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HISTORY
Version 0.0.1 0.0.2 Date 21 Sep, 1998 24 Sep, 1998 Author MaSa JRy Comments The first draft Modifications: The whole document restructured, Chapter 2.3: PC and DTX gains, Chapter 7.2: RXQual distribution, Table 9: Ho Threshold Interference. Added: Figure 5-13, Figure 5-14, Figure 7-3, Figure 7-4, Figure 7-8, Table 10, Table 11, Table 12. Added: History , Chapter 2.1.6, Chapter 3.6, Chapter 3.9.1, Chapter 3.9.6, Chapter 3.9.7, Chapter 3.9.8, Chapter 5.1, Chapter 5.2, Chapter 5.6.2, Chapter 6.3, Chapter 7.1, Chapter 7.2, Chapter 7.9. The first accepted version
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CONTENTS
1. 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 2. INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................5 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF FREQUENCY HOPPING ...........................................................................5 FREQUENCY HOPPING MODES ........................................................................................................6 CELL ALLOCATION ........................................................................................................................8 MOBILE ALLOCATION ....................................................................................................................9 HOPPING SEQUENCE NUMBER ........................................................................................................9 MOBILE ALLOCATION INDEX OFFSET .............................................................................................9 MAIO STEP ................................................................................................................................. 10 THEORETICAL PERFORMANCE OF FREQUENCY HOPPING ......................................... 11
2.1 FREQUENCY DIVERSITY ............................................................................................................... 11 2.1.1 Coherence Bandwidth.......................................................................................................... 11 2.1.2 Effect of Interleaving ........................................................................................................... 13 2.1.3 Cyclic vs. Random Hopping Sequences ................................................................................ 14 2.1.4 Simulated Frequency Diversity Gains .................................................................................. 14 2.1.5 Effect in Cell Coverage Area ............................................................................................... 16 2.1.6 Effect of Mobile Speed ......................................................................................................... 16 2.2 INTERFERENCE DIVERSITY ........................................................................................................... 16 2.3 EFFECT OF POWER CONTROL AND DTX ........................................................................................ 18 3. NOKIAS SUPPORT FOR FREQUENCY HOPPING IN GSM ................................................ 20 3.1 BSS LEVEL IMPLEMENTATION...................................................................................................... 20 3.2 THE 2ND GENERATION BASE STATION .......................................................................................... 20 3.3 TALK FAMILY BASE STATION ....................................................................................................... 21 3.4 PRIMESITE ................................................................................................................................... 22 3.5 BASE STATION CONTROLLER........................................................................................................ 23 3.6 NPS/X ......................................................................................................................................... 23 3.7 MAXIMUM CONFIGURATIONS ....................................................................................................... 23 3.8 RADIO NETWORK FAULT MANAGEMENT ...................................................................................... 24 3.8.1 The 2nd Generation Base Station......................................................................................... 25 3.8.2 Talk Family Base Stations and PrimeSite ............................................................................ 25 3.9 RESTRICTIONS ON THE USAGE OF FH ............................................................................................ 25 3.9.1 DL Power Control with BB FH ............................................................................................ 25 3.9.2 Downlink DTX..................................................................................................................... 26 3.9.3 Extended Range Cell (DE34/DF34/DG35) .......................................................................... 26 3.9.4 MS Speed Detection............................................................................................................. 26 3.9.5 Half Rate ............................................................................................................................. 26 3.9.6 Frequency Sharing .............................................................................................................. 26 3.9.7 RTC Combiner .................................................................................................................... 26 3.9.8 NPS/X.................................................................................................................................. 26 4. 5. 5.1 SELECTING THE RIGHT HOPPING STRATEGY ................................................................. 27 FREQUENCY PLANNING OF FREQUENCY HOPPING NETWORKS ............................... 29 NETWORK PLANNING PROCEDURE ................................................................................................ 29
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Frequency Hopping Network Planning Guide 5.2 FREQUENCY PLANNING PROCEDURE WITH NPS/X ........................................................................ 30 5.3 FREQUENCY REUSE ON FREQUENCY HOPPING NETWORK .............................................................. 33 5.3.1 Effective Reuse .................................................................................................................... 34 5.3.2 Frequency Allocation Reuse (RF FH only) .......................................................................... 34 5.4 LOAD ON NETWORKS UTILISING FRACTIONAL LOADING (RF FH ONLY) ........................................ 35 5.4.1 Frequency Load................................................................................................................... 35 5.4.2 Hard Blocking Load ............................................................................................................ 36 5.4.3 Fractional Load................................................................................................................... 37 5.5 TRUNKING EFFECT AND EFFECTIVE REUSE ................................................................................... 38 5.6 FREQUENCY ALLOCATION STRATEGIES ........................................................................................ 40 5.6.1 BCCH Allocation................................................................................................................. 40 5.6.2 Selecting the Effective Reuse (BB FH) ................................................................................. 43 5.6.3 Selecting the Frequency Allocation Reuse and the Frequency Load (RF FH)....................... 44 5.6.4 Frequency Sharing by Using MAIO Management (RF FH only) .......................................... 46 5.6.5 Frequency Sharing in the Single MA-list Scheme (RF FH only) ........................................... 50 6. RADIO NETWORK PARAMETERS ......................................................................................... 52 6.1 PARAMETERS FOR MA-LIST DEFINITIONS IN BSC ......................................................................... 52 6.2 BTS LEVEL FH RELATED PARAMETERS ....................................................................................... 54 6.3 POWER CONTROL ......................................................................................................................... 56 6.4 HANDOVER .................................................................................................................................. 58 6.5 DTX ............................................................................................................................................ 59 6.5.1 Uplink DTX ......................................................................................................................... 59 6.5.2 Downlink DTX..................................................................................................................... 59 7. OPTIMISATION .......................................................................................................................... 60 7.1 TOOLS FOR NETWORK MONITORING ............................................................................................. 60 7.2 KPIS FOR HOPPING NETWORK ...................................................................................................... 60 7.3 RXQUAL IN FH NETWORKS........................................................................................................ 61 7.4 IDLE CHANNEL INTERFERENCE MEASUREMENT ............................................................................ 65 7.5 CYCLIC AND RANDOM HOPPING SEQUENCES ................................................................................ 66 7.6 INTRACELL HANDOVER ................................................................................................................ 69 7.7 POWER CONTROL ......................................................................................................................... 69 7.7.1 Downlink Power Control with BB Hopping ......................................................................... 70 7.8 HANDOVER CONTROL .................................................................................................................. 70 7.9 HSN PLANNING WITH RANDOM HOPPING ..................................................................................... 70 8. PLANNING CASES ..................................................................................................................... 71 8.1 PLANNING CASE 1: SINGLE MA-LIST ............................................................................................ 71 8.1.1 Frequency Planning ............................................................................................................ 71 8.1.2 MAIO Planning ................................................................................................................... 72 8.2 PLANNING CASE 2: RF FH WITH FRACTIONAL LOADING (FAR 3 5) ............................................ 75 8.2.1 Defining the Frequency Band and the Number of Frequencies Needed in Each Cell ............ 75 8.2.2 Frequency Allocation and Analysis...................................................................................... 77 8.3 PLANNING CASE 3: RF FH WITH FREQUENCY SHARING ................................................................. 78 8.3.1 Frequency Planning ............................................................................................................ 78 8.3.2 MAIO Planning ................................................................................................................... 79 8.3.3 Analysis ............................................................................................................................... 80
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1. INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this document is to explain the theory behind the frequency hopping (FH), how the frequency hopping is implemented in Nokias network elements, how to choose the right frequency hopping strategy, parameters related to FH, frequency allocation procedure, how to analyse the quality of the network and the optimisation process. Also some practical planning examples are presented. Frequency hopping is one of the standardised capacity enhancement features in GSM system. It offers a significant capacity gain without any costly infrastructure requirements. It is also compatible with all the existing GSM mobile phones, since the frequency hopping support has been required by the GSM specifications from the beginning. Frequency hopping can co-exist with most of the other capacity enhancement features and in many cases it significantly boosts the effect of those features. All these factors make frequency hopping a very tempting capacity enhancement solution.
Half-Rate Networks Dual-Band-/ Dual-ModeNetworks Antennas Down Ant. Downtilting Micro-Cell Pico-Cell / Indoor
Cell Size
IFH
Channel-Bandwidth
Spectrum
Reuse-Factor (C/I)
CAPACITY GAIN
Figure 1-1. Solutions to enhance network capacity.
1.1 General Description of Frequency Hopping Frequency hopping can be briefly defined as a sequential change of carrier frequency on the radio link between the mobile and the base station. In GSM, one carrier frequency is divided into eight time slots. Each time slot provides one physical channel, which can be assigned to one link between a mobile and a base station. The communication between the mobile and the base station occurs in bursts inside the assigned time slot. Each burst lasts about 577 s. When frequency hopping is used, the carrier frequency may be changed between each consecutive TDMA frame. This means that for each connection the change of the frequency may happen between every burst. This is called Slow Frequency Hopping (SFH), because more than one bit is transmitted using the same frequency. In Fast Frequency Hopping (FFH), the carrier frequency is allowed to change more than once during a bit duration, but this is not implemented in GSM.
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Frequency Hopping Network Planning Guide At first, the frequency hopping was used in military applications in order to improve the secrecy and to make the system more robust against jamming. In cellular network, the frequency hopping also provides some additional benefits such as frequency diversity and interference diversity. The basic principle of frequency hopping is presented in Figure 1-2.
Call is transmitted through several frequencies in order to average the interference (interference diversity) minimise the impact of fading (frequency diversity)
Frequency
F1 F2 F3
Time
Figure 1-2. Basic functionality of frequency hopping. 1.2 Frequency Hopping Modes The requirement that the BCCH TRX must transmit continuously in all the time slots sets strict limitations on how the frequency hopping can be realised in a cell. The current solutions are Baseband Frequency Hopping (BB FH) and Synthesised Frequency Hopping (RF FH). In the baseband frequency hopping the TRXs operate at fixed frequencies. Frequency hopping is generated by switching consecutive bursts in each time slot through different TRXs according to the assigned hopping sequence. The number of frequencies to hop over is determined by the number of TRXs. Because the first time slot of the BCCH TRX is not allowed to hop, it must be excluded from the hopping sequence. This leads to three different hopping groups. The first group doesnt hop and it includes only the BCCH time slot. The second group consists of the first time slots of the non-BCCH TRXs. The third group includes time slots one through seven from every TRX. This is illustrated in Figure 1-3.
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HSN2
f4
HSN1
Figure 1-3. Baseband hopping (BB FH). In the synthesised frequency hopping all the TRXs except the BCCH TRX change their frequency for every TDMA frame according to the hopping sequence. Thus the BCCH TRX doesnt hop. The number of frequencies to hop over is limited to 63, which is the maximum number of frequencies in the Mobile Allocation (MA) list covered in Section 1.4. Synthesised hopping is illustrated in Figure 1-4.
TRX-1
B = BCCH timeslot. TRX does not hop. Non-BCCH TRXs are hopping over the MA-list (f1,f2,f3,...,fn) attached to the cell.
. . . .
