3.

8 Network Capacity Comparison For the comparison of the network capacity under various frequency reuse patterns, see: Comparison of the network capacity under various frequency reuse pattern Base Frequenc Loadabl station Admissible Capacit y reuse e traffic configurati subscribers y ratio degree volume on type 12 9 7.5 9 12 3/2/2 3/3/3 4/4/3 3/3/3 27.9 34.5 53.5 34.5 1188 1380 2140 1380 1968 1 1.16 1.8 1.16 1.66

Bandwidt Frequency h reuse pattern

43 33 43 + 13 6MHz MRP(12, 9, 6) 26 IUO: 4 3 + 2 3 43 33 43+13 7.2MHz MRP(12, 9, 8, 7) 26 IUO: 4 3 + 2 3 43 3 3 9.6MHz 43+13

2/2/2/2/2/ 49.2 2 4/4/3 3/3/3 4/4/4 5/5/5 4/4/4 53.5 34.5 62 81.9 62

9 12 9 7.5 9

2140 1380 2480 3276 2480

1.8 1 1.8 2.37 1.8

12

3/3/3/2/2/ 60.1 2 5/5/5 4/4/4 5/5/5 7/7/7 6/6/6 81.9 62 81.9 123.6 104.1

2404

1.74

9 12 9 7.5

3276 2480 3276 4944 4164

2.37 1 1.32 1.99 1.70

MRP(12,9,8,7,6 8

,6) 26 IUO: 4 3 + 2 3 Note: GoS = 0.02; a = 0.025 Erl. 12 4/4/4/4/4/ 126 4 7/7/7 123.6 5040 2.03

4944

1.99

3.7 Multiple Reuse Pattern Technology 3.7.1 Basic Principle According to multiple reuse pattern (MRP), the carriers are divided into several groups. The carries in each group work as an independent layer, and each layer uses a different frequency reuse pattern. During frequency planning, you can configure the carriers layer by layer, with reuse aggressiveness increases layer by layer. MRP has no special requirement on hardware. It is developed from the concept of carrier layering. That is, the available channel numbers are divided into multiple groups, and each group works as a carrier layer. According to the rules of the aggressive frequency reuse pattern, the channel numbers allocated for each layer are listed in Channel number allocation for each layer Channel number allocation for each layer Layer BCCH TCH 1 TCH 2 TCHm-1 Note: n1 n2 n3 n4 nm. For MRP, first you must divide an available band into several sub-bands. Generally, the subbands work as the bands for BCCH. The reasons are listed below: Channel number n1 n2 n3 nm

l BSIC decoding will not be affected by traffic. TCH numbers cannot affect separated BCCH numbers, which is helpful for the MS to decode the BSIC. l The planning for adjacent cell list can be simplified. The separated BCCH numbers contributes the simplification of adjacent cell list, so the MS can capture the useful BCCH quickly. l Maximum gain can be obtained from power control and DTX. Downlink power control and DTX can be applied to TCH carriers only, so the separated BCCH numbers can maximize the function of downlink power control and DTX. l The re-planning for TCH numbers will not affect BCCH. When a TRX is added to the system, if not considering the isolation of combiner and adjacent frequency interference, you do not have to change the BCCH numbers. After that, you must divide the remaining channel numbers into multiple TCH bands. For MRP, different frequency reuse patterns must be used for different TCH bands. According to the carrier allocation in the network, you can decide the average frequency reuse degree. According to the maximum number of carriers configured in each cell and the number of cells configured in the network, you can adjust the average frequency reuse degree to a proper value. In this way, you can effectively control network quality. The increase of the carries has little effect on the frequency allocation plan. The increased channel numbers affect other cells that have more carriers than the service cell has. For example, if a cell has four carriers, the cells that have been configured with more than four cells will be affected. MRP technology enables carriers to be configured flexibly. According to MRP, the frequencies of a cell can never be completely identical with that of the adjacent cells. Therefore, the MRP improves both the intra-frequency interference protection ratio and frequency hopping effect. According to the requirements defined in GSM protocols, all the downlink timeslots of the BCCH carriers must transit with full power and the interference features of the BCCH are different from that of the TCH. Therefore, to ensure network quality and security, you are recommended to use 4 x 3 frequency reuse pattern for BCCH. In this case, the channel numbers used for BCCH are equal to or more than 12. In actual conditions, they are from 12 to 15. If the available bandwidth is 7.2MHz, the available channel numbers are from 60 to 95, 36 in total, and they can be divided into 4 groups To ensure network security, you must finish BCCH number allocation first. To be specific, plan the 12 channel numbers according to 4 x 3 frequency reuse pattern and allocate 1 BCCH number to each of the 12 cells. After that, you should allocate 1 carrier at the TCH3 layer to each cell, and then you should allocate the TCH2 and TCH1 numbers to the cells. In this case, you can configure four channel numbers for each cell of a base station (S4/4/4). The remaining 3 channel numbers can be configured for micro cells or mini-micro cells. 3.7.2 MRP Sequence Grouping

Because BCCH numbers and TCH numbers are selected in different ways, the MRP can be divided into two types. They are MRP sequence grouping and MRP space grouping, the first of which is introduced hereunder. If the available bandwidth is 10MHz, the channel numbers are from 46 to 94. In this case, you can plan the frequencies at the BCCH and TCH carrier layers according to the sequence of the channel numbers. If using the sequence planning, you should add 1 to 2 extra channel numbers to the BCCH numbers. For the MRP sequence grouping, see: MRP sequence grouping ARFCN of the available channel number 8394 7482 6673 5865 5257 4651 Available channel numbers 12 9 8 8 6 6

Carrier type

BCCH TCH1 TCH2 TCH3 TCH4 TCH5 Note:

ARFCN stands for absolute radio frequency channel number. According to this table, the channel numbers can be divided into 6 groups. For BCCH, 12 channel numbers can be reused at the carrier layer. Traffic channels can be divided into 5 groups, from TCH1 to TCH5. For TCH1, 9 channel numbers can be reused; for TCH2 and TCH3, 8 channel numbers can be reused; and for TCH4 and TCH5, 6 channel numbers can be reused. Therefore, when the bandwidth is 10MHz, the base station type can be configured as S6/6/6. If the traditional 4/12 frequency reuse pattern is used, the maximum base station type can be configured as S4/4/4 only. For MRP sequence grouping, intra-frequency and neighbor frequency interference may exist within the frequency layer, and the interference between frequency layers exist at the critical points of the frequencies. 3.7.3 MRP Space Grouping

For MRP space grouping, neighbor frequency interference does not exist within the frequency layer, but exist between frequency layers. When the traffic is not busy, this frequency reuse pattern can reduce network interference. If the available bandwidth is 10MHz, the available channel numbers are from 46 to 94. In this case, the frequencies can be allocated according to Carrier ARFCN of the available channel number type BCCH TCH1 TCH2 TCH3 TCH4 TCH5 Note: ARFCN stands for absolute radio frequency channel number. At the very beginning, not each cell needs the TRX of the last layer, so the TRX of the last layer can reuse the frequencies more aggressively. In addition, though interference increases after the MRP is enabled, the TRXs in the cells also increase. In this case, more the channel numbers will participate in frequency, which enhances frequency hopping gain. If both the channel numbers with a little interference and the channel numbers with great interference exist simultaneously within a cell, the frequency hopping technology will average the interference through mixing these channel numbers. In this case, the system can still decode the signals normally. When allocating the frequencies according to MRP, you must notice that the minimum frequency reuse degree at the TCH layer must be equal to or greater than 6. In actual conditions, however, the minimum average frequency reuse degree at the TCH layer ranges from 7 to 8. Therefore, when the frequency resource is adequate, you can reserve some channel numbers to for future use during frequency planning. Fixed MRP means that the channel numbers allocated to each TCH are fixed. They are independent of each other, as shown in Error! Reference source not found.. For MRP, you should plan the channel numbers layer by layer so that the TCH numbers can be easily adjusted. In this case, if interference is present at a TCH layer, you need to adjust the channel numbers allocated to that layer only. 46, 48, 50, 52, 54, 56, 58, 60, 62, 64, 66, 68 70, 72, 74, 76, 78, 80, 82, 84, 86 88, 90, 92, 94, 47, 49, 51, 53 55, 57, 59, 61, 63, 65, 67, 69 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81 83, 85, 87, 89, 91, 93 Available channel numbers 12

9 8 8 6 6

3.7.4 Characteristics of MRP Technology MRP technology can enables you to plan the frequencies flexibly according to traffic distribution. Compared with 3 x 3 frequency reuse pattern, MRP contributes to greater network capacity. Compared with 2 x 3 and 1 x 3 frequency reuse pattern, MRP has little effect against network quality. In addition, MRP technology is compatible with the technologies, such as frequency hopping, power control, DTX. Moreover, it has no special requirement on hardware and software. Generally, the advantages of the MRP are listed below: l The network capacity is great and frequency utilization rate is high. l The channel configuration is flexible. The frequency reuse pattern is selected according to network capacity and traffic distribution. In the areas where the traffic is high, you can add carriers to these areas. l No two cells have the same channel numbers, so no intra-frequency cell exists in the system if the MRP is used. l Baseband hopping and RF hopping can be used. l The base station type can be configures flexibly, which is good for network quality. l The channels to be allocated are weighted, which enhances the network quality. 3.7.5 Comparison between MRP and 1 X 3 Frequency Reuse Pattern In fact, 1 x 3 frequency reuse pattern is a special kind of MRP. The configuration for the equivalent MRP is 12/3/3/3/3/3. The following is a comparison between MRP and 1 x 3 frequency reuse pattern. l The network capacity under 1 x 3 frequency reuse pattern is greater than that under MRP. l For 1 x 3 frequency reuse pattern, you need to plan a group of frequencies for TCH only. If you have to add new carriers to the system without adding new base stations, you do not have to replan the frequencies. Therefore, the frequency planning is simpler under 1 x 3 frequency reuse pattern than that under MRP. l If the network is irregular in landforms and traffic distribution, you should better not use 1 x 3 frequency reuse pattern. In most cases, a base station is interfered by many base stations nearby. If the 1 x 3 frequency reuse pattern is used, you will find it hard to position the interference source. Therefore, when adding new base stations to the network, you cannot eliminate the interference by adjusting some channel numbers only. If using MRP, however, you can easily solve this problem.

3.5 Aggressive Frequency Reuse Technology

3.5.1 3 x 3 Frequency Reuse Pattern The 3 x 3 frequency reuse pattern can be used in the areas with high traffic. That is, three base stations form a group, and each base station has three cells, so there are 9 cells, which form a frequency reuse cluster. However, the 9 cells use different frequencies. Compared with the 4 x 3 frequency reuse pattern, the intra-frequency reuse distance under the 3 x 3 frequency reuse pattern is small, so on-line interference is greater. If the available bandwidth is 10MHz and the channel numbers are from 45 to 94, you can use normal 4 x 3 frequency reuse pattern on BCCH. In this case, the frequency ranges from 81 to 94, so 14 channel numbers are available. For TCH, you can use 3 x 3 frequency reuse pattern. In this case, the frequency ranges from 45 to 80, so 36 channel numbers are available. For the frequency planning under 3 x 3 frequency reuse pattern, see Frequency planning under 3 x 3 frequency reuse pattern Frequency planning under 3 x 3 frequency reuse pattern Frequency planning under 3 x 3 frequency reuse pattern Frequency A1 group number Channel number of each frequency group 80 71 62 53

B1

C1

A2

B2

C2

A3

B3

C3

79 70 61 52

78 69 60 51

77 68 59 50

76 67 58 49

75 66 57 48

74 65 56 47

73 64 55 46

72 63 54 45

If 3 x 3 reusing the 10MHz band, you can configure the maximum base station type as S5/5/5, and the frequency reuse degree is 10. According to previous equations, because the number of base stations is 3 (N = 3), the intrafrequency interference attenuation factor is 3 (q = 3). In this case, the number of the intrafrequency interference sources is 2 at the first layer. When the bandwidth is 10MHz, the base station type can be configured as S5/5/5 under 3 x 3 frequency reuse pattern. For 4 x 3 frequency reuse pattern, the maximum base station configuration type can only be configured as S4/4/4/. Therefore, network capacity under 3 x 3 frequency reuse pattern is greater than that under 4 x 3 frequency reuse pattern when the bandwidth is the same. When the number of subscribers in a network is not great, you can use the 3 x 3 frequency reuse pattern to ease the pressure of network capacity. In actual conditions, however, because

base stations are irregularly distributed, the antenna height is different, and the coverage area of each base station varies, the interference in the network will increase. In this case, if you intend to obtain better voice quality, you must take some anti-interference measures, such as using frequency hopping and DTX. The characteristic of the 3 x 3 frequency reuse pattern are as follows: l l The adjustment for network structure is unnecessary. The frequencies can be easily grouped and the system capacity is great.

l Compared with 4 x 3 frequency reuse pattern, 3 x 3 frequency reuse pattern brings greater interference, but the overall interference can be controlled to a lower level. l If frequency hopping is used, adequate bandwidth is needed.

3.5.2 2 x 6 Reuse Pattern The 2 x 6 frequency reuse pattern is developed from the 4 x 3 frequency reuse pattern. Under the 4 x 3 frequency reuse pattern, you can add anther 2 cells to each base station, so 2 base stations (each base station has 6 60-sectorized cells) has 12 cells, which form a frequency reuse cluster. In this case, a frequency reuse cluster contains 12 60-sectorized cells, and this is defined as 2 x 6 frequency reuse pattern. 2 x 6 frequency reuse pattern2 x 6 frequency reuse pattern. 2 x 6 frequency reuse pattern Under the 2 x 6 frequency reuse pattern, . Because each cell is 60-directional cell under 2 x 6 frequency reuse pattern, the interference source of each cell is reduced to 1 at the first layer. In this case, the theoretical C/I can be expressed by the following equation: In actual conditions, because base stations are irregularly distributed, the antenna height is different, and the effect from radio environment, the value of C/I cannot be as high as 15.6 dB. If the available bandwidth is 10MHz, the channel numbers range from 45 to 94, you can also use 2 x 6 frequency reused pattern. Considering the characteristics of the 2 x 6 cellular structures, you can also use the 2 x 6 frequency reuse for BCCH. The frequencies are from 81 to 94, 14 channel numbers in total, and the others are TCH numbers. For the frequency planning under 2 x 6 frequency reuse pattern, see Frequency planning under 2 x 6 frequency reuse pattern Frequency planning under 2 x 6 frequency reuse patternFrequency planning under 2 x 6 frequency reuse pattern

Frequency A1 group number Channel number of each frequency group 94 80 68 56

B1

A2

B2

A3

B3

A4

B4

A5

B5

A6

B6

93 79 67 55

92 78 66 54

91 77 65 53

90 76 64 52

89 75 63 51

88 74 62 50

87 73 61 49

86 72 60 48

85 71 59 47

84 70 58 46

83 69 57 45

As listed in this table, when allocating frequency to the base station, you can select the frequency according to the regularity of {A1, A2, A3, A4, A4, A6} and {B1, B2, B3, B4, B5, B6}. Note that intra-frequency and neighbor frequency cannot be present within the same cell and adjacent cells. Under the 2 x 6 frequency reuse pattern, you can enhance the system capacity by adding new cells to the base station. Compared with 4 x 3 frequency reuse pattern, the maximum base station type can be configured as S4/4/4/4/4/4 under 2 x 6 frequency reuse pattern, so the capacity of a single base station is twice that of the base station under the 4 x 3 frequency reuse pattern. Under this frequency reuse pattern, however, the intra-frequency reuse distance is further shortened, which increases network interference greatly. In addition, as the number of cells increases, the requirements on the half-power angle and other antenna indexes are higher. Moreover, you must add antenna feeders to the system if using the 2 x 6 frequency reuse pattern, which brings great difficulty to project implementation. Therefore, the 2 x 6 frequency reuse pattern is seldom used. For the 2 x 6 frequency reuse pattern, the frequency reuse degree is 12.5. And its characteristics are listed in the following: l Through add more cells to each base station, you can enhance the capacity of the base station greatly. l The antennas with smaller half-power angle and good performance are needed and the requirement on antenna and base station address is strict. l The signals radiated by antennas are more concentrated, which is good for indoor coverage. l The BSS system must support 6 sectors.

l More antennas are needed under the 2 x 6 frequency reuse pattern than that under 4 x 3 frequency reuse pattern, so you must adjust and optimize the planning for antenna system and frequencies. l The times of handovers under the 2 x 6 frequency reuse pattern are more than that under the 4 x 3 frequency reuse pattern. l The intra-frequency reuse distance is small, so the interference within the network is great. Therefore, you must take anti-frequency measures, such as using DTX and frequency hopping. 3.5.3 2 x 3 Frequency Reuse Pattern Under 2 x 3 frequency reuse pattern, there are 2 base stations. Each one has 3 cells, so 6 cells form a frequency reuse cluster. The cells in the same cluster use the different frequencies, and the cells in different clusters use the same frequency group. This is defined as the 2 x 3 frequency reuse pattern. Error! Reference source not found.2 x 3 frequency reuse pattern: Under 2 x 3 frequency reuse pattern, each intra-frequency cell is interfered by 3 cells. Because the number of base stations in each frequency cluster is 2 (N = 2), the intra-frequency interference attenuation factor (q) can be expressed by the following equation: For regularly-arranged cells, the theoretical carrier-to-interference ratio (C/I) can be expressed by the following equation: Even if the cells are regularly arranged, however, the value of C/I cannot meet the requirement of the network. Therefore, you must take anti-frequency measures, such as frequency hopping, power control, and DTX. For 10MHz bandwidth, the available channel numbers are from 45 to 94. If the 14 channel numbers (81-94) are BCCH numbers, and the others are TCH numbers, the frequencies are planned according to 2 x 3 frequency reuse pattern. Frequency planning under 2 x 3 frequency reuse pattern Frequency group number A1 80 Channel number of each frequency group 74 68 62 B1 79 73 67 61 A2 78 72 66 60 B2 77 71 65 59 A3 76 70 64 58 B3 75 69 63 57

56 50

55 49

54 48

53 47

52 46

51 45

You can use looser 4 x 3 frequency reuse pattern and allocate 14 channel numbers for BCCH. If the bandwidth is 10MHz, you can configure the maximum base station type as S7/7/7 under the 2 x 3 frequency reuse pattern. In this case, the frequency reuse degree is 7.14. The network capacity is great under the 2 x 3 frequency reuse pattern, but small intra-frequency reuse distance will cause great interference. In addition, the cell traffic cannot 100% reach the designated value. In actual conditions, therefore, you can use the looser 4 x 3 frequency reuse pattern for BCCH and the 2 x 3 frequency reuse pattern for TCH. The characteristics of the 2 x 3 frequency reuse pattern are listed below: l l l The network capacity is relatively great. The adjustment for the network structure is unnecessary. The network capacity can be expanded without wide frequency band.

l Small intra-frequency reuse distance will cause great interference, so you must take anti-interference measures to ensure network quality. l l Radio frequency (RF) hopping technology must be used to support the equipments. The antennas must be directed to the same direction as much as possible.

