Discontinuous Transmission and Discontinuous

Reception
GBSS12.0
Feature Parameter Description

Issue 01

Date 2010-06-30

HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD.

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 GSM BSS
Discontinuous Transmission and Discontinuous
Reception Contents

Contents
1 Introduction to This Document .............................................................................................1-1
1.1 Scope ............................................................................................................................................ 1-1
1.2 Intended Audience ........................................................................................................................ 1-1
1.3 Change History.............................................................................................................................. 1-1

2 Overview .....................................................................................................................................2-1
3 Technical Description ..............................................................................................................3-1
3.1 DTX ............................................................................................................................................... 3-1
3.2 DRX ............................................................................................................................................... 3-2

4 Parameters .................................................................................................................................4-1
5 Counters ......................................................................................................................................5-1
6 Glossary ......................................................................................................................................6-1
7 Reference Documents .............................................................................................................7-1

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 GSM BSS
Discontinuous Transmission and Discontinuous
Reception 1 Introduction to This Document

1 Introduction to This Document

1.1 Scope
This document describes the discontinuous transmission (DTX) and discontinuous reception (DRX). It
covers the function of and technology mechanisms regarding this feature.

1.2 Intended Audience

It is assumed that users of this document are familiar with GSM basics and have a working knowledge of
GSM telecommunication.
This document is intended for:
 Personnel working on Huawei GSM products or systems
 System operators who need a general understanding of this feature

1.3 Change History

The change history provides information on the changes in different document versions.
There are two types of changes, which are defined as follows:
 Feature change
Feature change: refers to the change in the discontinuous transmission and discontinuous reception
feature of a specific product version.
 Editorial change
Editorial change: refers to changes in information that has already been included, or the addition of
information that was not provided in the previous version.

Document Issues
The document issues are as follows:
 01 (2010-06-30)
 Draft (2010-03-30)

01 (2010-06-30)
This is the first release of GBSS12.0.
Compared with issue draft (2010-03-30) of GBSS12.0, issue 01 (2010-06-30) of GBSS12.0 incorporates
the changes described in the following table.

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 GSM BSS
Discontinuous Transmission and Discontinuous
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Change Change Description Parameter Change

Type
Feature None. None.
change
Editorial Parameters are presented in the None.
change form of Parameter ID instead of
Parameter Name.

Draft (2010-03-30)
This is the draft release of GBSS12.0.

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 GSM BSS
Discontinuous Transmission and Discontinuous
Reception 2 Overview

2 Overview
The Discontinuous Transmission (DTX) and Discontinuous Reception (DRX) mechanism reduces the
interference level and improves the system efficiency. Through this mechanism, the wastage of system
resources is minimized and an acceptable signal quality is maintained.
 DTX
When an MS is engaged but no speech signals are transferred, the MS sends only comfort noises
periodically to the peer end. The data volume of these comfort noises is smaller than the volume of
normal speech data.
An MS does not keep transmitting speech signals during a call. Typically, only 40% of the duration of
the call is occupied for speech transmission. During the non-speech transmission period, an MS
reduces the transmitted data to suppress the interference to other channels and to help reserve
system resources. In addition, DTX relieves the workload of the TX module of the MS. The MS can
enjoy a longer call duration and standby time. DTX affects only the transmission of TCH frames.
 DRX
An MS in idle mode detects only the paging channels within a specific paging group. When other
paging groups send paging messages to an MS, the MS blocks the receive channel.
Each MS is mapped to a paging group, and each paging group is mapped to a paging sub-channel in
the serving cell. When operating in idle mode, an MS detects the paging messages broadcast by the
system only on the mapped paging sub-channel. The MS blocks other paging sub-channels by
powering off some hardware of the MS, and this also saves power.

