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EDGE Field trial Guideline

Originator File Date Edition PageP. Henriques EDGE Trial Guideline 07/2006 04. 1

All rights reserved. Passing on and copying of this document, use and communication of its contents not permitted without written authorisation.


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CONTENTS

1. SCOPE....................................................................................................................5

2. EDGE FIELD TRIAL SEVERAL OBJECTIVES..................................................62.1 What Is EDGE.......................................... ......................................... ................... ...... ....... ....... .... 6

2.2 Several objectives for EDGE field trials....................................................................................6

3. TELECOM FUNCTIONS........................................................................................83.1 B8 release transmission resource management TRX Class concept.................................8

3.2 B9 release Transmission resource management.....................................................................8

3.3 Traffic management................................... ......................................... ..................... ....... ...... ...... 9

3.3.1 New coding schemes or MCS for EDGE transfers.....................................................................9

3.3.2 New modulation....................................................... ......................................... ..................... ..... 9

3.3.3 Link adaptation for EGPRS......................................................................................................103.3.4 ARQ mechanism types.............................................................................................................10

4. SYSTEM CONFIGURATION AND TEST ENVIRONMENT.................................114.1 Sytem configuration................................................ ........................................ .......................... 11

4.1.1 Overall configuration................................................................................................................11

4.1.2 Radio access network...............................................................................................................11

4.2 Mobile station.................................................. ......................................... .................. ....... ...... .. 12

4.3 Applications............................................................. ......................................... .................. ...... . 13

4.4 Test conditions.................................... ......................................... ........................................ ..... 13

5. EDGE VALIDATION TEST STRATEGY............................................................. .155.1 End User performances validation..........................................................................................15

5.1.1 Scope of the tests................................................... ........................................ ..................... ..... 15

5.1.2 Applications used for performance tests..................................................................................15

5.1.3 Tests specifications............................................... ......................................... ........... ....... ...... .. 16

5.1.4 Performance tests strategy.......................................................................................................16

5.2 Coverage validation................................................. ........................................ ........ ....... ...... .... 23

5.2.1 Scope of the tests................................................... ........................................ ..................... ..... 23

5.2.2 Maximum throughput achievable for each MCS/CS................................................................23

5.2.3 GPRS and EDGE radio coverage ...........................................................................................25

6. QUALITY OF SERVICE MONITORING..............................................................276.1 Quality of service monitoring EDGE experimentation........................................................27

6.2 Quality of service monitoring EDGE Pilot...........................................................................27

7. TEST TOOLS.......................................................................................................287.1 End-to-End investigation..........................................................................................................28

7.2 Mobile Equipment (mobile handsets and clients)..................................................................29

7.2.1 EDGE and GPRS mobiles........................................................................................................29

7.2.2 PC and applications............................................................. ......................................... ............ 29




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7.2.3 K1205........................................................................ ......................................... ........ ...... ....... . 29

7.2.4 Ethereal........................................................... ......................................... .................. ...... ....... . 30

7.2.5 Compass...................................... ......................................... ........................................ ............ 30

7.2.6 MFS terminal.................................... ......................................... .................................... ....... .... 30

7.3 Drive test measurement tool chain..........................................................................................30

7.4 Qos follow-up ANAQOS tool.................................................................................................31

8. ANNEX:................................................................................................................328.1 Detailed EDGE test plan.................................. ........................................ ........... ....... ....... ...... .32

8.2 TCP parameters.........................................................................................................................33




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History :

Edition Date Originator Comments

1 19/07/04 S. RABILLARD Creation of thedocument

2 1/09/04 S. RABILLARD Modification of the documentsafter comments

3 20/05/05 P. F. COSTA Modification after

field experiments

4 04/07/06 P. HENRIQUES Update to includeB9 release

Reference :[1] : EDGE&HSDS : introduction, algorithms and parameters, 3DF 01906 2810 VAZZA

[2] : DEUTRIP User guide, ed2.1

Useful documentation :

B8- SFD: High Speed Data Service (Telecom), B8, 3BK 10204 0598 DTZZA, ed. 01- RLC sublayer, 3BK 11202 368 DSZZA, ed. 05- Resource Allocation and Management (RAM), 3BK 11202 0350 DSZZA, ed. 03

- RRM sub-layer (PCC), 3BK 11202 0367 DSZZA, ed. 06- RRM sub-layer (PRH), 3BK 11202 0366 DSZZA, ed. 07

B9- (E)GPRS and LCS TELECOM PRESENTATION, 3BK 11203 0114 DSZZA, ed. 01- FBS-GPRS-Radio Interface- RLC SubLayer, 3BK 11202 0392 DSZZA, ed. 08- Resource Allocation and Management, 3BK 11202 0387 DSZZA, ed. 06- FBS-GPRS-Radio Interface- RRM SubLayer-PCC, 3BK 11202 0391 DSZZA, ed. 08- (E)GPRS-Radio Interface- RRM - PRH, 3BK 11202 0390 DSZZA, ed. 07




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1. SCOPE

The scope of this document is to define the strategy for testing the new EDGE feature in the frame

of any EDGE field Experimentation or Pilot. This document will not present in detail how to performthe tests but will explain what could be interesting to study or to propose during such a project.

