2G TCH traffic and congestion

1.
Introduction

The SDCCH congestion rate is an important index for measuring the network operation quality in the GSM
network optimization, and it indicates the access performance of the mobile network. Causes of triggering the
SDCCH seizure include MS-related actions such as location update, MS attach/detach, call establishment, and
short messages.

The TCH congestion rate is the proportion of the number of TCH assignment failures to the number of TCH
seizure requests. If the TCH congestion rate is high, the network service quality deteriorates. In this case, you
can expand the capacity to reduce the TCH congestion rate.

2. Recommended Formula

The TCH congestion rate is obtained from the traffic measurement result. The recommended formula is the
proportion of Failed TCH Seizures due to Busy TCH to TCH Seizure Requests. The formulas isas follows:

TCH Congestion Rate (All Channels Busy) = [TCH Seizure Requests (Signaling Channel) + TCH Seizure Requests
(Traffic Channel) + TCH Seizure Requests in TCH Handovers (Traffic Channel) – Σ (all the TRXs in the cell)
Successful Channel Assignments (TCH)] / [TCH Seizure Requests (Signaling Channel) + TCH Seizure Requests
(Traffic Channel) + TCH Seizure Requests in TCH Handovers (Traffic Channel)] x 100%]

Congestion Rate on TCH per BSC (All Channels Busy) = [Failed TCH Seizures due to Busy TCH per BSC (Signaling
Channel) + Failed TCH Seizures due to Busy TCH (Traffic Channel) per BSC + Failed TCH Seizures in TCH
Handovers due to Busy TCH per BSC (Traffic Channel)] / [TCH Seizure Requests per BSC (Signaling Channel) +
TCH Seizure Requests per BSC (Traffic Channel) + TCH Seizure Requests in TCH Handovers per BSC (Traffic
Channel)] x 100%

The TCH congestion rate is measured in the assignment and handover procedures. The measurement points
are A, B, and C. The following describes negative impacts brought by TCH congestion in the procedures.

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In the TCH assignment procedure, the MS receives the Assignment Command message from the BSC at point A.
If the TCH is congested, the value of Failed TCH Seizures due to Busy TCH increases by one. Then, Immediate
Assignment Success Rate is decreased.

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In assignment and handover procedures, if the TCH congestion leads to the TCH assignment failure, both the
immediate assignment success rate and handover success rate decrease. Therefore, reducing the TCH
congestion rate optimizes the two counters.

3. Influencing Factors of TCH Congestion Rate

According to actual applications and optimization experience, influencing factors of the TCH congestion rate are
as follows:

 Network capacity and traffic distribution

 Faults occurred during equipment installation, transmission, or on the hardware
 Network interference
 KPI measurement problems
 Incorrect parameter settings
 Third-party device problems
 Software version problems
3.1 Network Capacity and Traffic Distribution

In the early period of network deployment, the BTS position and the number of TRXs are designed based on
current MS distribution. The coverage capability of certain BTSs fails to meet actual requirements due to
changes of traffic distribution. In this case, it is difficult to make a call or there are no signals.

Operators and vendors must take measures to reduce the TCH congestion rate.

3.2 Faults Occurred During Equipment Installation, Transmission, or on Hardware

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The traffic absorption is unbalanced in cells of an area because of faults occurred during equipment installation,
transmission or on the hardware or clock. As a result, TCHs in certain cells are overloaded and in some cells are
idle. Therefore, resources are wasted.

The cells controlled by the BTS work abnormally due to the followings causes:

 Feeders are installed reversely or damaged.

 The TRX board is faulty.
 The BTS clock is faulty.

This increases the traffic of the neighbor cells and causes congestion.

3.3 Network Interference

Inter-network interference or strong intra-network interference caused by tight frequency reuse due to limited
frequency resources affects the normal access of the MS, causes TCH assignment failure, and increases the TCH
congestion rate.

