[GSM RF] RACH (Random Access Channel) Success Rate

Definition :
Random Access Channel (RACH) is used by the MS on the uplink
to request for allocation of an SDCCH.
This request from the MS on the uplink could either be as a page response
(MS being paged by the BSS in response to an incoming call) or due to user
trying to access the network to establish a call.
For all services there will CH REQ (Channel Request) from MS and in
the response of CH REQ if MS will get theIMM ASS CMD (Signaling Ch) Access
to system is successful.
Nature of this Access REQ is random so it is call Random Access Channel
Request.
Analysis :
1. Identify the Bad performing Cells for RACH Success Rate
2. Take detailed report and analyze for no of failure of
Request and failures.
3. The main reasons for bad RACH success rate could be access from very
distant place with very low coverage;Parameters Configuration
discrepancies.
4. First Check for Parameters Configuration discrepancies and correct as per
standard parameter set.
5. Check for Hardware Issues (Ex. BTS sensitivity has very crucial role to
play here)
6. Check for Uplink Interference and quality.
7. Check for UL-DL imbalance and correct if any problem.
8. After the activity check the subsequent days report and repeat the
procedure for pin
pointing the actual cause.
Parameter :
MS MAX Retrans can set depending upon Traffic and Clutter.
Value Range : 1, 2, 4, 7
Default Value :
In the areas where the radius of the cell is greater than 3 km and the
traffic volume is low:7.
In the areas where the radius of the cell is smaller than 3 km and the
traffic volume is normal:4.
For micro cells, the MS MAX Retrans is set to 2.
For micro cells where the traffic volume is heavy and cells where
congestion occurs, the MS MAX Retrans is set to 1.
For BTSs using satellite transmission, the MS MAX Retrans should be
set to 4 or greater.
Description :
 In the areas where the radius of the cell is greater than 3 km and the
traffic volume is low, such as suburbs or rural areas, the MS MAX Retrans should
be set to 7 to improve the success rate of MS access.
In the areas where the radius of the cell is smaller than 3 km and the
traffic volume is normal, such as urban non-busy areas, the MS MAX Retrans
should be set to 4.
For micro cells, the MS MAX Retrans should be set to 2.
For micro cells where the traffic volume is heavy and cells where
congestion occurs, the MS MAX Retrans should be set to 1.
Tx-Integer will reduce the RACH collision and can improve RACH success rate.
Value Range : 3-12, 14, 16, 20, 25, 32, 50
Description :
This parameter is T for short. It indicates the number of timeslots in an
interval when an MS sends continuously multiple channel requests.
To reduce the collisions on the RACH and to raise the efficiency of the
RACH, access algorithm is defined in GSM 04.08.
This parameter works together with the configuration of the CCCH to
determine the parameter S.
The relation between this parameter and the configuration of the CCCH is
as follows:
When this parameter is set to 3, 8, 14, or 50, S is 55 if the CCCH
and SDCCH do not share a channel.
When this parameter is set to 3, 8, 14, or 50, S is 41 if the CCCH
and SDCCH share a channel.
When this parameter is set to 4, 9, or 6, S is 76 if the CCCH and
SDCCH do not share a channel.
When this parameter is set to 4, 9, or 6, S is 52 if the CCCH and
SDCCH share a channel.
When this parameter is set 5, 10, or 20, S is 109 if the CCCH and
SDCCH do not share a channel.
When this parameter is set 5, 10, or 20, S is 58 if the CCCH and
SDCCH share a channel.
When this parameter is set 6, 11, or 25, S is 163 if the CCCH and
SDCCH do not share a channel.
When this parameter is set 6, 11, or 25, S is 86 if the CCCH and
SDCCH share a channel.
When this parameter is set 7, 12, or 32, S is 217 if the CCCH and
SDCCH do not share a channel.
When this parameter is set 7, 12, or 32, S is 115 if the CCCH and
SDCCH share a channel.