In this document the following aspects will be presented :

- The main objectives

- The main B8 telecom features involved during the field tests

- The main B9 telecom features involved during the field trial tests

- The different domains of tests which could be tackled and the associated planning

- The test tools




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2. EDGE FIELD TRIAL SEVERAL OBJECTIVES

2.1 What Is EDGE

EDGE is a global radio-based high-speed mobile data rate standard that can be introduced intoGSM/GPRS networks. EDGE allows data transmission speeds up to 473,6 Kbit/s (8 TS in downlink)in packet-switched mode in order to suppor multimedia services. This is achieved within the sameGSM bandwidth and existing 800, 900, 1800 and 1900 MHz frequency bands.

The idea behind EDGE is to increase the data rate that can be achieved by changing the type of modulation used while still working with existing GSM and GPRS network nodes. The newmodulation that is introduced is the eight-state phase-shift keying (8-PSK) allowing to carry 3 bitsper modulated symbol over the radio path.

2.2 Several objectives for EDGE field trials

The two main objectives of a field trial are the following:

1) Validate the gains brought by EDGE on the field

This objective will be of course the main one. Assessing the throughput gain offered by EDGEversus GPRS will help the operator to refine its EDGE business model. Depending on what

throughputs can be achieved some new services may or may not be marketed.2) Help the customer to define the best EDGE introduction strategy on the two following aspects

Find the best trade-off between the required EDGE throughputs (marketing needs) and thenecessary capacity extension (anticipating the need for network deployment). Thus, assessingin advance the GPRS/EDGE throughputs depending on the transmission capacity (TRX class inB8 and number extra Abis TS in B9 ), it will help the operator in selecting the most appropriatetransmission capacity/BSS architecture depending on the gain brought by increasing thecapacity.

Identify in advance the radio engineering solution or radio parameters which could influence the

radio throughputs: usage of incremental redundancy and frequency hopping, frequency bandimpact, EDGE on BCCH TRX ..

The frequency hoping can impact the DL throughput from 2% in good radio conditionsup to 16% in normal radio conditions; however the impact of the frequency hoping ishigh dependent of the frequency plan and the band width. A low interference networkimproves the DL throughput. The values presented are average gather by statisticalway and they may change with the network configuration and the frequency plan of the operator.

Furthermore, it is pratically impossible to find 2 cells with different hopping schemes

and the same radio conditions and in this way it is very difficult to test in the field the




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impact of carrying PS in frequency hoping TRX

Some improvements in frequency plan can be proposed to the customer using RMS.

The RMS provides useful statistics on reported radio measurements, which will easier the work for planning and optimization of a network. With this strong information it ispossible make a good frequency plan and so to lower the interference in the network.The final impact will be a better QoS in EDGE.

The advantage of choosing PS in the BCCH TRX is not conclusive. External factorssuch as the frequency plan, cell configuration have a higher impact in choose.




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3. TELECOM FUNCTIONS

The aim of this part is not to explain in detail the new algorithms and parameter linked to GPRSCS3/CS4 and EDGE (refer to [1]) but to present quickly the main telecom functions that will be usedduring the trial.

3.1 B8 release transmission resource management TRX Class concept

Depending on the used (M)CS, from one and up to five 16 kbit/s channels are needed per PDCHbetween the BTS and the MFS (for example, the 59.2 kbit/s theoretical throughput per PDCH withMCS9 cannot be carried by a single 16 kbit/s channel on the Abis/Ater interfaces). Therefore, each

TRX has a TRX class (from one to five), which defines the number of Abis/Ater GCH per radio TSor PDCH. One PDCH on a class n TRX uses n GCH (1 EGCH = n 16 kbit/s channels = n GCH) onthe Abis and Ater interfaces. In each cell the operator defines the number of TRX of each TRXclass.

The table below indicates the available CS and MCS depending on the TRX class.

TRX class Available CS Available MCS

1 CS1 to CS2 MCS1 to MCS2





3.2 B9 release Transmission resource management

In B9 release the TRX class concept no longer exists. The new Enhanced Transmission ResourceManagement feature is totally different concept, it allows a dynamic adaptation of the transmissionto the existing circuit switch and packet switch traffic. The feature runs in the top of the new 4 sub-features:

M-EGCH Statistical Multiplexing - This feature provides a solution to share the Ater and Abis nibbles between the radio timeslots of a TRX so that the transmissionresources left available by a PDCH can be reused by other PDCHs as long as thosePDCHs belong to the same TRX. Thus, it allows reducing the waste of transmission

bandwidth on the Ater and Abis interfaces.




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Dynamic Abis Allocation - This feature enables to dynamically allocate Abis nibblesamong the different TREs used for PS traffic in a given BTS. Compared to B8, itallows a higher average Abis bandwidth per PDCH, the BSC capacity in terms of TREs is increased, and in some BTS configurations it may avoid to deploy a second

Abis link.

Ater Resource Management The Ater resource management was changed from B8to the new concept, the strong requirement is to ensure GPRS access in all the cellsof the GPU (no cell shall be blocked due to an Ater congestion).

DL Retransmission in the BTS- Avoid consuming transmission resources (Abis + Ater) in case of DLRLC data blocks retransmissions. Store for a certain time, in the memory of the TRE involved in thepacket transfer mode with an MS, the DL RLC data blocks received from the MFS for this MS.Then, the MFS can ask the TRE (in the BTS) to retransmit some data blocks.

The enhanced transmission resource management can be split in two parts :

The first part consists in the managing of the M-EGCH link (size determination,establishment, release, .)

