[[bts]] == Reviewing and Provisioning BTS configuration The main functionality of the BSC component is to manage BTSs. As such, provisioning BTSs within the BSC is one of the most common tasks during BSC operation. Just like about anything else in OsmoBSC, they are configured using the VTY. BTSs are internally numbered with integer numbers starting from "0" for the first BTS. BTS numbers have to be contiguous, so you cannot configure 0,1,2 and then 5. === Reviewing current BTS status and configuration In order to view the status and properties of a BTS, you can issue the `show bts` command. If used without any BTS number, it will display information about all provisioned BTS numbers. ---- OsmoBSC> show bts 0 BTS 0 is of nanobts type in band DCS1800, has CI 0 LAC 1, BSIC 63, TSC 7 and 1 TRX Description: (null) MS Max power: 15 dBm Minimum Rx Level for Access: -110 dBm Cell Reselection Hysteresis: 4 dBm RACH TX-Integer: 9 RACH Max transmissions: 7 System Information present: 0x0000007e, static: 0x00000000 Unit ID: 200/0/0, OML Stream ID 0xff NM State: Oper 'Enabled', Admin 2, Avail 'OK' Site Mgr NM State: Oper 'Enabled', Admin 0, Avail 'OK' Paging: 0 pending requests, 0 free slots OML Link state: connected. Current Channel Load: TCH/F: 0% (0/5) SDCCH8: 0% (0/8) ---- You can also review the status of the TRXs configured within the BTSs of this BSC by using `show trx`: ---- OsmoBSC> show trx 0 0 TRX 0 of BTS 0 is on ARFCN 871 Description: (null) RF Nominal Power: 23 dBm, reduced by 0 dB, resulting BS power: 23 dBm NM State: Oper 'Enabled', Admin 2, Avail 'OK' Baseband Transceiver NM State: Oper 'Enabled', Admin 2, Avail 'OK' ip.access stream ID: 0x00 ---- The output can be restricted to the TRXs of one specified BTS number (`show trx 0`) or even that of a single specified TRX within a specified BTS (`show trx 0 0`). Furthermore, information on the individual timeslots can be shown by means of `show timeslot`. The output can be restricted to the timeslots of a single BTS (`show timeslot 0`) or that of a single TRX (`show timeslot 0 0`). Finally, you can restrict the output to a single timeslot by specifying the BTS, TRX and TS numbers (`show timeslot 0 0 4`). ---- OsmoBSC> show timeslot 0 0 0 BTS 0, TRX 0, Timeslot 0, phys cfg CCCH, TSC 7 NM State: Oper 'Enabled', Admin 2, Avail 'OK' OsmoBSC> show timeslot 0 0 1 BTS 0, TRX 0, Timeslot 1, phys cfg SDCCH8, TSC 7 NM State: Oper 'Enabled', Admin 2, Avail 'OK' ---- === Provisioning a new BTS In order to provision BTSs, you have to enter the BTS config node of the VTY. In order to configure BTS 0, you can issue the following sequence of commands: ---- OsmoBSC> enable OsmoBSC# configure terminal OsmoBSC(config)# network OsmoBSC(config-net)# bts 0 OsmoBSC(config-net-bts)# ---- At this point, you have a plethora of commands, in fact an entire hierarchy of commands to configure all aspects of the BTS, as well as each of its TRX and each timeslot within each TRX. For a full reference, please consult the telnet VTY integrated help or the respective chapter in the VTY reference. BTS configuration depends quite a bit on the specific BTS vendor and model. The section below provides just one possible example for the case of a sysmoBTS. Note that from the `configure terminal` command onwards, the telnet VTY commands above are identical to configuration file settings, for details see <>. Starting with `network` as above, your complete sysmoBTS configuration may look like this: ---- network bts 0 type osmo-bts band DCS1800 description The new BTS in Baikonur location_area_code 0x0926 cell_identity 5 base_station_id_code 63 ip.access unit_id 8888 0 ms max power 40 trx 0 arfcn 871 nominal power 23 max_power_red 0 timeslot 0 phys_chan_config CCCH+SDCCH4 timeslot 1 phys_chan_config TCH/F timeslot 2 phys_chan_config TCH/F timeslot 3 phys_chan_config TCH/F timeslot 4 phys_chan_config TCH/F timeslot 5 phys_chan_config TCH/F timeslot 6 phys_chan_config TCH/F timeslot 7 phys_chan_config PDCH ---- === System Information configuration A GSM BTS periodically transmits a