LTE Capacity Management and Optimization INTERNAL

LTE RF Capacity Management and

optimization

Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.

All rights reserved

Page 1 of 23
Huawei Proprietary and Confidential
27-03-2016
 LTE Capacity Management and Optimization INTERNAL

Table of Contents
1 Overview .................................................................................................................................................... 4
2 PRB” Physical Resource Block”................................................................................................................... 5
2.1 Definition............................................................................................................................................. 5
2.2 Usage Increase by ............................................................................................................................... 5
2.3 Insufficiency ........................................................................................................................................ 5
2.4 Monitoring .......................................................................................................................................... 5
2.5 Root Cause Analysis/Solution ............................................................................................................. 6
Poor Channel Quality ............................................................................................................................ 6
Parameter Settings................................................................................................................................ 6
User Number ......................................................................................................................................... 7
2.6 Threshold for Expansion ..................................................................................................................... 7
2.7 OMSTAR Analysis ................................................................................................................................ 7
UL / DL Formulas ................................................................................................................................... 7
OMSTAR Threshold is ............................................................................................................................ 7
OMSTAR Analysis .................................................................................................................................. 8
3 PRACH” Physical random access channel”............................................................................................... 10
3.1 Definition........................................................................................................................................... 10
3.2 Usage Increase by ............................................................................................................................. 12
3.3 Insufficiency ...................................................................................................................................... 12
3.4 Monitoring ........................................................................................................................................ 13
3.5 Root Cause analysis/Solution ............................................................................................................ 14
3.6 Threshold for Expansion ................................................................................................................... 15
3.7 OMSTAR Analysis .............................................................................................................................. 15
PRACH Resource Usage Statistic ......................................................................................................... 15
Contention/non-Contention Preamble Resource Usage Distribution ................................................ 15

Page 2 of 23
Huawei Proprietary and Confidential
27-03-2016
 LTE Capacity Management and Optimization INTERNAL

The Cell List of Contention/non-Contention Preamble Resource Usage Over Threshold .................. 16
Contention/non-Contention Preamble Resource Usage (Daily)(Cell/Busy Hour)(Network/Busy Hour)
............................................................................................................................................................ 16
4 PDCCH” Physical downlink control channel” ........................................................................................... 17
4.1 Definition........................................................................................................................................... 17
4.2 Usage Increase by ............................................................................................................................. 18
4.3 Insufficiency ...................................................................................................................................... 18
4.4 Monitoring ........................................................................................................................................ 18
4.5 Root Cause Analysis/Solution ........................................................................................................... 19
Poor Channel Quality .......................................................................................................................... 19
Parameter Adjustment ....................................................................................................................... 19
4.6 Threshold for Expansion ................................................................................................................... 20
4.7 OMSTAR Analysis .............................................................................................................................. 20
Items outputted for OMSTAR ............................................................................................................. 20
OMSTAR Threshold ............................................................................................................................. 20
Whole Network PDCCH Usage ............................................................................................................ 20
CCE Usage Distribution ....................................................................................................................... 21
The Cell List of CCE Resource Usage Over Threshold ......................................................................... 21
CCE Usage(Daily) ................................................................................................................................. 21
CCE Usage(Cell/Busy Hour) ................................................................................................................. 21
CCE Usage(Network Busy Hour).......................................................................................................... 21
5 Profit from LTE RF Capacity management and optimization ................................................................... 23

Page 3 of 23
Huawei Proprietary and Confidential
27-03-2016
 LTE Capacity Management and Optimization INTERNAL

1 Overview

With the rapid development of smart terminals and services the impact of capacity problems on KPIs
and User experience increased, therefore close monitoring for Key bottleneck of LTE resources is
required to ensure better KPIs and user experience.

Capacity monitoring can be implemented using the following two methods:

 Daily monitoring for prediction: Counters are used to indicate the load or usage of various types
of resources on the LTE network. Thresholds for resource consumption are specified so that
preventive measures such as reconfiguration and expansion can be taken to prevent network
congestion when the consumption of a type of resource continually exceeds the threshold.
 Problem-driven analysis: This method helps identify whether a problem indicated by counters is
caused by network congestion through in-depth analysis. With this method, problems can be
precisely located so that users can work out a proper network optimization and expansion
solution.

