LTE Optimization

Ravi Malhotra (DEL)

All Basic Steps to check Worst cells performance. It contains
all KPI’s Formulas, counters details etc.
 LTE Optimization 2016

Contents
1) LTE Block Diagram

2) LTE RAN KPI

i) Accessibility (Setup success Rate)

ii) Retainability(Abnormal releases)

iii) Integrity (throughput and Latency)

iv) Mobility (Handover success Rate).

v) % calls going from 4G to 3G and CSFB.

 LTE Optimization 2016

LTE Block Diagram

 E-UTRAN (Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network)
 LTE Optimization 2016

LTE RAN KPI

Major KPI’s are defined are:
 Accessibility(Setup success Rate)
 Retainability(Abnormal releases)
 Integrity(throughput and Latency)
 Mobility (Handover success Rate).
 Cell Availability(Time can provide services)
 % calls going from 4G to 3G and CSFB.

Accessibility-E2E Call Setup Success Rate - All Bearers

RRC S1 Signaling Initial Bearer

Establishment * Establishment * Success Rate
Success Rate Success Rate

RRC Establishment is between UE and eNobeB and RRC Establishment

success rate is the ratio of successful RRC connection establishments
over the number of RRC connection Establishment attempts.
S1 Signaling is between eNodeB and MME and S1 Establishment
success Rate is based on ability of the eNodeB and MME To set up an
S1signaling connection dedicated to specific UE.
Initial Bearer Success Rate is defined based on message exchange
between eNodeB and MME.
Formula:-
100 *
((L.RRC.ConnReq.Succ/L.RRC.ConnReq.Att)*(L.S1Sig.ConnEst.Succ/L.S
1Sig.ConnEst.Att)*(L.E-RAB.SuccEst/L.E-RAB.AttEst))
 LTE Optimization 2016

Steps to checks cells poor E2E Success Rate

 Poor coverage (L.RRC.SetupFail.NoReply counter is incremented when
RRC is failed due to poor coverage and no response from UE).
 Resources Unavailability (L.RRC.SetupFail.ResFail counter is incremented
when number of RRC connection setup failures due to resource allocation
failures)
 Poor RSSI(checked by counter L.UL.Interference.Avg-Range RSSI 0 to -
120(while in 3G 0 to -110))
 S1 Failures (Incorrect or missing TAI-LAI paring could result in
accessibility failures when UE attempts CS Fallback to UMTS. The MME
derives the LAI from TAI of current LTE cell, then MME sends the
“Location update Request” to the target MSC/VLR.
 L.RRC.SetupFail.Rej.MMEOverload (Number of times the eNodeB sends
an RRC Connection Reject message to the UE due to MME overload).
 UE camping in the wrong cell. In this case, parameters for cell reselection
can be tuned.
 Check Alarm/VSWR/Hardware issue.
 Check TAC border cells where high RRC signaling causes poor
accessibility, can check parameters, tilt optimization or re-homing can be
suggested
 Check Overshooting: Below is table for TA calculation.
 LTE Optimization 2016
 Poor DL SINR (CQI)-It can be checked by samples coming in counter
L.ChMeas.CQI.DL.0 to L.ChMeas.CQI.DL.15. If more samples coming in
CQI range 0 to 5 which will cause to poor SINR and vice versa.

 SCTP Congestion (L.DLSctpCong.Num-Number of times of downlink

SCTP congestion control) .This counter measures the number of times that
the eNodeB triggers downlink SCTP congestion control.This counters apply
only to LTE FDD. The counter is incremented by 1 each time the eNodeB
triggers downlink SCTP congestion control when the CPU usage reaches
85% and the downlink SCTP message rate reaches 4550 pkts/s because a
plenty of packets are sent from the EPC.

E.RAB Failures Counters

Major RAB failures are coming because of faults at Transport Network and
MME.