series of 'SYSTEM INFORMATION' messages to mobile stations, both via the BCCH in idle mode, was well as via the SACCH in dedicated mode. There are many different types of such messages. For their detailed contents and encoding, please see _3GPP TS 24.008_ <<3gpp-ts-24-008>>. For each of the 'SYSTEM INFORMATION' message types, you can configure to have the BSC generate it automatically ('computed'), or you can specify the respective binary message as a string of hexadecimal digits. The default configuration is to compute all (required) 'SYSTEM INFORMATION' messages automatically. Please see the _OsmoBSC VTY Reference Manual_ <> for further information, particularly on the following commands: * `system-information (1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9|10|13|16|17|18|19|20|2bis|2ter|2quater|5bis|5ter) mode (static|computed)` * `system-information (1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9|10|13|16|17|18|19|20|2bis|2ter|2quater|5bis|5ter) static HEXSTRING` === Neighbor List configuration Every BTS sends a list of ARFCNs of neighbor cells . within its 'SYSTEM INFORMATION 2' (and 2bis/2ter) messages on the BCCH . within its 'SYSTEM INFORMATION 5' messages on SACCH in dedicated mode For every BTS config node in the VTY, you can specify the behavior of the neighbor list using the `neighbor list mode` VTY command: automatic:: Automatically generate a list of neighbor cells using all other BTSs configured in the VTY manual:: Manually specify the neighbor list by means of `neighbor-list (add|del) arfcn <0-1023>` commands, having identical neighbor lists on BCCH (SI2) and SACCH (SI5) manual-si5:: Manually specify the neighbor list by means of `neighbor-list (add|del) arfcn <0-1023>` for BCCH (SI2) and a separate neighbor list by means of `si5 neighbor-list (add|del) arfcn <0-1023>` for SACCH (SI5). === Configuring GPRS PCU parameters of a BTS In the case of BTS models using Abis/IP (IPA), the GPRS PCU is located inside the BTS. The BTS then establishes a Gb connection to the SGSN. All the BTS-internal PCU configuration is performed via A-bis OML by means of configuring the 'CELL', 'NSVC' (NS Virtual Connection and 'NSE' (NS Entity). There is one 'CELL' node and one 'NSE' node, but there are two 'NSVC' nodes. At the time of this writing, only the NSVC 0 is supported by OsmoBTS, while both NSVC are supported by the ip.access nanoBTS. The respective VTY configuration parameters are described below. They all exist beneath each BTS VTY config node. But let's first start with a small example .Example configuration of GPRS PCU parameters at VTY BTS node ---- OsmoBSC(config-net-bts)# gprs mode gprs OsmoBSC(config-net-bts)# gprs routing area 1 OsmoBSC(config-net-bts)# gprs cell bvci 1234 OsmoBSC(config-net-bts)# gprs nsei 1234 OsmoBSC(config-net-bts)# gprs nsvc 0 nsvci 1234 OsmoBSC(config-net-bts)# gprs nsvc 0 local udp port 23000 OsmoBSC(config-net-bts)# gprs nsvc 0 remote udp port 23000 OsmoBSC(config-net-bts)# gprs nsvc 0 remote ip 192.168.100.239 ---- === More explanation about the PCU config parameters //FIXME: should this go into VTY additions? ==== `gprs mode (none|gprs|egprs)` This command determines if GPRS (or EGPRS) services are to be enabled in this cell at all. ==== `gprs cell bvci <2-65535>` Configures the 'BSSGP Virtual Circuit Identifier'. It must be unique between all BSSGP connections to one SGSN. NOTE: It is up to the system administrator to ensure all PCUs are allocated an unique bvci. OsmoBSC will not ensure this policy. ==== `gprs nsei <0-65535>` Configures the 'NS Entity Identifier'. It must be unique between all NS connections to one SGSN. NOTE: It is up to the system administrator to ensure all PCUs are allocated an unique bvci. OsmoBSC will not ensure this policy. ==== `gprs nsvc <0-1> nsvci <0-65535>` Configures the 'NS Virtual Connection Identifier'. It must be unique between all NS virtual connections to one SGSN. NOTE: It is up to the system administrator to ensure all PCUs are allocated an unique nsvci. OsmoBSC will not ensure this policy. ==== `gprs