3.5.4 1 x 3 Frequency Reuse Pattern 1 x 3 frequency reuse pattern is also called fractional reuse. For 1 x 3 or 1 x 1 frequency reuse pattern, the reuse distance is quite small, so the interference in the network is quite great. Therefore, to avoid frequency collision, you must use RF hopping technology and set the parameters, including MA (mobile allocation), HSN (hopping sequence number), and MAIO (mobile allocation index offset). The ratio of number of the TRXs to that of the frequency hopping is FR LOAD (generally, it is smaller than 50%). Under the 1 x 3 frequency reuse pattern, the interference in the network can also indicates the probability of the collision of intra-frequencies and neighbor frequencies. Emulation shows that probability of the collision is related to FR only. According to 1 x 3 frequency reuse pattern, the 3 cells of a base station form a frequency reuse cluster. The same-directional cells of each base station use the same frequency group. 1 x 3 frequency reuse pattern. For the 1 x 3 frequency reuse pattern, the number of base station is 1 (N = 1), so , and .

Because the value of C/I here is far lower than the protection value required by the system, you must take anti-interference measures, such as frequency hopping, power control, and DTX, to enhance the value of C/I. If the available bandwidth is 10MHz, the available channel numbers are from 45 to 94. Because RF hopping must be used under 1 x 3 frequency reuse pattern, considering the importance of BCCH, you can use 4 x 3 frequency reuse pattern for BCCH and 1 x 3 frequency reuse pattern for TCH. For BCCH, 14 channel numbers (81-94) are available; for TCH, 36 channel numbers (45-80) are available. The channel numbers used for TCH are divided according to two ways. They are space grouping and sequence grouping. For the 1 x 3 frequency reuse spacing grouping, see 1 X 3 frequency reuse space grouping 1 X 3 frequency reuse space grouping Frequency group number A (a)

Channel number

MAIO

80, 77, 74, 71, 68, 65, 62, 59, 56, 53, 50, 47 79, 76, 73, 70, 67, 64, 61, 58, 55, 52,49, 46 78, 75, 72, 69, 66, 63, 60, 57, 54, 51, 48, 45

0, 2, 4,6, 8, 10 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10

For the 1 x 3 frequency reuse sequence grouping, see 1 x 3 frequency reuse sequence grouping (a) 1 x 3 frequency reuse sequence grouping (a) Frequency group number A

Channel number

MAIO

80, 79, 78, 77, 76, 75, 74, 73,72, 71, 70, 69 68, 67, 66, 65, 64, 63, 62, 61, 60, 59, 58, 57

0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10

56, 55, 54, 53, 52, 51, 50, 49, 48, 47, 46, 45

0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10

Because the ratio of the number of carriers to that of frequency hopping is required to be 1 to 2, if the bandwidth is 10MHz, you can configure the maximum base station type as S7/7/7. In this case, the frequency reuse degree is 7.14. The 3 cells of the same base station use the same HSN, and the cells of different base stations use different HSNs. To avoid the interference from neighbor frequencies, you can configure a proper MAIO for the cells of the same base station. If the available bandwidth is 6MHz, the available channel numbers are from 96 to 124. In this case, you can use 4 x 3 frequency reuse pattern for BCCH (the available channel numbers are from 111 to 124, namely, 14 in total). For TCH, you can use 1 x 3 frequency reuse pattern (the available channel numbers are from 96 to 110, namely, 15 in total. For the 1 x 3 frequency reuse space grouping when the bandwidth is 6MHz, see 1 x 3 frequency reuse space grouping (b) 1 x 3 frequency reuse space grouping Frequency group number A B C (b)

Channel number

MAIO

96, 99, 102, 105, 108 97, 100, 103, 106, 109 98, 101, 104, 107, 110

0, 2, 4 1, 3 0, 2

When the bandwidth is 6MHz, you can configure the maximum base station type as S4/3/3 under 1 x 3 frequency reuse space grouping. In this case, the frequency reuse degree is 7.25/9.67/9.67, with 8.86 in average. For the 1 x 3 frequency reuse sequence grouping, see 1 x 3 frequency reuse space grouping (b) 1 x 3 frequency sequence grouping (b) Frequency group number

Channel number

MAIO

A B C

96, 97, 98, 99, 100 101, 102, 103, 104, 105 106, 107, 108, 109, 110

0, 2 0, 2 0, 2

Because the ratio of the number of carriers to that of frequency hopping is required to be 1 to 2, if the bandwidth is 6MHz, you can configure the maximum base station type as S3/3/3. In this case, the frequency reuse degree is 9.67. For TCH, both the space grouping and sequence grouping have drawbacks. Generally, for the urban areas where base stations are regularly and densely distributed, you should better use sequence grouping. For the areas where base stations are fragmentary and irregularly distributed, you should better use space grouping. The characteristics of 1 x 3 frequency reuse pattern are listed below: l The frequencies are more aggressively reused, so the network capacity is great.

l The network capacity under space grouping is a little greater than that under sequence grouping. l l l When planning a network, you need to plan channel numbers for BCCH only. Re-planning for frequencies is unnecessary during network optimization. The efficiency for network planning is high.

l Wideband combiner must be used, but the cavity combiner with frequency selectivity is inapplicable. l This frequency reuse pattern requires wideband repeater.

l The interference among intra-frequencies and neighbor frequencies increases as the frequency reuse distance decreases. l RF hopping must be used, and the channel numbers participating frequency hopping is twice that of the number of carriers at least. l In actual conditions, you cannot take anti-interference measures, such as RF hopping, DTX, and power control, for BCCH. Therefore, to ensure network quality, you can use the looser 4 x 3 frequency reuse pattern for BCCH only. 3.5.5 1 x 1 Frequency Reuse Pattern One cell of one base station forms a frequency reuse cluster, and this is defined 1 x 2 frequency reuse pattern. Other cells and this cell use the same frequency group.

If the available bandwidth is 6MHz, the available channel numbers are from 96 to 124. Because RF hopping must be used under 1 x 1 frequency reuse pattern, considering the importance of BCCH, you can use 4 x 3 frequency reuse pattern for BCCH and 1 x 1 frequency reuse pattern for TCH. If 4 x 3 frequency reuse pattern is used for BCCH, the available channel numbers are from 111 to 124, 14 in total. The channel numbers from 96 to 110 are used for TCH, 15 in total. For the frequency planning under 1 x 1 frequency reuse pattern, see Frequency planning under 1 x 1 frequency reuse pattern. Frequency planning under 1 x 1 frequency reuse pattern. Frequency group number A B C

Channel number

MAIO

96,97,98,99,100,101,102,103,104,105,106,107,108,109,110 0,2,4 96,97,98,99,100,101,102,103,104,105,106,107,108,109,110 6,8 96,97,98,99,100,101,102,103,104,105,106,107,108,109,110 10,12

If the bandwidth is 6MHz, you can configure the maximum base station type as S4/3/3/ under 1 x 1 frequency reuse pattern. In this case, the frequency reuse degree is 7.25/9.67/9.67, so the average value is 8.86. Therefore, the maximum base station configuration under 1 x 1 frequency reuse pattern is the same as that under 1 x 3 frequency reuse space grouping pattern, so is the network capacity. 3.5.6 A + B Frequency Reuse Pattern The A + B frequency reuse pattern is developed from 1 x 3 frequency reuse pattern. When the bandwidth is narrow but the capacity is great, you can use this frequency reuse pattern. In this case, you must use RF hopping. Under the A + B frequency reuse pattern, the frequencies can be divided into three groups. They are {f1}, {f2}, and {f3}. For frequency planning, see A + B frequency reuse pattern A + B frequency reuse pattern According to A + B frequency reuse pattern, you can increase frequency diversity gain by increasing the number of channel numbers participating frequency hopping within the cell, because the increase of the frequency diversity gain can improve the carrier-to-interference ratio. To avoid interference among intra-frequencies and neighbor frequencies, you can configure a proper MAIO for the cells within the same base station. The probability of the collision of the intra-frequencies and neighbor frequencies will decrease as the number of

channel numbers participating frequency hopping increases among cells of different base stations. If the available bandwidth is 6MHz, the available channel numbers are 96 to 124. For A + B frequency reuse pattern, you must use RF hopping, but the BCCH does not participate in RF hopping. Therefore, in actual planning, to ensure good network quality, you can use looser 4 x 3 frequency reuse pattern for BCCH and A + B frequency reuse pattern for TCH. If you use 4 x 3 frequency reuse for BCCH, the available channel numbers are 111 to 124, 14 in total, in which two channel numbers are standby ones. For TCH, the available channel numbers are 96 to 110, 15 in total. For the frequency planning under A + B frequency reuse pattern, see Frequency planning under A + B frequency reuse pattern Frequency planning under A + B frequency reuse pattern Frequency group number A B

Channel number

MAIO

96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110

0, 2, 4 1, 3 5, 7

When the bandwidth is 10MHz, you can configure the maximum base station type as S4/3/3 under A + B frequency reuse pattern. In this case, the frequency reuse degree is 7.25/9.67/9.67, so the average value is 8.86. In actual conditions, the irregular distribution of base stations and antenna height may deteriorate the performance of parts of the network. Therefore, the A + B frequency reuse pattern are not recommended in large networks.

3.6 Concentric Cell Technology 3.6.1 Concept In the GSM network, concentric cell technology is used to divide the service area into two parts: overlay and underlay. In essence, the concentric cell technology concerns channel allocation and handover. When combining this technology with various frequency planning technologies, you can both expand network capacity and improve network quality.

The underlay covers the traditional cells, and the overlay covers the areas near the base station. Generally, 4 x 3 frequency reuse pattern is used for the underlay. For overlay, the frequency reuse patterns, such as 3 x 3, 2 x 3, or 1 x 3, are used. Therefore, all carriers can be divided into two groups, one for underlay, and the other one for overlay. The overlay and underlay share the same base station address, one set of antenna feeder system, and one BCCH, so you must set the BCCH on the underlay. If the capacity of the overlay is great, you can group the channel numbers according to Channel number grouping for 6MHz bandwidth concentric cell (a). In this case, the overlay has more channel numbers, which is beneficial for the base station to absorb nearby traffic volume. Channel number grouping for 6MHz bandwidth concentric cell Logical Channel number channel Underla y 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 (12) Overlay (18) 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 98 90 91 92 93 94 95 (a)

If traffic volume is evenly distributed, you can enhance the underlay capacity through grouping the channel numbers according to Channel number grouping for 6MHz bandwidth concentric cell (b). In this case, the underlay can absorb more traffic volume. Channel number grouping for 6MHz bandwidth concentric cell (b)

Logical Channel number channel Underla 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 y (24) Overlay (6 ) 90 91 92 93 94 95

3.6.2 General Underlay Overlay General underlay overlay (GUO) aims to restrict the intra-frequency interference. To realize this purpose, you can reduce the overlay coverage area. That is, if the transmit power of the overlay carriers is lower than that of the underlay carriers, the coverage area of the overlay is smaller than that of the underlay. The handover between the overlay and underlay is related to the receiving level of the MS and the TA (timing advance) from the MS to the base station. You should allocate the channel numbers (such as BCCH number) with looser frequency reuse aggressiveness to the MSs in the underlay. For the MSs in the overlay, you should allocate the channel numbers with aggressive frequency reuse to them. In this case, you can expand the network capacity by using aggressive frequency reuse pattern in overlay. For general underlay overlay, the coverage area of the underlay is inconsistent with that of the overlay, so problems concerning traffic and handover control are often caused. The general underlay overlay is applicable to the areas near the base station where the traffic is concentrated. The more concentrated the traffic near the base station, the more apparent the effect of capacity expansion is. However, the transmit power of the carriers in the overlay is low, so it is hard for the base station to absorb indoor traffic volume. In this case, when the traffic volume is evenly distributed, the general underlay overlay has little effect on capacity expansion. 3.6.3 Intelligent Underlay Overlay Intelligent underlay overlay (IUO) technology can ensure that the coverage areas of call carriers are the same. For an IUO, the transmit power of the carriers in the underlay and overlay is the same.

In an IUO, the frequencies of a base station are divided into two layers: one is regular layer, and the other one is supper layer. At the regular layer, the frequency reuse distance is large, so you can use looser frequency reuse pattern, such as 4 x 3 frequency reuse pattern. At the supper layer, the frequency reuse distance is relatively small, so you can use aggressive frequency reuse patterns, such as 2 x 3 and 1 x 3 frequency reuse pattern. In an IUO, the interference at the supper layer is great, so designated equipments and handover algorithms on C/I must be provided. In an IUO, the conversation is first established at the supper layer, and then the BSC monitors the C/I of the channels at the supper layer without any stop. If the C/I is greater than the Good C/I Threshold, the conversation seizes a channel at the supper layer. If the C/I is smaller than the Bad C/I Threshold, the conversation seizes a channel at the regular layer. In addition, you can control the traffic volume at the supper layer and the regular layer by adjusting the handover threshold. For an IUO, the transmit power of the carriers at the regular layer is the same as that at the supper layer, so the network can absorb the traffic flexibly, which is beneficial for the expansion for actual network capacity. If the IUO technology is used, you must add the functions, including the estimation of intrafrequency protection C/I for downlink channels and the handover algorithms related to IUO, to the system. 3.6.4 Characteristics of Concentric Cell Technology The characteristics of concentric cell technology are listed below: l Any change of the network structure is unnecessary.

l Special software and designated algorithms on channel allocation and handover are needed. l l The system has no special requirement on hardware. GUO is applicable to the areas near the base station where the traffic is concentrated.

l The overlay coverage of the GUO is small, so the intra-frequency reuse attenuation factor (q) is great, which increases interference in the network. l The transmit power of the overlay carriers in the GUO is low, so it is hard for the carriers to absorb indoor traffic. l The transmit power of the underlay carriers in the GUO is the same, so the carriers can absorb indoor traffic, which contributes to network capacity expansion and good conversation quality. For the comparison between the GUO and IUO, see A comparison between GUO and IUO.

