RX Issues - RF Job Aid
RX Issues - RF Job Aid
RX Issues - RF Job Aid
Purpose
▪ The purpose of this audit is to identify cells with degraded UL performance caused by Rx
issues detected by abnormal received power in UL (Hot/Cold/Imbalance /Antenna Line
Down).
▪ This document explains the logic behind the audit, the possible root causes and suggests
troubleshooting steps.
Issue Name KPIs Ericsson LTE FDD KPIs Nokia LTE FDD
Hot Rx Power Av_Noise_and_Interf_Pwr_antenna1,2,3,4 Average RTWP Rx Antenna1,2,3,4
Issue Name KPIs Ericsson LTE TDD KPIs Nokia LTE TDD
Hot Rx Power TDD_Noise and Interference Power on PUSCH (dBm) – New Ave of (AVG_RTWP_RX_POLAR_1 to 16)
Cold Rx Power
2- Make sure all antenna lines are configured with the same electrical tilt. Some antennas
have 2 RETs for the same cell and they need to be configured with same value (especially
important in Rx Imbalance cases).
3- Check for possible crossed sectors (antenna lines of same cell going to different physical
sectors). This can be identified by mixed best server samples on both sectors (Starling,
TrueCall or Drive test best server plot) and is especially important in Rx Imbalance cases.
4- Check the UL pattern in FALCON UL spectrum analysis to determine if issue looks more
like PIM, externa interference or configuration issue.
5- Check RTWP or N&I in One Data for a period of 1 year or more and determinate date
when issue started.
6- Check if other cells of the site are also impacted, this will help you with identification of
the root cause.
7- If UL pattern indicates external interference, check in One Data which time of the day
interference is more critical. Coordinate interference hunting for the critical time of the
day. Keep in mind that UL received power to increase with traffic.
8- Search for registered Class B repeaters in the county that might be causing the problem:
Signal Boosters - Part 90 Class B Signal Booster Registration & Discovery (fcc.gov)
9- TMA Check. Look at TMA design in the RFDS (if you are unsure about the RFDS accuracy,
check the TMA configuration on the close out package).
a. Cell has no TMA → Jump to step 17
b. Cell has an External TMA (TMA Configured on UMTS or GSM) → Jump to step 16
c. Cell has an ATMA (TMA Configured in LTE with AISG interface) → Proceed to next step
11- Check if TMA is powered by only one technology and one branch. Multiple sources of
power can disable the TMA.
a. Nokia → Element manager
b. get antennaNearUnit rfPortRef (for the LTE side)
12- Confirm the Operational status of the TMA, should be Unlock & Enabled.
a. Nokia → Element manager
b. Ericsson → get antennaNearUnit=[2,4] (if TMA is powered by another technology, even
if antennaNearUnit is created on DISABLED, the eNb won’t consider the TMA gain for
that antenna line, even if correctly referenced. This is why only solution in this case is
the GOLDEN FEEDER configuration on LTE side.
14- Check which band is supported by each tmaSubUnit according to the follow cheat sheet
Model Vendor Product Number Style Type Modularity TmaSubUnit=1 TmaSubUnit=2 TmaSubUnit=3 TmaSubUnit=4
Style 2 - ETT19V2S12UB Commscope E15S08P78 Style 2 Uniplex Twin PCS AWS
Style 3B - ETD19V2S12UB Commscope E15S09P91 Style 3B Diplex Single PCS AWS
