[[interf_rep]]
== Interference reporting

According to 3GPP 48.058, section 6.1, the BTS shall periodically report the
interference levels on *idle* channels using the "Radio resource indication"
procedure.  This is done by sending the `RF RESource INDication` message,
which is specified in sections 8.6.1 and 9.3.21.

// TODO: BSC -> MSC reporting (3GPP TS 48.008, section 3.1.3)

=== Interference reporting parameters

The interference band is calculated by the BTS based on the `Interference level
Boundaries` and the `Averaging period`.  These parameters are sent by the BSC
over the A-bis/OML, and can be configured via the VTY interface.

Below are the default values for them:

----
network
 bts 0
  interference-meas avg-period 6 <1>
  interference-meas level-bounds -115 <2> -109 -103 -97 -91 -85 <3>
----
<1> Averaging period (`Intave`) in SACCH multiframe periods (480ms).
<2> Interference level boundary `0` (in dBm).
<3> Interference level boundary `X5` (in dBm).

The `Intave` parameter defines the averaging and reporting period.  With the
default value of 6 SACCH multiframe periods the BTS is instructed to report
averaged interference levels approximately every 3 seconds.

According to 3GPP TS 48.008, there exist five interference bands and six
`Interference level Boundaries` (`0`, `X1`, ... `X5`).  The BTS shall map the
averaged interference levels (initially in dBm) into these 5 bands.

----
-115 dBm   -109 dBm   -103 dBm    -97 dBm    -91 dBm    -85 dBm
    | <1>      | <2>      | <3>      | <4>      | <5>      | <6>
    +----------+----------+----------+----------+----------+
    |  band 1  |  band 2  |  band 3  |  band 4  |  band 5  |
    +----------+----------+----------+----------+----------+
----
<1> Interference level boundary `0` (outer).
<2> Interference level boundary `X1`.
<3> Interference level boundary `X2`.
<4> Interference level boundary `X3`.
<5> Interference level boundary `X4`.
<6> Interference level boundary `X5` (outer).

Unfortunately, it's not clearly defined by 3GPP how the BTS is supposed to map
dBm values outside of the outer boundaries (`0` and `X5`) to band values.  The
ip.access nanoBTS, for example, would map values -120 dBm and -75 dBm to bands
1 and 5, respectively.  osmo-bts replicates this behavior.

=== PDCH and dynamic timeslot handling

The BTS may optionally report interference levels for PDCH timeslots.  This
may be useful for the BSC to determine whether dynamic PDCH timeslots might
be better used for new circuit switched connections, or whether alternative
PDCH resources should be allocated for interference reasons.

NOTE: Currently osmo-bsc makes no use of PDCH interference reports, neither
they get forwarded to the BSC co-located PCU over the PCUIF.

For dynamic timeslots (`DYNAMIC/OSMOCOM` and `DYNAMIC/IPACCESS`), the
following expectations apply:

* when in TCH/F mode: no interference reports, because the only sub-channel is active;
* when in TCH/H mode: interference reports for *inactive* sub-channels only;
* when in SDCCH mode: interference reports for *inactive* sub-channels only;
* when in PDCH mode: optional interference reports;
** measurements can be performed during IDLE TDMA frames.