UMTS Interference

Investigation
Contents

 Internal interference
 External interference
 Interference Investigation Process
 Interference Classification

 UMTS is an interference limited system, network quality, capacity

and coverage are associated with the background noise.
 Internal interference
 Internal interferencenormally defined as interference generated by faulty
equipment. And the equipment is located between RF TX port and antenna.
 External interference
 external sources of interference.
 Interaction between the external system.

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 Internal interference

 The antenna connector is screwed too tight or too loose.

 The antenna feeder is bent too much, and the load connections
are loose, etc.
 Antenna, feeder line, joint and load quality problems caused by
the device itself, such as feeder line damaged, antenna isolation
is worsen and so on. There is a small part for the base station
caused itself.
 Power amplifier is spurious, inter-modulation indicators worsen
and duplexer is lack of isolation etc.

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 Inter-modulation

 Linear Dynamic Range

Linear Component
S IN S OUT
a S OUT = a S IN

P OUT Linear Dynamic Range

(dBm)
linear range non-linear
ideal
3 dB

real
1 dB

Noise Floor P IN
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C1 dB C3 dB
 Inter-modulation
 Products Generation Non-Linear Component

S IN S OUT
S OUT = a S IN + b S2IN + g S3IN +...

Two Tone Inter-modulation Products

S IN = cos(F1) + cos(F2)

a S IN = a cos(F1) + a cos(F2) LINEAR

b S2IN = b cos2(F1) + b cos2(F2) + 2b cos(F1).cos(F2)

2ND
S OUT = ORDER
cos(2F1) cos(2F2) cos(F1 ± F2)

g S3IN = g cos3(F1) + g cos3(F2) + 3 g cos2(F1)cos(F2) + 3 g cos(F1)cos2(F2)

3RD
ORDER
cos(3F1) cos(3F2) cos(2F1 ± F2) cos(2F2 ± F1)

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 Inter-modulation
 Third Order Inter-modulation Products
Inter-modulation Products Spectrum

2F1 + F2
2F2 + F1
2F2 - F1
2F1 - F2

F1 + F2
F1 - F2

F1 F2 2F1 2F2 3F1 3F2

Third Order Intercept point

P OUT
(dBm) linear range

P LINEAR
=
3rd order
P TOI
IM products

P IN
Noise Floor (dBm)
IP3

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 Inter-modulation

 GSM/UMTS Collocation Aspects

GSM / UMTS Inter-modulation Analysis

• 2nd order IM products from GSM900 Tx fall into UMTS uplink band

• 3rd order IM products from GSM1800 Tx fall into UMTS uplink band

• No 2nd or 3rd order IM products of UMTS Tx fall in any of the GSM bands

GSM / UMTS Collocation

• extra Tx chain filtering

• use of diplexer/triplexer

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 Internal Interference

 The internal interference has following characters:

 The main path and the diversity path RTWP are not relevant. But they must
have special reasons, e.g. they are jointly somewhere.
 there is a certain correlation between interference and the traffic. When the
traffic is little, there is high probability that the interference doesn’t occur.
 RTWP generally has high volatility, and the volatility in the range of about 10
dB or greater than 10 dB.
 Once the interference occurs, it has a certain duration without mutable
change generally, which is very different from the external interference.
 From the time characteristics of RTWP, RTWP has no significant changes in
law generally.

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 Internal interference (PA problem)

 After PA power off, the interference disappear also.

 Scanning result is normal.
 RTWP no change when replace antenna.
 Long term RTWP statistics is random.
 RTWP of different frequency is similar, while RTWP of main path
and diversity path has large difference for same frequency.

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Contents

 Internal interference
 External interference
 Interference Investigation Process
 External interference

 An external source of interference may be the existing GSM

systems, repeaters, mobile phone jammers, microwave
transmission equipment and the illegal use of the UMTS system
band equipment.

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 Possible External interference source

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 External Interference

 If have the following characteristics, we can judge to be External

interference:
 Under normal circumstances interference is relevant to both the main set and
the diversity, which means the interference has a similar trend and little
difference ( e.g. less than 5dB ).
 External interference also affects cells with geographical proximity.
 From the time characteristics of RTWP, external interference generally has
discontinuity, and there is a regularity of the interference time of occurrence,
duration and interval with an exception of such as microwave interference.

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 External interference(BBU,IP switch etc)

 In UMTS, RTWP requirement is -105dBm/5MHz on antenna

connecter port. So antenna specially high gain antenna must
keep enough distance between electric element (5m)

Source B8200+
switch

Indoor system

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 External interference(BBU,IP switch etc)
 B8200/IP switch is installed in the same room with antenna;
 Multiple narrow pulse interferences;
 Interference normally is on
890MHz 、 891MHz 、 900MHz 、 907.5MHz 、 910MHz
1720MHz 、 1750MHz;

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 External interference(repeater)

 The interference caused by repeater, trunk amplifier usually have

following reasons ：
 Poor stability, easy to self-excitation.
 Gain setting unreasonable, leading to the interference to the donor base
station is too serious.
 The characteristics of interference caused by repeater, trunk
amplifier are:
 Long time stability of interference or unexpected interference.
 Long time stability of interference is generally caused by the gain setting
problem of the repeater or the trunk amplifier.
 Repeater interference is generally a large area of directivity disturbed while
trunk amplifier interference is rounded.

