Verification Measurements of Mechanical Downtilt in WCDMA

1. Niemel, 1. Borkowski, 1. Lempiinen

Institute oI Communications Engineering, Tampere University oI Technology
P.O. Box 553 FI-33101 TAMPERE FINLAND
Tel. 358 3 3115 4749, Fax. 358 3 3115 3808
Email: jarno.niemela@tut.fi


Keywords: Capacity, Iield measurements, mechanical
downtilt, WCDMA.
Abstract
The target oI this paper is to analyze the impact oI antenna
mechanical downtilt in WCDMA through Iield
measurements, and to evaluate the capacity gain in the
downlink. The measurement campaign was perIormed in a
pre-commercial urban UMTS network consisting oI
macrocells and microcells. Firstly, the Iield trials were
conducted in a network with part oI the antennas
mechanically downtilted. ThereaIter, mechanical downtilt
angles were removed, and the corresponding measurements
were perIormed again. For both network conIigurations, two
diIIerent traIIic load situations were measured in order to be
able to estimate the downlink capacities. The measurement
results veriIy the increasing impact oI mechanical antenna
downtilt on the downlink capacity, which has been earlier
observed with simulations. The capacity gain oI 20 can be
achieved through reduction oI other-cell interIerence.
Moreover, pilot polluted areas that aIIect the Iunctionality oI
the network can be also reduced in practice with downtilt.

1 Introduction
In antenna mechanical downtilt (MDT), the antenna array is
physically adjusted towards the intended service area. The
areas near the base station experience better signal strength
due to more precise bearing oI the vertical radiation pattern.
Simultaneously, signal radiation towards adjacent cells is
reduced. However, the eIIective downtilt angle corresponds to
the physical angle only exactly in the main lobe direction. In
addition, it decreases as a Iunction oI horizontal direction in
such a way that the antenna radiation pattern is not downtilted
at all in the side lobe direction. Nevertheless, interIerence
radiation towards other cells is reduced in the main lobe
direction.

Utilization oI MDT has been a tool Ior radio network planners
to optimize networks. It is an applicable method to reduce
other-cell interIerence in the main-lobe direction |1|.
ThereIore, MDT is already widely used in TDMA/FDMA
(time division multiple access / Irequency division multiple
access) networks as in GSM (Global System Ior Mobile
Communications) to decrease co-channel interIerence. In
GSM the motivation is mainly Iocused on achieving a smaller
Irequency reuse Iactor. ThereIore in practice, any
improvements in the radio network quality due to MDT (or
antenna downtilt in general) have not been directly taken into
account in capacity or Irequency planning phases, but have
been used as an extra margin to avoid serious interIerence
areas |2|. Nevertheless, capacity gains up to 20 have been
reported Irom the utilization oI MDT in GSM networks |3|.

In WCDMA (wideband code division multiple access) -based
systems, such as UMTS (Universal Mobile
Telecommunications System), utilization oI the same carrier
Irequency in adjacent (neighbouring) cells sets higher
requirements Ior other-cell interIerence mitigation than in
TDMA/FDMA networks. Controlling oI other-cell
interIerence can be carried out by downtilting the base station
antennas, which is needed in order to improve the quality oI a
network plan. On macrocellular layer, the reduction oI other-
cell interIerence has been observed to aIIect the capacity.
Typical capacity gain Irom MDT varies Irom 15 to 20
|4|-|7|. Naturally, the gain depends on the network and
antenna conIigurations |8|. MDT can enhance the system
capacity in microcellular environment as well |9|, even
though the contribution oI other-cell interIerence is typically
smaller than in macrocellular environment.

The impact oI MDT (or downtilt in general) is not only
limited to reduction oI other-cell interIerence through better
bearing oI the antenna array. As the downtilt angle is
increased, the soIt handover (SHO) probability in the cell
border areas is decreased, which might partly contribute to
downlink capacity increase. On the other hand, the relative
widening oI the horizontal radiation pattern increases the
overlapping between adjacent sectors, which results in a
higher soIter handovers (SIHO) probability |7|. The increase
oI SIHO depends strongly on the sector overlapping (i.e.,
sectoring scheme and antenna horizontal beamwidth).
Moreover, an excessive downtilt angle might lead to coverage
problems at the cell edges that would naturally limit the
network perIormance. However, one oI the positive impacts
oI MDT is the reduction oI pilot polluted areas, which was
observed in |10| and Iurther veriIied with measurements in
|13|. This aIIects signiIicantly the overall Iunctionality oI
WCDMA network. In general, the current understanding oI
the impact oI the MDT in WCDMA is limited to outcomes oI
simulations, and hence measurement results conIirming these
phenomena are needed.