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 GSM BSS
Discontinuous Transmission and Discontinuous
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3 Technical Description
3.1 DTX
DTX can reduce the transmit power of an MS when the MS does not receive any speech signals. The
quality of speech services in the entire radio network is thus improved. (GBFD-114801 Discontinuous
Transmission (DTX) -Downlink, GBFD-114803 Discontinuous Transmission (DTX) -Uplink)
DTX involves the following technical aspects:
 Silence Insertion Descriptor (SID) frames
 Voice Activity Detection (VAD)
 Global measurement and local measurement
When there is no speech signal transmission during a call, the MS sends SID frames to the BTS. The
VAD enables the MS to accurately detect speech signals. The principles of SID frames and the VAD are
described as follows:
 SID frames
The noise coding procedure is basically the same as the speech coding procedure. After sampling and
quantification, the noise data of every 20 ms is coded into a noise block by a hybrid coder. The noise
blocks, each of which is 260 bits in length, are encapsulated as special SID frames. After channel
coding, interleaving, encryption, and modulation, the SID frames are sent out through eight continuous
bursts.
A complete SACCH message block on the TCH consists of four 26 multi-frames (480 ms). To enable
the peer end to distinguish between speech frames and SID frames, the eight continuous bursts are
always sent at the beginning of the third 26 multi-frame. No message is sent on other frames except
for the SACCH of a measurement period.

A SID encoded with a 20-ms noise block completes the interleaving process with the last SID and next SID. The first SID
frame completes the interleaving process with the voice frame preceding it and the following SID frame.
DTX is optional, and uplink DTX is independent of downlink DTX. In a cell, the DTX in the HR coding scheme is
independent from the DTX in the FR coding scheme. The uplink DTX and downlink DTX are activated by the system
parameters based on the type of traffic channel used by the MS.
 The uplink DTX is activated by the parameters either FRULDTX or HRULDTX on the BSC side.
 The downlink DTX is activated by the "DTX Flag" in the "Service/BSC Table" on the MSC side and by the parameters
FRDLDTX or HRDLDTX on the BSC side.
DTX is used only for speech transmission and non-transparent data transmission, involving MS and TRAU operations.
That is, the uplink DTX depends on the data input of the MS and the downlink DTX depends on the data input of the MSC
or TRAU.
 VAD
When DTX is enabled, the coder must decide whether the current signal is a speech signal or a noise
signal. The VAD is designed to help the coder to make the decision. The VAD distinguishes speech
signals from noise signals based on a principle that the energy of noise is always lower than that of
speech. Based on the power of noise signals, the VAD specifies a threshold for the power of voice
signals. Only the power higher than this threshold is defined as voice; otherwise, it is background
noise even if voice coexists.
The VAD is closely associated with the speech coding algorithm. The VAD compares the energy of
filtered signals with the threshold defined by itself, and then decides whether every output frame
contains the speech or noise. In addition, VAD provides additional bits to indicate whether or not to
transmit the frame.

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 GSM BSS
Discontinuous Transmission and Discontinuous
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VAD generates a group of thresholds every 20 ms voice block to decide whether the next 20 ms voice
block is voice or noise. When background noise is extremely high, VAD may regard the noise signals
as voice and send them after encoding.
Two measurement methods are available in the GSM: global measurement and local measurement.
 Global measurement: measures the receive level and receive quality in 100 timeslots in the whole
measurement period (four 26 multiframes except idle frames) and calculates the average value.
 Local measurement: averages the receive level and receive quality of 12 timeslots, including the eight
continuous TCH bursts and the four SACCH bursts carrying measurement reports
To ensure consistency, the BTS and the MS perform the global and local measurements irrespective of
whether the UL/DL DTX is activated. Each SACCH measurement report of the BTS and the MS specifies
whether the DTX function is applied; therefore, the BSC can select the global measurement or local
measurement for decision based on the measurement report.

Both types of measurement are applied in the uplink and the downlink irrespective of whether DTX is activated.