nsvc <0-1> local udp port <0-65535>` Configures the local (PCU side) UDP port for the NS-over-UDP link. ==== `gprs nsvc <0-1> remote udp port <0-65535>` Configures the remote (SGSN side) UDP port for the NS-over-UDP link. ==== `gprs nsvc <0-1> remote ip A.B.C.D` Configures the remote (SGSN side) UDP port for the NS-over-UDP link. ==== `gprs ns timer (tns-block|tns-block-retries|tns-reset|tns-reset-retries|tns-test|tns-alive|tns-alive-retries)` <0-255> Configures the various GPRS NS related timers. Please check the GPRS NS specification for the detailed meaning of those timers. === Dynamic Timeslot Configuration (TCH / PDCH) A dynamic timeslot is in principle a timeslot that is used to serve GPRS data (PDCH), but that can be switched to be used either for voice (TCH) or signalling (SDCCH8) when all other static timeslots are already in use. This enhances GPRS bandwidth while there is no CS load, and is dynamically scaled down as CS services need to be served. This is a tremendous improvement in service over statically assigning a fixed number of timeslots for voice and data. The causality is as follows: to establish a voice call, the MSC requests a logical channel of a given TCH kind from the BSC. The BSC assigns such a channel from a BTS' TRX's timeslot of its choice. The knowledge that a given timeslot is dynamic exists only on the BSC level. When the MSC asks for a logical channel, the BSC may switch off PDCH on a dynamic timeslot and then assign a logical TCH channel on it. Hence, though compatibility with the BTS needs to be ensured, any MSC is compatible with dynamic timeslots by definition. OsmoBSC supports two kinds of dynamic timeslot handling, configured via the `network` / `bts` / `trx` / `timeslot` / `phys_chan_config` configuration. Not all BTS models support dynamic channels. [[dyn_ts_compat]] .Dynamic timeslot support by various BTS models [cols="50%,25%,25%"] |=== | |`TCH/F_TCH/H_SDCCH8_PDCH` |`TCH/F_PDCH` |ip.access nanoBTS |- |supported |Ericsson RBS |supported |- |sysmoBTS using _osmo-bts-sysmo_ |supported |supported |various SDR platforms using _osmo-bts-trx_ |supported |supported |Nutaq Litecell 1.5 using _osmo-bts-litecell15_ |supported |supported |Octasic OctBTS using _osmo-bts-octphy_ | supported | supported |=== The _OsmoBTS Abis Protocol Specification_ <> describes the non-standard RSL messages used for these timeslot kinds. NOTE: Same as for dedicated PDCH timeslots, you need to enable GPRS and operate a PCU, SGSN and GGSN to provide the actual data service. ==== Osmocom Style Dynamic Timeslots (TCH/F_TCH/H_SDCCH8_PDCH) Timeslots of the `TCH/F_TCH/H_SDCCH8_PDCH` type dynamically switch between TCH/F, TCH/H, SDCCH8 and PDCH, depending on the channel kind requested by the MSC. The RSL messaging for `TCH/F_TCH/H_SDCCH8_PDCH` timeslots is compatible with Ericsson RBS. BTS models supporting this timeslot kind are shown in <>. In the lack of transcoding capabilities, this timeslot type may cause mismatching codecs to be selected for two parties of the same call, which would cause call routing to fail ("`Cannot patch through call with different channel types: local = TCH_F, remote = TCH_H`"). A workaround is to disable TCH/F on this timeslot type, i.e. to allow only TCH/H. To disable TCH/F on Osmocom style dynamic timeslots, use a configuration of ---- network dyn_ts_allow_tch_f 0 ---- In OsmoNITB, disabling TCH/F on Osmocom dynamic timeslots is the default. In OsmoBSC, the default is to allow both. ==== ip.access Style Dynamic Timeslots (TCH/F_PDCH) Timeslots of the `TCH/F_PDCH` type dynamically switch between TCH/F and PDCH. The RSL messaging for `TCH/F_PDCH` timeslots is compatible with ip.access nanoBTS. BTS models supporting this timeslot kind are shown in <>. ==== Avoid PDCH Exhaustion To avoid disrupting GPRS, configure at least one timeslot as dedicated PDCH. With only dynamic timeslots, a given number of voice calls would convert all timeslots to TCH, and no PDCH timeslots would be left for GPRS service. ==== Dynamic Timeslot Configuration Examples This