Broadcast Allocation (BA) Tables

Last updated: December 2, 2008

The Broadcast Allocation (BA) table in the test set provides a list of (P)BCH ARFCNs for each band that the mobile station must measure. This provides a means for you to stress the mobile station's receiver, especially when the traffic channel and the (P)BCH are in different bands. You can:

NOTE

The test set does not actually generate a signal for each (P)BCH in the BA table, but it instructs the mobile station to make measurements and report signal level.

Configuring the BCH BA Table

The BCH BA Table allows you to configure 32 BCH GSM neighbours cells. You can set the ARFCN(channel), BCC, NCC, Reporting Priority, and State for each Neighbour Cell.

The GPIB commands to configure the Neighbour Cell parameters in the BCH BA Table are as follows:

Parameter	Command
Neighbour Cell State	CALL[:CELL]:BA:TABLe:NCELl<n>[:STATe]:<band>
Neighbour Cell ARFCN	CALL[:CELL]:BA:TABLe:NCELl<n>:ARFCn:<band>
Neighbour Cell BCC	CALL[:CELL]:BA:TABLe:NCELl<n>:BCCode:<band>
Neighbour Cell NCC	CALL[:CELL]:BA:TABLe:NCELl<n>:NCCode:<band>
Neighbour Cell Reporting Priority	CALL[:CELL]:BA:TABLe:NCELl<n>:RPRiority:<band>

The parameters of each enabled Neighbour Cell in the BCH BA Table are broadcast in the System Information (SI) messages. Settings to the neighbour cell parameters are stored, but not applied until the neighbour cell is enabled.

The default value of the ARFCN for each BCH GSM neighbour cell depends on the selected broadcast band:

Default ARFCNs in BA Table

Band	Default ARFCNs (BCH GSM neighbour cell 1 to 32)
P-GSM	20, 1, 62, 124, 9, 18, 36, 45, 54, 63, 72, 81, 90, 99, 108, 117, 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, 42, 49, 56, 63, 70, 77, 83, 91, 97, 104, 111
E-GSM	20, 975, 37, 124, 986, 1008, 1019, 7, 18, 30, 53, 64, 76, 87, 99, 110, 10, 21, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 111, 120, 980, 990, 1000, 1010
DCS	512, 698, 885, 537, 562, 587, 612, 637, 662, 712, 737, 762, 787, 812, 837, 862, 525, 538, 551, 564, 577, 590, 603, 616, 629, 642, 655, 668, 681, 694, 707, 720
PCS	512, 660, 810, 530, 550, 570, 590, 610, 630, 650, 690, 710, 730, 750, 770, 790, 531, 548, 566, 584, 602, 620, 638, 656, 674, 692, 711, 728, 746, 764, 782, 800
GSM850	150, 128, 190, 251, 138, 148, 158, 168, 178, 188, 198, 208, 218, 228, 238, 248, 135, 142, 149, 156, 163, 170, 177, 184, 191, 198, 205, 212, 219, 226, 233, 240
R-GSM	20, 955, 28, 124, 969, 984, 999, 1014, 5, 21, 35, 50, 65, 80, 95, 110, 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72, 84, 96, 108, 120, 966, 977, 988, 1000, 1011, 1023
GSM450	270, 259, 276, 293, 262, 264, 267, 269, 272, 275, 277, 280, 282, 285, 287, 290, 260, 262, 264, 266, 268, 270, 273, 274, 276, 278, 280, 283, 284, 286, 288, 292
GSM480	310, 306, 323, 340, 309, 311, 314, 316, 319, 321, 324, 327, 329, 332, 334, 337, 308, 310, 312, 314, 317, 318, 320, 322, 325, 326, 328, 330, 333, 335, 336, 338
GSM750	450, 438, 474, 511, 444, 449, 454, 459, 465, 470, 476, 481, 487, 493, 499, 505, 442, 446, 450, 454, 458, 462, 466, 471, 475, 478, 482, 486, 490, 494, 498, 504
T-GSM810	380, 350, 388, 425, 356, 362, 367, 373, 379, 384, 390, 396, 401, 407, 413, 418, 354, 358, 363, 366, 370, 374, 378, 382, 386, 391, 394, 398, 402, 406, 410, 414

The BCH BA Table can also be configured manually by doing the following steps:

Press CALL SETUP .
Press Cell Info ( F6 ).
Press Cell Lists ( F4 ).
Press GSM Neighbours (BCH) ( F1 ).
Use the knob to scroll to and highlight the Neighbour Cell you wish to configure.
Press the knob. This displays the BCH Neighbour Cell menu (similar to the figure below) that contains the configurable parameters for the that Neighbour Cell.
Use the knob to highlight the desired parameter. Rotate the knob or use the number keys to set the value for the parameter.