The timeslot for sending messages is a random value from the
collection of {0, 1, MAX (T, 8)-1}.
 The number of timeslots between two adjacent channels is a
random value from the collection of {S, S+1, , S+T-1}.
When T increases, the interval between two adjacent channel
requests increases, and RACH conflicts decrease.
When S increases, the interval between two adjacent channel
requests increases, and RACH conflicts decrease, thus improving the usage of
AGCH and SDCCH.
Remarks :
The access time of the MS, however, is prolonged and the network
performance is threatened when T and S increase.
Thus, an appropriate T value should be adopted to ensure that S is as low
as possible, and that AGCH and SDCCH are not overloaded.
When the network traffic is heavy, the success rate of immediate
assignment is low if the sum of S and T is low.
Thus, the value of T should be properly adjusted to make the sum of S and
T greater.
T3122 waiting time for next network access. T3122 : Immediate Assignment Reject Wait
Indication timer.
Description :
This parameter indicates the timer carried by the WaitIndcation IE when
the BSC sends an Immediate Assignment Reject message to an MS.
The MS receives the Immediate Assignment Reject message attempts to
access the network after the period specified by this parameter.
RACH Min.Access Level(dbm) very important parameter for low coverage rural
areas.
Value Range : -121 to -47 dBm
Description :
For the versions later than the BTS3X and double-transceiver BTSs, the
RACH Min Access Level function affects the access of an MS. The effect indicates
that the BTS determines the threshold of the level for the random access of the
MS.
When the receive level of the RACH burst is lowler than the threshold, the
BTS regards this access as an invalid access and no decoding is performed. Only
when the receive level for the burst timeslot of the random access is greater
than the threshold, the BTS regards that this timeslot has an access request.
Because the RACH Busy Threshold must be greater than the RACH Min
Access Level, infer that the RACH Min Access Level of the BTS24 is already
shielded. For BTS2X (excluding BTS24), this parameter is invalid.
This parameter must be set according to the actual sensitivity of the BTS
and the minimum access level of the MS so that calls can be made when there is
signal.
Remarks : The RACH Busy Threshold must be greater than this parameter.
RACH Busy Threshold : must be greater than RACH Min.Access Level(dbm)
Value Range : 0-63 dB
Description :
 For BTS3X series and dual-transceiver BTSs, this parameter indicates the
level threshold of MS random access for the system to determine the RACH busy
state. When the receive level of the random access burst timeslot is greater
than this threshold, the BTS considers that the timeslot is busy. In the BTS3X,
this parameter only indicates whether the timeslot is busy. The threshold setting
does not affect the normal access of the MS.
In the BTS2X version (BTS24 not included), this parameter indicates the
level threshold for the system to determine MS random access. When the
receive level of the random access burst timeslot is greater than this threshold
and the access demodulation is successful, the BTS considers that the timeslot
is busy and determines whether the RACH access is valid based on the
parameter Random Access Error Threshold. In the BTS2X version, the parameter
RACH Busy Threshold determines whether the timeslot is busy and affects the
normal access of the MS. The MS access is allowed only when the level of the
MS random access burst is greater than the RACH Busy Threshold.
In the BTS24 version, this parameter indicates the level threshold of the
MS random access for the system to determine the RACH busy state. When the
receive level of the random access burst timeslot is greater than the threshold,
the BTS considers that the timeslot is busy. This parameter also indicates
whether the MS access is allowed. The MS access is allowed only when access
level (including random access and handover access) is greater than the
threshold.
Remarks :
In the BTS2X version (BTS24 not included), this parameter indicates the
level threshold for the system to determine MS random access.When the receive
level of a random access burst timeslot of the RACH is greater than this
threshold, the BTS considers that the timeslot is busy. This parameter must be
set based on the actual sensitivity of the BTS and the lowest access level of the
MS to ensure the uplink and downlink balance. This parameter also affects
handover access of RACH BURST during asynchronous handover.