is an extract of an `osmo-bsc`` config file. A timeslot configuration with five Osmocom style dynamic timeslots and one dedicated PDCH may look like this: ---- network bts 0 trx 0 timeslot 0 phys_chan_config CCCH+SDCCH4 timeslot 1 phys_chan_config SDCCH8 timeslot 2 phys_chan_config TCH/F_TCH/H_SDCCH8_PDCH timeslot 3 phys_chan_config TCH/F_TCH/H_SDCCH8_PDCH timeslot 4 phys_chan_config TCH/F_TCH/H_SDCCH8_PDCH timeslot 5 phys_chan_config TCH/F_TCH/H_SDCCH8_PDCH timeslot 6 phys_chan_config TCH/F_TCH/H_SDCCH8_PDCH timeslot 7 phys_chan_config PDCH ---- With the ip.access nanoBTS, only `TCH/F_PDCH` dynamic timeslots are supported, and hence a nanoBTS configuration may look like this: ---- network bts 0 trx 0 timeslot 0 phys_chan_config CCCH+SDCCH4 timeslot 1 phys_chan_config SDCCH8 timeslot 2 phys_chan_config TCH/F_PDCH timeslot 3 phys_chan_config TCH/F_PDCH timeslot 4 phys_chan_config TCH/F_PDCH timeslot 5 phys_chan_config TCH/F_PDCH timeslot 6 phys_chan_config TCH/F_PDCH timeslot 7 phys_chan_config PDCH ---- === Tuning Access to the BTS OsmoBSC offers several configuration options to fine-tune access to the BTS. It can allow only a portion of the subscribers access to the network. This can also be used to ramp up access to the network on startup by slowly letting in more and more subscribers. This is especially useful for isolated cells with a huge number of subscribers. Other options control the behaviour of the MS when it needs to access the random access channel before a dedicated channel is established. If the BTS is connected to the BSC via a high-latency connection the MS should wait longer for an answer to a RACH request. If it does not the network will have to deal with an increased load due to duplicate RACH requests. However, in order to minimize the delay when a RACH request or response gets lost the MS should not wait too long before retransmitting. ==== Access Control Class Load Management Every SIM card is member of one of the ten regular ACCs (0-9). Access to the BTS can be restricted to SIMs that are members of certain ACCs. Furthermore, high priority users (such as PLMN staff, public or emergency services, etc.) may be members of one or more ACCs from 11-15. Since the ACCs 0-9 are distributed uniformly across all SIMs, for instance allowing only ACCs 0-4 to connect to the BTS should reduce its load by 50% at the expense of not serving 50% of the subscribers. The default is to allow all ACCs to connect. OsmoBSC supports several levels of ACC management to allow or restrict access either permanently or temporarily on each BTS. The first level of management consists of an access list to flag specific ACCs as permanently barred (the list can be updated at any time through VTY as seen below). As indicated above, the default is to allow all ACCs (0-15). .Example: Restrict permanent access to the BTS by ACC ---- network bts 0 rach access-control-class 1 barred <1> rach access-control-class 9 allowed <2> ---- <1> Disallow SIMs with access-class 1 from connecting to the BTS <2> Permit SIMs with access-class 9 to connect to the BTS. On really crowded areas, a BTS may struggle to service all mobile stations willing to use it, and which may end up in collapse. In this kind of scenarios it is a good idea to temporarily further restrict the amount of allowed ACCs (hence restrict the amount of subscribers allowed to reach the BTS). However, doing so on a permanent basis would be unfair to subscribers from barred ACCs. Hence, OsmoBSC can be configured to temporarily generate ACC subsets of the permanent set presented above, and rotate them over time to allow fair access to all subscribers. This feature is only aimed at ACCs 0-9, since ACCs 11-15 are considered high priority and hence are always configured based on permanent list policy. .Example: Configure rotative access to the BTS ---- network bts 0 access-control-rotate 3 <1> access-control-rotate-quantum 20 <2> ---- <1> Only allow up to 3 concurrent allowed ACCs from the permanent list <2> Rotate the generated permanent list subsets