Functionality of Intra-Frequency Handover

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Functionalityofintrafrequencyhandover
Functionality of intra-frequency handover

Intra-frequency handovers can be soft or hard handovers. The vast majority of intra-frequency handovers
in the Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) radio access network are soft handovers. The
following sections describe the algorithms involved in intra-frequency soft and hard handover. For the
signaling procedures involved, see Soft handover signaling and Intra-frequency hard handover signaling.
Functionality of soft handover

The handover decision algorithm of the Radio Network Controller (RNC) for intra-frequency handover is
based on the event-triggered measurement reports. When in active mode, the 3G User Equipment (UE)
continuously measures the Common Pilot Channel (CPICH) of the serving and neighboring cells
(indicated by the RNC) on the current carrier frequency. The measurement quantity is CPICH Ec/No
(received energy per chip divided by the power density in the band, that is, CPICH RSCP/UTRA Carrier
RSSI). The UE compares the measurement results with handover thresholds, which have been provided
by the RNC, and sends a measurement report to the RNC when the handover thresholds are fulfilled.
Filtering of CPICH Ec/No measurements is controlled with the RNP parameter EcNoFilterCoefficient.
Based on the measurement report, the RNC orders the UE to add, replace or remove cells from its
active set, that is the set of cells participating in soft handover. The RNC limits the number of cells
participating in soft handover. The maximum size of the active set is three cells. When detected set
reporting is enabled in one or more active set cells, handover control takes into account the detected set
reporting quantities for soft handover decisions.
The handover decision algorithm of the RNC is fairly straightforward for soft (and softer) handover: the
algorithm accepts practically everything the UE suggests according to the measurement reporting
events.
The handover control of the RNC contains the following measurement reporting events and mechanisms
for modifying measurement reporting behavior:
reporting event 1A for adding cells to the active set
reporting event 1B for deleting cells from the active set
reporting event 1C for replacing cells in the active set
event-triggered periodic intra-frequency measurement reporting
time-to-trigger mechanism for modifying measurement reporting behavior
cell individual offsets for modifying measurement reporting behavior
mechanism for forbidding a cell to affect the reporting range
reporting events 6F and 6G for deleting cells from the active set
When the channel type is DCH, the intra-frequency measurements are controlled by the intra-frequency
measurement control (FMCS) parameters of the best (according to CPICH Ec/No) active set cell
controlled by the serving RNC. During anchoring, if the Inter-frequency Handover over Iur and I-BTS
Sharing features are disabled in the serving RNC, the intra-frequency measurements are controlled by
the FMCS parameters of the last serving RNC cell. The handover control of the RNC reselects the best
active set cell after each active set update procedure. The handover control of the RNC updates the intrafrequency measurement control param ters to the UE if the FMCS parameter set changes along with the
best active set cell. In addition, the handover control of the RNC updates the intra-frequency
measurement control parameters to the UE if the FMCS parameter set changes when the service type
(RT/NRT/standalone SRB) or the channel type (DCH/HSDPA) changes during the RRC connection. The
FMCS parameter sets are identified on the servide type-by-type basis with the following parameters.
The RtFmcsIdentifier parameter identifies the measurement control parameter set (FMCS object)
which controls the intra-frequency measurements of a user having a real time (RT) radio bearer
allocated on DCH.
The NrtFmcsIdentifier parameter identifies the measurement control parameter set (FMCS
object) which controls the intra-frequency measurements of a user having a non-real time (NRT)
radio bearer allocated on DCH.
The SRBDCHFmcsId parameter identifies the measurement control parameter set (FMCS object)
which controls the intra-frequency measurements of a user having standalone SRB allocated on
DCH. If the value of this parameter is "Not defined" in the controlling cell or the value of the
FastHSPAMobilityEnabled parameter is "Disabled" in the controlling cell or the Fast HSPA Mobility
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feature is disabled in the SRNC, the RtFmcsIdentifier parameter identifies the FMCS parameter
set for standalone SRB on DCH.
When the channel type is HSDPA/HSPA, the intra-frequency measurements are controlled by the intrafrequency measurement control (FMCS) parameters of the serving HS-DSCH cell. For more information
on the FMCS parameter sets when the channel type is HSDPA/HSPA, see WCDMA RAN RRM HSDPA
and WCDMA RAN RRM HSUPA . The handover control updates the intra-frequency measurement
control parameters to the UE if the FMCS parameter set changes along with the serving cell change.
Neighbor cell parameters are defined on an intra-frequency neighboring cell-by-cell basis by attaching a
specified HOPS parameter set to a specified intra-frequency neighbor cell. The HOPS parameter set
defines the handover path from the active set cell to the intra-frequency neighbor cell in question. The
HOPS parameter sets are identified on the service type-by-type basis with the following parameters:
The RtHopsIdentifier parameter defines the HOPS parameter set which controls the intrafrequency handover path to the intra-frequency neighbour cell when a real time (RT) radio
bearer is allocated on DCH.
The NrtHopsIdentifier parameter defines the HOPS parameter set which controls the intrafrequency handover path to the intra-frequency neighbour cell when a non-real time (NRT) radio
bearer is allocated on DCH.
The AdjdRTHopsId parameter defines the HOPS parameter set which controls the intrafrequency handover path to the additional intra-frequency neighbour cell when a real time (RT)
radio bearer is allocated on DCH.
The AdjdNRTHopsId parameter defines the HOPS parameter set which controls the intrafrequency handover path to the additional intra-frequency neighbour cell when a non-real time
(NRT) radio bearer is allocated on DCH.
The SRBHopsIdentifierparameter identifies the HOPS parameter set which controls the intrafrequency handover path to the intra-frequency neighbor cell when standalone SRB is allocated
on DCH. If the value of this parameter is "Not defined" or the value of the
FastHSPAMobilityEnabledparameter is "Disabled" in the controlling cell or the Fast HSPA Mobility
feature is disabled in the SRNC, the ADJS parameter RtHopsIdentifier identifies the HOPS
parameter set when the standalone SRB is allocated on DCH.
The AdjdSRBHopsId parameter identifies the HOPS parameter set which controls the intrafrequency handover path to the additional intra-frequency neighbor cell when standalone SRB is
allocated on DCH. If the value of this parameter is "Not defined" or the value of the
FastHSPAMobilityEnabledparameteris "Disabled" in the controlling cell or the Fast HSPA Mobility
feature is disabled in the SRNC, the AdjdRTHopsId parameter identifies the HOPS parameter set
when the standalone SRB is allocated on DCH.
TheadmissioncontroloftheRNCmayoverrulethehandoveralgorithmdecisionbecauseofcapacityreasons.Formore
information,seeRadioresourcemanagementfunctionsandFunctioninabnormalconditions.
Reporting event 1A for adding cells to the active set