LTE Resources are

•PRB
Cell •PRACH
•PDCCH

•Connected user license

•Paging resources
•Main-control-board CPU
eNodeB •LTE baseband process unit (LBBP) CPU
•Transport resource groups
•Ethernet ports

This Document concentrate on LTE Cell Resources.

Page 4 of 23
Huawei Proprietary and Confidential
27-03-2016
 LTE Capacity Management and Optimization INTERNAL

2 PRB” Physical Resource Block”

2.1 Definition
Resource Block is the minimum unit for resource allocation used for data transmission in
physical layer, it consists of two dimensional domain:
 Time Domain: 1 Slot= 7 OFDM Symbol (normal CP).
 Frequency Domain: 12 Subcarriers.
RB number depend on the LTE system bandwidth as shown below

Channel bandwidth BWChannel 1 3 5 10 15 20

[MHz]

Sub-carriers Number 72 180 300 600 900 1200

RB Number 6 15 25 50 75 100

Resource Element (RE)

Smallest unit in PRB consist of two dimensional domain:
 Time Domain: 1 OFDM Symbol.
 Frequency Domain: 1 Subcarriers.

2.2 Usage Increase by

• As Data traffic growth PRB Usage increase.
• As PRB Usage reaches 100%, user perceived traffic will decrease.
Insufficiency

2.3 Insufficiency
Growing traffic leads to a continuous increase in PRB usage. When the PRB usage approaches to
100%, user-perceived rates will decrease as follow:
• New Users may fail to be admitted
• Admitted users experience is affected.

2.4 Monitoring
• Downlink PRB usage = L.ChMeas.PRB.DL.Used.Avg/L.ChMeas.PRB.DL.Avail x 100%
L.ChMeas.PRB.DL.Used.Avg = Average used DL PRBs
L.ChMeas.PRB.DL.Avail = Available DL PRBs
• Downlink user-perceived rate (Mbit/s) = L.Thrp.bits.DL/L.Thrp.Time.DL/1000

Page 5 of 23
Huawei Proprietary and Confidential
27-03-2016
 LTE Capacity Management and Optimization INTERNAL

L.Thrp.bits.DL = DL PDCP Layer Throughput

L.Thrp.Time.DL= duration for transmitting DL PDCP layer data

2.5 Root Cause Analysis/Solution

Factors affecting PRB usage:

 Poor Channel Quality

 Parameter Settings
 User number
 Traffic Model ”service requirement of each user”

PRB Limitation leads to prolong UE Scheduling delay  decreasing UE Data Rate.

Poor Channel Quality

Lead to low spectrum efficiency and increase PRB usage.

DL Spectrum Efficiency = L.Thrp.bits.DL/L.ChMeas.PRB.DL.Used.Avg/(report

Period*60)/180000 “bit/s/Hz”

if Less than 1bit/s/Hz  Optimize RF Quality

UL Spectrum Efficiency = L.Thrp.bits.UL/L.ChMeas.PRB.UL.Used.Avg/(report

Period*60)/180000 “bit/s/Hz”

if Less than 0.5bit/s/Hz  Optimize RF Quality

Parameter Settings

DL
RbgAllocStrategy=Adaptive
 If the number of required RBs is less than that of one RBG, RBs are allocated to
the scheduled UE as required, which is specified by resource allocation type 1.
 If the number of required RBs is greater than that of one RBG, the number of
allocated RBGs is rounded up and an integral number of RBGs are allocated to
the scheduled UE. Compared with RBG round-up, this mode prevents RB waste
when the number of required RBs is less than that of one RBG

UL
UlSchSwitch=PuschDtxSwitch-1
 During UL transmission if UE fail to detect UL GRANT or SR false alarm appear in
DRX state
 Enabled:UE will report(ACK/NACK/DTX) if the HARQ feedback state of one
uplink schedule is DTX, eNodeB will deliver UL GRANT again instead of starting

Page 6 of 23
Huawei Proprietary and Confidential
27-03-2016
 LTE Capacity Management and Optimization INTERNAL

HARQ retransmission. If the next HARQ feedback is still DTX, eNodeB will stop
the schedule triggered by this SR
 Disabled:lead to the uplink retransmission repeatedly and waste the uplink
PUSCH resource and the uplink error code rate will increase obviously

User Number
 If average RRC_Connected User(L.Traffic.User.Avg) >300
Downlink user-perceived rate < a user-defined threshold (default value: 2 Mbit/s)
Resource Insufficiency cause the low Data Rate Consider Expansion
 Formula for Downlink user perceived rate:

