HSDPA Capacity
and Performance
Analysis
Airtel Niger
Network data collected in 2022 October 10
Sime Simunic, Göran Olsson BNEW PAN PL Performance Leadership
2022-12-20
3G Network Information
●1 Carrier on B8
●No of Nodes: 749
●No of cells : 6754
Frequency bands:
2100 (Band I)
900 (Band VIII)
# Cells
5277
1570
4
%
78%
22%
Carrier per Sector
●3 carriers on B1
Carriers per Sector and band
3
2
1
0
Sectors
C1-U2100
●7 RNCs
●Models: 8200
C2-U2100
Number of carriers:
1 Carrier
2 Carriers
3 Carriers
4 Carriers
●SW: W21.Q2
Data Collection 2022-10-10
C3-U2100
# Sectors
51
678
988
619
C4-U900
%
2%
29%
42%
27%
MBB Features Implementation
Group
FAJ Number Feature Name
FAJ 121 1467
FAJ 121 1584
FAJ 121 1714
FAJ 121 2671
FAJ 121 2444
Reduce UL Interference
FAJ 121 4187
FAJ 121 3941
FAJ 121 4630
FAJ 121 1317
FAJ 121 1441
FAJ 121 1481
Maximize Departure rate FAJ 121 3698
FAJ 121 4036
FAJ 121 4427
FAJ 121 4397
Improve HW efficiency
FAJ 121 407
and Dimensioning
FAJ 121 1552
FAJ 121 1673
FAJ 121 1883
Channel element capacity FAJ 121 3214
FAJ 121 4613
FAJ 121 2598
FAJ 121 1374
Improve Retainability
FAJ 121 2551
FAJ 121 1581
Managing overload
FAJ 121 2712
FAJ 121 4244
FAJ 121 4561
Reduce Setup time
FAJ 121 4758
Control Arrival rate
HSDPA Inter-frequency loadsharing
UL efficiency - DCH/EUL load balancing
Interference Suppression
Interference Suppression for EUL 10 ms
Uplink fast congestion control
Uplink Coordinated Multi-point Reception
EUL Low latency pre-scheduling
EUL Adaptive BLER
Enhanced Uplink, 2ms TTI
Multi Carrier
F-DPCH
HSPA Dynamic Power Sharing
Downlink Code Power Based Compressed Mode
Lean DCH Downswitch
HSDPA Adaptive BLER
UTRAN Registration Area Handling
Smart phone efficiency, Fast Dormancy Handling
Channel Element capacity for HSDPA Smartphones
Channel Element capacity for EUL Smartphones
Channel Element Efficiency for EUL
Additional CE Extension for EUL
CE Extension for EUL
Call Re-establishment
ANR Mobility
RNC RRC Load Control
Service Differentiated RRC admission
RACH Overload Protection
Direct Upswitch for Speech
Direct Up Switch from FACH
SW Version Active in % cells
W10B
W11B
W12A
W13A
W13A
W15B
W15B
W17.Q2
W10A/earlier
W10A/earlier
W11B
W14B
W15B
W16A
W16B
W10A/earlier
W11B
W12A
W12B
W16A
W17A
W13A
W12B
W14B
W11B
W13A
W15B
W16B
W17.Q3
License
0%
94%
100%
100%
100%
54%
98%
100%
99%
95%
0%
97%
0%
0%
95%
100%
0%
63%
100%
99%
70%
99%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
99%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
54%
100%
54% ratio
MBB features are implemented.
Implement all UL-features for all cells:
-reduce UL interference
The advantage with F-DPCH is that less DL
channelization codes need to be used.
Further, due to that no dedicated pilot bits are
sent when using F-DPCH, less power is
needed for the downlink. This feature
provides support for SRB on HSDPA. The
feature provides faster signaling with faster
call setup time.
W19.Q2: Robust SRB on HS reduce the
previous increase in PS drop rate.
ANR Mobility is a Self Optimized Network
(SON) feature that reduces the need for daily
optimization of neighbor cell relations and
improves network performance.