Reporting event 1A is controlled with the following parameters:
Active Set Weighting Coefficient (ActiveSetWeightingCoefficient)
Addition Time (AdditionTime)
Addition Window (AdditionWindow).
CPICH Ec/No Offset (AdjsEcNoOffset)
Maximum Active Set Size (MaxActiveSetSize)
For a description of the parameters, see WCDMA Radio Network Configuration Parameters.
Reporting event 1A is used for adding cells in the active set. The UE sends the event 1A-triggered
measurement report when a cell enters the reporting range as defined by the following formula:
Figure36:
FormulaforcalculatingtheUEmeasurementreportonevent1A
The variables in the formula are defined as follows:

Variable
Description
MNew
Measurementresultofthecell
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enteringthereportingrange
Mi
Measurementresultofacellinthe
activeset,notforbiddentoaffectthe
reportingrange
NA
Numberofcellsnotforbiddento
affectthereportingrangeinthe
currentactiveset
MBest
Measurementresultofthestrongest
cellintheactiveset,notforbiddento
affectthereportingrangeandnot
takingintoaccountanycell
individualoffset
ActiveSetWeightingCoefficient
(ActiveSetWeightingCoefficient)
parametersentfromtheRNCtothe
UE
AdditionWindow(AdditionWindow)
parametersentfromtheRNCtothe
UE
H1a
Hysteresis,whichiszeroforevent
1A
CIOnew
CPICHEc/NoOffset
(AdjsEcNoOffset)parameterofthe
neighborcellenteringthereporting
range
Table10:
Variablesformeasurementreportonevent1A
A time-to-trigger mechanism can be used to modify the measurement reporting behavior of event 1A. If
the time-to-trigger mechanism is used, the cell must continuously stay within the reporting range for a
given period of time before the UE can send the event 1A-triggered measurement report to the RNC.
The length of this period is controlled by the RNP parameter Addition Time (AdditionTime).
Measurement event 1A can be triggered by monitored set cells and detected set cells. Detected set cells
are only taken into account if detected set reporting is enabled in one or more of the active set cells.
Reporting event 1B for deleting cells from the active set

Reporting event 1B is controlled with the following parameters:
Active Set Weighting Coefficient (ActiveSetWeightingCoefficient)
Drop Time (DropTime)
Drop Window (DropWindow)
Reporting event 1B is used for deleting cells in the active set. The UE sends the event 1B-triggered
measurement report when a cell leaves the reporting range as defined by the following formula:
Figure37:
FormulaforcalculatingtheUEmeasurementreportonevent1B
The variables in the formula are defined as follows:

