Handover Optimization

Contents

 Basic Concepts
 Handover Signaling Procedure
 Handover-related Radio Parameters
 Signaling Analysis
 Basic Concepts (1)

 All handovers in LTE are hard handovers

 There are not such concepts as “idle handover” and “access h
andover” in LTE. The counterpart concept is “cell reselection”
 Intra-eNodeB handover
 Inter-eNodeB handover
 S1-based
 X2-based

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 Basic Concepts (2)

 S1: The interface between the E-UTRAN

and the EPC. It includes two parts,
 S1-MME  S1-U:

The control plane interface between the eNB a 
The user plane interface between th
nd the MME e eNB and the S-GW

S1-AP User plane

PDUs

GTP-U
SCTP
UDP
IP
IP
Data link layer Data link layer

Physical layer Physical layer

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 Basic Concepts (3)

 X2: The interface between eNodeBs for transmitting

 Load and interference information
 Handover information

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 Basic Concepts (4) - Measurement

 Sent to the UE via the RRCConnectionReconfiguration message

 Measurement configuration parameters includes:
 Measurement objects
 Reporting configurations: including reporting criterion and reporting format
 Measurement identities (IDs): One ID links one object
 Quantity configuration: One quantity configuration is configured per RAT typ
e. The quantity configuration defines the measurement quantities and associa
ted filtering.
 Measurement gaps

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 Basic Concepts (5) – Handover Event

 Intra-RAT handover events: A1, A2, A3, A4, A5

 Event A1: Serving cell becomes better than absolute threshold
 Event A2: Serving cell becomes worse than absolute threshold
 Event A3: Neighbour cell becomes better than an offset relative to the serving
cell
 Event A4: Neighbour cell becomes better than absolute threshold
 Event A5: Serving cell becomes worse than one absolute threshold and neigh
bour cell becomes better than another absolute threshold
 Inter-RAT handover events: B1, B2
 Event B1: Neighbour cell becomes better than absolute threshold
 Event B2: Serving cell becomes worse than one absolute threshold and neigh
bour cell becomes better than another absolute threshold

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Contents

 Basic Concepts
 Handover Signaling Procedure
 Handover-related Radio Parameters
 Signaling Analysis
 Signaling Procedure – Intra-eNodeB Handover
eNodeB
Source Target S1 S11 S5 PDN-
UE MME S-GW
CELL CELL GW

Handover
decision

Preparation Phase
Handover
Request

Radio Resource
Allocation
Handover Request ACK
RRC Reconfiguration
(Handover Command)

Handover Confirm
(Synchronization, RRC

Execution Phase
Reconfiguration Complete)
Release
Resource
Radio Resource
Release

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 Signaling Procedure – S1-based Handover
S1

 BeforeMMEhandover UE
Source
eNodeB
Target
eNodeB
S1 MME
S11
S-GW
S5
PDN-GW

Handover
S1 S1 decision
Handover Required

Preparation Phase
Handover Request
X2
eNodeB2 Radio Resource
eNodeB1
allocation

Handover Request ACK(Handover Command)

Uu
Handover Command

Handover Command

Handover Confirm
 After handover Handover Notify

MME User Plane Update Request

Execution Phase
User Plane Update Response

S1 S1 UE Context Release Command

X2 Radio Resource
eNodeB2 Release
eNodeB1
UE Context Release Complete

Uu

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 Signaling Procedure – X2-based Handover
S1

 Before handover UE
Source X2 Target
MME
S1
1 S-GW
S5 PDN-
eNodeB eNodeB GW

Handover
S1 S1 decision

Preparation Phase
Handover Request
X2
eNodeB2
eNodeB1 Radio Resource
Allocation
Handover Request ACK(Handover
Command)
Uu Handover Command

Handover Confirm
Path Switch
Request
User Plane Update
 After handover Request
User Plane Update