The direct upswitch from FACH will
reduce the call access failure and
shorter set-up time.
Gold standard parameter check
ulInitSirTargetLow
Recommended % Cells within
Settings MTN Liberia
Value Range
Range
40 (4.0 dB)
0%
20, 20, 20, 20, 20, 20, 20
ulInitSirTargetEdchTti2
40 (4.0 dB)
100%
40, 40, 40, 40, 40, 40, 40
hsdpaUsersAdm
min 64
100%
95, 128, 96, 64, 63, 100, 90, 99, 32, 93
sirMaxTti2
120
100%
120, 120, 120, 120, 120, 120, 120
maxNumEulUsers
min 64
94%
96, 128, 64, 4, 32
ulRlcBufUpswitch
256
0%
128, 128, 128, 128, 128, 128, 128
eulServingCellUsersAdm
min 64
100%
96, 128, 64, 32
dlRlcBufUpswitch
500
100%
500, 500, 500, 500, 500, 500, 500
eulServingCellUsersAdmTti2
min 32
2%
8, 4, 2, 1, 16, 32, 12
sirMax
100 (10 dB)
100%
100, 100, 100, 100, 100, 100, 100
fccRotMarginHigh
40
98%
40
sirMaxTti10
100 (10 dB)
100%
80, 80, 80, 80, 80, 80, 80
fccRotMarginLow
25
98%
25
transmissionTargetError
100 (10%)
Parameter
Parameter
maxNumHsdpaUsers
Recommended % Cells within
Value Range
Range
min 64
94%
Settings MTN Liberia
96, 128, 64, 16, 32
100%
100, 100, 100, 100, 100, 100, 100
eulMaxOwnUuLoad
100-120
96%
120, 100, 30, 80, 150
transmissionTargetErrorTti2 50 (5%)
100%
50, 50, 50, 50, 50, 50, 50
eulMaxRotCoverage
100-120
98%
120, 100, 80, 150
pO2
6
100%
6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6
eulMinMarginCoverage
0
97%
10
pO3
0
100%
0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0
eulDchBalancingLoad
60
98%
60, 32
changeOfBestCellInterRnc
0
100%
0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0
eulDchBalancingOverload
0
98%
0
changeOfBestCellIntraRnc
0
100%
0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0
eulDchBalancingReportPeriod
60
87%
60, 200
poorQualityDetected
0
100%
0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0
eulLoadTriggeredSoftCong
OFF
0%
0
servHsChangeInterRnc
0
100%
0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0
pwrAdm
75-80
82%
95, 85, 97, 90, 75, 98, 99
servDiffRrcAdm
Activated
0%
0
hsPowerMargin
0
94%
2
softCongHsdpa
Activated
0%
0
interPwrMax
30
96%
30, 38
eulMaxTotalProtectedRate
1280
99%
1280, 640
interRate
845
88%
845, 7760, 1590
eulMaxAllowedSchRate
5120
25%
5120, 5760, 4480, 3968
maxPwrMax
30
93%
30, 48
eulTargetRate
128
99%
128, 160
maxRate
40960
100%
40690
eul2msFirstSchedStep
160
100%
160
minimumRate
370
96%
370, 1590
minPwrMax
-15
97%
-15, -120, 30, 15
●Most parameters are set following Ericsson High Capacity recommendations
●Parameter pwrAdm should be adjusted to 75-80.
Power admin
●By setting parameter pwrAdm to a high value
we allow non-hs power, i.e. A-DCH etc., to use
most power in the cell and just a fraction of the
power can be used for Hsdpa traffic.
●In high traffic scenarios, this will result in too
many users connected to the cell sharing a
fraction of the power resulting low user
throughput
●Example pwrAdm=90, in high traffic scenarios
just 10% of the cell power will be available for
Hsdpa data traffic, the rest of the power will be
used for control signaling.