The aim oI this paper is to veriIy the impact oI antenna
mechanical downtilt in WCDMA network through extensive
Iield measurements. The main interest lies naturally in
solving the possible increase oI the downlink capacity.
However, soIt handover probability and pilot pollution area
analysis will be shown as well. For analytical considerations
oI the impact oI mechanical downtilt readers are reIerred to
|7|-|8|.
2 Capacity analysis
The estimation oI the capacity in this paper is based on the
inIormation oI measured average levels oI E
c
/N
0
(energy per
chip over interIerence spectral density) Irom the particular
measurement route together with the achieved throughput in
the downlink (DL). E
c
/N
0
is the relation between RSCP
(received signal code power) and RSSI (received signal
strength indicator) on the CPICH (common pilot channel). It
provides a convenient reIerence Ior evaluation oI the
downlink interIerence increase as a Iunction oI throughput.
With the knowledge oI E
c
/N
0
and DL throughput over a
measurement route, the maximum achievable (average)
capacity can be estimated by an inverse load curve (see |11|
Ior plots oI E
c
/N
0
and DL throughput). Having a single point
Irom the load curve (i.e., E
c
/N
0
versus throughput), the slope
oI it can be used to estimate the E
c
/N
0
value that would be
observed Irom Idle mode measurements in an empty
network. Subsequently, this value can be used to estimate the
other-to-own cell interIerence Iactor (i) oI a cell (or cells
under a measurements route). Mapping oI the value oI Idle
mode E
c
/N
0
measurement can be perIormed assuming that
E
c
/N
0
equals -3 dB in a single cell area, and -6 dB in possible
SHO area. The method Ior evaluating the capacity oI a cell
Irom measurements is explained in more detail in |14|.
Finally, Ior speciIic service parameters, the maximum
capacity can be estimated with an appropriate estimate oI the
average orthogonality Iactor. For downlink capacity
estimation, common load equations are utilized |11|.
3 Measurement scenario
The measurements campaign was perIormed in an urban
UMTS network in order to veriIy the impact oI MDT. The
site conIiguration consisted oI conventional 3-sectored sites
with a mean site spacing oI 300-400 m. Average antenna
height was close to average rooI-top level, thus Iorming a
macrocellular/microcellular network. The selected
measurement route (Figure 1) covered location Irom every
cell in the measurement area.

In the Iirst network conIiguration, mechanical downtilt angles
(denoted to as MDT configuration) were included Ior most oI
the sectors pointing towards the central area. In Figure 1, the
sectors having MDT angle are depicted as red/light. In the
second conIiguration, all mechanical downtilt angles (denoted
to as without MDT) were removed. In addition to mechanical
downtilt angles, all antennas were equipped also with
electrical downtilt angles, which were sustained in order to
realize merely the impact oI MDT. An example oI the
horizontal and vertical radiation pattern oI a base station
antenna in the measurements is depicted in Figure 2.

The measurement equipment consisted oI a laptop PC with air
interIace measurement soItware connected to the test mobiles
and to the GPS receiver. For both network conIigurations,
measurements were conducted with two diIIerent traIIic load
situations. In the low load` scenario, two test mobiles
requesting a 384 kbps connection in the downlink
(background service class using HTTP) were used. Moreover,
the test mobiles were set inside a car with exactly the same
placement oI mobiles in consecutive measurement rounds.
The measurement route Ior the test mobiles is shown in
Figure 1. On the contrary in the high load` scenario, two

Figure 1. A part oI the network showing 7 sites with the
measurement route and the positions oI the interIering
mobiles. Sector antennas, whose MDT angle was changed,
are shown as red / light sectors.

30 dB
20 dB
10 dB
0 dB
30
210
60
240
90 270
120
300
150
330
180
0
Horizontal
Vertical

Figure 2. An example oI the radiation characteristics oI one
oI the antennas used in the measurements.
additional mobiles (static ones) were used to create additional
load to the network. These interfering mobiles requested the
same bit rate in the downlink as the test mobiles (i.e., 384
kbps HTTP download with background QoS service class).
Also, the interIering mobiles were placed inside a car. The
location oI interIering mobiles (static) is shown in Figure 1.
In the uplink (UL), load was generated only by the return
channel oI TCP protocol`s ack/nack messages. The same
measurement route was used throughout the measurements. In
addition, several measurement rounds were conducted per
each conIiguration in order to increase the statistical
reliability oI measurement results. The speed oI the test
mobiles did not exceed 60 km/h during the measurements.
4 Measurement results
Table 1 shows the average values Ior throughputs and E
c
/N
0