The second consists in the activation of GCH resources during resourceallocation/reallocation (for a TBF establishment for example).

3.3 Traffic management

3.3.1 New coding schemes or MCS for EDGE transfers

EDGE is an evolution of the GSM standard, introduced in the 3GPP release 99. It is designed toallow higher throughputs than the GPRS thanks to the use of new coding schemes : MCS1 to MCS9in downlink and uplink. These coding schemes are defined only for the EGPRS packet data trafficchannels (PDTCH). For all the EGPRS packet control channels the corresponding GPRS controlchannel coding is used (that is MCS1 for the PACCH, PBCCH, PAGCH, PPCH and downlinkPTCCH).

In B8 release, the MCS1 to MCS9 coding schemes are available in downlink whereas only theMCS1 to MCS4 coding schemes are available in uplink. Although, in B9 is available in uplink the 8-PSK modulation allowing to have the MCS1 to MCS9 coding schemes.

3.3.2 New modulation

EDGE introduces a new modulation: the 8-PSK modulation. This new modulation is used for theMCS5 to MCS9 coding schemes. Contrary to the GMSK modulation that has a constant envelope,the 8-PSK modulation envelope carries information. We will see later that this has an impact on theavailable output power in 8-PSK.




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3.3.3 Link adaptation for EGPRS

The aim of link adaptation is to find the best compromise between BLER (which depends on theradio path quality) and the data protection (MCS1 offers the best protection but the lowestthroughput whereas MSC9 offers the highest throughput but low protection). In RLC acknowledgedmode, the objective is to achieve the best possible throughput, whereas in RLC unacknowledgedmode the objective is to remain below a certain level of residual bit error rate. Depending onmeasurement (MEAN_BEP, CV_BEP) performed either by the MS (reported in EGPRS PDAN, DLcase) or by the BTS (reported in GCH frames, UL case), the modulation and coding scheme ischanged. The link adaptation algorithm is different according to RLC mode (ack/nack) and ARQ (IRused / not used).

3.3.4 ARQ mechanism types

In RLC acknowledged mode, there are two types of ARQ mechanisms:

Type 1 ARQ (already used in B6 and B7 releases, used in B8 and B9 release for GPRS andEGPRS)

Type 2 hybrid ARQ = Incremental Redundancy (new in B8 release, only used for EGPRS)

Type I ARQ for EGPRS

In type I ARQ mechanism, when a RLC data block is retransmitted, the same or another MCS fromthe same family of MCS is selected. This is valid for DL and UL direction. However, in B8 (nolonger valid for B9), in UL only RLC data blocks sent with MCS4 could be retransmitted with a MCSfrom the same family. For MCS1, MCS2 and MCS3, the blocks will be retransmitted with the sameMCS.

Type II hybrid ARQ or Incremental Redundancy

In type I ARQ, if a RLC block is received with errors, it is discarded. With Incremental Redundancythe soft bits information from N different transmissions of the same RLC block can be combined toincrease the chances to decode the RLC block. Incremental redundancy only applies to DL EGPRSdata blocks in RLC acknowledged mode.

The Alcatel BSS in B8 does not support incremental redundancy in the UL direction. At the MS sideincremental redundancy is mandatory.

In B9 release the incremental redudancy in the UL is optional and it can be enabled by theparameter En_IR_UL.




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4. SYSTEM CONFIGURATION AND TEST ENVIRONMENT

4.1 Sytem configuration

4.1.1 Overall configuration

4.1.2 Radio access network

Two different scenarii could be considered depending on the context:

1. EDGE experimentation: preliminary assessment on a dedicated network (BSS+GSS)

2. EDGE Pilot: full validation on the real commercial network

EDGE experimentation network

As it was done during the first experimentation performed in Bucharest (January 04) the EDGEsoftware could be run on a specific network in order to avoid any interference with the commercialnetwork.

This standalone access network (BSS+GSS) should be composed of :

5/10 Evolium BTS 3x2 (3 sectors with 2 TRXs/sector) 1x4 (1 sector with 4 TRxs) with at leastone G4 TRE per sector



BTS Abis

MFS

MSC

Gs Gr

A D

HLR

Radius

Ater

Gb Gi

HTTP

FTP

BSCTC

SGSNGn

GGSN

Serial / USB

Air


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1 dedicated BSC (small configuration) + TC

1 dedicated MFS with 2 GPUs

1 OMC-R small configuration (with embedded NPA)

1 RNO/NPA tool chain

1 A-interface link to one MSC in order to retrieve the synchronisation

1 link to an Alcatel SGSN/GGSN Core network (R2.1 at least or higher release)

Cells shall belong to a PLMN different from the one of the operator (specific SIM cards needed)

all the application servers should be connected on Gi interface (just behind the GGSN)

EDGE Pilot network

In order to validate the EDGE benefits on a real B8 or B9 commercial network some cells should be withEDGE activated without any transmission limitation, allowing to achieve the best throughputs. This meansin B8 at least one cell with a TRX Class 5 configured. For B9, since the extra transmission capacity isconfigure by BTS, it means that the extra nibbles will be shared between the cells of the BTS and aprecaution should be take tocheck the PS traffic impact from one cell in another.

As an example of an EDGE pilot for B9, it is presented the following annex:

HSDS_test_report_ed01.doc

As for the experimentation, the application servers will have to be connected on the Gi interface in order toavoid any internet bad effects.

