Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
AT262_ARG_E1
Contact Information
Forsk (Head Office) 7 rue des Briquetiers 31700 Blagnac France
L {
www.forsk.com forsk@forsk.com sales@forsk.com support@forsk.com +33 (0) 562 74 72 10 +33 (0) 562 74 72 25 +33 (0) 562 74 72 11 sales_us@forsk.com support_us@forsk.com +1 312 674 4846 +1 888 GoAtoll (+1 888 462 8655) +1 312 674 4847 www.forsk.com.cn enquiries@forsk.com.cn +86 20 8553 8938 +86 20 8553 8285 +86 10 6513 4559
Web General information Sales and pricing information Technical support General Technical support Fax Sales and pricing information Technical support General Technical support Fax Web Information and enquiries Telephone Fax (Guangzhou) Fax (Beijing)
Forsk (USA Office) 200 South Wacker Drive Suite 3100 Chicago, IL 60606 USA
L {
Forsk (China Office) Suite 302, 3/F, West Tower, Jiadu Commercial Building, No.66 Jianzhong Road, Tianhe Hi-Tech Industrial Zone, Guangzhou, 510665, Peoples Republic of China
L
Forsk 2007
AT262_ARG_E1
iii
iv
AT262_ARG_E1
Forsk 2007
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
1
1.1 1.1.1 1.1.2 1.2
Overview ......................................................................................... 13
Introduction to AFP ................................................................................................................................ 13 Frequency Assignment as a Cost Minimization Problem ................................................................. 13 Abbreviations .................................................................................................................................... 13 Architecture ............................................................................................................................................ 14
2
2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.6.1 2.6.2 2.7 2.8 2.8.1 2.8.2
3
3.1 3.1.1 3.1.2 3.1.3 3.1.3.1 3.1.3.2 3.1.3.3 3.1.3.3.1 3.1.3.4 3.1.3.5 3.1.4 3.1.5 3.1.6 3.1.7 3.1.8 3.1.9 3.1.10 3.1.11 3.1.12 3.2 3.2.1 3.2.1.1 3.2.2
4
4.1 4.1.1 4.1.2 4.1.3 4.2 4.2.1 4.2.2 4.2.3 4.2.4 4.3 4.3.1 4.4
Forsk 2007
4.4.1 4.4.1.1 4.4.1.2 4.4.1.3 4.4.1.4 4.4.1.5 4.4.1.6 4.4.1.7 4.4.1.8 4.4.1.9 4.4.1.10 4.4.1.11 4.4.2 4.4.2.1 4.4.2.2 4.4.2.3 4.4.2.3.1 4.4.2.3.2 4.4.2.4
Introduction to the AFP Cost Function ..............................................................................................48 Combination of Separation Violation and Interference Probabilities ...........................................48 Counting TRXs (Nodes) Instead of Relations (Edges) ................................................................48 Each TRX Cost ............................................................................................................................49 Separation Violation Cost ............................................................................................................49 Interference Cost .........................................................................................................................50 Probabilistic Cost Combination ...................................................................................................50 Missing TRX Cost ........................................................................................................................50 Corrupted TRX Cost ....................................................................................................................51 Out-of-domain Frequency Assignment Cost ...............................................................................51 Quality Target ..............................................................................................................................51 Modifiable and Non-Modifiable Costs ..........................................................................................51 Most Important Cost Function Parameters and Tuning ....................................................................52 Interference Weight vs. Separation Weight .................................................................................52 Cost of Changing a TRX .............................................................................................................52 Quality Target and C/I Weighting ................................................................................................53 Quality Target ........................................................................................................................53 C/I Weighting .........................................................................................................................53 Separation Weights Settings .......................................................................................................54
5
5.1 5.1.1 5.1.1.1 5.1.1.1.1 5.1.1.1.2 5.1.1.2 5.1.1.3 5.1.2 5.1.2.1 5.1.2.1.1 5.1.2.1.2 5.2 5.2.1 5.2.2 5.3 5.3.1 5.3.1.1
6
6.1 6.1.1 6.1.2 6.1.3 6.1.4 6.1.5 6.1.6 6.1.7 6.1.8 6.1.9 6.1.9.1 6.1.10 6.1.11 6.1.11.1 6.2 6.2.1 6.2.1.1 6.2.1.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.6.1 6.6.2 6.6.3 6.7
vi
AT262_ARG_E1
Forsk 2007
Table of Contents
7
7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.4.1 7.4.1.1 7.4.1.2 7.4.1.3 7.4.2 7.5
8
8.1 8.1.1 8.1.2 8.1.3 8.1.3.1 8.1.3.2 8.1.4 8.2 8.2.1 8.2.2 8.2.3 8.2.4 8.2.4.1 8.2.4.2 8.2.4.3 8.2.5 8.3 8.3.1 8.3.2 8.3.3 8.3.4 8.4 8.4.1 8.4.2 8.4.3 8.4.3.1 8.4.3.2 8.4.3.2.1 8.4.3.2.2 8.4.3.2.3 8.4.3.3 8.4.4 8.4.4.1 8.4.4.2 8.4.4.3
Appendices ..................................................................................... 85
Appendix 1: Description of the AFP Cost Function ................................................................................ 85 Notations .......................................................................................................................................... 85 Cost Function ................................................................................................................................... 85 Cost Components ............................................................................................................................. 87 Separation Violation Cost Component........................................................................................ 87 Interference Cost Component..................................................................................................... 88 I_DIV, F_DIV and Other Advanced Cost Parameters ...................................................................... 90 Appendix 2: Interferences ...................................................................................................................... 91 Using Interferences .......................................................................................................................... 91 Cumulative Density Function of C/I Levels ....................................................................................... 91 Precise Definition ............................................................................................................................. 91 Precise Interference Distribution Strategy ........................................................................................ 92 Direct Availability of Precise Interference Distribution to the AFP .............................................. 92 Efficient Calculation and Storage of Interference Distribution .................................................... 92 Robustness of the IM .................................................................................................................. 92 Traffic Load and Interference Information Discrimination ................................................................. 92 Appendix 3: BSIC Allocation .................................................................................................................. 94 Definitions ......................................................................................................................................... 94 Hard Criterion ................................................................................................................................... 94 Soft Criterion .................................................................................................................................... 94 Behaviour ......................................................................................................................................... 94 Appendix 4: Traffic Capture and Dimensioning...................................................................................... 95 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 95 Traffic Map Generation ..................................................................................................................... 95 Traffic Capture Process .................................................................................................................... 95 Inputs .......................................................................................................................................... 95 The Engine ................................................................................................................................. 96 Traffic Distribution ................................................................................................................. 96 Average Timeslot Capacity ................................................................................................... 97 Integration ............................................................................................................................. 97 Outputs ....................................................................................................................................... 98 Network Dimensioning Process ....................................................................................................... 99 Inputs .......................................................................................................................................... 99 Dimensioning .............................................................................................................................. 99 Outputs ....................................................................................................................................... 99
Forsk 2007
AT262_ARG_E1
vii
viii
AT262_ARG_E1
Forsk 2007
List of Figures
List of Figures
Figure 2.1: Figure 2.2: Figure 2.3: Figure 2.4: Figure 2.5: Figure 2.6: Figure 2.7: Figure 2.8: Figure 2.9: Figure 2.10: Figure 2.11: Figure 2.12: Figure 2.13: Figure 2.14: Figure 2.15: Figure 2.16: Figure 2.17: Figure 2.18: Figure 2.19: Figure 2.20: Figure 2.21: Figure 2.22: Figure 2.23: Figure 2.24: Figure 3.1: Figure 4.1: Figure 4.2: Figure 4.3: Figure 4.4: Figure 4.5: Figure 4.6: Figure 4.7: Figure 4.8: Figure 5.1: Figure 5.2: Figure 5.3: Figure 5.4: Figure 5.5: Figure 5.6: Figure 5.7: Figure 5.8: Figure 6.1: Figure 7.1: Figure 7.2: Figure 7.3: Figure 7.4: Figure 8.1: Figure 8.2: Figure 8.3: Figure 8.4: Figure 8.5: Figure 8.6: Figure 8.7:
AFP Process in Atoll .................................................................................................................................. Interaction of the AFP with Other Elements............................................................................................... AFP Outputs .............................................................................................................................................. AFP Launch Wizard - AFP Session Tab.................................................................................................... AFP Launch Wizard - Separations Tab ..................................................................................................... AFP Launch Wizard - Global Parameters Tab .......................................................................................... Event Viewer - Sample Messages............................................................................................................. Message 1 ................................................................................................................................................. Message 2 ................................................................................................................................................. AFP Launch Window ................................................................................................................................. Partial Interference Matrices - Report........................................................................................................ Complete Interference Matrices - Report................................................................................................... AFP Progress Window............................................................................................................................... Event Viewer Message - Solution Kept ..................................................................................................... AFP Progress Window............................................................................................................................... Cost Distributions on Frequencies............................................................................................................. Frequency Usage Distributions.................................................................................................................. AFP Results Window ................................................................................................................................. Separation Constraint Violation Details Message...................................................................................... AFP Results Window - Partial Commit Feature......................................................................................... AFP Results Window - Partial Commit Feature......................................................................................... Constraint Violation Resolution Tool.......................................................................................................... Scanning for Frequencies.......................................................................................................................... Scanning for Frequencies.......................................................................................................................... Model Standard Deviation - Default Value................................................................................................. Automatic Neighbour Allocation................................................................................................................. Automatic Neighbour Allocation Results.................................................................................................... Neighbours Table ...................................................................................................................................... Dimensioning Process ............................................................................................................................... Atoll AFP Module Properties - Separation Weights Tab............................................................................ Atoll AFP Module Properties - Cost Tab.................................................................................................... C/I Weighting ............................................................................................................................................. Atoll AFP Module Properties - Separation Weights Tab............................................................................ Interference Study Report.......................................................................................................................... TRX Based Interference Studies ............................................................................................................... TRX Based Interference Study - C/I Distributions ..................................................................................... Event Viewer Messages ............................................................................................................................ Event Viewer Message 1 ........................................................................................................................... Event Viewer Message 2 ........................................................................................................................... Combinatin of Interference Effects ............................................................................................................ Counting Strong Interference Only Once................................................................................................... Hopping Sequence Numbers..................................................................................................................... Interference Matrix Properties Dialog - General Tab ................................................................................. Interference Matrix Properties Dialog - Advanced Tab.............................................................................. Interference Matrix Scope.......................................................................................................................... AFP Interference Matrices Parameters ..................................................................................................... Atoll AFP Module Properties - Advanced Tab ........................................................................................... The cumulative density of C/I levels between [TX1, BCCH] and [TX2, BCCH] ......................................... Traffic Maps Overlay.................................................................................................................................. Traffiic Overflow......................................................................................................................................... Intra-Layer Distribution .............................................................................................................................. Traffic Distribution in Atoll .......................................................................................................................... Network Dimensioning Process.................................................................................................................
19 19 20 20 20 21 21 22 22 23 23 24 25 25 26 27 27 28 28 29 30 31 32 32 35 45 46 46 47 49 52 53 54 57 58 59 60 60 60 61 61 66 78 78 79 81 90 91 96 97 97 98 99
Forsk 2007
AT262_ARG_E1
ix
AT262_ARG_E1
Forsk 2007
Chapter 1
Overview
Atoll
12
AT262_ARG_E1
Forsk 2007
Chapter 1: Overview
Overview
This document describes every aspect of frequency planning in Atoll, from high level description of the frequency planning process to the practical level detail. Main topics covered in this document include AFP prerequisites, AFP usage, AFP minimisation target and some possible problems that may come up during training. This document begins with a basic user guide, a short operational introduction to the AFP process in Atoll, and goes on to summarize most aspects of the practical planning process with detailed discussions on certain topics. It also explains the means to evaluate a frequency plan available in Atoll. A chapter is dedicated to advanced topics and troubleshooting in the end. Four appendices contain in-depth information on technical aspects of the cost function, the BSIC allocation algorithm, the IM calculation and the dimensioning process respectively. All in all, this document is almost self sufficient with respect to the use of Atoll AFP.
1.1
Introduction to AFP
The main role of an Automatic Frequency Planner (AFP) is to assign frequencies (channels) to the network such that the overall network quality is optimised. With the evolution of GSM over the years to integrate many improvements, additional requirements have emerged in the process of radio network planning. The implementation of baseband and synthesised frequency hopping, discontinous transmission and network synchronisation, for example, has led to higher sophistication in the process of frequency planning. These enhancements require that an AFP also be intelligent and advanced enough to help the frequency planner through out his tedious task. The Atoll AFP considers a large number of constraints and directives; for example, ARFCN separation requirements between transmitters, interference relations, HSN assignment methods, frequency domain constraints, a certain fractional load to maintain etc. Hence, the AFP depends on a variety of input data, such as the interference matrix, neighbourhood relations, traffic information and so on. This document not only explains how to use the Atoll AFP, by describing the AFP GUI, but also includes detailed descriptions of the various constraints, directives, and data sources. The primary target of this document is to explain the technical background of the AFP.
1.1.1
1.1.2
Abbreviations
Some abbreviations and terminologies used in the document are listed below:
Global System for Mobile Communications (Groupe Speciale Mobile) General Packet Radio Service Enhanced Data rates for GSM (or Global) Evolution EDGE based GPRS Timeslot Transmitter or sector Transceiver Broadcast Control CHannel. A term usually employed in Atoll to refer to the TRX carrying this channel.
Forsk 2007
AT262_ARG_E1
13
TCH TCH_INNER HR/FR CS PS HCS Subcell HO kbps GoS QoS KPI TL P C C/I AFP DTX GUI FP BBH SFH NH MAL AMR CC Transmitter FER FH DLPC RRM Synchronised transmitters Data Model IM, IMco, IMadj FN CDF TSC FAP #
Traffic CHannel. A term usually employed in Atoll to refer to a TRX carrying traffic with usually the same coverage area as the BCCH. Inner Traffic CHannel. A term usually employed in Atoll to refer to a TRX carrying traffic but usually having a coverage area less than that of a TCH. Half Rate/Full Rate Circuit-switched Packet-switched Hierarchical Cell Structure An entity defined by the pair [TX, TRX Type] Handover Kilobits per second Grade of Service Quality of Service Key Performance Indicators Traffic Load Probability Carrier power (Signal strength) Carrier to Interference ratio Automatic Frequency Planner/Planning Discontinuous transmission Graphical User Interface Frequency Plan Baseband Hopping Synthesized Hopping No Hopping Mobile Allocation List. In the context of SFH, MAL is the group of frequencies used by the frequency hopping TRX. Adaptive Multi-Rate Concentric Cells Atoll synonym for cell or sector in conventional GSM jargon Frame Erasure Rate Frequency Hopping Down Link Power Control Radio Resource Management Transmitters that are synchronised and can, therefore, share the same HSN. A project can be saved in a filename.ATL file or as a database. In both cases, most of the projects information is saved in database tables. We refer to these tables as the data model. Interference Matrix, Co-channel / Adjacent-channel Interference Matrix Frame Number Cumulative Density Function Training Sequence Code Frequency Assignment Problem Number of
1.2
Architecture
The Atoll Automatic Frequency Planning (AFP) module is an optional module that enables you to generate frequency plans for GSM and TDMA networks automatically. The Atoll AFP module can allocate the following parameters: Frequencies Frequency hopping groups (MAL) HSN, MAIO BSIC (TSC planning) AT262_ARG_E1
14
Forsk 2007
Chapter 1: Overview TRX rank (can be used to prioritise the use of good frequencies) Performance Indicators at Site/Cell/TRX levels
Atoll works with an open AFP interface. Any AFP built using this interface can be able to allocate the following additional parameters. Future versions of the Atoll AFP module are planned to assign the following parameters as well: Group ID (better administration of the frequency resources) TN offsets FN offsets
Atoll AFP implements simulated annealing, taboo search, graph heuristics and machine learning. It manages its time resources to match the users time directive. If allowed enough time, the AFP will employ a major part of this time in learning the network. During the learning phase, the AFP tunes up its internal parameters. Towards the end of the user-defined time, the AFP switches to a randomised combinatorial search phase.