A comparison between GUO and IUO. A comparison between GUO and IUO. Coverage Frequency area reuse pattern Logical Transmit channel power allocation High BCCH/TCH Handover algorithm Power& Distance

Underlay GUO Overlay Underlay IUO Overlay

4x3 3 x 3/2 x 3/1 x 3 4x3 3 x 3/2 x 3/1 x 3

Low Same Same

TCH BCCH/TCH TCH C/I

3.3 Frequency Planning Principle Generally, when planning the frequency for the network, you will divide the geographic area into smaller slices, but you must reserve a certain amount of channel number at the intersection area between slices if the frequency resource is adequate. The intersection area must be far away from the areas where the traffic is great and the areas where the networking is complex. Generally, you should begin the planning with the area where base stations are intensively distributed. If there are rivers or big lakes in the planning area, you must consider the refection effect of the surface. Generally, base stations irregularly distributed, so you cannot perform the frequency planning completely according to 4 x 3 frequency reuse pattern or 3 x 3 frequency reuse pattern. Instead, you must make flexible adjustment according to actual conditions. No matter which reuse pattern you take, you must obey the following principles: - Generally, the intra-frequencies and adjacent cannel numbers are allowed to appear within a base station. - The frequency spacing between the BCCH and TCH must be greater than 400 KHz within a cell. - The frequency spacing between the TCHs must be greater than 400 KHz within a cell. (When frequency hopping is used, you can meet this by properly setting the mobile allocation index offset.) - The adjacent base stations cannot use the same frequency. - Considering the complexity of the antenna height and radio propagation environment, the base stations near each other cannot use the same frequency. - Generally, if using the 1 x 3 frequency reuse pattern, you must ensure that the number of frequency hopping channel numbers is at least twice that of the frequency hoping carriers. - Pay special attention to the intra-frequency reuse. The adjacent areas are not allowed to share the BCCH and the BSIC.

3.4 Normal Frequency Reuse Technology 3.4.1 C/I under 4 x 3 Frequency Reuse Pattern The spectrum utilization ratio can be expressed by frequency reuse degree, which reveals the aggressiveness of the frequency reuse. The frequency reuse degree can be expressed by the following equation: freuse=NARFCN / NTRX Here NARFCN is the total number of the available channel numbers, and NTRX is the number of TRXs configured for the cell. For the n x m frequency reuse pattern, "n" indicates the number of the base stations in the reuse clusters, and "m" indicates the number of the cells under each base station. In this case, the frequency reuse degree can be expressed by the following equation: freuse= n x m In actual planning, however, the allocated number of channel numbers will be greater than n x m, so the actual freuse is usually greater than n x m. Therefore, the smaller the f reuse, the more aggressive the frequency is reused and the higher the frequency utilization ratio is. As the aggressiveness of the frequency reuse grows, however, it will bring greater interference to the network. In this case, you must enable the technologies, including DTX and power control, to solve this problem. The more aggressive the frequency is reused, the lower the spectrum utilization ratio is, but the conversation quality is better at this time.

The purpose the frequency planning is to reach a balance between the frequency utilization ratio and the network capacity. Based on the assurance of the network quality, you must take measures to maximize the network capacity. In the GSM system, the 4 x 3 frequency reuse pattern is in basic use. Here "4" indicates 4 base stations (each base station consists of 3 cells), and "3" indicates the 3 cells under the control of each base station. Therefore, there are 12 sectors are available. And the 12 sectors makes up of a frequency reuse cluster, but the frequency in the same cluster cannot be reused. For the 4 x 3 frequency reuse pattern, the intra-frequency spacing is great, so it can meet GSM system's requirement on the intra-frequency interference protection ratio and adjacent frequency interference protection ratio. As a result, this frequency reuse pattern is good for the network quality and security. Under the 4 x 3 frequency reuse pattern, the frequency reuse aggressiveness is 12. For the aggressive reuse introduced hereunder, because the BCCH plays an important role in the network and you cannot use the apply the anti-interference measures, such as downlink power control and DTX, to the BCCH, you must apply the 4 x 3 frequency reuse pattern or looser reuse patterns to the BCCH carriers. Normal 4 x 3 frequency reuse pattern.

3.4.2 10MHz Bandwidth 4 x 3 Frequency Reuse Hereunder are several assumptions: l l The available bandwidth is 10MHz. The channel number is 4594.

l If the channel numbers ranging from 8194 (14 channel numbers in total) are allocated to the BCCH, and the other channel numbers are allocated to TCH. If the previous assumptions are present, the frequency planning under 4 x 3 frequency reuse pattern is provided in Frequency planning under 4 x 3 frequency reuse pattern (a)

Frequency planning under 4 x 3 frequency reuse pattern Frequency A1 B1 C1 D1 A2 group number Channel number of each frequency group 94 80 68 56 93 79 67 55 92 78 66 54 91 77 65 53 90 76 64 52

(a)

B2 C2 D2 A3

B3 C3 D3

89 75 63 51

88 74 62 50

87 73 61 49

86 72 60 48

85 71 59 47

84 70 58 46

83 69 57 45

According to this table, the channel numbers in the first line are BCCH numbers, in which the channel numbers 81 and 82 are standby channel numbers. The channel number of BCCH of the cell A1 is 94. It is 80, 68 and 56 for other carriers, and so on. In a cluster which contains 12 cells, the frequency group for base station A is {A1, A2, and A3}; the frequency group for base station B is {B1, B2, and B3}; the frequency group for base station C is {C1, C2, and C3}; and the frequency group for base station D is {D1, D2, and D3}. Therefore, as listed in this table, no channel number is reused within a cluster. In addition, the intra-frequency and adjacent frequency are not available for the adjacent cells and the same cell. However, the drawbacks of this frequency reuse pattern are that the frequency reuse ratio is low and the capacity expansion needs a great amount of the frequency resources. Therefore, this reuse pattern is not used in the areas where the network capacity needs to be constantly expanded.

If the bandwidth is 10MHz, the maximum base station configuration is S4/4/4 under the normal 4 x 3 frequency reuse pattern, and the frequency reuse degree is 12.5 (50/4 = 12.5). Note: The maximum base station type mentioned in the chapter refers to the configuration type that most continuous base stations can reach. It does not include standalone base station.

3.4.3 19MHz Bandwidth 4 x 3 Frequency Reuse For the 19MHz frequency (1 to 94) used by China Mobile, the 4 x 3 frequency reuse pattern are used for the frequency planning. The channel numbers ranging from 79 to 94 (16 channel numbers in total) are allocated to the BCCH, and other channel numbers are allocated to TCH. No channel number is reserved for micro cells. In this case, the frequency planning solution is provided in Frequency planning under 4 x 3 frequency reuse pattern (b) Frequency planning under 4 x 3 frequency reuse pattern (b) Frequency A1 group number 94 78 Channel number of each frequency group 66 54 42 30 18 6

B1

C1

D1

A2

B2

C2

D2

A3

B3

C3

D3

93 77 65 53 41 29 17 5

92 76 64 52 40 28 16 4

91 75 63 51 39 27 15 3

90 74 62 50 38 26 14 2

89 73 61 49 37 25 13 1

88 72 60 48 36 24 12

87 71 59 47 35 23 11

86 70 58 46 34 22 10

85 69 57 45 33 21 9

84 68 56 44 32 20 8

83 67 55 43 31 19 7

As listed in this table, the channel numbers ranging from 79 to 82 are standby channel numbers. For the 19MHz bandwidth, the maximum base station type can be S8/7/7 under 4 x 3 frequency reuse pattern. The frequency reuse degrees are 11.75, 13.43, and 13.43, so the average value is 12.87. 3.4.4 6MHz Bandwidth 4 x 3 Frequency Reuse

For the 6MHz frequency (96 to 124) used by China Unicom, the 4 x 3 frequency reuse pattern is used for the frequency planning. The channel numbers ranging from 111 to 124 (14 channel numbers in total) are allocated to the BCCH, and other channel numbers are allocated to TCH. No channel number is reserved for micro cells. In this case, the frequency planning solution is provided in: Frequency planning under 4 x 3 frequency reuse pattern (c) Frequency A1 group number Channel number of each frequency group

B1

C1

D1

A2

B2

C2

D2

A3

B3

C3

D3

124 123 122 121 120 119 118 117 116 115 114 113 110 109 108 107 106 105 104 103 102 101 100 99 98 97 96

As listed in this table, the channel numbers ranging from 111 to 112 are standby channel numbers. For the 6MHz bandwidth, the maximum base station type can be S3/2/2 under 4 x 3 frequency reuse pattern. The frequency reuse degrees are 9.67, 13.5, and 13.5, so the average value is 12.22. 3.4.5 4 x 3 Frequency Reuse Conclusion The 4 x 3 frequency reuse pattern is a basic technology applied in frequency planning. It is applicable to other frequency aggressive reuse technologies that are used for the BCCH. Theoretical analysis shows that when the base stations are regularly distributed and azimuths of the cells are consistent with each other, the interference can be reduced to the minimum. Therefore, if you intend to expand the network capacity, you can keep the base stations to be distributed as regular as possible and plan the azimuths of the cells along the same direction. In addition, you can also maintain the antennas at a similar height. However, sometimes you need to adjust the azimuth of the antenna to improve the coverage, which seems contradicts to the capacity expansion. Therefore, sometimes you must make find a balance between the coverage and capacity. If the network capacity needs to be further expanded, you can take the following measures: l Split a cell into smaller cells. At present, however, the average coverage radius of the macro cell base stations in urban areas is already shorter than 500m, so further cell splitting will meet difficulty in cost and technology. l Utilize new frequency resources. For example, you can employ the 1800MHz band to establish a DSC 1800MHz network.

l Under the current 900MHz network, use more aggressive frequency reuse technology to expand the network capacity. At present, the aggressive frequency reuse technology works as the most economical and convenient way to expand the network capacity, so it is also the most popular with carriers. The typical frequency reuse technology includes 3 x 3, 2 x 6, 2 x 3, 1 x 3, and 1 x 1.

3.2 Frequency Division and C/I Requirement 3.2.1 Frequency Division The GSM cellular system can be divided into GSM 900MHz system and DCS 1800MHz system in terms of the band to be used. The carrier spacing is 200 KHz. I. GSM 900MHz It has 124 channel numbers. The absolute radio frequency channel number (ARFCN) is 1124, and a protection band with 200 KHz in width is reserved at the two ends. According to the documents prescribed by the relative government department of China, China Mobile uses the 890909/936954MHz band, and the corresponding ARFCN is 195 (generally, the channel number 95 is for reservation only). For China Unicom, it uses the 909915/954960MHz band, and the corresponding ARFCN is 96124. For the bands defined for the carriers from other countries, they can be calculated by the following formulas: Base station reception: f1 (n) = [890.2 + (n 1) x 0.2] MHz Base station transmit: f2 (n) = [f1 (n) + 45] MHz II. DSC 1800MHz It has 374 channel numbers. The ARFCN is 512885. The relationship between the frequency and the channel number (n) are listed in the following: Base station reception: f1 (n) = [1710.2 + (n 512) x 0.2] MHz Base station transmit: f2 (n) = [f1(n) + 95] MHz China Mobile uses the 17101720 MHz band, and the corresponding ARFCN is 512561. China Unicom uses the 17451755 MHz, and the corresponding ARFCN is 687736. 3.2.2 C/I C/I stands for carrier-to-interference ratio. In the GSM system, frequency reuse will cause intrafrequency interference. The intra-frequency is related to both the reuse distance and the cell radius. If the intra-frequency cell and the service cell work at the same time, the MS locating in the center of the service cell will receive both the useful signals from this service cell and the interfering signals from the intra-frequency cells. For the omni-directional base station with regular frequency reuse, there are 6 intra-frequency interference sources at the first layer, namely, the 6 intra-frequency reuse cells in orange. There are 12 intra-frequency interference sources at the second layer, namely, the 12 intra-frequency reuse cells in yellow. However, the 12 intra-frequency interference sources has only a little effect on the 6 interference sources at the first layer, so it can be neglected. If the radio propagation environment between the 6 intra-frequency reuse cells and the service cell is the keeps stable.

When the MS locates at the edge of the service cell, it will receive the poorest signals form the service cell but the strongest interfering signals. In this case, the needed C/I can be expressed by the following equation: If the cellular layout is improperly designed, the interfering sources will increase and the C/I will decrease. According to the previous equations, the more the cells in each cluster, the greater the C/I and the better the network quality are, but the frequency utilization ratio will be lower. In addition, the GSM interference is related to the traffic load. The intra-frequency interference reaches the greatest when the traffic load reaches the peak. Generally, the 4 x 3 frequency reuse pattern is used in GSM frequency planning. For the areas where the traffic is great, you can use other frequency reuse patterns, such as 3 x 3 and 1 x 3. No matter which frequency reuse pattern you take, you must meet the requirement on interference-to-protection ratio. Apart from the intra-frequency interference caused by normal frequency reuse, there are other abnormal interferences. They are listed in the following: Multipath signal interference (It occurs when useful signals fall outside the delay equalizer of the system.) Outside signal interference (It refers to the signals from the radar, illegal wireless equipments, and environment noises.) In the GSM system, the requirements on the C/I are listed in the following: For intra-frequency C/I, it must be equal to greater than 9 dB. In actual projecting, a margin of 3 dB is needed, namely, it is equal to or greater than 12 dB. For adjacent-frequency C/I, it must be equal to or greater than -9 dB. In actual projecting, a margin of 3 dB is needed, namely, it is equal to or greater than -6 dB. When the carrier offset reaches 400 KHz, the C/I must be equal to or greater than -41 dB. 3 GSM Frequency Planning 3.1 Overview Frequency resource is scarce for the mobile communication, so how to maximize the spectrum utilization ratio is a great concern for many carriers, equipment providers, and scholars. And their research into this problem has accelerated the development of the communication technologies. By now, the mobile communication has experienced three phases: analog TACS/AMPS, GSM/CDMA IS95, and WCDMA/CDMA2000. The purpose to enhance the spectrum utilization ratio is to expand the network capacity based on the limited spectrum resource while ensuring the network quality. If not considering adding frequencies to the network, you can expand the capacity of a GSM network using the two methods. One is to increase the number of base stations in the network; the other is to use the frequency reuse technologies. This chapter mainly describes the GSM frequency reuse technologies, namely, frequency planning technologies. To expand the network capacity, you must reuse the limited frequency resources. Though frequency reuse is beneficial for network expansion, it brings into another problem. That is, it deteriorates the conversation quality. The more aggressive the frequencies are reused, the greater the interference will arise in the network. Therefore, how to seek a balance between network capacity and conversation quality is a demanding task in frequency planning. Currently, the 4 x 3, 3 x 3, 2 x 6, 1 x 3, 1 x 1, MRP, and concentric circles are the GSM

frequency technologies in common use. For the 4 x 3 frequency reuse pattern, the frequency utilization ratio is relatively low, but the higher carrier-to-interference ratio (C/I) can be obtained, so you can enjoy better conversation quality. Compared with the 4 x 3 frequency reuse pattern, the 1 x 3 frequency reuse pattern ensures a relatively high frequency utilization ratio, but the reuse distance is shorter, so interference is greater and the conversation quality is poorer. In this case, you should take some measures, such as the frequency hopping and DTX, against the interference. The frequency planning is a key technology for GSM network, so the quality of the frequency planning will determine the network quality. This chapter introduces the rules of frequency reuse based on the frequency reuse patterns and the network requirement. Meanwhile, it also provides examples to detail the frequency division, C/I, frequency reuse degree under each reuse pattern. .13 Conclusion Network planning is the foundation of a mobile communication network, especially the wireless parts in a mobile communication network costs great and is of vital importance to network quality, so you must make a good planning at earlier stage, which is helpful for network expansion and service update in the future. Network planning requires engineers to analyze coverage, decide network layers, and analyze traffic based on relative technologies and parameters, and finally output the results of RF planning, including base station layout and scale. RF planning, as well as the application of cell parameters, determines the cell coverage. The cell coverage must be properly designed so that the mobile station can always enjoy the best service at the best cells. In addition, the cell coverage must be designed in a way conducive to network capacity expansion. This chapter also introduces the solutions to dual-band network, indoor coverage, tunnel coverage, and so on. Last, this chapter introduces the repeater application. 2.12 Repeater Planning 2.12.1 Application Background With rapid development of mobile communication networks, people have higher requirements on service quality. They hope to enjoy mobile services anywhere and anytime. As for telecommunication carriers, they cannot enable a base station in some dead zones due to the reasons such as cost and transmission conditions. In this case, a repeater can provide an auxiliary and economical means to coverage the dead zones. I. Repeater types A wireless repeater adopts a set of donor antenna to receive the signals from the base station. After amplifying the signals, it adopts a set of retransmission antenna to forward the signals in another direction. Generally, a wireless repeater has only one receiving path, so the diversity antenna is unnecessary. Optical repeater An optical repeater transmits signals using optical fibers, so the repeater side and base station side must have the optical transmission capability. Channel bandwidth