4.2 Mobile station

The Nokia 6230 or 6230i terminals (commercial products) have been chosen as the reference MSfor testing EDGE on the field (first commercial MS with a good quality). Therefore, they will be usedto run all the functional end-to-end tests.

.




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The Nokia 6230 is a (4+1) or a (3+2) terminal (depending on the transfer direction). It keeps thesame multislot class during GPRS and EGPRS transfers. It supports the bluetooth wirelesstechnology avoiding the usage of the USB cable (useful functionality in case of drive testmeasurements).

The Nokia 6230i has the same capacity of the Nokia 6230 but it is also a R4 mobile, allowing theusage of B9 features like Extended UL TBF mode or Network Assisted Cell Change.

The Nokia 6630 and 6680 are consider the refernce mobile EDGE to UMTS tests.

All Nokia EDGE mobiles (Nokia 6230, 6230i and 6630) have the possibility of having Net Monitor installed this application permits to not only have precious network information shown in themobiles display, but also to force camping in one particular BCCH, or ignore/invert theCELL_BAR_ACCESS command.

4.3 Applications

In order to secure the field tests, a limited number of applications were chosen using the EDGEterminals as modem.

Two types of application services are considered:

Performance application services (Ping, FTP and Web) in order to assess the new accessibilityand throughputs achievable with EDGE

Commercial application services as Video streaming in downlink

Regarding WAP service no tests are foreseen because:

since the transfers are too short we don't expect any significant gain in WAP performances

with EDGE

WAP transfers are too dependent on the MS WAP browser behaviour (stability)

4.4 Test conditions

In order to evaluate EDGE and GPRS CS3/CS4 performances in different types of environmentsthe following Tests Conditions are defined:




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EDGE transfers in GOOD / NORMAL / BAD radio conditions *** (see hereafter)

EDGE transfers static/mobility

EDGE transfers with/without hopping (BBH/Radio Frequency Hopping) (see comments in 2.2 )

EDGE transfers on the BCCH / non BCCH TRX

EDGE transfers on different TRX Class for B8 networks or different maximum MCS for B9

***

Good : downlink RxLev [-55dBm, -65 dBm] and MeanBEP [31, 25]

Normal : downlink RxLev [-65dBm, -85 dBm] and MeanBEP [25, 15]

Poor : downlink RxLev [-85dBm, -100 dBm] and MeanBEP [15, 00]




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gain in download/upload time brought by EDGE and GPRS CS3/CS4 compared to GPRSCS1/CS2.

These three services are also important to measure/investigate the impact of the different layersand network entities in the end user performance.

Video streaming in downlink will be used to show what stable throughputs could be achievedallowing the usage of this demanding service. The download of the video streaming, in a mobilitytest, allows measuring the impact of the cell reselection on the QoS, the buffer size have major rulein the previous results.

The following KPI will be provided:

time to download a specific Web page and non quality factor for WEB access failure rate

throughput and failure rate for uplink and downlink FTP transfers

quality of the video for video streaming

5.1.3 Tests specifications

All the tests will be run with the optimised parameter values (ref 8.1 ) and they can include the tests

of a subset of B8/B9 features. Depending on the set of tests tackled, the data transfers could beperformed in different kind of radio environments.

After KPI stability and optimisation degree in static tests is achieved, mobility tests should beperformed. The services tested should be the FTP, Web and Video Streaming. They allowmeasuring the impact of the radio conditions variations and the cell reselections. These tests arehigh dependent of the server specification, such as the TCP parameter timeout. BSS PS features,like Enhanced Cell Reselection and DL LLC PDU, can be tested to improve the end user performance.

5.1.4 Performance tests strategy

Three sets of EDGE tests and one set of GPRS test can be defined:

pure EDGE performance tests

EDGE performances in various radio environments or commercial EDGE performances

EDGE performances versus GPRS performances

GPRS CS3/CS4 performances versus GPRS CS1/CS2 performances




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5.1.4.1 Pure EDGE performance tests

Test cases:

The aim of this first set of performance tests is to assess the gain brought by EDGE and so the testshould be performed in good radio conditions. They should be used to get end user QoS stability.

The following cases should be performed in good radio conditions (refer to part 4.4) with all MCSallowed

1 EDGE MS in DL FTP transfer (different file sizes will have to be foreseen).

1 EDGE MS in UL FTP transfer (different file sizes will have to be foreseen)

1 EDGE MS in Web transfer (different Web pages will have to be foreseen)

1 EDGE MS in downlink Video transfer 1 EDGE MS in accessibility test (different ping sizes and intervals will have to be foreseen)

Each test should be run several times in order to have reliable statistics.

Test specification:

The test should be performed:

- In good radio conditions (Rxlev [-55;-65dBm], MeanBEP [31;25])

- In cells with low traffic load.- With all MCS allowed and with link adaptation activated.

- With different pool types (from 5 to 2) in B8 and for different maximum MCS in B9.