Style 4 - ETM19V2S12UB Commscope E15S09P84 Style 4 Diplex Single PCS AWS
Twin Style 1A - ETW190VS12UB Commscope E15S09P94 Style 1A Uniplex Twin PCS PCS
Twin Style 1A - TMAT19-11-43 Commscope E14R00P13 Style 1A Uniplex Twin PCS PCS
Twin Style 1B - ETW200VS12UB Commscope E15S08P80 Style 1B Uniplex Twin AWS AWS
Twin Style 1BX - TMAT21-11-43 Commscope E14R00P14 Style 1BX Uniplex Twin AWS AWS
Twin Style 1BX - TMAT21X-11A Commscope E15S07P29 Style 1BX Uniplex Twin AWS AWS
Twin Style 1C - TMAT7LABC-11A Commscope E15R02P43 Style 1C Uniplex Twin 700 700
Twin Style 3C - TMAT1921B78-21A Commscope E15Z01P33 Style 3C Diplex Twin PCS AWS PCS AWS
Twin Style 3CX - TMAT1921B68-21-43 Commscope E14R00P09 Style 3CX Diplex Twin PCS AWS PCS AWS
Twin Style 3CX - TMAT1921XB68-21A Commscope E15Z01P39 Style 3CX Diplex Twin PCS AWS PCS AWS
Twin Style 3EX - TMAT7L1921X-21A Commscope E15Z01P65 Style 3EX Diplex Twin 700 PCS/AWS 700 PCS/AWS
Twin Style 4 - TMA-S-DB1921-DD-A Commscope E15S09P45 Style 4 Diplex Twin PCS AWS PCS AWS
Style 1A - KRY 112 37 Ericsson KRY11237 Style 1A Uniplex Single GSM PCS
Style 1A - KRY 112 71 Ericsson KRY11271 Style 1A Uniplex Single GSM PCS
Style 1A - KRY 112 89/1 Ericsson KRY11289/1 Style 1A Uniplex Twin PCS PCS
Twin Style 1A - KRY 112 489/2 Ericsson KRY112489/2 Style 1A Uniplex Twin PCS PCS
Twin Style 1B - KRY 112 144/1 Ericsson KRY112144/1 Style 1B Uniplex Twin AWS AWS
Twin Style 1BX - KRY 112 144/2 Ericsson KRY112144/2 Style 1BX Uniplex Twin AWS AWS
Twin Style 1C - KRY 112 212/1 Ericsson KRY112212/1 Style 1C Uniplex Twin 700 700
Twin Style 3CA - KRY 112 213/1 Ericsson KRY112213/1 Style 3CA Uniplex Twin AWS AWS
Twin Style 3CP - KRY 112 214/1 Ericsson KRY112214/1 Style 3CP Uniplex Twin PCS PCS
Style 1A - ATM192012-0 RFS ATM192012-0 Style 1A Duplex Twin PCS PCS
Style 2 - ATMAP1412D-1A20 RFS ATMAP1412D-1A20 Style 2 Duplex Twin AWS PCS
Style 2 - ATMAP-1A20 RFS ATMAP-1A20 Style 2 Duplex Twin AWS PCS
Style 2X - ATMA3P-1A20 RFS ATMA3P-1A20 Style 2X Duplex Twin AWS PCS
Style 2X - ATMA4P-VA20 RFS ATMA4P-VA20 Style 2X Duplex Single AWS PCS
Style 4 - ATMA3P4-1A20 RFS ATMA3P4-1A20 Style 4 Diplex Single AWS PCS
Style 4 - ATMAP4-1A20 RFS ATMA4P4-1A20 Style 4 Diplex Single AWS PCS
Twin Style 1A - ATM1900D-1A20 RFS ATM1900D-1A20 Style 1C Duplex Twin PCS PCS
Twin Style 1B - ATMAA1412D-1A20 RFS ATMAA1412D-1A20 Style 1B Duplex Twin AWS AWS
Twin Style 1B - ATMAWSD-1A20 RFS ATMAWSD-1A20 Style 1B Duplex Twin AWS AWS
Twin Style 1BX - ATMA4D-VA20 RFS ATMA4D-VA20 Style 1BX Duplex Single AWS AWS
Twin Style 1C - ATM700LD-1A20 RFS ATM700LD-1A20 Style 1C Duplex Twin 700 700
Twin Style 3CX - ATMA4P4DBP-1A20 RFS ATMA4P4DBP-1A20 Style 3CX Diplex Twin PCS AWS PCS AWS
15- Make sure all cell RF Branches/Antenna lines are referenced to the correct tmaSubUnits
(make sure tmaSubUnit supports the cell frequency band):
a. Nokia: Element Manager
b. Ericsson: get rfBranch tmaRef
16- Check if Radio Unit is “aware” of the TMA presence by looking at the gainUl value:
a. Nokia: Element Manger
b. Ericsson: get gainUL (RU LNA Gain= 17 - TMA Gain + ulattenuation)
17- If cell is configured with an external TMA (TMA configured on UMTS or GSM side):
a. Check if TMA is powered and correctly defined on UMTS/GSM
b. Nokia: Make sure there is a Passive TMA defined on LTE site.
