CE is Channel Element, 1 CE = 16000 slot

Channel Element are like TCH in 2G

In 3G we have System Module FSIA/FSIBFSMC/FSMD and they have Different
Channel Capacity i.e Channel Element

CE is a basic unit that measures the channel demodulation capabilities of a NodeB.

CEs are classified into uplink (UL) CEs and downlink (DL) CEs.
One UL CE needs to be consumed by a UL 12.2 kbit/s voice service (SF = 64) plus
3.4 kbit/s signaling.
One DL CE needs to be consumed by a DL 12.2 kbit/s voice service (SF = 128) plus
3.4 kbit/s signaling.
If only 3.4 kbit/s signaling traffic is carried on a DCH or HSPA channel, one CE still
needs to be consumed. The number of CEs that need to be consumed by services of
other types can be calculated by analogy.

In a RAN, CE resources are managed by both the RNC and NodeB. The NodeB
reports its CE capacity to the RNC. The RNC determines whether to admit a new
service based on the number of CEs that need to be consumed and controls CE
resources during CE congestion. This ensures the proper use of CE resources. The
NodeB dynamically manages CE resources and rapidly adjusts the number of CEs
that can be consumed based on the actual service rate. This increases CE resource
usage.

R99 Service CE Consumption

For an R99 service, the RNC determines the number of CEs and NodeB credit
resources that need to be consumed based on the SF that matches the maximum
bit rate (MBR) of the service.

Direction Rate SF Number of Corresponding

(kbit/s) CEs Credits
Consumed Consumed
UL 3.4 256 1 2
13.6 64 1 2
8 64 1 2
16 64 1 2
32 32 1.5 3
64 16 3 6
128 8 5 10
144 8 5 10
 256 4 10 20
384 4 10 20
DL 3.4 256 1 1
13.6 128 1 1
8 128 1 1
16 128 1 1
32 64 1 1
64 32 2 2
128 16 4 4
144 16 4 4
256 8 8 8
384 8 8 8

HSUPA Service CE Consumption

For an HSUPA service, the RNC determines the number of CEs and NodeB credit
resources that need to be consumed based on the SF that matches the service rate.
After determining the SF, the RNC searches the CE consumption mapping listed
below
  Basic capacity consumption:
o Common channels for three cells = 16 CE (for UL/DL)
o HSDPA in use all the time = 32 CE (for UL/DL)
The following example describes with three samples how the BTS calculates the used
capacity:

 DL used capacity:
o Sample 1:

100 AMR + 20 x 384 kbits + basic consumption (16 + 32) = 100 + (20 x 16) +
48 = 468 CE

o Sample 2:

80 AMR + 10 x 64 kbits + 10 x 384 kbits + basic consumption (16 + 32 ) = 80

+ (10 x 4) + (10 x 16) + 48 = 328 CE

o Sample 3:

120 AMR + 15 x 64 kbits + 20 x 384 kbits + basic consumption (16 + 32) =

120 + 15 x 4 + 20 x 16 + 48 = 588 CE

 UL used capacity:
o Sample 1:

100 AMR + basic consumption (16+32) = 100 + 48 = 148 CE

o Sample 2:

80 AMR + 10 x 64 kbits + basic consumption (16 + 32) = 100 + 10 x 4 + 48 =

188 CE

o Sample 3:

120 AMR + 15 x 64 kbits + basic consumption (16 + 32) = 120 + 15 x 4 + 48

= 228 CE
The Flexi Multiradio BTS WCDMA with a 1+1+1 configuration has a licensed capacity of 60
CE and a basic capacity of 32 CE.
Counter values:

 M5001C0 MAX_AVAIL_CE = 92
 M5001C1 MIN_AVAIL_CE = 92
 M5001C2 AVE_AVAIL_CE = 92

Example 2:
CE Availability:
The change of licensed capacity is made in the middle of the measurement period; 60 CEs are
added.
Counter values:

 M5001C0 MAX_AVAIL_CE = 152

 M5001C1 MIN_AVAIL_CE = 92
 M5001C2 AVE_AVAIL_CE = 122

• Average number of available Channel Elements. I.e. average amount of basic

capacity and licensed capacity together in Flexi WCDMA BTS.
• The counter is updated over the measurement period. The value of the counter
is the average value from all the samples (on every 20s) during the
measurement period

Use case: BTS channel element monitoring

Purpose
The BTS channel element capacity consumption can be monitored from the BTS and
the RNC point of view. The BTS side CE availability and usage monitoring is based on
BTS card capacity situation. The RNC side CE monitoring is based on estimated BTS
CE usage per RB type. The measured RB types (with bit rates) are: AMR, CS Conversational,
CS Streaming, PS Streaming, PS Interactive and PS Background.
An illustration of CE measuring is found in the following picture:
RU30
RU30 NSN system now has some different RU10/20, before that you almost
base CE to dimension capacity (all services), now you must convert to
subunit because 1 subunit = 48CE, and HW now is calculated following
subunit.

