Actix DV for Agilent Overview

(GSM/GPRS)

September 2003
Contents

1 INTRODUCTION TO ACTIX DV FOR AGILENT....................................................................... 1

1.1 BENEFITS OF ACTIX DV ............................................................................................................... 2
1.2 CUSTOMERS ADDRESSED BY ACTIX DV ...................................................................................... 3
1.3 OPERATIONAL TASKS AND PROCESSES ........................................................................................ 4
1.3.1 Rollout of Services ....................................................................................................................... 5
2 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS ............................................................................................................ 6
2.1 RECOMMENDED SYSTEM CONFIGURATIONS ................................................................................ 6
2.2 MINIMUM SYSTEM CONFIGURATIONS .......................................................................................... 7
3 FEATURE OVERVIEW.................................................................................................................... 8
3.1 ACTIX DV VERSION 1.0 FEATURES .............................................................................................. 8
3.1.1 Event Navigator...................................................................................................................... 9
3.1.2 Console View ........................................................................................................................ 10
3.1.3 Map View.............................................................................................................................. 11
3.1.4 Data Views............................................................................................................................ 12
3.1.5 Charts ................................................................................................................................... 13
3.1.6 Reports.................................................................................................................................. 14
3.1.7 Protocol Stack Browser ........................................................................................................ 15
3.1.8 Replay Tool........................................................................................................................... 16
3.2 APPLICATIONS FOR GSM ........................................................................................................... 17
3.2.1 Drive Test Call Details ......................................................................................................... 17
3.2.2 Drive Test Measurement Charts ........................................................................................... 18
3.2.4 GSM Current Channel and Radio Parameters Summary..................................................... 20
3.2.5 Neighboring Cells................................................................................................................. 21
3.2.6 Example of Troubleshooting Radio Network Performance using Actix DV ......................... 22
3.3 APPLICATION FOR GPRS .................................................................................................................... 24
3.3.1 DT GPRS MM/SM Procedures and IP Data Summary ........................................................ 24
3.3.2 DT GPRS Radio Link Performance Analysis........................................................................ 26
3.3.3 Design Validation ................................................................................................................. 27
3.3.5 Data Session Window ........................................................................................................... 29
3.3.6 Data Timeslot Window ......................................................................................................... 31
3.3.7 GPRS Throughput Chart ...................................................................................................... 32
3.3.8 Example of Troubleshooting GPRS Network ing Mapping Window .................................... 33

Page 1
1 Introduction to Actix DV for Agilent

Actix DV for Agilent is an advanced software solution that enables fast,

accurate visualization and analysis of information collected by drive test
equipment. Engineers tasked with performing localized diagnostics and
optimization on GSM, GPRS, CDMA2000 and UMTS wireless networks
are empowered to achieve their goals through a carefully designed user
interface and powerful underlying data analysis technology.
Detailed knowledge of drive test equipment and the environment in which
it is used has enabled the design of a solution that will exceed expectations
and significantly improve productivity. User-controlled software views
enable all the appropriate information to be displayed on screen in easy-to-
read reports, charts and maps that have been tailored for this application.
Built-in features such as protocol stack browsing and drill-down enable
specific events to be diagnosed in detail within the same intuitive user
environment, whilst a range of standardized reports present useful KPIs
and other measurements from up to a day's worth of data.
Actix DV for Agilent features set of predefined applications, such as event
navigator view which displays a timeline of the events recorded in the
drive test data. Forward and backward "replay" of the logfile enables
instant identification and analysis of key events within the file without the
need for sequential analysis. Together with customized reports, charts and
mapping capability, Actix DV can significantly enhance the user's ability
to quickly identify and solve particular problems, often within minutes of
the drive test being completed.
Actix and Agilent have worked together to deliver this solution based
upon ActixVision, a powerful and flexible data processing and statistical
analysis engine which is at the heart of all Actix solutions. Using
advanced software technology and industry knowledge developed over
many years and fully proven in the field, ActixVision supports incoming
data streams from all network technologies, and provides the software
application layer with key analysis facilities, such as KPI extraction,
through event-aware processing and multi-dimensional querying and
binning. This technology, coupled with Agilent’s industry expertise has
produced a market leading solution for the visualization and diagnosis of
network performance information.

