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Uppgjord — Prepared Datum — Date Rev Dokumentnr — Document no
RM/TEI/CC/P Massimo Costa 839 72727 2000-02-16 C 77/1553-HSC 103 12 Uen
Godkänd — Approved Kontr — Checked Tillhör/referens — File/reference

ERA/LVN/RAC (Lennart Blixt)

User Description, Double BA Lists

Copyright

© Ericsson Radio Systems AB 2000. All rights reserved. No part of this document may be
reproduced in any form without the written permission of the copyright holder.

Contents Page

1 Introduction 2

2 Glossary 2
2.1 Concepts 2
2.2 Abbreviations and Acronyms 2

3 Capabilities 2
3.1 Better measurement accuracy 2
3.2 Faster connection at switch-on 3

4 Technical description 3
4.1 General 3
4.2 Updating of BA lists 4
4.3 Transfer of BA lists to the mobile stations 4
4.4 Measurement reports 5
4.5 GPRS 5
4.6 Main changes in Ericsson GSM system R8/BSS R8.0 5

5 Engineering guidelines 5
5.1 The active mode BA list 5
5.2 The idle mode BA list 6
5.3 Changing the BA lists 6

6 Parameters 6
6.1 Main controlling parameters 6
6.2 Parameters for special adjustments 6
6.3 Value ranges and default values 7

7 References 7

SEIF v2.3,
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1 Introduction
A mobile station (MS) in idle mode measures continuously the received signal
strength of the BCCH carriers in the serving cell and in neighbouring cells.
The result of these measurements is used to select the best cell to camp on,
see User Description, Idle Mode Behaviour.

In active mode the MS measures the signal strength and bit error rate of
the serving cell, as well as the signal strength of the BCCH carriers of the
neighbouring cells. The measurement results are used in Locating and
Dynamic BTS Power Control (see User Description, Locating and User
Description, Dynamic BTS Power Control).

The Double BA Lists feature, "double" referring to the active mode list and
the idle mode list, provides the MS with separate lists of measurement
frequencies for the two states idle mode and active mode.

2 Glossary

2.1 Concepts
E-GSM Extended GSM900 band including the Primary GSM900 band
and the G1.

G1 Extension band defined for GSM900 at 880-890 MHz (uplink)

and 925-935 MHz (downlink).

P-GSM Primary GSM900 band defined at 890-915 MHz (uplink) and

935-960 MHz (downlink).

2.2 Abbreviations and Acronyms

BA BCCH Allocation

BCCH Broadcast Control Channel

CS Circuit Switched

GPRS General Packet Radio Service

PBCCH Packet Broadcast Control Channel

SACCH Slow Associated Control Channel

3 Capabilities

3.1 Better measurement accuracy

A short active mode BA list increases the measurement accuracy. Better
measurement reports improve the result from Locating (see User Description,
Locating ).
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3.2 Faster connection at switch-on

An MS may store the idle mode BA list in a permanent memory in the MS
or in the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card when it is switched off
(manufacturer dependent). The stored idle mode BA list may reduce the time
for cell selection at switch on since the MS will only scan the BCCH carriers in
the stored list. An idle mode BA list corresponding to all BCCH carriers used
would then fasten the connection at switch on.

If no allowed BCCH carrier is found after the stored list has been scanned,
searching continues with scanning the whole frequency band. If no BA list
is stored, the MS scans the whole frequency band (see User Description,
Idle Mode Behaviour).

4 Technical description

4.1 General
The Double BA Lists feature is defined per cell. This means that it is possible
to have double lists in one cell and a single list in another cell. A single list
corresponds to having the same list in idle mode and in active mode.

The BA lists are set in the BSC and only cells internal to the BSC can be
defined. Parameter MBCCHNO defines a list of frequencies, and parameter
LISTTYPE determines whether the list is for idle mode or active mode, or both.

Up to 32 measurement frequencies can be defined in a frequency list. If the

global system type is MIXED (see User Description, Multiband Operation), it is
possible to add frequencies in GSM1800 or GSM1900 band and GSM900
band. The range between the lowest and the highest MBCCHNO in the
GSM1800 and GSM1900 bands is restricted to 278, due to the System
Information coding, see 4.3.