Remark:
The role of this learning phase is extremely important in order to get good results. You should often let the AFP run over a night or a weekend by specifying corresponding target time. If you never run the AFP specifying a long time period, it will never be able to calibrate itself and will always perform from 10 to 70 solutions and stop. Network learning is performed by executing numerous fast and deterministic instances of the AFP. The one that obtains the best performance is memorized in the document and is, therefore, the most suitable for the specific network. The next time an AFP is executed it will start where the learning process ended and it will use the parameter profile of the best solution stored in the document. Note: The following scenario will demonstrate the usefulness of AFP learning capabilities: - Create a GSM GPRS EGPRS project and import its network elements and maps. - Create a copy of Atoll AFP module and name it Atoll AFP module 2. - If the network has X transmitters, run Atoll AFP module 2 for X / 10 minutes to obtain a cost Y. (Short execution) - Now run Atoll AFP module 2 for a longer time (for example, X / 5 hours). - Another cost, Z, is obtained, which is better than Y (i.e. Z < Y). The network dependent information is memorized in the Atoll AFP module 2 instance whereas the Atoll AFP module instance remains unchanged. - Now if you perform a short execution with Atoll AFP module 2, you can get the improved result (Z) right away. While a short execution of the Atoll AFP module instance will give the initial cost (Y). - If X / 5 hours is too long, you can perform the learning on a small (representative) part of the network. The Atoll AFP is built based on a specified COM interface designed as a part of Atolls open platform strategy. The interface is designed in such a way that puts aside elements that are not inherent to the AFP process. At the same time, through the modelling capabilities of the planning tool, the AFP can support complete list of features expected from an AFP.
Forsk 2007
AT262_ARG_E1
15
16
AT262_ARG_E1
Forsk 2007
Chapter 2
Basic AFP Tutorial
Atoll
18
AT262_ARG_E1
Forsk 2007
2.1
Figure 2.1: AFP Process in Atoll The figure below gives a better view of interaction of the AFP with other elements in Atoll:
Figure 2.2: Interaction of the AFP with Other Elements The following figure depicts the outputs of the AFP:
Forsk 2007
AT262_ARG_E1
19
2.2
20
AT262_ARG_E1
Forsk 2007
Chapter 2: Basic AFP Tutorial Here you can, Specify the AFP module you would like to use and set its parameters, Choose the network parameters and AFP performance indicators you want the AFP to allocate, Specify the networks default separation requirements, Consult the networks Exceptional Pairs and define other separation constraints for them, and Indicate whether interferences are to be included in calculations or not.
For explanations of AFP performance indicators, refer to section 3.2 "AFP Performance Indicators". The last wizard dialog contains some global parameters that often vary from one AFP instance to another:
Figure 2.6: AFP Launch Wizard - Global Parameters Tab The most important option here is the one proposing the two sources of the traffic load information. Traffic load can be read directly from the subcells table, which could have been filled manually, by the dimensioning process or by a KPI calculation. You can also specify that the traffic load should be read from the default traffic capture (explained later). Notes: In case the traffic load is taken from the Subcells table, committed after a KPI calculation, you must be aware of a certain difference: in the KPI calculation, Atoll divides the captured traffic by the timeslot capacity of the existing number of TRXs, while the AFP requires it to be divided by the timeslot capacity of the required number of TRXs. The traffic load is artificially increased to 0.1, if it is too low (less than 0.1), in order to maintain the AFP robust against partial data conditions. Hence, the AFP cannot completely ignore the existence of a frequency in a TRX.
Clicking Validate will start the data verification and storage optimisation aimed at providing fast access to data needed by the AFP. This stage may generate many warnings for real-life networks (for example, values out of range). These are displayed in the Event viewer. It is recommended to revise the network data according to these messages and continue once all the data are clean and coherent. If a certain message is not clear or self evident, you can always contact Forsks technical support. The figure below depicts the Event viewer with some sample messages:
Figure 2.7: Event Viewer - Sample Messages Let us look at two of these messages:
Forsk 2007
AT262_ARG_E1
21
Figure 2.8: Message 1 This means that the value entered in the AFP weight column of the Transmitters table for the transmitter 19941 is invalid. In the database, this fields name is COST_FACTOR. A value of 2 for the cost factor implies that the AFP should generate the worst assignment possible for the transmitter. It would be interesting to investigate the origin of this erroneous value as it may avoid possible errors in the future. Atoll automatically resets this value to 1 in order to avoid such calculation errors.
Figure 2.9: Message 2 This message informs that 3678 subcells were loaded successfully. The next section explains the significance of the term effectively selected and why 3678 subcells were loaded and only 6 selected for the AFP process.
2.3
Both the RING and the SEL parts of the network are loaded. It is important to know which subcells are loaded as the cost is calculated for all loaded subcells. The RING part is frozen for all assignments (BSIC, HSN, MAL, MAIO and channels). The SEL part may be assigned some parameters but only the ones specified in the dialog above. For example, if the user did not select BSIC, it will not be assigned. In addition to the generic freezing options above, there are some finer freezing options available in the data structure: 1. 2. Individual transmitters can be frozen for channel (and MAL), HSN and/or BSIC assignment. Individual TRXs can be frozen for channel (and MAL) assignment.
In an Atoll project, it is strongly recommended to avoid TRXs without channels. For this reason, never create transmitters automatically if there are no channels to assign to them. Therefore, if the user does not ask for MAL/MAIO assignment, all SFH subcells are considered frozen and no TRX will be created for them. The same occurs when only a MAL/MAIO assignment is requested. In this case, all NH and BBH subcells will be considered frozen and no TRXs will be created. Note: See Developer Reference Guide for details on the TO_ASSIGN and FROZEN assignment states available in the AFP API.
22
AT262_ARG_E1
Forsk 2007
2.4
Figure 2.10: AFP Launch Window Interference matrices can be managed through the Interference Matrices folder. You can have more than one interference matrices in your document. The top most active interference matrices set is used by the AFP. You can either embed the interference matrices in the document or store them in external files. Atoll compresses the interference matrices if stored in the .atl document itself. It is not necessary to load IMs or look for them each time AFP is launched. You can view the reports on different interference matrices available in the Interference Matrices folder. This report has a summary section which indicates the current state of the IMs.
Example 1: When partial IM info exists, we can see that 9 transmitters out of 24 do not have any interferers.
Forsk 2007
AT262_ARG_E1
23
Example 2: When complete IM info exists, observe that the IM topology is more or less normal.
Figure 2.12: Complete Interference Matrices - Report The AFP launch dialog also lets you define a generator initilialisation number. This number serves as a directive of randomness for the AFP process being launched. If the generator initialisation is set to 0, the AFP will be fully random. An integer other than 0 will define a given deterministic sequence for the AFP process. Each generator initialisation number (other than 0) corresponds to a deterministic sequence. Therefore, each AFP instance launched with the same generator initialisation number will yeild the same results. You can use this option if you want to have the same set of solutions every time you launch the AFP for the same part of the same network. The Atoll AFP has a single algorithm with a number of steps. The AFP ignores some of these steps if the alloted target calculation time is too short. One of these steps is deterministic, i.e. independent of the generator initialisation number, while the other steps are initialized by this number. Generator Initialisation = 0 (default value) signifies that this intialisation number will be calculated randomly. Generator Initialisation 0 means that the number will be the one set by the user. Every time you define the same number, the AFP algorithm will be initialised in the same way, and hence the set of solutions will be the same.
It is advised to set Generator Initialisation = 0, and let the AFP reach the end of the Target Computation Time defined. However, you must keep in mind that all the AFP computations are deterministic in the start, independent of the generator initialisation. The AFP must be allowed to compute during the target time to observe the effects of randomness. Notes: Since the method chosen by the AFP depends on the target time provided, you might not get the same results using the same generator initialisation number if the defined target times are different. Therefore, to actually get the exact same results from the AFP process, you must define a certain target time and a certain generator initialisation. The AFP may be perfectly deterministic during a portion of the target computation time (5 15%). During this period, the randomness seed will have no effect on the solutions. If you want to see the effect of randomness, let the AFP calculate until the end of the target time, or set a shorter target time.
24
AT262_ARG_E1
Forsk 2007
2.5
The window below opens when the AFP is started, and displays information about the AFP process:
Figure 2.13: AFP Progress Window The Progress section of this window in the top left displays the target time allocated to the AFP, the time elapsed and the number of AFP solutions that have been evaluated so far. The general information and interference matrices report section in the top right gives some general information about the current solution in real time. This display depends on the selected AFP module. This section lists the status of the current solution, the initial cost, the cost of the current best solution, the cost of the previous solution and whether the previous solution was kept or rejected. You can use the >> button to switch to the report on the currently used interference matrices. The Event viewer has been made accessible through the AFP progress dialog in order to help the user keep track of all the important warnings and messages generated before and during the AFP process. This also enables you to export these messages as an AFP log file. If a solution is kept, a corresponding message appears in the Event viewer. Double-clicking the message in the Event viewer will open a dialog with the full details of this message, which will look something like the following figure.
Figure 2.14: Event Viewer Message - Solution Kept After the AFP is allowed to compute solutions and try to optimise the network for a while, the AFP progress dialog would look somewhat like this:
Forsk 2007
AT262_ARG_E1
25
Figure 2.15: AFP Progress Window The Best Frequency Plan Costs section displays the current values of modifiable and total costs, and their respective separation components. This section also displays the total weighted Erlangs of the network concerned in the AFP process, i.e. the total cost of a 100% interfered frequency plan). It gives a general idea of how good the cost of a certain frequency plan is. The cost of any solution remains between 0 and the Network Weighted Erlangs. The cost is as better as it is closer to 0. Apart from the above information, this section also contains a table listing the initial frequency plan and all the AFP solutions kept so far sorted in ascending order of cost. This table can display: Modifiable costs Total costs Frozen costs Summed components Main components (separation violation cost component, interference component and modified TRX component) Additional taxes (corrupted, missing or out of domain TRXs)
For detailed description of modifiable and non-modifiable parts of the total cost, please refer to section 4.4.1.11 "Modifiable and Non-Modifiable Costs". Using the buttons available in the Plan comparison section in the bottom right, it is possible to visually compare the initial frequency plan and the current best solution (with the Best Plan column in the AFP cost details table checked). Clicking these buttons opens dialogs containing graphs corresponding to Cost Distribution on Frequencies and Usage Distribution on Frequencies. The cost of a frequency f is given as: Cost ( f ) =
i TRXs using f
FL ( i ) Cost ( i )
Where, FL(i) is the fractional load of frequency f in the MAL of i, and cost(i) is the AFP cost of TRX i in Erlangs.
26
AT262_ARG_E1
Forsk 2007
Figure 2.17: Frequency Usage Distributions You can pause or stop the AFP process any time to check the current best solution, and resume optimising the network after you have checked it. Pausing the AFP process opens the AFP results window with the current best solution results listed.
2.6
AFP Outputs
When calculations stop (completed or paused to view the current situation), Atoll displays the frequency plan proposed by the AFP. All results/violations are listed in a dialog window. This window contains a table listing all the assigned resources.These resources and related items (transmitters, subcells) are coloured differently to indicate different reasons: Arctic blue: frozen resource Red: resource modified compared to the previous allocation but with separation violation Green: resource modified compared to the previous allocation respecting the separation constraints Black: resource not modified Blue: resource assigned with no separation violation Purple: resource assigned but with separation violation Grey: items and resources involved in computation but not available for allocation
Positioning the cursor over a resource in the table displays the reason for its colour in a tool tip. The AFP result dialog is a non-blocking dialog. It enables the user to access other Atoll windows while the AFP is still pending. Thus, it is possible to view other data or warning/error messages in the Event viewer (for example, the history of AFP solutions). From this stage, it is possible to commit, to resume or to quit the AFP. It is good practice to keep a report through the export option before resuming the AFP. The user can also partially commit some of the results as explained in the next section. The results window displays all the results of the AFP session. It is possible to only display some of the results by checking/ un-checking the relevant choices in the Display options menu. You can choose to display the results related to: Cells (BSICs) Subcells (HSNs) TRXs (Channels/MAL, MAIO) and related separation violations
Selected AFP performance indicators (AFP TRX ranks, and total and separation costs at TRX, subcell, transmitter and site levels) will also be available in the results window. These AFP performance indicators are also available to export. You can choose whether to display the AFP indicators in the results as separate columns. The Show AFP Indicators command in the Display options menu controls the display of AFP TRX ranks, and total costs and separation cost components at TRX, subcell, transmitter, and site levels.
Forsk 2007
AT262_ARG_E1
27
Figure 2.18: AFP Results Window As the network had been loaded according to both the items to assign and the ones they relate to, it is possible to display the frequency plan of either: Items belonging to the selected transmitters (see the definition of SEL), or Items belonging to the loaded transmitters (see the definition of SEL + RING). In the preceding example, there were no transmitters in the RING set, so the option is not available.
It is also possible to display detailed information about separation constraint violations, i.e. the co-channel and adjacent channel collision probabilities for relevant TRXs. You can choose to display these separation constraint violations through the Display options menu. The Separation violations column lists each each type of separation constraint violation realted to a given TRX, i.e. exceptional pair, co-transmitter, co-site, or neighbour. Another column titled With the TRX contains a button for each type of separation constraint violation. This caption of this button shows the TRX with which the separation constraint violation occurs. Clicking this button takes you to the corresponding TRX row in the table. Right-clicking a row with a separation constraint violation opens a Separation Constraint Violations context menu, which opens a dialog mentioning the reason of violation when clicked. For example:
Figure 2.19: Separation Constraint Violation Details Message Use the Commit button to assign the allocated resources and AFP performance indicators. The resume button permits resuming the AFP optimisation from where it stopped the last time. Note: At the bottom of the AFP results window, messages related to the last solution are displayed, which may list problems as well.