Variable
Description
MOld
Measurementresultofthecell
leavingthereportingrange
Mi
Measurementresultofacellinthe
activeset,notforbiddentoaffectthe
reportingrange
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NA
Numberofcellsnotforbiddento
affectthereportingrangeinthe
currentactiveset
MBest
affectthereportingrangeandnot
takingintoaccountanycell
individualoffset.
ActiveSetWeightingCoefficient
(ActiveSetWeightingCoefficient)
parametersentfromRNCtoUE
DropWindow(DropWindow)
parametersentfromRNCtoUE
H1b
Hysteresis,whichiszeroforthe
event1B
CIOnew
CPICHEc/NoOffset
neighborcellenteringthereporting
range
Table11:
Variablesformeasurementreportonevent1B
A time-to-trigger mechanism can be used to modify the measurement reporting behavior of event 1B. If
the time-to-trigger mechanism is used, the cell must continuously stay outside the reporting range for a
given period of time before the UE can send the event 1B-triggered measurement report to the RNC. The
length of this period is controlled by theDrop Time (DropTime) RNP parameter.
TheRNCdoesnotremoveacellfromtheactivesetifitistheonlycellintheactivesetwhichhasuplinkphysicallayer
synchronization.
Reporting event 1C for replacing cells in the active set

Reporting event 1C is controlled with the following parameters:
Maximum Active Set Size (MaxActiveSetSize)
Replacement Time (ReplacementTime)
Replacement Window (ReplacementWindow).
Reporting event 1C is used for replacing cells in the active set. The UE sends the event 1C-triggered
measurement report when the number of cells in the active set is equal to the Maximum Active Set Size
(MaxActiveSetSize) parameter and a cell that is not included in the active set becomes better than a cell
in the active set as defined by the following formula:
Figure38:
FormulaforcalculatingtheUEmeasurementreportonevent1C
Variable
Description
MNew
Measurementresultofthecellnot
includedintheactiveset
MInAS
Measurementresultofthecellinthe
activesetwhichhasthelowest
measurementresultintheactiveset
MBest
affectthereportingrange
H1c
Replacementwindowparameter
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sentfromtheRNCtotheUE
CIONew
CPICHEc/NoOffset
cellnotincludedintheactiveset
CIOinAS
CPICHEc/NoOffset
cellintheactiveset
R1b
FMCSDropWindowparametersent
fromRNCtoUE
Table12:
Variablesformeasurementreportonevent1C
The RNC does not add the monitored/detected cell (that has triggered the reporting event 1C) into the
active set if the monitored/detected cell and the active set cells are controlled by the same LCG (Local
Cell Group) of the WCDMA BTS.
In the following figure, cells 1, 2 and 3 are in the active set, but cell 4 is not (yet) in the active set.
Figure39:
Acellthatisnotintheactivesetbecomesbetterthanacellinafullactiveset
A time-to-trigger mechanism can be used to modify the measurement reporting behavior of event 1C. If
the time-to-trigger mechanism is used, the cell must continuously stay within the triggering condition for a
given period of time before the UE can send the event 1C-triggered measurement report to the RNC.
The length of this period is controlled by the Replacement Time (ReplacementTime)RNP parameter.
The cell (not included in the active set) leaves the triggering condition if it again becomes worse than the
cells in the active set as defined by the following formula:
Figure40:
FormulaforcalculatingtheUEmeasurementreportonevent1C
The RNC might add the monitored/detected cell (that has triggered the reporting event 1C) into the active
set and remove the active set cell whose combined measurement result and cell individual offset
(MInAS+CIOInAS) is the lowest if the monitored/detected cell satisfies the following equation:
If the monitored/detected cell does not satisfy the preceding equation, the RNC checks whether some cell
(or cells) are to be removed from the active set. The RNC removes all those active set cells from the
active set which does not satisfy the following condition:
Measurement event 1C can be triggered by monitored set cells and detected set cells. Detected set cells
are only taken into account if detected set reporting is enabled in one or more of the active set cells.
TheRNCdoesnotreplaceacellintheactivesetifitistheonlycellintheactivesetwhichhasuplinkphysicallayer
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synchronization.
Event-triggered periodic intra-frequency measurement reporting

The reporting period is controlled with the following parameters:
Addition Reporting Interval (AdditionReportingInterval)
Replacement Reporting Interval (ReplacementReportingInterval)
Drop Reporting Interval (DropReportingInterval)
When a cell enters the reporting range and triggers event 1A, 1B or 1C, the UE transmits a
MEASUREMENT REPORT message to the RNC to update the active set.
The UE reverts to periodical measurement reporting if the RNC does not update the active set after the
transmission of the measurement report. The RNC can be unable to add the cell to the active set
because of capacity shortage, for example. If the reported cell is not added to or removed from the active
set, the UE continues reporting by changing to periodical measurement reporting. This is illustrated in
Figure Periodic reporting triggered by event 1A below.
During periodical reporting, the UE transmits measurement report messages to the RAN at pre-defined
intervals. The reports include information on the active, monitored and detected (if applicable) cells in the
reporting range.
Figure41:
Periodicreportingtriggeredbyevent1A
Event-triggered periodic measurement reporting is terminated either when there are no more active,
monitored or detected (if applicable) cell(s) within the reporting range or when the RNC has updated the
active set so that it includes the optimal cells.
Time-to-trigger mechanism for modifying measurement reporting behavior

