Paging Load Overview

June 13, 2011

Contents

1 Background Information ................................................................................. 3

2 Why Paging Load needed? ............................................................................. 3
3 Considerations needed to calculate Paging Load ........................................ 4

1 Background Information
Paging is used by the core network to inform a UE that it has a terminating service request. These
pages originates either from MSC (CS calls) or from SGSN (PS calls).
In the RNC the paging messages are mapped onto radio resources. The paging records are coded
into Paging message type 1 or Paging message type 2. The focus in this overview is on
Paging message Type 1 which is the majority of the paging record used.
PCH TTI frame is 10 ms and it carries one Paging message type 1. the Physical Layer Paging
Indicator Channel (PICH) contains only indicator bits (on or off), which indicate whether a page
message for a group of mobiles will be transmitted on the corresponding SCCPCH.
Paging to UEs in states IDLE or Cell/URA_PCH is done with Paging message type 1. Different
identity types can be used part of the paging record:

IMSI: This is used at global pages and when a UE is unknown.

TMSI: Temporary IMSI for CS calls.
P-TMSI: Temporary IMSI for PS calls.
U-RNTI: UTRAN initiated pages to mobiles in URA-PCH.

2 Why Paging Load needed?

Location Area Code (LAC), Routing Area Code (RAC), dimensioning should ideally consider
the loading on the common channels, particularly the Paging Channel (PCH) and Forward
Access Channel (FACH).
The dimensioning aims at finding a suitable number of cells per LA, RA and URA. The paging
load and the Registration or Update procedures signaling load depend on the number of users in
an LA, and thus number of cells in an LA.
In return, The LA/RA and URA borders planning is made based on the number of cells
calculated in the dimensioning stage. Hence, comes the importance of calculating the maximum
paging capacity.

To dimension the number of cells in an LA, one should consider the trade-off between signaling
load due to Registration/Update procedures and signaling load from paging. Then the number of
cells in an RA and a URA can be set in relation to the number of cells in an LA.

3 Considerations needed to calculate

Paging Load
In calculating the Paging intensity (i.e. # of paging message per cell per second), one should consider the
following, as examples:
1. Average Number of Subscribers per cell
a. Simulate for Paging Message Type 1 or 2
i. Usually Paging Message Type 2 is not considered due to the low probability
of having this type of paging. These can be observed from actual network
counters.
2. Simulate with the Usage of the Paging Records coming from Core Network for both IMSI
and TMSI
a. Assume PCH Transport Block Size is 240 bits (commonly used) and TTI is 10ms, the
PCH data rate is 24kbps. The Paging Requests coming from Core Network can be:
Using IMSI 72 bits size
Using TMSI 40 bits size
b. 7 bits from the 240 bits Transport Block are used for header, so only 233 bits are
available to transport Paging Records. Therefore, in each TTI (10ms), for 240 bits
PCH TB, it can accommodate:

233/72

If IMSI used, Paging Message can accommodate =

= 3 paging records
233/40
If TMSI used, PCH Message record can accommodate =
= 5 paging
records

3. Simulate with the Paging repetition mechanisms used that allow to increase the call
establishment success rate. This can have two forms (based purely on the network
implementations):
a. Core Network Paging Repetition: used if no response is received for the paging
message
b. UTRAN Paging Repetition: used to repeat the paging message systematically even if
the paging message is answered by the user. Usually used to overcome RF related
issues
4. Number of LAs in the MSC, and if current Location Area and Routing Area are the same (i.e.
in Idle, LA may be equivalent to RA, which means CS paging is send in exactly the same
area as PS paging)
5. Paging intensity per subscriber and second, and a limit to the acceptable paging congestion
rate
a. Calculate the maximum paging intensity that results in less than a certain paging
congestion rate
6. In addition to the paging sent on a LA/RA, an additional Paging traffic is to be considered in
case of UEs in URA_PCH state (if supported by the current implementation)
a. If URA_PCH is implemented, the fraction of UEs in the IDLE and URA_PCH states
may be needed. This depends on PS applications and timer settings.
Then, with the above inputs, Consider different SCCPCH configurations as follows:
b. One SCCPCH
i. One SCCPCH carries PCH, FACH for Interactive/Background PS RAB and
the FACH for SRBs on CCCH/DCCH/BCCH.
ii. Note that in this configuration, PCH is a limiting factor, because
multiplexing PCH with FACHs on one SCCPCH would impact the FACH
data rate and delays (given the system should give priority to PCH
transmissions). In this case, one can dimension for PCH load limited to a
reasonable value (i.e. 50%)
c. Two or more SCCPCHs
i. 2 SCCPCHs: the first SCCPCH carries the PCH and the second SCCPCH
carries the FACH for Interactive/Background PS RAB and the FACH for
SRBs on CCCH/DCCH/BCCH.
ii. 3 SCCPCHs: the first SCCPCH carries the PCH. The second SCCPCH
carries the FACH for CTCH (Cell Broadcast Service) and the FACH for
SRBs on CCCH/BCCH for idle mode UEs. The third SCCPCH carries the
FACH for Interactive/Background PS RAB and the FACH for SRBs on
CCCH/DCCH/BCCH for connected mode UEs.

iii. Note that in this configuration, PCH may not be the limiting factor, and the
PCH load with 100% can be dimensioned.
Then paging capacity can be simulated with different SCCPCH configurations, and, therefore, actual
number of cells in LA can be determined/reviewed based on an acceptable probability of congestion, or
consider adding a second SCCPCH, etc