- In 900 and 1800 bands

- With and without hopping (BBH or Radio Frequency Hopping) (see comments in 2.2 )

- EDGE TRX configured on the BCCH / Non BCCH TRX




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Manpower estimation for B8 release :

Pure EDGE performance tests - B8 release DURATION(hours)

DURATION(days)

Basic tests (default configuration) : EDGE performances in good radio conditions in the classicalfrequency band on a Pool type 5 TRX

3 0.375

Influence of the f requency band : EDGE performances in good radio conditions in the classical /non "classical" frequency band

6 0.75

EDGE traffic on the BCCH carrier : EDGE performances in good radio conditions on BCCH andnon BCCH TRX

6 0.75

Infuence of hopping : EDGE performances on a hopping/non hopping TRX in good radio conditions 6 0.75

TRX Class influence : EDGE performances with different pool types 12 1.5

**** 3 hours are needed to perform the different measurements for a given configuration.

Manpower estimation for B9 release:

Pure EDGE performance tests - B9 release DURATION(hours)

DURATION(days)

Basic tests: EDGE perf. in good radio conditions in the classical frequency band with max. MCS9and available transmission capacity

3 0.375

Influence of the f requency band : EDGE performances in good radio conditions in the classical /non "classical" frequency band

6 0.75

EDGE traffic on the BCCH carrier : EDGE performances in good radio conditions on BCCH and

non BCCH TRX6 0.75

Infuence of hopping : EDGE performances on a hopping/non hopping TRX in good radio conditions 6 0.75

Maximum MCS influence : EDGE performances with differents maximum MCS 12 1.5


5.1.4.2 EDGE performance tests in various radio/load conditions - commercial EDGE performance

Test cases:The aim of this set of tests is to assess the gain brought by EDGE in various radio conditions(RxLev, MeanBEP) and possibly different load conditions (however, such variability should belimited as much as possible). During this field trial it is proposed to test the EDGE features IR andResegmentation.

The following cases should be performed in various radio conditions with all MCS allowed :

1 EDGE MS in DL FTP transfer (different file sizes will have to be foreseen).

1 EDGE MS in UL FTP transfer (different file sizes will have to be foreseen)

1 EDGE MS in Web transfer (different Web pages will have to be foreseen)




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1 EDGE MS in downlink Video transfer

1 EDGE MS in accessibility test (different ping sizes and intervals will have to be foreseen)

Each test should be run several times in order to obtain reliable statistics.

Test specification:

The test could be performed:

- In different kind of radio conditions (Rxlev, MeanBEP) (Main difference with the previous set of tests).

- With all MCS allowed and with link adaptation activated.

- With different pool types (from 5 to 2) in B8 and for different maximum MCS in B9.- In 900 and 1800 frequency bands


- With / without DL and UL(only in B9) re-segmentation activated (optional)

- With / without Incremental redundancy in UL in B9 release (optional)


- Tests performed at the same hour of the day in order to meet same kind of traffic load

Manpower estimation for B8 release (Standard tests):

"Commercial" EDGE performance tests - B8 release DURATION(hours)

DURATION(days)

Basic tests (default configuration) : EDGE performances in various radio conditions in the classicalfrequency band on a Pool type 5 TRX

9 1.125

Influence of the frequency band : EDGE performances in various radio conditions in the classical /non "classical" frequency band

18 2.25

EDGE traffic on the BCCH carrier : EDGE performances in various radio conditions on BCCH andnon BCCH TRX

18 2.25

Infuence of hopping : EDGE performances on a hopping/non hopping TRX in different radioconditions

18 2.25

TRX Class influence : EDGE performances in different radio conditions and with different pooltypes

36 4.5

**** 3x3 hours are needed to perform the different measurements for a given configuration.




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Manpower estimation for B8 release (DL re-segmentation tests):

EDGE performance tests - DL Re-segmentation influence - B8 release DURATION(hours) DURATION(days)Basic tests (default configuration) : EDGE performances in normal and bad radio conditionswith/without DL re-segmentation

4 0.5

Infuence of hopping in different radio conditions : EDGE performances on a hopping TRX/ nonhopping TRX with different radio conditions

8 1

TRX Class influence : EDGE performances in different radio conditions and with different pooltypes

16 2


Manpower estimation for B9 release (Standard tests):

"Commercial" EDGE performance tests - B9 release DURATION(hours)

DURATION(days)

Basic tests: EDGE perf. in various radio conditions in the classical frequency band with max. MCS9and available transmission capacity

9 1.125

Influence of the frequency band : EDGE performances in various radio conditions in the classical /non "classical" frequency band

18 2.25

EDGE traffic on the BCCH carrier : EDGE performances in various radio conditions on BCCH andnon BCCH TRX

18 2.25

Infuence of hopping : EDGE performances on a hopping/non hopping TRX in different radioconditions

18 2.25

Maximum MCS influence : EDGE performances in different radio conditions and with differents

maximum MCS36 4.5


Manpower estimation for B9 release (DL re-segmentation tests):

EDGE performance tests - DL Re-segmentation influence - B9 releaseDURATION

(hours)DURATION

(days)Basic tests (default configuration) : EDGE performances in normal and bad radio conditionswith/without DL re-segmentation

4 0.5


8 1

Maximum MCS influence : EDGE performances in different radio conditions and with differentsmaximum MCS

16 2





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Manpower estimation for B9 release (UL IR and re-segmentation tests):

EDGE performance tests - UL IR and Re-segmentation influence - B9 release DURATION(hours)

DURATION(days)

Basic tests (default configuration) : EDGE perf. in normal and bad radio conditions with/without ULIR and with/without UL re-segmentation

4 0.5


8 1

Maximum MCS influence : EDGE performances in different radio conditions and with differentsmaximum MCS

16 2


5.1.4.3 EDGE performances versus GPRS performances

Test cases:

The aim of this set of tests is to evaluate the gain brought by EDGE compared to GPRS. Thefollowing test cases should be performed in various radio conditions:

At the same geographical point 1 EDGE MS and 1 GPRS MS in DL FTP transfer (same files,same terminal)

At the same geographical point 1 EDGE MS and 1 GPRS MS in UL FTP transfer (same files,same terminal)

At the same geographical point 1 EDGE MS and 1 GPRS MS in Web transfer (same pages,same terminal)

Each test should be run several times in order to obtain reliable statistics.