HSN1
The biggest limitation in baseband hopping is that the number of the hopping frequencies is the same as the number of TRXs. In synthesised hopping the number of the hopping frequencies can be anything between the number of hopping TRXs and 63. However in synthesised hopping the BCCH TRX is left completely out of the hopping sequence. The differences between BB and RF hopping are further illustrated in Figure 1-5.
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BB-FH
TRX-1
F1(+ BCCH) F2
Frequency
TRX-3
F3 RF
F1 F2 F3
Time
Dig.
MSC BSC TCSM
TRX-1
F1, F2, F3 BCCH RF BB-FH is feasible with large configurations RF-FH is viable with smaller configurations
RF-FH
TRX-2
Dig.
1.3 Cell Allocation The Cell Allocation (CA) is a list of all the frequencies allocated to a cell. The CA is transmitted regularly on the BCCH. Usually it is also included in the signaling messages that command the mobile to start using a frequency hopping logical channel. The cell allocation may be different for each cell. In GSM 900 the CA list may include all the 124 available frequencies [GSM 04.08]. However, the practical limit is 64, since the MA-list can only point to 64 frequencies that are included in the CA list as presented in the next section. The only signaling method allowed in the GSM 900 systems to transmit the CA list is the bit map 0 method presented in Table 1. Table 1. The signalling method for transmitting the CA list in GSM 900 system. CA signaling Lowest method ARFCN 0 bit map 0 Max. ARFCN range Max. number of frequencies in the CA list 124 124*
* Practical limit is 64, because the MA-list can only point to 64 frequencies.
In GSM 1800 and GSM 1900 systems the frequency band is so large that the CA list cannot include all the frequencies available in a system. In these systems the bit map 0 method is not available, but five other methods can be used [DCS 04.08] [J-STD 7]. Each of these methods has different limitations that limit the maximum frequency range and the maximum number of frequencies. These signaling methods together with their limitations are presented in Table 2. In Nokia implementation the variable bit map and the 512 range signaling methods are available. The CA list is always automatically generated and it includes the BCCH frequency and the frequencies that are defined for the MA-list. Version 1.0.0 Date Oct 23, 1998 Page 8/80
Table 2. Different signalling methods for transmitting the CA list in GSM 1800/1900. CA signaling method 1024 range 512 range 256 range 128 range variable bit map Lowest ARFCN 0 selectable selectable selectable selectable Max. ARFCN Max. number of range frequencies in the CA list 1024 16 (17 if ARFCN 0 is included in the CA list) 512 18 256 22 128 29 112 112*
* Practical limit is 64, because the MA-list can only point to 64 frequencies.
1.4 Mobile Allocation The MA is a list of hopping frequencies transmitted to a mobile every time it is assigned to a hopping physical channel. The MA-list is a subset of the CA list. The MA-list is automatically generated if the baseband hopping is used. If the network utilises the RF hopping, the MA-lists have to be generated for each cell by the network planner. The MA-list is able to point to 64 of the frequencies defined in the CA list. However, the BCCH frequency is also included in the CA list, so the practical maximum number of frequencies in the MA-list is 63. The frequencies in the MA-list are required to be in increasing order because of the type of signaling used to transfer the MA-list. 1.5 Hopping Sequence Number The Hopping Sequence Number (HSN) indicates which hopping sequence of the 64 available is selected. The hopping sequence determines the order in which the frequencies in the MA-list are to be used. The HSNs 1 - 63 are pseudo random sequences used in the random hopping while the HSN 0 is reserved for a sequential sequence used in the cyclic hopping. The hopping sequence algorithm takes HSN and FN as an input and the output of the hopping sequence generation is a Mobile Allocation Index (MAI) which is a number ranging from 0 to the number of frequencies in the MA-list subtracted by one. The HSN is a cell specific parameter. For the baseband hopping two HSNs exists. The zero time slots in a BB hopping cell use the HSN1 and the rest of the time slots follow the HSN2 as presented in Figure 1-3. All the time slots in RF hopping cell follow the HSN1 as presented in Figure 1-4. 1.6 Mobile Allocation Index Offset When there is more than one TRX in the BTS using the same MA-list the Mobile Allocation Index Offset (MAIO) is used to ensure that each TRX uses always an unique frequency. Each hopping TRX is allocated a different MAIO. MAIO is added to MAI when the frequency to be used is determined from the MA-list. Example of the hopping sequence generation is presented in Figure 1-6. MAIO and HSN are transmitted to a mobile together with the MA-list. In Nokia solution the MAIOoffset is a cell specific parameter defining the MAIOTRX for the first hopping TRX in a cell. The MAIOs for the other hopping TRXs are automatically allocated according to the MAIOstep -parameter introduced in the following section.
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1 1 + MAIOTRX
MAIOTRX 0 1 2
MAI(0...N-1) =
MA INDEX (MAI)
N-2
N-1
MA
f1
f2
f3
f4
fN-1
fN
Figure 1-6. Example of the hopping sequence generation. 1.7 MAIO Step The MAIOstep is a Nokia specific parameter used in the MAIO allocation to the TRXs. The MAIO for the first hopping TRXs in each cell is defined by the cell specific MAIOoffset parameter. MAIOs for the other hopping TRXs are assigned by adding the MAIOstep to the MAIO of the previous hopping TRX as presented in Equation (1.1).
(1.1)
An example of the MAIO assignment is presented in Figure 1-7. More examples can be found in Section 5.6.4.
Sector TRX # HSN MAIO offsetl MAIO MAIO step Non-hopping BCCH TRX 7 2 0 0 2 4 Non-hopping BCCH TRX 7 2 6 6 8 10 Non-hopping BCCH TRX 7 2 12 12 14 16
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
+MAIO step
MAIO step indicates the difference between the MAIOs of successive TRXs in a cell.
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d m = tE (t )dt
0
(2.1)
= t 2 E (t )dt d m ,
2 2 0
(2.2)
where: dm = mean excess delay time t = excess delay time E( ) = signal power density = delay spread
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E(t)
t Delay time
Figure 2-1. Typical delay envelope. The delay spread is thus defined as the standard deviation of the mean delay time. The measurements indicate that the delay spread is highly dependent on the environment. Typical values are presented in Table 3 [Lee89]. Table 3. Mean delay spreads
Type of environment Open area Suburban area Urban area Delay spread , s < 0.2 0.5 3
The coherence bandwidth is often defined as the frequency separation that yields an autocorrelation coefficient value of 0.5 or less [Pen95]. If the propagation environment is also time dependent, the time separation of signals has to be taken into account. The autocorrelation coefficient based on the frequency and time separation can be written as follows [Lee82]
r ( , ) =
2 J0 ( v ) , 1 + ( ) 2 2
( 2.3 )
where J0 ( ) = Bessel function of 0th order = 2/ , = signal wavelength v = velocity of the mobile = time separation = delay spread of the environment = 2*f, f = frequency spacing Adequate coherence bandwidth, where signal autocorrelation coefficient between bursts equals to 0.5, can be derived from Equation (2.3) assuming = 0 as
BWC ( = 0.5) =
1 . 2
( 2.4 )
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Frequency Hopping Network Planning Guide Equation (2.4) can be fully applied only in an ideal case, and it is therefore only a theoretical model. However, it gives an idea about how the coherence bandwidth differs in different types of environments. In Figure 2-2 the autocorrelation coefficient has been plotted for several different values of delay spread () assuming = 0. It can be seen that in the urban environment even the adjacent channel having separation of 200 kHz appears to be adequately uncorrelated and in the suburban environment the channel separation of 400 kHz is adequate. In open environments the channel separation should be at least 800 kHz corresponding to four GSM carriers.
1.0
0.9
0.8
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0.0 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500
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FLAT 3 FER = 3% TU3 FER = 3% FLAT3 RBER Cl 1b = 0,3% TU3 RBER Cl 1b = 0,3%
6 Eb/N0 (dB)
0 No hop 2 3 4 5 6 8 Infinite
Number of carriers
Figure 2-3. Frequency diversity gain of frequency hopping link against thermal noise compared to a non-hopping link.
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7 FLAT 3 FER = 3% FLAT3 RBER Cl 1b = 0,2% TU3 FER = 3% TU3 RBER Cl 1b = 0,2%
C/Ic (dB)
0 No hop 2 3 4 5 6 8 Infinite
Number of carriers
Figure 2-4. Frequency diversity gain of frequency hopping link against co-channel interference compared to a non-hopping link. The simulations show a very significant gain for FLAT3 channel compared to the TU3 channel. This happens because the TU3 channel includes several propagation paths having statistically independent fading conditions and it is thus providing path diversity that helps to achieve the performance targets even in the non-hopping case. The results of this simulation represent a best possible case, because the fading on the used frequency channels is assumed uncorrelated and the cyclic hopping mode is used. In real life, the frequencies are not necessarily uncorrelated as explained in Section 2.1.1 and the random hopping is used to maximise the interference diversity gain. Also, the presented gains are not achievable in uplink direction if a proper diversity reception (about 4 dB gain) method is already in use at base stations. According to the simulations, the performance of the SACCH / SDCCH and TCH for the cases of non hopping and ideal FH as a function of C/I (according to 05.05 test conditions and TU3) are presented in the following:
Table 4. The frequency diversity gain of the SACCH / SDCCH against TCH for the cases of non hopping and ideal FH as a function of C/I, with 2%FER.
No FH FH
In the non hopping mode, the SACCH is more robust than the TCH/FS, whereas in the FH mode they perform equal.
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No FH f1
Average C/I (dB)
30 25
FH f1 f2 f3 f1 f2 f1 f3
f2
f2 f3
20 15 10 5 0
f3
Ave
Call 1
Call 2
Call 3
Call 1
Call 2
Call 3
Figure 2-5. Interference averaging between users in a random frequency hopping network. In order to use the available frequency spectrum efficiently, the frequencies are reused in a network. The sufficient distance between the cells using the same frequency depends on the minimum C/I ratio tolerated by the system, the surrounding environment and the network topology. In practice the minimum reuse for a non-hopping macro cells is about 12. This means that the same frequency may be used in every 12th cell. Because the interference levels for each user vary considerably, a large interference margin has to be included to guarantee sufficient quality for each user in the network. When the random frequency hopping is employed the deviation of interference level is decreased as illustrated in Figure 2-5. This means that the interference margin used in the frequency planning can be reduced allowing the usage of tighter frequency reuse as illustrated in Figure 2-6.
Field strenght Serving carrier worst interference average strongest interference interference margin
average weakest interference no FH FH with improved quality FH with tighter frequency reuse
Figure 2-6. The gain of frequency hopping. How big is the interference diversity gain is a subject for a further study.