(per mobile) Ior both network conIigurations Ior the test and
interIering mobiles. The average throughput in the MDT
conIiguration without interIerers is 336 kbps over the whole
measurement route when averaged over three measurement
rounds. The corresponding average E
c
/N
0
over the whole
measurements route was -5.63 dB. Based on the capacity
estimation Irom the measured E
c
/N
0
and average throughput
values, the average cell capacity within the measurement
route would match to 880 kbps with 3 dB allowed noise rise
(i.e., 0.5 downlink load). Interestingly, without MDT, the
measured throughput was higher (402 kbps). However, the
average E
c
/N
0
level was correspondingly lower (-6.00 dB).
This results in average cell capacity oI 820 kbps. Note that
this capacity estimate depends strictly on the selected
measurement route (e.g., average distance to base station
etc.). ThereIore, evaluated average cell capacity is
comparable only with exactly the same measurement route. In
this particular measurement setup, where basically no other-
cell interIerence was present (assuming that mobiles located
in the same car are most oI the time connected to same cell),
the capacity gain Irom downtilt is not signiIicant (7 ).

With presence oI interIering mobiles, the MDT conIiguration
is able to provide on average 748 kbps whereas in the
conIiguration without MDT, the throughput is 722 kbps. The
average E
c
/N
0
values oI all Iour mobiles were -6.32 dB and
-7.25 dB Ior with and without MDT, respectively. The
estimated cell capacities would hence correspond to
1000 kbps and 830 kbps indicating downlink capacity gain oI
20. These results clearly indicate how the impact oI MDT
becomes more crucial, when other-cell interIerence is present.
Moreover, evaluated capacity gain matches rather accurately
to the observed outcomes Irom simulations |7|. It has to be
noted that this capacity estimate is particular Ior the
measurement route, and moreover, depends on the selected
locations oI the interIering mobiles. On the other hand, only
the centre sectors were mechanically downtilted, but the
measurement route covered locations also Irom outer sectors.
ThereIore, the capacity gain might become even more
signiIicant. The capacity gain would have logically been
higher iI also electrical downtilt angles would had been
removed. This outlines the importance oI proper downtilt
angle Ior interIerence-limited WCDMA network.

Figure 3 shows the cumulative distribution Iunction (CDF) oI
the measured levels oI the E
c
/N
0
oI the Iirst and the Iourth
pilot within the measurement route with presence oI the
interIering mobiles. As seen Irom the results, the contribution
oI lower E
c
/N
0
levels (less than -10 dB) is over 10 without
MDT as with MDT it is only 5 . In some scenarios, this
value could be also mapped to availability oI services with
higher bit rates (as 384 kbps) |12|. Naturally, the target oI
20 15 10 5
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
E
c
/N
0
[dB]
C
D
F
MDT (1st E
c
/N
0
)
No MDT (1st E
c
/N
0
)
MDT (4th E
c
/N
0
)
No MDT (4th E
c
/N
0
)

Figure 3. Cumulative distribution Iunction (CDF) oI the
E
c
/N
0
the Iirst and Iourth best pilots in the conIigurations
with and without MDT with presence oI the interIering
mobiles.

MDT
No
interferers
With
interferers
Throughput |kbps| 201/135 204/154
Test
mobiles
E
c
/N
0
|dB| -5.63/-5.63 -5.79/-6.20
Throughput |kbps| 191/199
Interfering
mobiles
E
c
/N
0
|dB| -7.35/-5.94
TOTAL throughput kbps] 336 748
NO MDT
Throughput |kbps| 184/217 174/188
Test
mobiles
E
c
/N
0
|dB| -5.91/-6.08 -6.78/-6.64
Throughput |kbps| 201/152
Interfering
mobiles
E
c
/N
0
|dB| -7.89/-7.71
TOTAL throughput kbps] 401 722

Table 1. Average throughputs and E
c
/N
0
levels oI test and
interIering mobiles with and without mechanical downtilt.

radio network planning is to minimize areas with low E
c
/N
0
values (denoted to as pilot polluted areas). A part oI the low
E
c
/N
0
values are caused by so called late handovers`, where a
mobile does not change the best cell or maintains a low E
c
/N
0
sector in the active set even though it should have made a
handover. This, on the other hand, is caused by the admission
control (AC), which is speciIic Ior each operator. Hence, part
oI these reIlects to the Iunctionality oI radio resource
management (RRM) algorithms rather than quality oI the
network plan. However, in an operational network, the
network quality and the Iunctionality oI RRM algorithms
walk hand in hand, and naturally the decisions oI RRM
algorithms depend on, e.g., interIerence levels deIined by
quality oI the plan.