The following restrictions will apply according to the global system type and
the list type. Note that if the list type is not specified, it is set to BOTH. When
the list type is set to BOTH, the restrictions are checked for both IDLE and
ACTIVE lists.

If the global system type is MIXED and the list type is IDLE, the following
restrictions apply:

• For a GSM900 cell with BCCH in P band or when BCCH is

not defined, if the measurement frequencies are defined
in GSM1800 or GSM1900 band but not in G1, up to 22
measurement frequencies in a frequency list can be defined
within the GSM1800 or GSM1900 band in range 256, if the
value range exceeds 112 in the band.

• For a GSM900 cell with BCCH in P band or when BCCH is not

defined, if measurement frequencies are defined in GSM1800
or GSM1900 band and G1, up to 18 measurement frequencies
can be defined in GSM1800 or GSM1900 band and G1.

• For a GSM900 cell with BCCH in G1, if measurement

frequencies are defined in GSM1800 or GSM1900 band, up to
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22 measurement frequencies in a frequency list can be defined

within the GSM1900 or GSM1800 band in range 256 if the
value range exceeds 112 in the band.

• For a GSM1800 or GSM1900 cell, if measurement frequencies

from both P band and G1 are defined, up to 22 measurement
frequencies in a frequency list can be defined in both P and G1.

If the global system type is MIXED and the list type is ACTIVE, the following
restrictions apply:

• For a GSM900 cell, if measurement frequencies are defined

in GSM1800 or GSM1900 band, up to 22 measurement
frequencies in range 256 can be defined in GSM1800 or
GSM1900 band if the value range exceeds 112 in the band.

• For a GSM1800 or GSM1900 cell, if measurement frequencies

from both P band and G1 are defined, up to 22 measurement
frequencies in a frequency list can be defined in both P and G1.

The lists can be altered in active cells. Two methods for the updating of the
BA lists in the MSs exist, the default method and the immediate method, see
4.2. The method is chosen with parameter MRNIC.

Note It is not possible to change the active mode BA list if the BSC
function active BA list recording feature is active, see User
Description, Neighbouring Cell List Optimization Expert (NOX).

4.2 Updating of BA lists

4.2.1 Default updating
The default method, chosen by not using parameter MRNIC, is used to make
sure that all MSs always have BA lists that are unambiguously defined in
the BSC. This is important in active cells when the traffic is not negligible.
Changed BA lists are transmitted in the System Information messages.

The old active mode BA list is first transmitted in the System Information
messages, and the BSC waits 15 seconds before it transmits the new active
mode BA list. It waits another 15 seconds, and then transmits the new idle
mode BA list. The active mode BA list and the idle mode BA list will then be
unambiguously defined in the BSC. The update will take 31 seconds per cell.

4.2.2 Immediate updating

The new idle mode BA list or the new active mode BA list is transmitted
immediately to the idle and active MSs respectively, if parameter MRNIC is
used. The new lists are stored in the BSC, replacing the old ones. MSs that
have not concluded their updating will send measurement reports that may be
interpreted incorrectly for a period of maximum five seconds.

4.3 Transfer of BA lists to the mobile stations

An MS in idle mode receives the idle mode BA list in System Information
2, 2bis and 2ter messages that are transmitted on BCCH. The format and
scheduling is described in the GSM Technical Specification 04.08, Phase 2.
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An MS in active mode receives the active mode list in System Information 5,

5bis and 5ter messages transmitted on the SACCH.

4.4 Measurement reports

In active mode the MS reports the signal strength and estimated quality of
the serving cell and the signal strength of the six strongest neighbours, for
which the Base Station Identity Code (BSIC) is decoded. The measurement
reports are sent on the SACCH every SACCH period, see User Description,
Locating . The Measurement Reports contain the downlink measurements,
information about the measured frequencies and BSIC for the reported cells
and information about what list (old or new) that has been used, see GSM
Technical Specification 04.08, Phase 2.