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C/I improvement
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Frequency Hopping Network Planning Guide DTX has some effect on the RXQual distribution. Normally the BER is averaged over the duration of one SACCH frame lasting 0.48 seconds and consisting of 104 TDMA frames. However, four of these TDMA frames are used for measurements, so that only 100 bursts are actually transmitted and received. When DTX is in use and there is no speech activity, only the bursts transmitting the silence descriptor frame (SID-frame) and the SACCH are transmitted. When there are periods of no speech activity, the BER is estimated over just the bursts carrying the silence descriptor frame and the SACCH. This includes only 12 bursts over which the BER is averaged (sub quality). This means that the BER gets averaged much more effectively when DTX is not used yielding to a quality distribution where the proportion of moderate quality values is enhanced. The sub quality distribution is wider than the full quality distribution, meaning that more good and bad quality samples are experienced. The differences between full and sub quality distributions are largest in frequency hopping networks utilising low frequency allocation reuse, since in that kind of networks the interference situation may be very different from burst to burst. A couple of severely interfered bursts may cause very bad quality for the sub quality sample when they happen to occur in the set of 12 bursts over which the sub quality is determined. The full quality sample of the same time period has probably only moderate quality deterioration because of the better averaging of BER over 100 bursts. The differences between full and sub quality distributions can be seen in Figure 2-8. In a real network utilising DTX the quality distribution is a mixture of full and sub quality samples. The proportions of full and sub samples depend on the speech activity factor also known as the DTX factor. The differences in the BER averaging processes cause significant differences in the RXQUAL distributions. These differences should be taken into account when the RXQUAL distributions of networks utilising and not utilising DTX are compared.
1/1 reuse 15 freqs
40.00 %
35.00 %
30.00 %
25.00 %
20.00 %
15.00 %
10.00 %
5.00 %
0.00 % Q0 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6 Q7
Figure 2-8. The distribution of normal RXQual and subRXQual values in a frequency hopping network. The limitations in the usage of DL PC and DTX can be seen in Chapters 3.9.1 and 3.9.2. Version 1.0.0 Date Oct 23, 1998 Page 19/80
BSS
BSC MS BTS
Abis interface A interface
NSS
MSC
BTS OMC
The frequency hopping connects the frame units and the carrier units as illustrated in Figure 3-2. The hopping function is realised by multiplexing baseband digital bit streams between the frame units and the carrier units. The multiplexing is done according to the hopping sequence, which is calculated in FQHU. The hopping unit is common for the BTS; all the sectors of a BTS use the same FQHU. The FQHU can be duplicated for reliability or because of diversity reception. If the diversity is not used, the other FQHU acts as a hot redundancy, which means that it is automatically taken into operation if the other FQHU fails. When diversity reception is used, the other FQHU is used for carrying the signal from the diversity receiver.
FU12
CU12
Figure 3-2. Functional units for frequency hopping in 2nd generation BTS. The FQHU is capable of supporting a maximum of 12 hopping groups at a time. This is sufficient as in three sector configuration the number of hopping groups used is nine (including the non-hopping zero time slots on the BCCH carriers). Both random and cyclic hopping modes are supported but not simultaneously, meaning that all the sectors under the same BTS must use either cyclic or random hopping sequences. With random hopping the hopping sequence numbers (1-63) can be selected freely for each hopping group. The timing of sectors is derived from a common clock unit, so the different sectors are frame- and bit-synchronised enabling the use of synchronous handovers. Consequently, the hopping sequences are synchronised as well. The combiners used in the 2nd generation BTSs limit the minimum channel spacing to 600 kHz!
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Frequency Hopping Network Planning Guide FHDSP is a digital signal processor dedicated to controlling the frequency hopping operation. In baseband hopping the FHDSP controls the information transfer between the EQDSP and the CHDSP realising the frequency hopping as illustrated in Figure 3-3. The FBUS is a two-way parallel bus dedicated for this purpose and dimensioned to support a maximum of 12 TRXs. FHDSP
Figure 3-3. Baseband hopping implementation in the Talk family base stations. With RF hopping the FBUS is also used, but the connections are always made one-to-one. For example, the EQDSP of TRX1 is always connected to the CHDSP of TRX1. The FBUS is then used for sending the RF channel number from the FHDSP to be used on the next time slot. Two synthesiser banks are used, while one is in use the other is being tuned to the frequency used in the next time slot. Delivery of channel numbers from FBUS to synthesisers is done by hardware. RF hopping and BB hopping cannot be used simultaneously. This means that all the sectors under the same Base Station Control Function (BCF) must use the same hopping method, if any. However, some sectors may be hopping while others remain non-hopping. The used combiner type may also restrict the possibility of utilising RF hopping. If Remote Tuned Combiners (RTC) are used, the RF hopping cannot be used. This is because the RTC is based on tuneable cavities, which cannot be retuned dynamically according to the used hopping sequence. The minimum channel spacing when RTC is used is 600 kHz. The other combiner option for the Talk family base stations is the wide band Antenna Filter Equipment (AFE). AFE supports both BB and RF hopping and there are no minimum channel spacing requirements.
3.4 PrimeSite
PrimeSite is a small highly integrated base station based on the Talk family technology. It contains only one TRX and the hardware is reduced, so that the FBUS have been removed and the functions of FHDSP have been integrated to the CHDSP.
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Frequency Hopping Network Planning Guide The RF hopping can be implemented by connecting two or more PrimeSites together as a multiTRX configuration. In this case the first PrimeSite provides the BCCH carrier and is thus in a nonhopping mode, whereas the other connected PrimeSites are hopping according to the hopping sequence. The BB hopping is also possible to arrange with the PrimeSites by using properties of RF hopping. This pseudo-BB hopping appears outwards similar to the pure BB-hopping. Pseudo-BB hopping is possible when two or more PrimeSites have been connected for a multi-TRX configuration. The PrimeSite is able to transmit the first time slot (RTSL 0) by using a different frequency than the other time slots. The pseudo-BB hopping is realised by transmitting the RTSL 0 on the BCCH TRX on one fixed frequency and the other time slots by using a frequency determined according to the hopping sequence. The other TRXs use the HSN1 for the RTSL 0s and HSN2 for the RTSLs 1-7 as described in Section 1.2. The number of frequencies in the pseudo-BB hopping equals the number of connected PrimeSites for RTSLs 1-7 and one less for the RTSL 0. A dummy signal is sent on the BCCH frequency in the non-active TCH time slots.
3.6 NPS/X
NPS/X is an integrated software package for the cellular network planning developed by Nokia. See more details of the FH support and the planning and frequency allocation process in Chapters 5.1 and 5.2.
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1 1 1 2
RTC (BB FH) 10 TRXs 1 1 4+4+4 TRXs 1 1 RTC (BB FH) AFE (BB & RF FH) 12 TRXs 1 1 12 TRXs 1 3 12+12+12 TRXs 2 1 12+12+12 TRXs 3 3 Standard (BB & RF FH) sectorised n*y TRXs 1) 1 1 1) The amount of sectors is not limited; even each TRX can be a sector of its own. Max. 16 TRXs per BCF are allowed. They can be freely divided into sectors of different sizes. Only rule is that n*y must be less than or equal to 16.
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3.9.8 NPS/X NPS/X 3.2 and the older versions dont support frequency allocation for a fractional loaded network (= more frequencies than TRXs). NPS/X 3.2 can estimate the quality of the fractional loaded frequency plan. NPS/X 3.3 can make the channel allocation for a fractional loaded network.
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BTS generation 3rd gen. only Combiner type / Amount of antennas AFE
2nd gen. BB FH used on the cells having more than 2 TRXs max 6 TRX / cell with RTC or 12 TRX with AFE No
RTC
3 TRX/cell or more
RF FH with frequency allocation reuse 1 (=single MA list scheme) max 12 TRX / site! (under the same BCF)
<=12 TRXs/site configurations Yes No Yes RF FH with frequency sharing (no fractional loading) max 12 TRX / site! (under the same BCF)
Planning tool supports FH and fractional loading Yes RF FH with frequency allocation reuse 3 ~ 5 max 12 TRX / cell
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Large TRX configurations make baseband hopping feasible. In order to achieve a proper frequency hopping gain, a minimum of three TRXs in a cell should be used with the baseband hopping [Tun97]. The benefit of the baseband hopping is that the TCHs located on the BCCH TRX are included in the frequency hopping sequence. The BCCH frequencies have a high frequency reuse in order to guarantee a successful signaling and a fast decoding of the base station identification code. It is beneficial to have this interference free BCCH frequency included in the hopping sequence, because it is likely to improve the quality of reception on the hopping logical channels.
In frequency planning point of view, the planning of a baseband hopping network differs less than the planning of a RF hopping network from the planning of a conventional non-hopping network. The main difference is that the fractional loading is not possible when the baseband hopping is used. Because of this, it is possible to use the conventional frequency planning tools when planning the baseband hopping network. However, because of the interference and frequency diversity gains, lower C/I ratios and therefore smaller frequency reuse distances can be allowed in the baseband hopping network compared to a non-hopping network.
NPS/X versions before version 3.2 dont include any frequency hopping specific support. New versions called NPS/X 3.2 and 3.3 have some new functionalities to make the frequency planning and the quality analysis an easier task, see Chapter 5.2.
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Frequency Hopping Network Planning Guide Figure 5-1. Network planning and monitoring process.
Capacity CapacityPlanning Planning NPSX NPSX Netdim Netdim NDW NDW NMS/2000 NMS/2000 Monitoring Monitoring NDW NDW
For the planning of baseband hopping networks the traditional frequency allocation and interference analysis tools are also sufficient. Due to the frequency diversity and interference diversity gains the hopping allows somewhat worse C/I ratios compared to a non-hopping network. This can be taken into account when setting parameters for the frequency allocation tool leading to a tighter frequency plan. When analysing the resulting plan, higher interference levels can be tolerated. Frequency hopping specific planning tool support is needed when RF hopping with fractional loading is used. Fractional loading means that a cell is allocated with more frequencies than there are TRXs.
The quality prediction tool in NPS/X 3.2 estimates the downlink RXQUAL for every pixel in the work area. These values can be displayed in the digital map using different colours for particular RXQUAL levels. From the map overlay the areas potentially suffering from interference can be easily identified. To make the comparison between different plans easier, a statistics window is also implemented. This window presents the distribution of predicted RXQUAL values in the work area.
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Frequency Hopping Network Planning Guide The prediction is based on the C/I ratio that is calculated by using the field strengths of the serving carrier and the interfering carriers. The corresponding Bit Error Ratio (BER) is determined from the calculated C/I ratio. The calculations take the DTX factor and the load factor into account where appropriate. When the BER for the pixel is calculated it is converted to RXQUAL value according to the mapping specified in GSM specifications [GSM 05.08]. The input parameters needed for the calculation are the frequencies allocated for the cells, the DTX factor and the blocking probability for each cell. Both base band and RF hopping modes are supported. Note, that the frequency allocation for a fractional loaded network is not supported in NPS/X 3.2.
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NPS/X 3.3 will include a new frequency allocation tool, which is capable of allocating frequencies utilising low frequency reuse and fractional loading. Also the MAIO Management can be taken into a use. The MA list lengths can be defined manually in cell basis, or NPS/X can define them automatically by a certain criteria. After the MA list length has been chosen the allocation algorithm tries to produce an optimal allocation. In high interfered areas longer MA list lengths can be tried to average the interference.
Also the network simulator of NPS/X 3.3 includes a support for FH.