Ericsson: configure ulttenuation to GOLDEN FEEDER according to FALCON cable
loss calculator (ulattenuation = cable loss - External TMA Gain 12dB)
19- If no issue found proceed with site reset during Maintenance Window.
21- If suspecting of PIM issue perform RF Sniffing (Nokia) or activate AILG feature (Ericsson)
to confirm suspicious before sending FOPs to the field.
o For Nokia sites with AirScale 2.0radios consider activating feature LTE2863 - PIM
Cancellation. All and only AirScale radios support this feature (radio modules starting w/
“AH”).
o Algorithm correlates transmitted signal in the same antenna port with received signal,
detected intermodulation distortion and cancels it. As consequence only PIM originated
from same radio module can be canceled.
Abbreviated Name MO Class Baseline GUI Baseline Int Trial Value GUI Trial Value Int
actPimCancellation RMOD FALSE 0 TRUE 1
pimCancellingEnabled RMOD TRUE 1 TRUE 1
intPIMLevelMeasurementMajorThreshold RMOD -130 -130 -30 -30
intPIMLevelMeasurementMinorThreshold RMOD -140 -140 -35 -35
22- If nothing is found open a trouble ticker for FOPs to check for hardware and/or PIM
issues
23- FOPs technicians should run the LTE RSSI Toolkit (Appendix A) before and after the field
work to confirm the real time Rx power measurements.
24- Ask FOPS to inspect coaxial cables and jumpers, antenna and surroundings. Look for any
objects causing obstruction, or any metal objects close to the antenna surroundings that
can cause reflection/PIM.
b. If VSWR sweeps are ok, sweep and verify each individual item (e.g. At the radio
head, the jumper from the radio head to the diplexer, the jumper from the
diplexer to the mainline, etc.). Replace any defective component. For bad
connectors found, have a tower crew replace it with PPC/JMA connectors only.
25- Diplexed U19 - PIM recommended troubleshooting steps ( Roof Top / Tower Top)
Ant Line Down or Wrong Mimo Configuration- Suggested troubleshooting steps
1- Check on RFDS how many antenna lines are physically present in the sector.
2- Check the number of antenna lines with RTWP/N&I measurements (OneData or INVXR
command for E//).
3- If number of antenna lines reporting Rx measurements is less than the number of
configured antenna lines, try site reset or recommissioning to resolve the issue.
4- Check if Mimo is configured correctly.
5- If Mimo is incorrect fix the Mimo configuration.
2- If site has a TMA make sure TMA is properly configured and powered (steps 8 to 16 above).
a. Ericsson:
i. If TMA is defined in LTE make sure not to use golden feeder at the same
time.
ii. If TMA is defined in LTE make sure rfbranches are referenced to the
correct. tmasubunit. Common issue causing Cold Rx Power are Non AWS
branches mapped to AWS tmasubunits, Non PCS branches mapped to PCS
subunits and so on.
KPIs Impacted
The KPI impact of Rx Power issues vary greatly from case to case as they depend on multiple
factors as the cause of the issue (Pim, interference, defective hardware, etc.), severity, traffic
pattern, cell resource availability in UL, UL link budget and so on.
Correlation studies have shown the following KPIs as the most commonly impacted:
▪ UL UE Throughput
▪ UL SINR
▪ UL MCS
▪ UL Retransmissions
▪ No HARQ Response to PDCCH allocation
▪ Power Headroom
▪ Volte UL and DL Packet Loss
▪ Volte UL and DL BLER
▪ Volte and Data AFR
Examples of cases fixed
Appendix 1
Algorithm to flag cells with Rx issues (LTE)
Remove DAS (RFDS:Type + list provided by markets) and Pico Cells (SiteName ends with W or WA)
Remove AAFIAs (RFDS Antenna Type or Radio Modules = AAIB or AAFB)
Remove cells where LNCEL_FDD:actSdlc = True (Nokia)
Remove cells where Ericsson: EUtranCellFDD:isDlOnly = True (Ericsson)
Remove Nokia antenna lines measurement (average of whole period 7 days) equal to “0”, “#NAME?” and “-130s”
Remove Ericsson antenna lines measurement (average of whole period 7 days) equal to “Null(-Infinity)”
measurements from Ericsson
Remove TDD cells where TDD_Noise and Interference Power on PUSCH (dBm) – New = 0 as those are not valid
measurements.