28
AT262_ARG_E1
Forsk 2007
2.6.1
Figure 2.20: AFP Results Window - Partial Commit Feature It is possible to specify the action to be taken with each TRX individually, or globally delete all TRXs with separation violations. It is also possible to mix the old plan and the new plan. Though this is not recommended, since it can cause interferences of which the user might be unaware. The dialog examples below depict how this operation can be carried out. The Delete the TRX option implies that the resulting frequency plan will not respect the number of required TRXs. In the above example, note than the neighbour separation constraint violations at transmitter Site36_1 vanished once the TCH TRX at Site36_31 was deleted.
Forsk 2007
AT262_ARG_E1
29
2.6.2
Once it finds the TRXs that satisfy the criteria, it sets their corresponding values to Delete the TRX in the Channel Assignment column of the AFP results window. This tool lets you resolve any type of constraint violations for different types of TRXs, control or traffic. You can also define a threshold of co-channel and adjacent channel collision probabilities. This restriction will only set those TRXs to Delete the TRX, which have a co-channel or adjacent channel collision probability higher than the threshold you defined.
30
AT262_ARG_E1
Forsk 2007
2.7
2.8
2.8.1
2.8.2
Forsk 2007
AT262_ARG_E1
31
Figure 2.23: Scanning for Frequencies In this example, frequency 11 is not a good choice since it is used as a neighbour co channel. Frequencies 10 and 12 present similar characteristics.
Figure 2.24: Scanning for Frequencies On the other hand, frequency 14 is a good one and can be possibly allocated. None of the frequencies {13, 14, 15} are allocated at the selected transmitter of at its neighbours.
32
AT262_ARG_E1
Forsk 2007
Chapter 3
Frequency Planning Prerequisites
Atoll
34
AT262_ARG_E1
Forsk 2007
3.1
3.1.1
This means that the problem is too easy for the AFP and the user would like to create a more difficult IM in order for the AFP to have a more difficult problem to solve. The best method to accomplish this is to increase the cell edge reliability and recalculate the IMs. When the reliability requirement is elevated, a larger part of the standard deviation is reduced from C when calculating the C/I for each IM entry. The user should also verify that the standard deviation is properly defined in all clutter classes and its default value. This verification is more important in the case of Atoll documents converted from older versions or connected to a database.
3.1.2
HCS Layers
HCS layers have several roles in Atoll. Their most important role is related to the way Atoll manages traffic maps. Different layers have different priorities and mobility limitations. There is also the possibility to manage traffic overflow from one layer to another. The objective of all these options is to model the behaviour of a real network, where two potential servers that do not belong to the same layer usually do not compete for best server. When calculating an IM, or when generating an interference study, HCS layers are used in generating service zone maps, the basis of these calculations. If two transmitters belong to different layers, they can both serve the same pixel even if received signal from one is much stronger than the others. For equal HO margins, more HSC layers mean higher overlapping levels in the network. As the overlapping level increases, the constraint level in the IM and the amount of interference in an interference study also increase. Note: Be sure to study the priority mechanism in your network, both in the re-selection process and in the handover process. Define the corresponding HCS layers once you know its working. When using a traffic model, make sure that there are a few levels of mobility in order to model high speed / low speed mobility behaviours.
Forsk 2007
AT262_ARG_E1
35
3.1.3
Subcells
Subcells are defined as a group of TRXs in the same transmitter. Two subcells of the same transmitter can request frequencies from different domains, require different C/I qualities, have different downlink power offsets and even have different Radio Resource Managements (RRM). Different RRMs can lead to different service zones under the same cell. Subcells are crucial for modelling concentric and dual band transmitters. In these cases, the TRXs belonging to the inner subcell serve traffic within a limited zone. Note: All TRXs in a subcell share the same TRX type.
3.1.3.1
3.1.3.2
3.1.3.3
Minimum C/I
The required quality thresholds for BCCH and TCH are usually 12 and 9 dB respectively. But, since the GSM standard tests this behaviour under the comfortable reception conditions of 20 dB above thermal noise, it does not reflect the behaviour for, for example, received signals being only 15 dB above thermal noise. Atoll provides the possibility to define these thresholds at subcell level allowing maximum flexibility and possibility to support a mixture of old and new equipment. Moreover, the safety margins corresponding to these values can be defined in the AFP cost definition. Refer to section 4.4.2.3 "Quality Target and C/I Weighting" for more information.
3.1.3.3.1
Quality Targets
Various quality targets can be set in Atoll by defining a C/I threshold value min C/I, with a probability threshold % max interference. These two values combined together define a quality target which implies that in order to have acceptable quality, the probability of having C/I lower than the min C/I value must be less than % max interference. This method enables Atoll to exploit the fact that a larger number of TCH channels can be assigned with quality requirements lower than the BCCH quality. This results in less constraining interferences and an easier and faster assignment. Refer to section 4.4.2.3 "Quality Target and C/I Weighting" for more information.
3.1.3.4 3.1.3.5
Traffic Loads
Traffic loads of all the subcells are used as input to the AFP. These traffic loads can be calculated by Atoll or read from the Subcells table. Traffic loads are discussed in detail afterwards.
36
AT262_ARG_E1
Forsk 2007
3.1.4
TRXs
Atolls TRX table enables the following: Support of an external ID space of the TRXs of a transmitter (important for import and export utilities). MAL / channel at TRX level. MAIO at TRX level. Fine freezing: The user can freeze specific TRXs in an unfrozen transmitter.
The TRX table does not contain an active field. Therefore, all TRXs in it should contain a valid frequency or MAL and are all considered to be on air. It is better to remove an entire TRX record than removing only the frequency or MAL from its channels list.
3.1.5
Freezing Flags
A multilevel freezing mechanism enables freezing resources at TRX level as well as at transmitter level. This, in turn, enables the user to use an existing plan while assigning only newly added demand for channels. These options are in addition to the working zone limitations. Note: When freezing channels, keep in mind that the MAIOs are not frozen.
3.1.6
AFP Weights
The AFP weight field in the Transmitters table enables the user to assign high or low weightings to certain transmitters. It can be used to improve quality at a problematic location or to boost quality in a particular covered region of the network. An additional AFP weight field exists at the subcell level. It enables the user to assign weighting to subcells. A conventional idea could be to assign a higher weight to the BCCH. The AFP uses the multiplicative product of transmitter level AFP weight and subcell level AFP weight.
3.1.7
Spectrum Administration
Many levels of administration exist relative to frequency planning. In order to avoid confusion, here is a comprehensive list: ARFCNs ARFCN is the method employed by the GSM/DCS standards to enumerate 200 kHz frequency carriers. Frequency Bands Frequency Bands are subgroups of ARFCNs. Different equipment may be limited to different frequency bands (BTS, MS, ). In addition, propagation models use the central frequency of the band for calculating propagation. Frequency Domains Domains are used for managing the usage of the Frequency Bands. For example, an operator may use frequencies 1 to 50 while the other uses 52 to 100. Splitting the band on channel usage basis is of great importance as well (BCCH frequencies, TCH frequencies, Hopping layer). Domain Groups Domain groups are used for further managing the use of the frequencies in a domain. For example, f1 and f2 can be assigned at the same transmitter if and only if they belong to the same group. Another frequent use for groups is in the MAL assignment. In Atoll, a domain is defined as a union of groups. It points to a frequency band and must be included therein. The AFP respects domain limitations at subcell level.
3.1.8
Atoll considers the low level to be the accurate source of information. For example: Atoll will automatically update the TRX table if the channel list of a transmitter in the transmitter table is changed. The frequency band of a transmitter cannot be edited.
These redundancies provide some additional features (for example, grouping transmitters according to the frequency bands). On the other hand, there is a chance of mistakes and bugs which may damage a redundancy in the ATL file. Therefore, it is recommended that the audit tool be used from time to time in order to fix these problems (right click the Transmitters folder, choose Audit from the Subcells menu).
Forsk 2007
AT262_ARG_E1
37
Neighbour Importance
Neighbour importance field exists in the neighbour relation tables. It is also available in the AFP and can assist in resolving congestion situations. This is discussed in detail in subsequent chapters.
SeparationConstraints Table
It is a separation exceptional-pair table containing pairs of subcells with associated separation requirements. Special separations have a higher priority with respect to all other separations and can be used to relax separation constraints as well.
3.1.12
Adjacency Suppression
Adjacency suppression is defined as the difference between the required C/I and the required C/A (C/A being the Carrier to Adjacent Intensity ratio). By default this is set to 18 dB following the standard. It is available in the Predictions folder properties dialog window under the name Adjacent channel protection level. The GSM standard requires this desired behaviour but does not specify any amplification level. It is recommended to be sure that the physical equipment in the network support this value. The value of this parameter is used in the AFP when extracting the interference caused by an adjacent channel, and in Atoll in interference and C/I studies. It might be a good idea to use a safety margin for this parameter and set it to 16 dB, for example.
3.2
3.2.1
As it is during an AFP process that frequencies and MALs/MAIOs for different TRXs of a subcell are chosen, the AFP tool stores and manipulates the information about TRXs in good and in bad conditions. If you choose AFP Rank indicator to be allocated when starting an AFP session, each cost improving solution will go through a TRX rank assignment. If no improving plan is found, TRX rank will be assigned for the initial plan (like BSIC). TRX ranking within a subcell is performed on the basis of TRX costs. In many cases of MAL/MAIO assignment, only one or two of a TRXs MAIOs violate separation constraints. Therefore, a higher ranking will be assigned to the MAIO violating the separation constraints.
38
AT262_ARG_E1
Forsk 2007
3.2.1.1
3.2.2
Forsk 2007
AT262_ARG_E1
39
40
AT262_ARG_E1
Forsk 2007
Chapter 4
Frequency Plan Optimisation
Atoll
42
AT262_ARG_E1
Forsk 2007
4
4.1
4.1.1
Using a vector map Define a simple user profile for an active user with voice service, speaking 3600s per hour (i.e. consuming 1 Erlang). In the Geo tab, create a new traffic map based on user profiles through the GSM GPRS EGPRS Traffic folder context menu. Select the user profile just created with pedestrian mobility and assign density to the Density field. Assign appropriate clutter weighting. Click the polygon button on the drawing toolbar and draw a polygon surrounding the computation zone. Double-click it and assign a density of 1. This vector map will appear in the Traffic folder.
Both traffic maps are stored in the document and can be exported. An exported vector map is smaller than a raster one.
4.1.2
Forsk 2007
AT262_ARG_E1
43
AFP Reference Guide Important: Keep in mind that the required number of TRXs is the number of TRXs required to carry a given traffic. This is the number of TRXs (usually) calculated through the dimensioning process. The number of existing TRXs is the current actual number to TRXs at a transmitter.
4.1.3
This option has the following advantages: Interference over hot spots will have more weight Example: Sites covering an important highway will interfere over the highway but the interfered surface will be less compared to the coverage. Therefore, not significant if no traffic is used.
Interference over dead spots will not create overhead constraints Example: A large hilly park in the middle of a city is often not covered by a dedicated site since it has low traffic. The slopes of this hill are covered by many overlapping cells and tend to create many undesirable IM entries. If the weight of these slopes is reduced due to very little traffic, this can simplify an over-constrained problem.
See 8.3 "Appendix 3: BSIC Allocation" to understand further why traffic loads and interference information are not combined together in Atoll.
4.2
Tip:
Check neighbour allocation before running the AFP. Often a bad neighbour relation definition causes poor frequency plan performance.
4.2.1
44
AT262_ARG_E1
Forsk 2007
Figure 4.1: Automatic Neighbour Allocation AFP can be launched once the results of the neighbour allocation have been generated and committed. Note: In the results generated by Atoll after neighbour allocation, the sum of importance values of all neighbour relationships of a sector is not 1.
4.2.2
As with any other source of information, it is the users task to prepare and import this external data. The units of the neighbour importance are probabilities and are expected to reamin between 0 and 1.
4.2.3
3. Import the file AllCurrentNei.txt into the neighbour exceptional pairs so that the existing neighbour allocation is forced (usual operation for extending an existing allocation), 4. Run automatic neighbour allocation in order to extend your neighbour relations and/or assign importance where it was not already assigned. To keep important values lower than X%, all Max% values in the importance part of the dialog should be kept less than X. For example, if X is 50%, the configuration shown below can be used,
Forsk 2007
AT262_ARG_E1
45
Figure 4.2: Automatic Neighbour Allocation Results As can be observed in the figure above, all new neighbour relations have weak importance values. 5. Commit the allocation, 6. Import the file, and answer no if asked to remove neighbours of modified transmitters. The screenshot below shows that the neighbour relations now comprise old neighbours with a higher importance and new neighbours with a lower importance automatically calculated by Atoll.
4.2.4
46
AT262_ARG_E1
Forsk 2007
Chapter 4: Frequency Plan Optimisation tionships. If the number of handovers from sector B (neighbour of sector A) is Y, the importance of sector B for sector A can be given by: 1 If Y X Impor tan ce = Y - If Y < X -- X In this way, when a relationship has more than the average number of handovers, its importance will be the highest it can be in Atoll, i.e., 100%. Otherwise, the importance will be less than the average.
4.3
4.3.1
Figure 4.4: Dimensioning Process 3. Recalculate the traffic capture since service definitions have changed and then launch dimensioning. Some transmitters will have less required TRXs while others, which were more loaded, have the same number of required TRXs as before.
Forsk 2007
AT262_ARG_E1
47
AFP Reference Guide Running the AFP once more can return an improved frequency plan, as the following example shows:
Action performed
AFP cost for the empty network, indicating the number of weighted Erlangs
603.6 601.4
The above experiment proves that the capacity difference between the two networks is very low (first column, around 2 Erlangs). This means that the reduction of 5 TRXs leads to a very minor decrease in capacity. This is due to the fact that this was done by dimensioning considerations rather than other possible considerations. The AFP generates a better plan after this decrease in the number of TRXs. The AFP cost units are Erlangs, therefore, we can compare the 2 Erlangs lost because of capacity to the 10 Erlangs gained because of better AFP cost. Note: It is possible to set a Maximum number of TRXs in the Transmitters table. You can copy and paste the current demand to this column, thus forcing the dimensioning process to respect the current state of the network as an upper bound. This possibility is a handy in all possible cases of difficult frequency allocation.
4.4
4.4.1
4.4.1.1
4.4.1.2
Case 1
F1 is used 4 times, F2 and F3 are used one time each. Number of separation violations is 6 (6 bad edges) Two TRXs have good assignments The spectrum is not equally used
Case 2
F1 is used 3 times, F2 twice, and F3 is only used one time. Number of separation violation is 4 (4 bad edges) Only one TRX has a good assignment
Case 3
F1, F2, and F3 are used two times each. Number of separation violations is 3 (3 bad edges) No TRX has a good assignment The spectrum is equally used
Atoll AFP prefers Case 1 by default. Nevertheless, it can be configured to opt for Case 3.