Execution Phase
Response
MME Path Switch Request
ACK
Release Resource

S1 S1 Radio Resource
Release

X2
eNodeB2
eNodeB1

Uu Uu

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Contents

 Basic Concepts
 Handover Signaling Procedure
 Handover-related Radio Parameters
 Signaling Analysis
 Radio Parameters – Measurement Parameter

 Handover related measurement parameters in the EMS

1. MeasGroup – MeasCfg - MeasIdx

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 Radio Parameters – Handover Mode

 S1-based handovers are certain to occur

 X2-based handovers may take place
 If X2 interface is configured, the X2-based handover is preferred
 In the case of X2 interface association, configure the remote port as 36422
 Enable X2 in neighbor cell configuration (The X2 is enabled by default)
 Reporting mode
 Event-triggered reporting (Event A3)
 Periodical reporting

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 Radio Parameters – A3-triggered Reporting

 Parameters configuration

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 A3 事件的进入条
件为：

Radio Parameters – A3-triggered Reporting

 Event A3 related parameters

Event A3 entering condition: Mn  Ofn  Ocn  Hys  Ms  Ofs  Ocs  Off
leaving condition: Mn  Ofn  Ocn  Hys  Ms  Ofs  Ocs  Off
Of which,
Mn: The measurement result of the neighbouring cell, not taking into account any offsets
Ofn: The frequency specific offset of the frequency of the neighbour cell
Ocn: The cell specific offset of the neighbour cell, which is set to zero if not configured for the
neighbour cell
Hys: The hysteresis parameter for this event
Ms: The measurement result of the serving cell, not taking into account any offsets
Ofs: The frequency specific offset of the serving frequency
Ocs: The cell specific offset of the serving cell, which is set to zero if not configured for the
serving cell
Off: The offset parameter for this event
If the values of Ofs and Ocs of the servicing cell are configured the same as the values of
Ofn and Ocn of the neighbor cell during the network planning, the entering condition can
simplified as

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 A3 事件的进入条
件为：

Radio Parameters – A3 Threshold A3 事件的离开条

件为：

 a3-Offset
 Off in the entering/leaving condition is a3-Offset
 Its default value is 3 dB
 The recommend value is 2, 3 or 4 dB. A greater or smaller value is
not recommended because it may lead to delayed handover and
too many handovers at a time
 This offset is applicable to all neighbor cells

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 A3 事件的进入条
件为：

Radio Parameters – TimeToTrigger A3 事件的离开条

件为：

 TimeToTrigger (TTT)
 This parameter specifies the value range used for time to trigger parameter, w
hich concerns the time during which specific criteria for the event needs to be
met in order to trigger a measurement report.
 Value range: enumerated (0, 40, 64, 80, 100, 128, 160, 256, 320, 480, 512, 640,
1024, 1280, 2560, 5120)
 Default value: 320 ms 。
 A high TTT can put off measurement reporting and reduce handovers.
 Recommended values: 256, 320, 480, 512 or 640 ms.

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 A3 事件的进入条
件为：

Radio Parameters – Hysteresis A3 事件的离开条

件为：

 Hysteresis
 Hysteresis, used to adjust the entering/leaving threshold of event-triggered r
eporting, determines the period the UE stays at Event A3.

 Default value is 0 。
 If ReportOnLeave is not enabled ， the recommended value is 0 。

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 A3 事件的进入条
件为：

Radio Parameters – ReportOnLeave A3 事件的离开条

件为：

 ReportOnLeave
 This parameter indicates whether or not the UE shall initiate the measurement
reporting procedure when the leaving condition is met.

 Default value is False (no reporting)

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 A3 事件的进入条
件为：

Radio Parameters (7) – CIO A3 事件的离开条

件为：

 Cell Individual Offset (CIO)

 Event A3 entering condiction

 Ocn in the formula is CIO

 Enumerated (-24,-22,-20, -18, -16, -14, -12, -10, -8, -6, -5, -4, -3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2,
3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24), unit: dB
 To quicken handover from the serving cell to one neighbor cell or to lower th
e handover threshold, you can increase the CIO of the neighbor cell by 1 to 3
dB.