The following types of interference may occur:

 Inter-network interference from scramblers or privately installed antennas

 Interference from the CDMA network of China Unicom
 Repeater interference
 Intermodulation interference from BTSs
 Intra-network co-channel and adjacent-channel interference
3.4 Incorrect Parameter Settings

Parameter settings on the BSC and MSC affect the handover, load, channel assignment, and cell congestion.
The following parameters may cause negative affects:

1. TCH Traffic Busy Threshold(%) is incorrectly set.

2. Tch Traffic Busy Overlay Threshold and Tch Traffic Busy Underlay Threshold are incorrectly set.
3. Assignment Cell Load Judge Enable is invalid.
4. Directed Retry Load Access Threshold is invalid.
5. Balance Traffic Allowed is not set.
6. Load HO Allowed is not set.
7. Load HO Step Period is set to a too great value.
8. RACH Min.Access Level is set to a too small value.
9. Cell reselection parameters are incorrectly set.
10. Cell Direct Try Forbidden Threshold is incorrectly set.
11. Direct Retry is set to No.
12. SDCCH Dynamic Adjustment is invalid.
13. Flow control parameters are invalid.
14. Speech Version is incorrectly set.
3.5 Cooperation with Third-party Devices

Some problems (for example, the handover or access is abnormal) may arise if third-party devices are
introduced such as, the adoption of repeaters or segmental networking or in the border areas of the local
network. These problems cause abnormal KPIs (for example, handover success rate) and TCH congestion.

3.6 Software Version Problem

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When the BSC is upgraded or a new version is used in the existing network, the software of earlier versions may
be incompatible with the new platform or software bugs may increase the TCH congestion rate. Therefore, we
should locate and rectify the fault caused by software problems by taking proper measures.

4. Analysis Procedure and Optimization Method

Because reducing the TCH congestion rate involves a relatively large scope, we can adopt the principle of first
solving easy problems and then difficult problems. That is, check the hardware and software to determine
whether the problem is common or specific. The process is as follows:

4.1 Network Capacity and Traffic Distribution

4.1.1 Traffic Balancing
4.1.1.1 Fault Description and Cause Analysis
4.1.1.1.1 Common Cell

Radio traffic volume depends on the number of BTSs and cells in the network, the number of radio channels
configured in each cell, and the coverage of each cell. Currently, channels are restricted by designed network
capacity. This is because the radio channel configuration and the coverage is fixed as the number of BTSs and
cells is determined in the early period of the network, however, the deviation may exist between the actual
network capacity and the required capacity. The TCH congestion occurs in the cells that require greater
capacity. With city construction and economic development, changes of user density determined during the
network construction cause TCH congestion.

4.1.1.1.2 Concentric Cell

Concentric cells are introduced to solve traffic problems in the overlaid subcell and solve coverage problems in
the underlaidsubcell. However, in actual applications, unbalanced traffic distribution causes traffic imbalance in
overlaid and underlaidsubcells. Therefore, the TCH congestion rate in the overlaid subcell is different from that
in the underlaidsubcell because of the difference of the design and actual application.

4.1.1.1.3 Solution

There are two ways to solve these problems. The first method is to solve problems thoroughly. That is, conduct
the detailed network evaluation, determine the cells where the TCH congestion occurs, and work out a detailed
network capacity expansion solution based on the congestion severity. However, with city construction and
further economic development, the capacity expansion is required as the TCH congestion reoccurs. In fact,
operators continually optimize networks with the increase of subscribers. The second method is to optimize
networks. There are relatively idle cells in the network. You can decrease the TCH congestion rate by adjusting
TRX configuration of the idle and busy cells. In addition, you can enable the directed retry, load handover, and
cell traffic balancing functions. For operators, each TRX means new investment. Adjusting TRX configuration in
a network makes full use of network capacity and optimizes the network. However, the second method has
certain limitations. If the actual used capacity is close to the configured capacity in terms of the total amount
and capacity distribution, you must expand the network capacity.

4.1.2 Traffic Distribution Environment

In actual applications, it is difficult for the MS that is located on the edge of the area covered by the BTS to
make a call due to weak level on the edge. This results in TCH seizure failure and increases the TCH congestion
rate. (You may ask: Does this case result in the increase of the TCH congestion rate?) Actually, fewer TCHs are
seized in this BTS, as shown in the following figure.

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The following table lists the TCH seizure counters in the traffic measurement result.