Average DL Throughput for single User = (L.Thrp.bits.DL-

L.Thrp.bits.DL.LastTTI)/L.Thrp.Time.DL.RmvLastTTI*1000

2.6 Threshold for Expansion

Add carriers or eNodeBs if both of the following conditions are met:
• Downlink PRB usage ≥ 70%
• Downlink user-perceived rate < a user-defined threshold (default value: 2 Mbit/s)

2.7 OMSTAR Analysis

• Whole Network PRB Analysis
• PRB Resource Usage Distribution
• Uplink/Downlink PRB Resource Usage Distribution(RRU)
• The Cell List of Uplink/Downlink PRB Resource Usage Over Threshold
• PRB Resource Usage(Daily)(Cell/Busy Hour)(Network/Busy Hour)

UL / DL Formulas
Uplink PRB resource usage = Average number of uplink PRBs scheduled in each second
(L.ChMeas.PRB.UL.Used.Avg+ L.ChMeas.PRB.PUCCH.Avg)/ Total number of uplink PRBs in a cell x
100%
Downlink PRB resource usage = Average number of downlink PRBs scheduled in each second
(L.ChMeas.PRB.DL.Used.Avg)/ Total number of downlink PRBs in a cell x 100%

OMSTAR Threshold is
OMSTAR threshold for Expansion is 70% PRB usage.

Page 7 of 23
Huawei Proprietary and Confidential
27-03-2016
 LTE Capacity Management and Optimization INTERNAL

OMSTAR Analysis

Whole Network PRB Analysis

Time Whole Network Whole Network Average Whole Network Whole Network
Average Number of Number of Downlink Average Uplink PRB Average Downlink PRB
Uplink Used PRB per Used PRB per Cell Resource Usage per Resource Usage per Cell
Cell Cell

x 4.33 4.85 8.65% 9.71%

PRB Resource Usage Distribution

Uplink/Downlink PRB Resource Usage Distribution
Uplink/Do Cell
Ratio(PDF)(N Ratio(CDF)(N Cell
wnlink PRB Number(Ne Ratio(PDF)(Ce Ratio(CDF)(Ce
etwork Busy etwork Busy Number(Cell
Resource twork Busy ll/Busy Hour) ll/Busy Hour)
Hour) Hour) /Busy Hour)
Usage Hour)
[0,10%) 217 83.78% 83.78% 206 79.54% 79.54%
[10%,20%) 31 11.97% 95.75% 43 16.60% 96.14%
[20%,30%) 7 2.70% 98.46% 8 3.09% 99.23%
[30%,40%) 3 1.16% 99.61% 1 0.39% 99.61%
[40%,50%) 1 0.39% 100.00% 1 0.39% 100.00%
[50%,60%) 0 0.00% 100.00% 0 0.00% 100.00%
[60%,70%) 0 0.00% 100.00% 0 0.00% 100.00%
[70%,80%) 0 0.00% 100.00% 0 0.00% 100.00%
[80%,90%) 0 0.00% 100.00% 0 0.00% 100.00%
[90%,100%] 0 0.00% 100.00% 0 0.00% 100.00%

The Cell List of Uplink/Downlink PRB Resource Usage over Threshold

The Cell List of Uplink/Downlink PRB Resource Usage Over Threshold

eNodeB eNodeB Cell Cell Time Uplink Downlink Average Average Average Average
ID Name ID Name PRB PRB Number Number number number
Resource Resource of Uplink of of used of users
Usage Usage Used Downlink PRBs in a cell
PRB Used PRB over the
PUCCH

PRB Resource Usage (Daily) (Cell/Busy Hour) (Network/Busy Hour)

OMSTAR provide per Cell PRB usage and average number of used RBs and users for uplink and
downlink for :
Page 8 of 23
Huawei Proprietary and Confidential
27-03-2016
 LTE Capacity Management and Optimization INTERNAL

 Daily format: Average per Day.