Bandwidth selection repeater A bandwidth selection repeater is also called wideband repeater, and it can select a frequency (for example, the frequency with a bandwidth of 6M, 19M, or 25M) and amplify it. Channel selection repeater A channel selection repeater is also called narrow band repeater or frequency selection repeater. It amplifies the selected channel numbers only. It is a narrow band repeater and amplifies a limited channel numbers. New style Solar energy repeater A solar energy repeater is of the wideband type. It is similar to a general wideband repeater except that its power is solar energy. Product type Wireless frequency selection repeater Currently, the types of the repeaters listed in the left column are in commercial use. Optical frequency selection repeater Wireless wideband repeater Optical wideband repeater II. Comparison between repeater and micro cell Many equipments and a long period are needed for constructing a micro cell. A repeater is installed in a flexible way and the base station equipments and transmission equipments are unnecessary. A micro cell can expand the system capacity. When the cells near a base station are busy, a micro cell can be used to ease the congestion. A repeater can absorb traffic. When a cell is idle, it brings the traffic to this cell, thus enhancing the utilization ratio of the equipments. A repeater does not expand the capacity for a system. The system needs to allocate channel numbers to a micro cell, but this is hard to be realized in the areas where the frequency resource is scarce. The system does not need to allocate channel numbers to a repeater, but it must prevent the repeater from interfering with other cells. Note: The filter of an intra-frequency repeater will produce a delay of about 5s. Theoretically, the maximum effective coverage distance of a GSM cell will be smaller than 35km in this case. A GSM system must enable the dynamic power control function, which is transparent to a repeater. Generally, you must adopt the automatic level control technologies (ALC) for a repeater. & Note: When the ALC technology is applied to a repeater, if a mobile station is too near to the repeater, the repeater will reduce the gains for all the mobile stations within its service area. In this case, the conversation quality of some mobile stations will become poor, or even call drop may occur; especially the mobile stations far away from the repeater are greatly affected. III. Application characteristics

Repeaters are mainly used to cover the dead zones in vast open land, and they are the extension of the base stations. A repeater improves the coverage but does add up to the traffic capacity of a network. However, because it enlarges the coverage of the base station, the total traffic volume increases. A wireless repeater applies the radio transmission mode, with short construction period and effective cost. An optical repeater adopts optical fiber as transmission medium, so the transmission loss is small and transmission distance is large, but construction cost is greater than that of the wireless repeater. The application advantage of the wireless repeater lies in low transmission requirement. If you plant the optical fiber, there is no price advantage against the construction of a micro cell base station. In this case, considering the network quality, you are recommended to select the micro cell base station. Compared with wideband repeater, a narrow band repeater has better performance and provides better signal quality. However, the following problems are still present in application: The carriers of a narrow band repeater must outnumber the carriers configured for the source base station; otherwise the repeater cannot capture a channel. The number of paths of many repeaters is set to 4, so the base stations outnumber 4 carriers cannot work as the signal source. For the base stations with radio frequency and frequency hopping, if the frequencies in the frequency hopping set outnumber the paths selected by the repeater, the conversation cannot be maintained. When the channel number of the donor cell of the repeater changes, you must adjust the channel number, otherwise the problems such as channel assignment failure, call drop, and interference will occur. The wideband repeater allows the base station to adopt frequency hopping, and you do not have to adjust the channel number of the repeater after the channel number of the donor cell changes if the channel number is within the bandwidth of the repeater. However, the wideband repeater will amplify all the signals within the band, so it causes great interference against other cells. No matter whether the optical fiber or wireless repeater is applied, the sum of the radius of the service area of the repeater and the distance between the repeater and base station cannot break the TA limitation. For general base stations, the distance between a repeater and the base station must be shorter than 35 kilometers. The optical repeater can be used in the areas where the GSM radio signals cannot reach and no space is left for a repeater. Because the transmission loss of optical fiber is small and its bandwidth is wide, the optical repeater is quite helpful for transmitting RF signals. Either an omni antenna or a directional antenna can be selected for an optical repeater according to the actual landforms. For an optical repeater, its transmission does not have to be isolated from the reception. In addition, the address of an optical repeater is easy to be decided. Generally, an optical repeater is applied in the dead zones within countryside, highroads, touring areas, factories, and urban areas. In remote mountain areas and along highroads, you can also consider using a solar energy repeater. In conclusion, the repeater is used for the following purposes:

Enlarge coverage area and eliminate dead zones. Strength the field strength and enlarge converge of the base stations in urban areas. Ensure the coverage along the highroads and tunnels. Realize indoor coverage. 2.12.2 Working Principles of Repeater I. Wireless frequency selection repeater Figure 5-45 shows the working principles of a wireless frequency selection repeater. The repeater receives the RF signals from the selected base station (donor antenna) and amplifies and forwards the signals. The antenna receiving the signals from the base station is called donor antenna, the other antenna is called retransmission antenna. Working principles of a wireless frequency selection repeater are as follows: 1) The low-noise power amplifier processes the signals (received by the donor antenna) from downlink carriers. 2) The signals (900 MHz RF signals) are down converted into 71 MHz intermediate frequency (IF) signals. 3) The IF filter (with a bandwidth of 200 KHz) amplifies the 71 MHz IF signals and up converts the signals into the 900 MHz RF signals. 4) The retransmission antenna (service antenna) transmits the signals to the coverage areas. The uplink signals are also processed according to the previous procedures. II. Wireless wideband repeater The wireless wideband repeater works as the same way as the wireless frequency selection repeater except the filter part. The bandwidth of the filter of the wireless wideband repeater is fixed. Generally, it is 6M, 19M, or 25M. III. Optical repeater The difference between the optical frequency selection repeater and the optical wideband repeater lies in the coverage end. The former adopts the frequency selection components, but the later adopts the variable bandwidth options. Compared with the wireless repeater, the optical repeater does require isolation between donor antenna and retransmission antenna. 2.12.3 Repeater Network Planning I. Repeater address selection There is no special requirement on the repeater address selection except the following items: A repeater address must lie between the donor base station and the dead zone, and the azimuth angle between the donor antenna and the retransmission antenna cannot be smaller than 90, as shown in the following figure. If the service antenna is a directional antenna, the repeater must be installed about 200 to 500 meters beyond the dead zone. If the repeater is installed within the dead zone, the coverage quality cannot reach the best, as shown in the following figure. When the repeater is used to coverage the dense residential areas at the edges of the urban area, it cannot face the buildings, because great penetration loss will be caused. In this case, the repeater must be installed at the one side of the building, as shown in the following figure. The areas to be covered must meet the requirement of line-of-sight transmission.

The repeater address must ensure the received signal level required by the repeater. Generally, the received signal level ranges from -50 dBm to -80 dBm. No strong carrier whose channel number is the same as that of the donor base station is present at near the repeater address. The landforms, buildings, or towers where the donor antenna and retransmission antenna can be installed. (The donor antenna must be directed to the base station and the retransmission antenna must be directed to the service area of the repeater. In addition, the isolation between the two antennas must be greater than 170 dBc.) II. Antenna selection When selecting the antenna for a repeater, you must consider the followings: Select the proper antenna gain according to the signals and coverage condition Do not adopt the omni antenna because the wireless repeater is affiliated to the intra-frequency relay system, otherwise the system will perform self-excitation. The communication between the donor antenna and the donor base station antenna is point-topoint communication, so you must select the antenna with high gain or narrow horizontal beam width. For example, to reduce interference, you can select the reflector antenna or the logperiodical antenna. Select retransmission antenna according to the characteristics of a coverage area. For a large coverage area, you can select the general directional antenna with high gain. For tunnel coverage, you can select the Yagi antenna or the spiral antenna. For indoor coverage, you must select the antenna specially designed for indoor use. No matter in what occasions, you must control the transmit direction of the retransmission antenna to prevent the retransmitted signals from feeding in the donor antenna. The front-to-back ratio of the antenna must be as great as possible (it is better to be greater than 30 dB) so that a better isolation between the donor antenna and retransmission antenna can be ensured. III. Requirements on antenna isolation The isolation between repeater antennas depends on the host gain, but the host gain cannot excel the isolation coefficient for self-excitation. According to the requirements in GSM protocols 03.30, the isolation must be at least 15 dB greater than the host gain. In actual project design, you can judge whether the installation position meets the requirements on antenna isolation according to on-site measurement. According to the formulas calculating the antenna horizontal isolation, the following formula can be deducted: AH = 31.6 + 20 lgd (Gt + Gr) dB (900 MHz) AH = 37.6 + 20 lgd (Gt + Gr) dB (1800 MHz) Here, d indicates the distance between the donor antenna and retransmission antenna, in the unit of meter. Gt and Gr indicate the antenna gain relative to the major lobe in the direction of the two antennas. If the two antennas are back-to-back installed, Gt and Gr indicate the front-toback ratio of the antenna. Horizontal isolation of repeater antennas: The formula calculating the vertical isolation of repeater antennas is as follows: Av = 47.3 + 40 logd dB (900 MHz) Av = 59.3 + 40 logd dB (1800 MHz)

Vertical isolation of repeater antennas: If the horizontal isolation and vertical isolation are present simultaneously, the total isolation can be calculated by the following formula: AS = (AV - AH) a/90 + AH, here AV indicates the vertical isolation; AH indicates the horizontal isolation; and a indicates the antenna included angle. Donor antenna and retransmission antenna are installed on the top of the building. Suppose the host gain is 100 dB, the isolation between the two antennas can be 120 dB. If the front-to-back ratio of the donor antenna and the retransmission antenna is 30 dB, when no barriers are present between the two antennas, the requirement on the isolation can be met. If the space loss of the signals between the two antennas is 60 dB, the horizontal isolation distance can be obtained, that is, d = 26m. During project implementation, you must select the antenna installation position according to onsite measurement. You can use a signal source and a receiver for the repeater. If the signal attenuation between the signal source and the receiver reaches 60 dB, it means that the antenna installation position meets the requirement on antenna isolation. When installing the antenna for a repeater, you must pay attention to the following items: If the antennas are horizontally installed, the host of the repeater must be installed between the donor antenna and the retransmission antenna (it must be nearer to the donor antenna.) A good isolation must be ensured regardless that the antennas are horizontally or vertically installed. When they are horizontally installed, it is better that there are some barriers lying between the donor antenna and the retransmission antenna, because you do not have to particularly design a large installation space to ensure antenna isolation in this case. IV. Uplink and downlink balancce calculation For a GSM repeater, the link balance is realized by four links, namely, the uplink and downlink between the donor base station and repeater, and the uplink and downlink between the repeater and mobile station. This section employs the wireless repeater applied in outdoors as an example to calculate the link balance. To simplify the calculation, we introduce the effective donor path loss (EDoPL), which includes all the loss and gain from the output end of the base station combiner or the input end of the multi-path coupler to the input end of the repeater. The link balance is calculated according to the following two formulas: For downlinks, Pbout - EDoPL + GRD - LRF + GRA - Lpass - Pmn = Pmin. For uplinks, Pmout - Lpass + GRA - LRF + GRU - EDoPL - Pbn = Pbin. Here, Pbout indicates the output power of the base station. Pmout indicates the output power of the mobile station. GRD indicates the downlink gain of the repeater. GRU indicates the uplink gain of the repeater. LRF indicates the feeder loss of the retransmission antenna. GRA indicates the gain of the retransmission antenna. Lpass indicates the path loss the mobile stations from the repeater to the service area. Pbn indicates the attenuation margin of the mobile station. Pbin indicates the receiving level of the base station.

Pmin indicates the receiving level of the mobile station. BTSsens indicates the base station sensitivity. MSsens indicates the mobile station sensitivity. If the uplink EDoPL and downlink EDoPL are equal to the uplink path loss and the downlink path loss from the repeater and mobile station, the attenuation margin of the base station is equal to that of the mobile station. Therefore, if you subtract the formula calculating uplink balance from the formula calculating downlink balance, you can get Pbout - Pmout + GRD - GRU = Pmin Pbin. If the links are balance, the equation Pmin - Pbin = Dsens = MSsens- BTSsens is present. In this case, the formula calculating link balance is Pbout - Pmout + GRD - GRU = Dsens. Therefore, the Dsens is fixed after the base station equipments are selected. Moreover, the output power of the base station and mobile station may be decided in GSM system planning. As a result, to achieve the balance of the whole links, you need to adjust the uplink gain and downlink gain of the repeater only. The followings employ the repeater system installed in outdoors as an example to calculate the whole link balance. For downlink budget of the outdoor repeater , output power of the transmitter (+43dBm) loss of the combiner (4dB) EdoPL (90dB) = input power of the repeater (-51dBm) + downlink gain of the repeater (80dB) = downlink output power of the repeater (+29dBm) feeder loss of the retransmission antenna (3dB) + gain of the retransmission antenna (18dBi) path loss of the repeater in the coverage area (127dB) = input level of the mobile station (-83dBm) attenuation margin (20dBm) = the mobile station sensitivity (-103dBm). & Note: To obtain the value of EDoPL, you can measure the input level of the donor repeater and output level of the base station combiner first, and then obtain the difference between the two, and the difference is the value of EDoPL. In addition, the gain of the mobile antenna must be converted to 0 dBi. For uplink budget of the outdoor repeater, output power of the mobile station transmitter (+33dBm) path loss of the repeater in the coverage area (127dB) + gain of the retransmission antenna (18dBi) feeder loss of the retransmission antenna (3dB) = input power of the repeater (-79dBm) + uplink gain of the repeater (80dB) = output power of the repeater (+1dBm) EdoPL (90dB) = input level of the base station (-89dBm) attenuation margin (20dBm) = base station sensitivity (-109dBm). & Note: Because you do not have to consider the diversity function, the attenuation margin on uplinks is the same as that on downlinks. According to the previous link budget, the downlinks are restricted by the output power of the repeater, the uplinks are restricted by the output power of the mobile station, and the noise restricts the maximum gain (EDoPL-10 dB), so the link balance is present. However, this is the most common situation. Actually, you must calculate the margin for all links when installing or optimizing the repeater system. The latest repeater supports the uplink gain and downlink gain to be set respectively. Hereunder is an example.

There is a base station covering parts of a highroad. Its coverage radius is about 20 km. The measured signal strength at the edges of the base station cells is -93dBm. The microwave link tower on the top of the hill near the base station is selected as the address of the repeater. In the areas (including mountains) 350m below the top of the tower, the received level of the mobile station is -71 dBm. The log-periodical antenna with a gain of 18dBi and an azimuth angle of 35is used as the donor antenna. The antenna is installed at 15 meters under the tower top and faces the base station. If the previous conditions are present, the signals output by the repeater are -54 dBm. If a plane antenna with a gain of 17 dBi and a horizontal azimuth angle of 60 degrees is installed at the top of the tower and the antenna radiates to the reverse direction of the donor antenna, the requirements on antenna isolation can be met even if the gain of the repeater reaches 85 dB. In this case, the output power of the repeater is 30 dBm. And the level of the signals in the areas along the highroad which are 20 km beyond the tower can reach -90 dBm. Therefore, the radius of the cell along the highroad is enlarged by 50%. & Note: If a retransmission antenna is installed at the top of the tower, you must ensure that the received signal level in the zero point filling areas near the tower. V. Repeater output power control When adopting a repeater, you must pay special attention to the effect of the intermodulation products against the system. The intermodulation products of the repeater depend on the number of the amplified carriers, the output power of each carrier, and the linearity of the amplifier. Linearity of the amplifier: Third order intermodulation will increase with output power due to the nonlinearity of the amplifier. Therefore, you must control the output to a certain degree to ensure that that the indexes on third order intermodulation meet the requirements. The following formula shows the relationship between the output power of each carrier of the repeater and the requirements on third order intermodulation. Po = IP3 + (PIMP/2) +10 lg (N/2) Here, Po indicates the output power of each carrier (dBm) IP3 indicates the third order section of the amplifier (dBm) PIMP indicates the level of the third order intermodulation (dBc) N indicates the number of carriers If the third order section of the amplifier of a typical repeater is 50 dBm, and the intermodulation level must be lower than -45 dBc according to the requirement of the wireless communication institutes in Britain. VI. Repeater gain setting The gain of the early repeaters must be set manually, but the latest gain of the latest repeaters can be automatically set. For the repeaters whose gain is set manually, the sum of the repeater gain and the protection margin must be equal to or smaller than the repeater isolation; otherwise, the self-excitation of the repeater will be caused. Here the repeater isolation indicates

the isolation between the donor antenna and the retransmission antenna of the repeater. Generally, the protection margin ranges from 10 dB to 15 dB. VII. Repeater adjacent cell planning The coverage areas of a repeater may overlap other donor cells, so you must configure the corresponding adjacent cell relationship for the repeater to ensure normal handover. In addition, you must pay attention that the frequencies in the coverage areas of the repeater and that in the donor cells cannot be the same frequency and neighbor frequency. VIII. Effect of delay processing against repeater planning If only one repeater cannot fully cover an area (such as a narrow and long tunnel), you can use several cascaded repeaters to provide the coverage. The selection of the address and antenna for the repeater of each level is the same as that for a single repeater. However, the repeater will amplify the same frequency and it takes some time for the repeater to process the signal, so there is a delay for each signal segment. If the delay is greater than the time for the GSM system to identify the time window, the intra-frequency interference will occur. Therefore, you must consider the effect of the delay when adopting cascaded repeaters, because the delay will also accelerate the time dispersion and shorten the coverage distance. If adopting the optical repeater, you must consider that the transmission speed of the signals in optical fibers is 2/3 that of in free space, namely, if the extension cell technology is not used, the maximum transmission distance of the signals in optical fiber is 35 km multiplies 2/3 (about 23.3 km) due to the restriction on transmission delay. In addition, if one of three synchronous cells adopting the optical repeater, the TA of two cells will be different due to the difference of transmission mode and rate. In this case, the synchronous handover failure will occur. Therefore, you must adopt the asynchronous handover to obtain the TA of a new cell, which works as the handover target cell. The delay processing varies with repeater types. Some take 2 to 3 s and some takes 5 to 6s. In a GSM system, the delay of two signals cannot be greater than 16s. For the effect of repeater delay processing against time dispersion. Distance between point A and the repeater d is 2.1km. The delay for the mobile station at point A to receive the signals from the repeater and the cell is as follows: (2.1km + 2.1km)/c (light speed) + 3s = 14s + 3s = 17s > 16s. In this case, the intra-frequency interference may be present. If the difference of the levels of the two signals is equal to or lower than 12 dB, the conversation quality will be affected. The time dispersion will cause intra-frequency interference, and the time dispersion is caused by the overlap of the signal source cell and the repeater coverage area. Therefore, you must select the signal of the secondary cells in the coverage areas of the repeater instead of the signals of the major service cell as the source signal of the repeater. In this case, the time dispersion caused by overlap can be avoided. IX. Effect of background noise against repeater planning Suppose that the maximum received noise level allowed by the base station is DN, if the uplink background noise level of the repeater host is too great, the base station channels will be congested when the noise level at the base station is greater than DN. However, how to set the repeater without affecting the base station? They are introduces as follows. If the following assumptions are present: The transmitted signal strength of the base station is Tb.

