UMTS Performance Measurement: A Practical Guide to KPIs for the UTRAN Environment

Description

UMTS Performance Measurement is a practical guide that explains how to identify and measure the main problems seen in today's UMTS live networks and will make performance measurement results gathered in the UTRAN environment understandable for the reader.  It provides a fundamental background for daily work in the field or lab, covering a wide range of performance measurements that help to troubleshoot and optimize the UTRAN environment.

The content goes far beyond what has been defined by international standard bodies like 3GPP and closes the gap between international standards and definitions of network equipment manufacturers (NEM) and network operators.  The emphasis is on definition of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and measurements that are not described in 3GPP standard documents, such as throughput measurements and the success/failure analysis of all possible handover types.

• Includes clear coverage of the fundamentals of performance measurement software architecture and ways to collect and present statistical data
• Contains numerous call flow diagrams, conversion tables, protocol message examples and sample measurement results that can be used as reference for daily work in the field or lab
• Explains measurement limitations and how tolerances provide valuable information for validation and evaluation of measurement results
• Provides an overview of how performance measurement software works as well as information on how data streams are captured and analyzed, and how analysis results are aggregated and presented in graphic user interfaces and reports

Providing a gateway into the world of UMTS-specific measurement scenarios and a general overview of what can be defined and measured at an in-depth technical level, this book will appeal to those involved in network operation, planning, configuration and deployment, as well as consulting and training companies, students, technical journalists and measurement equipment manufacturers.

 

Table of Contents

Preface.

Acknowledgements.

1 Basics of Performance Measurement in UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN).

1.1 General Ideas of Performance Measurement.

1.1.1 What is a KPI?

1.1.2 KPI Aggregation Levels and Correlations.

1.1.3 Basic Approach to Capture and Filter Performance-Related Data in UTRAN.

1.1.4 Performance Measurement Definitions of 3GPP.

1.1.5 User Experience vs. 3GPP Performance Measurement Definitions.

1.1.5.1 Problems with Registration and Call Setup.

1.1.5.2 Dropped Calls.

1.1.5.3 Poor Transmission Speed.

1.1.5.4 Corrupted Data.

1.1.6 Basics of PS Call Analysis in UTRAN.

1.2 Basic Architectural Concept of Performance Measurement Equipment Based on Protocol Analysis.

1.2.1 Protocol Decoding and Protocol Stacks.

1.2.2 Diversity Combining and Filtering.

1.2.3 State Transition Analysis.

1.3 Aggregation Levels/Dimensions.

1.3.1 SGSN Dimension.

1.3.2 MSC Dimension.

1.3.3 SRNC Dimension.

1.3.4 DRNC Dimension.

1.3.5 CRNC Dimension.

1.3.6 Node B Dimension.

1.3.7 Cell Dimension.

1.3.8 Call/Connection Dimension.

1.3.9 UE Dimensions.

1.3.10 Radio Bearer/Radio Access Bearer Type Dimensions.

1.4 Statistics Calculation and Presentation.

1.4.1 Sampling Period.

1.4.2 Bins.

1.4.3 The 95th Percentile.

1.4.4 Gauges and Distribution Functions.

2 Selected UMTS Key Performance Parameters.

2.1 Block Error Rate (BLER) Measurements.

2.1.1 Uplink Block Error Rate (UL BLER).

2.1.1.1 Uplink Transport Channel BLER.

2.1.1.2 UL BLER per Call.

2.1.1.3 UL BLER per Call Type.

2.1.2 Downlink Block Error Rate (DL BLER).

2.1.2.1 DL BLER per Call or Service.

2.1.3 Correlation of BLER and Other Measurements.

2.2 Radio-Related Measurements.

2.2.1 Radio Link Quality Parameters and Flow Control in Lub Frame Protocol (FP).

2.2.2 NBAP Common Measurements.

2.2.2.1 Transmitted Carrier Power.

2.2.2.2 NBAP Common Measurement Enhancements in Release 5.

2.2.2.3 Received Total Wideband Power.

2.2.3 NBAP Dedicated Measurements.

2.2.3.1 Signal-to-Interference Ratio (SIR).

2.2.3.2 Signal-to-Interference Ratio Error (SIR Error).

2.2.3.3 Uplink SIR Target.

2.2.3.4 Transmitted Code Power.

2.2.3.5 Round Trip Time (RTT).

2.2.4 RRC Measurements and UE Measurement Abilities.

2.3 Throughput Measurements.

2.3.1 RLC Throughput.

2.3.2 Transport Channel Throughput.

2.3.3 Packet Switched User Perceived Throughput.

2.3.4 Application Throughput.

2.4 Transport Channel Usage Ratio.

2.5 Primary and Secondary Traffic.

2.6 Active Set Size Distribution.

2.7 Soft Handover Success and Failure Analysis.

2.8 Inter-Frequency Hard Handover Success and Failure Rates.

2.9 Core Network Hard Handover Success and Failure Rates.

2.9.1 Intra-MSC and Inter-MSC Hard Handover (3G-3G).

2.9.2 3G-2G Inter-RAT Handover for CS and PS Services.

2.9.2.1 CS 3G-2G Inter-RAT Handover.

2.9.2.2 PS 3G-2G Inter-RAT Handover.

2.10 State Transitions and Channel Type Switching.

2.11 Call Establish Success and Failure Rates.

2.11.1 RRC Connection Establishment.

2.11.2 Radio Bearer and Radio Access Bearer Establishment and Release.

2.12 Call Drop Rates.

2.13 NBAP Radio Link Failure Analysis and RRC Re-Establishment Success Rate.

2.14 Cell Matrices.

2.15 Miscellaneous Protocol Procedures and Events that Indicate Abnormal Behaviour of Protocol Entities on Different Layers.

2.15.1 Miscellaneous RRC Failure Indications and Ratio KPIs.

2.15.1.1 RRC UTRAN Mobility Information Failure.

2.15.1.2 RRC Measurement Control Failure.

2.15.1.3 RRC Status.

2.15.1.4 RRC Security Mode Failure.

2.15.1.5 RRC Transport Format Combination Control Failure.

2.15.1.6 RRC Paging Response.

2.15.2 SCCP Failure Analysis.

2.15.2.1 Connection Refused (CREF).

2.15.2.2 Inactivity Check Failure.

2.15.3 RANAP Failure Analysis.

2.15.3.1 RANAP Reset Resource.

2.15.3.2 RANAP Reset.

2.15.3.3 RANAP Overload.

2.15.4 NBAP Failure Analysis.

2.15.5 RLC Acknowledge Mode Retransmission Rate.

3 Call Establishment and Handover Procedures of PS Calls using HSDPA.

3.1 HSDPA Cell Set Up.

3.2 HSDPA Basic Call.

3.2.1 Call Set Up and Measurement Initialisations.

3.2.2 Call Release.

3.3 Mobility Management and Handover Procedures in HSDPA.

3.3.1 Serving HS-DSCH Cell Change without Change of Active Set.

3.3.2 Inter-Node B Serving HS-DSCH Cell Change.

3.3.3 HSDPA Cell Change After Soft Handover.

Glossary.

Reference.

Index.