How To Do RF Planning

Chapter 1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
Introduction
1.1 Introduction The world has seen phenomenal changes in the telecommunication industry during the last decades. Communication that was wired formerly is now performed wirelessly or in other words by radio means. Thus, the wireless communication, which uncouples the telephone from its wires, has exploded.
In 1985 the governing body of the European Postal Telephone and telegraph (PTT) and CEPT set up a committee known as Group Special Mobile, later changed to Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). The advantages of GSM over the previous technologies were, improved spectrum efficiency, international roaming, low cost mobile sets and base stations (BSS), support for new services, high quality speech, compatibility with Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) and other telephone companies [1].
The early years of the GSM were devoted mainly to the selection of the radio interface and techniques for network access. Thus, since the very beginning radio access network is of prime importance. The radio access network is the part that includes the base station (BTS), the mobile station (MS) and the interface between them. The combination of Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) and Time Division Multiple access (TDMA) technique is used in GSM networks and it can operate in frequency bands of 400MHz, 900MHz, 1800MHz and 2100MHz. The allocated operating band is divided into 200 KHz channels called ARFCNs (Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Numbers) which are also referred as physical channels. There are also logical channels in the GSM network that carry user data (Traffic channels) and control information (Control channels). As the
Chapter 1
Introduction
frequency is considered as limited resource, so for spectrum efficient utilization the concept of frequency reuse is used. The basic construction block of the network is a cell. In a cellular system like GSM, the coverage area is divided into hexagonal cells also called as sector.
The designing of Radio Access Network (RAN) is a multidiscipline task that needs balancing of competing requirements. Several objectives need to be achieved while designing a RAN which are mainly classified as optimum radio coverage, sufficient network capacity and quality of service.
In this project, the radio access network is to be designed for the given area or terrain taking under consideration the specifications, allocated resources and requirements given by Huawei, one of the worlds leading telecommunication vendor. The total cost for the radio access network cost is given as: 2 Million $, one Base Transmission Station (BTS) cost is 0.2 Million $, operating frequency bands are 900MHz and 1800MHz with 27 ARFCNs allocated, the number of users that are to be provided with services are 140,000 with GoS or blocking probability of 2%.
For sake of estimation and prediction, post processing RF tools are used. Here, such a tool namely TEMS, Mapinfo and our own developed software Quick online Budget is used. TEMS and Mapinfo are comprehensive planning tool to assist in fulfilling the requirements of network designing and optimization. These tools were provided by Huawei and are relatively new to us, so its exploration is the foremost task.
The process of RAN designing consists of two phases that are, pre-planning and system growth phase. The phase one of preplanning can be accomplished in four discrete steps. First step is of Coverage and traffic analysis, the objective is to provide optimum coverage
Chapter 1
Introduction
and enable the network to have a capacity of at least 7,000 users. The aspect of networks coverage includes defining the clutter profile of the given terrain and the related signal strength. The clutters are made for the sake of resource dimensioning. Dimensioning of the resource means finding answers to two fundamental questions: How many traffic channels (TCH) does a sector can handle and how many TCH are actually required in the area it is covering? The result of the first step is the number of BTS per clutter needed to provide required capacity and best possible coverage.
The second step is the nominal cell planning, which leads to a layout of cell pattern on the given map. The propagation, frequency reuse and interferences are catered in second step. A prediction model namely Okumura-Hata is used to estimate the propagation losses, gains and received signal power. The frequency reuse pattern is chosen and two types of interferences that are Co-channel (C/I) and adjacent channel (C/A) are decreased to minimum possible level.
The step three consists of two major tasks that are, Surveys of proposed Sites and Tuning of prediction model. The aspects like exact location, space for the equipment and antenna types etc are checked in site survey which leads to the approval for physical installment of BTS. The model tuning is done to enhance the accuracy of predictions model applied in post processing tool. A transmitter is mounted on the proposed Site location and the changes of one variable (losses) at different time interval are taken. Then each change is analyzed to determine the modification factor for the model.
The final step for RAN designing is dimensioning of Base Control Stations (BSC) .So, at the end of this fourth step the final design of radio access network is ready to be deployed.
Chapter 2 CHAPTER 2 RADIO ACCESS NETWORK OVERVIEW
Radio Access Network
2.1 Introduction The radio access network is between the mobile stations and the fixed infrastructure. It is the most important part of the GSM system, being the key element to enable mobility and wireless access. One of the main objectives of GSM is roaming. Therefore, in order to obtain a complete compatibility between mobile stations and networks of different operators, the radio interface must be completely defined.
In this chapter the Base Station Subsystem (BSS) is illustrated, giving the clear picture of equipment used; its integration and respective working. The second part consisting of the Radio interface gives a comprehensible idea of which access technology is used and how the mobile station gets connected to the GSM network.
2.1.1 Base Station Subsystem The Base Station subsystem (BSS) provides connection between MS and Network Switching Subsystem (NSS) though Air interface. The BSS provides radio coverage on prescribed geographical areas, known as the cells. The BSS consists of following parts: 1. Base Station Controller (BSC) 2. Base Transceiver station (BTS) 3. Transcoding Rate and Adaptation Unit (TRAU)
2.1.1.1 Base Station Controller (BSC) The Base Station Controller (BSC) provides the connectivity of BTS to Mobile Switching Center through E1 or microwave links. A group of BTSs are connected to a particular BSC which manages the radio resources for them. Today's intelligent BTSs have taken over
Chapter 2
many tasks that were previously handled by the BSCs. The primary function of the BSC is call maintenance. The mobile stations normally send a report of their received signal strength to the BSC every 480ms. With this information the BSC decides to initiate handovers to other cells, control the BTS transmitter power, etc.