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 External interference(repeater)

 RTWP is high for All frequency used in repeater.

 RTWP of main path and diversity path has large difference for
same frequency.
 RTWP is stable.

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 Interference caused by wrong gain setting

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 Interference caused by Self-excitation

 A large number of irregular burst, particularly short existing.

 fixed-cycle interference, the existence of time is typically a few
seconds.

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 External interference(TV)

 TV signal amplifier is very close to antenna.

 Interference normally is a wide band signal(1-5MHz).
 TV user has complain for bad TV signal.

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 Interference from Other System

 The existing wireless communication systems (such as GSM, DCS,

PHS, TD-SCDMA, CDMA2000, etc.) may interfere with UMTS
system.
 Forms of interference between the systems are mainly spurious,
blocking and inter-modulation.

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 Barrage Jamming

 When the interference signal is too strong, it will block UMTS

receiver, exceed the working scope of the amplifier and mixer,
make the receiver can not demodulate, interfere the receiver.
 UMTS receiver blocking requirements for:
 ≤-40dBm (in-band)
 ≤-15dBm （ out-of-band ）
 ≤16dBm （ GSM 、 DCS in-band ）
 Comparing the out-of-band interference signal amplitude by test
and the UMTS receiver blocking indicators, we can determine
whether there is barrage jamming.

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 Barrage Jamming

Minimum
Center Frequency Interfering Wanted Type of
Operating Offset
of Interfering Signal meanSignal mean Interfering
Band Of Interfering
Signal power power Signal
Signal
UMTS signal
880 ‑ 915 MHz -40 dBm -115 dBm ±10 MHz
*
860 ‑ 880 MHz UMTS signal
-40 dBm -115 dBm ±10 MHz
XIII 915 - 925 MHz *
1 MHz - 860 MHz
925 MHz‑12750 -15 dBm -115 dBm  CW carrier
MHz
NOTE *: RTWP normal value is about -106.5dBm.

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 Barrage Jamming
 The out-of-band blocking signals are close to 0dBm, tested from the first
stage LNA output of UMTS base station. And as the receiver’s band
blocking indicator is -15 dBm, the big margin of the non-linear
distortion signal ( >-50dBm ) generated in 1922.4 MHz frequency is
caused by barrage jamming, while the link is already saturated.

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 Microwave Transmission Interference

 The microwave transmission interference has following

characteristics ：
 Long basic stability.
 Strong directivity.
 Interference effects of a wider range.
 Spectrum is a broadband spectrum.
 Other electro magnetic interference.

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Contents

 Internal interference
 External interference
 Interference Investigation Process
 Interfere Investigation Process
High RTWP

Power off PA Y
RRU replaced
RTWP OK?

N
Check:
RTWP value of last 10 days( all frequency neighbor cell)
NW design plot
Neighbor cell info, repeater info

Repeater exist? Y

N Power off Repeater, Y Repeater problem

RTWP is ok?

BBU & antenna in Y

same room?

N Y BBU or some other element

Only F1 RTWP increase?
Nearby antenna

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Interfere Investigation Process(continued)

RTWP of main
path and diversity path
is high correlative
N

Y
RTWP of Neighbor RRU
Increase ? Y

RTWP increase for All N

frequency

Wide band TV signal

Inter-modulation
interference amplifier

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 Interference detect

 Two ways commonly used to detect interference.

 Using sweep signal generator is able to detect a certain frequency bandwidth.
 Observation network performance indicators in the "average RTWP" is the
best way to discover the network uplink interference. Under normal
circumstances, the cell is empty and the RTWP should be around -105dBm. If
the average RTWP of some cells is up to about -95dBm, that is, 10dB more
than the empty cell, then we can conclude that these cells have been
interfered on uplink."The biggest RTWP" is recommended only as a reference
when making judgments, it is also possible caused by the access to peak.

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 Interference detect

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 Interference Data Acquisition

 Track the cell to be located a week (at least 3 days), 24 hours of

its RTWP data.
 Track the cells (located adjacent to the cell) near the cell to be
located a week (at least 3 days), 24 hours of their RTWP data.

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 Analysis of the Interference level

 The interference must be determined berfore process

 Interference between -105 to -95 dBm ====> mild level.
 between -95 to -85 dBm ====>moderate level.
 greater than -85 dBm ====> serious level.
 The NW interference situation also need to be determined:
 If all cells from large area are interfered strongly, the interference may be
from outside source.
 If only some cell is interfered, it may be due to hardware problems caused by
internal interference or interference from a smaller external interference.