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Capacity Capacity estimation, estimation, cell cellbasis basis Spectrum Spectrum and andHW HW constraints constraints
Frequency Frequency requirements requirements Planning Planning concept concept decision decision
NetDim / NPS/X
Estimation Estimationof of needed needednumber number of offrequencies frequencies
NPS/X 3.3
Coverage Coveragedata data Interference Interference Calibration CalibrationTool Tool Neighbour Neighbourcell cell measurements measurementswith with GPA GPAtool tool Automatic Automaticinterferer interferer generation generationfor forIUO IUO Planning Planningof ofother other parameters parameters
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( 5.1 )
where: Reff = effective reuse NfreqsTOT = total number of used frequencies NTRXave = average number of TRXs in a cell
Since the effective reuse takes the actual number of frequencies together with the number of TRXs into account, it can be also used as a capacity index, provided that the TRXs can be loaded at least to the hard blocking limit as presented in Section 5.4.2. The smaller the effective reuse, the higher the capacity in terms of the number of TCHs provided by one frequency in the network.
FAR =
N freqsTOT N freqs / MA
( 5.2 )
where:
FAR = frequency allocation reuse NfreqsTOT = total number of used frequencies Nfreqs/MA = average number of frequencies in MA-lists
If the network doesnt utilise fractional loading, the frequency allocation reuse is the same as the effective reuse. Example of the reuse calculations for the fractionally loaded RF hopping network is presented in Figure 5-5.
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Example:
Total # of freqs = 30
3 1 3 1 2 2 3 1 2
1/3
( 5.3 )
where: Lfreq = frequency load LHW = the busy hour average hard blocking load Lfrac = fractional load
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Frequency Hopping Network Planning Guide Each frequency allocation reuse corresponds to a different C/I at the cell border, thus requiring a different maximum allowed frequency load in order to keep the collision probability low enough.
( 5.4 )
( 5.5 )
where: LHW = hard blocking load ThopTCH = average number of used TCHs in the busy hour NhopTCH = total number of TCHs in the hopping TRXs
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75 %
25 %
SDCCH SDCCH
Active slots
Empty slots
Figure 5-6. Hard blocking load of 75% on RF hopping TRXs. The average busy hour TCH load, as defined in Equation (5.5), can be used as the maximum TCH occupancy. In reality, there are times when the TCH occupancy is over the busy hour average LHW. However this happens randomly and since the LHW limit is an average there is about an equal time in which the load is less than the LHW. If the offered traffic is Poisson distributed, the frequency allocation can be quite safely dimensioned by using the LHW as the maximum TCH occupancy. In an environment where the offered traffic is known not to be randomly generated, a higher figure should be used.
L frac =
( 5.6 )
where:
Lfrac = fractional load NTRX = number of TRXs in a cell Nfreqs/cell = number of frequencies allocated to a cell (MA-list length)
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BCCH
f1 f2, f3, f4, f5, f6 f2, f3, f4, f5, f6 f2, f3, f4, f5, f6
Active slots
Empty slots
Figure 5-7. Fractional load of 0.6. In a soft blocking limited network the fractional load is used to tune the frequency load down to a desired level, which is determined by the used frequency allocation reuse.
Reff =
N freqsTOT N TRX
( 5.7 )
Equation (5.7) shows the fixed relation between the effective and frequency allocation reuses and the fractional load. The required increase in the effective reuse in a soft blocking limited network as the trunking efficiency increases is presented in Figure 5-9. It should be noted that although the effective reuse increases, the number of frequencies required to handle a certain amount of traffic stays constant. The effective reuse doesnt take the trunking efficiency into account.
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90.0 %
70.0 %
60.0 % Hard blocking prob. 5% 50.0 % Hard blocking prob. 2% Hard blocking prob. 1% 40.0 %
30.0 %
20.0 %
10.0 %
0.0 % 1 4 7 10 13 16 19 22 25 28 31 34 37 40 43 46 49 52 55 58 61 64 67 70 73 76 79 82 85 88 91 94 97 100 12
Number of TCH's
Figure 5-8. Average busy hour TCH occupancy at the hard blocking limit.
12
11
10
effective reuse
7 FAR 1 (2% Blocking, Freq.load 7,5% (trialed)) FAR 1 (1% Blocking, Freq.load 7,5% (trialed)) FAR 3.65 (2% Blocking, Freq.load 30% (trialed)) FAR 3.65 (1% Blocking, Freq.load 30% (trialed)) FAR 3 (2% Blocking, Freq.load 30% (simulated)) FAR 3 (1% Blocking, Freq.load 30% (simulated))
5 2 3 4 5 6 7 TRX's/cell 8 9 10 11
Figure 5-9. Increase of required effective reuse on a soft blocking limited network due to the better trunking efficiency on bigger cell configurations.
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Frequency Hopping Network Planning Guide The downlink performance on the TCH TRXs as a function of served traffic is presented in Figure 5-11. For a downlink direction the dedicated bands strategy is superior. The improvement is on the order of 1-5 dB depending on the traffic load. The degradation of the C/I ratio is quite slow as the traffic load increases in common bands case. This indicates that the BCCH transmitters are the main interference source. It was also shown in additional simulations that the performance gain from the power control and the DTX in the common band systems were smaller than in corresponding dedicated band systems. This happens, because the BCCH frequencies, which are the dominating interference source, cannot utilise the PC or the DTX. The downlink performance on the BCCH TRXs as a function of served traffic is presented in Figure 5-12. The downlink performance on the BCCH TRXs is important, because the call initialisation always starts on the BCCH frequency and the BCCH frequencies have to be clean enough to guarantee successful decoding of the cell identification for handover purposes. The common band strategy performs clearly better when the load is small. As the load increases on the interfering TCH TRXs, the performance degrades rapidly. The dedicated bands strategy provides a very stable behavior as the traffic load doesnt have any effect on the performance. In the dedicated band case the C/I of the BCCH frequencies in the downlink direction is exclusively determined by the used frequency reuse on the BCCH TRXs. Because of the stable and easily predictable behavior on the BCCH frequencies in the downlink direction, the dedicated bands strategy is preferable.
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Figure 5-12. DL C/I at the 10 % level on the BCCH frequency. Still one, not common used method is to use separate but not continuous band for the BCCH frequencies. For example, every 4th frequency is allocated for BCCH. Thus, adjacent channel interference is avoided between BCCH frequencies. On the other hand, TCH band causes adjacent channel interference for the BCCH frequencies and vice versa, but the interference might not be too significant.
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BCCH
BCCH
TCH
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MIN Effective Reuses with different TRX configurations in BB FH case 20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 3 6 9 12 15 18 Original reuse
New reuse
5.6.3 Selecting the Frequency Allocation Reuse and the Frequency Load (RF FH)
If the RF hopping is used, the frequency allocation reuse has a great impact on the required fractional load and thus, on the number of frequencies allocated to each cell. With BB hopping, the fractional loading cannot be utilised and the number of hopping frequencies is always the same as the number of TRXs in a cell, except for TCHs on the zero time slots, which always have one hopping frequency less than the other TCHs. Thus, in a BB hopping network the frequency allocation reuse always equals the effective reuse in the network. Since frequency and interference diversity gains significantly depend on the number of hopping frequencies, it is important to ensure that each cell has enough hopping frequencies. If the cell TRX configurations are small, RF hopping with fractional loading makes it possible to still provide sufficient number of hopping frequencies to the cells even with small TRX configurations. Fractional loading reduces the average channel utilisation in the network, thus reducing the probability that interference will occur, making it possible to significantly decrease the frequency reuse distance. The average channel utilisation is also known as frequency load as explained in Section 5.4.1. The relationship between the frequency allocation reuse distance and the corresponding maximum frequency load is illustrated in Figure 5-15.
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1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 1 2
1 2 3 1 2 3 1
1 2 3 1
3 1 2
4 3 1 3 2 4 2 1 3 1
2 4 2 4
7 2
1 5 7
FAR
8%
30%
40?%
70?%
Figure 5-15. Relationship between frequency allocation reuse and maximum allowed frequency load in the network. A good approach is first to determine the number of frequencies to hop over in each cell. To maximise the frequency and interference diversity gains, it is recommended to use at least four frequencies in MA-lists. This is likely to require fractional loading, especially if the TRX configurations in the cells are small. Fractional loading means that the frequencies are not continuously used, which allows the reuse of the same frequency closer. Thus, as the fractional load decreases, the frequency allocation reuse must be tightened to maintain the same effective reuse. The relation between the effective reuse, fractional load and the frequency allocation reuse is presented in Equation (5.3). However, it is beneficial to avoid big differences in the frequency loads caused by each cell. If the frequency load across the network is kept relatively constant then the interference will be distributed more evenly in the network. In practice, the network layout and the surrounding environment have a significant effect on the highest possible frequency load. Highly irregular network layout makes it very difficult to find a good frequency allocation that minimises interference in all parts of the network. In that case, it might be necessary to restrict the maximum frequency load in order to keep interference acceptable. Generally, in dense propagation environments such as microcells, the path loss slope is steeper. This naturally reduces interference as the distant interferers are attenuated more. Thus, in these cases somewhat higher frequency load may be possible. This doesnt necessarily apply to frequency allocation reuse of 1, since in that case the worst interferers are the closest neighbors. On the cell border the interference coming from the neighboring cell attenuates just as much as the signal from the serving cell regardless of the path loss slope. Because of this, it is not possible to obtain significant gain from increased path loss slope and it might not be possible to increase the frequency load. The recommended approach is to start with a low frequency load and then increase it gradually until the quality threshold is reached.
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Frequency Hopping Network Planning Guide Important is also to ensure that the effective reuse is not too low to ensure a good quality. The following Table contains an example of choosing the right F.A. reuse scheme to give the best capacity gain. As can be seen, the best capacity is got with the F.A. reuses 2-5. The minimum effective reuse and maximum frequency load values are still under further consideration. They might be too optimistic for some environments!
Example: 21 frequencies F.A. reuse MA list length Min. Eff. reuse 1 21.0 8.5 2 10.5 7.5 3 7.0 7 4 5.3 6.5 5 4.2 7.5 6 3.5 8.5 7 3.0 10.5 8 2.6 12 9 2.3 13
Max. Freq. load 8% 20% 30% 40% 50% 55% 60% 65% 70%
Traffic (Erl) 13.4 16.8 16.8 16.8 16.8 15.4 14.4 13.7 13.1
TCHs 21 25 25 25 25 23 22 21 20
Table 6. Limits for the effective reuse and the frequency load values with different frequency allocation reuses.
9 9
3
3
3 1 2
3 3
6
2
TDMA frame n
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Frequency Hopping Network Planning Guide Figure 5-16. The principle of frequency sharing. However, there are some requirements that have to be fulfilled. First of all, the basic requirement is that the cells at one site have to be controlled by the same BCF, so that they are frame synchronised. With the current Nokia equipment this requirement limits the maximum TRX configuration to 12 TRXs per site.