Functional overview
For Flexi Multiradio WCDMA BTS Rel.2 and upcoming HW versions a new baseband
concept has been introduced.
The new architecture in the baseband removes the traditional channel element (CE)
based capacity allocation for HSPA. Dimensioning of HSPA is based on different HSPA
processing sets (PS) instead. The new software design aims to maximize HSPA
capacity and provide a future proof basis for the coming new HSPA+ features.
The new software design aims to maximise HSPA capacity and
provide a future proof basis for new HSPA+ feature design. Different tasks for baseband
processing have been allocated so that underlying support for HSPA+ peak rates as well
as other 3GPP HSPA+ features is as efficient as possible. This is visible in radically higher peak rate
capabilities and as completely new dimensioning rules for HSPA.
Channel elements are no longer used for HSPA at all, and instead dimensioning is
based on different HSPA processing sets. The new architecture allows up to 1 Gbps
total throughput per BTS with two system modules. This value is describing the
baseband capabilities, and is not possible to achieve over the air interface yet at least
with 3GPP Rel11 features and 12 cells.
HSPA capacity increase has been designed so that AMR capacity, still basing on
channel elements, is not decreased. To the contrary there is some additional channel
element capacity now available for AMR calls. For details of the new baseband software
arechitecture capabilities for both HSPA as well as for AMR calls.

The HSPA processing sets are capacity units, defined by total BTS throughput and
number of users in BTS in the following way:
• for HSDPA
– HSDPA BTS Processing Set 1: supports maximum number of 32 users and
overall BTS throughput up to 7.2Mbps
– HSDPA BTS Processing Set 2: supports maximum number of 72 users and
overall BTS throughput up to 21Mbps
– HSDPA BTS Processing Set 3: supports maximum number of 72 users and
overall BTS throughput up to 84Mbps
• for HSUPA
– HSUPA BTS Processing Set: supports maximum number of 24 users and
overall BTS throughput up to 5.8Mbps

The following licenses are available:

• R99 CE: Same capacity compared to current CE license. R99 CE licensies apply to
Flexi Multiradio BTS only.
• HSDPA processing set 1: 32 UE / 7.2 Mbit/s
• HSDPA processing set 2: 72 UE / 21 Mbit/s
• HSDPA processing set 3: 72 UE / 84 Mbit/s
• HSUPA processing set: 24 UE / 5.8 Mbit/s
WBTS capacity (Flexi Rel2.0)
In order to monitor Flexi BTS capacity issues it is important to know the following:
• used configurations:
– logical configurations, for example, whether there are one or multiple local cell
groups in use
– baseband configurations, for example, whether there are one or two system
modules in use
• possible capacity, that is, what is the "hard limit" of the entire capacity in the BTS:
– baseband and control plane capacity, that is, DSP capacity (given in subunits)
– throughput capacity, that is, the number of HSPA schedulers in the BTS
– user capacity, that is, the number of HSPA schedulers in the BTS
• used licenses, that is, what is the current maximum level of available capacity:
– license for R99 traffic, that is, R99 Channel Element license
– license for HSPA traffic, that is, HSxPA Processing Sets licenses
In addition, a separate license is needed for the user amounts.
• in the multiple LCG case, for example, multi operator RAN (MORAN) case:
– the split of the - BTS level - R99 Channel Element license between the used
LCGs
– the split of the - BTS level - HSDPA Processing Set license between the used
LCGs
– the split of the - HSUPA scheduler level - HSUPA Processing Set license
between the used LCGs
Note: There are some differences in the capacity values and monitoring possibilities
between the RU30 EP1 and EP2 compatible versions of the Flexi BTS Rel2.0. These
differences are highlighted in this chapter wherever applicable. The end user of this
document is requested to clarify the BTS version compatibility used for the particular IHSPA

Used logical configurations

The Flexi BTS can be split into the following logical configurations:
Table 9 Baseband configurations
Note: The number of activated HSDPA schedulers depends on Tcell configuration

Possible system module capacity

The total capacity of the system module(s) depends on system module type(s):

Possible throughput capacity

The total throughput capacity of the BTS depends on the number of HSPA schedulers
and the number of subunits in the system module(s).