Page 1
1.1 Benefits of Actix DV
Actix DV has been designed to seamlessly process and analyze all data
collected by Agilent’s Nitro drive test equipment for GSM, GPRS, and
UMTS networks, quickly and easily, enabling users to enhance the
network performance and improve their operational efficiency.
Several sets of predefined reports, combined with an intuitive user-
interface, provide a one-stop analysis of crucial statistical data allowing
users to investigate the overall condition of a network within minutes of
data being collected. Actix DV saves time and resources in determining
and resolving network problems.
The business benefits of Actix DV for Agilent are that it:

• Improves network performance by rapidly identifying performance

problems.

• Simplifies complex technology by translating detailed parameters

into easy-to-understand outputs.

• Reduces operational costs by improving the time required to

respond and resolve network problems.

The key functional benefits of Actix DV for Agilent are that it:

• Enables up to 24 hours' drive-test data files to be automatically

concatenated.
• Displays data for one handset and scanner at a time.
• Updates all displays to another loaded handset and scanner with a
single click.
• Provides organized, logical data views with convenient parameter
selection.
• Delivers pre-defined commonly required reports.
• Provides Protocol stack browser for viewing air-interface
messages.

Page 2
1.2 Customers Addressed by Actix DV
Actix DV is targeted at users interested in ensuring the quality of voice
and data services on wireless networks and companies seeking to
maximize the return on their investments in wireless network
infrastructure. Actix DV is specifically focused on these organizations:
• Wireless System Operators
- Network Design Groups
- Network Performance Groups
- Network Operations Groups
• Wireless Network Infrastructure Providers
- Support Services
- Trial Teams
• Subscriber Unit Vendors
- Quality Assurance
- Field and Acceptance Testing
• Wireless Design and Optimization Consultancies and Turn-key
Solution Providers
- Optimization Specialists
- RF Design Engineers

Page 3
1.3 Operational Tasks and Processes
Typically, a new technology rollout goes through several phases,
including Lab Testing and Field Trails, Planning, Initial Rollout, Immature
Buildout and Mature Growth. The Lab Testing and Field Trials phase
begins first with pure design and laboratory testing and progresses to
increasingly more complex field trails.

Actix DV GSM/GPRS
Solution

Testing/Trials Initial Immature Mature

and Planning Rollout Buildout Growth

The initial rollout begins as equipment is installed, configured and

debugged in a particular geographic region, leading up to a soft - or full -
commercial system launch. During this phase, when there are normally a
few friendly customers on the network, drive testing is the only way to
verify the Quality of Service (QoS), which will be achieved by the
network at launch.

The immature buildout phase starts as a commercial phase, but with a

small customer base and low traffic on the network. These phases are
crucial for the proper setting of the GPRS configuration, so a key focus is
to optimize performance that will drive the QoS experience by
subscribers.

Applications addressed by Actix DV first become pertinent during the

Initial Rollout phase of a new technology and as the technology is rapidly
built out, Actix DV continues to address the critical challenges of
troubleshooting, optimizing, and performance verification. The
importance of Actix DV is heightened by the non-existent or relatively
low levels of subscriber traffic as drive testing provides the best source of
data regarding subscriber-perceived QoS. Furthermore, these data sources
may be used to effectively identify many common radio link problems that
typically lead to abnormal QoS.

Page 4
 1.3.1 Rollout of Services
GPRS is typically rolled out as an overlay on an existing GSM network
where optimization is performed over a single air-interface medium.
During GSM initial rollout, operators often begin with site verification to
ensure basic operational state after each individual BTS is switched on-air.
This is followed by optimization of cluster areas and then a final network-
wide KPI (Key Performance Indicator) Drive, before the network is
commercially launched.

During the overlay of the GPRS service onto the GSM network, in
addition to measuring the data layer performance, the performance of the
voice layer needs to be closely monitored to ensure there has been no
degradation. This recursive process between voice and data requires
intensive data collection, efficient analysis of the collected data, and
accurate isolation of network problems in order for smooth service
upgrade.