The number of frequencies (MA-list length) have to be at least equal (equal if fractional loading is not to be used) to the total number of TRXs in the site. If the MAIOstep parameter is more than one, even more frequencies are needed. The requirement can be formulated as follows
(5.8)
In Equation (5.8) it is assumed that the MAIO separation between the cells is equal to the used MAIOstep. In that case, the MAIOoffset parameters are allocated as follows
MAIOcelln = MAIOstep N TRX / celli ,
i =1 n 1
(5.9)
where: MAIOoffset n = MAIOoffset for the n th cell in a site MAIOstep = the value of the MAIOstep parameter NTRX/cell i = number of TRXs in i th cell If the number of frequencies is less than min. Nfreqs, then co- or adjacent channel interference might occur. Example of this is presented in Figure 5-18. In a normal frequency sharing arrangement, the goal is to minimise the number of frequencies needed per site, so that the frequency allocation reuse distance can be kept high. For this reason, the MAIOstep should be normally 1. This should be taken into account in the frequency planning process, because an intracell adjacent channel interference should not be allowed. Since the frequencies have to be in the increasing order in the MA-list, the list may not contain adjacent channels if the MAIOstep is 1. The cells at one site have to use the same HSN. Otherwise, co-channel interference between the cells will occur. However, the HSNs should be different in interfering sites in order to ensure the interference diversity. An example of a correct parameter assignment for frequency sharing is illustrated in Figure 5-17.
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6 1
7 2
8 0
9 2
10 3
11 4
12 5
13 1
14 5
15 2
16 4
TRX 1 2 3 1 2 1 2 3 4
TDMA-FRAMES -> 0 1 2 bcch frequency 1... 4 20 4 8 1 8 bcch frequency 2 ... 10 4 10 bcch frequency 3 ... 15 8 15 20 10 20 1 15 1
3 4 8 10 15 20 1
4 8 10 15 20 1 4
5 10 15 20 1 4 8
6 4 8 10 15 20 1
7 8 10 15 20 1 4
8 1 4 8 10 15 20
9 8 10 15 20 1 4
10 10 15 20 1 4 8
11 15 20 1 4 8 10
12 20 1 4 8 10 15
13 4 8 10 15 20 1
14 20 1 4 8 10 15
15 8 10 15 20 1 4
16 15 20 1 4 8 10
5 3
6 3
7 4
8 0
9 2
10 3
11 0
12 1
13 1
14 1
15 4
16 4
TRX 1 2 3 1 2 1 2 3 4
TDMA-FRAMES -> 0 1 2 bcch frequency 1... 4 4 4 8 8 8 bcch frequency 2 ... 10 10 10 bcch frequency 3 ... 15 15 15 1 1 1 4 4 4
3 4 8 10 15 1 4
4 8 10 15 1 4 8
5 10 15 1 4 8 10
6 10 15 1 4 8 10
7 15 1 4 8 10 15
8 1 4 8 10 15 1
9 8 10 15 1 4 8
10 10 15 1 4 8 10
11 1 4 8 10 15 1
12 4 8 10 15 1 4
13 4 8 10 15 1 4
14 4 8 10 15 1 4
15 15 1 4 8 10 15
16 15 1 4 8 10 15
Figure 5-18. Example of frequency sharing when the site is allocated with too few frequencies and co-channel interference between sectors exists. Since the cells on the same site share the same frequencies, all the hopping frequencies are transmitted in every cell on the same site. This has to be taken into account when the frequency planning is done. This can be modeled in NPS/X 3.2 or older by utilising power dividers so that the site has only one cell having as many TRXs as there are non-BCCH TRXs in all the sectors of the actual site. The cell is distributed to multiple antennas forming multiple sectors by using power dividers. Special care has to be taken to compensate the losses of power divider. In frequency allocation phase one common interference probability is determined for the entire site and the site is then allocated one common set of frequencies that form the MA-list. To avoid interference, the minimum channel separation has to be at least 1. Since each cell has its own BCCH, the BCCH allocation has to be done separately without the power divider arrangement. Simulation results of the performance of a network utilising frequency sharing have been presented in [Nie98]. In this simulation, the network utilising frequency sharing at a nominal reuse of 3/9 was compared to the RF hopping network using 1/3 frequency allocation reuse at 33 % frequency load. The reuse on the BCCH carriers was 4/12 in both cases. The served traffic was also the same in both cases. The simulated network consisted of 48 3-sectorised sites. Power control was utilised in DL direction, but the DTX was not activated. Downlink FER statistics reported by each mobile every 0.48 seconds from the non-BCCH carriers were collected for analysis. Mobile speeds of 3 km/h and 50 km/h were simulated.
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Frequency Hopping Network Planning Guide The resulting cumulative density functions of DL FER have been presented in Figure 5-19 and Figure 5-20. In both mobile speeds, the performance of the two simulated arrangements is very similar until the FER gets close to 10 %. For the mobile speed of 3 km/h the percentage of FER samples indicating FER above 15 % is 2 % for the frequency sharing case and 3 % for the 1/3 reuse case. For the mobile speed of 50 km/h, the corresponding values are about 1.1 % and 1.5%. The difference in favor of frequency sharing is clear, although not dramatic. However, as higher FER percentages are studied, the difference gets bigger.
The effect of the mobile speed on the FER distribution can be clearly seen. As the speed increases to 50 km/h, the share of both the low FER percentages and the high FER percentages increases. The higher mobile speed provides better performance against fast fading. This increases the proportion of low FER. The higher speed also means that the changes caused by slow fading are faster and the ability of power control to compensate the fluctuations of signal strength is reduced. This along with the relatively slow handover algorithm causes the proportion of high FER to increase at the higher mobile speeds. However, the mobile speed doesnt have significant effect on the relative performance of the network utilising frequency sharing.
It may be concluded according to this simulation that the frequency sharing provides better quality compared to the 1/3 reuse case.
1 BCCH reuse 4/12, TCH reuse 1/3 BCCH reuse = 4/12, TCH reuse = 3/9 by using MAIO-management
0.1
CDF 0.01 0.001 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 FER 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
BCCH reuse 4/12, TCH reuse 1/3 BCCH reuse = 4/12, TCH reuse = 3/9 by using MAIO-management
0.1
CDF 0.01 0.001 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 FER 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
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min N freqs / site = ( N TRX / site N cell / site ) MAIOstep + N cell / site S ,
where: min Nfreqs/site = minimum number of frequencies needed for a site NTRX/site = total number of TRXs on a site MAIOstep = the value of the MAIOstep parameter Ncell/site = total number of cells in the site S = MAIO separation between cells
(5.10)
A good approach is to set the MAIOstep as high as possible. However, it should be checked that the requirement presented in Equation (5.10) is still fulfilled. An example of a good MAIO plan is presented in Figure 5-21. In this example, the MAIO separation between cells is 2 and the MAIOstep is set to its maximum value, which is 3 in this case. If a MAIOstep of 4 would have been used instead, constant adjacent channel interference would have occurred between the second TRX of sector one and the fourth TRX of sector three as shown in Figure 5-22.
INDEX NO: MA_LIST1: TDMA MAI 0 1 0 0 1 2 1 2 2 3 2 6 3 4 3 2 4 5 4 2 5 6 5 11 6 7 6 4 7 8 7 0 8 9 8 8 9 10 9 9 10 11 10 3 11 12 11 12 12 13 12 8 13 14 13 8 14 15 14 10 15 16
15 6
16 8
TRX 1 2 3 1 2 1 2 3 4
TDMA-FRAMES -> 0 1 2 bcch frequency 1... 1 3 7 4 6 10 bcch frequency 2 ... 6 8 12 bcch frequency 3 ... 8 10 14 11 13 2 14 1 5
3 3 6 8 10 13 1
4 3 6 8 10 13 1
5 12 15 2 4 7 10
6 5 8 10 12 15 3
7 1 4 6 8 11 14
8 9 12 14 1 4 7
9 10 13 15 2 5 8
10 4 7 9 11 14 2
11 13 1 3 5 8 11
12 9 12 14 1 4 7
13 9 12 14 1 4 7
14 11 14 1 3 6 9
15 7 10 12 14 2 5
16 9 12 14 1 4 7
Figure 5-21. Example of frequency sharing when MA-list consists of consecutive frequencies and MAIOstep is set to 3.
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15 6
16 8
TRX 1 2 3 1 2 1 2 3 4
TDMA-FRAMES -> 0 1 2 bcch frequency 1... 1 3 7 5 7 11 bcch frequency 2 ... 7 9 13 bcch frequency 3 ... 9 11 15 13 15 4 2 4 8
3 3 7 9 11 15 4
4 3 7 9 11 15 4
5 12 1 3 5 9 13
6 5 9 11 13 2 6
7 1 5 7 9 13 2
8 9 13 15 2 6 10
9 10 14 1 3 7 11
10 4 8 10 12 1 5
11 13 2 4 6 10 14
12 9 13 15 2 6 10
13 9 13 15 2 6 10
14 11 15 2 4 8 12
15 7 11 13 15 4 8
16 9 13 15 2 6 10
Figure 5-22. Example of too few frequencies compared to the size of the MAIOstep. Often, it is possible to achieve higher intracell frequency separations, by using bigger MAIOstep and by not defining the MAIOoffset parameters in increasing order. If this approach is used, the Equations (7.8) - (7.10) are not valid anymore. Instead, each configuration should be evaluated case by case. An example of this approach is presented in Figure 5-23. In this example, the used MAIOstep is 6 and the required MAIO separation between cells is 2. Compared to the example in Figure 5-21, a bigger MAIOstep can now be used while the number of required frequencies is still the same.
INDEX NO: MA_LIST1: TDMA MAI 0 1 0 0 1 2 1 2 2 3 2 6 3 4 3 2 4 5 4 2 5 6 5 11 6 7 6 4 7 8 7 0 8 9 8 8 9 10 9 9 10 11 10 3 11 12 11 12 12 13 12 8 13 14 13 8 14 15 14 10 15 16
15 6
16 8
TRX 1 2 3 1 2 1 2 3 4
TDMA-FRAMES -> 0 1 2 bcch frequency 1... 3 5 9 9 11 15 bcch frequency 2 ... 5 7 11 bcch frequency 3 ... 1 3 7 7 9 13 13 15 4
3 5 11 7 3 9 15
4 5 11 7 3 9 15
5 14 5 1 12 3 9
6 7 13 9 5 11 2
7 3 9 5 1 7 13
8 11 2 13 9 15 6
9 12 3 14 10 1 7
10 6 12 8 4 10 1
11 15 6 2 13 4 10
12 11 2 13 9 15 6
13 11 2 13 9 15 6
14 13 4 15 11 2 8
15 9 15 11 7 13 4
16 11 2 13 9 15 6
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Parameter
Frequency Identification of MA-list Type of MA-list BTS is hopping (HOP) Hopping sequence number 1 (HSN1) Hopping sequence number 2 (HSN2) MAIO offset
Description
MA-list. Used with RF FH BTS, max. 63 frequencies per list. BCCH frequency must not be included in the list. MA-list identification number in a BSC (1 - 128). Frequency band of the MA-list (GSM900, GSM1800, GSM1900). The hopping mode of the BTS (BB, RF or N). Hopping sequence number of the hopping group 1. In BB FH for the 0 time slots except the BCCH time slot and in RF FH all the time slots of hopping TRXs (0 - 63). Hopping sequence number of the hopping group 2. For the time slots 1-7. BB FH only (0 - 63). Defines the MAIO for the first TRX in the cell (0 - 62). Allows the sharing of the same MA-list between multiple sectors of one BTS without intrasite collisions. Sectors must be under the same BCF. Relevant in RF FH only. Defines the step size that is used when the MAIO is calculated for the TRXs in the cell. Relevant in RF FH only. (Available in BSS7) MA-list id number identifying the MA-list that is allocated to that BTS. Relevant in RF FH only. Assign a frequency to a TRX (GSM900 1 - 124, 975 - 1023; GSM1800 512 - 885; GSM1900 313 - 810)
BTS BTS
To define a BB-hopping cell the following parameters have to be set: BTS hopping mode (HOP) = BB Hopping sequence number 1 (HSN1) = 0..63 (0 for cyclic hopping and 1..63 for random sequences) Hopping sequence number 2 (HSN2) = 0..63 (0 for cyclic hopping and 1..63 for random sequences) (in most cases HSN1 may equal HSN2) Fixed frequencies for each TRX (FREQ) To define a RF-hopping cell the following parameters have to be set: MA-list, MA-list ID and MA-list type must be defined in BSC (max. 63 frequencies) BTS hopping mode (HOP) = RF Hopping sequence number 1 (HSN1) = 0..63 (0 for cyclic hopping and 1..63 for random sequences) MAIO offset = 0..62 MAIO step = 0..62 (available in BSS7) MA-list ID used by the BTS = 0..128 Examples of MAIO offset and MAIO step definitions are presented in Chapter 8.