Remove Nokia and Ericsson antenna line measurement (average of whole period 7 days) if the daily value in any of
the last 7 days is equal to “0”, “#NAME?”, “-130s” or “Null(-Infinity)”
If all antenna lines measurement > hot threshold for the given bandwidth for 3 or more days out of last 7 days and
one of the days above threshold is yesterday
Then
Hot Rx Power (Case 1)
If all antenna lines measurement < cold threshold for the given bandwidth for 3 or more days out of last 7 days and
one of the days below threshold is yesterday
Then
Cold Rx Power (Case 4)
--Next logic looks look at daily measurements only, 7 days whole period measurements are not used for this logic --
Or
If cell is Nokia
And
If count of antenna lines with valid measurements = 1 (antenna lines with 7 days of daily measurements after
excluding “Blanks”, “Zeros”, “#NAME?”, “-130s” and “(-Infinity)”)
And
If count of antenna lines with no data = 3 ( antenna lines with 0 days of daily measurements after excluding
“Blanks”, “Zeros”, “#NAME?”, “-130s” and “(-Infinity)”)
And
dlMimoMode is not = 0 (SingleTX) and is not “Blank”
Or
If cell is Nokia
And
If count of antenna lines with valid measurements = 2 (antenna lines with 7 days of daily measurements after
excluding “Blanks”, “Zeros”, “#NAME?”, “-130s” and “(-Infinity)”)
And
If count of antenna lines with no data = 2 ( antenna lines with 0 days of daily measurements after excluding
“Blanks”, “Zeros”, “#NAME?”, “-130s” and “(-Infinity)”)
And
dlMimoMode is not = 10: TXDiv nor 30: Dynamic Open Loop MIMO nor 40: Closed Loop Mimo nor “Blank”
nor dlMimoMode = 0: SingleTX (validated in Portland)
PS: not flagging cells with 4 antennas and Mimo=2x2 because we cannot say for sure Mimo is wrong in that case
because in some cases site has 4Rx and 2Tx due to baseband limitation. So market would need to check baseband
first (maybe we can flag this later)
Or
If cell is Ericsson
And
If count of antenna lines with valid measurements = 1 (antenna lines with 7 days of daily measurements after
excluding “Blanks”, “Zeros”, “#NAME?”, “-130s” and “(-Infinity)”)
And
If count of antenna lines with no data = 3 ( antenna lines with 0 days of daily measurements after excluding
“Blanks”, “Zeros”, “#NAME?”, “-130s” and “(-Infinity)”)
And
noOfRxAntennas = 2 or 4
Or
If cell is Ericsson
And
If count of antenna lines with valid measurements = 2 (antenna lines with 7 days of daily measurements after
excluding “Blanks”, “Zeros”, “#NAME?”, “-130s” and “(-Infinity)”)
And
If count of antenna lines with no data = 2 ( antenna lines with 0 days of daily measurements after excluding
“Blanks”, “Zeros”, “#NAME?”, “-130s” and “(-Infinity)”)
And
noOfRxAntennas = 1 or 4
then
Ant Line Down or Wrong Mimo Config (Case 2)
2. Run mos script on LTE site as below. It can take a few minutes to run
With TMA:
gainUL = (LNA_Gain – ulGain) + ulAttenuation = (17dB – 12dB) +
ulAttenuation
gainUL = 5 + ulAttenuation
Without TMA:
gainUL = LNA_Gain + ulAttenuation(negative) = 17dB +
ulAttenuation(negative)
Modem radio capability should be “On” at the device Status Readings from the
RU groups when a TMA is configured, otherwise the TMA is either not configured
to the right port or the Radio Unit might be faulty.
Modulation type should be OOK at the device Status Readings from the RU groups
when a TMA is configured, otherwise there might be a data corruption on the
node associated to the TMA object. Typically the re-creation of the TMA definition
might fix this problem.