every 20 seconds in a fair fashion Furthermore, cells with large number of subscribers and limited overlapping coverage may become overwhelmed with traffic after the cell starts broadcasting. This is especially true in areas with little to no reception from other networks. To manage the load, OsmoBSC has an option to further restrict the rotating ACC subset during startup and slowly increment it over time and taking current channel load into account. The channel load will always be checked, even after the start up procedure, at an interval specified by the `access-control-class-ramping-step-interval` VTY command. It will either keep, increase or decrease the size of the current rotating ACC subset based on certain thresholds configured by the `access-control-class-ramping-chan-load` VTY command. As a result, if ACC ramping is enabled (`access-control-class-ramping`), the number of concurrent allowed ACCs will start with *1* and will fluctuate over time based on channel load in the interval *[1, `access-control-rotate`]*. This means at any time there will be at least *1* allowed ACC which, together with ACC rotation, will prevent from subscriber being unable to use the network. .Example: Ramp up access to the BTS after startup ---- network bts 0 access-control-class-ramping <1> access-control-class-ramping-step-size 1 <2> access-control-class-ramping-step-interval 30 <3> access-control-class-ramping-chan-load 71 89 <4> ---- <1> Turn on access-control-class ramping <2> At each step enable one more ACC <3> Check whether to allow more/less ACCs every 30 seconds <4> The rotate subset size is increased if channel load is < 71%, and decreased if channel load is > 89%. Here a full example of all the mechanisms combined can be found: .Example: Full ACC Load Management config setup ---- bts 0 rach access-control-class 5 barred <1> rach access-control-class 6 barred rach access-control-class 7 barred rach access-control-class 8 barred rach access-control-class 9 barred access-control-class-rotate 3 <2> access-control-class-rotate-quantum 20 <3> access-control-class-ramping <4> access-control-class-ramping-step-size 1 <5> access-control-class-ramping-step-interval 30 <6> access-control-class-ramping-chan-load 71 89 <7> ---- <1> ACCs 5-9 are administratively barred, ie they will never be used until somebody manually enables them in VTY config <2> Allow access through temporary subsets of len=3 from ACC set 0-4: (0,1,2) -> (1,2,3) -> (2,3,4) -> (3,4,0), etc. <3> Each subset iteration will happen every 20 seconds <4> Ramping is enabled: during startup it will further restrict the rotate subset size parameter (start at len=1, end at len=3) <5> The rotate subset size parameter will be increased or decreased one ACC slot at a time: len=1 -> len=2 -> len=3 <6> Check to further increase or decrease the rotate subset size based on current channel load is triggered every 30 seconds <7> The rotate subset size is increased if channel load is < 71%, and decreased if channel load is > 89%. === Configuring FACCH/SACCH repetition osmo-bts supports repetition of FACCH, uplink SACCH and downlink SACCH as described in _3GPP TS 44.006_ <<3gpp-ts-44.006>>. When the feature is enabled it is applied dynamically, depending on the rf signal quality and MS capabilities. FACCH/SACCH repetition (or ACCH repetition) repeats the channel block transmission two times. This allows the transceiver to combine the symbols from two separate transmissions, which increases the probability that even a weak signal can be decoded. Enabling ACCH repetition is especially recommended when using the AMR speech codec. AMR already provides a forward error correction that is superior to the forward error correction used with FACCH or SACCH. ACCH repetition is a good way to even out this imbalance. The VTY configuration allows to enable repetition for all three channel types separately. For FACCH the operator has the option to restrict the repetition to LAPDM command frames only. Alternatively it is also possible to allow all LAPDM frame types for