48
AT262_ARG_E1
Forsk 2007
Chapter 4: Frequency Plan Optimisation The parameters that control the capability of Atoll AFP to be more Edge-oriented than Node-oriented are explained next. But, before this explanation, following are the three main advantages of the Node-oriented approach: a. The cost function has meaningful units, i.e. Interfered Erlangs. b. The ability to focus problems on a TRX that is already 100% interfered and to improve the others instead of spreading interference on several TRXs. c. The capability to respect a TRX based quality target, i.e. dismissing interference at a TRX that does not sum up to a certain considerable value (explained below). The Node-oriented approach is an important feature of the Atoll AFP and provides a tighter correspondence between the AFP cost and the network quality.
4.4.1.3
Here, T() is an estimation of the traffic Erlangs using TRX weighted by the AFP weight for this TRX. The user can fully control the AFP cost target by determining the value of the cost function parameters. Some of these parameters belong to the data model, e.g. Maximum MAL Length and Minimum C/I, while others are present in the specifc AFP GUI. Appendix 2 explains how to find each of these parameters. Note: The AFP cost is the cost of the entire loaded network, not only the cost of the selected or non-frozen TRXs. In many cases, the AFP is authorized to change only a part of the network. Therefore, the part of the cost corresponding to the non-frozen part of the network and the part of the cost corresponding to the frozen part of the network are indicated.
4.4.1.4
Frequencies that are part of a MAL with a low fractional load and that disobey a separation constraint, should not be weighted the same as in non-hopping separation violation. In fact, the separation component is weighted by the burst collision probability, which is the multiplication of the victims fractional load and the interferers fractional load.
Forsk 2007
AT262_ARG_E1
49
AFP Reference Guide Example: Let us consider the following simple case of a network comprising two TRXs in the same cell. The first, TRXi, has a MAL denoted as MALi. It is interfered by TRXk having MALk. TRXi and TRXk have a separation requirement of 2. Their MAL lengths are respectively 5 and 4. Unfortunately, one of their frequencies is the same (i.e. separation = 0), while all other frequencies are correct. For the case of a co-channel violation when the required separation is 2, the cost of the separation violation is 90%, as shown in the dialog above. Since only one channel of each TRX causes interference, with length(MALi)=5 and length(MALk)=4, the collision probability is 1/20. Hence, the cost to consider is divided by 20, i.e. 90/20 = 4.5% for each TRX. In addition, since the two TRXs have different MAL lengths, they have different interferer diversity gains: a gain of 1.4 for MAL length of 5 and a gain of 1.2 for MAL length of 4 (see 8.2 "Appendix 2: Interferences" for details). Applying interference diversity gain of 1.4 dB means that the cost will be divided by the value: 10 this will give 4.5% / 1.38 = 3.25%. 1 90 - ------------------------ = 3.41% . For TRXk, the cost to consider will be ----20 10 ( 1.2 10 ) Now, in order to get the exact contribution to the separation cost component, these values are multipilies by the traffic load (Erlangs / timeslot) and by the number of traffic carrier timeslots in each TRX. Assuming the traffic load to be 1 and that each TRX has 8 traffic carrier timeslots, we will get (8 x 3.25 + 8 x 3.41), i.e. about 0.5 Erlangs for the two TRXs together. Note: In this example, the AFP weight was assumed to be 1, the traffic loads were assumed to be 1, no DTX was involved, no other interference or violation was combined with the above, the global separation cost was set to be 1, and the co-transmitter separation weight was set to 1 as well.
( 1.4 10 )
4.4.1.5
Interference Cost
Traffic on a TRX will be interfered if and only if co/adjacent-channel reuse exists within interfering transmitters. Each such reuse will reduce the amount of good traffic and increase the interference cost. It will be weighted by the global interference weighting factor, and will take into account the burst collision probability in the same way as in the example above. For more information, see section 8.1.3.2 "Interference Cost Component".
4.4.1.6
m+1
( 1 P i ) 1 ( 1 P i ) i=1 i=1
The interference cost uses the min C/I value, defined at subcell level, for which it may have precise pair-wise interference information. It may apply various gains to this C/I quality target due to frequency hopping and/or DTX.
4.4.1.7
50
AT262_ARG_E1
Forsk 2007
Chapter 4: Frequency Plan Optimisation Note: The Atoll AFP always assigns as many TRXs as the Required TRXs field indicates. The user can only decide regarding the better plan, i.e. the previous plan having a better quality but some missing TRXs or the new plan having lower quality but having all required TRXs assigned. In future versions, the AFP will be capable of optimising these decisions as well.
4.4.1.8
4.4.1.9
4.4.1.10
Quality Target
It is often required to handle small and large amounts of interference in different manners. For example, an operator might prefer to have 10 transmitters with 2% interfered traffic in each, rather than to have 2 transmitters with 10% interfered traffic in each. The Global Cost section of the Atoll AFP properties dialog windows Cost tab provides an option to dismiss interference and separation costs that do not sum up to the value of the parameter "% Max Interference" defined in the Subcells table for each subcell. TRXs having less percentage of interference than that defined in the "% Max Interference" are considered to have 0 interference and are excluded from the cost. This feature can be used to distribute the interferences equally among some transmitters in stead of having a few with very low interferences and others with high interferences.
4.4.1.11
Forsk 2007
51
AFP Reference Guide Neighbours are always included in RING. If one transmitter of an Exceptional Pair is included in SEL and the other is not, then the other will be included in RING. If BSIC assignment is required, then all the second order neighbours (neighbours of neighbours) will be included in RING.
The total cost of the network corresponds to SEL+RING. It contains the modifiable as well as the non-modifiable parts of the network costs. The modifiable part of the total cost of the network corresponds to SEL. However, this cost does not include costs corresponding to frozen entities of transmitters in SEL. The non-modifiable part of the total cost of the network corresponds to RING. It includes the costs corresponding to frozen entities of transmitters in SEL. In each instance of an AFP process, there might be entities frozen by the user. In addition to the generic freezing options, there are finer freezing options available in the data structure: 1. Individual transmitters can be frozen for channel (and MAL), HSN and/or BSIC assignment. 2. Individual TRXs can be frozen for channel (and MAL) assignment.
4.4.2
4.4.2.1
4.4.2.2
52
AT262_ARG_E1
Forsk 2007
Test case: A network with 90 transmitters in total, 15 frozen transmitters and sum of required TRXs = 257. Only 193 good TRXs were already allocated. 64 TRXs should be created / newly allocated with as little influence as possible on the other 193 TRXs.
For a cost of changing a TRX = 1 For a cost of changing a TRX = 0.3 For a cost of changing a TRX = 0.1 For a cost of changing a TRX = 0 AFP changed only 98 TRXS AFP changed only 129 TRXS AFP changed only 139 TRXS AFP changed 162 TRXS
4.4.2.3
4.4.2.3.1
4.4.2.3.2
C/I Weighting
When the C/I weighting option (the bottom rectangle), related to the quality threshold, is used, the AFP takes into account that the traffic having close-to-threshold C/I conditions is neither 100% satisfactory nor 100% corrupted.
Figure 4.7: C/I Weighting In this way, safety margins on the threshold C/I conditions can be avoided. Therefore, the user must specify a margin around which a slope is created, as illustrated in the figure above. This figure corresponds to an interference relation between two TRXs. It describes the distribution of traffic according to C/I conditions. It depicts the effect of 3 different quality requirements on the interference cost of a co-channel frequency reuse. It can be observed that, when a low quality (C/I > 8 dB) is required, less traffic is considered as interfered than for a high quality (C/I > 11 dB). The option C/I >10 dB + 2dB margin has the advantage of not being too strict on one hand, and yet trying to achieve high quality if possible. It is visible from the above figure how it integrates the different traffic classes into the interference cost.
Forsk 2007
AT262_ARG_E1
53
4.4.2.4
Figure 4.8: Atoll AFP Module Properties - Separation Weights Tab Other tabs of the AFP module properties dialog are more advanced. Please refer to the Atoll User Manual for more information on AFP module properties tabs.
54
AT262_ARG_E1
Forsk 2007
Chapter 5
Means to Evaluate Frequency Plans
Atoll
56
AT262_ARG_E1
Forsk 2007
5
5.1
5.1.1
Figure 5.1: Interference Study Report The column Erlangs (based on traffic load) is available in the interference study report as seen above. This column uses a traffic model similar to the one used by the AFP: It spreads the traffic of each subcell (#TRX x traffic load x # timeslots) on the service zone of the subcell. Then, it sums up the interfered traffic (in Erlangs) of each interfered TRX.
This means that it is a TRX based estimation of interference and is much more accurate than any other tool available in Atoll. In order to be able to use this option, you must check the Detailed results option when specifying conditions for an interference study.
5.1.1.1
5.1.1.1.1
Forsk 2007
AT262_ARG_E1
57
Figure 5.2: TRX Based Interference Studies For each TRX, Atoll retains a map of all the pixels that do not comply with the quality threshold (one map for each TRX). The threshold can be global or dedicated to each subcell (from the Subcells table). The maps can be visualised by the user and contribute to the overall statistics. The column mentioned earlier weighs the bad surface of each TRX map by the traffic carried by the TRX as seen by the AFP. Therefore, it is the most appropriate tool for frequency plan interference evaluation.
5.1.1.1.2
5.1.1.2
5.1.1.3
58
AT262_ARG_E1
Forsk 2007
5.1.2
Using Audit
The consistency checking tool gives precise information about separation constraint violations: Number of constraints violated Types of constraints violated (co-transmitter, co-site, neighbour, special) Transmitters and TRXs affected Synchronisation, HSN, MAL and MAIO are taken in to account.
The consistency check tool is described in detail in the Atoll User Manual. A quantified summary of separation constraint violations is available. It makes the evaluation of a frequency plan much easier than before. The section below demonstrates how this evaluation can be carried out.
5.1.2.1
5.1.2.1.1
5.1.2.1.2
Forsk 2007
AT262_ARG_E1
59
AFP Reference Guide N2 is the additional number of TRXs subject to an adjacent-channel reuse violation where the separation violation concerns two non SFH TRXs. N3 is the additional number of TRXs subject to a co-channel reuse violation where the separation violation concerns two TRX where at least one is SFH. N4 is the additional number of TRXs subject to an adjacent-channel reuse violation where the separation violation concerns two TRX where at least one is SFH. Notes: If a TRX is counted in N1 it will not be counted in N2. If a TRX is counted in N1 or N2 it will not be counted in N3. If a TRX is counted in N1, N2 or N3 it will not be counted in N4.
N5 is the number of TRXs subject to whatever separation violation that exists. N6 and N7 correspond to a different counting system, the pair-wise counting system. N6 and N7 are only used in cases where the fractional load is less than 1, which means that at least one of the TRXs in the pair is SFH. The pair-wise violation counting is less important than TRX counting and therefore has a low weight coefficient. On the other hand, it cannot be ignored, since in 1/1 SFH plans, all TCH TRXs will have violations with neighbours and yet it would be required to minimize the volume of these violations. N6 and N7 are defined as following:
N6 is summed over all pairs subject to a co-channel reuse violation, where at least one TRX in the pair is SFH and where the probability of a burst having a co-channel violation is summed. N7 is summed over all pairs subject to an adjacent-channel reuse violation, where at least one TRX in the pair is SFH and where the probability of a burst having an adjacent-channel violation is summed.
In the following example, the values of N1 through N7 are {0, 23, 62, 35, 123, 7.695, 2}
5.2
60
AT262_ARG_E1
Forsk 2007
5.2.1
5.2.2
5.3
Forsk 2007
AT262_ARG_E1
61
AFP Reference Guide The relative load is the same as the number of TRXs if no synthesised hopping is involved. When synthesised hopping exists, the frequency load is the sum of 1/(MAL size) of all the TRXs using this frequency. The scope of this tool is the same as the AFP scope.
5.3.1
Advice:
Do not expect a balanced distribution of frequencies in every case. Sometimes the best solution requires an unbalanced assignment.
5.3.1.1
62
AT262_ARG_E1
Forsk 2007
Chapter 6
Advanced Topics and Troubleshooting
Atoll
64
AT262_ARG_E1
Forsk 2007
6
6.1
6.1.1
For example, a domain containing groups of lengths 3, 5 and 8 will be a badly planned domain if there are many groups of length 3, many of length 8 and only one of length 5. If restricted to such a domain, the AFP will not produce an optimum plan. On the other hand, by adding a few more groups of length 5, the quality can be much improved. Another solution could be to simply remove the single group of length 5. When many groups are defined, the quality is almost as good as with free assignment. Notes: Currently, the AFP always assigns the same MAL to all TRXs within a subcell. The group constrained assignment mode is applicable for SFH only. In NH and BBH, the assignment mode is always free.
6.1.2
Definition of Atom
An atom is a set of synchronised subcells that share the same HSN, the same frequency domain and have the same length MAL. The MAIO assignment of an atom manages the frequency collisions between the MALs of the atom. If an atom contains more than one subcell, the AFP may assign to it partially different MALs (depending on a user-definable option) but it will always consider the fact that the subcells are synchronised. Atoms can be determined by the user or by the AFP via the HSN allocation. Some restrictions on this definition exist due to some extreme cases: 1. If two subcells have different domains, they cannot belong to the same atom. 2. If two subcells have different limitations on Max MAL Length, they cannot belong to the same atom. A warning is generated when HSN assignment directives contradict with these restrictions. An important feature is the possibility to force the AFP to always assign the same MAL among subcells of an atom. Furthermore, improved results can be obtained by post-relaxation of this constraint, performed on a carefully selected and small subset of transmitters.
6.1.3
Synchronous Networks
Through working at atom level, and consulting a user defined synchronisation reference given in the subcell table, the AFP can fully exploit the benefits of synchronisation in a GSM network. It is capable of extending Atoms beyond the limit of a site and, by doing so, using the MAIO assignment to further resolve violations or interference.
6.1.4 6.1.5
Fractional Load
Both HSN assignment and MAL length determination processes are tuned to obtain a user defined fractional load. A fractional load of is obtained if the number of TRXs using a certain MAL is only times the size of the MAL. Atolls notion of fractional load does not require the traffic load to be taken into account. Since fractional load cannot always be obtained, this parameter is considered as a guide rather than a constraint. When it can be obtained, AFP chooses either a MAL length 1/ times longer than the number of TRXs in the biggest subcell of the atom or a MAL length 1/ times longer than the sum of all TRXs in the atom. These are called the short MAL strategy and the long MAL strategy respectively. You can choose between the two in the MAL tab of the properties dialog. The value of the fractional load parameter can also be edited and, furthermore, it can even be automatically calibrated by the AFP.