In order to avoid too noticeable impact from load varaiations, EDGE and GPRS tests should beconsecutive in a short timeframe.

Test specification:

The tests could be performed:

- in different kinds of radio conditions (Rxlev, MeanBEP) (refer to part 4.4)

- With all MCS/CS allowed and with link adaptation activated.

- In 900 or 1800 band


- With re-segmentation not activated (EN_FULL_IR_DL=enable for DL and EN_Resegmentation_UL= Disable. only for B9)

Manpower estimation:




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EDGE performances versus GPRS performances DURATION(hours)

DURATION(days)

Basic tests (default configuration) : GPRS/EGPRS performances in good radio conditions 7 0.875

Influence of the radio conditions : GPRS/EGPRS performances in different radio conditions 21 2.625

Infuence of hopping : GPRS/EGPRS performances on a hopping TRX / non hopping TRX in goodradio conditions

14 1.75

Infuence of hopping in different radio conditions : GPRS/EGPRS performances on a hopping / nonhopping TRX with different radio conditions

42 5.25


5.1.4.4 GPRS CS3/CS4 compared to GPRS CS1/CS2

Test cases:

The aim of this last set of tests is to evaluate the gain brought by CS3/CS4 compared to CS1/CS2. All the tests could be performed with commercial mobiles that normally support all the GPRScoding schemes (CS1-->CS4).

The following test cases should be performed in various radio conditions:

1 MS in DL FTP transfer with CS1/CS2 then same MS in DL FTP transfer using CS3/CS4

1 MS in UL FTP transfer with CS1/CS2 then same MS in UL FTP transfer using CS3/CS4

1 MS in Web transfer with CS1/CS2 then same MS in Web transfer using CS3/CS4

Each test will be run several times in order to obtain reliable statistics.

Test specification:


- In different kind of radio conditions (Rxlev, MeanBEP)

- With all CS (MAX_GPRS_CS = 2 first, then MAX_GPRS_CS = 4) allowed and with link adaptation

activated.- In 900 or 1800 bands

- GPRS transfers on the BCCH / a non BCCH TRX


Manpower estimation:




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GPRS CS3/CS4 versus GPRS CS1/ CS2 DURATION(hours)

DURATION(days)

Basic tests (default configuration) : CS3/CS4 versus CS1/CS2 performances in good radioconditions

8 1

Influence of the frequency band : CS3/CS4 versus CS1/CS2 performances in good radio conditionsin the classical bd / non "classical" bd

16 2

Infuence of hopping : CS3/CS4 versus CS1/CS2 performances on a hopping TRX / non hoppingTRX in good radio conditions

16 2

Influence of the radio conditions : CS3/CS4 versus CS1/CS2 performances in different radioconditions

24 3


5.2 Coverage validation

5.2.1 Scope of the tests

The main objective of this package is to evaluate the maximum throughput that can be reached for each MCS and new GPRS coding schemes (CS3-4) according to the coverage brought by anetwork design.

5.2.2 Maximum throughput achievable for each MCS/CS

Test cases:The maximum throughput that can be reached with each MCS/CS will be measured and comparedwith theoretical values.

The following cases shall be tested with link adaptation disabled (for all casesTBF_INIT_DL(UL)_(M)CS = MAX_(E)GPRS_(M)CS = chosen (M)CS ):

1 MS in DL FTP transfer with MCS1









1 MS in DL FTP transfer with CS3

1 MS in DL FTP transfer with CS4




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1 MS in UL FTP transfer with MCS1




1 MS in UL FTP transfer with MCS5 (only in B9)





1 MS in UL FTP transfer with CS3

1 MS in UL FTP transfer with CS4

Please note that although the MCS may be fixed, it is possible that radio blocks in a different MCSare exchanged . Indeed, retransmission in EDGE can be done either using the same MCS but adifferent Puncturing Scheme (in the case IR is used DL case), or using a radio block in another MCS from the same MCS family.

Test specification:

The test should be performed:

- in different kinds of radio conditions (Rxlev, MeanBEP)



- With / without DL and UL(only in B9) re-segmentation activated


Manpower estimation for B8 release :




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Maximum throughput achievable per coding scheme - B8 release DURATION(hours)

DURATION(days)

Basic tests (default configuration) : max. throughput per CS/MCS in good radio conditions 8 1

Influence of the radio conditions : max. throughput per CS/MCS in different radio conditions 24 3

GPRS/EGPRS traffic on BCCH and non BCCH TRX 16 2

Influence of the frequency band : max. throughput per CS/MCS on the "classical" and non"classical" frequency band

16 2

Influence of DL resegmentation: max. throughput per CS/MCS in normal and bad radio conditions 32 4

Infuence of hopping : max. throughput per CS/MCS on hopping/non hopping TRX 16 2

**** 8 hours are needed to perform the different measurements for a given configuration

Manpower estimation for B9 release

Maximum throughput achievable per coding scheme - B9 release DURATION(hours)

