Operator perspective: Developing wide range

of use cases for SONJuho Poutanen, D.Sc. (Tech.), Head of SON R&D

Elisa in a nutshell

2

• Market leader in Finland in both fixed

and mobile

• 2.3 million customers, 4.74 million

mobile subscriptions

• Population coverage

• 2G & 3G > 99.8 % , LTE > 98 %

• Mobile data usage 13 GB / user /

month.

• Elisa is number 3 in the world in the

total data amount (source Tefficient).

Elisa in-house solutions for RAN automation

RAN planning and

integration

3

RAN

operation

RAN

optimization

Contents

• What is Elisa SON?

• Why in-house SON tool?

• Dimensions of Elisa SON use cases

• Couple of examples

4

…Operator perspective: Developing wide range of use cases for SON…

What is Elisa SON

5

OSS

CM, PM, FM data

SON algorithms

CM changes

• Robust platform for closed loop RAN optimization

• Easy to develop new use cases based on true needs

• Automate everything that brings quality or operational benefits

• Variety of use cases, term of “SON” challenged

Why in-house SON tool?

6

Typical SON Vendor solution

7

Need Product ≠

ANR

CCOPCI

LB

SC

PRACH

Elisa SON: All use cases based on true need

8

IdeaAlgorithm

dev.

Test Validate

Need Production R&D

Dimensions of Elisa SON use cases

9

Trivial

Simple

Sophisticated

Complex

Automation of simple manual tasks• Simple but time consuming tasks

• No resources to do everything

• Not necessarily direct impact on nw quality

Intelligent algorithms• Algorithm itself makes intelligent

decisions

• Hard for human to replicate

• Goal to improve KPI:s, customer

experience, etc.

Rule based use cases • Typically set of if-then clauses

• Actions based on CM, PM, FM

• Could be done by human

• Main goal to improve KPI:s

Dimensions of Elisa SON use cases

10

RAN Consistency• Parameter values

• Cell names

• Antenna data

Big data

ANR• Intra-frequency

• Inter-frequency

• Inter-RAT

• VoLTE / SRVCC

Color code optimization• LTE PCI

• PRACH root sequence

• 3G scrambling code

• 2G freq. optimization

Design principles• LTE TAC = 3G LAC

• 2G TRX shutdown

• Feature activation /

deactivation

• Area specific parameter sets

Load balancing• Carrier aggregation LB

• Inter-frequency LB

• Inter-RAT LBCoverage&capacity• Tilt optimization

• Power optimization

Machine learning

KPI-based site

rebooting

Feature license

handling

Trivial

Simple

Sophisticated

Complex

Dimensions of Elisa SON use cases

11

RAN Consistency• Parameter values

• Cell names

• Antenna data

Big data

ANR• Intra-frequency

• Inter-frequency

• Inter-RAT

• VoLTE / SRVCC

Color code optimization• LTE PCI

• PRACH root sequence

• 3G scrambling code

• 2G freq. optimization

Design principles• LTE TAC = 3G LAC

• 2G TRX shutdown

• Feature activation /

deactivation

• Area specific parameter sets

Load balancing• Carrier aggregation LB

• Inter-frequency LB

• Inter-RAT LBCoverage&capacity• Tilt optimization

• Power optimization

Machine learning

KPI-based site

rebooting

Feature license

handling

$$$

$$

$$

$

$$

$$

$$

$$$

$$$$

$

Trivial

Simple

Sophisticated

Complex

Examples of use cases (1 of 3): PCI optimization

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• Detect and correct all PCI collisions & confusions once a day

• Complements distributed ANR

1 1

PCI confusion

1 1

PCI collision

Examples of use cases (2 of 3): Flexible parameter sets

13

IFHO

meas.

off

IFHO

meas. on

• Geometry | Traffic volume | Interference | HW | etc.as criteria for parameterization

• Balance between consistency & site-specific parameterization

• Automation needed as network evolves

• Case: Activate or deactivate inter-frequency handover measurements based on geometry

IFHO

meas. off

IFHO

meas. on

IFHO meas on only

if important neighbor

is inter-freq.

Examples of use cases (3 of 3): Feature

license handling

• Activate features only on sites

where really needed

• Instead of increasing quality of

network, save a lot of money with

minimized impact on quality

• Case:

• License activation for “feature xyz” 1000 €

per site, 10000 sites

• Implementation: Deactivate “feature xyz”

in sites where small % of xyz-capable UEs

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ANR

CCOPCI

LB

SC

PRACH

Extremely fast “time to market” with Elisa SON

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IdeaAlgorithm

dev.

Test Validate

Need

Production R&D • Needs arise fast, may be

temporary

• Needs may be generic or very operator | vendor specific

• H1/2016: 8 use cases to production including platform ramp-up

• Simplest use cases from need to production in less than one week

Conclusions

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• Elisa SON enables easy development

of wide range of use cases

• Even simple use cases can bring

huge operational benefits

• World class network quality with

extremely limited optimization

resources

• Improved personnel satisfaction

Interested in

working with Elisa

SON ??

Meet us at our

stand !

Thank you!