● Reduce parameter pwrAdm to 75-80, more
power for data traffic and faster download
~68% of the cells got pwrAdm set too high
BH data volume
1 000
500
0
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Number of DCH Users
●Vary low HS data comparing to other Ericsson 3G networks
●Huge offload potential: 41% terminals are 4G capable
41% of terminals on 3G NW are 4G capable
41%
19%
1 500
40%
2 000
61%
2 500
87%
3 000
63%
Data Volume [MB]
3 500
Terminal Capability - HS Features
100%
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
100%
4 000
100%
4 500
Benchmarking: Total Users in DCH state
●High user load compared to other benchmarked networks
●Implement HSPA Inter-frequency load sharing feature
●High TTI utilization on ~30% of cells
Other Operators
Airtel Niger 2022 Q4
Benchmarking: HS/EUL Throughput
Hsdpa User Throughput
Other Operators
Airtel Niger 2022 Q4
Eul Cell Throughput
HS/EUL
Throughput
●Very low performance in HSDPA and
average EUL throughput compared to other
Ericsson NWs
Recommendations:
●Implement feature F-DPCH
●Set pwrAdm to 75-80
Low Hs/Eul accessibility
EUL RAB Success Rate vs. # EUL Users
Accessibility HS
100%
90%
90%
80%
80%
EUL RAB Success Rate
HS Accessibility
100%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
0%
0
8
16
24
32
40
48
56
64
72
80
88
96
Number of HSDPA Users
0
8
16
24
32
40
48
56
64
72
Number of EUL Users in the cell
●Low Hs/Eul Accessibility gives high R99 Traffic ratio
●High R99 causes high DL and UL interference
●Adjust admin parameters:
maxNumHsdpaUsers/hsdpaUsersAdm/maxNumEulUsers/eulNonServingCellUsersAdm to min 64 or 96
High CE load !!
80
88
96
High Usage of R99 During Busy Hour
Data Establishment Types - Busy Hour (UeRc)
UL R99 / DL
UL R99 / Hs,
R99, 4%
5%
— High R99 usge during Busy hour
— Reason could be that Duw parameters
are set too low or that Hs/Eul
parameters are missmatch
— maxNumHsdpaUsers/hsdpaUsersAdm
— maxNumEulUsers/eulServingCellUsersAdm
Eul / Hs
UL R99 / Hs
UL R99 / DL R99
Eul / Hs, 91%
— R99 traffic consume 4 times more code
and power recourses than Hsdpa and
must be limited.
— R99 also creates higher UL interference
than Eul.
Deactivate following R99 DL 64kbps RABs:
— 3G R99 terminals are Gone – and it is good!
— R99 devices started in 2001
— 20 years later the R99 population is almost gone
—
—
—
—
—
Interact. PS (64/64)
Interact. PS (64/16)
Interact. PS (16/64)
Interact. PS (384/64)
Interact. PS (64/128)
Admin Parameter setting and recommendations
DL Configuration
# Cells with HSDPA
maxNumHsPdschCodes (% Cells)
numHsPdschCodes (% Cells)
numHsScchCodes (% Cells)
HSDPA Users License (% Cells)
maxNumHsdpaUsers (% Cells)
hsdpaUsersAdm (% Cells)
sf8Adm (384 kbps)
sf16Adm (128 kbps)
sf16gAdm (128 kbps)
sf32Adm (64 kbps)
sf128Adm (16 kbps)
4794
1-5
5%
1
0%
0
1%
Parameters admin
6-9
10-11
12
13
14
2
3
0%
99%
5-8
1%
4
0%
0%
9-16
1%
5%
5
95%
6-10
5%
0%
1-4
97%
96%
96%
15
95%
>10
17-32 33-64 65-96
11% 18% 14%
0%
8%
45%
0%
5%
57%
>96
25%
41%
38%
3%
0%
95%
4%
4%
2%
4%
0%
100%
UL Configuration
# Cells with EUL
4697
# Cells with EUL 2ms TTI
4630
0
1%
EUL Users License (% Cells)
