LTE RF Channel Troubleshooting Guide - Huawei

Security Level: internal
LTE RF Channel
Troubleshooting Guide
www.huawei.com
HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD. Huawei Confidential

Abstract
 This document describes the common faults of the LTE RF

channels during the IF/RF maintenance, symptoms, diagnosis
methods, data required for diagnosis by R&D.
HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD. Huawei Confidential Page 2

Contents
 Common RF Channel Faults

 Uplink Channel Faults
 Uplink Interference
 eNodeB Fault Connection of Antenna
 Downlink Channel Faults

Common RF Channel Faults
Interference: Interference detection
cell reverse connection: Inter-
cell handover statistics
 The common faults related to the
RF channels are uplink channel fault,
Crossed connection: RTWP difference
between main & diversity uplink interference, eNodeB fault
connection of antenna, downlink
channel fault, downlink antenna fault,
This document describes the analysis
procedure beginning from problem
symptom to conclusion.
Antenna fault:
1. VSWR alarm
2. Passive intermodulation interference
3. RTWP difference between main &
diversity or low RTWP

RF channel failure mode description
Failure mode Symptom and Alarm Data resource Tool
uplink failure of ALM-26522 RF Unit RX Channel RTWP/RSSI

Alarm list
ALD(antenna line Unbalanced M2000、WEBLMT
RSSI trace data
Device)
ALD Fault
downlink failure of
Alarm list
ALD(antenna line ALM-26529 RF Unit VSWR Threshold Crossed M2000、WEBLMT
one-key file log of RRU
Device)
RSSI trace
internal Intermodulation interference decreased
Interference Detect Monitoring M2000、WEBLMT
Interference throughput and handover success rate
Uplink broadband online frequency scan
Interference RSSI trace
External
Interference Detect Monitoring M2000、WEBLMT
Interference strong interference will lead to a cell KPI decline.
broadband online frequency scan
Reverse Fault
the local cell and a neighbor cell that has no Handover KPI
Connection of M2000、OMStar
overlapping coverage are involved in handover. engineer parameter
Antenna
Fault
Connection ALM-26522 RF Unit RX Channel RTWP/RSSI
of Antenna Cross Fault
Unbalanced. Handover KPI
Connection of M2000、OMStar
the local cell and a neighbor cell that has no engineer parameter
Antenna
overlapping coverage are involved in handover.
Alarm list
Uplink fault of ALM-26521 RF Unit RX Channel RTWP/RSSI
KPI of access rate M2000
RRU Too Low.
Channel one-key file log of RRU
fault
Downlink fault of ALM-26520 RF Unit TX Channel Gain Out of Transmit power test data of RRU;
M2000
RRU Range. one-key file log of RRU

Contents


Uplink Channel Faults
When an uplink channel fault occurs, the symptoms are degraded
cell KPI, RF Unit RX Channel RTWP/RSSI Too Low alarm, and RF
Unit RX Channel RTWP/RSSI Unbalanced alarm.
I. Hardware fault
Choose Monitor > Signaling Trace > Signaling Trace Management
on the M2000 or Web LMT. In the navigation tree, choose Cell
Performance Monitoring > Interference RSSI Statistic Detect
Monitoring. The RXA RSSI and RXB RSSI are displayed in a table,
as shown in the next page. Check whether the values in this table
are less than the RSSI values under empty load. The threshold for
reporting RTWP/RSSI too low alarm is –114 dBm. The RSSI under
empty load is calculated as follows:
–174+10*logBW+NF
where BW is the bandwidth in Hz and NF is the noise factor of the
RF module and its value is between 2 to 2.5. Assuming an LRRU
2.6G 2T2R cell of 20 MHz bandwidth, the RSSI under empty load is
calculated as follows:
–174+10*log(20*10^6)+2.5=–98.4 dBm


II. Passive intermodulation
The root cause of intermodulation is nonlinearity of the channels.

An rule to measure the nonlinearity of an antenna system is
intermodulation suppression. For a linear system, the output to a 2-
signal input is also 2 signals. However, for a nonlinear system, a 2-
signal input generates new frequency components known as
intermodulation distortion. The phenomenon of generating new
frequency components is called intermodulation. If the intermodulation
distortion fall in the reception band and increase the uplink interference
or RTWP, intermodulation interference arises.

