ICM GSM

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Idle Channel Measurement (ICM)
The main purpose of the Idle Channel Measurements is to generate statistics about the uplink interference on each idle channel (Traffic Channel (TCH) or Stand Alone Dedicated Control Channel (SDCCH)).
Within Idle Channel Measurements there are five interference bands defined, which together cover the signal strength measurement range. Generally, if an idle channel falls in interference band level 4 or 5, the interference is occurred.
Idle Channel Measurements ranks each idle channel to one of the five bands. The ranges of these bands determine the resolution of the measurements.
The interference bands can be changed on a per cell basis from their default ranges.
For example, in micro cells the tolerable interference level may be significantly higher than in rural areas, as the signal strength of the carrier in general will be higher.
Therefore, it can be beneficial to tighten the interference bands so that a better resolution is achieved at the interference levels that can be considered to be critical for each cell.