Drive Testing

The Purpose of Drive Testing

Drive testing is principally applied in both the planning and optimisation stage of
network development. However, there are other purposes for which drive testing can be
used:
•To provide path loss data for initial site survey work
•To verify the propagation prediction during the initial planning of the network.
•To verify the network system parameters, as defined in the EG8: GSM/DCS System-
Specific Parameters.
•To provide the initial test parameters used in Benchmarking (as defined in the “Analysis”
section of the Network Performance and Monitoring Guideline).
•To verify the performance of the network after changes have been made e.g. When a new
TRX is added; the removal or addition of a new site; any power Adjustments or changes to
the antenna; any changes in clutter or traffic habits such as the addition of new roads etc.
•To measure any interference problems such as coverage from neighboring Countries.
•To locate any RF issues relating to traffic problems such as dropped or blocked calls.
•To locate any poor coverage areas.
•To monitor the network against a slow degradation over time, as well as Monitoring the
network after sudden environmental conditions, such as gales or electrical storms.
•To monitor the performance of a competitor’s network.
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When to Drive Test

• Drive testing can take place during the day or at night and is dependant upon the

Operator’s requirements and subscriber habits.

 • Drive testing during the day will mimic the conditions as seen by subscribers, but
may

clog up the network if call analysis is being performed.

• Drive testing during the night will allow a greater area to be surveyed due to the
reduction

in vehicular congestion. It will also allow for certain test signals to be transmitted
and

tested, particularly when setting up a new site, without interrupting normal

operation.

• However, night-time testing does not mimic the conditions experienced by

subscribers.
• For planning purposes, drive testing is typically performed at night and for
maintenance

purposes, drive testing is performed during the day.

Where to Drive Test

Some areas of a network will have greater performance problems than others. Drive
testing should not be uniform throughout the whole network, but should be weighted

towards areas where there are significant RF problems.

There may be other areas of the network that require temporary coverage during a certain
time of the year e.g. an exhibition centre or a sports stadium. These areas should be

examined and planned in greater detail.

It is important that a drive test is documented. This is specified by the Operator and can
either take the form of creating a new item of documentation or filling in an existing

document.

All documentation will be passed to Analysts and Engineers, who will need

accurate records of any test work carried out.

----Route Plans
The area to be drive tested is ascertained before leaving the office. There are three levels
of drive testing depending on the purpose of the test:
Primary Route: This includes all major roads, highways and throughfares and should be
given priority to all other roads when conducting a coverage test, unless a new site is put
into service for a specific objective.
Secondary Route: This includes all streets, by-streets and compounds, where accessible, such as a
University Campus. Secondary routes are used in areas where problems have been located during a
primary route test and further investigation is needed.
Miscellaneous Routes: This includes in-building and non-access routes to vehicles such as shopping
malls, golf courses, airports, hotels, conference centres etc. A route is prepared by photocopying a
map and highlighting the route to be driven.
For primary routes, a map of scale no less than 1:20,000 should be used, and a map of
scale 1:10,000 is recommended for secondary routes. It is recommended that the route is marked in a
contiguous circuit, taking account of one-way streets at this stage.
A drive test should be planned in both directions, where possible, and at the same speed. This
minimises any errors and checks the point of handovers and cell dimensioning.
For new sites that are being tested, it is recommended that the transceiver is forced to camp onto the
cell (forbidding any handovers) in order to ascertain the full coverage of the cell.
The test should be re-driven with any forced handovers removed.

Layer 1 Messages
Other Layer 1 criteria that is useful for field measurements include:
• C1 criteria
• ARFCN of Serving Cell - (TCH in dedicated mode, BCCH in idle mode))
• Time Slot (TS)

Layer 3 Messages
All Layer 3 messages should be collected where possible. Layer 3 Messages are used
by Analysts to determine more accurately the cause of a problem within the network.
Some field test equipment can perform basic analysis of particular Layer 3 messages during
data collection. This enables certain conditions such as call classification or handovers to be
flagged to the survey technician.