The value of the time-to-trigger is controlled separately for each event with the following parameters:
Addition Time (AdditionTime)
Drop Time (DropTime)
Replacement Time (ReplacementTime)
A time-to-trigger parameter can be connected with reporting events 1A, 1B and 1C.
When the time-to-trigger mechanism is applied, the report is triggered only after the conditions for the
event have existed for the specified time. In the following example, cell 3 enters the reporting range
(event 1A), but it is not reported until it has been within the range for the time indicated by the Addition
Time (AdditionTime) parameter.
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Figure42:
Timetotriggerlimitsthenumberofmeasurementreports
Identification of an intra-frequency cell

Handover control identifies an intra-frequency cell which is reported in the RRC: MEASUREMENT
REPORT message by comparing the scrambling code of the Primary CPICH of the reported cell with:
1.
2.
3.
theprimaryCPICHscramblingcodeofthecellsincludedinthecombinedintrafrequencycelllist
theprimaryCPICHscramblingcodeofthoseintrafrequencyneighborcellsoftheactivesetcellsthathavebeenleftoutfrom
thefullcombinedintrafrequencycelllist
theprimaryCPICHscramblingcodeofadditionalintrafrequencyneighborcellsoftheactivesetcells
When detected set reporting based soft handover is enabled in one or more active set cells, handover
control proceeds step-by-step in the identification process from the 1st step to the 3rd step until it
identifies the reported cell. Handover control does not execute the steps 2 and 3 if detected set reporting
or the detected set reporting based soft handover is disabled in all active set cells.
The reported intra-frequency cell can be an active, monitored or detected set cell:
1.
2.
3.
4.
anactivesetcellincludedinthecombinedintrafrequencycelllist
amonitoredsetcellincludedinthecombinedintrafrequencycelllist
anintrafrequencyneighborcelldefinedintheRNWdatabaseobjectADJSwhichhasbeenleftoutfromthefullcombined
intrafrequencycelllist
anadditionalintrafrequencyneighborcellwhichisdefinedintheRNWdatabaseobjectADJDandnotincludedintheintra
frequencycelllist
If the scrambling code of the Primary CPICH of the reported cell matches with more than one relevant
intra-frequency neighbor cells, handover control associates the reported neighbor cell to the active set cell
with the higher CPICH Ec/No measurement result. If the scrambling code of the Primary CPICH of the
reported cell does not match with any relevant intra-frequency cell, the reported intra-frequency cell
remains an unidentified cell.
Soft handover based on detected set reporting

Detected set reporting is based on a 3GPP feature that allows the UE to measure and report any intrafrequency cell which is outside the intra-frequency cell list of the UE. This capability removes the limitation
on the length of the intra-frequency cell list. In addition to the active and monitored set cells that are
included in the intra-frequency cell list of the UE, the UE can include any detected intra-frequency cell in
the event evaluation and reporting:
The UE sends an event 1A/1C triggered measurement report to the RNC when a cell, that is not
included in the intra-frequency cell list of the UE, enters the reporting range.
The Primary CPICH scrambling code identifies the detected set cell that has triggered the event
1A/1C measurement report.
The RNC adds the detected set cell into the active set if it is possible to identify the detected set cell, that
is the primary CPICH scrambling code of the detected set cell equals to the primary CPICH scrambling
code of an intra-frequency neighbor cell. The RNC is not able to identify the detected set cell during
anchoring. Detected set reporting is available for all supported bearer services.
The Soft Handover based on Detected Set Reporting feature needs to be enabled on RNC level. For
more information on license management (applicable only for the RNC solution) see License
Management Principles.
When the feature is enabled on RNC level, it can be activated and deactivated on a cell-by-cell basis by
modifying the value of the FMCS parameter DSRepBasedSHO.
Handover control activates the detected set reporting for an RRC connection if the Soft Handover Based
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on Detected Set Reporting feature is enabled on RNC level and either of the following conditions is true:
Detected set reporting is enabled in one or more active set cells by the FMCS parameter
DSRepBasedSHO (value of the parameter is 1). Detected set reporting without soft handover is
used to collect statistics on the missing intra-frequency neighbor cell definitions.
Detected set reporting based soft handover is enabled in one or more active set cells by the
FMCS parameter DSRepBasedSHO (value of the parameter is 2).
Note that the E-DCH active set does not affect the procedure. Detected set reporting might increase
signaling on Uu interface because an UE reverts to periodical measurement reporting if detected set
reporting based soft handover is not enabled or if the RNC cannot add the detected cell to the active set
because of the missing neighbor cell definition. Increased signaling on Uu interface may cause slight
degradation of quality. If a dominant neighbor cannot be added to the active set, serious UL interference
is caused to the surrounding cells and the call can eventually drop because of poor EbNo.
In the handover decision process, handover control handles detected set cells according to the value of
the FMCS parameter DSRepBasedSHO:
Detected set cells are excluded from the decision when the value of FMCS parameter
DSRepBasedSHO is 0 (DSR is not allowed) or 1 (DSR is enabled but SHO to detected cell is not
allowed).
Detected cells are taken into account in addition to the active and monitored set cells when the
value of FMCS parameter DSRepBasedSHO is 2 (DSR based SHO is enabled). This applies to
detected cells which are defined in the ADJS object but are left out from the full combined intrafrequency cell list.
Unknown reported cells are excluded from the handover decision process.
If a detected set cell is added to the active set as a result of the handover decision procedure, handover
control adds this new active set cell (ex-detected set cell) and its neighboring cells into the combined
intra-frequency cell list which is sent to the UE in the RRC: MEASUREMENT CONTROL message.
If an inter-RNC soft/softer handover is not possible, the handover control initiates an inter-RNC intrafrequency hard handover to the detected set cell as soon as the measurement results of the detected set
cell satisfy the required conditions.
Detected set reporting may increase signalling on Uu interface because of UE reverts to periodical
measurement reporting if detected set reporting based soft handover is not enabled or if the RNC cannot
add the detected cell to the active set because of the missing neighbor cell definition. Increased
signalling on Uu interface might cause slight degradation of quality. If a dominant neighbor cannot be
added to the active set, serious uplink interference is caused to the surrounding cells and the call can
eventually drop because of poor EbNo.
Softer handover between cells within one base station