Forsk 2007
AT262_ARG_E1
65
6.1.6
6.1.7 6.1.8
HSN Allocation
The AFP assigns HSNs at subcell level. It chooses different HSNs for interfering and non-synchronous subcells. For synchronous subcells (usually within a site), the AFP can opt to assign the same HSN and different MAIOs within the set of same-HSN subcells. According to the adapted convention on HSNs for BBH TRXs, the AFP allocates different HSNs to the BCCH TRX and TCH TRXs. The 1st HSN corresponds to timeslots 1 through 7 of the BCCH and TCH TRXs, and the second HSN corresponds to the timeslot 0 of the TCH TRXs only. The second HSN is used in studies.
Figure 6.1: Hopping Sequence Numbers The user can control the HSN allocation so that it performs one of the following: Assigns the same HSN to all subcells of a site Assigns the same HSN to all subcells of a transmitter Assigns pair-wise different HSNs if a pair of subcells has mutual interference. Optimise HSN assignment so that the frequency assignment is better (free HSN).
6.1.9
MAIO Allocation
The AFP assigns MAIOs to TRXs so that the same MAL can be reused within a subcell, within a transmitter or even within a site. The separation requirements must be satisfied for frequencies that are on air, at all frame numbers. The cost function averages the cost upon all frame numbers in the synchronised case and upon all collision probabilities in the nonsynchronised case. See section 8.1 "Appendix 1: Description of the AFP Cost Function" for details.
6.1.9.1
6.1.10
BSIC Allocation
Atoll AFP allocates BSICs according to two criteria, a soft criterion and a hard criterion. Not respecting the hard criterion is considered an error, while not respecting the soft criterion provokes a warning. The soft constraints are logically stronger, meaning these have a higher probability of not being satisfied. The hard criterion is easier to satisfy but must not be broken as it will cause handover failures. The hard criterion is based on the second order neighbour relation and BCCH co-channel reuse. The soft criterion uses interference information as well and tries to induce a larger [BSIC, BCCH] reuse distance. Appendix 4 details the new algorithm and both criteria.
66
AT262_ARG_E1
Forsk 2007
Chapter 6: Advanced Topics and Troubleshooting The BSIC allocation is compliant with the BSIC domains of transmitters and the strategy indicated in the BSIC tab of the AFP module property dialog. Either the algorithm selects a minimum number of BSICs in the related BSIC domain (Minimal option), or it chooses as many BSICs as possible while keeping them evenly distributed in the related BSIC domain (Maximal and homogeneous option). Notes: In the Atoll AFP, the directions of neighbour relations are all considered equivalent, so that the BSIC allocation is subject to harder constraints. Let us consider the following two examples: A N N N A N
B
st
C 2
B
nd
From the operational point of view, the first case is much more critical in terms of (BSIC, BCCH) collision. However, both cases are considered as violations of hard constraints by the AFP and error messages are generated (if the domain limitation provokes violations). The soft criteria add additional constraints due to interference and adjacent reuse between BCCH channels. Warning messages are generated when soft criteria are not fulfilled. Atoll AFP also considers Training Sequence Code collisions for synchronous networks. The AFP tries to avoid having the same TSC when interference exists (i.e. TCH interference, not only BCCH reuse). BSIC assignment cannot be performed if the BSIC domain is empty or not assigned. When no BSIC domain is assigned, Atoll dislays a warning message that says that the BSIC domain is either null or empty. When an empty BSIC domain is assigned, Atoll displays an error message telling the user that BSIC allocation is not possible, and the network loading is stopped.
6.1.11
If possible, missing / incorrect data are changed and default values are used (with warnings for each in the Event viewer). If any serious problem is detected, an error message appears and access to the AFP is denied. The table below lists the most common data limitations enforced in order to protect the frequency planner.
6.1.11.1
Limitation
Maximum number of subcells in the loaded part of 1,000,000 the network Highest possible HSN Lowest possible HSN Limitation on the number of different frequency domains Highest possible BSIC Lowest possible BSIC Longest possible MAL length Shortest possible MAL length Default Max MAL length Interference calculations are performed for cochannel and adjacent interference only. Highest frequency ARFCN 63 0 10,000 77 0 62 0 62 If separation <= 1 1024 Used if the parameter is out of range. Performance So that with the BCCH frequency there are not more than 63 frequencies in a list to avoid exceeding the 255 character limit in Access. Each exclusion of frequencies at a transmitter may create a new domain
Forsk 2007
AT262_ARG_E1
67
AFP Reference Guide Maximum required channels at a subcell Highest value of AFP weight Lowest value of AFP weight Default value of AFP weight Highest value of Traffic Load Lowest value of Traffic Load Default value of Traffic Load Highest value of % max interference Lowest value of % max interference Default value of % max interference Highest value of min C/I Lowest value of min C/I Default value of min C/I Maximum power offset Highest value of Reception threshold Lowest value of Reception threshold Default value of Reception threshold Limitation on separation requirements Limitation on the actual number of TRXs in a transmitter Limitation on the number of interfering and neighbour subcells 62 100 0 1 10 0.1 0.1 / or 1 if the field is NULL. 100 1 2 25 2 12 25 -50 -116 -94 Must be <= 7 50 1000 Used if the parameter is out of range. Will be eliminated in the future. Used if the parameter is out of range. Used if the parameter is out of range. Appears in subcell and cell type configuration tables. Appears in subcell and cell type configuration tables. Used if the parameter is out of range. (The parameter appears in subcell and cell type configuration tables). Used if the parameter is out of range.
6.2
6.2.1
Advice:
Before running the AFP, select the definition of the service zone to use for the AFP and all Atoll prediction studies intended for AFP results analysis.
6.2.1.1
Advice:
1. settings. 2. Check that the options in the Atoll interference study are consistent with the AFP interference calculation Verify that the small IM report does not indicate the existance of many non-interfered transmitters.
68
AT262_ARG_E1
Forsk 2007
Advice:
3. If AFP interferences have been imported, check that they are consistent with the service zone of Atoll interference study.
6.2.1.2
Advice:
Use a "Best server with margin" coverage study as service zone for both AFP and Atoll studies dedicated to analyse AFP results. The fact that C/N > M is bounded by the C model might incur misunderstandings. For example, increasing the margin will not essentially increase the service zone, but change nothing because service zones are limited by coverage and not by other best servers. Note: For simplicity, hierarchical layers have been ignored in this discussion.
6.3 6.4
Event Viewer
The AFP outputs various messages in the Event viewer. For example, when it finds a zero cost solution, when it stops because of a data problem or when it finishes without improving. The events, warnings and errors may be helpful in understanding the AFP behaviour, especially when a problem occurs.
Advice:
Select "Subcell min C/I threshold" instead of "Specified min threshold" in the Atoll interference study Condition tab.
6.5
Forsk 2007
AT262_ARG_E1
69
Advice:
Use a focus zone inside the calculation zone in order to focus the study on properly modelled transmitters. Preferably, use calculation zones that are geographically isolated. See the example below:
6.6
6.6.1 6.6.2
AFP is also capable of committing cell level and TRX level quality indicators into the data structure. This makes the selection of hot spots a much easier task.
6.6.3
6.7
70
AT262_ARG_E1
Forsk 2007
Chapter 6: Advanced Topics and Troubleshooting Also, if the Atoll session has been open for a long time, memory problems may even appear while working on smaller networks. This is because the process memory space (memory space allocated to Atoll by the operating system) becomes fragmented. Following is a list of advices, which you can follow in order to avoid such problems: Use regionalisation or site lists: If you load a large network, Atoll will be required to load a lot of data that might not be useful all of the time. For example, in a typical large GSM network, you might have around 10,000 transmitter records, 20,000 subcell records, 50,000 TRX records, and up to 150,000 neighbor records. Externalise embedded interference matrices: In Atoll 2.4.1 and 2.5.0, embedded interference matrices can be exported to external files and then removed from the .atl file to free up some memory. This might be interesting to do before launching a large C/I coverage prediction study. In Atoll 2.5.1 and above, you can externalise or embed each separate interference matrix in the IM folder. Atoll manages the loading of interference matrices from the disk to RAM so that it occupies memory only when needed. You will also reduce the .atl file size by externalising the interference matrices. Try to adapt calculation radii to the cell type and the EIRP: Before calculating path loss matrices, take care in correctly associating calculation radii and resolutions to different types of cells. If you calculate path loss matrices for all types of cells over a large calculation radius, it will unnecessarily burden the C/I and interference matrices computations. Properly configure the interference thresholds: These thresholds indicate the level from which onwards an interferer can be ignored. The default value for this threshold (-130 dBm), defined in the Predictions tab of the Predictions folders Properties dialog, implies that the computations will take into account all the intererers. However, if you set it too high, you might lose important interference information. The proper value for this threshold depends on the Reception Thresholds and the C/I Thresholds defined in the Subcells table. The optimum value would be Min AllSubcells ( RT i CIT i M ) . Which means the minimum value of the factor RT i CIT i M computed for all subcells, i. Where, RTi is the reception threshold of the subcell i, CITi the C/I threshold of this subcell, and M is a safety margin. Since this interference threshold is used both in interference matrices calculation and in interference predictions, it is important to take at least 3 dB margin for the interference energy aggregation in C/I studies. We recommend a safety margin of 5 dB, which can be reduced any problem is encountered. Do not define very high C/I quality thresholds (Default values: 12 dB for BCCH and 9 dB for TCH). If you want a certain TRX type to carry GPRS/EDGE traffic, you can add 1 or 2 dB to this value for that TRX type, and use the option of safety margin in the AFP modules Cost tab. The 12 dB and 9 dB default values already include safety margins. If you increment these values too much, it will unnecessarily load the interference matrix generation and the AFP. Do not start an AFP session if the interference matrices report indicates problems: All the transmitters should have interferers and very few of them (not more than 20%) should have more than 70 interferers. If there are too many or too few entries in your interference matrices, the AFP plan will not be optimum. If the memory-critical task is interference matrices generation: You can generate interference matrices in a piecewise manner. This means that you can generate nation-wide interference matrices with low resolutions based on the % of interfered area (to improve computation time), with a cell edge coverage probability of 50% (which implies no access to clutter forreading standard deviation values), and an interference threshold of -112 dBm. This will provide rough global interference matrices which can be locally improved. These interference matrices will be less memoryconsuming. Then, use polygon or site list filters to focus on each important location, and calculate local interference matrices with higher resolutions and reliabilities. Make sure that the computation zone in your project completely encompasses the filtering zones that you define. If you are working with Atoll 2.3.1 upto 2.5.0, you must first import the high resolution interference matrices, and then the low resolution matrices. This is automatically performed by Atoll 2.5.1 and above. If the memory-critical task is the AFP session: Try to make the document lighter, e.g. remove coverage prediction studies, exit and restart Atoll, and try to generate interference matrices having less number of entries. If the memory-critical task is the traffic capture: You can use traffic load field of the Subcells table to provide traffic loads directly to the AFP, and possibly skip this step.
Forsk 2007
AT262_ARG_E1
71
72
AT262_ARG_E1
Forsk 2007
Chapter 7
Interference Matrices
Atoll
74
AT262_ARG_E1
Forsk 2007
Interference Matrices
Atoll can simultaneously use more than one interference matrices. There is no size limit to the interference information that you can use. And, it is possible to keep the interference matrices updated when transmitters are renamed or deleted, or the radio network data is reloaded from a database. You can create different scenarios in Atoll, such as: Working with many small (regional) interference matrices instead of one country wide matrix If recalculation is required, you can recalculate just the concerned matrices instead of recalculating an entire country-wide matrix. The calculation of smaller matrices is quicker as well. Using the AFP for a certain region only requires to load the interference information for that region.
Working with interference matrices of different resolutions You can have, for example, a country-wide matrix of lower resolution completed by high resolution regional matrices. The AFP can use the country-wide matrix where the high-resolution matrices are not available.
Working with interference matrices of different types Interference matrices based on drive tests can be updated from the measurements as they are carried out from time to time in each region. Interference matrices based on RXLEV statistics from the OMC can be updated as the statistics are made available from the OMC. Each time the information will be collected with a different list of (dummy) neighbours. The actual neighbours remain the same; therefore, these interference matrices can be combined based on a "Worst case combination". If they are combined by averaging, a neighbour interferer will be n times stronger than an equivalent non neighbour interferer.
You can combine interference matrices of the same type and import for use in Atoll, or you can import these interference matrices in Atoll as lower bound interference matrices. In both cases, the AFP uses the interference information correctly. Interference matrices of the different types, resolutions, and sizes are listed under the Interference Matrices folder. The following sections describe how interference matrices can be stored, imported, combined, and calculated.
Features in Atoll
The following features are available concerning interference matrices in Atoll. Support of different types of interference matrices. You can import and work with interference matrices from different sources: Based on path losses (propagation) Based on data from the OMC Based on drive test data
Support of different sizes of interference matrices. You can work with either a lot of of small (local) or fewer large interference matrices, with different resolutions.
Support of more than one interference matrix with the possiblity to activate and deactivate the matrices. You can import and work with more than one interference matrix. All the interference matrices, available in the Interference Matrices folder, correspond to a network state. You can work with interference matrices with different interference information about the same pixel. Duplicate information is managed by Atoll. The information in the interference matrices is compressed. Interference matrices only require memory (RAM) when in use. Interference matrices can be saved to external files, without any loss in performance, so that the .atl file size is not impacted. Each interference matrix has its own scope and context.
Support of maximum likelihood combination. The Atoll AFP module can combine interference matrices, using their scopes and contexts and a maximum likelihood combination method. The Atoll AFP module has access to the the scopes and contexts of interference matrices, and can intelligently combine different interference matrices. The combination process takes into account no-interference and interference information from interference matrices. The Atoll AFP only loads the active and relevant interference matrices in memory during calculations. Inactive interference matrices and interference matrices that do not belong to the studied area are not loaded.
Forsk 2007
AT262_ARG_E1
75
7.1
This type of interference matrices can be created using an extended neighbours list. 5. Based on test mobile data Reliability can be low because usually the test mobile data sampling zone and the traffic model are not related. Secondly, the measurements are carried out for existing neighbours. 6. Based on CW measurements Reliability can be low because usually the measurements do not reflect the traffic model. However, this source of information can be very reliable for a subset of transmitters that was properly scanned. Carrying out CW measurements is expensive, which implies that often the collected information is partial or out of date. 7. Based on scan data drive tests Highly reliable and an excellent source of information, but not usable in a radio planning tool because no information is available for mapping transmitters to the received signals at any pixel (x, y). 8. Upper bound interference matrix The source of this type of interference matrix is not defined. It can be based on user experience. The information contained in this interference matrix is used as an upper limit, i.e., if this interference matrix indicates a certain level of interference, it should not be exceeded because other interference matrices show higher interference. If an upper bound interference matrix does not contain information about an entry, it is ignored. 9. Lower bound interference matrix The source of this type of interference matrix is not defined. It can be based on user experience. The information contained in this interference matrix is used as a lower limit. This type of interference matrix can be very useful because you can edit entries in this interference matrix, and be certain that the interference will be at least as high as the value you entered. This approach can be used when user experience shows a certain level of interference which the radio network planning tool is unable to calculate.