BSC Level CellLevel

KPI Measurement ->

TCH Availability

Available TCHs

BSC Measurement -> Access Configured TCHs

measurement per BSC ->
TCH Congestion Rate
TCH Availability per BSC
Configured TCHs per BSC TCH Traffic Volume
Available TCHs per BSC
TRX Measurement ->

Number of configured TRXs in a

cell

Number of available TRXs in a cell

4.1.2.1 Solution

Adjust the azimuth angle or tilt of the antenna and set the static transmit power of the BTS to the maximum
value. That is, increase the signal strength in this area. In addition, to decrease the TCH congestion rate, you
can lower RACH Busy Threshold to enable the MS to seize the TCH successfully. If these methods do not take
effect, deploy new BTSs near the user group.

4.2 Fault Occurred During Equipment Installation and On Hardware

4.2.1 Feeder Installation and Fault

The TCH seizure failure may occur during the installation and configuration of feeders of the BTS due to the
following causes.

4.2.1.1 CDU/SCU configuration

For example, the CDU+SCU combination configuration is adopted in the cell with four TRXs. The TRX carrying
the BCCH sends signals to the antennas through the CDU, and other TRXs combine output of signals through
the SCU and send the signals through the CDU. In this case, the combination loss of BCCH greatly differs from

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that of non-BCCH. Therefore, the transmit power of BCCH is smaller than that of non-BCCH. If the BSC assigns
TCHs of the TRX where non-BCCH resides (especially far away from the BTS) when the MS makes a call, the TCH
may fail to be sized because of low transmit power of the TRX.

There are two methods to solve this problem. One is to put the TRX carrying the BCCH on the channel passing
the SCU. In this case, the TRX has smaller transmit power and TCHs of the TRX where non-BCCH resides can be
successfully assigned. The other is to modify the configuration. That is, the dual CDU configuration instead of
the CDU+SCU combination is adopted. This ensures the same power consumption of channels where TRXs
reside and avoids the TCH seizure failure due to different transmit power of TRXs. The second method is
superior to the first one in terms of the performance because the loss of CDU is smaller than that of the SCU.
This indicates that the second method features relatively proper coverage distance. However, the configuration
cost is higher.

4.2.1.2 Improper feeder installation

Reverse connections of antennas, transmit antennas, and receive antennas cause serious signal imbalance on
uplink and downlink channels. That is, the MS to which the transmit antenna points is back of the receive
antenna. If the MS receives the TCH assignment command from the BSC during the call, the TCH fails to be
assigned and the TCH congestion occurs due to poor level and quality of uplink signals of the MS caused by
small gain of the receive antenna.

To solve this problem, make drive tests or use a signaling analyzer to analyze the level and quality of uplink and
downlink signals to check whether signal imbalance exists. If yes, takes proper measures to solve this problem.

If the azimuth and tilt of the main antenna are inconsistent with those of the diversity antenna or the diversity
or spacing is small when single-polarized antennas are used in a cell, uplink and downlink signals are
inconsistent and TCHs seizure failures tend to occur.

The solution to these problems is the same as the preceding one. These problems do not exist in cells that
adopt dual-polarized antennas.

4.2.1.3 Feeder fault

In the following cases (such as the feeder is damaged, water runs into the feeder, or the feeder and the
connector are not securely connected), the voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) increases and both the
transmit power and receiver sensitivity of the antenna decrease. Thus, the TCH assignment may fail, causing
TCH congestion.

To solve these problems, check whether a VSWR alarm is generated on the tower mounted amplifier (TMA),
power amplifier, combiner, and feeders. A rough and simple method is to use the test MS to test the actual
transmit signals of the BTS on the foot of the BTS. If signal strength ranges from –30 dBm to –50 dBm, it
indicates signals are too weak and there may be problems.

If the antenna system has problems, the TCH call drop rate and handover failure rate are high. In addition, the
difference between the uplink quality and the downlink quality is great, or both the uplink quality and the
downlink quality are poor. You can check whether the antenna system is faulty by viewing the traffic
measurement results. The following table lists the traffic measurement counters related to the antenna
system.