3.2 DRX
In DRX mode, every MS is mapped to a specific paging group. The MS calculates the paging groups
based on the IMSI and the CCCH configuration of the serving cell, and then detects the system
information sent only from the paging groups. (GBFD-114802 Discontinuous Reception (DRX))
DRX involves the concept of paging group in related GSM protocols.
 Paging group
In the GSM network, the CCCH includes the AGCH and the PCH. The CCCH can be carried on one
or more physical channels. In case of high paging traffic in a location area, one physical timeslot for
paging message transmission is insufficient. The GSM protocol allows multiple CCCHs to be
configured on the TRX carrying the BCCH. The CCCHs can be configured only on timeslot 0, 2, 4, or
6.
The number of CCCH message blocks in a cell reflects the resources that can be used as the AGCH
or the PCH in the cell. Table 3-1 lists the mapping between the CCCH configuration and the number of
CCCH message blocks in the BCCH multi-frame structure.
Table 3-1 Mapping between CCCH configuration and number of CCCH message blocks in the BCCH
multi-frame structure
CCCH Configuration Number of CCCH Message Blocks
in BCCH Multi-Frame
One physical channel used for CCCH, not 9
combined with SDCCHs
One physical channel used for CCCH, 3
combined with SDCCHs
Two physical channels used for CCCH, not 18
combined with SDCCHs
Three physical channels used for CCCH, 27
not combined with SDCCHs
Four physical channels used for CCCH, not 36
combined with SDCCHs

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GSM BSS
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The value of BSAGBLKSRES specifies the number of CCCH message blocks used as the AGCH in
the BCCH multi-frame structure. BSPAMFRAMS specifies the scale of BCCH multi-frames that are
used by the paging group.
The formula for calculating the number of paging groups of the service cells is: Number of paging
groups = (CCCH message blocks – BSAGBLKSRES) x BSPAMFRAMS.
 Calculating the paging group
The formula for calculating the paging group mapped to the MS is:
Paging group = ((IMSI mod 1000) mod (Number of cell paging groups)) div BSAGBLKSRES
The MS calculates the mapped paging group based on the IMSI and the configuration of paging
channels in the serving cell, and then calculates the paging sub-channel of the mapped paging group.

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 GSM BSS
Discontinuous Transmission and Discontinuous
Reception 4 Parameters

4 Parameters
Table 4-1 Parameters Description
Parameter ID NE MML Description
FRULDTX BSC6900 SET Meaning: Whether the uplink DTX
GCELLBASICPARA(Optional) function is enabled for FR calls. For
details, see GSM Rec. 05.08. Uplink
DTX is not restricted by the MSC. If this
parameter is set to May_Use, the MS
can use DTX. If this parameter is set to
Shall_Use or Shall_Not_Use, the MS
cannot use DTX.

GUI Value Range: May_Use(May Use),

Shall_Use(Shall Use),
Shall_NOT_Use(Shall not Use)
Actual Value Range: May_Use,
Shall_Use, Shall_NOT_Use
Unit: None
Default Value: Shall_Use
HRULDTX BSC6900 SET Meaning: Whether the uplink DTX
GCELLBASICPARA(Optional) function is enabled for HR calls. For
details, see GSM Rec. 05.08. Uplink
DTX is not restricted by the MSC. If this
parameter is set to May_Use, the MS
can use DTX. If this parameter is set to
Shall_Use or Shall_Not_Use, the MS
cannot use DTX.

GUI Value Range: May_Use(May Use),

Shall_Use(Shall Use),
Shall_NOT_Use(Shall not Use)
Actual Value Range: May_Use,
Shall_Use, Shall_NOT_Use
Unit: None
Default Value: Shall_Use
FRDLDTX BSC6900 SET Meaning: This parameter specifies
GCELLBASICPARA(Optional) whether to use DL DTX for full-rate
(FR) calls. This parameter and "DL
DTX Strategy" codetermine whether to
use DL DTX for FR calls in the cell.

