Consultancy Services: Overview

Commsquare has a rich and diverse experience in optimising the performance of mobile networks and services. Our experts will work with your engineers on highly specialised projects, quality audits and performance improvement projects.

Our role, as an independent consultancy house, is not to persuade you to change your infrastructure or tools, but to ensure that you are maximising your investment in your exiting network, the technology and resources. One of the principles of our business is to ensure that the knowledge we gather about your network is fully transferred to your team.

The Right Competences and Experience

Commsquare's advantage is that our consultants have expertise in working with the inner complexities of mobile networks and services. In particular, we can provide a combined view of:

• The Radio Access Network, GERAN and UTRAN: radio planning and optimisation; system engineering; protocols and signalling; etc.
• The Service Network: gateways; service platforms; content service gateway; billing; load balancers; performance enhancement proxies; etc.
• The Core Network: SGSN and GGSN, MSC, etc.
• Applications: MMS, WAP, streaming, SMS, web-browsing, machine-to-machine, bespoke workforce apps, TCP/IP-suite, etc.

Every consultant at Commsquare is an expert in his or her specialist field. Our strength lies in the variety of experience and knowledge that each consultant brings to the company. Our experience with many different technologies means we provide you with the right combination of skills to meet your requirements.

Our consultants have experience with equipment from all major infrastructure suppliers; industry standard data collection tools, such as drive test equipment and protocol analysers; and a wide range of post-processing tools.

Transfer of Knowledge

During the project, our consultants and your engineers work closely to ensure maximum knowledge transfer, which is central to the value added by Commsquare. Typically, the project is concluded with a workshop, where we detail the results, ensure there is a clear understanding of the process and the results obtained, and propose further follow-up activities for you to undertake.

Best Practice

Commsquare has carried out a large number of network quality audits to identify the ability of a network to meet its design criteria, or its conformance against 'best practice'. Such audits may be carried out for an operator who is faced with the acceptance of a major software release or a turnkey network from a vendor and seeks an independent agency to confirm performance and any outstanding design and implementation issues that may exist.

Independent

The large number of different network elements from different suppliers often necessitates an independent viewpoint, or advice. During projects and audits, Commsquare consultants will identify areas for improvement and clearly indicate whose responsibility these are:

• Operator: What can the operator do to improve performance?
• Vendor: What are the weaknesses and limitations in the vendor's implementation?
• Technology: What are existing technology limitations? What are possible workarounds or technology evolutionary solutions?

Industry Standard Tools

We are able to provide a complete range of optimisation services to operators using industry standard tools and solution-sets. Wireless networks rarely operate at optimum performance because of the large number of network elements and parameters that are involved and also due to the interactions that occur between these. Because of the complexity of the task at hand, optimisation requires the use of powerful and reliable tools. We have extensive experience of how to optimise the performance of networks and also of helping operators to establish the necessary skills and processes within their own organisation using industry standard tools.

Multi Vendor Environments

We specialise in providing an end-to-end view regardless of the complexity of your network. Our consultants have worked in networks with 3, 4, or 5 different vendors providing the infrastructure. Our ability to 'link' the components of a network, and track information flows, enables us to identify potential problem spots. Once identified, further "drill-down" analysis will highlight the root cause.

Measurable Results

In order to provide value for money and time, it is essential that there are measurable results to the project. We will work with your KPIs, and establish a base line, and then, if required, implement the recommendations made following the project.

A further investigation will then help you to quantify the results of the Project, and the gain to your business.

During improvement projects, we work according to the Six Sigma DMAIC model: Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control.

Unique Data Analysis Capabilities

Lastly, it is essential that operators have a 'valid' picture of what is happening in their network. Typically this is achieved by the collection and analyse of data from different interfaces on the network.

Within Commsquare, our experts have created a suite of in-house software tools to support our technology consultancy projects. Broadly speaking, the main benefits are an ability to collect and analysis gigabytes of data from a wide variety of interfaces; and process the data in a very short period of time.

UMTS Services

UMTS Performance Improvement Project

This project aims at identifying any weaknesses in the your UMTS implementation. Commsquare will identify and analyse the radio, system and technology causes for sub-optimal performance in your network, and propose corrective actions. We can also help you implement and validate the suggested solutions.