CellLevel TRX Level

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 Call Measurement -> KPI Measurement
-> Radio Handover Success Rate MR Measurement ->

Call Measurement -> Outgoing Internal Measurement of Receive

Inter-Cell Handover Measurement per Quality
Cell ->
MR Measurement ->
Outgoing External Inter-Cell Handover
Requests (Uplink Strength) -> Outgoing Uplink/Downlink Balance
External Inter-Cell Handover Requests Performance Measurement
(Downlink Strength)

If problems persist, verify that remote BTSs are operational and conduct dialing tests by performing the
following steps:

1. Perform local maintenance. Check whether alarms are generated. If yes, clear these alarms immediately.

2. Check whether the uplink or downlink antenna tributary has hardware problems, for example, the connector
is loose, antennas are reversely connected, semi-rigid cables are connected incorrectly, or cables are loosely
connected to the backplane.

3. Use the test MS to conduct dialing tests on the same location.

 Conduct dialing tests on each channel of each TRX to check whether certain timeslots or boards
cannot be assigned.
 Check whether the downlink receive level of each TRX is similar. For the TRX with abnormal level,
replace the board and uplink or downlink antenna system to identify the cause.
 Note that if the cell adopts frequency hopping (FP), change the FH mode of the cell to Non-FH by using
parameters of the command line to facilitate dialing tests.

4. Conduct driving tests by using the network optimization software ANT-PLOT. Then, check whether there are
abnormal handover relationships and downlink interference and find ways to reduce the congestion rate.

5. Use a spectrum analyzer to further locate the interference source.

6. Check whether the area covered by the BTS features complex terrain.

4.3 Board faults

Faults occurred on the TRX board are the most typical ones. There is obvious difference between the TCH
seizure failure caused by the board fault and that caused by the feeder installation or fault. The former fault
causes poor channel availability and the latter does not affect the channel availability.

The problem is easy to solve. Use a signaling analyzer to trace message over the Abis interface in the cell with
higher TCH congestion rate. Then, use the filter of the signaling analyzer to list the Assignment Failure message.
In this message, the cause value is the equipment failure. Use the call trace function to list the entire message
procedure. Find the Assignment Command message. Then, open the message and obtain the TRX number of
the faulty TRX board or MAIO (of the FH channel). Therefore, the fault is concerned with the TRX. You can
replace the TRX or unblock the TRX temporarily.

4.4 Transmission and Clock Problem

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Generally, the upper-level clock is locked by the BTS. However, due to objective reasons or maloperations,
transmission problems such as PCM out-of-synchronization of the A interface, intermittent LAPD links, free
oscillation and clock problems may occur. At this time, the TCH fails to be seized by the MS, causing higher TCH
congestion rate.

To solve this problem, check the alarm information and the status of the BTS clock displayed on the LMT and
determine whether the transmission or the clock is faulty. Then, correctly set the status of the clock or contact
related department to rectify the transmission fault.

4.5 Interference Causes

4.5.1 Inter-Network Interference

In the on-site deployment, invalid inter-network frequencies generate interference on our network. The
interference affects the TCH seizure success rate, call drop rate, and handover success rate. If the BSC assigns a
TCH affected by interference for a call, the assignment may fail and the TCH congestion occurs.

For inter-network interference, the traffic measurement shows that the TCH congestion rate is higher in
interference bands four and five. The uplink interference is only for reference. Eliminating the interference
requires the coordination with the local government. Disable the affected frequencies. Use the spectrum
analyzer and high-gain directional antenna to locate the interference source. Then disable the interference
source. The inter-network interference is difficult to analyze. It is not described in detail here.

4.5.2 Improper Frequency Planning

In actual networks, frequency resources are limited. Therefore, frequencies must be reused to meet
requirements of the network capacity. From this point of view, network capacity is always incompatible with
network performance. If the frequencies are improperly planned, the requirement for the carrier-to-
interference ratios (CIRs) fails to meet and co-channel interference or adjacent-channel interference is
generated. The co-channel interference or adjacent-channel interference produces the same effect as the
inter-network interference. That is, the TCH assignment may fail and the TCH congestion occurs.

It is easier to analyze and eliminate the interference caused by improperly planned frequencies. Uplink and
downlink frequencies are paired. Therefore, we can check the information about interference bands in the
traffic measurement results. First, find out the cells with high mean number of SDCCHs in interference bands
four and five. Then, check the frequency planning and the topology of the BTS. Find intra-frequency or inter-
frequency neighbor cells in opposite directions, readjust the frequency planning, and eliminate the
interference. In addition, if the antenna is installed reversely though the frequency planning is properly
formulated, interference is also generated. In this case, you cannot solve this problem by referring to the
frequency planning and network topology. Therefore, perform a large quantity of drive tests in the cells with
high mean number of SDCCHs in interference bands four and five. Check the actual distribution of signals to
determine whether the interference exists. Then, modify the antenna planning or frequency planning.