maxNumEulUsers
eulServingCellUsersAdm (% Cells)
eulServingCellUsersAdmTti2
sf4AdmUl (384 kbps)
sf8AdmUl (128 kbps)
sf8gAdmUl (128 kbps)
sf16AdmUl (64 kbps)
sf64AdmUl (16 kbps)
23%
97%
96%
97%
2%
1-4
2%
6%
5-8
2%
30%
1%
45%
3%
9-16
0%
2%
17-32 33-64 65-96
9%
17% 14%
1%
6%
47%
0%
4%
57%
0%
>96
25%
41%
39%
1%
2%
3%
17%
Recommended
Value
sf4AdmUl (384 kbps)
0
sf8Adm (384 kbps)
0
sf8AdmUl (128 kbps)
0
sf16Adm (128 kbps)
0
sf8gAdmUl (128 kbps)
0
sf16gAdm (128 kbps)
0
sf16AdmUl (64 kbps)
10
sf32Adm (64 kbps)
10
sf64AdmUl (16 kbps)
100 (1)
sf128Adm (16 kbps)
10 (2)
rateSelectionPsInteractive.ulPrefRate
16
rateSelectionPsInteractive.dlPrefRate
16
rateSelectionPsInteractive.channelType
RncFeature=DynamicRabEstablishment.featureState
0 (DCH)
1 (ACTIVATED)
2%
77%
2%
100%
(1) Handovers for radio bearers configured with sf64AdmUl are not blocked. Multi-rab
establishment is not blocked if it uses the same spreading factor
(2) Handovers for radio bearers configured with sf128Adm are not blocked. Multi-rab
establishment is not blocked if it uses the same spreading factor.
For more details, see Reference [9] in High Capacity Guideline CPI document
3G: UL Channel Element load
High HW capacity in most of the
NodeBs.
BB HW capability is calculated as
if all CE capacity features are
activated.
UL CE Consumption
4500
BB 6630/6631
4000
3500
Duw 41
3000
2500
37% with high utilization due
Duw 31
to HWAC limitations
2000
1500
267 out of 719 NodeBs got high CE
load due to HWAC limitations.
80% utilization is used as KPI
It is recommended to measure for
longer time and increase HWAC if
there is continuously high load.
1000
HWAC limitations
500
0
Measured UL CE Consumption RBS - Total
Static UL CE Consumption RNC - Total
Baseband UL CE HW Capability
HWAC CE UL - Total
UL CE Utilization
UL Noise Rise (dB)
-75
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10%
Percentage of Cells
-80
-85
RSSI [dBm]
UL Noise Rise [dB]
UL Noise Rise
Missing data
-90
-95
-100
7dB
0%
-105
-110
Cells
Average UL RSSI [dBm] (during BH)
Parameter
Airtel Niger
Ericsson
Rec. Value
eulMaxOwnUuLoad
30,80, 100 (21%),120, 150
100
eulMaxRotCoverage
80, 100 (23%), 120,150
100
eulDchBalancingLoad
32, 60 (88%)
60
eulDchBalancingReportPeriod
60 (99%), 200
60
●High UL Nosie Rise (Average Ul
RSSI/minimum UL RSSI) in 31% of the
cells
●Lower than 7dB noise rise as target
Investigate cells with extremely high UL Interference
Noise Rise
Summary and Recommendations -Airtel
Niger
●Airtel Niger 3G-network has high load
●Low User throughput compared to other Ericsson
networks
●16% sectors have user overload
●TTI Utilization high on 30% cells
●UL CE Utilization high on 36% NodeBs
●High Power and Code utiilization
●MBB performance is below averaqge
●Tune pwrAdm
●Allow Eul 2ms for all cells
●Deactivate R99
●Implement all SW features
Short term activities
●Minimize R99 traffic
● Set hsToDchTrigger = 0
● Deactivate high order R99 RAB combinations
● Set Hs/Eul admin parameters to 64 or higher
● maxNumHsdpaUsers/hsdpaUsersAdm
● maxNumEulUsers/eulServingCellUsersAdm
● Set pwrAdm to 75-80
● Increase HWAC for Channel Elements