Physical Cell ID Planning

GAURAV GOYAL
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gaurav-goyal-45404326/
 Background

Creating an initial PCI plan that eliminates conflicts and collisions is not an arduous task. Most
planning tools provide features for this type of planning and allow users to consider different
planning techniques or approaches. The problems arise with real networks, particularly those
with active SON neighbor relation applications. Introduction of new cells, or changes from SON
actualizations, can create conflicts. With continually evolving networks and neighbor relations,
a full re-plan for each scenario or change is just not feasible. Problems may go undetected or
perceived as a result of other changes, allowing PCI conflicts/collisions to remain unresolved.
Knowing there is a potential problem and resolving it quickly require daily auditing of current
configurations, both neighbor relations and PCIs.

PCI planning is one of the most important things to understand while planning an LTE
network and it is usually left untouched in most of the LTE manuals and text-books. The PCI
is decoded using the SSS and the PSS and can be given by the following equation

PCI = 3*SSS + PSS

Where, PSS = 0,1,2

SSS = 0,1,2, . . . . 167

PCI = 0,1,2, . . . . 503

So, if SSS is equal to 5 and PSS is equal to 1 then the PCI would be 16. A basic rule of thumb is
that the neighboring cells should not have the same “PSS” value. Usually, a site with 3 cells
use same SSS value but different PSS value such that the PCIs for cell 1,2 and 3 will be 0,1
and 2.

Within the cell, the channels are scrambled using the PCI which means that the PCI serves as
the seed for the cell’s permutation algorithm. That’s why, the UE has to decode the PSS and
SSS before reading any other channel as it needs to get the PCI which tells about the
permutation used in the cell.

Study

The level of impact to performance varies greatly for PCI problems. Direct collisions, two
neighbor cells with same PCI, are infrequent and typically caught at time of PCI implementation.
Automatic Neighbor Relation (ANR) planning modules may address these types of issues and
prevent neighbor relations from being added. Typically called blacklisting. However, even with
OSS safeguards and SON ANR algorithms checking for these problems, they do occur. A more
prevalent issue is PCI confusion – where a cell has 2 neighbor cells with the same PCI value. This
impact handover performance as mobiles are ‘confused’ by the two PCI values and can only
initiate handover to one of them. Where the selected cell is NOT the correct relation,
performance impacts can range from poor quality to abnormal releases (drops). For some
operators, engineering resources may be assigned full time to specifically monitor PCI
configurations and plan changes.

The first step to resolving any problem is knowing there is an issue to begin with. An automated
daily audit, with data directly from the OSS configuration files, provides the clear picture of
frequency and severity of problems. Mapping of confusions and collisions with weighting by
neighbor interactions assists with prioritizing the resolutions. These may include simple
neighbor definition clean-up or PCI changes.

After identifying the problems, market engineers can utilize the planning module to determine
a new PCI plan for the problem cells.
Findings

To isolate impact of changes to PCI, cells were changed on a one-by-one basis. The planner was
utilized to find new values for each problem cell. Changes were implemented over the course of
a few days. On a per-cell basis the largest improvement was seen in RACH Setup Completion
success rate. RACH Setup Completion jumped from 88% to nearly 100% with the
implementation of a new, clean, PCI value.
 Rules for PCI Planning:-
Rule#1 Usage of same PCI

Since we have 504 PCIs so this rule is usually not difficult to follow.

 The same site should not use the same PCI again on the same frequency
 The NBRs of the site should not have the same PCI on the same frequency
 Ideally, two NBRs of the site should not have same PCI between them. For instance, Cell-A
has NBR Cell-B and Cell-C and both of them have the same frequency, then the PCI of Cell-
B and Cell-C should not be identical. This is difficult to maintain in a LTE network but this
issue can cause PCI confusion and handover failures

Rule#2 PCI mod3 & mod6

let’s dig a bit deeper and understand how different vendors do the PCI planning. One
approach is to use the same group (same SSS) on one site (3 sector sites) which is the PCI-
Modulus3 planning technique. This is much similar to what is depicted in the Figure (above).
The PCI is also used to indicate the location of RS along the frequency axis. Consider that the
PCI=X will have the RS located at the first sub-carrier then the PCI=X+1 will move the RS
downwards by one sub-carrier and PCI=X+2 will move it down by another sub-carrier. The
point to note is that there are 2 RS per RB per antenna port in the 1st OFDM symbol. But
there are another 2 RS for the second antenna port on the same symbol. These 2 RS are
zero-powered (also known as DTX – discontinuous transmission) on the first antenna port.
So, when the PCI is changed to X+3, then the RS for antenna port0 moves to the same
position as RS for antenna port1 of the PCI=X. This means that for every PCI=X, any other PCI
with value of X+3(n) – where “n” is an integer, will have a collision on Reference Signal
between the two ports. This is known as the PCI mod3 issue.

However, if the system is only a single port system like most of the IBS systems, then the PCI
mod3 will not impact because there will be no reference signals on the second port. Instead,
the rule will change to PCI mod6.

An important point to remember is that most of the FDD LTE networks are not time
synchronized between sites so the symbols do not usually overlap in time. Therefore, for
FDD systems, this rule is not as important as it is for TDD LTE systems which are always time
synchronized.