Call Classification
In principle there are five call classifications, some of which can be sub-divided further.
Good Calls: These are calls that are successfully placed on the network and
maintained for the required duration.
Dropped Calls: These are calls that are successfully placed on to the network but
are terminated without authorisation. Using Layer 3 Messages, these calls can be sub-
divided into:
• End User Hang-up
• System Hang-up
• Other
Blocked Calls: These are calls that cannot be placed on to the network. Again, using
Layer 3 messages, these can be sub-divided as follows:
• System Busy
• End User Engaged
• No Service
• Other

Roamed Calls: These are calls that are successfully placed on another network.
Roamed calls may also be good calls or dropped calls.
Noisy Calls: These are calls which have been successfully completed for the duration of the
call but which experienced a number of noise bursts that a subscriber may find intolerable.
The threshold for determining the level of poor audio is programmed during the set-up of
the test.
In GSM, this particular classification is very difficult to determine with great accuracy.
It should be noted that it is not enough to monitor just the RxLEV and the RxQUAL.
 Troubleshooting
No Data Collected
Occasionally, the equipment fails to trigger the collection device to save the data to file.
• Check all cables
• Ensure the Processing Unit is powered
• Re-start the laptop computer
• Re-start the equipment
• Re-drive the test.

No Positional Information Collected

If data is collected using GPS only, it may be possible that satellite reception was
lost during a drive through a tunnel etc. It is important that back-up equipment is used,
such as a Dead-Reckoning device, since a GPS receiver will re-transmit the last known
position until it receives an update. If the vehicle moves without GPS cover, the data will
be inaccurate and cannot be analysed.
• Check the GPS antenna cable to the receiver
• Drive to an open area and ensure that the GPS system is working correctly
• If required, install a back-up positional device to safeguard against lost GPS
Coverage Holes
If there are patches of poor coverage in unexpected areas, it may indicate the fringes of a
coverage hole. It is important to re-drive this particular area.
• Complete a route plan using secondary roads as far as possible
• Make notes of any buildings / obstructions that may cause shadowing
• Take note of pedestrian / vehicular habits in the area

Dropped Calls
Dropped calls can be caused by either RF environments or incorrect system parameters.
The following data should be checked to ensure that it has been collected properly.
• Layer 3 Messages
• Neighbour Cell List (BA Table)
• RxLEV (Server & Neighbour)
• RxQUAL (Server & Neighbour)
Finally, ensure that the automatic setting for the call length is not shorter than that for
the timer monitoring for unauthorised call drop-outs. The setting should be a minimum of
30 seconds.

Handover Problems
Handover problems are generally caused by inaccurate settings of the handover boundary.
This can cause ping-ponging, where the server will keep changing, and congestion at the
switch. Check the following.
• The transceiver antenna is fitted correctly
• Collection of Layer 3 Messages
• Collection of Neighbour Cell List (BA Table)
• Collection of Scanning Information
• Collection of Cell Identities
• Collection of T.Adv for the Serving Cell
Also, ensure that the collection of data from the new serving cell immediately after
the handover has occurred (particularly RxLEV and RxQUAL) is not timed to occur prior
to the-synchronisation of the transceiver itself.
If a particular serving cell can be isolated as a potential cause of handover problems, slowly
drive around the cell in a radius of around 500m - 1km, checking when handovers occur.
Blocked Calls / System Busy
If calls are repeatedly classified as blocked, it is recommended that the drive test
is temporarily halted in order to try and locate the cause.
• Check that the number called is fully functional
• Check that there is adequate coverage from the expected serving BTS
• Check the equipment transceiver is functioning correctly by using an ordinary
mobile to call the office
• If all appears functional, try to place calls through an alternative BTS. If this
succeeds, inform the office immediately and re-suspend the drive test.