In the MDT conIiguration, the dominance areas (or simply the
dominance) are clearer as the level the E
c
/N
0
is better within
the measurement route as without MDT (Figure 3). On the
other hand, the level oI the Iourth pilot provides also an
indicator oI possible pilot pollution. This is based on the
maximum active set oI 3 in the measurements. This way, the
Iourth pilot acts always as a source oI interIerence.
Expectedly, the level oI the Iourth pilot is lower with MDT
than without it. For example, a -20 dB threshold is exceeded
35 oI the measurement time in the conIiguration without
MDT, whereas the corresponding value Ior the MDT
conIiguration is 20. This analysis clearly veriIies the
outcomes Irom the simulations |10|, which showed the
improving impact oI MDT on dominance together with lower
level oI pilot polluted areas.

Table II shows the mean sizes oI active set (AS) and SHO
within the measurement route as well as Ior interIering
mobiles in the central area. The mean size oI active set with
MDT is approximately 1.15. The corresponding SHO
probability (including soIter handovers) is around 14. On
the contrary, without MDT, the active set size is
approximately 1.20 with a SHO probability nearly 20. This
implies that within the measurement route, the reduction oI
SHO probability is around 25, which corresponds roughly
to the earlier understanding based on simulations |7|. The
most visible changes in the mean AS size and in the SHO
probabilities due to removal oI MDT angles are observed in
the location oI interIerers (Table 2). In this location, the
removal oI MDT angles nearly doubles the probability oI
SHO and more than doubles the mean AS size. The result oI
increased coverage overlapping as a result oI inadequate
downtilt angles is realized as increased SHO probability,
which on the other hand, consumes more downlink capacity.
Logically, the coverage overlapping and the resulting SHO
overhead would have been even higher, iI also electrical
downtilt would have been removed.
5 Discussion and Conclusions
In this paper, the impact oI antenna mechanical downtilt in
WCDMA is analyzed through Iield measurements.
Measurements were perIormed in a pre-commercial urban
UMTS network, which was classiIied as a combination oI
macro- and microcellular. The measurement results veriIy the
positive impact oI mechanical antenna downtilt on the
downlink capacity (20) in the presence oI other-cell
interIerence. The observed outcome corresponds to earlier
understanding oI the simulated capacity gain oI MDT |7|. The
presented capacity evaluation method is based on Iitting the
theoretical load curve on the measured results with the aid oI
measured DL throughput and E
c
/N
0
. Furthermore, the method
is strictly dependable on the measurement route. However,
the intuitive assumption oI the Iact that a network
conIiguration, which is more robust Ior interIerence increase
(with the same throughput increase), provides also higher
capacity is obviously valid. Hence, it is strongly
recommended to use MDT in WCDMA network. However,
due to the increase oI sector overlapping (and
correspondingly soIter handover probability) with higher
MDT angles, the use oI MDT angles is limited to lower
angles.

The gain in the downlink capacity is achieved at least through
reduction oI other-cell interIerence. In addition, reduction oI
SHO probability might have contributed to capacity increase.
However, this cannot be evaluated since it would require
inIormation oI the possible DL SHO gain. Finally, the
dominance within the measurement route was improved in the
MDT conIiguration (the level oI the Iirst pilot E
c
/N
0
higher).
The reduction oI pilot polluted areas was also observed in the
measurements (the level oI the Iourth pilot E
c
/N
0
lower).

Acknowledgement
Authors would like to thank European Communications
Engineering (ECE) Ltd Ior helpIul comments, Elisa Oyj
Finland Ior enabling the measurement campaigns, Nemo
Technologies Ior providing measurement tools, and the
MDT
No
interferers
With
interferers
AS size 1.15 1.16
Test
mobiles
SHO prob. || 13.5 14.0
AS size 1.22
Interfering
mobiles
SHO prob. || 22.4
NO MDT
AS size 1.22 1.20
Test
mobiles
SHO prob. || 19.9 18.2
AS size 1.50
Interfering
mobiles
SHO prob. || 44.0

Table 2: Average active set sizes and SHO probabilities in
the measurement route (test mobiles) and in the location oI
interIerers (interIering mobiles).

National Technology Agency oI Finland Ior Iunding the
work.

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