Configuring the PBCCH BA Table

The PBCCH BA Table allows you to configure 32 PBCCH GSM neighbour cells. You can set the ARFCN, BCC, NCC, RAC, Reporting Priority, and State for each Neighbour Cell.

The GPIB commands to configure the Neighbour Cell parameters in the PBCCH BA Table are as follows:

Parameter	Command
Neighbour Cell State	CALL[:CELL]:(PBCCH\|PBCChannel):BA:TABLe:NCELl<n>[:STATe]
Neighbour Cell ARFCN	CALL[:CELL]:(PBCCH\|PBCChannel):BA:TABLe:NCELl<n>:ARFCn
Neighbour Cell BCC	CALL[:CELL]:(PBCCH\|PBCChannel):BA:TABLe:NCELl<n>:BCCode
Neighbour Cell NCC	CALL[:CELL]:(PBCCH\|PBCChannel):BA:TABLe:NCELl<n>:NCCode
Neighbour Cell RAC	CALL[:CELL]:(PBCCH\|PBCChannel):BA:TABLe:NCELl<n>:RACode
Neighbour Cell Reporting Priority	CALL[:CELL]:(PBCCH\|PBCChannel):BA:TABLe:NCELl<n>:RPRiority

The parameters of each enabled Neighbour Cell in the PBCCH BA Table are broadcast in the Packet System Information (PSI) messages. Settings to the neighbour cell parameters are stored, but not applied until the neighbour cell is enabled.

NOTE: PSI messages are only transmitted when the Packet Broadcast Control Channel (PBCCH) is enabled.

The default value of the ARFCN for each PBCCH GSM neighbour cell is:

Default ARFCNs in PBCCH BA Table

	Default ARFCNs (PBCCH GSM neighbour cell 1 to 32)
PBCCH BA Table	20, 1, 62, 124, 9, 18, 36, 45, 54, 63, 72, 81, 90, 99, 108, 117, 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, 42, 49, 56, 63, 70, 77, 83, 91, 97, 104, 111

You can also control these parameters via the test set's front panel. The following procedure explains how to access the menus that allow you to configure simulated Neighbour Cell parameters that are transmitted on the PBCCH, when available. The Neighbour Cell menus are located in the Cell List menu.

Press CALL SETUP .
Press Cell Info ( F6 ).
Press Cell Lists ( F4 ).
Press GSM Neighbours (PBCCH) ( F2 ).
Use the knob to scroll to and highlight the Neighbour Cell you wish to configure.
Press the knob. This displays the PBCCH Neighbour Cell menu (similar to the figure below) that contains the configurable parameters for that Neighbour Cell.
NOTE: You must enable the neighbour cell (set the State parameter to On), before you can access the other neighbour cell parameters.
Use the knob to highlight the desired parameter. Rotate the knob or use the number keys to set the value for the parameter.
NOTE: Since these parameters are sent on the PBCCH, these settings only apply the PBCCH state is On. See Packet Broadcast Control Channel (PBCCH) for more details.

Configuring General Measurement Reports Parameters

The GPIB commands to configure general measurement reports parameters in the (P)BCH BA Table are as follows:

Parameter	Command
Network Control Order	CALL[:CELL]:BCHannel:NCORder
Multiband Reporting	CALL[:CELL]:BCHannel:MREPorting
Network Control Reporting Period (Idle)	CALL[:CELL]:BCHannel:NCONtrol:RPERiod:IDLE
Network Control Reporting Period (Transfer)	CALL[:CELL]:BCHannel:NCONtrol:RPERiod:TRANsferring
Network Control Non-DRX Period	CALL[:CELL]:(PBCCH\|PBCChannel):NCONtrol:NDRX:PERiod
Reporting Rate	CALL[:CELL]:BCHannel:REPorting:RATE
Reporting Type	CALL[:CELL]:BCHannel:REPorting:TYPE
Serving Band Reporting	CALL[:CELL]:BCHannel:SBReporting
Scale Ord	CALL[:CELL]:BCHannel:SORD

The general measurement reports parameters can also be configured manually by doing the following steps:

Press CALL SETUP .
Press the left More key to advance the Control menu to (2 of 3 ).
Press Measurement Reports ( F6 ).
Press Configure ( F2 ).
Press General Meas Parameters ( F1 )
Use the knob to highlight the desired parameter. Rotate the knob or use the number keys to set the value for the parameter.