Counter Name Counter Description

L.E-RAB.FailEst.NoReply Number of E-RAB setup failures due
to no responses from the UE in a cell
L.E-RAB.FailEst.MME Number of E-RAB setup failures
triggered by the MME
L.E-RAB.FailEst.TNL Number of E-RAB setup failures due
to faults at the transport network layer
L.E-RAB.FailEst.TNL.DLRes Number of E-RAB setup failures
because of insufficient downlink
transport resources

L.E-RAB.FailEst.TNL.ULRes Number of E-RAB setup failures

because of insufficient uplink transport
resources

L.E-RAB.FailEst.RNL Number of E-RAB setup failures due

to faults at the radio network layer
L.E-RAB.FailEst.NoRadioRes Number of E-RAB setup failures due
to insufficient radio resources
L.E-RAB.FailEst.NoRadioRes.PUCCH Number of E-RAB setup failures due
to insufficient PUCCH resources
L.E-RAB.FailEst.NoRadioRes.DLThrpLic Number of E-RAB setup failures
 LTE Optimization 2016
because of insufficient licensed
downlink traffic volume
L.E-RAB.FailEst.NoRadioRes.ULThrpLic Number of E-RAB setup failures
because of insufficient licensed uplink
traffic volume

L.E-RAB.FailEst.RNL.eNodeB.AbnormRel Number of E-RAB setup failures due

to abnormal release initiated by
eNodeB

L.E-RAB.FailEst.Conflict.Hofail Number of E-RAB setup failures due

to conflict with intra-eNodeB
handovers

L.E-RAB.FailEst.X2AP Number of E-RAB setup failures

because of conflicts with X2AP-
related procedures

Mapping of QCI Classes

What type of services are running on RAB Release connection can be check by it
QCI class. Mapping of QOC class identifier is mentioned in below table
 LTE Optimization 2016

RETAINABILITY KPI
LTE retainability is a measure of drops per second. Drop is either a Mobility
Management Entity (MME) initiated E-RAB abnormal release or an eNodeB
initiated E-RAB release. In both cases data must be in either the UL or DL buffer
for the release to be considered as abnormal.

A. ERAB Drop Rate due to Core

If there was data in the buffer at the time of release (i.e. active), at
reception of S1 message E-RAB Release Command or UE Context Release
Command and the release must have been MME initiated, it is considered as core
initiated release.
L.E-RAB.AbnormRel.MMEindicates The total number of E-RAB Releases
initiated by the MME and that there was data in either the UL or DL buffer (i.e.
active).
B. ERAB Drop Rate due to eNodeB
If there was data in the buffer at the time of release, at reception of S1
message E-RAB Release Command or UE Context Release Command when the RBS
initiated the release shall be considered as drop due to eNodeB.
L.E-RAB.AbnormReldefines The total number of abnormal E-RAB
Releases initiated by the eNodeB and that there was data in either the UL or DL
buffer (i.e. active).

Session time is defined as the amount of time E-RAB active (transmitting data) per
QCI.
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Service DCR (All) = 100 * (L.E-RAB.AbnormRel+L.E-
RAB.AbnormRel.MME) /
(L.E-RAB.AbnormRel+L.E-RAB.NormRel+L.E-RAB.Rel.MME)

Reasons for poor Retainability (ERAB Drop)

 Drop rate due to cell down time:-There are 3 counters of downtime which
cause to drops:-

Counter Description Network Element

L.Cell.Unavail.Dur.Sys Duration of cell unavailability due to system faults
L.Cell.Unavail.Dur.Manual Duration of cell unavailability due to human factors
L.Cell.Unavail.Dur.Sys.S1Fail Duration of cell unavailability due to S1 interface faults

 Drop rate due to Handover:-It could be due to PCI collision /neighbouring

cell having downtime/admission reject in the target
Counter Name Counter Description
Number of abnormal releases of activated E-RABs due to
L.E-RAB.AbnormRel.HOFailure
handover failures

 Drop rate due to Transport Network:-It could be due to issue on S1 link or

any media related issues.
Counter Name Counter Description
Number of abnormal releases of activated E-RABs due to
L.E-RAB.AbnormRel.TNL
faults at the transport network layer
Number of abnormal releases of activated E-RABs
L.E-RAB.AbnormRel.TNL.Load
because of transport resource overload

 Drop rate due to lost radio connection:-It defines the total number of
abnormal E-RAB releases by the eNodeB due that the radio connection with
the UE is lost (i.e. UE unreachable by the eNodeB) and that there was data
in either the UL or DL buffer (i.e. active).