The table above shows the maximum throughput capacity of one HSDPA or HSUPA
scheduler. Whether it is possible to reach this, depends on the number of availablesubunits in the
related system module. The subunit capacity is mapped to throughput capacity (in Mbit/s) in terms of
steps (numbers not given in the table).
Possible user capacity
The total used capacity of the BTS depends on the number of HSPA schedulers. In addition,
there are separate limits in the HSUPA scheduler for an LCG and cell levels.
Baseband capacity monitoring cases description

Note that there are differences in the monitoring between RU30 EP1 and RU30 EP2. In
EP1, only LCG-level M5006 counters are used for baseband monitoring, while in EP2
M5008 counters are also available for BTS level monitoring.
The available baseband capacity is based on a BTS-level or a HSUPA scheduler-level
license, that is, the licenses are based on R99 CEs and HSxPA processing sets and not
the subunits located in the system modules.
Therefore the monitoring is (primarily) based on following the license utilization rates
and not the consumption of subunits/baseband/DSP HW resources. If needed, the DSP
HW resource, that is, the subunit utilization level can be seen. This requires then additional
mapping between the monitored license related utilization rates and what it means
in terms of subunit consumption. This can be done following the mapping instructions
given above in the introduction section Possible system module capacity, Possible
throughput capacity, and Possible user capacity.
The BTS HW capacity can be further grouped (pooled), that is, the BTS can consist of
one to four pools (local cell groups, LCGs). Thus, there are two different cases for
capacity monitoring:
• One LCG, that is, baseband pooling is not used
License monitoring is simple, as the BTS licensed capacity = the LCG licensed
capacity.
2 - 4 LCGs, that is, baseband pooling is used
License monitoring is more complicated, as the licensed baseband capacity is distributed
among the LCGs according to the commissioning setup, common LCG pool
and/or common schedulers.
– The assigned part of the R99 CE license is distributed to the LCGs according to
the commission setup. Unassigned Rel99 CE licenses are in common LCG pool,
and licenses from that pool can be utilized by any LCG on need basis. This
common share is controlled on a BTS level.
– The licensed HSDPA throughput is shared between LCGs in case of commissioning.
The maximum value depends on the available HSDPA processing sets.
If commissioning was not done, the throughput is shared according to the default
allocation rule
– HSDPA user shares of used licenses in case of commissioning is shared
between LCGs up to maximum allocation of 100% licensed capacity. If not, the
remaining capacity is put to the shared LCG pool. If commissioning was not performed
for these licenses, then each LCG gets equal share and there is no
common pool of licensed users.
– For HSUPA, there is no common part - commissioning has to be performed so
that values sum up to 100%. If commissioning was not performed, then each
LCG gets equal share.
Monitoring sub case setup:
RU30 EP1: The monitoring is performed on an LCG level, that is, separately for each
baseband pool or for the whole BTS.
RU30 EP2: The monitoring is performed on either LCG or BTS level.
Monitoring sub case analyze:
• LCG level monitoring: If LCG resource consumption is high, then the problem
is either based on the commissioned LCG resource shortage, or full BTS license
shortage, or baseband shortage (when all baseband is licensed).
• BTS level monitoring: If BTS resource consumption is high, then the problem
is either based on the BTS license shortage or baseband shortage (when all
baseband is licensed).
Monitoring sub case notes:
RU30 EP1: The monitoring is executed on LCG level only. This is sufficient as the
provided counters show directly the utilized capacity in relation to the available
capacity in each LCG (that are obtained based on commissioned and/or common
BTS/HSUPA scheduler-level licenses).
RU30 EP2: The monitoring is executed on either LCG or BTS level with the corresponding
counters.

4.1.1 Rel99 channel elements

R99 CE management
The channel element (CE) represents the Rel99 processing capability of the DSP hardware,
located in the system module of the Flexi BTS.
The parameters Access baseband capacity (accessBbCapacity) and Dedicated
baseband capacity (dedicatedBbCapacity) are used to configure Rel99 CE license
allocations for LCGs. The maximum available Rel99 CEs per LCG and thus per BTS in
these measurements depends on the configuration of these parameters.
R99 CE processing principles
Each Rel99 RAB type loads the DSP differently; therefore, the number of channel
elements representing each service depends on the allocated UL/DL bit rate. If there is
not enough DSP capacity, represented by the channel elements for a new connection,
the BTS blocks the new service. The user can control the number of CEs with a license,
up to the limit supported by the hardware. The BTS temporarily allows allocation of
capacity beyond the licensed limit, but up to the maximum available HW capacity only.
The channel element bookkeeping rules for common channels and Rel99 services
differ. The DSP is also required for control plane, NAS signaling (location updates,
routing area updates), and SMSs.
.