4.6 KPI Measurement Problems

There are differences between traffic measurement counters because each vendor calculates these counters by
using self-defined counters. It is difficult to find traffic measurement problems causing high TCH congestion
rate. For the BSC of earlier versions, the TCH seizure failure index (numerator of the formula for calculating the
TCH congestion rate) increases by one if the Assignment Complete message (rather than the Assignment
Failure message) is not received after the BSC delivers the Assignment Command message. Then, a statistical
error is generated, and the calculated TCH congestion rate is higher than the actual rate.

This problem is complex because a network involves multiple cells and TCH congestion occurs in many cells due
to various causes: such as high traffic or radio link failure (due to the preceding causes), including statistical

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errors. The typical situation is that the call is released once the MS initiates the call. The cause may be that after
reporting the Disconnect message, the MS receives the Assignment Command message from the BSC, and then
reports the Status message carrying the cause value indicating message type mismatch. After receiving the
Status message, the MSC releases this call. Therefore, neither the Assignment Complete message nor the
Assignment Failure message exists in the message procedure. For the BSC of earlier versions, the TCH seizure
failure counter increases by one. There are many cases in a large GSM network. Therefore, the calculated TCH
congestion rate is higher than the actual rate. Currently, the method of measuring the TCH seizure failure is
changed. The counter increases by one when the Assignment Failure message is received.

4.7 Parameter Settings

Parameter settings may lead to the TCH congestion due to various causes. Generally, the parameter settings
may affect the TCH congestion rate in all the cells in the entire network or certain cells. In the case of the
former situation, check whether important parameters and then less important parameters are correctly set
because of multiple cells involving the TCH congestion and great on-site pressure.

4.7.1 Channel Assignment Parameters

4.7.1.1 TCH Traffic Busy Threshold(%)

For channel assignment algorithm II, when the TCH assignment rate reaches or exceeds the threshold, the BSC
assigns TCHHs for the dual-rate call. Otherwise, TCHFs are assigned. Obviously, this parameter determines
whether TCHHs or TCHFs are assigned. Therefore, if the TCH congestion rate is higher, set the parameter to a
small value to assign TCHHs. This increases the channels usage ratio. However, the speech quality degrades, for
example, MOS tests may be affected.

4.7.1.2 Tch Traffic Busy Overlay (Underlay) Threshold

The BSC assigns channels in the overlaid subcell to the MS in a concentric cell. If the channel seizure ratio of the
overlaid subcell is greater than the value of this parameter, TCHHs are assigned. Otherwise, TCHFs are
assigned. The impacts of this parameter are the same as those brought by TCH Traffic Busy Threshold(%), that
is, channels are utilized fully, but the speech quality degrades.

4.7.1.3 Fix Abis Prior Choose Abis Load Threshold(%)

This parameter specifies the static Abis resource load threshold. When the static Abis resource load is lower
than the value of Fix Abis Prior Choose Abis Load Thred(%), the TCHF is preferentially assigned. Otherwise, the
TCHF or TCHH is preferred according to the dynamic Abis resource load.

4.7.1.4 Flex Abis Prior Choose Abis Load Threshold(%)

When the static Abis resource load is higher than the value of Fix Abis Prior Choose Abis Load Threshold(%) and
the dynamic Abis resource load is higher than the value of Flex Abis Prior Choose Abis Load Threshold(%), the
TCHH is preferred. Otherwise, the TCHF is preferred.

4.7.1.5 Balance Traffic Allowed

If this parameter is set to YES, the start of the channel traverse is selected randomly. If this parameter is set to
NO, the next channel of the assigned channel is selected as the start of the channel traverse.

Generally, this parameter is set to YES to ensure that the start point of the channel traversal is selected
randomly and ensure the channel load sharing.