The received signal strength of the base station is Rb. The received downlink signal strength of the base station host is Dr. The transmitted uplink signal strength of the base station host is Ut. In this case, the path loss between the base station and the repeater is Tb-Dr, so Rb = Ut (TbDr). As a result, if the repeater does not affect the base station, Rb < DN, so the following two inequities are present: Ut (Tb - Dr) < DN Ut < Tb-Dr + DN According to the previous analysis, the repeater does not affect the base station if the uplink background noise level output by the repeater host is lower than (Tb-Dr+DN). From this perspective of review, the background noise must be particularly emphasized in repeater planning because it is easier to bring interference than other types of base stations. X. Specifications of wireless repeaters. 2.11 Tunnel Coverage 2.11.1 Characteristic of Tunnel Coverage At present, most of the tunnels are dead zones, so you must make out special solutions for tunnel coverage. The tunnel types include railway tunnel, highroad tunnel, and underground railway tunnel. Each tunnel has its characteristics, and they are specified as follows. For the highroad tunnel, it is wide. The coverage in the highroad tunnels is relatively stable. When there are vehicles passing by, you can select the antennas with a larger size to obtain a higher gain, so the coverage distance is larger. For the railway tunnel, it is narrow, especially when there is a train passing by; only a little room is left in the tunnel, so the radio propagation is greatly affected. Moreover, the train has great effect on radio signals. Since the antenna installation room is quite limited, the antenna size and gain are greatly restricted. In addition, because general cars cannot be driven to such tunnels, the tunnel coverage is hard to be tested. Therefore, the planning for highroad coverage is different from that of the railway coverage. The length of tunnels ranges from several hundred meters to several kilometers. For short tunnels, you can adopt flexible and economical means to realize the coverage. For example, you can install a general antenna near one end of the tunnel, with the radiation directed to the inside. For long tunnels, however, you must adopt other means. Actually, the coverage solution varies with tunnels, so it is designed according to actual conditions. Cross section of the single-track railway tunnel and multi-track railway tunnel: The smaller the area of the cross section, the greater the loss when a train passes through the tunnel. The related calculation and analysis are based on the multi-track railway tunnels and highroad tunnels. For the calculation and analysis for single-track tunnels, the protection margin can be 5 dB greater than that of multi-track railway tunnels. Before planning tunnel coverage, you must prepare for the following data: Length of the tunnel Width of the tunnel Number of tunnel holes (1 or 2)

Needed coverage probability (50%, 90%, 98% or 99%) Structure of the tunnel (it is constructed with metals or concretes) Number of needed carriers (130) Minimum receiving level in the tunnel (generally, it ranges from -85 dBm to -102 dBm) Distance between tunnel holes Whether AC/DC is available Whether the hole can be punched in the tunnel wall Signal level at the tunnel entrance Existed signal level in the tunnel 2.11.2 Tunnel Coverage Solution I. Link budget Indoor radio link loss is mainly decided by path loss medium value and shadow fading. A tunnel can be taken as a tube. The signals are transmitted through the reflection of walls and straight transmission, with straight transmission the major form. ITU-R suggests an indoor propagation model on page 1238, which is also effective for tunnel coverage. The formula is as follows: Lpath = 20 lg f + 30 lg d + Lf (n) - 28 dB Here, f indicates frequency (MHz) d indicates distance (m) Lf indicates penetration loss factors between floors (dB) n indicates the number of floors lying between the mobile station and antenna. The Lf (n) can be neglected in tunnel coverage, so the following equation can be applied in the calculation of the radio propagation in tunnels. That is: Lpath = 20 lgf + 30 lg d - 28 dB II. GSM signal source selection A GSM signal source and a set of distributed antenna system are a must for tunnel coverage. For tunnel coverage, the GSM signal source is selected according to the radio coverage, transmission, traffic, and the existing network equipments near the tunnel. A macro cell base station, a micro cell base station, or a repeater can work as a GSM signal source for the tunnel coverage. For the coverage of railway tunnels and highroad tunnels, the indoor macro cell base station is seldom used as signal source, but it can be used for an underground railway which requires the coverage of platforms and entrances. In this case, the capacity of the signal source must be great. In most cases, however, the tunnel coverage is realized by micro cell signals. For the areas to be covered, if the nearby network capacity is adequate, the capacity expansion is unnecessary. And if there are good GSM signals available, namely, the donor signal level meets the requirements of a repeater (for example, -70 dBm); a repeater can work as the signal source for the tunnel coverage. With the increase of traffic, however, you must use GSM base stations to replace the repeaters. Adequate isolation must left between donor antenna and retransmission antenna, though it will cause difficulty in antenna installation. Generally, the log-periodical antenna with great front-toback ratio is used as the retransmission antenna.

The general antenna (wireless repeater), coaxial cable, and optical fiber (optical repeater) can connect a repeater to a donor cell. For tunnel coverage, the installation space and auxiliary equipments are quite limited, so micro cell base stations and repeaters instead of macro cell base stations are often applied in tunnel coverage. In mountain areas, repeaters are more likely used because strong signal level often exists at the mountain tops near the tunnel. In this case, the antenna isolation requirement can be easily met. If the signal level of the existed network near the tunnel is not strong enough, you can use a micro cell for the tunnel coverage. III. Antenna feeder system selection After deciding the GSM signal source, you must configure the antenna feeder system for the tunnel coverage according to actual conditions. Three types of configuration are available, namely, coaxial feeder passive distributed antenna, optical fiber feeder active distributed antenna, and leaky cable. Hereunder introduces the tunnel coverage based on coaxial feeder passive distributed antenna and leaky cable. 2.11.3 Tunnel Coverage Based on Coaxial distributed antenna system In a coaxial distributed antenna system, the following RF components are used: Feeder (3/8", 1/2", or 7/8") and jumper Power splitter Power splitter Antenna This section introduces three tunnel coverage solutions based on the coaxial distributed antenna system. I. Solution 1 Tunnel coverage solution based on the bi-directional passive distributed antenna system. Tunnel coverage solution based on bi-directional passive distributed antenna system According to this solution, if the needed minimum signal level is -85dBm (the location probability is 50%), you must add a margin of 8 dB if the want to enhance the location probability to 90%. If the gain of the bi-directional antenna is 5 dBi, the loss of the equal probability power splitter and the jumper is 2 dB, and the feeder with the specification of 7/8" is used, the path loss in 100 meters is 4 dB and the output power of the equipment is 39 dBm. Suppose that the level of the signals transmitted by the first bi-directional antenna is -85 dBm at the tunnel entrance, you can calculate the distance between the antenna and the tunnel entrance using the following equation: Pout- Lpath (d) Lcable (d) Ljumper + Gant = -85dBm + 8dB90%_loc.Prob Here, Pout indicates the output power (39dBm). Lpath (d) indicates the path loss from the first bi-directional antenna to the tunnel entrance. Lcable (d) indicates the cable loss. Ljumper indicates the jumper loss (2 2 dB). Gant indicates the antenna gain (5 dBi). If introducing the previous data to the equation, you can obtain the sum of the Lpath (d) and Lcable (d), that is, 117 dB.

For the relationship between distance d and Lpath (d) and Lcable (d), see Figure 5-34, in which the curve indicates Lpath (d) and the slant line indicates Lcable (d). 1 You can obtain that d = 301m through estimation. If a power splitter is adopted for the first antenna, a loss of 3dB must be added. In this case, the sum of Lpath (d) and Lcable (d) is 114 dB. 2 You can also obtain that d = 261m through estimation. For railway tunnels, train filling will affect signal propagation, so a protection margin of 5dB must be considered when the antenna is installed in the tunnel. In this case, d = 240m. That is, if a bidirectional antenna is installed in the tunnel, it can coverage a distance of 480m. If a power splitter is adopted for the second antenna, the coverage distance between the first antenna and the second antenna will be shortened unless an amplifier is used. The followings analyze the coverage when no amplifier is adopted for the second antenna. The total power output by the first power splitter (it is installed at the first antenna) Pout1 is expressed as follows: Pout1 = Pout Lcable (d) - Ljumper - Lsplitter = 39dBm Lcable (261m) - 2dB - 3dB= 23.56 dBm. (The cable loss in 261m is about 10.44 dB, jumper loss is 2 dB, and the power splitter intersection loss is 3dB). Suppose the overlapping level between the two antennas is -85 dBm, the distance between the second antenna and the first antenna is: d2 = d + x. Here, d indicates the coverage distance of the first antenna (261m), and x indicates the coverage distance of the second antenna in the single direction. According to the previous analysis, the following two equations can be obtained: Pout1 Lcable (261m) Lcable (x) Ljumper + Gant Lpath (x) = - 85dBm + 8dB90%_loc.Prob Lpath (x) + Lcable (x) = 108.56dB Plus the two equations, you can obtain the value of x, that is, 100m. This means that when no amplifier is adopted, two antennas can coverage a tunnel distance of 722m, namely, 2*(261 + 100) m = 722m. If you adopt cascaded antennas, the transmit power is relative low due to the coaxial cable loss. In this case, you can use the amplifier to amplify the power. II. Solution 2 If a tunnel is not long, you can adopt a simpler coverage mode. Tunnel coverage solution based on a single antenna According to this solution, a directional antenna is installed at the tunnel entrance, with the radiation directed to the inside. The following analyze this coverage solution. In this solution, Pout = 39 dBm (suppose that the output power of the GSM signal source is 8W). If the Lpath (d) indicates propagation loss, the sum of Lcable (d) and Ljumper is 5dB, the antenna gain Gant is 8 dBi, and the needed received level is -77dBm, the Lpath (d) is expressed as follows: Lpath (d) = 39dBm - 5dB + 8dBi (-77dBm) = 119 dB According to the equation Lpath (d) = 20 lg10f + 30 lg10d - 28 dB, the value of d can be obtained, that is, 858m. The previous analysis is applicable to highroad tunnels. For railway tunnels, you can consider a

margin of 10 dB due to the effect of train filling, but the coverage distance of the antenna in railway tunnels is calculated the same as that in highroad tunnels. According to the calculation, d = 398m. 2.11.4 Tunnel Coverage Based on Leaky Cable System If adopting leaky cables to realize the tunnel coverage, you must find the specifications of the leaky cables and complete the leaky cable design according to the following steps: 1) Decide coverage factor 2) Calculate the gain of the bi-directional amplifier 3) Estimate the length of the leaky cable between the feeder source and the first amplifier 4) Estimate the length of the leaky cable between the amplifiers 5) Decide the number of needed amplifiers The followings describe these steps in details. I. Decide coverage factor The following information is needed for deciding the coverage factor: Coupler loss Number of carriers Coverage probability Coverage factor indicates the loss in the areas 2 meters beyond the leaky cable (along the vertical direction). This loss includes the coupler loss of the leaky cable and protection margin required by the coverage probability. If 90% of coverage probability is required, you must add 8dB to the medium level. Some leaky cables specify the relationship between the coverage probability and coupler loss. The coverage factor is determined by the parameters, such as coupler loss, RF carrier number, coverage probability, and tunnel type. For the decision of coverage factor in concreter tunnels. For the decision of coverage factor in metal tunnels. When deciding the coverage factor, you can fix a point in the graph and mark a horizontal line through this point, and this line intersects required coverage probability. This intersection point is the coverage factor. Coverage factor in metal tunnels: For example, if the leaky cable with a coupler loss of 71 (900 MHz) is used, the RF carrier number is 18, and the coverage probability is 90, the coverage factor in a concrete tunnel is -77 II. Decide cable length between GSM signal source and the first amplifier Before deciding cable length between GSM source and the first amplifier, you must obtain the following information: Transmit power of the signal source (dBm) Jumper loss: 1 dB Connector loss: 1 dB Leaky cable loss: 2 dB Transmit power at the feeder source (dBm) When calculating the power at a point of the feeder, you must subtract the feeder propagation loss from the GSM signal source. If a wireless repeater with an output power of 18 dBm (18 carriers) is used as the GSM signal source, and the attenuation from the jumper to feeder, and from the feeder to the leaky cable is 7 dB (That is, the power from the repeater is transmitted from a jumper to a feeder, and then from the jumper to a leaky cable, so four connectors are

needed. Generally, the attenuation is 2 dB for each jumper, 1 dB for each feeder, and 0.5 dB for each connector, so the total attenuation is 7 dB.), the transmit power at this point is 11 dB. For the connection of leaky cable. Connection scheme of leaky cable: Suppose the needed signal level in a tunnel is -85 dBm, the signal level at the first amplifier must be equal to or greater than -85 dBm. The coupler loss and longitudinal propagation loss of the leaky cable are present between the signal feeder point and the first amplifier. They are calculated according to the following equation: LossLong = 11dBm (-85dBm) + Losscoup. Here, Losscoup indicates the coverage factor, and it is -77dB when 90% coverage is ensured. Therefore, the LossLong is 19 dB (that is, 11dBm + 85dBm -77dB = 19dB). The cable length between the signal feeder source and the first amplifier can be obtained according to Figure 5-39 and Figure 5-40. For example, suppose that the attenuation is 4.3dB/100 for the leaky cable, you can mark a plumb line at the point indicating 4.3dB. This plumb line will intersect the curve indicating 19 dB at a point, and then you mark a horizontal line starting from this point. The horizontal line will intersect the right vertical axis at a point. And this point shows the cable length. According to this example, the distance between the signal source and the first amplifier is 440m (that is, 19/4.3 = 440m). Cable length between amplifiers in concrete cables: According to the previous figures, the left vertical axis indicates Required RADIAMP Gain, which can be replaced by the radial loss of the leaky cable, but it makes no difference. III. Needed amplifier gain Before calculating the maximum amplifier gain, you must collect the following information: The minimum acceptable signal level (dBm) Coverage factor (dB) The maximum output loss allowed by a single carrier (dBm) If the amplifier is not added, the signal level output by the leaky cable for the longest transmission distance is equal to the difference of the minimum acceptable signal level and the coverage factor. The signal level at the leaky cable beyond the longest transmission distance may be lower the minimum acceptable level, so an amplifier must be added to amplify the signals to the maximum output power allowed by a single carrier. The amplification of this power is related to the specifications of the amplifier and the number of carriers. If the maximum output power allowed by a single carrier is known, the amplifier gain can be calculated as follows: Needed amplifier gain = the maximum output power allowed by a single carrier (it depends on the number of carriers) (the minimum acceptable signal level coverage factor) Along the leaky cable, the maximum output power allowed by each carrier of a bi-directional amplifier is related to the number of carriers that have been amplified. This is considered mainly for the intermodulation interference is present, because the intermodulation interference will increase with the total number of carriers that have been amplified. Relationship between the maximum output power allowed by a single carrier and the number of carriers that have been amplified: Needed amplifier gain = the minimum acceptable signal level coverage factor + the maximum output power allowed by a single carrier.

