RSSI troubleshooting

South East Region

July 17, 2007

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RSSI Troubleshooting
Purpose of this presentation

The purpose of this presentation is to point out the main sources that are
susceptible to cause 3G UL interference, as well as the best practices that can help
finding and solving them.

The UL RSSI counters are Ericsson performance indicators designed to identify

cells that experience abnormal high or low interference levels. Site visits might still
be required and could potentially provide additional important information

The site design and parameter configurations play an important part in RSSI
troubleshooting. Components that impact the UL RSSI are, for example:

Indoor Distributed Antenna System (DAS)

Ericsson Diplexer-Duplexer units (DDU)

Receive Antenna Interface Tray (RX-AIT)

Enhanced Uplink (EUL) represents an important step towards mobile broadband

services. Ensuring the UL interference is kept under control, will ensure no serious
limitation exists over services performance in P5MD.

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RSSI Troubleshooting
Some Frequent Asked Questions
What is UL RSSI?

Received Signal Strength Indicator of the total wideband received power within
the entire channel bandwidth

Note that RSSI does not distinguish between own, other, or any other unwanted
internal or external interference

How is UL RSSI measured in the Ericsson system?

The RSSI is measured every 100 ms. An average value is then calculated every
second and stored as a PDF step range, [65] long (-110 to -65 dBm, with the
resolutions 0.5 dBm and 5 dBm).

Counter pmaverageRSSI, MO Class Carrier and incremented on the RBS level

How high is the actual noise floor for an unloaded system?

Page 3

The expected uplink interference level in an unloaded system is given by thermal

noise (kTB = -174 dBm/Hz) plus the ASC Noise Figure of the Node B (~2 dB)

Thus the Receiver Noise Density = -174 + 2 = -172 dBm/Hz.

The total effective noise = -172 + 10*log(3,840,000) = -106 dBm

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RSSI Troubleshooting
Some Frequent Asked Questions (continue)
What impact will my traffic load have on the RSSI?
If the system load (Mpole) is increased to 50%, a 3dB Noise rise can be expected
Noise rise [dB]

Loading

This means we can expect a uplink interference level of -106 + 3 = -103 dBm

How does the system configurable parameters affect the RSSI?

Page 4

No TMA: ValueReported = ValueMeasured in RBS + ULAttenuationMO:AntFeederCable

With TMA: ValueReported = ValueMeasured in RBS + ULAttenuationMO:AntFeederCable

ULGainMO:ExternalTMA

So if we assume a RBS without a TMA, and the ULAttenuation set to 3 dB, then
we should investigate if the RSSI increase over -103 + 3 = -100 dBm
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RSSI Troubleshooting
What is new in P5MD?

RBS P5ED
Ne
w

Ne
w

Page 5

October 25, 2016

RNC P5MD

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RBS P5MD

RSSI Troubleshooting
Selecting sites for troubleshooting
Investigate sites with reported RSSI values outside the normal* range:
*The normal range depends on the market design and traffic load

Low RSSI
This example site is considered deaf
since all samples are below -110 dBm
Normal

High RSSI
This example site has to many high RSSI
samples
Page 6

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RSSI Troubleshooting
Low RSSI
Possible reasons for sites experiencing a Low UL RSSI
1.

No IP communication (unable to ftp xml from the site)

2.

Component failures:
i.

Cable, connectors and/or diplexers

ii.

Antenna

iii. TMA
iv. RX-AIT
v.

Distributed antenna system (DAS)

3.

Incorrect parameter settings

4.

Incorrect installation

Sites that are not integrated or locked, wont show any counter values

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Case L1
TMA not powered

Notes
The TMA power to this
site was not enabled,
causing a low RSSI.
This was corrected on
6/19

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RSSI Troubleshooting
High RSSI
Possible reasons for sites experiencing a High UL RSSI
1.

Internal Causes
i.

RBS Internal Interference (Case H1)

ii.

Faulty diplexers (Case H2, H3)

iii. Faulty Antenna/TMA (Case H4)

iv. Incorrect parameter settings (Case H5)
v.

Incorrect installation (Case H6, H7, H8, H9)

vi. Traffic load (Case H10)

2.

External Causes
i.

GSM Interference (Case H11)

ii.

High sites (Case 12)

iii. External interference (Case 13)

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Case H1
RBS Internal Interference

Notes
In order to eliminate possible interference
created internally to the RBS, the RF
jumper ports can be connected to a
spectrum analyzer or a dummy load
If the RSSI values of the site returns to
normal, it means interference is generated
external to the RBS
In case of the RBS3202, the set of
connectors H1, H2 and H3 are related to Rx
Diversity, while J1, J2 and J3 are the ones
with Tx/Rx combined. In the case of the
RBS3206, the lower cables are the ones
with the Rx Diversity, while the upper ones
are the Tx/Rx branch

Page 10

October 25, 2016

RF Cable connection

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Case H2
Faulty Diplexers

SFL RSSI tracker during Rollout

Notes
A faulty diplexer can cause
unwanted interference on
the uplink.

Vs.

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Vs.

After

Before

After

Before

After

Before

The SFL team found a specific

RSS diplexer model that
increased the uplink
interference. Once these were
replaced, the UL RSSI
recovered

Vs.

Case H3
Faulty Diplexers

Notes
The Tampa team
found a bad
diplexer on 6/9,
and replaced it.
The average RSSI
remained within
the normal range
afterward

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Case H4
Faulty Antenna/TMA

Notes
A TMA or an Antenna can also be a source of
interference. TMAs are usually replaced, while
Antennae dont typically fail.