4.7.2 Call Control Parameters

4.7.2.1 Assignment Cell Load Judge Enable

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When Assignment Cell Load Judge Enabled is set to Yes, the directed try procedure is started if the following
two conditions are met: The cell supports directed try. The load of the cell is greater than or equal to the value
of Cell Direct Try Forbidden Threshold.

4.7.2.2 Directed Retry Load Access Threshold

This parameter is used to adjust candidate target cells for directed retry.

During directed retry, only the cells whose loads are smaller than or equal to the value of Directed Retry Load
Access Threshold are selected as candidate target cells.

If the parameter value is too high, the cells with heavy loads are selected as candidate target cells so that the
handover does not make sense. If the value of the parameter is too low, it is difficult to select candidate target
cells.

4.7.2.3 TCH Immediate Assignment

If the parameter is set to Yes, the BSC assigns TCHs immediately if no SDCCHs are available during the
processing of access request. If the parameter is set to No, the BSC can only assign SDCCHs. This parameter is
used to relieve congestion and increase the channel assignment success rate.

4.7.2.4 Load HO Allowed

This parameter specifies whether a traffic load-sharing handover is enabled.

Load sharing helps to reduce cell congestion, increase success rate of channel assignment and balance the
traffic load among cells, thus improving network performance. The load handover functions between the TCHs
within one BSC or the TCHs in the cells of the same layer.

The load handover is used as an emergency measure instead of a primary measure to adjust abnormal traffic
peak in certain areas. If load handovers occur frequently in a local network, you must adjust the TRX
configuration of the BTS and the network layout.

4.7.2.5 Load HO Step Period and Load HO Step Level

When the load of the cell is equal to or greater than the value of Load HO Threshold, all the calls served by the
cell may send handover requests simultaneously, and the load on the CPU increases rapidly as a consequence.
In some cases, call drops may occur due to traffic congestion in the cell. Therefore, the BSC adopts the
hierarchical load handover algorithm to control the number of calls to be handed over at each level.

This parameter specifies the period required for performing the load handover at a level.

In the hierarchical load handover, the load handover strip increases by one Load HO Step Level for every Load
HO Step Period, starting from the value of Edge HO DL RX_LEV Threshold. The handovers are performed as
such until all the calls whose receive levels are within the range of (Edge HO DL RX_LEV Threshold, Edge HO DL
RX_LEV Threshold + Load HO bandwidth) are handed off the current serving cell.

The value of Load HO Step Level must be smaller than that of Load HO Bandwidth.

0–63 corresponds to –110 dBm to –47 dBm.

4.7.2.6 Direct Retry and Cell Direct Try Forbidden Threshold

If Assignment Cell Load Judge Enable is set to Yes, the directed try procedure is started to assign channels for
the MS if the following two conditions are met: The cell supports the directed try procedure. The load of the

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cell is greater than or equal to the value of Cell Direct Try Forbidden Threshold. This parameter decreases TCH
accesses of the source cell and reduces TCH congestion through increases the call drop rate.

4.7.2.7 AMR TCH/H Prior Allowed

This parameter specifies whether TCHHs are preferentially assigned on the basis of the channel type and
current service channel seizure ratio that are allowed by the MSC.

During TCH assignment, TCHFs or TCHHs are required and TCHHs are preferentially in the following conditions:
TCHHs and TCHFs are allowed to be assigned by the MSC, AMR TCH/H Prior Allowed is set to Yes, and the
percentage of seized TCHs in the cell is greater than the value of AMR TCH/H Prior Cell Load Threshold. In other
cases, TCHFs or TCHHs are required and TCHFs are preferentially.

4.7.3 Handover Parameters

4.7.3.1 PBGT HO Threshold

When the handover is performed between neighbor cells, improper parameter settings cause outgoing inter-
cell handover or incoming inter-cell handover to fail. This leads to unbalanced traffic distribution and
congestion.

4.7.3.2 Parameters related to edge handover

When the receive level drops greatly, an edge handover cannot be performed in time in any of the following
conditions: The parameter Edge HO UL RX_LEV Threshold or Edge HO DL RX_LEV Threshold is set to a small
value; the parameter Inter-cell HO Hysteresis is set to a great value; the parameters Edge HO Watch Time and
Edge HO Valid Time are set to great values. As a result, congestion occurs. To reduce the TCH congestion rate,
you can appropriately set these parameters so that edge handovers can be performed in time.