The handover control of the CRNC (controlling RNC) determines the soft handover type for the intra-BTS
intra-frequency handover on the basis of the LCG (Local Cell Group) information. The CRNC receives the
CId (Cell Identifier) - LCG ID mapping information from the BTS in the NBAP: AUDIT RESPONSE and
NBAP: RESOURCE STATUS INDICATION messages. The possible soft handover types for the intraBTS intra-frequency handover are:
Intra-BTS softer handover: Intra-frequency handover between cells within one LCG of the BTS.
It is performed if the UE already has an existing radio link in the LCG where the target cell
belongs to.
Intra-BTS soft handover: Intra-frequency handover between cells which belong to different LCGs
within one BTS. It is performed if the UE does not have any radio link in the LCG where the
target cell belongs to.
The decision procedure is the same in the serving and drifting RNCs.
Soft handover between Local Cell Groups or base stations within one RNC
Soft handover can take place between cells which belong to different LCGs (Local Cell Groups) within
one BTS (intra-BTS soft handover, see Softer handover between cells within one base station for more
information) or between cells which belong to different BTSs (inter-BTS soft handover).
Inter-RNC soft and softer handover

The handover control of the DRNC (drifting RNC) determines the soft handover type for the inter-RNC
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intra-frequency handover on the basis of the BTS, cell and LCG (Local Cell Group) information. The
possible soft handover types of the inter-RNC intra-frequency handover are:
Inter-RNC softer handover: Intra-frequency handover between cells within one Local Cell Group
(LCG) of the BTS controlled by the same DRNC. It is performed if the UE already has an
existing radio link in the LCG where the target cell belongs to.
Inter-RNC soft handover: Intra-frequency handover between cells which belong to different
LCGs within one BTS or different BTSs controlled by the same DRNC. It is performed if the UE
does not have any radio link in the LCG where the target cell belongs to.
The decision procedure is the same in the serving and drifting RNCs.
Cell individual offsets for modifying measurement reporting behavior

Individual offsets can be controlled with the CPICH Ec/No Offset (IntraFreqNcellEcNoOffset) parameter.
For a description of the parameter, see WCDMA Radio Network Configuration Parameters.
The individual offset mechanism can be used to change the reporting of an individual cell, and as a
result, to move the cell border. For each cell that is monitored, an offset value can be defined which the
UE adds to the measurement result (CPICH Ec/No) of the neighbor cell before it compares the Ec/No
value with the reporting criteria. The offset can be either positive or negative.
In the following example, an offset is added to the measurement result of cell 3, and the dotted curve is
used in evaluating if an event occurs. Measurement reports from the UE to the RNC are therefore
triggered when the cell including the corresponding offset (the dotted curve) leaves and enters the
reporting range.
When positive offset is used, as in the following example, the UE sends measurement reports as if the
cell (CPICH) is offset x dB better than what it really is. Therefore, cell 3 is included in the active set
earlier than should have been the case without the positive offset. The cell in question can reside in an
area where it often becomes good very quickly (because of street corners, for instance).
Figure43:
Apositiveoffsetisappliedtocell3beforeeventevaluationintheUE
The cell individual offset can be seen as a tool to move the cell border. It is important to note that the
offset is added before triggering events, i.e. the offset is added by the UE before evaluating if a
measurement report should be sent as opposed to offsets that are applied in the network and used for
the actual handover evaluation. Note that the UE does not include the cell individual offset in the
measurement result which is reported to the RNC.
During soft/softer handover, the handover control of the RNC sets the cell individual offsets, which are
transmitted to the mobile station, as follows:
1.
2.
3.
Thehandovercontrolsetsthecellindividualoffsetsfortheintrafrequencyneighborcellsofthebest(accordingtoCPICH
Ec/No)activesetcell.Notethatanintrafrequencyneighborcellofthebestactivesetcellcanbeitselfanactivesetcell.
Thehandovercontrolsetsthecellindividualoffsetsforthoseintrafrequencyneighborcellsofthesecondbestactivesetcell
whicharenotneighborcellsofthebestactivesetcell.Notethatanintrafrequencyneighborcellofthesecondbestactiveset
cellcanbeitselfanactivesetcell.
Thehandovercontrolsetsthecellindividualoffsetsforthoseintrafrequencyneighborcellsofthethirdbestactivesetcell
whicharenotneighborcellsofthebestorsecondbestactivesetcell.Notethatanintrafrequencyneighborcellofthethird
bestactivesetcellcanbeitselfanactivesetcell.
The handover control of the RNC updates the cell individual offsets to the UE, if needed, after each active
set update procedure.
Mechanism for forbidding a cell to affect the reporting range