TMA

Troubleshooting can commence using dummy

loads and/or a spectrum analyzer to
isolated the source of interference

RBS

Page 13

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Case H5
Incorrect parameter settings

Notes
When using a RX-AIT or/and a TMA, it is
important to ensure the configurations are
set correctly in the RBS
Typically, the RX-AIT uplink gain is 10 dB
for 1900 MHz and 20 dB for 850 MHz. The
attenuator loss is typically 4 dB, unless it is
a 850 MHz installation with a TMA, where the
attenuation will be 15 dB

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Case H5
Incorrect parameter settings

6 dB

A Cluster in Charlotte got the

ULAttenuator values fixed to
include the 6 dB gain

6 dB

If a site reports 6 dB lower

RSSI than other cells, it
could be that that RX-AIT is
down

Page 15

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Case H5
Incorrect parameter settings
System configuration calculations
DlAttenuationMO:AntFeederCable = Feeder_Loss + RXAIT_Losses_DL
TMA

ULAttenuationMO:AntFeederCable = Feeder_Loss + RXAIT_Losses_UL RXAIT_Gain

DlAttenuationMO:ExternalTma = TMA_Ins_Loss
ULGainMO:ExternalTma = 12 dB (typical value)
DlAttenuationMO:AntFeederCable = Feeder_Loss + RXAIT_Losses_DL + Jumper_loss

TMA

ULAttenuationMO:AntFeederCable = Feeder_Loss + RXAIT_Losses_UL + Jumper_loss

ULGainMO:ExternalTma = RXAIT_Gain (need to define the TMA object)
DlAttenuationMO:AntFeederCable = Feeder_loss

Page 16

TMA

UlAttenuationMO:AntFeederCable = Feeder_Loss

DlAttenuationMO:ExternalTMA = TMA_Ins_Loss

TMA

DlAttenuationMO:AntFeederCable = Feeder_loss + Jumper_loss

October 25, 2016

ULGainMO:ExternalTma = 12 dB (typical value)

UlAttenuationMO:AntFeederCable = Feeder_Loss + Jumper_loss

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Case H6
Faulty installation

Notes
During the design of the
antenna sharing solution it
was identified that the RX
path to the UMTS receiver
would require 15dB
attenuation to prevent the
receivers from being over
powered.
These attenuators were
never installed for this
example site. This resulted
in the average RSSI of
-88dBm on all affected
sectors.

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Case H7
Faulty installation
Notes
The Tampa team added the
correct attenuator pads, and
this moved the UL RSSI to the
expected range

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Case H8
Faulty installation
Notes
This Atlanta design called for an
attenuator to be installed with the
Distributed Antenna System (DAS).
This was never completed,
resulting in a high UL RSSI

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Case H9
Faulty installation
Notes
This site example had cabling
problems affecting GSM as
well. The Tampa team
corrected it, and this restored
the UL RSSI

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Case H10
Impact of Traffic load on the UL Interference

Increase in RSSI

Notes
If the noise rise is
higher than 3-4 dB
while the load is less
than 50-60%, then
further investigation
should be performed.
Neighboring cells and
external interference
are examples that may
cause the increase

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Case H11
GSM Interference
200kHz GSM spikes
will impact the RTWP
on UMTS

TelCel, a mexican
operator, was using the
same band as Cingulars
UMTS network

Mexican border

High interference
Page 22

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Case H11

12:00 AM

11:00 PM

10:00 PM

9:00 PM

8:00 PM

7:00 PM

6:00 PM

5:00 PM

4:00 PM

3:00 PM

2:00 PM

1:00 PM

12:00 PM

11:00 AM

10:00 AM

9:00 AM

8:00 AM

7:00 AM

6:00 AM

5:00 AM

4:00 AM

3:00 AM

2:00 AM

1:00 AM

GSM Interference (continue)

-85.00
-87.00
-89.00
-91.00
-93.00
-95.00

-96.13

-96.13
-97.13

-97.00
-99.52

-99.00
-101.00

-99.23

-98.73

-101.57

-103.00

-101.82
-103.42

Notes

-105.00
UL RSSI measured by sites experiencing GSM interference
Ave. UL RSSI measured by sites with configuration issues
Ave. Network UL RSSI

Page 23

-99.33

October 25, 2016

Narrow band GSM

interference is easily identified
by the fact that the reported
UL RSSI follows a similar
pattern to the GSM traffic
profile

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Case H12
High sites

Mount Soledad High site (2400ft)

Notes
High sites normally share the
tower with multiple
technologies. Unwanted
coupling is always a risk if
minimum separation between
antennas are not maintained.
Containing this site is almost
impossible due to its relative
height. This sector was
measuring UL RSSI at -97dBm
while the surrounding sites
were reporting the noise floor
at -104dBm.

Page 24

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Case H13
External interference

San Antonio
Notes
More than 280 sectors
were affected in San
Antonio
Ave. RSSI was
generally acceptable,
but the No. samples
>= -90.5 to -90 dBm
indicated that there
was an external
interferer present

1500 ft broadcast tower was

identified as the cause for this
network wide harmonic interferer
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Conclusions
Summary

High and Low UL RSSI measurements usually points towards a

problem within the system setup or equipment functionality
Hourly and daily statistics can help to indicate if the interference
is constant, or trend with 2G and/or 3G traffic load
It is important to ensure all system parameters and the
installation are implemented correctly, before searching for an
external interferer

Page 26

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