 Cell/Busy Hour
 Network Busy Hour

eNodeB eNodeB Cell Cell Time Uplink Downlink Average Average Average Average
ID Name ID Name PRB PRB Number Number number number
Resource Resource of Uplink of of used of users
Usage Usage Used Downlink PRBs in a cell
PRB Used PRB over the
PUCCH

DL / UL Spectral Efficiency
OMSTAR Formula
-DL Spectrum Efficiency(bps/Hz) = L.Thrp.bits.DL/L.Thrp.Time.Cell.DL/(L.ChMeas.PRB.DL.Used.Avg *
(BAND*10^6/L.ChMeas.PRB.DL.Avail))
-UL Spectrum Efficiency (bps/Hz) = L.Thrp.bits.UL/L.Thrp.Time.Cell.UL/(L.ChMeas.PRB.UL.Used.Avg *
(BAND*10^6/L.ChMeas.PRB.PUSCH.Avg))

For Low Spectral Efficiency

DL (1bPs/Hz):
Check if MCS <10 or CQI<6  RF Issues  otherwise Check MIMO Setting
UL (0.5 bps/HZ)
Check if MCS<10 or SINR<5  RF Issues
Downlink/Uplink Spectral Efficiency (Daily) (Cell/BH) (Network/BH)

Downlink Spectral Efficiency

eNodeB eNodeB Cell Cell Time Downlink Downlink Average Downlink Spectral
ID Name ID Name Traffic Bits for Number of Efficiency(bps/Hz)
Volume for PDCP used
PDCP SDUs Downlink
SDUs(Gb) PRBs

Uplink Spectral Efficiency(Cell/Busy Hour)

eNodeB eNodeB Cell Cell Time Uplink Uplink Bits Number Uplink Spectral
ID Name ID Name Traffic for PDCP of Used Efficiency(bps/Hz)
Volume for SDUs(Gb) Uplink
PDCP PRBs
SDUs(Gb)

Page 9 of 23
Huawei Proprietary and Confidential
27-03-2016
 LTE Capacity Management and Optimization INTERNAL

3 PRACH” Physical random access channel”

3.1 Definition
Random access is performed in the following scenarios:
1. Initial RRC connection setup to switch from the RRC_IDLE state to the RRC_CONNECTED state, a
UE initiates random access.
2. RRC connection reestablishment When a radio link failure (RLF) occurs, the UE needs to
reestablish an RRC connection. In this scenario, the UE initiates random access.
3. Handover During a handover, a UE initiates random access in the target cell.
4. Downlink data arrival when an eNodeB needs to send downlink data to a UE in the
RRC_CONNECTED state and finds that the UE is out of uplink synchronization, the eNodeB
instructs the UE to initiate random access.
5. Uplink data arrival When a UE in the RRC_CONNECTED state needs to send uplink data to an
eNodeB and finds that it is out of uplink synchronization, the UE initiates random access.
6. LCS When a location service (LCS) is required, the eNodeB initiates random access.

Random Access message

is as shown below consist of
 CP ”Cyclic prefix” CP Sequence

 preamble sequence TCP TSEQ Guard Period

 Guard period Preamble
Since Random Access message is first message sent from UE side and the TA “Time advance” is
not known yet, so guard period is used to ensure message arrival is within the TS.

Page 10 of 23
Huawei Proprietary and Confidential
27-03-2016
 LTE Capacity Management and Optimization INTERNAL

random access preamble formats

There is five Random Access preamble formats used as below depending on cell radius from parameter
Cell.CellRadius

Define the Cell preamble format in parameter: Cell.PreambleFmt

Preamble Allocated TSEQ TCP TCP (µs) TGT Max. Delay Cell Radius (km)
Format Subframes (µs) (Ts) (µs) Spread (µs)

0 1 800 3168 103.125 96.875 5.208 R < 14.531

1 2 800 21024 684.375 515.625 16.666 29.5 < R < 77.344
2 2 1600 6240 203.125 196.875 5.208 14.5 < R < 29.531
3 3 1600 21024 684.375 715.625 16.666 77.3 < R < 102.65
4 (TDD) Special 133.3 448 14.6 9.417 16.666 R < 1.41
Frame

Subframe 1ms Subframe 1ms

Format 3

Format 2

Format 1

6
Format 0
PRB

CP Zadoff Chu Sequence

Random access is categorized into:

 Contention-based random access
Random access preambles are generated by UEs, and conflicts may exist among these
preambles. The eNodeB uses a contention resolution mechanism to handle such a conflict.
Contention-based random access are divided into group A and group B:
o The UE selects group A when it transmits a small Msg3. This selection indicates that radio
channel quality is poor.
o The UE selects group B when it transmits a large Msg3. This selection indicates that radio
channel quality is good.
 Non-contention-based random access
Page 11 of 23
Huawei Proprietary and Confidential
27-03-2016
 LTE Capacity Management and Optimization INTERNAL

Random access preambles are allocated by the eNodeB, and each preamble is dedicated to only
one UE. Therefore, there is no preamble conflict.
Non-contention-based access is used when there are available dedicated preambles. However,
contention-based access is used when dedicated preambles are exhausted.