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The mechanism for forbidding cells to affect the reporting range is controlled with the following parameter:
Disable Effect on Reporting Range (AdjsDERR) indicates whether or not the neighbor cell is
forbidden to affect the reporting range (addition/drop window) calculation, if it belongs to the
active set.
For a description of the parameter, see WCDMA Radio Network Configuration Parameters.
The Addition Window (AdditionWindow) and Drop Window (DropWindow) parameters affect reporting
events 1A and 1B. The reporting ranges of events 1A and 1B are relative to the measurement results of
those cells in the active set which are not forbidden to affect the reporting range.
In the following figure, cell 3 is forbidden to affect the reporting range, for example, because it is very
unstable in a specific area.
Figure44:
Cell3isforbiddentoaffectthereportingrange
TheUEignoresthemechanismifallcellsintheactivesetareforbiddentoaffectthereportingrange.
Reporting events 6F and 6G for deleting cells from the active set
UE Rx-Tx time difference measurement is controlled with the following parameters:
Upper Rx-Tx Time Difference Threshold (UpperRxTxTimeDiff) determines the upper threshold
which is used by the UE to trigger the reporting event 6F because of UE Rx-Tx time difference.
Lower Rx-Tx Time Difference Threshold (LowerRxTxTimeDiff) determines the lower threshold
which is used by the UE to trigger the reporting event 6G because of UE Rx-Tx time difference.
The RNC ignores the reporting event 6F and 6G when the size of the active set is one cell. The RNC
configures the reporting event 6F and 6G for the RRC connection when the size of the active set
becomes larger than one cell for the first time by sending an RRC: MEASUREMENT CONTROL
message to the UE (the RNC does not remove the reporting event 6F and 6G even if the size of the
active set returns to one cell later on).
When the UE Rx-Tx time difference for a cell included in the active set becomes larger than the
threshold defined by the parameter Upper Rx-Tx Time Difference Threshold (UpperRxTxTimeDiff), the
UE sends an event 6F-triggered measurement report message to the RNC and the RNC deletes the cell
from the active set. Similarly, the RNC deletes the cell from the active set if the UE sends an event 6Gtriggered measurement report message to the RNC when the UE Rx-Tx time difference for the cell has
become smaller than the threshold defined by the Lower Rx-Tx Time Difference Threshold
(LowerRxTxTimeDiff)parameter.
Function in abnormal conditions