Counter Name Counter Description

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Number of abnormal releases of activated E-RABs due to
L.E-RAB.AbnormRel.Radio
faults at the radio network layer

 Drops due to uplink sync failures:-

Counter Name Counter Description
Number of abnormal releases of activated E-RABs
L.E-RAB.AbnormRel.Radio.ULSyncFail
due to uplink resynchronization failures

 Drop Rate due to congestion

Counter Name Counter Description
Number of abnormal releases of activated E-RABs due to
L.E-RAB.AbnormRel.Cong
network congestion

 Drops due to coverage

Counter Name Counter Description
Number of abnormal releases of activated E-RABs
L.E-RAB.AbnormRel.Radio.UuNoReply
because of no responses from the UE

 Drop Rate due to radio resources overloading.

Counter Name Counter Description
Number of abnormal releases of activated E-RABs
L.E-RAB.AbnormRel.Cong.Load
because of radio resource overload

Throughput KPI
LTE throughput is measure of the data payload that was successfully transmitted
over the amount of time required to transmit the data. Because of bursty nature of
data and to be independent of file size, the specification requires that the
determination of transmission time does not include ide TTI’s when buffer was not
empty. As shown, only the time samples when the data present in the buffer are
used to determine transmission time
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Formula:

DL PDCP Throughput= L.Thrp.bits.DL/L.Thrp.Time.Cell.DL.HighPrecision

UL PDCP Throughput= L.Thrp.bits.UL/L.Thrp.Time.Cell.UL.HighPrecision

L.Thrp.bits.DL:- Total downlink traffic volume for PDCP in a cell.

L.Thrp.bits.UL:- Total downlink traffic volume for PDCP in a cell.

L.Thrp.Time.Cell.DL.HighPrecision:- Total duration of downlink data

transmission in a cell (with the precision of 1 ms )

L.Thrp.Time.Cell.UL.HighPrecision:- Total duration of uplink data transmission in

a cell (with the precision of 1 ms ).

LTE throughput is depends on below factors:

 LTE Optimization 2016

ANALYSIS FLOW FOR DL THROUGHPUT INVESTIGATION

 Total Performance - Check all important Accessibly, Mobility and
Retainability KPI.
 Max Active users DL:-counter used L.Traffic.ActiveUser.DL.Max.

 PRB utilization-check PRE utilization, high PRB would impact the DL

Throughput.
PRB Utilization DL(BBH)= L.ChMeas.PRB.DL.Used.Avg BH Value
/L.ChMeas.PRB.DL.Avail BH Value

PRB Utilization UL(BBH)= L.ChMeas.PRB.UL.Used.Avg BH Value

/L.ChMeas.PRB.UL.Avail BH Value

 eNodeB DL Packet Delay - QCI 8/9 – Data:-Formula used to check packet

delay:

(L.Traffic.DL.PktDelay.Time.QCI.8 + L.Traffic.DL.PktDelay.Time.QCI.9) /
(L.Traffic.DL.PktDelay.Num.QCI.8 + L.Traffic.DL.PktDelay.Num.QCI.9)

L.Traffic.DL.PktDelay.Time :-Downlink packet processing delay.

L.Traffic.DL.PktDelay.Num:- Number of successfully transmitted downlink
PDCP.
 LTE Optimization 2016
KPI Taget -It value must me less than 200ms-.

 Check packet error Loss Rate: Formula used to check Packet error UL/DL
is:
Packet Error Loss Rate (UL) formula:
(L.Traffic.UL.PktLoss.Loss.QCI.1+L.Traffic.UL.PktLoss.Loss.QCI.2+L.Traffic.U
L.PktLoss.Loss.QCI.3+L.Traffic.UL.PktLoss.Loss.QCI.4+L.Traffic.UL.PktLoss.L
oss.QCI.5+L.Traffic.UL.PktLoss.Loss.QCI.6+L.Traffic.UL.PktLoss.Loss.QCI.7+L
.Traffic.UL.PktLoss.Loss.QCI.8+L.Traffic.UL.PktLoss.Loss.QCI.9) /
(L.Traffic.UL.PktLoss.Tot.QCI.1+L.Traffic.UL.PktLoss.Tot.QCI.2+L.Traffic.UL.
PktLoss.Tot.QCI.3+L.Traffic.UL.PktLoss.Tot.QCI.4+L.Traffic.UL.PktLoss.Tot.Q
CI.5+L.Traffic.UL.PktLoss.Tot.QCI.6+L.Traffic.UL.PktLoss.Tot.QCI.7+L.Traffic
.UL.PktLoss.Tot.QCI.8+L.Traffic.UL.PktLoss.Tot.QCI.9)