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Object class: GSM reference: Option: Release: Modification: Restriction: MML name: MML range:
MML default: MML command: NMS GUI name: NMS GUI range:
NMS GUI dialog name: NMS DB name: NMS DB range: NMS DB mapping: MA-list ID Description: Object class: GSM reference: Option: Release: Modification: Restriction: MML name: MML range: MML default: MML command: NMS GUI name: NMS GUI range: NMS GUI dialog name: NMS DB name: NMS DB range: NMS DB mapping: Type of MA-list Description: Object class: GSM reference: Option: Release: Modification: Restriction: MML name: MML range: MML default: MML command: NMS GUI name: NMS GUI range: NMS GUI dialog name: NMS DB name: NMS DB range:
Identification of a Mobile Allocation Frequency List in a BSC. Mobile Allocation Frequency List (MA) GSM 04.08 10.5.2.12,GSM 05.02 6.2.2 before S4 Read only Identification of mobile allocation frequency list 1..128 EBE,EBR,EBT,EBI,EQA MAL ID 1..128 MAL Parameter Window object_instance String up to 10 characters 1:1
Frequency band of the list. The band is either GSM, DCS or DCS19 band. Mobile Allocation Frequency List (MA) GSM 04.08 10.5.2.12,GSM 05.02 6.2.2 before S4 Read only type of the mobile allocation frequency list GSM, DCS, DCS19 EBE,EBI Frequency Band in Use GSM, DCS 1800, PCS 1900 MAL Parameter Window freq_band_in_use 0..3
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MML default: MML command: NMS GUI name: NMS GUI range: NMS GUI dialog name: NMS DB name: NMS DB range: NMS DB mapping:
Hopping sequence number 1 Description: HSN1 is used in the frequency hopping sequence generation algorithm and it is located in the Frequency Hopping System 1 (time slots 0 except BCCH time slot). Object class: BTS GSM reference: GSM 04.08 10.5.2.5,GSM 05.02 6.2.2 Option: Release: before S4 Modification: When BTS is locked Restriction: Check that either cyclic or random hopping is used in the whole site (2nd gen BTS). Parameter is only used with BB and RF hopping. See parameter BTS hopping mode. MML name: hopping sequence number 1 (HSN1) MML range: 0 cyclic hopping 1..63 random hopping MML default: 0 MML command: EQC,EQE,EQO NMS GUI name: HSN-1 NMS GUI range: 0..63 NMS GUI dialog name: BTS Parameter Window NMS DB name: hsn NMS DB range: 0..63 NMS DB mapping: 1:1 Hopping sequence number 2 Description: HSN2 is used in the frequency hopping sequence generation algorithm and it is located in the Frequency Hopping System 2 (time slots 1-7). Object class: BTS
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MML name: MML range: MML default: MML command: NMS GUI name: NMS GUI range: NMS GUI dialog name: NMS DB name: NMS DB range: NMS DB mapping: MAIO offset Description:
Object class: GSM reference: Option: Release: Modification: Restriction: MML name: MML range: MML default: MML command: NMS GUI name: NMS GUI range: NMS GUI dialog name: NMS DB name: NMS DB range: NMS DB mapping: MAIO step Description: Object class: GSM Reference: Option: Release: Modification: Restriction: MML name: MML range: MML default: MML command: NMS GUI name: NMS GUI range: NMS GUI dialog name: NMS DB name: NMS DB range:
The parameter sets the MAIO offset which is the lowest MAIO in the cell. With MAIO offset it is possible to use the same MA frequency list for two or more sectors of the site without collisions. BTS No ref. S6 The parameter can be modified only when the BTS is locked or not RF hopping. MAIO offset (MO) 0..62 0 EQA,EQO,EFO MAIO Offset 0..62 BTS Parameter Window maio_offset 0..62 1:1
The parameter sets the MAIO step. BTS No ref. S7 On-Line MAIO step (MS) 1..62 1 EQA,EQO,EFO MAIO Step 1..62 BTS Parameter Window maio_step 0..62
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Object class: GSM reference: Option: Release: Modification: Restriction: MML name: MML range: MML default: MML command: NMS GUI name: NMS GUI range: NMS GUI dialog name: NMS DB name: NMS DB range: NMS DB mapping:
The parameter defines the mobile allocation frequency list to which the BTS will be attached. Relevant when RF hopping is used. See chapter Mobile Allocation Frequency List. BTS No ref. before S4 If BTS is RF hopping, then BTS must be locked mobile allocation frequency list (MAL) 0..128 (the value 0 detaches the BTS from any mobile allocation frequency list) No MA-list attached EQA,EQO Used Mobile Allocation Not Assigned; Assigned ID(1..128) BTS Parameter Window used_mobile_alloc_list_id 0..128 Assigned ID (1..128), Not Assigned (0)
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6.4 Handover
Table 9. Example HO parameters for FH network utilising aggressive power control.
GROUP Averaging adjacent cells Averaging Method EXPLANATION Averaging window size for adj cells Number of zero results allowed Adj cells averaging: 6 best or 32 Q3 NAME averagingWindowSizeAdjCell numberOfZeroResults allAdjacentCellsAveraged enaFastAveCallSetup enaFastAveHo enaFastAvePC Minimum Intervals Periodic Handovers HO types allowed minIntBetweenUnsuccHoAttempt minIntBetweenHoReq hoPeriodPBGT HoPeriodUmbrella enableIntraHoInterfUL enableIntraHoInterfDL enablePwrBudgetHandover enableUmbrellaHandover enableMSDistanceProcess enableSDCCHHandover Margins Enable HO margin for Lev and Qual enableHoMarginLevQual hoMarginPBGT hoMarginLev hoMarginQual Averaging windows and weighting values hoAveragingLevDL weighting hoAveragingLevUL weighting hoAveragingQualDL weighting hoAveragingQualUL weighting msDistanceAveragingParam msSpeedAveraging Thresholds hoThresholdsLevDL px nx hoThresholdsLevUL px nx hoThresholdsQualDL px nx hoThresholdsQualUL px nx hoThresholdsInterferenceDL px nx hoThresholdsInterferenceUL RANGE 1 0 Yes Yes Yes Yes 0 0 0 0 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes -24 -24 -24 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 ... / / / / 7 No No No No sec sec UNIT Setting 8 7 No No No Yes 3 5 6 6 Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes dB dB dB 4 3 0 6 1 6 1 1 1 1 1 10 4 -95 1 1 dBm -95 1 1 5 3 4 5 3 4 dBm -85 1 1 dBm -85 ... 32 SACCH
... 30 ... 30
... 32 SACCH ... 32 SACCH ... 32 SACCH ... 32 SACCH ... 32 SACCH ... 32 SACCH dBm ... 32 ... 32 ... 32 ... 32 ... 7 ... 32 ... 32 ... 7 ... 32 ... 32 ... 32 ... 32
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0 1 2
- MS may use DTX - MS shall use DTX - MS shall not use DTX.
The default for the parameter is 1, meaning that the mobile have to use DTX. Only a few operators in the world use the value 0, where the default setting of the mobile chooses the uplink DTX mode.
ON
BASE TRANSCEIVER STATION BTS3 BSC NAME : LA NAME :LAREA3 CELL IDENTITY BTS ADMINISTRATIVE STATE ROUTING ZONE TARIFF AREA DOWNLINK DTX DISABLED BY MSC Version 1.0.0
7. OPTIMISATION
7.1 Tools for Network Monitoring
The following tools for example can be used for monitoring the quality and the traffic of the network: Cell Doctor version 1.18.41 or later in NMS/2000. The tool extracts data in text format from the database. NDW can be used for Quality / traffic monitoring. It uses the database of NMS/2000. TIM / TOM monitoring SW can be used for indoor / outdoor drive tests A special DL FER monitoring tool can be used internally, consisting of a Nokia 8110i with SW, a laptop with FMON and postprocessing SW Ericsson TEMS monitoring tool can be used for the normal drive tests and DL FER monitoring
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TCH Availability [%], 24h 95 99* SDCCH Success Ratio [%], 95 97 24h Success Ratio [%], TCH 95 97 24h Call Setup Success Rate [%], 90 95 24h SDCCH Blocking [%], cell 0.5 0.2 BH Call Blocking [%], cell TCH 5 2 BH HO Blocking [%], cell TCH TBD TBD BH Access Grant Blocking [%], cell 0 0 BH Drop Ratio [%], TCH 5 3 24h Cumulative UL Quality distribution, 0 4, 95 0 4, 98 24h % 4, 95 % 4, 98 Cumulative DL Quality distribution, 0 0 24h % TBD % TBD Average Interference Band, 24h Controlled Outgoing HO Success [%], BSC 93 97 24h Controlled Outgoing HO Success [%] , MSC 90 95 24h Cell HO Success [%], Intra 96 99 24h of BTSs Exceeding 5% Blocking in BH [%], Ratio 24h Success Rate, SMS 95 98 *Note, 24h objects which are Locked by User are counted as non available and will reduce the availability value.
General
Number of alarmsStatistics per Network Element, exc. transmission Number of transmission alarms per node Customer complaints of NW problems complaints of Customer billing
Criteria
Eki Eki < 1/1000 subscriber/day < 1/1000 subscriber/year
7.3 RXQUAL in FH Networks Frequency hopping causes some changes in the RXQUAL distribution. Also, there are some differences in a way the RXQUAL distribution should be interpreted. The Frame Erasure Ratio (FER) is a ratio of discarded speech frames compared to all the received speech frames. A speech frame is generally discarded if after the decoding and error correction process any of the category 1a bits is found to be changed based on the three parity bits following them in a speech frame.
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Frequency Hopping Network Planning Guide he FER is a measure of how successfully the speech frame was received after the error correction process and it is thus a better indication of the subjective speech quality compared to the RXQUAL which gives an estimate of the link quality in terms of BER. The RXQUAL doesnt indicate how the bit errors were distributed in a speech frame. The bit error distribution affects the ability of the channel decoding to correct the errors. The following table gives an idea of the correlation between RXQUAL and FER and between subjective speech quality and different FER classes. Table 12. RXQUAL vs. FER comparison according to the laboratory tests.