Rule#3 PCI mod30

Just like in downlink, every 3rd or 6th PCI collides on the reference signals, every 30th PCI
has the same pattern of uplink reference signals. In uplink, the reference signals are present
in the central symbol of the slot and their pattern or base sequence repeats for every 30th
PCI. In case, two adjacent cells have same PCI mod30, then the cell can have difficulty in
decoding which can result in higher block error rate in uplink. However, this is not a critical
issue and very rarely observed in the commercial networks.
Rule#4 PCFICH collisions

In LTE, the PCFICH is one of the channels that gets its location determined based on the PCI.
This also means that every PCFICH will repeat its position for some PCIs. Basic rule is that
every 50th PCI will have same location of PCFICH for 20MHz channel while every 25th PCI
will have same location of PCFICH for 10MHz channels. Such a scenario can cause decoding
failures or higher block error rate on PCFICH and since PCFICH is required to decode PDCCH
so it can cause DTX (decoding failure of grants on PDCCH).

But once again it is difficult to observe in FDD systems and another fact that most of the
documents overlook is that PCFICH consists of 4REGs. Each REG has 4 REs but we have
reference signals in a LTE system after every 2 REs. So, each PCFICH REG will have Reference
Signals embedded inside and that means that 2 PCFICHs usually do not overlap each other
completely.

Rule#5 SSS Correlation Issue

There is another known rule that is not really considered as it has no evident impact but I
thought it is worth mentioning. As explained, each PCI is made up of PSS and SSS. Each SSS is
made up of two length-31 binary m-sequences (m0 and m1) but since SSS are 168 in count so
these length-31 sequences are bound to repeat. So, each time m0 or m1 repeat itself, the
overall correlation between those 2 SSS values is much higher – in other words such SSS can
interfere with each other. As an example, SSS value of 9 can have interference with 10 other
SSS values.

However, this type of interference has no effect on KPIs and if the UE fails to decode SSS in
first sub frame, it can still decode it in the 6th sub frame as SSS repeats twice within 10ms.
So, such an issue, if observed might delay network entry by 5 to 10 ms which does not have
any considerable impact.
 5G NR PCI Planning
Each 5G NR cell corresponds to a Physical Cell ID (PCI) and it is used to distinguish cells on the
radio side. The PCI planning for 5G NR is very much similar to PCI planning for LTE and scrambling
code planning for 3G UMTS. Bad or wrong planning can affect the synchronization procedure,
demodulation, and handover signaling and degrade the network performs. PCI Planning should
be simpler for NR compare to LTE because there are double as many PCIs available for allocation.

In 5G New Radio, there are 1008 unique PCIs compare to LTE 504 PCIs and it is given by following
formulation

where

 N (1) ID = Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS) and its range is from {0, 1….335}
 N (2) ID = Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS) and its range is from {0, 1, 2}
5G Network PCI Planning Principles

5G PCI planning should be done keeping following thing in mind

 Avoiding PCI Collision: As part this principle of network planning, neighboring cells cannot
be allocated the same PCI. If neighboring cells are allocated the same PCI, only one of the
neighboring cells can be synchronized during the initial cell searching in the overlapping
area. However, the cell may not be the most appropriate one. This phenomenon is called
collision. So the physical separation between cells using the same PCI should be sufficient
to ensure the UE never received the same PCI from more than one cell. This can be
achieved by maximizing the re-use distance for PCI.
o PCI collision can result delay in DL synchronization in overlapping zone
o High BLER and decoding failure of physical channels scrambled using PCI
o Handover failures

Avoiding PCI Confusion: Under this principle of network planning, two neighboring cells of one
cell cannot be allocated with the same PCI. If they are allocated the same PCI, the base station
will not know which is the target cell upon a handover request of a UE. This shall create a
confusion situation. The approach while allocating PCI should be such that a cell should not
have multiple neighbors using the same PCI and the physical separation between the cells using
the same PCI should be sufficient large enough to avoid neighbor confusions
Minimizing Impact on network performance: Based on the design of different Physical layer
signals (PSS, DMRS & SRS), channels (PUSCH, PUCCH) and time-frequency allocation, PCI
planning must consider following Mod to reduce interference. As per this Mod Principle UE
should not be able to simultaneously receive multiple PCI with following modes:


o
 PCI Mod 3
 PCI Mod 4
 PCI Mod 30
o Example of “Mod 3 PCI” the neighboring cell should be allocated PCI 25 and 28
because both has Mod 3 as value 1
 Why Mode 3: PCI Mod 3 rule is based on relationship between PCI and sequence
generated by PSS. There are 3 PSS (0, 1, and 2) which are reused across the network. The
cells having same ‘PCI Mode 3’ result will use the same PSS and simulation results has
shown that if UE receive same PSS from multiple cell result in delay in cell acquisition and
misleading channel estimation. Over all it will impact on synchronization delay and user
experience.
 Why Mode 4: PCI Mod 4 rule is based on subs-carrier positions of DMRS for PBCH. The
subcarriers are allocated to DMRS using ‘Mod 4’ computation. If neighboring cell use PCI
having same Mod 4 value, shall result in DMRS to DMRS interference.
 Why Mode 30: DMRS for PUCCH/PUSCH and SRS based on the ZC sequence, 30 groups of
roots. The roots are associated with the PCI, hence the neighbor cell should not have PCIs
having same Mod 30 value to ensure the uplink inter cell interference.
Conclusion
The rapidly changing nature of wireless networks, through growth and SON-initiated
modifications, creates a challenge for maintaining a clean PCI plan. Negative performance
impacts from confusions and collisions can sneak into the network and remain unresolved
without a regular audit and ad-hoc, quick re-plan of values. Even minor degradation of
performance contribute to overall customer perception and keeping the network PCI plan clean
ensures engineering resources are focused on higher level problems.