This section describes the functioning of the RNC in case of an unsuccessful soft handover and radio link
failure. In abnormal conditions, the RNC can release the RRC connection or order the UE to move to
CELL_FACH state to avoid excessive uplink interference. If the conditions for the RRC connection
release and the intra-frequency hard handover are met simultaneously, the hard handover has the higher
priority.
RRC connection release because of unsuccessful soft handover
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When an intra-frequency neighbor cell enters the reporting range and triggers either event 1A (cell
addition) or event 1C (cell replacement), the UE transmits a measurement report to the RNC to add the
neighbor cell to the active set. If the soft handover branch addition is unsuccessful, the RNC may release
the RRC connection or order the UE to move to CELL_FACH state. This is to avoid excessive uplink
interference because of non-optimum fast closed loop power control as the UE is not linked to the
strongest cell any more when the requested handover branch is clearly the strongest branch or would
become the strongest branch. The RRC connection release and state transition to CELL_FACH because
of unsuccessful branch addition procedure are performed according to the following rules:
emergency calls: The RNC does not release emergency call in any case.
AMR + NRT PS multi services: The RNC releases the NRT DCH and retries the branch addition
for the AMR service immediately after the NRT DCH is mapped to DCH/DCH 0/0 kbit/s. If there
are several NRT DCHs, the RNC releases one NRT DCH and retries the branch addition for the
AMR service and the remaining NRT PS data services. If the retry is unsuccessful, the RNC
aborts the ongoing branch addition procedure. The RNC can start another branch addition
immediately after the reception of the next event 1A/1C triggered measurement report.
NRT PS data services: The RNC may order the UE to move to CELL_FACH state when the
requested handover branch is clearly the strongest branch. The EnableRRCRelease parameter of
the intra-frequency handover path indicates whether the state transition to CELL_FACH state is
allowed because of non-optimum fast closed loop power control. In case of RT/NRT multi
services, the RNC uses the HOPS parameter set which is defined for real time (RT) radio
bearers.
CS AMR or data services and AMR + RT PS data multi services: the RNC may release the RRC
connection when the requested handover branch is clearly the strongest branch. The
EnableRRCRelease parameter of the intra-frequency handover path indicates whether the RRC
connection release (excluding emergency calls) is allowed because of non-optimum fast closed
loop power control.
The parameters related to handling of RRC connection release because of an unsuccessful soft handover
are:
CPICH Ec/No Averaging Window (EcNoAveragingWindow) determines the number of event
triggered periodic intra-frequency measurement reports from which the RNC calculates the
averaged CPICH Ec/No values.
Enable RRC Connection Release (EnableRRCRelease) determines whether RRC connection
release (excluding emergency calls) is allowed in situations when soft handover branch addition
(or replacement) fails.
Release Margin for Average Ec/No (ReleaseMarginAverageEcNo) determines the maximum
allowed difference between the averaged CPICH Ec/No of the neighbor cell and the averaged
CPICH Ec/No of the best cell in the active set in situations when the RNC is not able to perform
a soft handover between these cells. If the difference between the averaged CPICH Ec/No
values exceeds the value of the parameter, the RNC releases the RRC connection or orders the
UE to move to CELL_FACH state (in case of streaming and NRT PS data services) in order to
avoid excessive uplink interference because of non-optimum fast closed loop power control.
Release Margin for Peak Ec/No (ReleaseMarginPeakEcNo) determines the maximum allowed
difference between the CPICH Ec/No of the neighbor cell and the CPICH Ec/No of the best cell
in the active set in situations when the RNC is not able to perform a soft handover between
these cells. If the difference between CPICH Ec/No values exceeds the value of the parameter,
the RNC releases the RRC connection or orders the UE to move to CELL_FACH state (in case
of streaming and NRT PS data services) in order to avoid excessive uplink interference because
of non-optimum fast closed loop power control.
The UE proceeds to the periodic measurement reporting if the RNC cannot add the requested cell into
the active set. If the forced RRC connection release or state transition to CELL_FACH is allowed, the
RNC makes the decision on the release or state transition to CELL_FACH on the basis of the CPICH
Ec/No of the best cell in the active set, the CPICH Ec/No of the requested neighbor cell and the Release
Margin for Average Ec/No and Release Margin for Peak Ec/No control parameters.
The RRC connection release or state transition to CELL_FACH is required when the measurement
results of the requested neighbor cell satisfies one of the following equations:
AveEcNoDownlink + ReleaseMarginforAveEc/No (n) < AveEcNoNcell (n)
or
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EcNoDownlink + ReleaseMarginforPeakEc/No (n) < EcNoNcell (n)

The measurement results in the equations are defined as follows:
Variable
Description
AveEcNoDownlink
averagedCPICHEc/Noofthebest
cellintheactiveset
AveEcNoNcell(n)
averagedCPICHEc/Noofthe
neighboringcell
EcNoDownlink
CPICHEc/Noofthebestcellinthe
activeset
EcNoNcell(n)
CPICHEc/Nooftheneighboringcell
Table13:
CriteriaforenablingtheRRCconnectionrelease
The RNC calculates the averaged values from a specified number of periodic intra-frequency
measurement reports. Averaging is controlled with the CPICH Ec/No Averaging Window
(EcNoAveragingWindow) parameter.
Radio link failure
When a radio link in the active set loses uplink physical layer synchronization, the RNC deletes the radio
link (cell) from the active set if the uplink physical layer remains out of synchronization for a period of
time which is specified by an internal constant. After the radio link deletion procedure, the UE can start
sending reporting event 1A to the RNC to return the cell back to the active set.
If all radio links in the active set lose uplink synchronization, the RNC initiates either an RRC Connection
Re-establishment or an RRC Connection Release procedure. For more information, see WCDMA RAN
packet data transfer states.
Restart of intra-frequency CPICH Ec/No measurement without detected set reporting
If the handover control receives an RRC: MEASUREMENT CONTROL FAILURE message from the UE
upon the request to report detected set cells, the handover control restarts the intra-frequency CPICH
Ec/No measurement without the detected set reporting.
Functionality of intra-frequency hard handover