HSxPA processing sets

HSDPA capacity management and processing principles
There are three options for the HSDPA processing sets depending on the traffic
volumes. If there is no HSDPA processing set available, the HSDPA is not enabled at all.
The number of HSDPA users and the maximum throughput (processing set licenses)
are controlled on the BTS level and can be divided between the LCGs according to the
commissioned shares when baseband pooling is used. The used parameters are
shareOfHsdpaUser and mhsdpaSchedList. The licensed number of HSDPA users
is controlled on the BTS level and can be divided with shareOfHhsdpaUser between
LCGs. Licensed HSDPA throughput, however, is controlled by a HSDPA scheduler. The
licensed throughput is divided between schedulers proportionally to the throughput commissioned
with mhsdpaSchedList. However, the Tcell configuration of the LCGs
should also be checked to find out the LCG's cell distribution on HSDPA schedulers and
thus the maximum throughput available for the LCGs.
HSUPA capacity management and processing principles
There is only one type of the HSUPA processing set present. If no HSUPA processing
set is available, the HSUPA is not enabled.
Note that the HSUPA/HSPA service can be activated only if HSDPA is enabled on the
BTS/cell level, but HSUPA does not consume the HSDPA processing set licenses.
If baseband pooling is used, the HSUPA licenses are divided between LCGs according
to the commissioned share. The used parameter is shareOfHsupaUserLicenses.
The system reserves the capacity for the HSUPA on the basis of need, with specific
sizes of the resource steps. There is no default minimum reservation for the HSUPA.
However, it is possible to define minimum HSUPA resources with the HSUPA BB
decoding capacity and HSUPA BB minimum users commissioning parameters if
needed.
Another important aspect is that the very first HSUPA processing set license is dynamic,
that is, the R99 allocations can be made with this license (even without any R99 CE
licenses). The only exception is the minimum reserved HSUPA capacity if any, by commissioning.
Further HSUPA licenses are not dynamic unless they are overlapped with
some R99 CE licenses at any time.
A multi-RAB UE is treated as a single UE on the system level, thus from both the user
count and throughput point of view, its resource consumption method is similar to that
of a single RAB UE. Thus, the HSxPA multi-RAB UE consumes capacity from the available
HSDPA and HSUPA processing sets.
HSDPA BTS CE resource reservation is always fixed, and cannot be used to other services. The
HSDPA Baseband resource reservation is symmetric for uplink and downlink and depends on used
features. However, resources are not reserved for HSDPA UL return channel
Enough free UL CE capacity is required for HSDPA return channel or HSDPA setup will fail
In RAS51 and RAS06 basic, the bit rate combination for HSDPA UL return channel is 64, 128 and
384. Maximum bit rate cannot be limited with the parameter. 64 kbps and 128 kbps requires 4 CE and
384 kbps require 16 CE

HSUPA consumes both UL and DL baseband processing within the WBTS, so it's necessary to ensure
that there is sufficient baseband processing resource prior to enabling HSUPA. The HSUPA baseband
processing requirements are symmetric across the UL and DL directions. Additionally, DPCCH for
HSPA needs one extra CE.
The minimum static allocation of 8 CE (for both UL and DL) is reserved as soon as HSUPA is
enabled at a WBTS
With the exception of the first 8 CE’s, the CE allocation for HSUPA is dynamic. Depending upon
both the number of HSUPA connections and load generated by the DCH traffic.
In the CE allocation, DCH has a higher priority than HSUPA => DCH capacity requests are able to
pre-empt the set of CE allocated to HSUPA (with the exception of the minimum static
allocation of 8 CE).
CE usage can cause bottleneck for HSDPA users (UL return channel being rejected) or in terms of
limiting the DL throughput (i.e. UL not supporting even the TCP akcs). 64kbps UL return channel (4
CE) seems to be enough up to ~2mbps and 16kbps is enough up to ~600kbps. Also it has bee noticed
that the UL return channel allocation share is:
• ~30% UL 16kbps (1 CE needed)
• ~50% UL 64kbps (4 CE)
• ~10% UL 128kbps (4 CE)
• ~10% UL 384kbps (16 CE)