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 Internal Interference (stand-alone antenna)
Start

Disconnect Point A

Connect match load

to UMTS base station

No UMTS base station

Is RTWP back to normal?
equipment error
Yes
Connect jumper at point A
to VSWR tester

No Antenna error from

Is RTWP back to normal?
point A to antenna
Yes
External Interference

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 Internal Interference Locating(sharing antenna)
Start

Disconnect Point A Check if it is caused

by UMTS base
Connect match load station equipment
to UMTS base station

No UMTS base station

Is RTWP back to normal?
equipment error
Yes
Reconnect point A

Turn off the power amplifier Check if the interference is

of GSM base station caused by GSM output signals

No
Is RTWP back to normal?

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 Internal Interference Locating(sharing antenna)

Disconnect point C and D Disconnect point A and B

Check if it is Connect jumper of point C Connect jumper of point A Check if it is

caused the to VWSR tester to VWSR tester caused the
jumper from jumper from
point C to D Connect jumper of point D Connect jumper of point B point A to B
to match load to match load

jumper error No No jumper error

Is RTWP back Is RTWP back
from point C from point A
to normal? to normal?
to D to B

Yes Yes

Disconnect point E
Check if the interference is
Connect jumper of point E caused by GSM output
to VWSR tester signals

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 Internal Interference Locating(sharing antenna)

antenna error
Is RTWP back No
from point E
to normal?
to the antenna
Yes

Replace the combiner

Check if it is
caused the
Reconnect point A, B, C and D combiner

Turn on the power amplifier

of GSM base station

Is RTWP back No
external interference
to normal?
Yes

combiner error

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 External Interference Locating Process

External Interference
Investigation

Data Acquisition

Data Analysis

On-site Investigation and Test

Interference Source Verification

Interference Source Confirmation

End

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 External Interference Locating Process

 Data Acquisition
 24-hour RTWP data for one week ( 3 days at least ) of the target cell and its
surrounding cells.
 MapInfo for the site distribution, the relative position and distance
information of sites.
 Cell antenna azimuth and antenna height.
 Survey photo of all sites.
 If the cell to be located is provider of the repeater.
 GSM&UMTS repeater distribution around the cell to be located.
 PHS&CDMA1.9G distribution around the cell to be located.
 Structure chart of antenna feed system of the cell to be located.

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 External Interference Locating Process

 Data Analysis
 The long-time and short-term characteristics of RTWP of cells around the cell
to be located at the same time.
 According to the cell distribution map, take environmental analysis on the cell
to be located using survey photo and such resources.
 Analyze the relevance of main set and diversity of the cell to be located,
according to the antenna’s structure chart.
 Integrate RTWP value of the cell to be located and around cells using AOA
method, forecast the interference source with antenna direction and height.

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 AOA Method

 According to multiple base

station cells’ antenna,
determine the direction of
interference source in relation to
current cell. Draw on a map, the
intersection of the antenna
direction shall be the location of
interference sources.

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 External Interference Locating Process

 On-site investigation and testing

 Check the actual situation around the antenna, whether there is metal
shielding or reflective objects.
 Check the antenna and antenna distribution of other operators.
 Check carefully if there is objects of suspicion, such as PHS base stations,
CDMA1.9G base station, repeater, microwave transmission, etc.
 Use YBT250, filter and antenna to test interference strength, direction and
spectral properties.
 Test and analyze the general location of the interference source. Determine
the suspected interference source.

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 External Interference Locating Process

 Interference Source Verification

 When the suspected interference source is a block of metal objects or other
reflectors, you can remove it or adjust the antenna position to verify.
 When the suspected interference source is an active device, you can turn on
and off the device at a proper time to verify.
 Observe if RTWP value changed before and after the operations. If RTWP
value is back to normal, the interference source is found. If RTWP value has no
change or little change, we need to continue investigation.

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 External Interference Locating Process

 Interference Source Confirmation

 When the interference source is confirmed, we should timely make a record of
it (including its spectrum intensity, spectrum information, GPS information,
interference source entity’s photo), and positioning steps in detail, then
output the interference test report.

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 External Interference Locating Process

 Three-point locating is the most commonly used methods. The

so-called three-point locating is testing 3 places using the
spectrum analyzer with directional antennas, according to cross
point of the interference source direction, approach from the
multi-direction gradually to the most strongly interfered location,
and eventually find out the interference source.

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 PHS Interference Source Determination
 UMTS network is subject to external interference with the greatest
suspicion of PHS (except cities with CDMA1.9G network). As PHS base
stations are distributed intensively, it is hard to determine quickly and
accurately which PHS base station leads to interference with the
spectrum scanning. With the help of PHS field strength tester, we can
learn quickly which PHS base station cause interference.
 Take an example of PHS35C, the test result below shows the signal field
strength (dBuV) from each PHS base station.

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 Summary

 For the external interference, common solutions are as follows:

 Adjust UMTS system antenna’s position, azimuth angle, tilt and height to
have the antenna deviated from the interference source, and to increase the
space isolation between UMTS system and the interference source.
 If it is confirmed that the surrounding metal objects has led to strong inter-
modulation products, we need to remove these objects. However if these
objects can not be moved, we can move the antenna to see if the problem is
worked out.
 Modify the frequency to avoid the third-order products fall within the UMTS
receive band.
 Modify the parameters of the interference source device, or add the filter.

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