Packet Error Loss Rate (UL) formula:

(L.Traffic.DL.PktUuLoss.Loss.QCI.1+L.Traffic.DL.PktUuLoss.Loss.QCI.2+L.Tra
ffic.DL.PktUuLoss.Loss.QCI.3+L.Traffic.DL.PktUuLoss.Loss.QCI.4+L.Traffic.D
L.PktUuLoss.Loss.QCI.5+L.Traffic.DL.PktUuLoss.Loss.QCI.6+L.Traffic.DL.Pkt
UuLoss.Loss.QCI.7+L.Traffic.DL.PktUuLoss.Loss.QCI.8+L.Traffic.DL.PktUuLos
s.Loss.QCI.9)/
(L.Traffic.DL.PktUuLoss.Tot.QCI.1+L.Traffic.DL.PktUuLoss.Tot.QCI.2+L.Traffi
c.DL.PktUuLoss.Tot.QCI.3+L.Traffic.DL.PktUuLoss.Tot.QCI.4+L.Traffic.DL.Pkt
UuLoss.Tot.QCI.5+L.Traffic.DL.PktUuLoss.Tot.QCI.6+L.Traffic.DL.PktUuLoss.
Tot.QCI.7+L.Traffic.DL.PktUuLoss.Tot.QCI.8+L.Traffic.DL.PktUuLoss.Tot.QCI.
9)

KPI Target Packet error Loss Rate(UL/DL) must be <0.05%.

 Check Downlink TB CRC Error Counters: Below 3 counters samples value

should not be high, which cause to poor Throughput.
L.Traffic.DL.SCH.QPSK.TB.NACK + L.Traffic.DL.SCH.16QAM.TB.NACK +
L.Traffic.DL.SCH.64QAM.TB.NACK

 Power Transmt of a cell:-.Below 2 counter are used to check transmit power

L.DLPwr. Maximum downlink transmit power

 LTE Optimization 2016

Max in a cell
L.DLPwr.A Average downlink transmit power in
vg a cell

 High uplink RSSI would impact the throughput.

 Low usage of 16 QAM modulations scheme in UL would impact the UL
throughput
 Poor UL SINR conditions would impact UL throughput.
 Check PS BLER UL/DL.
PS BLER (UL)Formula:

100*(L.Traffic.UL.SCH.QPSK.ErrTB.Rbler+L.Traffic.UL.SCH.16QAM.ErrTB.R
bler+L.Traffic.UL.SCH.64QAM.ErrTB.Rbler)/
(L.Traffic.UL.SCH.QPSK.TB+L.Traffic.UL.SCH.16QAM.TB+L.Traffic.UL.SCH.
64QAM.TB)

PS BLER (DL) formula:

100*(L.Traffic.DL.SCH.QPSK.ErrTB.Rbler+L.Traffic.DL.SCH.16QAM.ErrTB.R
bler+L.Traffic.DL.SCH.64QAM.ErrTB.Rbler)/
(L.Traffic.DL.SCH.QPSK.TB+L.Traffic.DL.SCH.16QAM.TB+L.Traffic.DL.SCH.
64QAM.TB)