4.5 GPRS

The GPRS MSs perform measurements on the frequencies indicated in

the Packet BA list or CS BA list depending on whether or not a PBCCH is
configured in the cell. No measurement reports are sent from the MSs but
autonomous cell selection is performed in both packet idle mode (no ongoing
packet tranfer) and packet transfer mode (ongoing packet transfer).

Exceptions are class A MS in dedicated mode of a circuit switch connection

and class B MS while in CS mode. In these cases the MS sends the
measurement reports to the BSC and the cell to connect to is determined
by the network according to the CS locating procedures. When the circuit
switched connection is released, the GPRS MS resumes responsibility for cell
reselection (see User Description, GPRS Cell Selection).

The Packet BA list is broadcast on PBCCH and corresponds to the defined

neighbours supporting GPRS. It cannot be defined by command.

4.6 Main changes in Ericsson GSM system R8/BSS R8.0

GPRS Packet BA list is added (see chapter 4.5).

5 Engineering guidelines

5.1 The active mode BA list

The active mode BA list should correspond to the defined neighbours. The
BCCH carrier of serving cell should not be in the active mode list. A short
active mode BA list gives better handover performance than a long list. If a
long active mode list is used there will be less samples taken from each
cell, thus resulting in decreased measurement accuracy. It could also be
the case that the MSs spends time decoding the BSIC of an irrelevant cell.
Furthermore, if this is not successful it will spend extra time trying to decode
the BSIC of this cell and waits longer time before it re-decodes the BSICs of
the other cells. Thus, this increases the risk that they are no longer valid. The
active mode list should, in the normal case, not exceed 15 frequencies.
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5.2 The idle mode BA list

The idle mode BA list should normally correspond to all the BCCH carriers
used. Serving cell should be included in the idle mode BA list. When an MS is
switched on, the MS scans the latest received BA list. If the MS has moved,
it could be the case that the MS measures a very weak signal from one of
the cells in the old list, and camps on it. If this list is very short and does not
contain the cells which are the best ones in the current location of the MS,
the MS will continue to camp on the "wrong" cell. To set up a call under
these circumstances is not favourable. This situation can be avoided if the
idle mode list contains more frequencies. Many frequencies in the idle mode
list means that less samples are taken per frequency than what would have
been the case if the list was short. The decreased accuracy for the idle mode
measurements that this gives rise to is not considered a problem.

5.3 Changing the BA lists

Changing the list with the default method takes longer time than with the
immediate method. Using the immediate updating method the new list is
received by the MS within a few seconds, whereas it takes 30 seconds per
cell when the default method is used. It is recommended to use the default
method when changing the active mode measurement list. Otherwise the
measurement reports may be interpreted incorrectly for a short time. Updating
of the idle mode list can always be performed using the immediate updating
method.

6 Parameters

6.1 Main controlling parameters

MBCCHNO is the list of BCCH carriers, given as Absolute Radio Frequency

Channel Numbers (ARFCNs), of the neighbouring cells (and possibly serving
cell) on which the MS shall measure. The parameter is set per cell and type
of list (idle or active).

LISTTYPE is used to specify to which list, IDLE or ACTIVE, the stated

frequencies belong when changes in the BA lists are made. If LISTTYPE
is omitted the BCCH carriers defined or changed by MBCCHNO are valid
in both lists.

6.2 Parameters for special adjustments

MRNIC defines updating method for the BA lists. When MRNIC is set (YES)
the immediate updating method is used and if omitted (NO) the updating is
performed with the default method.
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6.3 Value ranges and default values

Parameter Default Recommended

Value range Unit
name value value
1 to 124
MBCCHNO (GSM900
P-GSM)
0, 975 ARFCN
to 1023
(GSM900
G1)
512 to 810
(GSM1900)
512 to 885
(GSM1800)
LISTTYPE - ACTIVE,
IDLE,
-
for the active mode
MRNIC NO YES, NO
list: NO
for the idle mode
list: YES

7 References

1 User Description, Idle Mode Behaviour

2 User Description, Locating

3 User Description, Dynamic BTS Power Control

4 User Description, Multiband Operation

5 User Description, Neighbouring Cell List Optimization Expert

(NOX)

6 GSM Technical Specification 04.08, Phase 2

7 User Description, GPRS Cell Selection