Appendix 3
Possible Antenna Line Configuration
Appendix 4
TMA configurations types:
• Golden feeder TMA. This type of TMA is not supplied with DC from the RBS and can not
be monitored. It is modeled in the RfBranch MO. The parameters of the TMA are set in
the feeder characteristics instead of a separate TMA unit, which will lead to a feeder
gain instead of a loss.
• TMAs with an AISG 2.0 interface that communicates with the RBS on the antenna feeder
using the Iuant interface protocol. These TMAs can report gain values and fault
conditions to the RBS and also control RET equipment on a RS-485 interface. This TMA is
power supplied by the RBS and has the possibility to supply RET units with DC power.
These devices are modeled in the TMASubunit MO.
• External TMA-DC supplied. This TMA is DC supplied from the RBS but it doesn’t have any
communication capabilities. This TMA type will have its own managed Object (MO)
class, ExternalTma, including necessary information such as delay, gain and also if it is
possible how to supervise the unit and limits for the supervision.
Appendix 5
TMA MO Structure on LTE eNodeB:
ulTrafficDelayA: Internal uplink traffic delay in branch A in the form of tenths of nanoseconds.
Possible values: 0 to 2000. Recommended value: 300.
Mandatory if TMA or ATMA_AND_TMA is used, otherwise ignored.
ulTrafficDelayB: Internal uplink traffic delay in branch B in the form of tenths of nanoseconds.
currentLowLimA:
Indicates the lower current limit when LNA failure shall be reported for branch A.
When calculating the current limits to be used, the actual antenna configuration needs to be
considered. The current limits depend on if both branches are used for TMA power supply, or if
only branch B is used. For information on suitable threshold values, see the documentation for
the used external TMA.
Unit:1 mA
Range: 0 to 200, Default=50
Mandatory if tmaDegradedSupported = YES
currentLowLimB:
Indicates the lower current limit when LNA failure shall be reported for branch B. This attribute
is only valid for configurations with FU/RUW/RRUW for all frequency bands but 2100.
When calculating the current limits to be used, the actual antenna configuration needs to be
considered. The current limits depend on if both branches are used for TMA power supply, or if
only branch B is used. For information on suitable threshold values, see the documentation for
the used external TMA.
Unit: 1 mA
Range: 0 to 200, Default=50
Mandatory if tmaDegradedSupported = YES
currentHighLimA:
Indicates the higher current limit when LNA failure shall be reported for branch A. This attribute
is only valid for configurations with FU/RUW/RRUW for all frequency bands but 2100.
When calculating the current limits to be used, the actual antenna configuration needs to be
considered. The current limits depend on if both branches are used for TMA power supply, or if
only branch B is used.
For example, a specific revision of KRY 112 75/1 normally requires about 100 mA per branch
when both branches are connected, and signals fault by raising the current consumption to 180
mA on the affected branch. This means that the current limit must be set to less than this
current (maybe 170 mA) to be able to detect the fault. If only one branch is used for power
supply the normal current consumption will be 200 mA and a fault will be signaled by raising
the current consumption to 280 mA. In case a RIU with a RET or ARET alarms are suppressed for
branch A. So then the current limits for that branch are redundant. For information on suitable
threshold values, see the documentation for the used external TMA.
Unit: 1 mA
Range: 0 to 600, Default=180
Mandatory if tmaDegradedSupported = YES
currentHighLimB:
Indicates the higher current limit when LNA failure shall be reported for branch B.
When calculating the current limits to be used, the actual antenna configuration needs to be
considered. The current limits depend on if both branches are used for TMA power supply, or if
only branch B is used.
For example, a specific revision of KRY 112 75/1 normally requires about 100 mA per branch
when both branches are connected, and signals fault by raising the current consumption to 180
mA on the affected branch. This means that the current limit must be set to less than this
current (maybe 170 mA) to be able to detect the fault. If only one branch is used for power
supply the normal current consumption will be 200 mA and a fault will be signaled by raising
the current consumption to 280 mA. In case a RIU with a RET or ARET alarms are suppressed for
branch A. So then the current limits for that branch are redundant. For information on suitable
threshold values, see the documentation for the used external TMA.
Unit: 1 mA
Range: 0 to 600, Default=180
Mandatory if tmaDegradedSupported = YES
ATMA: Mandatory when defining an AISG 2.0 compatible TMA in order to provide support for
ARET devices. (Not used when deploying an Ericsson ASC)