Actix DV is customized for GSM and GPRS applications to allow users to

monitor both the voice and data layers of the network and to drill down to
the root cause of the problem. By combining the GSM and GPRS
solutions, Actix DV enables users to correlate radio performance directly
with end users experience.

Page 5
2 System Requirements
The following section provides the recommended and minimum system
requirements for successfully running Actix DV for Agilent.
If you install Actix DV on a system that does not meet the recommended
configuration requirements, you may experience the following limitations:
• You may be unable to process large amounts of data.
• You may experience delays when trying to perform specific tasks.
• You may not be able to take advantage of some mapping
capabilities.
• Actix DV’s advanced correlation and analysis capabilities may not
perform as desired.

2.1 Recommended System Configurations

Processor (CPU): Pentium III 700-MHz or higher.

Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP.

Memory (RAM): 512 Megabytes.

Available Hard Disk Space 15 Gigabytes (about 80MB for DV; most of
this space is for drive test data files, map information, and virtual memory
needs).

Page 6
2.2 Minimum System Configurations
Processor (CPU): Pentium II 333-MHz or higher.

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 98 (or later) operating system,

Microsoft Windows NT Workstation operating system version 4.0 Service
Pack 3 or later, Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional or later operating
system.

Memory (RAM): 128 Megabytes.

Available Hard Disk Space: 1 Gigabyte (for DV, drive test data files,
map information, and virtual memory needs).

Note A paging file size of at least 1 GB is

recommended on Windows 2000 and NT systems. You
can set the paging file size by modifying the System
properties from the Windows Control Panel.

Page 7
3 Feature Overview
3.1 Actix DV Features
Key measurement data is organized in predefined modules on the opening
screen of Actix DV providing users with an immediate comprehensive
overview of the network’s condition. This allows the visual management
of data in customized forms of graphic representation such as maps,
charts, and user-controlled panels for selection of specific events. Users
have the flexibility of displaying pertinent statistics simultaneously or only
showing pinpointed areas of interest.

Page 8
 3.1.1 Event Navigator
Using advanced event detection, the Event Navigator displays the events
in the selected device on a timeline of the entire drive. It is the principle
device for 'driving' DV and allows users to either jump straight to an
event, or step along the timeline using the Replay panel. Each event has a
tool tip that displays the cause and radio conditions at that point.

A bar along the top shows (in this case) serving cell and traffic channel.

Because all data displays in DV are synchronized, clicking on a point in

the timeline sets all displays - including the Map and Protocol Stack
Browser - to highlight or select the same message point.
Note that holding the mouse over an event gives detailed information
about it in a floating pop-up.

Page 9
 3.1.2 Console View
The Console appears on the left of the DV application window, and
manages all loaded files and devices.

Page 10
 3.1.3 Map View
The Map is the same fully-featured component as used in other Actix A
Solutions, and is built on the industry-standard MapInfo® MapX®. This
allows the use of advanced Actix features such as multiple configurable
legends, user-definable cell displays, lines-to-cells, and advanced printing
support, with Layout and Preview.

Map View with

Attributes Legend multiple attributes

Layer Control

Page 11
 3.1.4 Data Views
Data views or 'forms' provide many different ways of examining aspects
of data for a particular technology, and are provided in a pre-defined
arrangement in the DV workspace.
The following forms are provided (the Event Navigator is common to all
technologies):

GSM
• GSM Current Channel – provides a summary of
important serving channel and serving cell radio
parameters, including BCCH frequency, TCH frequency,
Hopping Frequencies, Current TS, MAIO, HSN, Speech
Codec.

• GSM Measurement Chart – provides a time-series view

of RxLevSub and RxQualSub. The vertical black bar
denotes the currently selected message.

• GSM Neighbor Chart – provides an ordered view of the

signal levels of both serving and neighbor cells. BCCH and
BSIC are available in the tool-tip.

• GSM Radio Parameters – provides a quick look at

important radio parameters including RxLev, RxQual,
Transmit Power, Timing Advance and FER.