Each Cell has 64 preambles which used for both contention and non- contention preambles assigned
using below parameters:
RACHCFG.RandomPreambleRatio:
Indicates the proportion of the number of random preambles in a cell to the number of
preambles in the cell.
RACHCFG.RaPreambleGrpARatio
Indicates the proportion of the number of group A random preambles in a cell to the number of
random preambles in the cell.

Number of random preamble sequences = 4 x rounddown (total number of preamble sequences in a cell
x RandomPreambleRatio value/4)

Number of random preamble sequences in group A = 4 x roundup (total number of preamble sequences
x RaPreambleGrpARatio value/4)

3.2 Usage Increase by

o Access requests (initial- UL/DL Data).
o Handover times.
o LCS
o RRC connection reestablishment.

3.3 Insufficiency

Page 12 of 23
Huawei Proprietary and Confidential
27-03-2016
 LTE Capacity Management and Optimization INTERNAL

Preamble Usage in Random Access

Contention
Non-Contention Based
Based

Number> N in Second Number >100

Conflict
 access delay increase.  Use Contention Preamble 
Probability <1%
increase access/HO delay.

Where N is

Bandwidth PRACH resource adjustment algorithm N

15-->20 X 100
5-->10 NO 50
5-->10 Yes 100

3.4 Monitoring
Contention Preamble Usage Non-Contention Preamble Usage

•(L.RA.GrpA.Att + L.RA.GrpB.Att)/3600/N x 100% •L.RA.Dedicate.Att/3600/100 x 100%

where
o L.RA.GrpA.Att indicates the number of times that random preambles in group A are received.
o L.RA.GrpB.Att indicates the number of times that random preambles in group B are received.
o L.RA.Dedicate.Att indicates the number of times that dedicated preambles are received.
o The value of N varies as follows:
− If the system bandwidth is 15 MHz or 20 MHz, N is 100.
− If the system bandwidth is 5 MHz or 10 MHz and the PRACH resource adjustment algorithm is
disabled, N is 50.
− If the system bandwidth is 5 MHz or 10 MHz and the PRACH resource adjustment algorithm is enabled,
N is 100.

Page 13 of 23
Huawei Proprietary and Confidential
27-03-2016
 LTE Capacity Management and Optimization INTERNAL

To check whether the PRACH resource adjustment algorithm is enabled, run the LST CELLALGOSWITCH
command to query the value of the RachAlgoSwitch.

3.5 Root Cause analysis/Solution

Enable Random Access Backoff

The RACH does not interfere with other uplink channels in LTE. Generally, the probability of RACH
conflicts is low.
If excessive UEs are admitted on a PRACH, however, preamble conflicts may occur, and some UEs may
fail to access the network. To solve this problem, random access backoff is introduced to control the
time for preamble retransmission by UEs.
If random access backoff is enabled, the eNodeB notifies a UE of a backoff value in the random access
response message. When the UE needs to retransmit a preamble, it randomly selects a value (from 0 to
the received backoff value) as its backoff time. The UE can retransmit the preamble only after the
backoff time ends.
Random access backoff is not performed in the following two scenarios:
o Initial preamble transmission
o Preamble retransmission in non-contention-based random access
When to use?
If the random preamble usage reaches or exceeds 75% for three days by default in a week,
enable the adaptive backoff function
MOD CELLALGOSWITCH: LocalCellId=x, RachAlgoSwitch=BackOffSwitch-1;

PRACH resource adjustment algorithm

In case of Preambles are insufficient PRACH resource adjustment algorithm acts as follow:
 If dedicated preambles are in surplus and random preambles are insufficient, the
eNodeB reduces the number of dedicated preambles.
 If dedicated preambles are insufficient, the eNodeB increases the number of dedicated
preambles.
Whether dedicated preambles are insufficient is measured based on the dedicated preamble
allocation failure rate, which is equal to one minus the ratio of the number of UEs that are
allocated dedicated preambles to the number of UEs that apply for dedicated preambles.