According to the previous equation, if the minimum acceptable signal level is -85 dBm, the coverage factor is -77, and the maximum output power allowed by a single carrier is 5 dBm, the needed amplifier gain is 13 dB. IV. Decide cable length between amplifiers Before deciding the cable length between amplifiers, you must know the needed amplifier gain and the cable loss (dB/100m). Figure 5-39 and Figure 5-40 help you decide the cable length between amplifiers. For example, in a concrete tunnel, if the amplifier gain is 13 dB and the cable attenuation is 4.3dB/100m, the cable length between two amplifiers is 300m. V. Decide the number of needed amplifiers Before deciding the number of needed amplifiers, you must know the following information: The cable length between the feeder source and the first amplifier The cable length between amplifiers The tunnel length If the previous information is known, the following formula can be used to calculate the number of needed amplifiers. That is: The number of amplifiers (the tunnel length the cable length between the feeder source and the first amplifier)/(the cable length between amplifiers), rounding up to the nearest integer. According to the formula, if the tunnel length is 1000m, the cable length between amplifiers is 300m, and the cable length between the feeder source and the first amplifier is 420m, 2 amplifies are needed. That is, (1000 420)/300 = 1.93, so the nearest integer is 2. After deciding the number of needed amplifiers, you can optimize the distance between amplifiers. That is, you can obtain the distance between the two amplifiers by dividing the remaining distance by the number of needed amplifier. According to the previous example, it is 580/2 = 290m, namely, the distance between the two amplifiers is 290m. VI. Remarks on leaky cable installation The leaky cable must not touch any metal. Generally, a leaky cable must be installed at a spot 5m away from concrete walls and at least 10m away from metal walls. In addition, a leaky cable must be installed near to the coverage area. You cannot necessarily consider the line-of-sight propagation, because the signals leaking from the cable will fill the space nearby. This section introduces the coverage solutions to tunnels in different length. In actual networking, the following coverage solutions may be used: Micro base station (or repeater) + a single antenna Micro base station (or repeater) + distributed antenna system Micro base station (or repeater) + leaky cable Before deciding which coverage solution should be adopted, you must consider the followings: Is the GSM signal near the tunnel entrance strong enough? Is there any available transmission link near the tunnel? Generally, if the existed signal level near the tunnel entrance (including nearby mountains) is lower than -80 dBm, the micro base station is recommended. If it is greater than -80 dBm, the micro base station or the repeater is recommended. If problems concerning transmission are present, the repeater is recommended. When using the repeater, you must consider that certain isolation is required between repeaters. I. Coverage solution to short tunnels Generally, the tunnels shorter than 100m are defined as short tunnels. When planning the

coverage for these tunnels, you must consider the coverage areas near the tunnels. If several tunnels are close to each other, you can install a base station or a repeater between the tunnels. If adopting a micro base station, you must adopt the bi-directional antenna. If the antenna gain is 5 dBi, you should install the antenna at the tunnel entrance so as to ensure coverage. When designing tunnel coverage solutions, you must fully consider that fact that cars and trains move at a high speed, so how to ensure normal handover after the cars or trains steering into the tunnels is of vital importance. If the repeater is used as the GSM signal source and the signals outside the tunnel and the signals within the tunnel belong to the same cell, no handover problem will occur. If the micro cell is used as the GSM signal source and the signals outside the tunnels and the signals within the tunnel belong to different cells, the signals in the outside cell will drop dramatically when the train steers into the tunnel. In this case, handover failure may occur and call drop will be resulted in. To solve this problem, you can consider adopting the following methods: Adopt the bi-directional antenna for the tunnel coverage, because it can provide enough overlapping area for handover. Enable special handover algorithms, such as fast level fall handover algorithm. In this case, a mobile station can hand over to another cell when the signal level falls fast. Select the directional antenna with small front-to-back ratio. II. Coverage solution to middle-length tunnels This section introduces several typical coverage solutions to railway tunnels. The followings are a series of assumptions: The Huawei BTS3001C (the maximum output power is 8W) is used as the GSM signal source. The repeater with 1 amplified carrier and a maximum output power of 2W is considered. The lowest receiving level is designed to -85 dBm, and the coverage probability is 90% (with a protection margin of 8 dB). For railway tunnel coverage, because the train will affect signal transmission, if the antenna is installed at the tunnel entrance, the protection margin must be increased by 10 dB. If the antenna is installed in the tunnel, the protection margin must be increased by 5dB. The dedicated directional antenna with the specification of DB771S50NSY, the horizontal half power angle of 60, and the antenna gain of 8 dBi is used at the tunnel entrance. The bi-directional antenna with the specification of K738446 and antenna gain of 5 dBi is used within the tunnel. According to these assumptions, if a micro base station (39 dBm) is used as the GSM signal source, the coverage distance is 400m when the antenna with a gain of 8 dBi is installed at the tunnel entrance, and the coverage distance is 480m when the bi-directional antenna with a gain of 5 dBi is installed in the tunnel. If a repeater (33 dBm) is used as the GSM signal source, the coverage distance is 250m when the antenna with a gain of 8 dBi is installed at the tunnel entrance, and the coverage distance is 360m when the bi-directional antenna with a gain of 5 dBi is installed in the tunnel. Therefore, for the tunnels shorter than 500m, you can use the combination of a micro base station and a single antenna (or a repeater) for the tunnel coverage. For curve tunnels, you can install a bi-directional antaean in the tunnel.

According to on-site survey on the cross-section, the available antenna size, and the tunnel length, you can use the antenna with a higher gain to coverage the tunnels a little longer than 500m. III. Coverage solution to long tunnels For the tunnels longer than 500m, you need to use the distributed antenna system or the leaky cable for the coverage. The followings introduce the coverage realized by the combination of a micro base station and a leaky cable (or a repeater). Hereunder is a series of assumptions: The Huawei BTS3001C (the maximum output power is 8W) is used as the GSM signal source. The repeater with 1 amplified carrier and a maximum output power of 2W is considered. The lowest receiving level is designed to -85 dBm, and the coverage probability is 90% (with a protection margin of 8 dB). The leaky cable with the specification of SLWY-50-22 and the radial loss of 5dB/100 m is used. The coupler loss may be 77 dB when the 90% of signals are received. According to these assumptions, if a micro base station (39 dBm) is used as the GSM signal source, the coverage distance is 800m when only the leaky cable but no amplifier is used. If a repeater (33 dBm) is used as the GSM signal source, the coverage distance is 680m when only the leaky cable but no amplifier is used. The coverage distance will be larger if leaky cables with smaller loss are used. For the coverage of still longer tunnels, you must use amplifiers to amplify signals. That is, you can use either the distributed antenna system or the leaky cable for the coverage solution. In terms of technical indexes and installation space, coverage solution based on leaky cable is recommended. In terms of cost, you must select a suitable coverage solution base on actual conditions. 2.10 Design of Indoor Coverage System 2.10.1 Characteristics of Indoor coverage With the rapid development of economy, hotels, commercial centers, large-scale flats, underground railways, and underground parking areas are arising by batch. As a result, mobile stations are more frequently used in indoor environment. Thus, they require better indoor mobile communication services. Generally, the following problems are present in indoor mobile communication systems: From the perspective of coverage, the complex indoor structure and the shielding and absorbing effect of the buildings cause great radio wave transmission loss. As a result, the signals in some areas may be weak, especially the signals in the first and second floors in the underground are quite weak, or even there are dead zones. In this case, mobile stations cannot necessarily access the network, there is no paging response, or subscribers are not in service areas. From the perspective of network quality, the factors interfering radio frequencies are probably present in upper floors of high buildings. In this case, the signals in service areas are not stable, so ping pong effect may occur and conversation quality cannot be ensured. From the perspective of network capacity, if mobile stations are frequently used in buildings, such as large-scale shopping centers, conference halls, some areas in the network cannot meet the requirements of subscribers. In this case, congestion may occur on radio channels.

If the indoor coverage is realized by a repeater, an outdoor high-power base station, or a greatheight outdoor antenna, the following problems may arise: The penetration loss is great, so the indoor coverage is not satisfying. In this case, a large number of dead zones are present, so subscribers cannot keep conversation. If a repeater is adopted, the level of original signals must be high. In addition, the crossmodulation and intra-frequency interference is great, so the conversation quality is weak and call drop ratio is high. The network capacity is limited and the call connected ratio is low. The frequency planning is hard to be performed for the network and the network capacity is hard to be expanded. The detached island effect is great. The value-added services are restricted for group subscribers due to network quality and capacity. To enhance the grade of service, we must improve indoor coverage immediately. When designing an indoor coverage system, we must make the following considerations: A new indoor coverage system cannot affect the existing network. Enough capacity of an indoor system must be ensured. An indoor system must support new services and functions. The chapter analyzes the design of indoor coverage system from the following aspects: Indoor Antenna System Design Capacity Analysis and Design Frequency Planning Traffic Control 2.10.2 Indoor Antenna System Design I. RF design (1) Link budget In an indoor coverage system, the link budget formula is as follows: Here, Pant = antenna input interface power RFmarg = Raleigh fading margin IFmarg = access margin (depends on environment) LNFmarg = design margin (generally, it is 5 dB) BL = body loss (900MHz: 5 dB; 1800/1900MHz: 3 dB) MSsens = mobile station sensitivity Lpath = path loss Here, Lpath = 20logd (m) + 30logf (MHz) - 28 dB + . When there no barrier loss, Lp = 20logd (m) + 30logf (MHz) - 28 dB. The indicates the loss caused by other bariers. Because the penetration in cylindrical tunnels is great, leaky cables are applied in cylindrical tunnels. When performing link budget, you must consider the followings: In an indoor multi-antenna system, the link budget for test points must be in accordance with the link with the minimum loss.

Under the same converge area, the EIRP at each antenna interface must be consistent, and the error must be controlled within 10 dB. The uplink signal must be designed to a high value, so antenna diversity is unnecessary. To reduce uplink interference, you must properly set the maximum transit power of the mobile station and enable the power control function of the mobile station. A certain margin must be leaved for error correction and future system expansion. The estimation and design for interference margin vary with the distance from the outer wall. The smaller the distance, the larger the interference margin is designed. (2) Service quality design (interference degree) The actual interference level changes with network layout and frequency re-planning, and it can be tested according to actual situations. (3) Service quality design (interference margin design) The greater the interference in an area, the greater the interference margin (IFmarg) is designed, and the higher the level the mobile station needs to receive. When a dual-band system is adopted in the indoor environment, the indexes of mobile station receiving level are designed according to the 1800 MHz system standard. II. Antenna system design When designing an indoor distribution system, you must first survey the building type, structure, interference environment, customers, and then analyze the path loss. Finally, decide the antenna type, number, and installation location according to the requirements of an area. This section introduces the antenna design guidelines in some typical cases. (1) Single cell If the indoor coverage is realized by a signal cell, each antenna must be designed to ensure that signals are evenly distributed in the coverage area. Generally, it is recommended to install the antenna in a zigzag way. (2) Multi-cells If the indoor coverage is realized by multiple cells, a certain distance must be leaved between intra-frequency reuse cells. Each antenna must also be designed to ensure that signals are evenly distributed in the coverage area of each cell. If the frequencies are reused frequently, it is recommended to install the antennas on different layers at the same position of the layer.(3) Closed building A closed building has the characteristics, such as thick outer wall, great signal attenuation, and little leakage. In addition, it is little affected by outdoor intra-frequency cells. Therefore, the frequency between floors is easily to be planned. For the antenna design guideline in a closed environment. (4) Half-open environment For a half-open building, the outer wall is made of glasses, so the signal attenuation is small. Within the building are the open conference halls, which are greatly affected by outdoor intrafrequency cells, so you must plan dedicated frequencies or adopt the multi-antenna system with low output power to limit the edges of the indoor cells within the building. (5) Frame-structure building For a frame-structure building, the number of internal walls is large and they are thick. Therefore, if the antenna is installed at the corridors, the antenna output power must be high so

that good coverage can be ensured. In this case, signals will leak at the windows near the corridor, so you must plan dedicated frequencies for the building. The distance of the intrafrequency cells between floors is larger than that in other environments. For the antenna design guideline in frame-structure building. (6) Office building The indoor environment of office buildings requires high grade of services, so its coverage is realized by several directional and omni antennas. You can control the coverage area easily through properly designing the effective radiation power in the cell. For design guideline, see (7) Parking area Parking area has no special requirement on capacity and mobile station receiving level (-90 dBm). For a parking area, the elevator, escalator, entrance and exit are key coverage areas. (8) Supermarket Supermarkets have certain requirements on coverage and capacity. The antennas can be designed according to actual structure of the buildings. III. Survey The antenna design and installation is finally decided according to the survey, which includes the following aspects: Detailed coverage area and signal quality and converge requirements Distribution of the signals in coverage areas Composition of buildings in coverage areas Signal access location and mode Installation position According to the survey, you must output the final topological structure diagram, antenna cabling scheme, and list of materials. Generally, the omni antenna is installed at the ceiling center. The small directional antenna is hung on the inner side of the outer wall, with the radiation directed to indoor part. In this case, the effect of the antenna against the outdoor system can be reduced to the minimum, so the C/I requirement of the outdoor system can be met. If possible, you can test the coverage and adjust the antenna design according to the test result, or re-plan the frequency to ensure the voice quality. Generally, if the radiation power at the antenna interface is 10 dBm, the 2 dBi small indoor omni antenna is used. In this case, if the walls are densely distributed in the areas within 30 meters from the antenna, the coverage level can reach -70 dBm. 2.10.3 Capacity Analysis and Design Before analyzing the capacity, you must define the type of the indoor service area. Definition of indoor service area type Indoor service area type Characteristic Example Public service area The traffic is hard to be predicted. The population number varies with day and night. The capacity characteristics, such as uneven distribution and bursting must be considered.

The grade of service and the traffic of each subscriber are similar to that for outdoor cells. Airport, shopping center, and play ground. Commercial service area The existed fixed networks are frequently used. The traffic is relatively fixed and easy to be calculated. High service quality is required. Generally, the grade of service (GoS) is 1%, the traffic of each subscriber can reach 0.1 Erl. Office building and commercial hotels of high ranks. There are two cell organization modes of distributed antenna system, namely, single cell and multiple vertical split cells. The single cell is applied to the indoor environment which requires smell coverage area. The multiple vertical split cells are applied to the indoor environment with dense traffic. Likewise, a single cell will split when the capacity does not meet the requirement, with vertical splitting the splitting mode. Generally, a cell will vertically split into at least three cells so that frequency reuse can be ensured. Four layers must be present between two intra-frequency cells . To avoid interference between frequencies, you must take measures to prevent a cell from horizontally splitting. 2.10.4 Frequency Planning If the dedicated frequency is adopted in indoors, the frequency planning is relatively simple. Generally, the frequency reuse mode in business service areas is almost the same as that in pubic service areas. If the frequency resource is adequate, you must try best to use dedicated band for indoor coverage. If not, you can search the available channel numbers with relatively small interference through scanning the channel numbers. If the frequency resources of the 900 MHz cannot meet requirements, you can introduce the 1800 MHz frequency; namely, use a dual-band system. If you steal frequency resource for indoor system due to no available dedicated frequency, you must pay attention to the followings: Do not select the frequencies of the neighbor cells. Ensure that the BCCH frequencies are not interfered. The interference on the TCH frequencies can be reduced with the help of radio frequency hopping. Search the available uplink frequencies through using BTS equipments to scanning the uplink channel numbers. Search the available downlink frequencies through using drive test equipment to scanning the downlink channel numbers. If the hierarchical cell structure is not used, the cell with the strongest signal level is the service cell, and the interference from neighbor frequencies can be neglected. If the hierarchical cell structure is used, the cell with the strongest signal level cannot necessarily be the service cell, so you must take measures to reduce the interference from neighbor frequencies. Because the environment is urban areas is quite complicated, especially the effect of the antenna back lobe is present, the service areas for high buildings are greatly interfered, so you

must carefully plan the frequencies for the indoor coverage of high buildings. Generally, for the lower floors, you can plan the frequencies according to general method. For the higher floors where the interference is strong, you can use dedicated channel numbers. However, the final frequency planning must be based on practical tests. 2.10.5 Traffic Control The indoor coverage system for high buildings can be taken as a system independent of outdoor systems if the coverage of the indoor system is good. Theoretically, you can only consider the cell selection and reselection, handover relationship, and the compact on outdoor networks at the entrances and exits of the building. However, the actual conditions are quite complicated. For example, the signals outside of the building may be strong. In this case, if a mobile station is powered off, it may camp on an outside cell. Therefore, when optimizing the network, you must set the one-way adjacent cell and two-way adjacent cell according to actual conditions and set the parameters, such as CRO and TO to a proper value according to the regularity of cell selection and reselection. In addition, you can set the indoor cells to a high priority so as to reserve more traffic. And the inter-layer handover threshold and hysteresis are defined and adjusted according to actual conditions. 2.9 Dual-Band Network Design 2.9.1 Necessity for Constructing Dual-Band Network The earlier GSM mobile communication network is constructed on the 900 MHz band. With rapid growth of subscribers, the network capacity also grows rapidly. Therefore, the lack of frequency resources and radio channels is a major concern for mobile telecommunications. Many methods can be used to expand the capacity of a GSM system, including: Adding macro cell base stations to the system Reducing distance between base stations Adopting aggressive frequency reuse technologies (such as MRP and 13) Adding micro cells to the system Applying half rate to the system However, all these methods cannot thoroughly solve the problems concerning network capacity. As a result, the GSM 1800MHz network is introduced (uplink: 18051880 MHz; downlink: 1710 1785 MHz). And the network integrating GSM 900MHz and GSM 1800MHz can meet the growth of network capacity. The application of GSM 1800MHz can bring the following advantages: It does not occupy the bands of GSM 900MHz and has a communication bandwidth of 75M. Therefore, it breaks the bottleneck of GSM 900MHz in terms of frequency resources. The system networking, project implementation, network planning, and network maintenance of a GSM 1800MHz network are almost the same with that of a GSM 900MHz network. The GSM 1800MHz and GSM 900 MHz can share a base station, so a GSM 1800MHz network can be finished in a short time, which is quite helpful for network expansion. Dual-band mobile phones now accounts for a major part of the total, so a GSM 1800MHz network can provide services to the dual-band subscribers. In this case, the capacity pressure on GSM 900MHz can be greatly eased. 2.9.2 GSM 1800MHz Coverage Solutions