DURATION(days)

Basic tests (default configuration) : max. throughput per CS/MCS in good radio conditions 8 1

Influence of the radio conditions : max. throughput per CS/MCS in different radio conditions 24 3

GPRS/EGPRS traffic on BCCH and non BCCH TRX 16 2

Influence of the frequency band : max. throughput per CS/MCS on the "classical" and non"classical" frequency band

16 2

Influence of DL resegmentation: max. throughput per CS/MCS in normal and bad radio conditions 32 4

Influence of UL IR and resegmentation: max. throughput per CS/MCS in normal and bad radioconditions

64 8

Infuence of hopping : max. throughput per CS/MCS on hopping/non hopping TRX 16 2


5.2.3 GPRS and EDGE radio coverage

With GPRS and EDGE, the service can be offered everywhere within the cell range as for voice,but due to the link adaptation, the throughput differs significantly from the center of the cell towardsthe edge of the cell.

The aim of this part is to study and compare the GPRS and EDGE cell coverage in term of throughput.

Test cases:




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Different geographical points should be chosen within the cell coverage in order to perform GPRSand EDGE transfers in different radio conditions. On each point the following measurements shouldbe done:

DL FTP transfers

UL FTP transfers

Web transfer

Test specification:


- in different kinds of radio conditions



- With all MCS/CS allowed and with link adaptation activated.

- With or without resegmentation (only in DL in B8, in DL & UL in B9).


GPRS/EGPRS data throughput planning - B8 release DURATION

(hours)

DURATION

(days)Basic tests : GPRS/EGPRS service coverage 12 1.5

GPRS/EGPRS service coverage w/wo hopping 24 3

Influence of DL resegmentation 24 3



GPRS/EGPRS data throughput planning - B9 release DURATION(hours)

DURATION(days)

Basic tests : GPRS/EGPRS service coverage 12 1.5

GPRS/EGPRS service coverage w/wo hopping 24 3

Influence of DL resegmentation 24 3

Influence of UL IR and resegmentation 48 6





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6. QUALITY OF SERVICE MONITORING

6.1 Quality of service monitoring EDGE experimentation

From a pure experimentation point of view the RNO/NPA tool chain is not necessary todemonstrate that EDGE is interworking with some mobiles and provides the expected throughput.Nevertheless a light tool chain solution could be provided (NPA embedded plus RNO or ANAQOStool) in order to follow:

GPRS/EDGE TBFs establishment phase (UL and DL directions)

GPRS/EDGE TBFs transfer phase

GPRS/EDGE coding scheme usage (UL and DL directions) and radio quality (retransmission

rate)

Radio throughput at TBF level

6.2 Quality of service monitoring EDGE Pilot

The GPRS/EDGE quality of service monitoring will be performed through the RNO/NPA tool chain(RNO version 4 for B8, version 5 for B9). The following features could be used:

parameter checking (to compare operational and reference parameter values)

counters/indicators accessibility

telecom reports

The GPRS/EDGE indicators could be gathered into three groups dedicated to:

radio interface

Gb interface

Ater interface

During the testing period it will be important to follow the radio interface indicators that allowassessing:

GPRS/EDGE TBF establishments (request, success, cause of failures.)

transfer phase after TBF establishment (normal release, cell re-selection (NC0/NC2), TBFconnection time, TBF drops, drop causes)

radio resources allocation (PDCH and master PDCH allocation, PDCH usage.)

transmission and throughput aspects ( number of blocks and bytes transmitted/retransmitted in(M)CSx, coding scheme usage, radio throughput at TBF, PDCH, cell level.)

It would be important to show also some of the indicators to look at for dimensioning follow-up.




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7. TEST TOOLS

7.1 End-to-End investigation

In PS drive test, several entities have an impact in the end user performance. Each entity has alayer protocol to communicate to is per.

The layers that have more impact in the end user performace are the:

- Phisycal layer

- RLC/MAC layer Acknowledge mode Between the MS and the BSS (MFS)

- LLC layer Unacknowledge mode Between the MS and the SGSN (however the MFS alsoprocess this layer)

- TCP/IP layer Acknowledge mode - The TCP between the PC and the server and the IPbetween the PC and the GGSN

When performing a PS investigation analyse the different interfaces in order to detect in whichentity the problem is.




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7.2 Mobile Equipment (mobile handsets and clients)

7.2.1 EDGE and GPRS mobiles

Tests will be performed with Release 99 or release 4 MS supporting CS3-CS4 and EDGE. As it wasmentioned before all the EDGE tests should be performed with the Nokia terminals 6230/6230i or Nokia 6630.

Regarding the classical GPRS tests as all the current GPRS mobiles should support CS3/CS4coding schemes different mobile suppliers could be used.

7.2.2 PC and applications

MS will be connected to PCs running on Windows 2000 or Windows XP. In order to achieve thebest performances with a 4+1 EDGE terminal the following TCP parameters will have to be modifedvia the regedit command (increasing of the TCP transmission window + activation of the selectiveacknowledgement):

****In order to a have a clear definition of the modified parameters see the TCP parameterssection in the Annex.

Register modification in the following folder:HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters

New TCP values:

"TcpGlobalWindowSize"=dword:64000

"TcpWindowSize"=dword:64000

"SackOpts"=dword:00000001

"Tcp1323Opts"=dword:00000002

In order to generate automatic FTP download/upload or Web access, we advise to use theDEUTRIP ( Data End User Traffic generato R & Indicator P rovider) too (see Ref [2]). This toolcovers the main applications, which are automatically generated according to a set of parametersdefined by the user. It provides application layer QoS indicators. These ones should be thencorrelated with radio layer indicators given by a third part tool, Nitro solution from Agilent for instance.