For the BTS3X series and double-transceiver BTSs, this parameter does
not affect MS access but affects the report of CCCH_LOAD_IND. If the level
received by the BCCH at the network side is greater than the RACH Busy
Threshold, the CCCH_LOAD_IND is counted once whether the decoding is
successful. The RACH whose level is lower than the RACH Busy Threshold and
whose decoding is successful is also counted. The measurement period is the
RACH mean load timeslot. If the value of this parameter is too small, the BTS
easily considers that the RACH timeslot is busy and reports overload messages
to the BSC. If the value is too high, the BTS cannot determine the state of the
RACH timeslot correctly. In the BTS24 version, if this parameter is used to judge
busy timeslot, its setting is consistent that in the BTS30. If this parameter is the
level threshold for valid random access, its setting is consistent with that in the
BTS20. The setting of this parameter for the BTS312, BTS3001C, BTS3001C+,
BTS3002C and the double-transceiver BTSs is the same as that in the BTS30.
CCCH conf & BS_AG_BLKS_RES check properly defined or not? Because if you have
overload with AGCH IMM ASS cant be send in the response of CH REQ.
CCCH Conf
 Value Range : 1 combined CCCH, 1 non-combined CCCH, 2 non-combined CCCH, 3 non-
combined CCCH, 4 non-combined CCCH
Default Value :
For the cell with one TRX, Huawei recommends that you configure a
combined CCCH (in the system that has a small number of LA paging
messages).
For other types of cells, the configuration of CCCHs depends on the
number of TRXs in the cell.
For a system that has both main and extended BCCHs, the number of non-
combined CCCHs equals the number of BCCHs.
The BS_AG_BLKS_RES and CCCH Conf. parameters can be changed
according to the type of channel 0 on the TRX that carries main BCCH in the cell.
If this parameter is set to a value rather than 1 combined CCCH, the
default value of BS_AG_BLKS_RES can be set to 2.
The parameter ranges from 1 to 7. If this parameter is set to 1 combined
CCCH, the default value of BS_AG_BLKS_RES can be set to 1.
The parameter ranges from 1 to 2. If channel 0 on the TRX that carries
main BCCH is set to Combined BCCH or BCCH+CBCH, this parameter can be set
to 1 combined CCCH.
If channel 0 on the TRX that carries main BCCH is set to Main BCCH, this
parameter can be set to N non-combined CCCH, where N means the sum of
channels 0, 2, 4, and 6 that are configured as main BCCHs and BCHs.
Description :
This parameter indicates the CCCH configuration in a system.
In a corresponding BCCH multi-frame, the number of CCCH message
blocks may be 3, 9, 18, 27, or 36.
CCCH configuration determines the capacity of PCH, AGCH, and RACH.
Remarks :
Particularly, the PCH capacity of all cells in a local area should be
consistent, or that the cell with the least PCH capacity has enough capacity to
bear all the TRXs in the local area.
BS_AG_BLKS_RES
Value Range : 0-2 (a combined CCCH), 0-7 (others)
Unit : Blocks
Default Value :
1 (combined CCCH) 2 (non-combined CCCH) When the cell is configured with CBCHs, the
BS_AG_BLKS_RES parameter must be equal to or greater than 1, that is, the parameter
cannot be 0.
Description :
This parameter indicates the number of CCCH blocks reserved for the
AGCH.
After the CCCH is configured, this parameter actually indicates the CCCH
usage for AGCH and PCH.
 This parameter affects the paging response time of an MS and the system
performance.
Remarks
As specified in the protocol, this parameter must be greater than 0 in the
following cases: System information is transmitted on the extended BCH. The
system is configured with CBCHs. The GSMR system is configured with NCHs.
Algorithm :
1. Faulty antenna cable
2. MAXRET and TX
3. CRO and ACCMIN
4. Poor Coverage
5. Phantom RACH
6. Poor BSIC Plan
7. BCCH Plan