I. Propagaiton features of GSM 1800MHz The propagation features of the electromagnetic waves of 900 MHz and 1800 MHz are different in the following aspects: The propagation loss in free space The propagation loss of the 1800 MHz signals is 6 dB greater than that of the 900 MHz signals in free space. Penetration loss The penetration loss of the 900 MHz signals is greater than that of the 1800 MHz signals, but their difference is slight. Diffraction loss The longer the waves, the smaller the diffraction loss is. The diffraction ability of the 1800 MHz signals is poorer than that of the 900 MHz signals. II. Dual-Band Networking Mode There are three dual-band networking modes, namely, independent MSC networking, coMSC/independent BSC networking, and co-BSC networking, among which the former two are called independent networking, and the later is called hybrid networking. III. Coverage requirements on GSM 1800 MHz Outdoor coverage The outdoor coverage can be easily realized when the distance between base stations are not large. In necessary cases, you can add a GSM 1800MHz base station at the address of the original GSM base station. And in some places, you should consider add a new base station. Indoor coverage To ensure that the indoor coverage of GSM 1800MHz is good, you must control the distance between the base stations installed in urban areas within 1000 meters. In China, however, the buildings in most cities are constructed by concretes and metals, so the penetration loss is great. As result, the distance between base stations in urban areas of China ranges from 500 to 800 meters. IV. Coverage mode of GSM 1800MHz (1) Scattered coverage in hotspot areas At the early network construction stage, the GSM 1800MHz base stations are scattered in hotspot areas. When the capacity configured for a GSM 1800 MHz base station is small, you must solve the problems, such as SDCCH congestion, TCH congestion, and frequent update between GSM 1800MHz and GSM 900MHz. The cost in early construction stage is small. Scattered coverage of GSM 1800MHz in hotspot areas The coverage of the dual-band network of this mode is based on the original GSM 900MHz network. The GSM 1800MHz base station is constructed in some hotspot areas, so the seamless coverage of GSM 1800MHz is not available in this case. If a dual-band mobile phone starts conversation in an area covered by GSM 1800MHz, after leaving this coverage area, it hands over to the GSM 900MHz cell where it originally was. And the handover of this type is called the inter-band handover caused by coverage. If a dual-band mobile phone starts the conversation in an area covered by GSM 900MHz, but because the traffic in this area is great, the mobile phone will hand over to an area covered by GSM 1800MHz. And the handover of this type is called the inter-band handover caused by capacity.

The scattered coverage in hotspot areas only relieves capacity problems in a short term. Moreover, frequent inter-band frequency handover increase the signaling load, which results in the loss of system capacity. (2) Seamless coverage in hotspot areas If the coverage of this mode is available; the GSM 1800 MHz network can share greater traffic for GSM 900MHz network and expand the system capacity. In addition, it is cost-effective. (3) Perfect seamless coverage If a GSM 1800MHz network adopts the coverage of this type, the advantages are as follows: The seamless coverage area within a city can be realized. The GSM 1800MHz network can share the traffic load for GSM 900MHz network as much as possible. The system capacity can be greatly expanded. The ratio of the handover between layers is small. The quality of the network is quite satisfying. The frequencies can be planned by patch. The carriers can be expanded step by step. However, there are still disadvantages. They are as follows: The number of base stations is large. The work load of network planning and optimization is huge. The investment is large. The base station addresses cannot be decided once. Perfect coverage of GSM 1800MHz in hotspot areas If a GSM 1800MHz network adopts this coverage mode, it can be easily expanded to meet future coverage. Compared with the scattered coverage in hotspot areas, the perfect seamless coverage is characterized by great intensity and large area. Therefore, the ratio of inter-band handover under this coverage mode is far smaller than that under scattered coverage mode. As a result, the signaling load is reduced greatly. Therefore, this coverage mode is an ideal coverage solution. If a GSM 1800MHz network adopts this coverage mode, it does not necessarily attach to the GSM 900MHz network, instead, it can form an independent network. 2.9.3 Location Area Division for Dual-Band Network The location area division for dual-band network is suggested as follows: If 1800 MHz cells and 900 MHz cells are under the control of two MSCs respectively, their location areas are different. Therefore, you must set related parameters to maintain the mobile stations stay in the 1800 MHz cells where the traffic is absorbed. In this case, the times for the mobile station to handover between the two bands and reselect cells will decrease. Meanwhile, when designing signaling channels, you must fully consider the load resulted from location update. If 1800 MHz cells and 900 MHz cells share a MSC, at the early network construction stage, they are suggested to use the same location area without affecting the network capacity. If the restriction on paging capacity is present, two location areas must be divided for them either in

terms of band or geographic location, as shown in Figure 5-17 and Figure 5-18. Location area division based on geographic location If the location area is divided in terms of band, because frequent location updates are resulted from inter-band handover and cell reselection, you must set related parameters to maintain the mobile stations stay in the 1800 MHz cells where the traffic is absorbed. In this case, the times for the mobile station to handover between the two bands and reselect cells will decrease. Meanwhile, when designing signaling channels, you must fully consider the load resulted from location update. If the location is divided in terms of geographic location, the frequent location updates resulted from inter-band handover and cell reselection can be avoided. However, you need to modify the related data of the original 900 MHz network. In addition, at the edges of the location areas, because the location updates caused by intra-band and inter-band handover and cell reselection is present simultaneously, the signaling flow is huge at these edges. As a result, you must carefully design the edges of the location areas. 2.9.4 Traffic Guidance and Control Strategies of Dual-Band Network I. Traffic guide of Dual-Band Network At early construction stage of a dual-band network, traffic control concerns how to use the new GSM 1800MHz network to share the traffic flow for the GSM 900MHz network. According to the original intension of the GSM 1800MHz network, the traffic can be guided according to the following principles: 1) At the early construction stage of a dual-band network, the GSM 1800MHz network is mainly applied to absorb the traffic of the dual-band subscribers so that the load of the GSM 900MHz network can be eased. 2) When the number of dual-band subscriber grows large, each band must share the traffic so that the inter-band handover times can be reduced. Process of traffic guide and control strategies. The various traffic control strategies can be realized through adjusting parameter settings as follows: 1) In idle mode, when the mobile station is selecting cells after it is switched on and reselecting cells when it is in standby state, you can set higher priorities for the 1800 MHz cells by designing the system parameters, including CBQ, CBA, CRO, TO, and PT. In this case, subscribers are more likely to stay in the 1800 MHz cells. As a result, their calls are established on the 1800 MHz cells. 2) If traffic congestion is present in the service cell when a mobile station is setting up a call, the system applies directed retry function to assign the mobile station to a TCH in the neighbor cells of the service cell and adjust the traffic allocation. 3) In conversation state, the traffic must be guided to the 1800 MHz cells in lower layers and levels according to the hierarchy cell structure. In addition, you can use Huawei dual-band handover algorithms so that the traffic load can be allocated more properly. II. Hierarchical Cell Structure According to the hierarchy cell structure of the dual-band network, a GSM system covering an area can be divided into four layers, as listed in Table 5-25. To enable the network to develop smoothly and flexibly, you can divide each of the four layers

into multiple levels, and then you can set multiple priority classes (for example, 16 classes) for the levels in each layer. This method is not only helpful for adjusting the traffic load in part of the areas. Therefore, the hierarchical cell structure enhances the cooperation of the current network equipments and meets the devolvement of the future network. In terms of traffic priority, the cells in lower layers and levels has higher priorities, namely, the cells in lower layers has the priority to absorb the traffic. 2.9.5 Dual-Band Networking Engineering Implementation During network construction and optimization, a dual-band network is debugged and commissioned step by step, which facilitates debugging the new GSM 1800 MHz networks and the original GSM 900MHz networks that has been expanded respectively. After each signal network is perfectly adjusted, you must debug each base station in the dual-band network. And you cannot stop the debugging until the whole dual-band network is finished. The construction of a whole dual-band network can be divided into three stages, namely, deployment preparation, signal 1800 MHz network debugging, and 900/1800 MHz dual-band network debugging. I. Deployment perparation The coordination of dual-band technologies and network planning must be finished in this stage. The coordination of dual-band network technologies is a prerequisite for the cooperation of different carriers networks. Network planning is the first step in network construction and involves many tasks, including base station address survey, channel number planning, electromagnetic background test, coverage test, and so on. The followings must be emphasized in dual-band cooperation: The customers, the third party (the designing institute or the original equipment supplier), and the new equipment supplier must be cooperate with each other well. If one party meets a tough problem during the debugging of the dual-band network, the engineers from a third party must be present in site and help position the problem. The 900 MHz BSC and 1800 MHz BSC must synchronize their clocks with the same source clock. Meanwhile, the clock of each base station in the existing GSM 900 MHz network can lock the clock of the BSC, and the clock of the BSC can lock the clock of the MSC. When modifying the parameters related to dual-band handover (such as modifying the parameters at the BSC side or MSC side), you must notify that to other two parties. If the some problems concerning the cooperation of dual-band network arise, a meeting must be organized, in which each party discuss with each other on how to solve the problems. Both the designing institute or the original equipment supplier and the new equipment supplier must provide the project implementation plan, cutover plan, and precise cell information. II. Signal 1800 MHz network debugging At this stage, you need not modify any data of the original GSM 900 MHz network, but it is still the GSM 900MHz network provides services to subscribers. The GSM 1800MHz network does not absorb traffic. When debugging the GSM 1800MHz network, you must adjust the following parameter so that the existing subscribers can be least affected. In the system message data list, set the parameter CBA to NO to prevent general subscribers from selecting and reselecting the 1800 MHz network. Theoretically, general

subscribers can hand over to the 1800 MHz network, but in fact, the handover relationship is not configured with the dual-band network, so the general subscribers cannot enter the 1800 MHz network. After that, you use the testing mobile phone which can access the network by force to perform dialing test in each cell. If all goes normal, you can test coverage, handover, power control, interference, downlink and uplink balance, power adjustment, the coverage of the GSM 900MHz network, and the coverage of the GSM 1800MHz network. Through these tests, you can not only discover the problems present in the networks, but also adjust the channel number, power, tilt angle, and parameter setting and optimize the parameter configuration for the GSM 1800MHz cell. In this case, the coverage and operation of the single GSM 1800MHz network can be ensured. III. 900/1800 MHz dual-band network debugging After finishing the single GSM 1800MHz network debugging, you must change back the parameter CBA to YES and configure the data for dual-band handover. The tests involved into the dual-band network debugging include: Cell reselection and location update Traffic load control Continuous conversation mode Automatic dialing and scan Dual-band network handover Calls and handovers initiated on major streets Calls and handovers initiated on edge areas Dialing tests in poor coverage areas and indoor environment Dialing tests in outdoor and indoor environments in key areas The data includes neighbor cell relationship, layer and level setting, handover type, and handover threshold. In this case, when a mobile phone is in idle mode, it can reselect an 1800MHz cell, the GSM 1800MHz network can absorb the traffic of dual-band subscribers, and the subscribers can perform handover between 1800MHz cells and 900MHz cells. At the beginning, you can control the GSM 1800MHz network to absorb only a small part of the traffic of subscribers through adjusting the setting of CRO and handover threshold. When good cell reselection and dual-band handover are ensured, you can take measures to enable the GSM 1800MHz network to absorb more traffic, with the prerequisites that no congestion is present among cells and the network quality is ensured. At this stage, the following parameters must be configured: The parameters related to cell selection and reselection, including CBA, CBQ, ACCMIN, CRH, and CRO. The parameters related to neighbor cell relationship, layer and level setting, and handover. The configuration of the previous parameters must be based on the prerequisite that the cooperation of the GSM 1800MHz cells and GSM 900MHz cells is normal. After the GSM 900MHz and 1800MHz dual-band network is enabled, you must do the followings: 1) Find out the problems present in the network through multiple means, such as drive test. 2) Adjust and optimize the network according to the problems so that the dual-band network can run stably.

3) Check if the dual-band network runs stably, analyze all the traffic statistic data, and check the network operation indexes. 4) Make sure the problems and take effective measures according to the analysis of the drive test and traffic statistics. 5) Adjust the related parameters and retest the network till the network indexes meet the design requirements. Thus, a dual-band network is constructed and optimized according to the three stages as introduced in this section. 2.7 Design of Base Station Address 2.7.1 Address design Generally, in GSM radio network planning, the base station address is designed according to the following requirements: The address must serve to the reasonable cell structure. Based on the comprehensive analysis of the electronic maps and paper maps, you can select several candidate addresses from the perspective of coverage, anti-interference, and traffic balance. In actual conditions, carriers are required to discuss the selected addresses with owners. Generally, the addresses must be located within the area 1/4 radius of the cellular base station. During the early construction stage when only a few base stations are installed, the base stations must be located in the center of the areas where subscribers are densely populated. For the selection of the base station addresses, the priority must be given to the important areas, such as government offices, airports, train stations, news center, and great hotels so that good conversation quality can be assured. Furthermore, overlapped coverage must be avoided in these areas. For other coverage areas, the base station addresses are designed according to standard cellular structures. For the suburban areas, highroads, and countryside areas, the design of base station addresses has little relation with cellular structures. Without affecting the layout of base stations, you can select the telecommunication buildings and post offices as the base station addresses so that the facilities, such as the equipment room, power supplier, and iron tower can be fully utilized. The direction of antenna major lobe must be in accordance with the area where the traffic intensity is great. In this case, the signal strength of the area can be enhanced, so does the conversation quality. Meanwhile, the direction of the antenna major lobe must be deviated from intra-frequency cells so that the interference can be controlled efficiently. In urban areas, it is recommended that the overlapped depth of the antennas in adjacent sectors cannot excel 10%. In suburban areas and small towns, the overlapped depth between coverage areas cannot be too great, and the included angle between sectors must be equal to or higher than 90. In addition, for actual design, you must consider the mapping relationship between carrier number and cells. Generally, more carriers are configured for the cells with high intensity. The azimuth angle must be designed according to not only the traffic distribution in the areas around the base stations, but also the performance of the overall network. Generally, it is recommended to adopt the same azimuth angle for the 3-sector base stations in

urban areas so that the complicated network planning can be avoided after cell splitting in the future. Moreover, the antenna major lobe cannot directly point to the straight streets in populated urban areas, because it can cause cross-coverage. In the areas connecting urban and suburban areas, and along transport arteries, you must adjust the azimuth angle according to coverage target. Generally, the base station address is not considered on the high mountains in urban and suburban areas. To be more specifically, the high mountains are those over 200 to 300 meters higher than above the sea-level). Otherwise, not only strong interference and weak signals may be present within the coverage area, but also the base stations are hard to be installed and maintained on high mountains. New base stations must be installed at the spots where the traffic is convenient, the power supply is available, and the environment is secure. In contrast, new base stations must not be installed at the spots near the radio transmit stations with high power, radar stations, and other equipments which produces great interference, because the interference-field intensity cannot be greater than that defined by the base station. The base station addresses must be far away from forests or woods to keep the receiving signals from fading. The transmission between base station controllers must be considered in the design of the base station address. When selecting a base station address from high buildings in urban areas, you can divide the network into several layers with the help of the building height. The antenna height of major base stations must be a little higher than the average height of buildings. Generally, the antenna height of the base stations in populated urban areas ranges from 25 to 30 meters. In suburban areas (or the antenna points to suburban areas), the antenna height ranges from 40 to 50 meters. Along highroads or in mountain areas, the base station address is selected based on full survey of the landforms. For example, the address can be determined in an open area or at the turns of the highroads. When selecting a base station address from the cities characterized by mountains and hills and from the areas where high buildings are constructed with metals, you must consider the effect of time dispersion. In this case, the base station address must near reflected objectives. When the base station is far away from reflected objectives, you must adjust the directional antenna to the reverse direction of the reflected objectives. Caution: Time dispersion mainly refers to the intra-frequency interference arising from the time difference between the master signal and other multipath signal arriving at the receiver in terms of space transmission. According to the requirements in GSM protocols, the equalizer of the receiver must carry the time window with 16s (equivalent to 4.8 km). The multipath signal with time difference greater than 16 s is regarded as intra-interference signal. In this case, you must consider whether the level difference between the master signal and multipath signal meet the carrier-to-interference ratio (C/I), namely, the master signal is 12 dB greater than the multipath signal at least. 2.7.2 Project Parameter Decision