• GSM Serving + Neighbors – provides a list of serving and

neighbor cells along with the corresponding ARFCN, BSIC
and RxLev.

GPRS
• GPRS Data Session – provides a snapshot of important
data parameters for both received and transmitted packets.

• GPRS Data Timeslots – provides a quick and easy view of

time slot usage on the uplink and downlink.

• GPRS Throughput – provides a time-series view of

downlink throughput for several protocol layers.

Page 12
 3.1.5 Charts
The pre-defined chart window in Actix DV allows users to monitor the
trend of particular measurements with the option of adjusting the timescale
to a specified duration or to the entire drive data.

Note that you can alter the timescale by clicking on the drop-down list in
the lower right hand corner of the chart.

Page 13
 3.1.6 Reports
Standard reports are also available in DV, containing statistical
information summarizing the data in the data file.

Page 14
 3.1.7 Protocol Stack Browser
The Protocol Stack Browser window's top panel allows users to view
summary information on each message of a particular type for the active
device, while the bottom panel displays the full decode for the currently
selected message.

Page 15
 3.1.8 Replay Tool
The Replay panel is used to control the playback of the log file, starting
from the beginning of the file and displaying the data message by
message, either one message per click of the inner buttons or playing
through the messages using the outer buttons, at a speed set using the
sliding control. This allows variable-speed, bi-directional playback, and
can also be used to step single messages.

Page 16
 3.2 Applications for GSM
The set of reports contained in this application gives a summary of the
performances of voice traffic, and allows a verification of the radio
network design.

3.2.1 Drive Test Call Details

This report provides a complete overview of the content of the drive test in
terms of performed calls, call duration, performance indicators (call setup
success rate, call completion rate, handover success rate and location
update success rate) and a detailed list of the procedural messages.
Various attributes of the file decode from specific messages or sequences
of messages can be counted or combined to give general indications, such
as number of call setup procedures, call setup success rate and call
completion success rate, or Location Update success rate in idle mode.
Following is a sample of a Call Details Report:

Call Details
Summary
CC Messages Count
CC Setup 6 Call Setup Success Rate (CSSR) 83.33% 100.00%
CC Call Confirmed 0 Call Completion Rate (CCR) 83.33% 83.33%
CC Connect 6 Handover Success Rate (HSR) 85.71%
CC Alerting 6 Location Update Success Rate (LUSR) No LU

Formulae
RR Messages Count
RR Handover Command 7 CSSR 1: (Calls Completed + Calls Dropped) / Call Attempts
RR Handover Complete 7 CSSR 2: Outgoing and Incoming Call Setup / Call Attempts
RR Handover Failure 0 CCR 1: Calls Completed / Call Attempts
CCR 2: Calls Completed / Calls Setup OK
HSR: Handovers Successful / Handover Attempts
MM Messages Count LUSR: Location Update Successful / Location Update Attempts
MM Location Updating Request 0
MM Location Updating Accept 0
MM Location Updating Reject 0

The Events Count

Outgoing Call Setup OK 6
Outgoing Call Setup Failure 6
Incoming Call Setup OK 0
Incoming Call Setup Failure 0
Call Completed 5
Call Dropped 0
Handover OK 6
Handover Failure 0
Location Update OK 0
Location Update Failure 0

Page 17
 3.2.2 Drive Test Measurement Charts
Measurement Reports contain information concerning receive level and, in
dedicated mode, the quality and timing advance. The statistical
distribution of these elements allows engineers to assess the overall quality
of the radio conditions on the test route.
Peaks in the distribution of level and quality measurements may already
give some indications about particular problems or specific network
settings related power control and interference. Timing advance
distribution helps in identifying average serving distance (the distance to
the BTS serving the test mobile) and can also indicate abnormally distant
connections.
RxLevSub Distribution
120 100%
90%
100
80%
70%
80
60%
60 50%
#

40%
40
30%
20%
20
10%
0 0%
-110 -106 -102 -98 -94 -90 -86 -82 -78 -74 -70 -66 -62 -58 -54 -50 -46 -42
dBm