7.2
76
AT262_ARG_E1
Forsk 2007
Chapter 7: Interference Matrices Interference matrices are stored as binary format data, and can be (re)loaded to the RAM when needed (by the AFP, for generating reports, or for exporting) Read/Write operations are quicker
Disadvantages: File size limit restricts the amount of information that can be stored in a .atl file.
Externalised interference matrices: Atoll can externalise interference matrices to one of the supported file formats. However, only the .clc file format can store complete information of an interference matrix. Please refer to the Technical Reference Guide for more information on the different file formats. Advantages: The size of the Atoll document is not affected by the size of the externalised interference matrices listed in the Interference Matrices folder.
Disadvantages: Read/Write operations take a bit longer with external files, therefore, once the interference matrix is loaded to the RAM, it is kept loaded. File sharing between users is not possible.
You should externalise interference matrices if the .atl file size is close to the file size limit. It is, otherwise, recommended to keep the interference matrices embedded.
7.3
7.4
7.4.1
7.4.1.1
Forsk 2007
AT262_ARG_E1
77
Figure 7.1: Interference Matrix Properties Dialog - General Tab The Advanced tab lists the type and the quality indicators of the interference matrices (see Figure 7.2: "Interference Matrix Properties Dialog - Advanced Tab").
Figure 7.2: Interference Matrix Properties Dialog - Advanced Tab Depending on the matrix type, the quality indicators available in the Advanced tab include: 1. For matrices based on path loss (propagation data) matrices The standard deviation The resolution Whether the interference information (probabilities) correspond to traffic or surface area
2. For matrices based on reselection statistics from the OMC The statistic duration Whether the interference information (probabilities) correspond to traffic or surface area
3. For matrices based on handover statistics from the OMC The standard deviation, depending on the equipment quality and measurement post-processing The average number of points collected in each matrix calculation point The volume of information Whether the interference information (probabilities) correspond to traffic or surface area
4. For matrices based on RXLEV statistics from the OMC The statistic duration AT262_ARG_E1
78
Forsk 2007
Chapter 7: Interference Matrices Whether the interference information (probabilities) correspond to traffic or surface area
5. For matrices based on test mobile data The standard deviation, depending on the equipment quality and measurement post-processing The average number of points collected in each matrix calculation point
6. For matrices based on CW measurements The standard deviation, depending on the equipment quality and measurement post-processing The average number of points collected in each matrix calculation point The volume of information Whether the interference information (probabilities) correspond to traffic or surface area
7. For matrices based on scan data drive tests The standard deviation, depending on the equipment quality and measurement post-processing The average number of points collected in each matrix calculation point The volume of information Whether the interference information (probabilities) correspond to traffic or surface area
The context of an interference matrix is not included in the interference matrix files. That is why Atoll asks the user to setup the type and quality indicators of the interference matrix manually.
7.4.1.2
Figure 7.3: Interference Matrix Scope The most important information of the scope is contained in the columns "% of victim coverage" and "% of interferer coverage". In order to understand their significance as well as their use, the following should be kept in mind: Interference matrices must provide interference information between each pair of subcell in the network. A large amount of memory would be required for a simple sequential representation of the interference matrix, which would make it impossible to work with such interference matrices in large networks. Therefore, interference matrices are represented as a set of entries for which interference exists. If an entry (i, j) does not exist in the set: Either j does not interfere i (no-interference), Or the interference information is missing in the interference matrix because at least one of the two was out of the scope of the interference matrix (unknown-interference).
In other words, the lack of information can be interpreted as either no or unknown interference. If there is only one interference matrix, it can be considered complete since it is the only source of interference information. In this case, there is no difference between no and unknown interference. If there is more than one
Forsk 2007
AT262_ARG_E1
79
AFP Reference Guide interference matrix, the information missing in one matrix could be available in another. Therefore, it becomes very important to distinguish between the two cases in order to intelligently combine different interference matrices. The ideal method for differentiating between no-interference and unknown-interference cases would be to keep a matrix of values in memory, which depicts the reliability of each of the matrix entries, and thus, depicts the entries for which the interference is "Unknown" as unreliable entries. It is not practically possible to implement such a method simply because this matrix of values will be too large to work with. Therefore, Atoll includes a slightly restricted approach for storing the scope of interference matrices. Interference matrices contain two reliability indicators at transmitter level, i.e., the reliability when a transmitter is the victim, and the reliability when it is the interferer. This information is stored in the columns "% of victim coverage" and "% of interferer coverage". The reliability of an entry (i, j) is: VictimCoverage(Transmitter(i)) * InterfererCoverage(Transmitter(j)) This implementation is simple, compact, and sufficient for the most interference matrices.
7.4.1.3
7.4.2
80
AT262_ARG_E1
Forsk 2007
Chapter 7: Interference Matrices If the interference matrices are correctly managed in Atoll, no further parameterisation (weighting) is required.
The Interference Matrice tab (see Figure 7.4: "AFP Interference Matrices Parameters") available in the Atoll AFP Module properties dialog lets you set up the interference matrix combination by defining its three weighting components. The interference matrix combination is carried out as follows: 1. The Atoll AFP Module asks Atoll to load a subset of the active interference matrices of the document. This subset is determined by comparing each interference matrix scope with the AFP scope. Only the interference matrices whose scope intersects the AFP scope are loaded. 2. The Atoll AFP Module then reads the scope and context information of each loaded interference matrix. At a given pixel, the interference, p(i, v, x), of subcell i (interferer) on subcell v (victim) for a given C/I level x, can be read from more than one interference matrix. 3. The Atoll AFP Module combines all the values of p(i, v, x) by performing a weighted average. Therefore, itcalculates as many weights as the number of p(i, v, x) entries for a pixel. These "reliability weights" are calculated by multiplying the following three components, which are defined in the Interference Matrice tab of the Atoll AFP Module properties dialog: a. Component quantifying the membership to the AFP scope: VictimCoverage(Transmitter(v)) x InterfererCoverage(Transmitter(i)) For interference matrices based on OMC statistics, if the scope indicates that both i and v had the same BCCH, the component will be 0. b. Component depending on the interference matrix type. c. Component depending on the interference matrix quality indicators (see "Reliability Calculation") Note: In Atoll version 2.5.2, the AFP considered the first value of p(i, v, x). And in Atoll version 2.6.0, the AFP worked with the highest value of p(i, v, x).
7.5
Forsk 2007
AT262_ARG_E1
81
AFP Reference Guide 2. Interference matrices calculated from test mobile data: The victim and interferer scope is the transmitters included in the test mobile data path. The number of points per victim is calculated and associated with the quality indicator related with the volume of information (see "Reliability Calculation" for more details). A basic statistical analysis of the test mobile data measurements is carried out in order to estimate the values of "% of victim coverage" and "% of interferer coverage" for each transmitter.
Reliability Calculation
Depending on the type of interference matrix, one of the following three equations is used to determine the third reliability component: 1. Interference matrix based on propagation: 75 7.5 -------------- ------r + 25 Where is the standard deviation of the propagation model, and r is the calculation resolution. A resolution of 50 m and a standard deviation of 7.5 dB gives a weight of 1. 2. Interference matrix based on measurements from the OMC performed during n days: 1+n ---------------3 Which gives a weight of 1 for 8 days of measurements. 3. Interference matrix based on drive test analysis: [1 + n r + 1] ---------------------------------------------4 ( + 1) 3 parameters determine the weight: a. The standard deviation , which is assumed to be lower than the one of a propagation model. b. The number of measurements considered at each calculation point, r c. The number of calculation points per transmitter, n
0.4
82
AT262_ARG_E1
Forsk 2007
Chapter 8
Appendices
Atoll
84
AT262_ARG_E1
Forsk 2007
Chapter 8: Appendices
8
8.1
8.1.1
Appendices
Appendix 1: Description of the AFP Cost Function
Notations
The notations listed hereafter are used to describe the cost function: TRG denotes a group of TRXs. # is used instead of number of. For example, # TRXi is the number of TRXs in TRGi. denotes the relation if and only if. g denotes the size of any group g. ARFCN denotes the set of all the frequencies, and 2 the set of all the subsets of frequencies. TRGs denote the set of all the TRGs. x denotes the largest integer x (x can be a real number). A i, g denotes the number of times a group g 2 For example: When i is NH, A i, g = 1 g is a single member group containing one of the frequencies assigned at TRGi. If |g| is not 1 or if g does not contain a frequency assigned at i, then A i, g = 0 . When i is BBH, A i, g can be either 0 or #TRXi. A i, g = #TRX i g is the set of frequencies assigned to TRXs of TRGi. (|g| = # TRXi). When we talk about TRXs of i using g, and in the case of BBH, then there are |g| such virtual TRXs, each using the entire group g and having a virtual MAIO [0, |g| - 1]. When i is SFH, A i, g must be #TRX i . A i, g = n g is the set of frequencies assigned to n TRXs of TRGi. We assume all the groups assigned to TRGi to have the same length. TSi denotes the number of timeslots available for each TRX in TRGi. TLi is the traffic load of TRGi. This parameter may either be calculated during dimensioning or be user specified. TL i = #Erlangs of a single TRX in TRGi divided by TSi TSUi refers to the downlink timeslot use ratio (due to DTX) at TRGi. CFi is the cost factor of TRGi (AFP Weight field). QMINi is the minimum required quality (in C/I) at TRGi. PMAXi is the percentage permitted to have quality lower than QMINi at TRGi. REQi corresponds to the required number of TRXs at TRGi.
ARFCN ARFCN
A communication uses the group g in TRGi if its mobile allocation is g. The probability to be interfered is denoted by P i, i', g ( A ) (i is the TRX index). Different TRX indexes may have different MAIOs. P i, i', g ( A ) is a function of the whole frequency assignment. The precise definition of the term to be interfered is provided afterwards. The probability penalty due to violating a separation constraint is P i, i', g ( A ) . It is a function of the whole frequency assignment as well. The term Atom will be used in the following context: For two TRGs, i and k, ATOM ( i ) ATOM ( k ) i and k are synchronised, have the same HSN, the same MAL length and the same hopping mode. NH TRGs or BBH TRGs are always in separate atoms. If two TRGs interfere but are not in the same atom, these can be taken as unsynchronised. The quality of unsynchronised TRGs is a function of all possible frequency combinations. For synchronised TRGs, pairs of frequencies emitted at the same time are known.
8.1.2
Cost Function
The Atoll AFP cost function is a TRX based cost and not an interference matrix entry based cost. It counts the impaired traffic of the network TRXs in weighted Erlangs. The cost function is reported to the user during the AFP progress with the help of its 5 components: mis , sep , comp , corr and dom . = mis + sep + comp + corr + dom
Forsk 2007
AT262_ARG_E1
85
AFP Reference Guide where, mis represents the missing TRX cost component sep represents the separation component comp represents the additional cost component (interference, cost of changing a TRX) corr represents the corrupted TRX cost component dom represents the out-of-domain frequency assignment cost component Note: Do not let this form of representation mask the fact that the cost function is a TRX based cost function.
mis =
i TRGs
( MIS_TRX i ) TL i CF i TS i
corr =
i TRGs
( CORR_TRX i ) TL i CF i TS i
dom =
i TRGs
sep
= i TRGs
comp
= i TRGs
In the above equations, i is the TRX index belonging to { 0, 1, ..., A i, g 1 } . MIS_TRX i is the number of missing TRXs for the subcell i.
g2
ARFCN
A i, g
is the cost value for a missing TRX. This value can vary between 0 and 10. The default cost value is set to 1 and can be modified in the AFP module properties dialog. CORR_TRX i is the number of corrupted TRXs for the subcell i. is the cost value of a corrupted TRX. This value can vary between 0 and 10. The default cost value is set to 10 and can be modified in the AFP module properties dialog. DOM_TRX i is the number of TRXs, for the subcell i, having out-of-domain frequencies assigned. is the cost value of a TRX with out-of-domain frequencies assigned. This value can vary between 0 and 1. The default cost value is set to 0.5 and can be modified in the AFP module properties dialog. And, as mentioned earlier, a virtual TRX is considered in case of BBH. If i is valid, the algorithm evaluates the cost of a valid TRX. This cost has two components, ' i, i', g ( A ) and '' i, i', g ( A ) .
' i, i', g ( A ) is the separation violation probability penalty. '' i, i', g ( A ) is complementary probability penalty due to interference and the cost of modifying a TRX. If the option Take into account the cost of all the TRXs available in the AFP module properties dialog is selected, then, ' i, i', g ( A ) = P' i, i', g ( A ) and '' i, i', g ( A ) = P'' i, i', g ( A )
86
AT262_ARG_E1
Forsk 2007
Chapter 8: Appendices Or if the option Do not include the cost of TRXs having reached their quality target available in the AFP module properties dialog is selected, the algorithm compares P' i, i', g ( A ) + P'' i, i', g ( A ) with the quality target specified for i, P MAX : If P' i, i', g ( A ) + P'' i, i', g ( A ) > P MAX , Then ' i, i', g ( A ) = P' i, i', g ( A ) and '' i, i', g ( A ) = P'' i, i', g ( A ) . Otherwise, Both ' i, i', g ( A ) and '' i, i', g ( A ) will be equal 0. P' i, i', g ( A ) is the same as ' i, i', g ( A ) (separation violation probability penalty) and P'' i, i', g ( A ) the same as '' i, i', g ( A ) (complementary probability penalty due to interference and the cost of modifying a TRX) in most cases. These are explained in detail in the next sections.
8.1.3
Cost Components
Separation violation and interference cost components are described hereafter. Parameters considered in the cost function components can be fully controlled by the user. Some of these parameters are part of the general data model (quality requirements, percentage of interference allowed per subcell), while others (such as separation costs and diversity gains) can be managed through the properties dialog of the Atoll AFP module.
8.1.3.1
as abbreviation.
ii' kgg' k' is considered to be the effect of a separation violation on the i' th TRX of TRGi assigned the group g, caused by the k' th TRX of TRGk assigned the group g' . denotes the overall weight of the separation violation cost component. This value can be between 0 and 1, set to 1 by default. It can be modified in the AFP module properties dialog. ik represents the weight of the specific separation constraint between i and k. This specific weight depends on the type of separation violation and follows the following priority rule: 1. Exceptional pairs 2. Co-transmitters 3. Co-site 4. Neighbours For example, if a pair of subcells are co-site and neighbours at the same time, they will be considered as co-site because higher priority. Hence, ik of these subcells will be the weight of co-site relations. If only a neighbour relation exists between two subcells, then ik will be further weighted by the neighbour relation importance. The value of ik remains between 0 and 1. The default weights of each type of separation are available in the Separation cost tab. If ATOM ( i ) ATOM ( k )
fg f' g '
SEP i, k,
f f'
- , which is same for all values of k. Then ii' kgg' k' = ik --------------------------------------------g g' If ATOM ( i ) = ATOM ( k )
SEP i, k, F_N
g g'
In the above equations, F_N ( g ) is the number of frames in the MAL g. F_N ( g ) = g .
