02
Fri 5/7/02

Sun 7/7/02

Fri 12/7/02

Sat 13/7/02

Sun 14/7/02

Fri 19/7/02

Sun 21/7/02

Sun 28/7/02
Low Signal Strength Downlink Low Signal Strength Uplink Low Signal Strength Bothink Bad Quality Downlink
Bad Quality Upink Bad Quality Bothlink Excessive TA Sudden Drop
Other Reasons T_DR-S

Rev PA1 29/07/02 27

Dropped Call – Other reasons

• TCH drops due to other reason than low SS, bad quality,
excessive TA and sudden loss.
• Formula

 T_DR_OTH =

Rev PA1 29/07/02 28

Other reasons – Probable reasons

• No specific counters – reasons for it occuring are

subjective
• Hardware faults – BTS or MS
• Transmission/link problems
• Maintainence work – affecting network service
• Interference – severe interference problems

Rev PA1 29/07/02 29

Other reasons - troubleshooting

• Check BTS error log – any HW faults

• Check with O&M – transmission problems, maintainence
work during the effected time period
• Check if ICM/MRR - indicating uplink interference in cell
• Check object type MOTS – help find faulty devices

Rev PA1 29/07/02 30

Dropped Call due to Other Reasons - Example
Top TCH Drop Call Reasons
300.00 4

3.5
250.00
Reason : Faulty TRU
3

200.00
Solution : Replace TRU 2.5

150.00 2

1.5
100.00

50.00
0.5

0.00 0
Sun 10/3/02

Mon 11/3/02

Wed 13/3/02

Fri 15/3/02

Mon 18/3/02
Sat 9/3/02

Tue 12/3/02

Thu 14/3/02

Sat 16/3/02

Sun 17/3/02

Tue 19/3/02
Low Signal Strength Downlink Low Signal Strength Uplink Low Signal Strength Bothink Bad Quality Downlink
Bad Quality Upink Bad Quality Bothlink Excessive TA Sudden Drop
Other Reasons T_DR-S

Rev PA1 29/07/02 31

Summary

• Dropped calls :
– Excessive TA, Low SS, Bad Quality, Sudden Loss, Others
– Counters and formulas
– Probable reasons for dropped calls and trouble shotting

• Tools :
– Statics/SPOS&Turtle
– MCOM
– RNO (MRR,FAS,NCS,FOX,NOX)
– TCP
– Consistency Check

Rev PA1 29/07/02 32