MaksIdxSwitch: Indicates the switch used to control reuse of dedicated preambles between UEs.
If the switch is on, the eNodeB enables reuse of dedicated preambles among UEs based on the
MaskIndex parameter. If the switch is off, the eNodeB allocates a dedicated preamble to only
one UE at a time.
Page 14 of 23
Huawei Proprietary and Confidential
27-03-2016
 LTE Capacity Management and Optimization INTERNAL

When to use?
If the dedicated preamble usage reaches or exceeds 75% for X days (three days by default) in a
week, enable the PRACH resource adjustment algorithm and reuse of dedicated preambles
between UEs by running the following command:
MOD CELLALGOSWITCH: LocalCellId=x,RachAlgoSwitch= RachAdjSwitch-
1,RachAlgoSwitch=MaksIdxSwitch-1;

This helps reduce the probability of UEs initiating contention-based random access in the case of
dedicated preamble insufficiency and therefore helps reduce the access delay

3.6 Threshold for Expansion

If above actions implemented and the resource usage is still >75% add eNodeB or split Cell

3.7 OMSTAR Analysis

PRACH Resource Usage Statistic
Time Contention Preamble Resource Usage Non-Contention Preamble Resource Usage

x 0.14% 0.00%

Contention/non-Contention Preamble Resource Usage Distribution

Pream Cell Ratio(PDF)( Ratio(CDF)( Cell Ratio(PDF)(C Ratio(CDF)(C
ble Number(N Network Network Number(Ce ell/Busy ell/Busy
Resour etwork Busy Hour) Busy Hour) ll/Busy Hour) Hour)
ce Busy Hour)
Usage Hour)
[0,10%) 3 100.00% 100.00% 3 100.00% 100.00%
[10%,2 0 0.00% 100.00% 0 0.00% 100.00%
0%)
[20%,3 0 0.00% 100.00% 0 0.00% 100.00%
0%)
[30%,4 0 0.00% 100.00% 0 0.00% 100.00%
0%)
[40%,5 0 0.00% 100.00% 0 0.00% 100.00%
0%)
[50%,6 0 0.00% 100.00% 0 0.00% 100.00%
0%)
[60%,7 0 0.00% 100.00% 0 0.00% 100.00%
0%)
[70%,8 0 0.00% 100.00% 0 0.00% 100.00%
0%)
[80%,9 0 0.00% 100.00% 0 0.00% 100.00%
0%)
[90%,1 0 0.00% 100.00% 0 0.00% 100.00%
00%]

Page 15 of 23
Huawei Proprietary and Confidential
27-03-2016
 LTE Capacity Management and Optimization INTERNAL

The Cell List of Contention/non-Contention Preamble Resource Usage Over Threshold

Contention/non-Contention Preamble Resource Usage (Daily)(Cell/Busy

Hour)(Network/Busy Hour)

The Cell List of Contention Preamble Resource Usage Over Threshold

Contention Average
Contention
eNodeB eNodeB Cell Cell Preamble number of Contention Preamble
Time Preamble
ID Name ID Name Resource users in a Received(Group A)
Received(Group B)
Usage cell

The Cell List of Non-Contention Preamble Resource Usage Over Threshold

Non-
Average Non-Contention
Contention Non-Contention
eNodeB eNodeB Cell Cell number of Preamble
Time Preamble Preamble
ID Name ID Name users in a Received(Recovery
Resource Received(HO)
cell Uplink Synchronization)
Usage

Page 16 of 23
Huawei Proprietary and Confidential
27-03-2016
 LTE Capacity Management and Optimization INTERNAL

4 PDCCH” Physical downlink control

channel”

4.1 Definition
The PDCCH/EPDCCH carries the following types of DCI:
Downlink grant
This DCI includes the PDSCH resource indicator, modulation and coding scheme (MCS),
HARQ process number information, and PUCCH power control commands. This DCI has
multiple formats, such as formats 1, 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 2, and 2A.
Uplink grant
This DCI includes the PUSCH resource indicator, MCS, and PUSCH power control
commands. This DCI has only format 0.
Power control command
This DCI is a group of PUSCH power control commands for a UE, which supplement
PUSCH and PUCCH power control commands in an uplink grant. This DCI has formats 3
and 3A.