Forsk 2007
AT262_ARG_E1
87
AFP Reference Guide Note: Since F_N ( g ) = F_N ( g' ) , we shortly denote the two as F_N .
Let f_n denote the instantaneous frame number from 0 to F_N . While = ( f_n + MAIO A And = ( f_n + MAIO A
i, g, i'
th
k, g', k'
frequency in g.
In addition, frequencies belonging to a MAL with a low fractional load, and breaking a separation constraint, should not be weighted equally as in a non-hopping separation breaking case. Therefore, the cost is weighted by an interferer diversity gain. 1 G i, k, g, g' = ------------------------------------------------------------------( 0.1 SEP_GAIN ( i, k, g , g' ) ) 10 The separation gain, denoted by SEP_GAIN ( i, k, g , g' ) is basically a function of the MAL length (and, of course, of the hopping mode). With frequency hopping, the effects of DTX and traffic load become more significant (due to the consideration of the average case instead of the worst case). For this reason, it is possible to consider these effects in SEP_GAIN ( i, k, g , g' ) through the relevant option available in the Advanced tab of the AFP module properties dialog. Without this option, the SEP_GAIN ( i, k, g , g' ) is: SEP_GAIN ( i, k, g , g' ) = I_DIV ( g ) I_DIV ( g ) is the user defined interferer diversity gain (dB) for a given MAL length. It is used in P i, i', g ( A ) definition as well. On the other hand, if this option is selected, the SEP_GAIN ( i, k, g , g' ) becomes, ( 2 + ASYN_GAIN ( i, k, g' ) ) SEP_GAIN ( i, k, g , g' ) = I_DIV ( g ) + 0.5 TSU_GAIN ( k ) min 10, 4 + ( 2 + I_DIV ( g ) ) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 1 - , Where TSU_GAIN ( k ) = log 10 ----------------------------- TL k TSU k And ASYN_GAIN ( i, k, g' ) = 0 I_DIV( g' ) if ATOM(i) = ATOM(k) Otherwise
More than one separation violations may exist for a TRX. Many small G i, k, g, g' and ' ii' kgg' have to be combined to form one cost element, the P' i, i', g ( A ) . This is done through iterating over all violating assignments and by summing up an equivalent to the probability of not being violated while considering each separation violation as an independent probability event. This sum is naturally limited to 100% of the TRX traffic, and is given by, ( 1 ii' kgg' k' G i, k, g, g' ) 1 P' i, i', g ( A ) = k TRGs ARFCN g' 2 k' TRXs of k using g'
In the above formula, if ( k = i ) , then ( k' i' ) , so that interference with itself is not taken into account.
8.1.3.2
When estimating P'' i, i', g ( A ) , the following problems are encountered: The QMINi C/I quality indicator corresponds to the accumulated interference level of all interferers while the C/I interference histograms correspond to pair-wise interferences. Both QMINi and the histograms correspond to a single frequency. In case of a MAL containing more than one frequencies, interferences on several different frequencies of a MAL must be combined.
88
AT262_ARG_E1
Forsk 2007
Chapter 8: Appendices This estimation, presented below, is the simplest possible as it solves the first problem by linear summation and truncation at the value of 1 and it solves the second problem by averaging and adding the two diversity gains: F_DIV ( g ) , the frequency diversity gain, and I_DIV ( g ) , the interferer diversity gain.
Hereafter, denotes the global weight of interference cost component. This value can vary between 0 and 1 and is set to 0.35 by default, which can be modified in the AFP module properties dialog. Let F_N ( g ) be the number of frames in the MAL g. F_N ( g ) = g . Let f_n denote the instantaneous frame number from 0 to F_N . Let MAIO A
k, g', j
be the jth MAIO of A k, g' , where j is one of the { 0, 1, ..., A k, g' 1 } TRXs.
k, g', j
= 0. = j.
k, g', j
As said earlier, in case of BBH, we consider g' virtual TRXs, the jth TRX has the MAIO j. Let g i be the ith frequency in the group g. Similar to the definition of ii' kgg' k' , ' ii' kgg' k' is defined as an interference event. ' ii' kgg' k' is the effect interference on the i' th TRX of TRGi assigned the group g, caused by the k' th TRX of TRGk assigned the group g' . If ATOM ( i ) ATOM ( k ) C - < Q_UB i, k, f, f' Probability --- I ik ------------------------------------------------------------------------------g g' f f' ADJ_SUP + INTERF_GAIN ( i, k, g , g' )
Then
f g, f' g'
Since F_N ( g ) = F_N ( g' ) , these are both represented by F_N . C - < Q_UB i, k, f, f' Probability --- I ik - = ------------------------------------------------------------------------------F_N f_n { 0, 1, ..., F_N 1 }
) modulo F_N , ) modulo F_N , f f' ADJ_SUP + INTERF_GAIN ( i, k, g , g' ) ( 1 ii' kgg' k' ) P' i, i', g ( A )
k, g', k'
k TRGs
ARFCN
In the above formula, if ( i = k ) , then ( k' i' ) , so that interference with itself is not taken into account. The sum is limited to 100% of the TRX traffic. INTERF_GAIN ( i, k, g , g' ) is quite similar to SEP_GAIN ( i, k, g , g' ) . The only difference is the frequency diversity gain, F_DIV ( g ) , added to SEP_GAIN ( i, k, g , g' ) .
Forsk 2007
AT262_ARG_E1
89
8.1.4
90
AT262_ARG_E1
Forsk 2007
Chapter 8: Appendices
8.2
8.2.1
Appendix 2: Interferences
In the Technical Reference Guide, Chapter 3.8 (File Formats: Interference Histogram Formats), there is a detailed description of the Atolls interference representation. The User Manual contains additional descriptions of interference usage: importing, calculating, keeping up-to-date etc. This appendix explains what is carried out at high level.
Using Interferences
If interferences are to be taken into account by the AFP, they must be calculated or imported beforehand. In order to do this, the user should previously decide to take interferences into account (enabling the loading of all the potential interferers). Otherwise, Atoll does not allow performing their computation by disabling the histogram part in the corresponding dialog.
8.2.2
Figure 8.2: The cumulative density of C/I levels between [TX1, BCCH] and [TX2, BCCH] In this case, we observe that the probability for C/I (BCCH of TX2 effecting the BCCH of TX1) being greater than 0 is 100% (which is normal because TX1 is the Best Server). The probability of having a C/I value at least equal to 31 dB is 31.1%. For a required C/I level of 12 dB on the BCCH of TX1, the interference probability is 6.5% (as this requirement is fulfilled with a probability of 93.5%). Note: The subcell power offset does not enter the calculation results in the .clc file. It is added later by the AFP interface. On the other hand, its influence on the subcell service zone is taken into account in the .clc file.
8.2.3
Precise Definition
Pci ( v, n, C_I ) is defined to be the probability of a communication (call) occupying a timeslot in subcell v (victim) to have C/I conditions of C_I with respect to a co-channel interference from the BCCH TRX of cell n (neighbour). We assume C_I values to be discrete and in dB. CDF(Pci) is the cumulative density function of Pci: CDF ( Pci ( v, n, C_I ) ) =
x C_I
Pci ( v, n, x )
Forsk 2007
AT262_ARG_E1
91
8.2.4
8.2.4.1
All these factors cannot be pre-calculated since it is the AFP that determines the MAL length and the MAL frequencies.
8.2.4.2
8.2.4.3
Robustness of the IM
By having precise C/I distributions calculated and exported, the user is free to change the following settings without the need for recalculating their interference distributions: 1. Quality requirements of network elements (required C/I, % Probability Max, ), 2. C/I weighting (the interference levels above and below the C/I target), 3. Separation requirements and/or neighbour relations, 4. Hopping gain values, DTX activities, traffic load levels, HSNs, synchronisation information, 5. Any frequency assignment setting (MAL length directives, frequency domains, assignment strategies, number of required TRXs, cost function parameters, ), or 6. Remove equipment By not mixing any of the elements above, the interference information keeps its original probability units and is easier to check and validate. Therefore, the user spends less time on interference recalculations than in the case of a two-entry matrix (where everything is included).
8.2.5
92
AT262_ARG_E1
Forsk 2007
Chapter 8: Appendices For example, if there are too many TRXs at a site and the user wishes that the AFP remove one of them, in order to be able to not violate site constraints, the AFP must know the traffic loads in order to choose a low load TRX to be removed. The gain introduced by the traffic load of the interferer depends on the hopping mode and the MAL size. Incorporating this gain in the IM (as a result of the mixed option) means that the IMs become hopping-mode and MALsize dependent. This is a bad idea since the AFP should be able to change the MAL. And the user should be able to change the hopping mode without recalculating the IM. In addition, an IM calculated externally to Atoll, with a non-hopping BCCH can be used for the hopping TCH.
A third option also exists. Though, this option is so practically useless due to its inefficiency. It consists in mixing IM and traffic but still keeping the traffic in its isolated form. This is again a bad idea because of the unit definition and the variety of IM sources. It involves less benefits than the option chosen in Atoll.
Forsk 2007
AT262_ARG_E1
93
8.3
8.3.1
Definitions
Here, iff is used instead of if and only if. Pred is used instead of predict. Let Pred_Nei(X, Y) be True iff X is a neighbour of Y or Y is a neighbour of X. Note: For all X, Y in the network, if Pred_Nei(X, Y) then Pred_Nei(Y, X).
Let Pred_Nei_Of_Nei(X, Y) be true iff there exist Z such that Pred_Nei(X, Z) and Pred_Nei(Y, Z). Let Pred_Co_BCCH(X, Y) be true iff X and Y both have the same BCCH. Let Pred_Adj_BCCH(X, Y) be true iff X and Y both have adjacent BCCH frequencies. Let Pred_Int(X, Y) be true iff X interferes with Y or Y interferes with X.
Hard Criterion
Prohibit using the same BSIC in both X and Y iff, (Pred_Nei_Of_Nei(X, Y) OR Pred_Nei(X, Y)) AND Pred_Co_BCCH(X, Y)
Soft Criterion
Prohibit using the same BSIC in both X and Y iff, (Pred_Nei_Of_Nei(X, Y) OR Pred_Int(X, Y) OR Pred_Nei(X, Y)) AND (Pred_Co_BCCH(X, Y) OR Pred_Adj_BCCH(X, Y))
Behaviour
As obvious, the soft constraint is much stronger and has a higher probability of not being respected. For any criterion not respected, the AFP issues a warning message counting the number of times the AFP was blocked due to each of the two criteria. The Consistency checking tool considers the cases where the hard criterion is not respected as errors. The previous algorithm (version 2.2.1) had a weaker soft criterion and had a tendency of using fewer BSICs. For a realistic test-bench network (using only one NCC), following BSIC usage results were obtained:
94
AT262_ARG_E1
Forsk 2007
Chapter 8: Appendices
8.4
8.4.1
Traffic Capture in Atoll is defined as the process of reading raw traffic data from the traffic maps and integrating them to generate traffic demand for each subcell. In order to perform a Traffic Capture, Atoll collects traffic information (in the form of Services, Mobility types, Terminal types) from traffic maps and network parameters/criteria (HCS priorities, service zone model, HR/FR activity percentages, other compatibility criteria, etc.) from the traffic model. Then, it distributes this traffic according to the criteria over the networks subcells, and generates and assigns the calculated traffic demand to each subcell. Traffic Demand is defined as the number of Circuit Switched/Packet Switched traffic Erlangs/kbps in a subcell. The results from this process are ready to be utilized in the next step. Network Dimensioning is the process that determines the number of TRXs per subcell required to carry the traffic assigned to it while respecting the QoS/GoS criteria defined. The traffic captured by the networks subcells in the previous step is the main input to this process along with the Quality of Service (or Grade of Service for Circuit Switched traffic) criteria defined by the user. Assigning a large number of TRXs to a subcell may guarantee the QoS required but will make the generation of a good frequency plan more difficult. This will also increase the infrastructure cost that depends directly upon the quantity of equipment required. Therefore, network dimensioning is a more sophisticated process than a mere estimation. Additional outputs of this process are the Traffic Load values (used by the Automatic Frequency Planners) and the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
8.4.2
8.4.3
8.4.3.1
Inputs
The following inputs are required for performing a traffic capture: Defined traffic model data (Services, Mobility types, Terminal types) Traffic map(s) (either internally generated, imported or edited) Network elements (Transmitters, Subcells, HCS layers, Frequency domains, equipment, )
The traffic model data contain the requirements for a certain class of traffic. Numerous classes of traffic can be created through combinations of [Services, Mobility types, Terminal types]. For example, a Packet Switched service requiring a certain kbps data throughput, allowing a certain maximum number of simultaneous timeslots to be used, with a minimum blocking probability, together define a minimum Quality of Service criterion. When this service is accessed by a user with certain mobility through a certain type of terminal device, this constitutes a particular class of traffic. Traffic maps can comprise many such traffic classes with user densities for each geographically distributed over the entire network or a part of it. Different traffic maps, raster, vector and live data, can be overlaid as shown in the figure below. During the traffic distribution, Atoll combines or integrates the traffic data read from these multiple layers of traffic maps to generate the traffic per bin.
Forsk 2007
AT262_ARG_E1
95
Figure 8.3: Traffic Maps Overlay The next section describes how these data, traffic information, compatibility criteria, and requirement criteria, are utilized in distributing and assigning this traffic to the networks sectors (subcells, to be precise).
8.4.3.2
The Engine
The Traffic Capture performs three principal tasks. First of all, it computes a Best Server per HCS layer prediction study (with the possibility to define an handover margin and a coverage reliability level at the boundaries) to define boundaries and overlaps between sectors corresponding to different layers and to generate an estimate timeslot capacity in kbps/ timeslot per sector. You can choose whether the later be based on C or C/I and C/(I+N). Secondly, it divides the traffic input from the maps between different HCS layers of the network and between sectors of the same layer complying with the criteria defined in the data model. In the end, it integrates the traffic distributed to each subcell to generate the end result: traffic demand per [service, subcell] pair in terms of Erlangs for CS traffic and in terms of kbps for PS traffic. This traffic demand provides Atoll with an estimate of average demand in terms of # TSL used. These three steps are described one by one hereafter.
8.4.3.2.1
Traffic Distribution
The distribution of traffic can itself be divided into two parts, one that is performed between different HCS layers and one that is performed between the sectors of the same layer. Here we will describe both respectively.