KPI target-PS BLER must be less than 1%.higher value will cause to Poor BLER.
 Check E-UTRAN Average CQI:-for good throughput CAI Average value
must be 10.Low value will cause to poor throughput
o CQI 1-6 map to QPSK
o CQI 7-9 map to 16QAM
o CQI 10-15 map to 64QAM
Formula:
(L.ChMeas.CQI.DL.0*0+L.ChMeas.CQI.DL.1*1+L.ChMeas.CQI.DL.2*2+
L.ChMeas.CQI.DL.3*3+L.ChMeas.CQI.DL.4*4+L.ChMeas.CQI.DL.5*5+L
.ChMeas.CQI.DL.6*6+L.ChMeas.CQI.DL.7*7+L.ChMeas.CQI.DL.8*8+L.
ChMeas.CQI.DL.9*9+L.ChMeas.CQI.DL.10*10+L.ChMeas.CQI.DL.11*11
+L.ChMeas.CQI.DL.12*12+L.ChMeas.CQI.DL.13*13+L.ChMeas.CQI.DL.
14*14+L.ChMeas.CQI.DL.15*15) / (L.ChMeas.CQI.DL.0+
L.ChMeas.CQI.DL.1+L.ChMeas.CQI.DL.2+L.ChMeas.CQI.DL.3+L.ChMe
as.CQI.DL.4+L.ChMeas.CQI.DL.5+L.ChMeas.CQI.DL.6+L.ChMeas.CQI.
 LTE Optimization 2016
DL.7+L.ChMeas.CQI.DL.8+L.ChMeas.CQI.DL.9+L.ChMeas.CQI.DL.10+
L.ChMeas.CQI.DL.11+L.ChMeas.CQI.DL.12+L.ChMeas.CQI.DL.13+L.Ch
Meas.CQI.DL.14+L.ChMeas.CQI.DL.15)

 Check alarm/VSWR.

Mobility (Handover success Rate).

Reporting – The UE sends the Source eNodeB an Event A3 that contains
monitored neighbor cells
Preparation – The Source eNodeB sends a request to the Target eNodeB,
which performs admission control
Execution – After successful preparation, the Source eNodeB sends a
handover command to the UE.
SO,Handover is product of handover preparation success rate and handover
execution success rate.

Huawei KPI used for Mobility

Radio Network Mobility

KPI Target Formula
Intra Frequency
Handover Sucess 100*(L.HHO.IntraeNB.IntraFreq.ExecSuccOut+L.HHO.IntereNB.IntraFreq.ExecSuccOut)/
Rate 99.50% (L.HHO.IntraeNB.IntraFreq.ExecAttOut+L.HHO.IntereNB.IntraFreq.ExecAttOut)
 LTE Optimization 2016
Inter eNodeB X2 100*(L.HHO.X2.IntraFreq.ExecSuccOut+L.HHO.X2.InterFreq.ExecSuccOut)/
HOSR 99.00% (L.HHO.X2.IntraFreq.ExecAttOut+L.HHO.X2.InterFreq.ExecAttOut)

100 * (L.HHO.IntereNB.IntraFreq.ExecSuccOut+L.HHO.IntereNB.InterFreq.ExecSuccOut-
L.HHO.X2.IntraFreq.ExecSuccOut-L.HHO.X2.InterFreq.ExecSuccOut)/
Inter eNodeB S1 (L.HHO.IntereNB.IntraFreq.ExecAttOut+L.HHO.IntereNB.InterFreq.ExecAttOut-
HOSR 99.00% L.HHO.X2.IntraFreq.ExecAttOut-L.HHO.X2.InterFreq.ExecAttOut)
100 * (L.IRATHO.E2W.ExecSuccOut+L.IRATHO.E2G.ExecSuccOut+
% Calls going L.RRCRedirection.E2W+L.RRCRedirection.E2G-L.CSFB.E2G -L.CSFB.E2W) / L.E-
from 4G to 2G/3G 3.00% RAB.SuccEst

Note:-Counter marked with colour has null value.

Typically, handover preparations fail if there is something wrong with the target
cell.
POSSIBLE CAUSES OF HANDOVER PREPARATION FAILURES

 MME pool should be same.

 If HO-Preparation fail = 100%, it might be due to MME pool different
at source and target end.
 Target cell is overloaded (High capacity): Need to offload target cell
(already describe in accessibility part).
 Target cell Unavailable: The target cell is down / disabled.
 TAC not defined on site, as per network design : TAC on site should be
defined as per network design.
 Target cell has a fault (alarm, disabled cell, etc.)

POSSIBLE CAUSES OF HANDOVER EXECUTION

FAILURES

 ANR PCI Conflict (Collision & Confusion)

 Target exceeds cell range: The target cell is more than 15km from the UE
(or the current cell range setting). In that case Ho-Exec fail occur. Need to
change cell range or cellindividualoffset b/w relation (as per required)
 Target is a sleeping cell – The target cell is sleeping, need fixed sleeping on
daily basis.
 Target has high uplink interference
 Poor RF conditions*
 LTE Optimization 2016

For better HO Event understanding check link

http://niviuk.free.fr/lte_event.php