The following figure shows the intermodulation product of signals of BW
bandwidth after passing a nonlinear system.
2*(f1-BW/2)-f1=f1-BW 2*(f1+BW/2)-f1=f1+BW
Third-order Third-order
intermodulation products intermodulation products
generated by central generated by central
frequency & low edge frequency & high edge
frequencies frequencies
IM3 IM3
Central frequency f1
Third-order Third-order intermodulation
intermodulation products products generated by high
generated by high & low Low edge High edge
frequencies =f1- & low edge frequencies
edge frequencies BW/2 frequencies =
f1+BW/2
2*(f1-BW/2)-(f1+BW/2)=f1- 2*(f1+BW/2)-(f1-BW/2)=f1+3*BW/2
3*BW/2

Intermodulation products are governed by the following rules:
 The magnitude of intermodulation products has a negative
correlation with the intermodulation suppression of the antennas.
 The magnitude of intermodulation products also depends on the
power of the input signals. Theoretically, for every 1 dB increase
of the input signals, IM3 is increased by 3 dB. In practice, for
every 1dB increase of the input power, IM3 is increased by 2 to 3
dB. In other words, given the same intermodulation suppression,
the magnitude of intermodulation products has a positive
correlation with the input power and increases faster than the
input power.
 The magnitude has a negative correlation with the order of
intermodulation products. IM3> IM5 > IM7

If the following two conditions are met, the eNodeB is interfered by
intermodulation products:
 The intermodulation signals is in the receiver band frequency.
 The intermodulation signals are strong enough to affect demodulation.
 1、If the source signals that generate intermodulation interference include one or
two uplink signals, the intermodulation signals are negligible due to small uplink
signal power.
 2、Intermodulation interference that propagates through the space causes little
impact on other eNodeBs due to large propagation loss.
 3、Any two downlink signals in the same cell may generate intermodulation
interference that is significant to the uplink but negligible to the downlink.
 4、Of great concern is the intermodulation interference generated by any two
downlink signals and falling in the uplink band.

the passive intermodulation can be detected by adding downlink
simulated load in off-peak hours. If the Interference Detect Monitoring
on the M2000 shows that all the RSSIs are increased, the RSSI
increase is caused by passive intermodulation.
Note
If the number of active users in a cell is more than 6, the scheduling performance cannot
be guaranteed when this function is enabled. Therefore, this function is not
recommended in such scenario.

Determine the intermodulation
The commercial intermodulation tester can only determine the magnitude of
intermodulation of the antenna system and cannot determine the location where
the intermodulation is generated. To determine the location of intermodulation,
check the antenna system segment by segment. The following figure shows the
schematic diagram of this method.
The segmental inspection procedure is as follows:
Disconnect point 1, 2, 3, or 4, connect it to a low-
intermodulation load, and add a downlink simulated
load. Observe whether the RTWP and RSSI are
increased. If yes, the point is where intermodulation
interference is introduced. An example is described
as follows:
Disconnect point 1, connect it to a low-
intermodulation load, add a downlink simulated load,
and observe RTWP and RSSI values. The RTWP
and RSSI are unchanged, indicating that the RF
module has no problem. Disconnect point 2, connect
it to a low-intermodulation load, add a downlink
simulated load, and observe RTWP/RSSI. The
RTWP and RSSI are significantly increased,
indicating that the lower jumper is where the
intermodulation interference is introduced.
An alternative is the replacement method. Replace
the feeder line segment by segment and check the
RTWP and RSSI.

Contents


Uplink Interference
Uplink interference affects nearly all KPIs, including RRC connection setup
success rate, access success rate, call drop rate, handover success rate, and
uplink and downlink throughput.
Uplink interference includes external interference and internal interference. Internal

interference common caused by intermodulation. The signal level of intermodulation
interference at the receiver bandwidth has a ramp shape, the left band lower and right
band higher (receive in the low frequency band and transmit in the high frequency,
such as 2.6GHz, 2.1GHz, etc.) or the left band higher than right band (received at high
frequency while transmitting at low frequency such as 800MHz); if receive band has
smaller frequency interval with the transmit band, the more easily intermodulation
interference affects the uplink reception.
The problem of external interference cannot be eliminated from internal system.

We must find out the external interference source and contact the customer to remove
the interference source.
When a cell is interfered by an external source, both the main and diversity receive
the interference synchronously. The interference can be obtained by using the
spectrum detection tool described in the next page.

Uplink Interference
Spectrum detection tool

Uplink Interference
Tracing result indicating external interference

Uplink Interference
Tracing result indicating an intermodulation interference
The figure shows a broadband frequency scan when the network intermodulation interference
occured. By off-line review tool shows that the signal reception level has a ramp shape.