After finishing designing a base station address, you must decide the project parameters needed for the base station installation. These parameters include: Latitude and longitude of the location of base station antenna Antenna height Directions of the antenna Antenna gain Azimuth angle Tilt angle Feeder specifications Transmit power for each cell of the base station And the previous parameters are decided through field survey. Before beginning field survey, you must familiarize yourself with the overall project and collect the materials and tools relative to the project. They are: All types of project documents Background information Information about the existing network Local map Configuration lists required in contracts Relative tools (including digital camera, GPS, compass, ruler, and laptop computer) & Note: Make sure that all the materials and tools are usable before setting out. The following items must be emphasized before field survey: The GPS must be placed in an open land to position the latitude and longitude of a base station Make a detailed record of the surroundings around the base station, such as the distribution of the buildings, facilities with strong interference, and the equipments sharing the same base station address. It is better to record the previous information with a camera. Prevent the compass from magnetizing, because the magnetization will cause great deviation during the measurement. Field survey determines the layout of the base station addresses ultimately. The field survey for the base station includes optical measurement, spectrum measurement, and base station address survey. They are specified as follows: Optical measurement Measure if a barrier that may reflect electrical waves around the base station, such as high buildings. Spectrum measurement Check if the electromagnetic environments around the base stations are normal at present or in recent days. Base station address survey Check the installation conditions of antenna and equipments, power supply, and natural environment. The following sections introduce the design for antenna installation. I. Environment for antenna installation

The environment for antenna installation can be divided into the environment near the antenna and the base station. For the environment near the antenna, you must consider the isolation between antennas and the effect of iron tower and buildings against the antenna. For the environment near the base station, you must consider the effect the high buildings within 500 meters against the base station. However, if the height of the buildings is properly used, you can obtain the intended coverage area. If a directional antenna is installed on the wall, the radiation direction of the antenna is perfectly perpendicular to the wall. If its azimuth angle must be adjusted, the included angle between the radiation direction and the wall is required to be greater than 75. In this case, if the front-toback ratio of the antenna is greater than 20 dB, the effect of the signals reflected by the wall in reverse direction against the signals in the radiation direction is quite slight. When installing an antenna, you must consider whether large shadows will be present within the coverage area of the antenna. The shadows are produced mainly because the base station is surrounded by some huge barriers, such as high buildings and great mountains. Therefore, the antenna must be installed in the areas with no such barriers. When a directional antenna is installed on building roofs, you must prevent the building edges from barring the radiation of antenna beams. Therefore, to reduce or ease the shadow, you can install the antenna near building edges. Because the building roofs are diversified and complicated, if an antenna must be installed far away from building edges, the antenna must be installed higher than the roof. In this case, the wind load of the antenna must be considered. II. Antenna isolation in GSM system To avoid inter-modulation interference, you must leave certain isolation between the receiver and transmitter of the GSM base station, namely, Tx - Rx: 30 dB and Tx -Tx: 30 dB. They are applicable to the situation that a GSM 900MHz base station and a GSM 1800MHz base station share the same address. The antenna isolation depends on the radiation diagram, space distance, and gain of the antenna. Generally, the attenuation introduced by the voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) is not considered. The antenna isolation is calculated as follows: For vertical arrangement, Lv = 28 + 40lg (k/) (dB) For horizontal arrangement, Lv =22 + 20lg (d/) (G1+G2) (S1 + S2) (dB) Here, Lv indicates the required isolation. indicates the length of carrier waves. k indicates the vertical isolation distance. d indicates the horizontal isolation distance. G1 indicates the gains of the transmitter antenna in the maximum radiation direction, in the unit of dBi. G2 indicates the gains of the receiver antenna in the maximum radiation direction, in the unit of dBi. S1 indicates the levels of the side lobes of the transmitter antenna in the 90 direction, in the unit of dBp, and it is a negative value relative to the main beam. S2 indicates the levels of the side lobes of the receiver antenna in the 90 direction, in the unit of dBp, and it is a negative value relative to the main beam.

The followings introduce the requirements on the antenna mount in GSM 900MHz and GSM 1800MHz. (1) Directional antenna In one system, the following requirements must be met in terms of isolation: The horizontal distance between two antennas in the same sector must be equal to or greater than 0.4m. The horizontal distance between two antennas in different sectors must be equal to or greater than 0.5m. In different systems, the following requirements must be met when two antennas are in the same sector and direction: The horizontal distance between the two antennas must be equal to or greater than 1m. The vertical distance between the two antennas must be equal to or greater than 0.5m. The distance between the bottom of the antennas and the enclosing wall of building roof must be equal to or greater than 0.5m. The included angle between the line connecting the bottom of the antenna to the antenna-facing roof and the horizontal direction must be greater than 15. The bands of the two systems are close to each other, the interference against each other will easily occur. Mostly, the transmission of CDMA2000 1X base station will interfere with the reception of GSM 900MHz base station. The disclosure signals of the CDMA band falling into the channels of the GSM base station receivers will enhance the noise level of the GSM receivers. In this case, the GSM uplinks become weak, which will reduce the coverage area of the base station and worsen the quality of the network. If there is not enough isolation between base stations or the transmitting filter interfering base stations does not provide enough out-of-band attenuation, the signals falling into the band of the interfered base station receiver may strong, which will increase the noise level of the receiver. The deterioration of the system performance is closely related to the strength of interference signals, and the strength of interference signals is determined by the factors, such as the performance of the transmitting elements of the interfering base stations, the performance of the receiving elements of the interfered base stations, the distance between bands, and the distance between antennas. The signal from the amplifier of the interfering base station is first sent to the transmitting filter, and then it attenuate due to the isolation between the two base stations. Finally, it is received by the receiver of the interfered base station. The power of the spurious interference arriving at the antenna end of the interfered base station can be expressed by the following equation: Here, Ib indicates the interference level received at the antenna receiving end of the interfered base station, in the unit of dBm. PTX-AMP indicates the output power at the amplifier of the interfering base station, in the unit of dBm. Pattenuation indicates the out-of-band suppression attenuation at the transmitting filer. Iisolation indicates the isolation between the antennas of the two base stations, in the unit of dB. WBinterfered indicates the bandwidth of the signals at the interfered base station.

WBinterfering indicates the measurable bandwidth of the interfering signals, or it can be understood as the bandwidth defined by spurious radiation. Regulate the previous equation and the following equation can be obtained: Suppose the transmit channel number of CDMA2000 1X is the last one on its working band, that is, 878.49MHz, the spurious signal level on the band of 890-915MHz must be equal to or lower than -13dBm/100kHz. If you intend to put this assumption into practice, you can filter and combine each transmitted channel number by using band-limited filter with a bandwidth of only 1.23MHz. The band-limited filter of this type has great out-of-band attenuation, which can reach 56 dB at 890 MHz and 80 dB at 909 MHz. Here you must consider the worst situation, that is, the frequencies at the highest end of the CDMA system interfere with the frequencies at the lowest end of the GSM system. In this case, Iisolation = (-13dBm/100kHz) - 56 - Ib + 10lg (200kHz/100kHz) Here Ib indicates the highest interference level (dBm) allowed by the receiving end of the interfered base station. If the receiving sensitivity of the interfered base station is ensured, the outside interference level are required to be 10 dB lower than the back noise of the receiver. In this case, the sensitivity affected only accounts to about 0.5 dB. The back noise of the GSM receiver is the sum of the noise intensity, bandwidth, and noise coefficient. If the noise coefficient is 8 dB, the back noise is -174+noise coefficient+10lg (200000) = -174+8+53 = -113 (dBm). Therefore, the maximum spurious interference allowed is 113-10 = -123 (dBm/200kHz). As a result, the spurious interferences from other systems falling at the GSM receivers are required to be smaller than -123 (dBm/200kHz); otherwise, the spurious interferences will seriously affect the GSM system. Therefore, Iisolation = (-13dBm/100kHz) 56 - Ib + 10lg (200kHz/100kHz) = -13- 56- (123dBm/200kHz) + 10lg (200kHz/100kHz) = 57 dBm/200kHz. That is, according to the assumption, the isolation between a CDMA antenna and GSM 900MHz antenna must be at least 57dB regardless whether they share the address or not. Many ways can be used to reduce the interference. For example, you can adopt the following ways: Design enough distance between antennas Filter the out-of-band interference of the transmitter Add different equipments to the filter, such as receiver, duplexer, and divider. According to the requirements in TIA/EIA-97 protocols, the spurious interference from the CDMA antenna interface falling within the GSM 900MHz receiving bands must be less than -13 dBm/100kHz. Therefore, the problems, such as mutual interference and co-address construction must be considered in the initial design. To be specific, you can filter and combine each transmitted channel number using a limitedband filter with the bandwidth of only 1.23 MHz. The band-limited filter of this type has great outof-band attenuation, thus the space distance between the antennas of the CDMA system and GSM system must be shortened. In addition, to minimize the interference, you must keep suitable isolation between the antennas of the CDMA system and GSM system. The antenna isolation is calculated according to the following two formulas, which has been introduced earlier:

For vertical arrangement, Lv = 28 + 40lg (k/) (dB) For horizontal arrangement, Lv =22 + 20lg (d/) (G1+G2) (S1 + S2) (dB) According to the two formulas, the requirements on the isolation between the antennas of CDMA system and GSM 900 MHz system are specified in the following three circumstances. The antennas of the CDAM system and GSM 900MHz system do not share the same address, with the antennas horizontally opposite to each other, or the antennas of the two systems share the same address, with the antenna type of omni antenna. Suppose the effective gains of the antennas of the two systems in the maximum radiation direction are 10 dBi (with the feeder loss considered), and the interference signals are 890MHz, according to previous analysis, the isolation between the CDMA system and GSM system is required at least 57dB. Therefore, the following equation can be obtained according to the previous formula: 57 = 22 + 20lg (Dh/) (10 + 10) The antennas of the CDMA and GSM 900 MHz system share the same address (the antennas are installed on the same platform and horizontally separated), with the antenna type of directional antenna. Suppose that the two antennas are horizontally placed, and their tilt angle is 65, and that the effective gains of the two antennas in the radiation direction are 15dBi. And if the side lobe of the 65antenna is -18dB in the horizontal plane, the effective gain of the antenna in this direction is (15 18) dBi = -3 dBi. Therefore, 57=222+0lg (Dh/) - {(15+15) + [(-18) + (-18)]}. According to the previous equation, the horizontal distance between the two antennas are d = 9.5m. The antennas of the CDMA and GSM 900 MHz antennas share the same address (the antennas are not installed on the same platforms of the iron tower and vertically separated), with the antenna types of directional antenna and omni antenna. In this case, the equation 57=28 + 40 lg (k/) is present. According to this equation, the vertical distance between the two antennas is d = 1.8m. & Note: The previous descriptions are just theoretical detections. In actual networking, other types of antennas may be installed at the same address. In this case, some equipment indexes must be considered, among which the important ones are spurious radiation, the interference power of the interfering signals to interfered signals, and the antenna isolation. IV. Installation distance between antennas Diversity technology is the most anti-fading effective. When two signals are irrelevant to each other, the horizontal distance between the diversity antennas must be 0.11 times that of the valid antenna height. The higher place the antenna is installed, the larger the horizontal distance between diversity antennas is. When the distance between diversity antennas is equal to or greater than 6m, however, the antenna is hard to be installed on an iron tower. In addition, the distance required by vertical diversity antennas is 5 to 6 times that of the horizontal diversity antennas when the same coverage is ensured. Therefore, the vertical diversity antenna is seldom used in actual projects, but antennas are often vertically installed to meet isolation requirement, especially omni antennas are vertically installed. In addition, for highroad coverage, the line connecting two receiving antennas must be

perpendicular to the highroad. If space diversity is used, the diversity distance is the perpendicular. Isolation requirement: Tx-Tx, Tx - Rx: 30 dB The installation for GSM 900MHz and GSM 1800MHz antennas is flexible, but no matter what specifications are used, they must meet the requirements on isolation and distance. In addition, in actual projects, barriers are present between antennas. For example, a tower is always present between two omni antennas, so you must shorten the horizontal distance between them. V. Design of base station parameters in residential areas A large number of residential areas are distributed in urban areas, so this section introduces the design of base station parameters in these areas. (1) Features of residential areas Building intensity Great-intensity residential areas: the distance between buildings is within 10 meters. Middle-intensity residential areas: the distance between buildings ranges from 10 to 20 meters. Low-intensity residential areas: the distance between buildings is larger than 20 meters. Construction material The walls of the residential areas are constructed with concretes. The walls of the residential areas are constructed with bricks and concretes. The walls of the residential areas are constructed with hollow blocks. Notes: The thickness of the buildings varies with the regions and climates. Three specifications are available, namely, 24m, 47m, and 49m. Generally, the walls are thicker in southern parts and thinner in northern parts. (2) Antenna installation in residential areas The address where the antenna should be installed in residential areas is hard to be determined. Generally, when adopting micro cells, you can install the antenna within a residential area near to the target coverage area. In this case, the antenna can be installed in the following spots: On outer walls (not roofs) of a building On pillars Install a micro cell in underground garages If the antenna is installed at a wall corner, the major lobe of the antenna can radiate the space between buildings. Generally, the major lobe of the antenna cannot face the walls of the buildings nearby directly. If frequencies are reusable among these micro cells, the directions of antennas must be consistent with each other. In addition, you can also use the cell splitter to enable a cell to coverage the areas in two directions. In this case, however, the frequency utilization ratio may decrease and extra power splitter will introduce loss of 3 dB. For the residential areas with regular arrangement, the directional antennas whose horizontal beam width is 90 to 120 and vertical beam width is greater than 30 are recommended.

Under certain conditions, the micro cell antenna can be installed on the pillars within a residential area. For the residential areas with irregular arrangement, the antenna can be installed on the walls of a building, so the reflected waves can coverage the walls of opposite buildings. In this case, the antennas whose horizontal beam width is greater than 120and vertical beam width is greater than 30are recommended. (3) Antenna selection When the walls of a building is selected as an installed position, you can use the build-in antenna of the micro cell directly, or other antennas with small size. According to coverage features of residential areas, when selecting the specifications for the micro cell antennas to be used, you must consider the following factors: Antenna gain Horizontal beam width Vertical beam width Polarization mode Visual effect (antenna size, shape, and weight) The antenna gain is recommended less than 9 dBi for micro cell antennas. Because the coverage area of a micro cell antenna is small and the installed position is near to the coverage area, the antenna gain can be adjusted to a smaller value, especially if the gain of an antenna is greater than 10dBi, its size is large, which may cause opposition from residents. The selection of the horizontal and vertical beam width for an antenna is related to radio environment. If a micro cell antenna is installed on a wall, the antenna height is lower than the average height of surrounded buildings. In this case, if both the indoor coverage of lower floors and higher floors can be assured, you must select the antennas with greater vertical beam width. According to the height of buildings, you can select the directional antennas whose vertical beam width ranges from 35to 80. The selection of the horizontal beam width of the micro cell antenna and the installed position of the antenna are related to coverage target. In this case, you can select the directional antennas whose beam width ranges from 60 to 150, or you can choose omni antennas or bi-directional antennas (8-shaped antennas). Both vertical polarization antennas and dual polarization antennas can be selected for a micro cell. The coverage area of a micro cell in urban areas is small, so the diversity reception is unnecessary. In this case, a vertical polarization antenna can meet the coverage requirements in residential areas. As for the dual polarization antenna, however, it is expensive and large in size, so it is not recommended. The visual effect must be emphasized for the micro cell antennas installed in residential areas. They must be small and moderate. In addition, they must be light for installation convenience. If the contract between the color of the antenna and that of the surrounded buildings is great, you must color the antenna with the same color of the buildings. In some cases, you should consider adopting dual-band antennas. When selecting a smallsized antenna, you should consider whether its maximum output power can bear the micro cell output power. When adopting short jumpers instead of 7/8 feeders, you should consider

whether the antenna connector (N-shaped male/female, 7/16 DIN header) matches the jumper connector.