Intra-frequency hard handover is required to ensure handover between cells controlled by different
RNCs in situations when an inter-RNC soft handover is not possible, for example, because of Iur
congestion. Furthermore, the Enable Inter-RNC Soft Handover (EnableInterRNCsho) RNP parameter
determines whether the inter-RNC handover from the serving cell to a specified neighbor cell is
performed as a soft handover or as a hard handover. Exceptions with regards to the HSPA inter-RNC
cell change have been described in HSDPA mobility handling in.
The intra-frequency hard handover is controlled with the following RNP parameters:
Enable Inter-RNC Soft Handover (EnableInterRNCsho) determines whether or not the neighbor
cell can participate in a soft handover if it is controlled by an RNC other than the local RNC.
CPICH Ec/No Averaging Window (EcNoAveragingWindow) determines the number of eventtriggered periodic intra-frequency measurement reports from which the RNC calculates the
averaged CPICH Ec/No values.
HHO Margin for Average Ec/No (HHOMarginAverageEcNo) determines the maximum allowed
difference between the averaged CPICH Ec/No of the neighboring cell and the averaged CPICH
Ec/No of the best active cell in situations when an inter-RNC soft handover is not possible
between these cells.
HHO Margin for Peak Ec/No (HHOMarginPeakEcNo) determines the maximum allowed difference
between the CPICH Ec/No of the neighbor cell and the CPICH Ec/No of the best active cell in
situations when an inter-RNC soft handover is not possible between these cells.
The RNC makes the intra-frequency hard handover decision on the basis of event-triggered periodic
intra-frequency measurement reports, which are usually applied to soft handover, and the abovementioned control parameters. The UE proceeds to the periodic measurement reporting if the RNC
cannot add the requested cell into the active set.
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The handover decision is based on the downlink Ec/No of the best cell in the active set, downlink Ec/No
of the neighbor cell and handover margins which are used as a threshold to prevent repetitive hard
handovers between cells. The measurement results of the neighbor cell must satisfy one of the following
two equations before the intra-frequency hard handover is possible:
AveEcNoDownlink + HHOMarginForAverageEcNo (n) < AveEcNoNcell (n)
or
EcNoDownlink + HHOMarginForPeakEcNo (n) < EcNoNcell (n)
The measurement results in the equations are defined as follows:
Variable
Description
AveEcNoDownlink
AverageddownlinkEc/Noofthebest
cellintheactiveset
AveEcNoNcell(n)
AverageddownlinkEc/Noofthe
neighborcell(n)
EcNoDownlink
DownlinkEc/Noofthebestcellinthe
activeset
EcNoNcell(n)
DownlinkEc/Nooftheneighborcell
Table14:
Measurementresultcriteriaforintrafrequencyhardhandover
The RNC calculates the averaged Ec/No values from a specified number of periodical intra-frequency
measurement reports. Averaging is controlled with the CPICH Ec/No Averaging Window
(EcNoAveragingWindow). The maximum allowed difference between the averaged or peak CPICH power
level of the neighboring cell (n) and that of the best active set cell is defined with a parameter in situations
when the RNC cannot perform an inter-RNC soft handover between these cells. If the difference in the
averaged or peak Ec/No values exceeds the value of the relevant parameter, the RNC performs an intrafrequency hard handover to avoid excessive uplink interference because of fast closed loop power control
that is no longer optimal.
Time interval between hard handover attempts

The RNC does not set any limit for the minimum interval between the inter-RNC intra-frequency hard
handovers. However, to prevent repetitive unsuccessful inter-RNC intra-frequency hard handover
attempts to the same target cell, the RNC determines a time interval during which an intra-frequency
hard handover to the cell in question is not allowed. The length of the interval is fixed 2 seconds for
emergency calls. Otherwise the length of the interval depends on the number of unsuccessful hard
handover attempts related to the same target cell during the same RRC connection. This interval
increases 2 seconds per unsuccessful hard handover attempt (to the same target cell during the same
RRC connection), up to the maximum of 10 seconds. The RNC determines the interval in the following
way:
TIME_INTERVAL = min (10 seconds, NUMBER_OF HHO_FAILS * 2 seconds)
Related information
Descriptions
Handover control
Types of handovers
DN03471612
Id:0900d805809836c6
2013NokiaSiemensNetworks
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Functionality of Intra-Frequency Handover

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Functionality of Intra-Frequency Handover

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2/4/2558

Functionality of intra-frequency handover

Functionality of soft handover

Reporting event 1A for adding cells to the active set

The variables in the formula are defined as follows:

Reporting event 1B for deleting cells from the active set

The variables in the formula are defined as follows:

Reporting event 1C for replacing cells in the active set

Event-triggered periodic intra-frequency measurement reporting

Time-to-trigger mechanism for modifying measurement reporting behavior

Identification of an intra-frequency cell

Soft handover based on detected set reporting

Softer handover between cells within one base station

Inter-RNC soft and softer handover

Cell individual offsets for modifying measurement reporting behavior

Mechanism for forbidding a cell to affect the reporting range

Function in abnormal conditions

EcNoDownlink + ReleaseMarginforPeakEc/No (n) < EcNoNcell (n)

Functionality of intra-frequency hard handover

Time interval between hard handover attempts

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