Uplink Interference
Tracing result indicating no external interference

Contents


fault connection of Antenna
Ant Ant Ant Ant Ant Ant
port0 port1 port0 port1 port0 port1 port0 port1 port0 port1 port0 port1
R R R R R R
R R R R R R
U U U U U U
0 1 0 1 0 1
normal Reverse Cross

eNodeB Fault Connection of Antenna
It is abnormal that some no overlapping coverage cells are involved in
handover. Analyze these cells as follows:
fault connection of antenna has two type: reverse antenna connection and
cross antenna connection between two cells.
1. In the case of reverse antenna connection:

if the local cell and a neighbor cell that has no overlapping coverage are
involved in handover, there must be another cell that has overlapping
coverage with this neighbor cell doesn’t handover.
When the two cells has reverse connection of CPRI . there has the same phenomenon as the
reverse connection of antenna. so it should to confirm the right CPRI connection first when reverse
connection of antenna has happened.
2. In the case of Cross antenna connection:

if the local cell and a neighbor cell that has no overlapping coverage are
involved in handover, there must be another cell that has overlapping
coverage with this neighbor cell are involved handover.

Example of fault connection
if：A1 and B2 are involved in handover
A1 and B2 have no overlapping coverage
B2
A2 and B2 have overlapping coverage
A2 and C1 are involved in handover
A2 and C1 have no overlapping coverage
A2B2 A1 and C1 have overlapping coverage

A1 and A2 have reverse connection of antenna
A1
if： A1 and B2 are involved in handover
A2 and B2 are involved in handover
A1 and B2 have no overlapping coverage
A2 and B2 have overlapping coverage


C1
A2 and C1 have no overlapping coverage
Because the cells that have no overlapping coverage are not A1 and C1 have overlapping coverage
be configured neighbor relation , so two fault connection cells A1 and A2 have cross connection of antenna
will handover fail absolutely.

eNodeB Fault Connection of Antenna
solution of reverse Connection of Antenna
it is common way to analyze the handover success rate, if the cell have reverse
connection of antenna, it happened in two cells which have no overlapping coverage
and configure the neighbor relation. another cell that has overlapping coverage with
neighbor cell doesn’t handover.
solution of Cross Connection of Antenna

the RXA and RXB of the RRU must belong to the same cell, in which case the direction and
coverage area of RXA are the same as those of RXB to ensure RTWP balance. If RXA and RXB of
the RRU are connected to different sectors, the problem of RTWP unbalance occurs and the
RTWP unbalance alarm is reported.
If the RTWP unbalance alarm is caused by incorrect connection of RXA or RXB to another
antenna, the symptoms are as follows:
 At least two cells in the same site report an RTWP unbalance alarm.
 The RTWP change of RXA is independent of that of RXB.
 The RTWP change of different sectors is similar.

Contents


Downlink Channel Faults
 If the downlink channel gain is abnormal, ALM-26520 RF Unit TX
Channel Gain Out of Range is reported.
 Principles: If the actual gain of the RF unit TX channel deviates from the
standard gain by more than 2.5 dB, this alarm is reported.
 Impact: Large gain causes coverage overlap. Small gain causes
coverage holes, or interruption of the services in the RF unit.
Troubleshooting
I. Run the RST BRDPWROFF command to reset the RRU, excluding the
possibility that the problem is caused by soft failure. Check whether the
alarm is cleared.
II. If the alarm is not cleared, replace the RRU and return the replaced
RRU to R&D department for further analysis.

If the VSWR value is abnormal, a VSWR alarm is reported.
If the ALD components connection and match are poor, most of the
output microwave power is not emitted by the antenna but is reflected back.
Large reflection power damages the module and causes reverse breakdown
in worst cases. VSWR is an exponential function of the forward & reverse
powers and is independent of the input signal power. The default VSWR
alarm threshold is 2.0 and severe VSWR alarm threshold can be set by MML
command MOD RRU. To avoid module damage, if the severe VSWR alarm
is reported, the TX channel switched off or degrade 3dB output power.and.
Therefore, if the severe VSWR alarm is reported, the cell performance
deteriorates or the cell is unavailable.

If a VSWR alarm is reported, the possible causes are:

1. The VSWR alarm threshold is low.
2. The jumper is incorrectly installed; the feeder line is distorted, bent, damaged, or
loosened.
3. The VSWR detection circuit of the RF unit or the hardware of the RF unit is faulty.

Troubleshooting procedure
Run the LST RRU command to query the VSWR
alarm threshold of the RF unit and check the
appropriateness of the VSWR threshold. If the
threshold is inappropriate, run the MOD RRU
command to modify the threshold.
shown in the right table is ratio of the reflected

power for different VSWR. when the VSWR is less
than 1.5,the ratio of the reflected power is relatively
small which has not a significant impact on coverage
performance . when the VSWR is more than 2.0,the VSWR Reflection power ratio
ratio of the reflected power is relatively large , which 3.0 25%

has obvious impact on coverage performance. 2.0 11%
1.8 8%
The recommended configure threshold is : 1.5 4%
1.4 2.8%
VSWR alarm post-processing threshold (0.1) = 30
VSWR alarm threshold(0.10 )=20 1.3 1.7%
1.2 0.8%

View the VSWR value contained in the alarm.
If the VSWR is greater than 100 (unit: 0.1), the reflection power is large.
Run the DSP VSWR command to query the current VSWR. Run the STR
VSWRTEST command to perform VSWR test.
Note that the STR VSWRTEST operation interrupts the service. It is common use for off-line test.
Repeat step for five times at an interval of 2 minutes. Check whether the
STR VSWRTEST command output shows significant fluctuation of the VSWR.
If yes, we can suspect that the ALD components is loosely connected.