4.7.3.3 Parameters related to BQ handover

When the signal quality deteriorates, a BQ handover cannot be performed in time in any of the following
conditions: The parameters UL Quality Limit for Emergency Handover (AMR/AMRFR/AMRHR) and DL Quality
Limit for Emergency Handover (AMR/AMRFR/AMRHR) are set to great values; the parameter BQ HO Margin is
set to a small value; the parameter Inter-cell HO Hysteresis is set to a great value. As a result, call drops occur.
To reduce the TCH congestion rate, you can appropriately set these parameters so that BQ handovers can be
performed in time.

4.7.3.4 Parameters related to interference handover

If the parameters RXQUAL1 to RXQUAL12 are set to great values or if the RXLEVOff parameter is set to a great
value, interference handovers cannot be performed in time when strong interference occurs. As a result, the
congestion occurs. To reduce the TCH congestion rate, you can appropriately set these parameters so that
interference handovers can be performed in time to prevent congestion. If the parameters RXQUAL1 to
RXQUAL12 are set to small values, the number of handovers due to other causes increases greatly, thus
affecting the handover success rate.

4.7.3.5 T3103 and T3107

T3103 and T3107 are timers for the handover and assignment respectively. If either timer is set to a great
value, the time for waiting the handover/assignment complete message is too long after the
handover/assignment command is delivered, causing congestion.

4.7.3.6 F2H HO th/ H2F HO th

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When an AMR call occupies a TCHH, an intra-cell TCHH to TCHF handover is triggered if the radio quality
indication (RQI) remains lower than the configured H2F HO Threshold for a predefined period. This parameter
is used with Intracell F-H HO Stat Time (s) and Intracell F-H HO Last Time (s).

4.7.3.7 Parameters related to concentric cell handover

A call at the edge of the overlaid subcell cannot be handed over to the underlaidsubcell in any of the following
conditions: For a normal concentric cell, the parameters RX_LEV Threshold and RX_LEV Hysteresis are set to
great values; for an enhanced concentric cell, the parameter OtoU HO Received Level Threshold is set to a great
value. As a result, TCH congestion occurs. If the TCH congestion rate in the overlaid subcell is high, you can
appropriately set these parameters so that calls at the edge of the overlaid subcell can be handed over to the
underlaidsubcell in time.

If RX_QUAL for UO HO Allowed is set to Yes and RX_QUAL Threshold is set to a great value, a call in the case of
interference cannot be handed over from the underlaidsubcell to the overlaid subcell. Thus, TCH congestion
occurs. If the TCH congestion rate in the underlaidsubcell is high, you can set these parameters properly so that
the interfered calls can be handed over to the overlaid subcell in time.

4.7.4 Basic Cell Parameters

4.7.4.1 RXLEV_ACCESS_MIN

This parameter specifies the minimum receive level of an MS to access the BSS. If this parameter is set to a too
small value, some MSs with low receive levels may access the network and TCH congestion is likely to occur.
You can set this parameter to a great value to reduce the TCH congestion rate. The counters such as call setup
success rate and the counters related to traffic volume, however, are accordingly affected.

4.7.4.2 SACCH Multi-Frames and Radio Link Timeout

If the traffic volume is very heavy (in cities), it is recommended that the value of SACCH Multi-Frames ranges
from 20 to 32. In the areas where the traffic volume is very heavy (generally covered by micro cells), it is
recommended that this parameter value ranges from 4 to 16. In the cells where some areas are not covered or
call drops occur frequently, this parameter must be set to a larger value so that conversations can resume.
Therefore, if the parameter is improperly set during heavy traffic volume, the TCH congestion is likely to occur.

4.7.4.3 RACH Min Access Level

This parameter specifies the level threshold for the MS access. If this parameter is set to a too small value,
some MSs with low signal levels may access the network and TCH congestion is likely to occur. You can set this
parameter to a great value to reduce the TCH congestion rate. The counters such as call setup success rate and
paging success rate, however, are affected.

4.7.4.4 Parameters related to cell reselection

Improper settings of cell reselection parameters affect the selection of the network on which the MS camps
during cell reselection, for example, improper parameter settings during the dual-network coverage affect
network selection and cause TCH congestion.