RxQualSub Distribution
800 100%

700 90%
80%
600
70%
500 60%
400 50%
#

300 40%
30%
200
20%
100 10%
0 0%
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
RxQual

TA Distribution
500 100%
450 90%
400 80%
350 70%
300 60%
250 50%
#

200 40%
150 30%
100 20%
50 10%
0 0%
0 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 27 30 33 36 39 42 45 48 51 54 57 60 63
TA

Example of GSM Measurement Reports

Page 18
 3.2.3 Drive Test Data Call Quality Summary

The Drive Test Data Call Quality Summary supplies users with an
overview of the collected call quality data through a predefined panel
containing pertinent statistics such as Received Signal Quality and
Handover rates. This allows users to quickly investigate the overall
behavior of a network while the graphical displays present users with a
comparative analysis of the voice quality correlating to the coverage level.
Users can now focus on areas of data that are of interest such as high
dropped call rates or handover failure rates by using the Event Navigator.
Data can be easily updated with a single click by selecting a key event on
the Event Navigator.

Example of Drive Test Data Voice Quality Summary

Page 19
 3.2.4 GSM Current Channel and Radio Parameters
Summary
This application has been tailored to display the most significant channel
configurations and radio parameters which provide users with a clear and
quick diagnosis of the serving channel.
The key parameters defined are:
• Serving Cell MCC, MNC, LAC, CI,
• Serving Cell BCCH, BSIC, TCH, TSC
• Serving timeslot number, sub-channel number
• Hopping layer configuration
• Cell Allocation List
• RxLev (full/sub)
• RxQual (full/sub)
• Current and maximum radio link timeout
• Timing advance
• Transmitting step size
• Indication of downlink discontinuous transmission
• Frame Error Rate

Example of Current Channel and Radio Parameter Summary

Page 20
 3.2.5 Neighboring Cells
To troubleshoot the handover (in dedicated mode) or location update (in
idle mode) behavior of a network the neighbor chart monitors each
collected data point along the drive-tested route in correlation with the
serving channel and its neighboring channels.
Typically, a neighboring channel with a stronger signal by a defined
margin than the serving channel, would cause the call to be transferred to
the stronger signal and the (stronger) neighbor cell would become the new
serving cell. This is known as the handover process. However, in a
situation where the neighbor relationships and controlling parameters are
not correctly defined the serving channel may fail to handover to the
stronger signal and consequently the call may degrade in quality and
ultimately be dropped.
The Neighbor Chart allows users to trace any abnormal handover activities
between the serving channel and the neighboring channels.

Rx Level (dBm)

Serving Channel Neighboring Channels

The far left bar displays the RxLev of the serving channel of interest in
relation to its neighboring channels, with their individual RxLev shown by
the bars on the right.

Page 21
 3.2.6 Example of Troubleshooting Radio Network
Performance using Actix DV
One of the more powerful advantages of Actix DV is allowing users to
overlay multiple layers of attributes on a single map with the flexibility of
displaying the attributes desired by the user. For example, in radio
networks with downlink quality problems, a single attribute view may
provide users with a partial analysis of the problem area.

Displaying RxQual by
itself gives users a
partial analysis of the
area

By examining multiple key downlink attributes simultaneously, such as

the Downlink RxLev and Downlink RxQual, users will be able to analyze
and pinpoint a more concise cause of the problem area. If the signal
displays poor RxQual with good RxLev (>-85), the BCCH is most likely
suffering from interference or the hopping layer is having many collisions.
On the other hand, if the signal shows poor RxQual and weak RxLev (-
95dBm), the area is most likely having downlink coverage problems.

The follow page shows an example of a poor signal quality due to

downlink coverage problem:

Page 22
 RxLev < -89 dBm RxQual > 4

Users can further drill down into the quality problem by studying the
implemented frequency plan using Actix DV map window. After
importing site configurations into the Actix “cellref” file, each sector can
be color coded according to their assigned frequency. This map quickly
identifies situations where sectors with the same color code are most likely
causing co-channel interference.