PDCCH defined in following terms

REG – Resource element group
which is smallest defined unit and includes 4 subcarriers/resource elements
CCE – Control channel element
1CCE=9 REGs, that means there are a total of 9×4=36 subcarriers and since all the
control channels are mapped using QPSK/BPSK which basically can map 2 bits per
subcarrier, we can accommodate 72 control channel bits per CCE

Page 17 of 23
Huawei Proprietary and Confidential
27-03-2016
 LTE Capacity Management and Optimization INTERNAL

PDCCH aggregation Level

LTE support 4 Aggregation Levels 1,2,4,8 CCEs to map a PDCCH DCI
Higher PDCCH aggregation level higher probability for the UE to successfully decode the DCI

4.2 Usage Increase by

In each radio frame, CCEs must be allocated to uplink and downlink UEs to be scheduled and
common control signaling .
 So higher number UEs to be scheduled  increase the PDCCH Usage.
 Poor channel quality  higher CCE aggregation level higher PDCCH Usage.

4.3 Insufficiency
Uplink and downlink scheduling delays are prolonged, and user experience is affected.

4.4 Monitoring
CCE usage = (L.ChMeas.CCE.CommUsed + L.ChMeas.CCE.ULUsed +
L.ChMeas.CCE.DLUsed)/L.ChMeas.CCE.Avail x 100%
Where

Page 18 of 23
Huawei Proprietary and Confidential
27-03-2016
 LTE Capacity Management and Optimization INTERNAL

 L.ChMeas.CCE.Comm Used indicates the number of PDCCH CCEs used for common signaling.
 L.ChMeas.CCE.ULUsed indicates the number of PDCCH CCEs used for uplink scheduling.
 L.ChMeas.CCE.DLUsed indicates the number of PDCCH CCEs used for downlink scheduling.
 L.ChMeas.CCE.Avail indicates the number of available CCEs.

4.5 Root Cause Analysis/Solution

Poor Channel Quality
If Dynamic CCE Aggregation Level is enabled
Generally in Poor Channel Quality area the CCE aggregation level increases to ensure correct
PDCCH decoding, therefore CCE aggregation level incensement reflect poor radio conditions
CCE Aggregation level =
L.ChMeas.PDCCH.AggLvl1Num ∗1+L.ChMeas.PDCCH.AggLvl2Num ∗2+L.ChMeas.PDCCH.AggLvl4Num ∗4+L.ChMeas.PDCCH.AggLvl8Num ∗8
L.ChMeas.PDCCH.AggLvl1Num +L.ChMeas.PDCCH.AggLvl2Num +L.ChMeas.PDCCH.AggLvl4Num +L.ChMeas.PDCCH.AggLvl8Num

If CCE Average aggregation Level >= 4  optimize Radio Conditions

Parameter Adjustment

PDCCH Symbol Adaptation ( PdcchSymNumSwitch)

OFF: Symbols reserved for PDCCH are fixed regardless of current usage
ON :based on the CCE usage assign PDCCH symbols, Initial PDCCH symbols= InitPdcchSymNum
ECfiAdaptionON: based on CCE usage , PRB Usage, Power Usage  assign the PDCCH Symbols,
Initial PDCCH symbols= InitPdcchSymNum

PDCCH Aggregation Level (AggLvlSelStrageForDualCW)

eNodeB dynamically select appropriate aggregation Level based on:
• CQI reported from User  SINR DL.
• DCI Format used , demodulation threshold for coding rates used.
STRATEGYBASEDONCAPACITY: Tends to select lower aggregation level  increase capacity
 increase BLER
STRATEGYBASEDONCOVERAGE: Tends to Select higher aggregation Level demodulation
improved  decrease capacity.

Maximum PDCCH Code Rate (PdcchMaxCodeRate)

If PDCCH Code Rate exceed this value eNodeB increases the PDCCH Aggregation Level
• High Value: lower PDCCH Aggregation Value  improve Capacity  decrease Coverage
• Lower Value: higher PDCCH Aggregation Value  lower Capacity  increase Coverage

Page 19 of 23
Huawei Proprietary and Confidential
27-03-2016
 LTE Capacity Management and Optimization INTERNAL

PDCCH and PDSCH Resource Balance Scheduling

At Heavy Traffic and majority of UEs with small volume services, limited number of UEs can be
scheduled due to PDCCH UEs limitations  PDSCH resources are not fully utilized, and the downlink
throughput is low.
To solve this problem, DL scheduling is now optimized to
• A threshold for the number of UEs (UeNumThdInPdcchPdschBal )in a cell is introduced
to determine whether traffic is heavy.
• If traffic is heavy, the downlink scheduler randomly selects a UE with large-volume
services( DataThdInPdcchPdschBal) and reserves PDCCH resources for the UE.
When scheduling the last UE, the scheduler allocates PDSCH resources to the selected UE.