7.2.3 K1205

The K1205 could be used to monitor the Abis, Ater and Gb interfaces.




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In B8 and in B9, a SW upgrade of this tool is needed in order to decode new/modified messages of the following specific protocol layers: RSL, BSCGP on GSL, EGCH and RLC/MAC.

7.2.4 Ethereal

Ethereal is a TCP dump analyser that decodes most of the Internet protocols: FTP, Ping, HTTP,WTP/WSP (WAP), SMTP, POP3, IMAP4. This tool will be used on a spy PC to monitor the Gn andGi interfaces. It may also be used on the PC to monitor the PPP layer.

7.2.5 Compass

Compass will be used to post process GB traces provided by K1205.

Compass has been developed as a tool to solve real radio interface issues. Compass can sort,analyze and graphically present huge amounts of captured data from the network in intuitive, easy-to-use tables and graphs, pinpointing detected errors of weak spots in the network at exactly theright time. As an example: using Compass, it is possible to access the TCP/IP message flow andfrom this information retrieve statistics such as the DL TCP throughput. Also, the GMM messages,from the MS to the SGSN are available.

7.2.6 MFS terminal

One MFS terminal can be connected in order to follow :

the correct setting of radio parameters

the correct allocation of the radio resources during the GPRS/EDGE transfers

7.3 Drive test measurement tool chain

Alcatel decided to use the Agilent product as drive test solution. The first official release for EDGEfunctionality was E6474A Release 8.0. All following releases are all EDGE capable.

The product numbers needed are the following:

- E6474A #65: EDGE measurement SW Licence Key (Requires E6474A #600 GSM/GPRS Phonemeasurement SW Licence Key)

- E6473B #751: GSM/GPRS/EDGE Test mobile (Nokia 6230 European version)

- E5643A #100: Firmware update for Nokia 6230

Over the drive test solution proposed by Agilent, PCS has developed its own postprocessing




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solution (DMS tool) that provides from the raw measurements some useful radio statistics related directlyto the tests performed:

Coding scheme usage in DL/UL directions

Radio throughput per TBF

Time slot allocation

Mean BEP value

Etc.

7.4 Qos follow-up ANAQOS tool

The ANAQOS tool could be the appropriate tool for experimentation. Used on several Alcatelnetworks where the customer did not purchase the RNO/NPA tool chain, ANAQOS was updated tosupport the B8 and B9 releases. This tool is a pure internal tool not included within the Alcatelproduct line.




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8. ANNEX:

8.1 Detailed EDGE test plan

The following excell file will present:

The detailed test plan

The radio parameters which could be optimised in order to achieve the best performances

The main GPRS/EGPRS RNO report

EDGE_Test_Plan_B8 _B9_v3.xls




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8.2 TCP parameters

Parameter name ValueTypeValueRange Default Description

TCPWindowSi

ze

Number

of bytes

00x3FFFFFFF

*

8760 for Ethernet

This parameter determines the maximum TCPreceive window size offered by the system. Thereceive window specifies the number of bytes asender may transmit without receiving anacknowledgement. In general, larger receivewindows will improve performance over high (delay* bandwidth) networks. For highest efficiency, thereceive window should be an even multiple of the

TCP Maximum Segment Size (MSS). MSS is generallyMTU 40 (20 bytes for TCP header, 20 bytes for IP

header), where MTU (Maximum Transmission Unit)is the largest packet size that can be transmitted.For MTU equals to 1400 (to avoid IP fragmentationon Gi), TcpWindowSize will be 65280 (48 * 1360).

This parameter is both a per-interface parameterand a global parameter, depending upon where theregistry key is located. If there is a value for aspecific interface, that value overrides the system-wide value.

Global Max TCP

Windows Size

Number of bytes

0 -0x3FFFFFFF

Does notexist by

default

The TCP Window Size parameter may be used toset the receive window on a per-interface basis. Thisparameter can be used to set a global limit for the

TCP window size on a system-wide basis. Thisparameter is new in Windows 2000 and isconsidered as the default for all interfaces.

SackOpt

sBoolean

0: False,

1: True1

It controls whether or not SACK (SelectiveAcknowledgement) support is enabled, as specifiedin RFC 2018. SACK is especially important forconnections using large TCP Window sizes.Recommended settings for UMTS is 1.

Tcp1323Opts Number

(flags)0,1,2,3 No value

This parameter controls RFC 1323 time stamps andwindow-scaling options. Time stamps and windowscaling are enabled by default, but can bemanipulated with flag bits. Bit 0 controls windowscaling, and bit 1 controls time stamps.

Tcp1323Opts is a necessary setting in order toenable Large TCPWindow support as described inRFC 1323. Without this parameter, the TCPWindowis limited to 64K. For UMTS, the recommended valueis 1. But Tcp1323Opts="3" might help in somecases where there is increased packet loss, howevergenerally better throughput can be achieved with

Tcp1323Opts="1", since Timestamps add 12 bytesto the header of each packet.

edge guideline ed4.1

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