UMTS Performance Improvement Project

Comprehensive UMTS Optimisation

Commsquare can define or validate your planning and optimisation strategies, as well as your processes. The project focusses on radio and system planning and optimisation aspects in the radio access network (RAN) and related procedures.

Comprehensive UMTS Optimisation

3G-2G Inter-working: Handover and Reselections

Do you want to launch premium 3G services without guaranteed service continuity? Tuning 3G-2G inter-working is crucial to offer your 3G users a reliable service. How well you can perform this highly-complex task will to a large degree set the perceived quality in your 3G network. Commsquare consultants are skilled in the tuning of 3G-2G parameters in different network environments.

3G-2G Inter-working: Handover and Reselections

UMTS Nominal Planning & Propagation Model Calibration

At an early stage of your UMTS roll-out it is necessary to create a future-proof nominal plan based on realistic link budget assumptions and an accurate calibration of your propagation model(s). Commsquare has proven methodology in tuning calibration models, reviewing and defining link budgets and generating nominal site plans.

UMTS Nominal Planning & Propagation Model Calibration

UMTS Initial Radio Tuning and Parameter Planning

Is your radio design and cell plan the best it could be? CDMA-technology requires optimisation prior to loading the network. Perceived 3G coverage and user experience highly depend on good initial radio tuning of cell clusters, as well as good planning of radio and system parameters. Commsquare can perform both tasks and provide on-the-job coaching of your engineers at the same time.

UMTS Initial Radio Tuning and Parameter Planning

GPRS Services

GPRS/EDGE Performance Improvement

How close to system limits is your GPRS system operating? Does your network provide best-in-class performance? Performing a GPRS performance improvement project aims to identify the weaknesses and their root causes in your GPRS implementation: radio, system engineering, network elements, technology. The project deliverables are a prioritised list of suggested corrective actions, a workshop for your engineers to ensure true knowledge transfer and a presentation to management.

GPRS/EDGE Performance Improvement

GPRS Software Upgrade Validation

Commsquare can set up test programs to verify the claimed benefits of new BSS and SGSN software releases for you. We can also help define your engineering strategy for deploying and optimising new features. These projects often involve more complex types of set-up, such as multi-vendor BSS and SGSN or inter-SGSN performance optimisation.

GPRS Software Upgrade Validation

GPRS Gs-Interface Validation

A single bug in the Gs-implementation can have a huge impact on the end-user experience, in particular for speech and SMS services. Therefore, the introduction of the Gs-interface necessitates a thorough and systematic analysis of its performance, especially in multi-vendor MSC - SGSN networks. Commsquare has developed a procedure and supporting in-house software that will pin-point problems in the Gs-implementation.

GPRS Gs-Interface Validation
 

GSM Services

GSM Network Disaster Analysis

If the inter-working between or processes in different network elements are not well-understood or mis-managed in a highly-loaded GSM network, an entire network element such as a switch may go down. Commsquare have analysed this type of network disaster, defined corrective actions, put in place the missing procedures and provided the necessary training.

GSM Parameter and Feature Optimisation

Commsquare can define strategies for tesing and optimising default handover and power control parameters or RF features such as overlay/underlay, and hierarchical cell structures, etc. We can also review or write your engineering guidelines for deploying and optimising these features. Commsquare has comprehensive experience with all major infrastructure suppliers and can compare your settings with best-practice approaches.

GSM Frequency Planning Strategy

Quality in a GSM network highly depends on your frequency plan and the frequency planning strategy. Commsquare can define or review your frequency planning strategy in a hopping or non-hopping, a multi-band and/or multi-layer network. In addition, we can use your tools to implement a new frequency plan and provide on-the-job coaching for your engineers.

Application Services

Mobile Applications (WAP, MMS, i-mode, etc.) - Maximising the User Experience

How close to system limits is your GPRS system operating? Does your network provide best-in-class performance? Performing a GPRS performance improvement project aims to identify the weaknesses and their root causes in your GPRS implementation: radio, system engineering, network elements, technology. The project deliverables are a prioritised list of suggested corrective actions, a workshop for your engineers to ensure true knowledge transfer and a presentation to management.

Mobile Applications - Maximising the User Experience