Affected Area due

to Co-channel
interference

Co-Channel
Sectors

Example of area possibility suffering from co-channel interference

Page 23
3.3 Application for GPRS
The pre-designed applications available for analyzing GPRS data are:

3.3.1 DT GPRS MM/SM Procedures and IP Data

Summary
This application is dedicated to the analysis of the procedures between the
Mobile Station and the SGSN (with success rates and causes for failures)
and gives the summary of packet data traffic.
Mobility Management
• Attach procedure
• Detach procedure
• Attach and Detach causes breakdown
• Attach Type
• Attach Result
• MS Multi slot class
• RA update
• procedure
• RA Update causes breakdown
• Other MM procedures
• RA Update type
Session Management
• PdP Context activation
• PdP Context Deactivation
• PdP Context Modification
• PdP Context cause breakdown
• AA PdP Context Activation
• AA PdP Context Deactivation
• AA PdP Context causes breakdown
• Other SM info (LLC SAPI, NSAPI, QoS parameters, APN)

Application data summary

Page 24
• Total session duration
• Mean session duration
• Total TCP data received
• Total TCP data sent
• Mean end-to-end round trip delay
• Maximum end-to-end round trip delay

Page 25
 3.3.2 DT GPRS Radio Link Performance Analysis
This application is dedicated to the analysis of the radio link performance
and contains the following reports:
• Coding Scheme and Throughput per number of used Time Slots
• Timeslot allocation (percentage of usage of the Time Slots)
• Signal level (C value)
• Quality
• Interference analysis
• Throughput RLC and LLC
• Throughput and Coding Scheme
• Throughput and signal level
• Throughput and quality
• Throughput per TBF
• BLER and Retransmissions

Page 26
 3.3.3 Design Validation
A key performance indicator of a GPRS network is the RLC throughput
which can be analyzed in relation to the coding scheme usage and the
number of GPRS data timeslots occupied. Combining these specific
elements into a single analysis will verify the quality of a network design
and determine the quality of the radio condition along the drive test route.
In this report, the following information elements have been combined:
• RLC Throughput: this is usually good when the timeslot allocation
and coding scheme usage levels are both high.
• Timeslot Allocation: this is dependent on how many timeslots the
handset is capable of handling and the network has available for
allocation.
• Coding scheme: this is acceptable when it satisfies network
settings.
Based on these criteria, Actix DV generates a measurement report
indicating the coding scheme and throughput per number of used
timeslots. In the following example, the throughput is generally good
because it reveals that three timeslots are used with coding scheme 2 used
in each case.
Coding Schemes and Throughput per TS
File name: GPRS_Data_Test2.sd5
Logging Date: 11/3/2003

18 120

16
100
Mean DL RLC Throughput (kbps)

14

12 80

10
(%)

60
8

6 40

4
20
2

0 0
1 2 3
Number of DL Timeslots used

%CS1 %CS2 Mean DL RLC Throughput

Number of TS used Mean DL RLC Throughput % CS1 % CS2

1 5.764 0.0% 100.0%
2 5.424 0.0% 100.0%
3 16.209 3.1% 96.9%

Page 27
 3.3.4 Throughput Statistics
A statistical report calculates the minimum, average, and maximum RLC
and LLC throughput for both Uplink and Downlink activities allowing
engineers to evaluate the overall throughput quality of the collected data.

RLC and LLC Throughput Statistics

File name: GPRS_Data_Test2.sd5
Logging date: 11/3/2003

DL RLC and LLC Throughput

70.00

60.00 57.57
Throughput (kbps)

50.00
39.62
40.00

30.00

20.00 15.97
10.62
10.00
0.00 0.00
0.00
Min Mean Max

DL LLC DL RLC

UL RLC and LLC Throughput

50.00 46.27
45.00
40.00
Throughput (kbps)

35.00
30.00
25.00
20.00
13.38
15.00
10.00 5.81
3.81
5.00
0.00 0.00
0.00
Min Mean Max

UL LLC UL RLC

Statistical Report of Uplink and Downlink LLC/RLC Throughput

Page 28
 3.3.5 Data Session Window
General information is found in the Data Session Window. Actix DV
provides a set of measurements outlining the throughput’s general
performance and presenting users with the appropriate information such as
Data Session Protocol and an indication of end-users perception. These
attributes are essential to analyzing maximum throughput and
troubleshooting a GPRS network.
The following attributes are available from the Data Session Window:

• Data Session Task Name

• Data Session Duration
• Server Address
• Uplink and Downlink Application Throughput
• Uplink and Downlink IP Throughput
• Uplink and Downlink LLC Throughput
• Uplink and Downlink RLC Throughput
• Uplink and Downlink Datagram Count
• Uplink and Downlink Datagram Line Per Page
• Uplink and Downlink Datagram Lost
• Uplink and Downlink Datagram Out of Order
• Uplink and Downlink Delay
• Uplink and Downlink RTT
• Uplink and Downlink IP BER(%)
• Uplink and Downlink Bytes

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Data Session Window showing both Uplink and Downlink signal activities

Page 30
 3.3.6 Data Timeslot Window
To further investigate a network quality problem, users can shift to the
application “Data Timeslots”. For example, if there is a rapid degradation
in the RLC downlink throughput observed in the Data Session window,
users would typically be able to determine the possible cause by analyzing
the change in color scheme, timeslot usage level, and retransmission
percentile. Actix DV’s Data Timeslot application summarizes this detailed
data in addition to other related attributes of the serving channel, providing
users with more in-depth throughput analysis.

The following measurements are available in the Data Timeslot Window:

• Uplink and Downlink TBF status

• Uplink and Downlink TBI number
• Uplink and Downlink Coding Scheme
• Uplink and Downlink allocated GPRS Timeslot
• Uplink and Downlink accumulated transmitted LLC Frame
• Uplink and Downlink LLC Retransmission %
• Uplink and Downlink accumulated transmitted RLC Frame
• Uplink and Downlink RLC Retransmission %

Data Timeslot Window showing one and three GPRS timeslots are utilized in Uplink and
Downlink respectively

Page 31
 3.3.7 GPRS Throughput Chart
When troubleshooting the overall performance of a GPRS network, one of
the most effective ways would be through observing the trend of the
collected data measurements. Actix DV provides users with a multi-layer
Throughput Chart with scrolling capabilities, to enable monitoring of
throughput at a particular timeframe or for the entire duration of the
collected data. Users can also observe the trend of the downlink and
uplink throughput in respect to the allocated GRPS timeslots.
For example, users can observe the change in throughput quality during
downlink and uplink activities

Downlink throughput
went down

GPRS Downlink Throughput Chart

As Uplink activities
began

GPRS UL Throughput Chart

By placing UL and DL throughput charts adjacent to each other, users can
quickly determine the direction of the data session at each instance. The
multiple layers of throughput also allows users to determine the limitation
of different layers. For example, the application layer throughput is
typically lower than RLC throughput, because additional overhead at
higher OSI layers takes up some of the available bandwidth for routing
and error checking.

Page 32
 3.3.8 Example of Troubleshooting GPRS Network
in Mapping Window
Utilizing Actix DV’s multiple attribute layering capability allows users to
quickly and easily identify the root-cause of downlink and uplink
throughput degradation. Typically this decrease is directly related to RF
conditions such as the Data Quality, Coding Scheme, and Retransmission
and can only be determined by tracing these multiple correlated attributes
simultaneously.
For example, during poor RF conditions, the BER may exceed the
threshold of a higher data rate coding scheme. This can force the data
session to switch to a lower data rate coding scheme to retain the integrity
of the link. Furthermore, an RF environment with interference may also
cause retransmission of the same data block to acquire acknowledgement
at the end-user terminal. Both of these cases will lead to a decrease in
RLC throughput.

Bad RxQual

Multiple
Retransmission

Coding
Scheme 1

Multiple attributes such as Data Quality, Coding Scheme, and Retransmission mapped
simultaneously illustrates the problem of increased retransmissions and the lowering of
the coding scheme due to poor RF conditions (see map above). The problem can be
solved by locating a cleaner frequency for the serving channel. However, if the GPRS
traffic is carried on the hopping layer, the MA list should be revised.

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