Subjective quality, laboratory tests Steady quality/FER value (fast mobile or frequency hopping) RXqual 0-4 5 6 7 FER 0 - 4% 4 - 15% 15 - 35% >35%
The relation of downlink FER and RXQUAL was measured during a FH trial. The relation is clearly different in the hopping case compared to the non-hopping case. The distributions of FER in each RXQUAL class are presented in Figure 7-1 and Figure 7-2. One clear observation can be made; in the non-hopping case there are significant amount of samples indicating deteriorated quality (FER>10%) in RXQUAL class 5 while in the hopping case the significant quality deterioration (FER>10%) happens in RXQUAL class 6. Thus, it may be concluded that in the frequency hopping networks significant quality deterioration starts at RXQUAL class 6 while in non-hopping network this happens at RXQUAL class 5.
This difference is a consequence of interference and frequency diversities that affect the frequency hopping network. Because of these effects, the interference or low signal strength tend to occur randomly, while in a non-hopping network it is probable that interference or low field strength will affect several consecutive bursts making it harder for the error correction to actually correct errors. The successful error correction leads to less erased frames and thus improves the FER.
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100.00 % 90.00 % 80.00 % 70.00 % 60.00 % 50.00 % Q5 40.00 % 30.00 % 20.00 % 10.00 % 0.00 % "0-1" Q0 "1-5" "5-10" "1015" "15100" Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 RXQUAL Q6 Q7
FER %
100.00 % 90.00 % 80.00 % 70.00 % 60.00 % 50.00 % Q5 40.00 % 30.00 % 20.00 % 10.00 % 0.00 % "0-1" Q0 "1-5" "5-10" "1015" "15100" Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 RXQUAL Q6 Q7
FER %
Figure 7-2. Measured relation of FER and RXQUAL in frequency hopping case.
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This improvement of FER means that the higher RXQUAL values may be allowed in a frequency hopping network. RXQUAL thresholds are used in the handover and power control decisions. Because of the improvement in the relative reception performance on the RXQUAL classes 4-6, the RXQUAL thresholds affecting handover and power control decisions should be set higher in a network using frequency hopping network. In a frequency hopping network RXQUAL classes 0-5 are indicating good quality. Typically, the share of the RXQUAL classes 6 and 7 may increase after FH is switched on, even if no other changes have been made. This may seem to be surprising since it is expected that frequency hopping improves the network quality. However, in most cases the quality is actually improved, but the improvement is more visible in the call success ratio. The improved tolerance against interference and low field strength in FH network means that it is less likely that the decoding of SACCH frames fails causing increment in the radio link timeout counter. Thus, it is less likely that a call is dropped because of the radio link timeout. Instead, the calls generating high RXQUAL samples tend to stay on. This may lead to increase in the share of RXQUAL 6-7. However, at the same time the call success rate is significantly improved. In the Figure 7-3, there are presented some trial results of a DL RXQUAL distribution with different frequency allocation reuse patterns. As can be seen from the figures, the tighter the reuse becomes, the less samples fall in quality class 0 and more samples fall in quality classes 1-6. Theres bigger difference in downlink than in uplink direction.
DL RXQUAL Distribution
100.00 90.00 80.00 70.00 Percentage (%) 60.00 50.00 40.00 30.00 20.00 10.00 0.00 q0 q1 q2 q3 q4 q5 q6 q7 Quality Classes No FH 1/3 pure 1/3 heuristic 1/1
Figure 7-3. DL RXQUAL distribution of a trial with different frequency allocation reuse patterns (no FH, 1/1, 1/3 fixed, 1/3 heuristic allocation)
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Figure 7-4. UL RXQUAL distribution of a trial with different frequency allocation reuse patterns (no FH, 1/1, 1/3 fixed, 1/3 heuristic allocation) Frequency hopping forces each call to use all the frequencies in the hopping sequence. If some of those frequencies are more interfered than others, it may happen that after FH is switched on the quality of the calls suffers. When FH is not used, the calls tend to be allocated to the TRXs using interference free carriers (the TRX and the time slot are selected based on the UL idle channel interference measurement). Especially outside the busy hours, it is probable that time slots are always available on the TRXs having interference free carriers. Frequency hopping forces all the calls to use all the frequencies in the hopping sequence. This means that the interfered frequencies are always used as much as the interference free frequencies. This is likely to lead to worse quality outside the busy hours. During the busy hours in a non-hopping case, some of the calls have to be allocated to a TRX using interfered frequency, because interference free TRXs may be full. These calls are likely to experience significantly worse quality. The frequency hopping tends to average the quality, so in the frequency hopping case all the calls experience average quality instead of some very high quality calls and some very low quality calls. It is thus important to compare only busy hour statistics and to keep in mind that the interference problems may not show up outside the busy hours in the non-hopping case, while in the FH case the effect of interference is always present.
Note! In BB FH and RF FH case the frequency specific RXQUAL cannot be measured anymore. The quality is averaged over the hopping sequence. 7.4 Idle Channel Interference Measurement
When a new call is established or a handover is performed, the BSC selects the TRX and the time slot for the traffic channel based on the idle channel interference measurements. The frequency hopping has a significant effect on the idle channel interference measurement results.
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Frequency Hopping Network Planning Guide When the frequency hopping is used, the frequency of a hopping logical channel is changed about 217 times in a second. The frequency of the idle time slots changes according to the same sequence.
In a case of the random hopping, this means that the measured idle channel interference is likely to be the same for all the TRXs that use the same MA-list. If the interference is averaged over more than one SACCH frame, the averaging effect is even stronger. However, normally the interferers are mobiles located in interfering cells. In this case, there are probably differences in the measured idle channel interferences between different time slots in the cell. This happens, because the interfering mobiles are only transmitting during the time slot that has been allocated to them. This is illustrated in Figure 7-5.
If the cyclic hopping sequence is used, there might occur differences on the measured idle channel interference levels between the TRXs on the same time slot as explained in the following section.
Idle channel interference level Low
TRX 1
RTSL
TRX 2
f1, f2, f3
High
TRX 3
Timeslot #
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6 frequencies
7 11 15 18 1 4 11 15 18 1 4 7 15 18 1 4 7 11 18 1 4 7 11 15 1 4 7 11 15 18 4 7 11 15 18 1 7 11 15 18 1 4 11 15 18 1 4 7 15 18 1 4 7 11 18 1 4 7 11 15 1 4 7 11 15 18 4 7 11 15 18 1 7 11 15 18 1 4 11 15 18 1 4 7 15 18 1 4 7 11 18 1 4 7 11 15
1 4 7 11 15 18
4 7 11 15 18 1
Mobile
1 8 15 1 8 15
interference
1 8 15 1 8 15 1 8 15
3 frequencies
1 8 15
6 frequencies
Mobile
3 5 1 1 2 1 4 2 6
interference
3 3 4 1 2 3 3 1 6 2 2 5 3 5 5
6 frequencies
Figure 7-7. Interference distribution when random hopping sequences are used. The drawback of the cyclic hopping is that the interference coming from one interferer may affect only some of the TRXs as seen in Figure 7-6. This limits the number of interferers and compromises the interference diversity. For this reason, it is recommended that cyclic hopping sequences are not used in the areas where the network is interference limited.
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Random: In the areas where the interference is a problem (high traffic areas)
Figure 7-8. Guide to choose between cyclic and random hopping sequences. Frequency hopping makes it possible to change the interference sources for each TDMA frame. The result of this is a beneficial effect called interference diversity, which was presented in Section 2.1.6. The more different interferers the link has, the better interference is averaged and the better the interference diversity gain. Time division used in the GSM systems limits the interference diversity. Because of the TDMA principle, the interference diversity is only possible among the mobiles that share the same time instant for transmission. However, the base stations that are located on different sites, are not usually synchronised. This means that the time slots may be partially overlapping each other as presented in Figure 7-9. Thus, the interference from one interfering cell may consist two interference sources (mobiles) in uplink direction or two different power levels in downlink direction if downlink power control is used. This enhances interference diversity. The degree of overlapping in non-synchronised network is random but constant between any non-synchronised cell pair and it may be anything between 50 % and 100 % as presented in Figure 7-10.
RTSL
Serving cell
Interfering cell
0
RTSL
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Serving cell
50% 50% 100%
Interfering cell
Figure 7-10. The two extreme cases: 50 % and 100 % overlapping of bursts.
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8. PLANNING CASES
8.1 Planning Case 1: Single MA-list
In this example a single MA-list implementation is planned for a small network consisting of 7 sites and 16 sectorised cells. The benefit in single MA-list implementation is that no frequency planning is required, because each cell has the same MA-list containing all the allocated frequencies. Since fractional loading is required, only RF hopping can be used. In order to avoid interference between the cells of the same site, a MAIO plan is made for each site. The number of TRXs can be maximum 12 TRXs per site.
Site A B C
Ce ll 1 2 1 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 1 2 3 1 2
TRX count 2 3 4 4 4 3 3 4 2 3 4 4 3 4 4 3
Hopping TRX s 1 2 3 3 3 2 2 3 1 2 3 3 2 3 3 2
E F
2.4
Figure 8-1. Network layout and TRX configurations. The BCCH frequency plan is made separately and it is not considered here. On the average there are 2.4 hopping TRXs per cell in the example network. 21 frequencies are to be allocated to the hopping TRXs. The effective reuse on the frequency hopping TRXs can be calculated by using Equation (5.1) as follows: Version 1.0.0 Date Oct 23, 1998 Page 71/80
Reff =
21 = 8.8 2. 4
Effective reuse of 8.8 is reasonable for frequency hopping network and it can be expected that the network will have good quality, see Table 6. In order to keep the collision probability low enough, it is recommended that the average frequency load caused by each cell in the network doesnt exceed 8 %. The load distribution in the network is calculated by using Equations (5.3), (5.4) and (5.5). Here, also the BCCH TRX is included in the traffic estimations.
S ite A B C Ce ll 1 2 1 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 1 2 3 1 2 Tra ffic a t Num be r of 2% blocking tim e slots 9.8 16.6 23.7 23.7 23.7 16.6 16.6 23.7 9.8 16.6 23.7 23.7 16.6 23.7 23.7 16.6 16 24 32 32 32 24 24 32 16 24 32 32 24 32 32 24 Fra ctiona l Fre que ncy loa d HW loa d loa d 61.4 69.3 74.1 74.1 74.1 69.3 69.3 74.1 61.4 69.3 74.1 74.1 69.3 74.1 74.1 69.3 % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % 4.8 % 9.5 % 14.3 % 14.3 % 14.3 % 9.5 % 9.5 % 14.3 % 4.8 % 9.5 % 14.3 % 14.3 % 9.5 % 14.3 % 14.3 % 9.5 % 2.9 % 6.6 % 10.6 % 10.6 % 10.6 % 6.6 % 6.6 % 10.6 % 2.9 % 6.6 % 10.6 % 10.6 % 6.6 % 10.6 % 10.6 % 6.6 %
E F
8.1 %
Figure 8-2. Load calculations. The average frequency load in the network is 8.1 %. This is acceptable, because it is only very slightly above the 8 % recommendation. The maximum frequency load is 10.6 %. This doesnt exceed the average frequency load significantly. If the maximum frequency load exceeded 13 % -14 %, it might make sense to reserve some extra frequencies that would be used only on the highly loaded cells. By doing this, the frequency load distribution in the network can be kept more even. Cells causing high frequency loads tend to deteriorate the quality in the neighboring cells.