4.6 Threshold for Expansion

Add carriers or eNodeBs if after previous Actions CCE Usage > 60%

4.7 OMSTAR Analysis

Items outputted for OMSTAR
• Whole Network PDCCH Usage
• CCE Usage Distribution
• The Cell List of CCE Resource Usage Over Threshold
• CCE Usage(Daily)
• CCE Usage(Cell/Busy Hour)
• CCE Usage(Network Busy Hour)
OMSTAR Formula for CCE Usage is
CCE usage = (Number of CCEs used by common signaling + Number of CCEs used for uplink scheduling +
Number of CCEs used by downlink scheduling)/3600/1000/Total number of CCEs supported by a cell x
100%

OMSTAR Threshold
OMSTAR CCE Usage Threshold is 80%

Whole Network PDCCH Usage

Whole Network PDCCH Usage

Time CCE Number of PDCCH Number of PDCCH Number of PDCCH Number of

Usage CCEs used by CCEs used by CCEs used by available PDCCH
common DCI Uplink DCI Downlink DCI CCEs

x 10.85% 0 865975601 750750160 14894086494

Page 20 of 23
Huawei Proprietary and Confidential
27-03-2016
 LTE Capacity Management and Optimization INTERNAL

CCE Usage Distribution

• Result calculated for Network Busy Hour and Cell Busy Hour
• For Each CCE Usage Percentage  How many Cells/ PDF Ratio/ CDF Ratio

CCE Usage Distribution

Cell
Number Ratio(PDF)(Net Ratio(CDF)(Net Cell Ratio(PDF)(C Ratio(CDF)(C
CCE Usage (Networ work Busy work Busy Number(Cell/ ell/Busy ell/Busy
k Busy Hour) Hour) Busy Hour) Hour) Hour)
Hour)
[0,10%) 172 65.65% 65.65% 141 53.82% 53.82%
[10%,20%) 54 20.61% 86.26% 82 31.30% 85.11%
[20%,30%) 19 7.25% 93.51% 23 8.78% 93.89%
[30%,40%) 11 4.20% 97.71% 9 3.44% 97.33%
[40%,50%) 4 1.53% 99.24% 3 1.15% 98.47%
[50%,60%) 0 0.00% 99.24% 3 1.15% 99.62%
[60%,70%) 2 0.76% 100.00% 1 0.38% 100.00%
[70%,80%) 0 0.00% 100.00% 0 0.00% 100.00%
[80%,90%) 0 0.00% 100.00% 0 0.00% 100.00%
[90%,100%] 0 0.00% 100.00% 0 0.00% 100.00%

The Cell List of CCE Resource Usage Over Threshold

• List of Cells that has high CCE Usage and breakdown for the high usage reason:
• Common DCI
• UL DCI
• DL DCI

The Cell List of CCE Resource Usage Over Threshold

Time eNodeB Cell CCE Number of Number of Number of Number of
Name Name Usage PDCCH CCEs PDCCH CCEs PDCCH CCEs available
used by used by used by PDCCH CCEs
common DCI Uplink DCI Downlink DCI

CCE Usage(Daily)

CCE Usage(Cell/Busy Hour)

CCE Usage(Network Busy Hour)

All has the same below format, only difference on the time of getting the data

CCE Usage(Daily) (Cell/Busy Hour) (Network Busy Hour)

Page 21 of 23
Huawei Proprietary and Confidential
27-03-2016
 LTE Capacity Management and Optimization INTERNAL

Time eNodeB Cell CCE Number of Number of Number of Number of

Name Name Usage PDCCH CCEs PDCCH CCEs PDCCH CCEs available
used by used by used by PDCCH CCEs
common DCI Uplink DCI Downlink DCI

Page 22 of 23
Huawei Proprietary and Confidential
27-03-2016
 LTE Capacity Management and Optimization INTERNAL

5 Profit from LTE RF Capacity

management and optimization

By monitoring and managing and optimizing LTE Capacity you can:

 Avoid Access Failure

 Improve UE Experience
 Decrease Handover Delay
 Decrease Uplink and downlink scheduling delays.


Page 23 of 23
Huawei Proprietary and Confidential
27-03-2016