Inter-Layer Distribution
Once the Best Server per HCS layer prediction study has been performed in the background, Atoll proceeds to distributing the traffic over the different HCS layers and between the subcells of each layer. In Atoll, a user can define any number of HCS layers as required and assign priorities to them. A possible, rather probable, priority structure could be: Micro layer: Macro layer: Umbrella layer: Note: In Atoll, the priority levels increase directly as the integer assigned. This means that priority 3 is higher than priority 2, which is higher than priority 1, and so on. assigned priority 3 assigned priority 2 assigned priority 1
Atoll starts by assigning traffic to the HCS layer with the highest priority and then moves down the priority scale. There are two levels of control for filtering the traffic for each layer: Global control Local control Global Control A user can define each HCS layer to have a certain priority in order to control its importance at the time of traffic distribution. The priority parameter can hence be termed as one of the global control parameters that guide Atoll to start with a certain HCS layer. Each HCS layer is assigned a maximum speed limit. Any user with mobility higher than the maximum allowed on a certain layer cannot be allocated to it. Therefore, all traffic with speeds higher than that permissible on an HCS layer will not be assigned to it. Next, each layer can have a certain operating frequency. Although this parameter is managed at the TX level, a network can very well have, for example, a GSM 900 layer and an 1800 layer. Only the traffic compatible with the operating frequency band of a layer will be distributed over that layer. A network can also have, for example, a CS GSM layer and a PS EDGE layer. This technology
96
AT262_ARG_E1
Forsk 2007
Chapter 8: Appendices compatibility criterion is also taken into account when distributing traffic over layers. This parameter is also at the level of transmitters in Atoll. Local Control The local control parameters enable much finer tuning at the level of subcells. Each subcell in a network can be assigned a Target Traffic Overflow. This is the percentage of traffic that is allowed to overflow from this subcell to the lower priority layer beneath it. The figure below gives an idea of the effect of this parameter over traffic distribution.
Figure 8.4: Traffiic Overflow In the example above, when the Target Traffic Overflow for the microcell layer is defined to be 0, the entire traffic (compatible to the micro layer, of course) covered by this cell will be carried by it. On the other hand, if there is a percentage of traffic allowed to overflow from the micro layer to the layer underneath (10% in this example), Atoll will be permitted in this case to assign this overflowing traffic to the macro layer. This parameter enables fine tuning of the networks traffic distribution policy. This may be useful in order to avoid over-dimensioning the micro layer, or to avoid reaching the upper limit on the maximum number of TRXs that a sector can accommodate. To be a bit more precise on the two compatibility criteria, i.e. the frequency band and technology, this compatibility comparison is in fact performed at the sector level. Atoll compares whether the traffic to be assigned is technologically compatible with the higher priority sector before handing it over to the lower priority one. For example, a user with a GSM terminal using the 900MHz band cannot be assigned to a sector that operates on the 1800Mhz band. Similarly, a terminal accessing a PS service using the EDGE technology cannot be allocated to a sector that can only perform CS functions.
Intra-Layer Distribution
This function enables the distribution of traffic between sectors of the same layer when there are more than one servers providing coverage to that traffic. As, for example, in the figure below, there is an overlap between the coverage of A and B that corresponds to a certain HO margin (fixed by the user). The traffic under this overlapping region is covered by both servers. Therefore, if the traffic complies with the compatibility criteria for both sectors, it will be equally distributed between the two. Similarly, when there are more than two servers for traffic in a bin, it will be equally distributed among all the potential servers of that bin.
8.4.3.2.2
8.4.3.2.3
Integration
Atoll integrates the demand in terms of # TSL from the above results to generate the resulting total demand per sector for each service. This means that the CS traffic demand in Erlangs and PS traffic demand in kbps are converted into a total demand for each sector. This traffic demand per sector is later utilized when performing the network dimensioning process.
Forsk 2007
AT262_ARG_E1
97
8.4.3.3
Outputs
The outputs of this entire process are CS and PS traffic demands in Erlangs and kbps respectively, the average CS and PS traffic demand in terms of # TSL, and the average traffic demand in terms of # TSL. The Traffic Capture process generates an item called Traffic Capture X, that is required as input to the dimensioning process.
98
AT262_ARG_E1
Forsk 2007
Chapter 8: Appendices
8.4.4
8.4.4.1
Inputs
The input to the dimensioning process is the output of the traffic distribution process described earlier. Once the traffic has been distributed over the networks layers and sectors, the dimensioning process can be launched. Apart from the traffic demand, the dimensioning process also takes into account the minimum required QoS and GoS criteria defined for each type of service, the upper and lower limits on the # TSL for each service, and the upper limits on the number of TRX supported by each sector.
8.4.4.2
Dimensioning
The dimensioning engine in Atoll converts the traffic demand into the required # TSL, and eventually the required # TRX, following the QoS and GoS criteria. For example, for a CS service, lets say voice, allowing a minimum GoS of 2%, the traffic demand in Erlangs can easily be converted into # of TSL required to carry that traffic demand while respecting the required GoS through the Erlang B and Erlang C formulas. The type of model, either Erlang B or Erlang C, can be selected by the user. The computation of # TSL required to carry a certain PS traffic demand is more complicated than the simple conversion process described above. PS traffic implies a more complex definition of Quality of Service than the simple Grade of Service of CS traffic. It implies, apart from a certain blocking probability, a certain data throughput (kbps) to be maintained with a maximum allowable delay. These parameters that indicate the PS traffic quality requirements are known as Key Performance Indicators or KPIs.
8.4.4.3
Outputs
To abridge the numerous results generated at the end of a dimensioning process, we can say that the principal result is always the # TRX required for each subcell, and eventually each sector. Another chief output of the dimensioning process is the Traffic Load. More specifically, the Atoll Network Dimensioning process provides the # TSL required for CS traffic, for PS traffic, and the KPIs and the Traffic Load for each subcell. The Traffic Load is defined as the ratio of traffic demand to the # TSL carrying that traffic. It is perhaps one of the most important outputs of the process as it is further utilized in the Automatic Frequency Planning process. The consumption for a subcell can be extracted through multiplying the # TRX required by the Traffic Load and by the TSL multiplexing factor (8 for the GSM standard). Atoll also incorporates an intelligent allocation methodology for assigning the CS and PS TSL inside a TRX. The user has the possibility to define the TSL allocation schemes for each type of TRX. This is known as timeslot Configuration.
Forsk 2007
AT262_ARG_E1
99
100
AT262_ARG_E1
Forsk 2007
Index
Index
Symbols
% max interference 36, 51, 53, 68
A
Additional cost component 86 Adjacency suppression 38, 60 Adjacent channel protection level 38 Adjacent channel violation 54 Adjacent constraint 62 Adjacent-channel reuse violation 59 Advanced cost parameters 90 AFP 13 AFP performance indicators 38 AFP process in Atoll 19 AFP scope 22 AFP weight 22, 36, 37 AFP wizard 20 AMR 14 ARFCN 13, 37, 51, 61, 67 Assignment mode 36 Atoll AFP 67 Atoll data model 35 Atom 65, 85 Audit 59 Automatic constraint violation resolution 30 Automatic frequency planner 13 Automatic neighbour allocation 44 Average timeslot capacity 97
Corrupted TRX cost component 86 Co-site 28, 38, 87 Cost 13, 48, 58, 61 Cost components 87 Cost distribution on frequencies 26 Cost function 13, 48, 85 Cost function parameters 52 Cost minimization 13 Cost of changing a TRX 52 Co-transmitter 28, 38, 87 Creating IMs based on traffic 44 CS 14, 43, 96 Cumulative density function of C/I levels 91 CW measurements 76
D
Dimensioning 13, 43, 47, 95, 99 DLPC 14, 36 Domain range effect 62 Domain use ratio 66 Downlink power control 36 Downlink power offset 36 DTX 14, 36, 57, 60, 88 Dual-band Cells 36
E
EDGE 13 EGPRS 13 Embedded interference matrices 76 Erlang 26, 43, 48, 57, 70, 85, 96 Erlang B 99 Erlang C 99 Estimating frequency plan quality 57 Exceptional pairs 21, 28, 38, 87 Extending existing neighbour relations 45 Externalised interference matrices 77
B
Baseband hopping 66 BBH 14, 65, 85 BCCH 13, 36, 66, 76, 79, 93 BCCH co-channel reuse 94 Blocking rate 47 BSIC 13, 22, 38, 67, 76, 79, 94 BSIC allocation 66, 94 BSIC domain 67 Burst collision probability 49, 60
F
F_DIV 90 FAP 13 FER 14, 90 FH 14 FISFE 59 FN 14 FN offsets 15 FR 14 Fractional load 26, 49, 65, 88 Frame number 66, 88 Free MAL assignment 65 Freezing mechanism 37 Frequency assignment problem 13 Frequency band 37 Frequency distribution 61 Frequency diversity gain 89 Frequency domain 36, 37, 65 Frequency hopping 92 Frequency load 62 Frequency panning techniques 70 Frequency plan 39 Frequency plan optimisation 43 Frequency plan quality 57 Frequency planning 13, 36
C
C/I 14 C/I coverage prediction 70 C/I distribution 58 C/I threshold 36 C/I weighting 53 Calculation zone border effect 69 CDF 14, 91 Cell edge coverage reliability 35 Channel reuse 50 Close-to-threshold C/I conditions 53 Clutter weighting 43 Co-channel interference 91 Co-channel reuse violation 59 Co-channel violation 54 Collision probability 50, 66 Combination of separation violation and interference probabilities 48 Concentric Cells 36 Consistency check tool 59, 94 Constraints 35, 59 Corrupted TRX cost 51
Forsk 2007
AT262_ARG_E1
101
M
MAIO 22, 31, 37, 38, 51, 59, 65 MAIO allocation 66 MAL 14, 22, 36, 37, 38, 50, 51, 59, 65, 92 MAL length 67 MAL length determination 65 MAL size 62 Managing consistency in Atoll and the AFP 68 Manual frequency allocation for NH 31 Manual frequency allocation for SFH 31 Max MAL length 65, 66 Maximum likelihood combination 75, 77 Maximum MAL length 49 Maximum number of subcells 67 Maximum number of TRXs 48 Means to evaluate frequency plans 57 Minimum C/I 36, 49 Missing TRX cost 50 Missing TRX cost component 86 Mobility 35 Modifiable and non-modifiable costs 51 Modifiable cost 26 Modified TRX component 26
G
Generator initilialisation 24 Global cost 51 Global separation fitness expression 59 GoS 14, 95 GPRS 13, 38 Group constrained mode 36, 65 Group constrained subcells 51 GSM 13
H
Handover 46, 66 Hard criterion 66, 94 HCS 14, 96 HCS layers 35, 76 Histogram 57 HO 14 HO margin 35 HO statistics 45 Hopping gain 65 Hopping mode 36, 37 HR 14, 43 HSN 22, 36, 51, 59, 65, 67, 85 HSN assignment 65
N
Neighbour 28, 38, 59, 62, 87 Neighbour allocation 44, 68 Neighbour importance 38, 44 Neighbour relations 44 Neighbour separation violation 48 Network dimensioning 68 Network dimensioning process 99 NH 14, 65, 85 NH TRX 51 Non-frozen cost 51 Non-synchronous subcells 66 Number of different frequency domains 67
I
I_DIV 90 IM 13, 35, 43, 44, 61, 68, 92 Importing neighbour importance 45 Inner zone 36 Interfered Erlangs 49, 51 Interfered traffic 48, 53, 57 Interfered zones 57 Interference 31, 38, 51, 57, 68, 91 Interference calculation 68 Interference component 26 Interference cost 49, 61 Interference cost component 88 Interference distribution strategy 92 Interference histogram 88 Interference information discrimination 92 Interference matrices 23, 57, 75 Interference matrix combination 80 Interference matrix context 77 Interference matrix scope 79 Interference probability 48 Interference study quality criteria 69 Interference weight 52 Interferer diversity gain 88 Introduction to the AFP cost function 48
O
OMC 38, 45, 76 Optimal dimensioning of an existing network 47 Optimising hopping gains 65 Out-of-domain frequency assignment cost 51 Out-of-domain frequency assignment cost component 86
P
Pair-wise interference matrices 57 Pair-wise violation 60 Partial sources of neighbour importance 46 Performance and memory issues in large GSM projects 70 Point analysis 60 Power offset 36, 60, 68 Predefined MAL assignment 65 Prediction studies 68 Probabilistic cost combination 50 Probability threshold 36 Propagation 35 PS 14, 43, 96
K
kbps 14, 43, 96 Key performance indicators 95 Key roles of subcells 36 KPI 14, 21, 43
Q
QoS 14, 95 Quality indicator 62 Quality indicators 78 Quality target 36, 51, 53 Quality threshold 58
L
Local domain restrictions 36 Lower bound interference matrix 76
102
AT262_ARG_E1
Forsk 2007
Index
R
Radio resource management 36 Rank 38 Raster traffic map 43 Reception threshold 36, 68 Required quality threshold 36 Required TRXs 51 RRM 14, 36, 38 RXLEV 76
U
Uniform frequency usage distribution 61 Upper bound interference matrix 76 Usage distribution on frequencies 26 User profile 43
S
Safety margin 36, 53 Scan data drive tests 76 Scope and context of interference matrices 77 Second order neighbour relation 66 Separation component 86 Separation constraint 38, 62 Separation constraint violation 28 Separation cost 49 Separation fitness 59 Separation rule priority 38 Separation violation 48, 59, 60 Separation violation cost component 26, 39, 87 Separation weight 52 SeparationConstraints table 38 SeparationRules table 38 Service zone 36 Service zone of a subcell 68 SFH 14, 59, 65 SFH TRX 51 Soft criterion 66, 94 Spectrum 62 Spectrum administration 37 Staggered MAIO allocation 66 Standard deviation 35 Subcell 14, 36 Subcell audit 37 Subcell quality threshold. 58 Synchronous networks 65 Synchronous subcells 66 Synthesised hopping 62
V
Vector traffic map 43
W
Worst case combination 75 Worst case interference study 58 Worst interferer 58
T
Target computation time 24 TCH 14, 36, 66, 93 TCH_INNER 14, 36 TCH_OUTER 36 TDMA 14 Test mobile data 76 Thermal noise 36 Timeslot configuration 43 TL 14 TN offsets 15 Total cost 26, 39 Traffic capture 21, 43, 47, 95 Traffic capture process 95 Traffic distribution 96 Traffic environment 43 Traffic load 21, 36, 43, 57, 65, 68, 92, 99 Traffic map 43 Traffic model 43 Traffic overflow 35 Traffic overflow rate 36 Traffic weighting 58 Training sequence code 67 Transmitter 14 TRG 85 TRX 13, 15, 36, 85, 99 TRX based cost function 86 TRX based interference study 57 TRX cost 49
Forsk 2007
AT262_ARG_E1
103
104
AT262_ARG_E1
Forsk 2007
Forsk 2007
AT262_ARG_E1
105