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To prevent intra site and intra cell interference the following requirements have to be fulfilled:
All the sectors of one site have to controlled by the same BCF All the sectors of one site have to use the same HSN MAIO planning have to be properly made
In order to guarantee interference diversity, a different HSN should be used in the different sites located in the same area. MAIO planning should be done for each site. The HSN parameter has to be defined for each site and MAIOoffset and MAIOstep for each cell. These parameters and their functionality are presented in Section 1. MAIOstep defines the channel separation between the TRXs of the same cell. It is thus used to guarantee that intra cell interference doesnt occur. MAIOoffset is used to control the channel separations between the sectors of the same site. However, MAIOoffseet doesnt directly define the channel separation between the cells. Instead it defines the MAIO of the first hopping TRX of the cell. At first it should be checked that proper channel separations are possible with allocated frequency band. The minimum requirement for channel separation between sectors is 1. However, in order to avoid constant adjacent channel interference between the sectors of the same site, a separation of 2 is highly recommended. In order to avoid intra cell interference, the channel separation between the TRXs of the same cell should be at least 2. Preferably the separation should be 3 or more, especially if UL power control is not used. In this case the goal is to have a minimum channel separation of 2 between the sectors and 3 between the TRXs of the same cell. To check if that is possible with the current frequency band of 21 carriers, Equation (5.10) is used. The site to be investigated is the site with biggest TRX configurations that is in this case site C having 3 sectors and 8 hopping TRXs.
min N freqs / site = ( N TRX / site N cell / site ) MAIOstep + N cell / site S
(8 3) 3 + 3 2 = 21
As a result, it can be seen that the frequency band of 21 carriers is just enough to allow the implementation of wanted channel separations even in the site with the biggest TRX configurations. The MAIO plan is now made for the Site C by using MAIOstep 3 and by selecting the MAIOoffset parameters for the sectors so that the channel (=MAIO) separation of 2 is realised between the sectors. Example MAIO plans are presented in the following pictures.
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MAIO Offset determines the MAIO of the first hopping TRX in each sector
MAI value for each TDMA frame is calculated by BTS and MS by using HSN and TDMA frame number
Site C
The sectors share the same HSN MAIOs for the rest of the hopping TRXs are determined by adding MAIO Step to the MAIO of the previous hopping TRX
Transmitted frequencies for each TRX during each TDMA frame No co- or adjacent channel interference between sectors
Site D
Site F
Site G
Figure 8-4. Example MAIO plans.
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Frequency Hopping Network Planning Guide Table 13. Parameters for each cell in the example network.
Site Cell TRX count 2 3 4 4 4 3 3 4 2 3 4 4 3 4 4 3 HSN MAIOoffset MAIOstep
A B C
E F
1 2 1 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 1 2 3 1 2
2 2 5 6 6 6 7 7 7 4 4 3 3 3 1 1
0 8 0 0 8 16 0 8 16 0 8 0 8 13 0 8
3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
If more TRXs are later added, it should me made sure that the MAIO plan for that site is still valid. Failure to do so may lead to continuous co- or adjacent channel interference between the TRXs of the site.
8.2.1 Defining the Frequency Band and the Number of Frequencies Needed in Each Cell
The BCCH frequency plan is made separately and it is not considered here. On the average there are 2.4 hopping TRXs per cell in the example network. In order to end up with an effective reuse of 8, 19 frequencies are to be allocated to the hopping TRXs. The effective reuse on the frequency hopping TRXs can be calculated by using Equation (5.1) as follows:
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Reff =
19 = 7.9 2. 4
Effective reuse of 7.9 is quite low, but it can be expected that with implementation of frequency allocation reuse of 3 to 5 the network will have acceptable quality provided that the network model in the frequency allocation tool is accurate. However, the minimum achievable reuse also depends very much on the environment and the network layout. For example, if the antennas in the urban environment are located too high so that the isolation between the interfering cells provided by the surrounding environment is not exploited, a higher effective reuse may have to be used in order to maintain good quality.
As a rule of thumb, the frequency load caused by each cell should range from 30 % to 50 % as the frequency allocation reuse ranges from 3 to 5, see Table 6. This is used as a basis when the number of frequencies to be allocated in each cell is defined. In the following figure, MA-list length definitions are made for the example network. Also the BCCH TRX is included in the traffic calculation.
Site A B C Ce ll 1 2 1 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 1 2 3 1 2 TRX count 2 3 4 4 4 3 3 4 2 3 4 4 3 4 4 3 Hopping TRX s 1 2 3 3 3 2 2 3 1 2 3 3 2 3 3 2 Tra ffic a t Num be r of 2% blocking tim e slots 9.8 16.6 23.7 23.7 23.7 16.6 16.6 23.7 9.8 16.6 23.7 23.7 16.6 23.7 23.7 16.6 16 24 32 32 32 24 24 32 16 24 32 32 24 32 32 24 M A list HW loa d le ngth 61.4 69.3 74.1 74.1 74.1 69.3 69.3 74.1 61.4 69.3 74.1 74.1 69.3 74.1 74.1 69.3 % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % 3 4 6 6 6 4 4 6 3 4 6 6 4 6 6 4 Fra ctiona l Fre que ncy loa d loa d 33.3 50.0 50.0 50.0 50.0 50.0 50.0 50.0 33.3 50.0 50.0 50.0 50.0 50.0 50.0 50.0 % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % 20.5 34.6 37.1 37.1 37.1 34.6 34.6 37.1 20.5 34.6 37.1 37.1 34.6 37.1 37.1 34.6 % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % %
E F
OK OK
Figure 8-5. Load and reuse calculations. In this example, the MA-list lengths were selected so that the frequency load caused by each cell falls between 30 % and 40 %. However, the minimum length was 3 in order to guarantee sufficient FH gains. The resulting average MA-list length is 4.9 carriers per cell. The frequency allocation reuse can now be calculated by using Equation (5.2) as follows:
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The average frequency load is 34.1 %. In most cases this should provide low enough collision probability for a network having a frequency allocation reuse 3.9. Actually, it might even be possible to reduce the frequency band a little bit. With 17 carriers the frequency allocation reuse would reduce to 3.47. This would match the rule of thumb perfectly, as we would now have a frequency load of 34.1 % and frequency allocation reuse 3.47. The effective reuse with 17 carriers would be 7.1. Whether the quality will still be acceptable depends on the quality of the frequency plan as well as the network layout and surrounding environment. 8.2.2 Frequency Allocation and Analysis
Now, once the number of frequencies to be allocated for each cell is defined, the allocation should be performed with help of an frequency allocation tool that supports fractional loading and is able to minimise the interference in the network such as NPS/X 3.3. The allocation parameters can be similar as in the normal non-hopping case. The minimum channel separation between the frequencies in the MA-list should be at least one carrier in order to avoid intracell adjacent channel interference. Preferably the separation of two should be used unless that requirement significantly degrades the allocation result (=increases the resulting value of the cost function). However, if the fractional load on a cell is 50 % or less, then it is advantageous to allow consecutive frequencies in the MA-list and set the MAIOstep parameter to 2 in that cell. The MAIOstep of 2 ensures that adjacent carriers are not used at the same time. Thus, adjacent channel interference is prevented. The removal of the intra cell channel separation requirement makes it possible for the allocation tool to find a better allocation that minimises the interference more effectively. The difference can be so significant, that it might make sense to deliberately force the fractional load to 50 % or less so that the intracell separation requirement can be removed. An example of how intra cell adjacent channel interference is avoided is presented in the following figure.
Consecutive carriers allowed in the MA lists
Fractional load in every sector is 50% or less (fractional load = MAL_length / Nb_TRX)
MAIOstep is set to 2
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Adjacent channels may be allowed between the sectors of the same site especially if all of them are not adjacent to each other. The interference diversity and fractional loading ensures that even if adjacent channel interference occurs, it wont be continuous and thus its effect on the quality is reduced. Since frequency sharing is not used in this case, all the cells in one area using the same frequency band should have a different HSN in order to maximise interference diversity. Since fractional loading is used, it is very difficult to analyze the frequency plan with conventional C/I analysis. Instead, more advanced analysis tool such as the RXQUAL analysis tool available in NPS/X 3.2 and 3.3 should be used. The RXQUAL tool estimates the typical RXQUAL for every pixel on the digital map. It supports frequency hopping and fractional loading. The RXQUAL analysis tool is suitable for comparing different frequency allocations and for finding the locations of possible interference spots where the quality is likely to be the worst. However, the RXQUAL analysis tool is sensitive to the fractional loading! The lower the fractional load, the better quality seem to be predicted even when it is likely that the quality in reality should be worse. Because of this, the tool is only suitable to analysing different frequency plans while the fractional loading (=MA-list lengths) remain the same. It should also be noted that the indicated RXQUAL doesnt necessarily correspond to the actual measured RXQUAL but is still gives an indication of the overall quality of the frequency plan and the locations of the probable interference areas.
Each Eachcell cellhas hasaasufficient sufficientnumber numberof ofhopping hopping frequencies even without fractional frequencies even without fractionalloading loading
A
2 3
1 3 1 2
B C
2 1 2 2 1 2 1
D
3
1
E F
G
1
The Thesame sameMA MAlist listis isshared sharedamong among all the sectors of one all the sectors of onesite site
Ave ra ge hopping TRX s/ce ll : 2.4
Effective Effectivereuse reuse==19 19frequencies frequencies/ /2.4 2.4hopping hoppingTRXs TRXsper percell cell== 7.9 7.9
OK OK
Figure 8-7. Network layout and the calculation of the needed MA-list lengths.
8.3.2 MAIO Planning MAIO planning is needed in order to avoid mutual interference between the sectors of the same site. Since the sectors of the same site use the same MA-list, there will be co-channel interference between those sectors unless MAIO planning is properly done.
To prevent intra site and intra cell interference the following requirements have to be fulfilled: All the sectors of one site have to controlled by the same BCF All the sectors of one site have to use the same HSN MAIO planning have to be properly made
In order to guarantee interference diversity, a different HSN should be used in the different sites located in the same area. MAIO planning is simple in this case. MAIOStep should be set to 1 in every sector and MAIOOffset must be selected for each sector so that the MAIOs of the hopping TRXs in one site will be in consecutive order.
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MAIOStep is 1
MAIOoffset for each sector is set so that the MAIOs for TRXs are in consecutive order
8.3.3 Analysis
Since fractional loading is not used, conventional C/I analysis is possible. However, the same virtual cell with power dividers setup that was used in the frequency allocation phase must be used in the analysis. Alternative option is to use the RXQUAL analysis tool of NPS/X 3.2. Since it is not possible to take the benefits of MAIO management into account (=no interference between the cells of the same site), similar setup as in the C/I analysis has to be used.
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