GUI Value Range: NO(No), YES(Yes)

Actual Value Range: NO, YES
Unit: None
Default Value: YES
HRDLDTX BSC6900 SET Meaning: This parameter specifies
GCELLBASICPARA(Optional) whether to use DL DTX for half-rate
(HR) calls. This parameter and "DL
DTX Strategy" codetermine whether to
use DL DTX for HR calls in the cell.

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GSM BSS
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GUI Value Range: NO(No), YES(Yes)

Actual Value Range: NO, YES
Unit: None
Default Value: YES
BSAGBLKSR BSC6900 SET Meaning: BS-AG-BLKS-RES,
ES GCELLIDLEBASIC(Optional) indicating the number of the CCCH
message blocks reserved for the
AGCH. After the CCCHs are
configured, the value of this parameter
indicates the actual seizure rates of the
AGCHs and the PCHs over the
CCCHs.

GUI Value Range: 0~7

Actual Value Range: 0~7
Unit: None
Default Value: 1
BSPAMFRAM BSC6900 SET Meaning: Number of multiframes in a
S GCELLIDLEBASIC(Optional) cycle on a paging sub-channel. In fact,
this parameter specifies the number of
paging sub-channels that a paging
channel in a cell is divided into.
In an actual network, an MS does not
listen to other paging sub-channels but
its belonging paging sub-channel only.
Refer to GSM Rec. 05.02 and GSM
Rec. 05.08. The larger the value of this
parameter, the more the number of the
paging sub-channels in a cell, and the
fewer the number of the users
belonging to each paging sub-channel.
In this case, the mean uptime of the MS
battery can be prolonged. Refer to the
computing mode of paging group in
GSM 05.02 of GSM Standards. The
larger the value of this parameter,
however, the larger the time delay of a
paging message in a space segment.
Thus, the average service performance
of the system lowers. Based on the
principle of ensuring that overload does
not occur to paging channels, you must
set this parameter to a value as small
as possible. You must regularly
measure the overload conditions of the
paging channels in a running network
and accordingly adjust the value of this
parameter properly. A paging message
in a location area must be sent in all the
cells within this location area at the
same time. Therefore, the capacity of a
paging channel of each cell in a
location area must be the same or

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nearly the same. The capacity refers to

the calculated number of paging
sub-channels of each cell.

GUI Value Range: 2_M_PERIOD(2

Multiframe Period), 3_M_PERIOD(3
Multiframe Period), 4_M_PERIOD(4
Multiframe Period), 5_M_PERIOD(5
Multiframe Period), 6_M_PERIOD(6
Multiframe Period), 7_M_PERIOD(7
Multiframe Period), 8_M_PERIOD(8
Multiframe Period), 9_M_PERIOD(9
Multiframe Period)
Actual Value Range: 940~4230, step:
470
Unit: ms
Default Value: 2_M_PERIOD

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 GSM BSS
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5 Counters
For the counters, see the BSC6900 GSM Performance Counter Reference.

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 GSM BSS
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6 Glossary
For the acronyms, abbreviations, terms, and definitions, see the Glossary.

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 GSM BSS
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7 Reference Documents
[1] 3GPP TS 45.002: “Multiplexing and multiple access on the radio path”
[2] 3GPP TS 46.031: “Full rate speech; Discontinuous Transmission (DTX) for full rate speech traffic
channels”
[3] 3GPP TS 46.041: “Half rate speech; Discontinuous Transmission (DTX) for half rate speech traffic
channels”
[4] 3GPP TS 46.081: “Discontinuous Transmission (DTX) for Enhanced Full Rate (EFR) speech traffic
channels”
[5] BSC6900 Feature List
[6] BSC6900 Optional Feature Description
[7] GBSS Reconfiguration Guide
[8] BSC6900 GSM Parameter Reference
[9] BSC6900 GSM MML Command Reference
[10] BSC6900 GSM Performance Counter Reference

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