repetition. The following example shows a typical configuration where ACCH repetition is fully enabled. .Example typical configuration of ACCH repetition parameters at VTY BTS node ---- OsmoBSC(config-net-bts)# repeat dl-facch all OsmoBSC(config-net-bts)# repeat ul-sacch OsmoBSC(config-net-bts)# repeat dl-sacch OsmoBSC(config-net-bts)# repeat rxqual 4 ---- It should be noted that unless the repetition is enabled explicitly, the repetition is turned off by default. If no threshold (see <>) is set, the default value 4 (BER >= 1.6%) will be used. The following example shows a minimal configuration where the repetition is only activated for FACCH LAPDM command frames. .Example minimal configuration of ACCH repetition parameters at VTY BTS node ---- OsmoBSC(config-net-bts)# repeat dl-facch command ---- Since it is not worthwhile to apply any repetition when the signal conditions are good enough to ensure a reliable transmission in one round, the operator has the option to set a threshold based on RXQUAL/BER at which the repetition is switched on. The threshold mechanism implements a hysteresis to prevent bouncing between repetition on and repetition off. Only when the signal quality is increased again by two rxqual levels, the repetition is turned off again. It is even possible to permanently enable repetition, regardless of the signal quality. [[acch_rep_thr]] .ACCH repetition thresholds [options="header",cols="20%,40%,40%"] |=== |rxqual |enable threshold |disable threshold |0 |(repetition always on) |(repetition always on) |1 |asciimath:[BER >= 0.2%] |asciimath:[BER = 0%] |2 |asciimath:[BER >= 0.4%] |asciimath:[BER = 0%] |3 |asciimath:[BER >= 0.8%] |asciimath:[BER <= 0.2%] |4 |asciimath:[BER >= 1.6%] |asciimath:[BER <= 0.4%] |5 |asciimath:[BER >= 3.2%] |asciimath:[BER <= 0.8%] |6 |asciimath:[BER >= 6.4%] |asciimath:[BER <= 1.6%] |7 |asciimath:[BER >= 12.8%] |asciimath:[BER <= 3.2%] |=== NOTE: osmo-bsc only sets the ACCH repetition parameters via RSL. Whether ACCH repetition can be used depends on the BTS model and osmo-bts version. To find out if a BTS supports ACCH repetition (BTS_FEAT_ACCH_REP), the VTY command `show bts` can be used. ==== RACH Parameter Configuration The following parameters allow control over how the MS can access the random access channel (RACH). It is possible to set a minimum receive level under which the MS will not even attempt to access the network. The RACH is a shared channel which means multiple MS can choose to send a request at the same time. To minimize the risk of a collision each MS will choose a random number of RACH slots to wait before trying to send a RACH request. On very busy networks the range this number is chosen from should be high to avoid collisions, but a lower range reduces the overall delay when trying to establish a channel. The option `rach tx integer N` controls the range from which this number X is chosen. It is `0 <= X < max(8,N)`. After sending a RACH request the MS will wait a random amount of slots before retransmitting its RACH request. The range it will wait is also determined by the option `rach tx integer N`, but calculating it is not so straightforward. It is defined as `S <= X < S+N` where `S` is determined from a table. In particular `S` is lowest when `N` is one of 3, 8, 14 or 50 and highest when `N` is 7, 12 or 32. For more information see _3GPP TA 44.018_ <<3gpp-ts-44-018>> Ch. 3.3.1.1.2 and Table 3.3.1.1.2.1 in particular. The amount of times the MS attempts to retransmit RACH requests can also be changed. A higher number means more load on the RACH while a lower number can cause channel establishment to fail due to collisions or bad reception. .Example: Configure RACH Access Parameters ---- network bts 0 rxlev access min 20 <1> rach tx integer 50<2> rach max transmission <3> ---- <1> Allow access to the network if the MS receives the BCCH of the cell at -90dBm or better (20dB above -110dBm). <2> This number affects how long the MS waits before (re-)transmitting RACH requests. <3> How often to retransmit the RACH request.