4.7.4.5 SDCCH Dynamic Adjustment

When there is a substantial user increase in a cell, some users may not be able to access the network because
they cannot obtain SDCCHs. In this case, you need to convert some TCHs to SDCCHs to ensure that all the users
can access the network. When the traffic volume decreases, the TCHs used as SDCCHs are converted back to

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TCHs. The dynamic conversion of SDCCHs can increase the system capacity and lower the requirement for the
accurate number of required signaling channels.

4.7.4.6 Flow Control

There are multiple flow control parameters. To relieve TCH congestion, the system starts the flow control.
However, this affects TCH access and cause message loss.

4.7.4.7 Speech Version

This parameter can be set to one of the following values: half-rate version 3, half-rate version 2, half-rate
version 1, full-rate version 3, full-rate version 2, and full-rate version 1. If this parameter does not support half-
rate versions, the BSC assigns TCHFs instead of TCHHs. As a result, TCH congestion occurs.

4.8 Third-Party Device Problems

4.8.1 Repeater Problems

Currently, repeaters (FH repeaters or optical repeaters) are adopted to solve the problem of insufficient indoor
coverage. It is difficult for FH repeaters to obtain signal resources. The implementation principle of the FH
repeaters is that the FH repeater amplifies signals received by the main antenna of the optical repeater and
transmits these amplified signals to the areas with poor coverage. In other words, the coverage of the cell is
expanded. Therefore, the traffic volume increases. If the traffic volume exceeds the system capacity, the TCH
congestion rate increases.

Check whether the parameter Directly Magnifier Site Flag is set to Yes in the data configuration on the LMT. If
this parameter is set to Yes, you can infer that the cell is configured with repeaters. If this parameter is set to
No, check whether other operators' repeaters are installed near the cell.

If repeaters are installed, check whether they are wide-frequency repeaters. If yes, check whether the
uplink/downlink amplification coefficient is too great. Ensure that the amplification coefficient is properly set. If
a repeater has a great impact on the call drop rate, switch off the repeater.

If repeater problems exist in a cell, the TA distribution varies greatly in the traffic measurement results. The
following table lists the traffic measurement counters related to repeaters.

CellLevel TRX Level

MR Measurement ->
None
Number of MRs Based on TA

4.8.2 Compatibility with other provider Equipment

In the existing network, there are certain overlapped areas, for example, boundary between two provinces and
rural-urban fringe zone covered by equipment of different vendors but the same operator. Cooperation of
equipment from different vendors requires the inter-MSN handover. Different policies or parameter settings
may cause the traffic to increase but fail to be handed over immediately. As a result, the TCH congestion rate
increases.

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If the problem occurs, check the success rate of outgoing BSC handovers and distribution of outgoing handover
failure causes to identify the main causes. The following table shows related traffic measurement counters.

CellLevel TRX Level

Call Measurement ->

None Outgoing External Inter-Cell
Handover Measurement per Cell

4.9 2G/3G Interoperability

With the development of 3G networks, certain high-end MSs adopts the dual transfer mode. Therefore, the
MSs can be reselected from 2G networks to 3G networks and 2G/3G Interoperability exists. With the increase
of such MSs, the congestion may occur in the 2G and 3G systems if parameters are incorrectly set.

For example, normally, an MS in the 2G network is reselected to the 3G network. However, neighbor cells in
the 900M-network and 3G network are set to unidirectional adjacent cells. Therefore, the MS is reselected to
the 2G network rather than the 3G network, causing congestion in the 2G network.

2G/3G Interoperability problems increase with the development of 3G networks. The 3GPP protocols specify
2G/3G handovers of R99 and later versions rather than handovers of earlier versions. Therefore, if problems
occur, check whether the handover is limited by the version, and then check the handover, reselection,
configuration of neighbor cells, and parameter settings to locate the problem.

5. Diagram:

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 Start

False
TCH Congestion?

True

Hardware or transmission fault alarms.

True Check and correct Abis / transmission problems

False

Um interference?
False Solve interference problem (refer to relevant document)

True

Traffic volume exceeding design capacity? Expend capacity

True

Check cell basic parameters

False

Check handover parameters

Parameters setting is OK?False

Check cell load parameters

True Check channel assignment parameters

End

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