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 A3 事件的进入条

Radio Parameters – ReportInterval and ReportA

件为：

mount
 ReportInterval and reportAmount
 Event triggering: reportInterval shall be used with reportAmount. When repor
tAmount is greater than 1, reportInterval is valid.
 Periodical reporting: ReportInterval is the period to report the measurement
 Value range of ReportInterval: enumerated (120, 240, 480, 640, 1024, 2048, 51
20, 10240, 60000, 360000, 720000, 1800000, 3600000), unit: ms
 Value range of ReportAmount: enumerated (1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, Infinity), unit:
times

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 A3 事件的进入条
件为：

Radio Parameters – T304 A3 事件的离开条

件为：

 T304
 UE Timer waiting for handover success. During the intra LTE handover, when UE re
ceives handover command, UE will start T304. If handover is successful, UE will st
op T304.
 Value range: enumerated (50, 100, 150, 200, 500, 1000, 2000), unit: ms
 Default value: 2000 ms

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 A3 事件的进入条
件为：

Radio Parameters – S1 HO Timer A3 事件的离开条

件为：

 S1 HO Prepare Timer
 This timer will be started after the source of HO eNB sends hand over require
d message to the core network when hand over starts on S1, it will be stoppe
d if hand over message from the core network is received, else, an abnormal
processing will be triggered.
 S1 HO Overall Timer
 This timer will be started after the source of hand over receives handover com
mand from the MME when hand over starts on S1, it will be stopped if releas
e message from the core network is received.

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 Radio Parameters – S1 HO Timer
S1

Source Target S1 S11 S5

UE MME S-GW PDN-GW
eNodeB eNodeB

Handover
decision
Handover Required

Preparation Phase
Handover Request

Radio Resource
allocation S1 HO Prepare Timer
Handover Request ACK(Handover Command)

Handover Command

Handover Command

Handover Confirm
Handover Notify

User Plane Update Request

Execution Phase
User Plane Update Response

UE Context Release Command

S1 HO Overall Timer
Radio Resource
Release

UE Context Release Complete

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 A3 事件的进入条
件为：

Radio Parameters – X2 HO Timer A3 事件的离开条

件为：

 X2 HO Prepare Timer
 This timer will be started after the source of HO eNB sends hand over request
message to the destination when hand over starts on X2, it will be stopped if
hand over message from the destination is received, if Timer is expired, an a
bnormal processing will be triggered.
 X2 HO Overall Timer
 This timer will be started after the source of handover receives handover requ
est acknowledge message from the destination , it will be stopped if release
message from the destination is received.

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 Radio Parameters – X2 HO Timer
S1

S1
Source X2 Target 1 S5 PDN-
UE MME S-GW
eNodeB eNodeB GW

Handover
decision

Preparation Phase
Handover Request

Radio Resource
Allocation
Handover Request ACK(Handover X2 HO Prepare Timer
Command)
Handover Command

Handover Confirm
Path Switch
Request
User Plane Update
Request
User Plane Update

Execution Phase
Response
Path Switch Request
ACK
Release Resource

X2 HO Overall Timer
Radio Resource
Release

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Contents

 Basic Concepts
 Handover Signaling Procedure
 Handover-related Radio Parameters
 Signaling Analysis
 X2 HO Signaling – Source eNB

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 X2 HO Signaling – Target eNB

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 Handover request/required

First 20 digital is
eNBid, last 8
digital is cellid
“00000001
01001011 1101”
is eNB 5309,
“0000 0001” is
cell 1.
For S1 HO, only
first 20 digital,”
00000001
01001011 1100”
is eNB 5308

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 Summary

 Common handover optimization methods

 Neighbor cell optimization
 RF optimization
 Radio parameter optimization
 ANR

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