The difference between DSP VSWR and STR VSWRTEST :

DSP VSWR: it is online VSWR, The query does not affect the service, the
query band have difference with current band, so the accuracy is not high, it
would only as the reference.
STR VSWRTEST: it is offline VSWR, it is tested at the same frequency as current Cell,
the accuracy is much high than online VSWR , so it is used to confirm whether the RRU
has VSWR problem.
The procedure of onsite inspection is as follows:
1)Based on the network planning data, check whether the band of RF unit is
consistent with the the ALD components such asantenna, feeder, jumper,
combiner, divider, filter, and TMA.
2) Replace one segment of the ALD at a time, and run the STR VSWRTEST
command to check the result. Incorrect connection, damaged cable, or water
in the joint can cause standing wave.
3) After checking the ALD connection or replacing the ALD, run the STR
VSWRTEST command to check the result.
 If the command output shows that the VSWR is normal, reset the RRU to
clear the alarm. Troubleshooting ends.
 If the command output shows that the VSWR still exceeds the threshold,
replace the RRU to check whether the RRU is faulty. Return the replaced
RRU to R&D department for further analysis.

Common engineering summary table of
troubleshooting
Type of fault Detection methods Remark
VSWR of Through online（DSP VSWR）detection or offline (STR Offline VSWR
antenna feeder VSWRTEST)detection to test VSWR detection interrupt
the cell service
Method 1:In the idle service period, start simulated load,

tracking cell RSSI or cell interference if the RSSI of cell has
been obviously changed before and after simulated loaded,
intermodulation it is indicated that the cell has intermodulation.
of antenna feeder Method 2：starting broadband online frequency scan by
WebLMT or M2000 could analyze the intermodulation.
Cross Fault Method 1:the cross fault connection of antenna could be

Connection of analyzed according to engineer parameters and cell
Antenna in handover rate . STR
eNodeB Method 2:MML Command：STR CROSFEEDTST CROSFEEDTST
（recommended in idle service） interrupt the cell
service
Reverse Fault Method 2：filed test ( it is recommended in the beginning of
Connection of the network construction )
Antenna in Method 2:the Reverse fault connection of antenna could be
eNodeB analyzed according to engineer parameters and cell
handover rate.
Information Collection of RRU fault
Feedback content Requirements of Content Opinion
detail description of the problem phenomenon must have detail description
problem
Mandatory
through text, screenshots or fault-site photo.
For commercial sites, need to feedback the fault site
Failure site KPI Optional
recent KPI data
The failure module version, bands, type, such as the

Type of RRU Mandatory
MRU, MRRU, DRFU, XRRU, MRFU etc.
Network of ALD the type of ALD network, whether multi-mode base

equipment
Mandatory
station, antenna surrounding.
Configure file of
eNodeB
Configured file of eNodeB Mandatory
One-key file of LMPT One-key file of LMPT Mandatory
One-key file of RRU One-key file of RRU Mandatory
One-key file of LBBP One-key file of LBBP which connect with RRU Optional

Thank you
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Security Level: internal

HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD. Huawei Confidential

 This document describes the common faults of the LTE RF

HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD. Huawei Confidential Page 2

 Common RF Channel Faults

HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD. Huawei Confidential Page 3

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uplink failure of ALM-26522 RF Unit RX Channel RTWP/RSSI

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 Common RF Channel Faults

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II. Passive intermodulation

The root cause of intermodulation is nonlinearity of the channels.

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 Common RF Channel Faults

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Uplink interference includes external interference and internal interference. Internal

The problem of external interference cannot be eliminated from internal system.

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 Common RF Channel Faults

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Ant Ant Ant Ant Ant Ant

normal Reverse Cross

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1. In the case of reverse antenna connection:

2. In the case of Cross antenna connection:

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A2B2 A1 and C1 have overlapping coverage

A2 and B2 have overlapping coverage

A2 and C1 are involved in handover

will handover fail absolutely.

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solution of Cross Connection of Antenna

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 Common RF Channel Faults

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If a VSWR alarm is reported, the possible causes are:

HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD. Huawei Confidential Page 29

shown in the right table is ratio of the reflected

ratio of the reflected power is relatively large , which 3.0 25%

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The difference between DSP VSWR and STR VSWRTEST :

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Method 1:In the idle service period, start simulated load,

Cross Fault Method 1:the cross fault connection of antenna could be