2.1.1.2 Base Transceiver station (BTS) The BTS is the radio transmission equipment and covers each cell. BTS is also referred as SITE. BTS can be divided into three parts, i.) Radio Base Station (RBS) a. Combiner Distribution Unit (CDU) - Multiplexing and de-multiplexing of signal. b. Transceiver unit (TRX) - Used to provide communication path between mobile station and Mobile Station Center when dedicated channel is assigned .Each TRX has eight time slots. c. Power Supply Unit (PSU) - Converts AC power to DC power (220 AC to 48 dc). d. Control Module (CM) - Controls the micro wave link of the site that provides the connectivity between BTS and BSC. ii.) Transmission Module (TRM) iii.) Power unit Figure 2.1 shows the block diagram of RBS-900 illustrating the different elements of RBS. Empty slots are left for future expansion.
Figure 2.1: Block diagram of RBS 900
Chapter 2
2.1.1.3 Transcoding Rate and Adaptation Unit (TRAU) The transcoder multiplexes four 16 Kbps speech or data (at 300, 600, and 1,200 bps) channels. The 13 Kbps voice is brought up to a 16 Kbps level by inserting additional synchronizing data. Then, four 16 Kbps channels are multiplexed onto a DS0 (64 Kbps) channel.
There are two spots in GSM network where TRAU is placed, 1. At BTS in order to connect with BSC. 2. At BSC in order to connect with Mobile Switching Center (MSC).
2.1.2 GSM Radio Interface The spectrum efficiency depends on the radio interface and the transmission of signals, particularly in aspects such as the capacity of the system, techniques used in order to decrease the interference and to improve the frequency reuse scheme. The specification of the radio interface has an important influence on the spectrum efficiency.
2.1.2.1 Operating frequency bands The operating frequency band is divided into uplink and downlink channels with a guard band in between them. The uplink channel or reverse channel is from MS to BTS. The downlink channel or forward channel is from BTS to MS. This table lists the specification of the GSM900, GSM1800 and GSM1900 system. For this project GSM-900 band is used.
Chapter 2 Table 2.1: Specifications of GSM System
2.1.2.2 Multiple Access A combination of Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) and Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), combined with frequency hopping, has been adopted as the multiple access schemes for GSM.
The 200 KHz carrier spacing is required to provide the necessary bit rate per carrier frequency. The 200 kHz carrier spacing yields 125 carriers from the 25MHz spectrum allocation. Because some of the energy in a GMSK modulated signal lies outside the nominal 200KHz band, GSM recommends that carriers 1 and 124 will be used (guard band of 200 KHz) in order to protect services using adjacent spectrum bands as shown in figure 2.2. These 124 possible carriers are defined for the uplink (Fu) and downlink (Fd) as follows: Fu (n) = 890.2 MHz + 0.2(n-1) MHz Fd (n) = 925.2 MHz + 0.2(n-1) MHz (0<n <125) (0<n <125)
Chapter 2
Figure 2.2: FDMA/TDMA based radio channel concept
2.1.2.3 Channel types There are two types of channels in GSM networks, the physical and the logical channels.
Physical channel: It is defined by specifying both, a carrier frequency and a TDMA timeslot number. It is important to note that the frame structure used on each physical channel is independent of those on the other channels, most notably those with the same carrier frequency assignment but different timeslot designations.
Logical channel: They are multiplexed into the physical channels. Logical channels are, so to speak, laid over the grid of physical channels. Each logic channel performs a specific task. Consequently the data of a logical channel is transmitted in the corresponding timeslots of the physical channel. During this process, logical channels can occupy a part of the physical channel or even the entire channel.
There are two different types of logical channel within the GSM system: i. ii. Traffic channels (TCHs). Control channels (CCHs).
Chapter 2 i. Traffic channels
Traffic channels carry user information such as encoded speech or user data. Traffic channels are defined by using a 26-frame multi-frame structure. Two general forms are defined: a. b. Full rate traffic channels (TCH/F), at a gross bit rate of 22.8 kbps. Half rate traffic channels (TCH/H), at a gross bit rate of 11.4 kbps.
ii. Control channels Control channels carry system signalling and synchronisation data for control procedures such as location registration, mobile station synchronisation, paging, random access etc. between base station and mobile station. Three categories of control channel are defined: a. Broadcast b. Common c. Dedicated
Table 2.2: Types and Functions of Control Channels Channel Access Grant Channel - (DL) Broadcast Common Control Channel (DL) Cell Broadcast channel (DL) Fast Associated Control Channel ( UL / DL) Paging Channel ( DL ) Random Access Channel (UL) Slow Associated Control Channel (UL/DL) Stand alone dedicated control (UL/DL) Synchronization Channel (DL) Abbreviation AGCH BCCH CBCH FACCH PCH RACH SACCH SDCCH SCH Function/ Application Resource allocation to MS Dissemination of general information Transmit cell broadcast messages For user network signalling Paging for a mobile terminal Resource request made by mobile terminal Used for transport of radio layer parameters For user network signalling Synchronization of mobile terminal
Chapter 2 2.1.2.4 Interfaces
The following are the interfaces between different network entities of GSM. Figure 2.3 shows the placement of each interface.
Um or Air interface- it is between MS and BTS. It has gross data rate of 22.8kps (voice + data) and net data rate of 13kbps (voice).
Abis interface- it is between BTS and BSC. The interface comprises of traffic and control channels. It has data rate of 16kbps.
A interface- it is between BSC and MCS. It has data rate of 64kps. B interface- it is between MSC and VLR C interface- it is between MSC and HLR D interface- it is between HLR and VLR E interface- it is between MSC and MSC F interface- it is between MSC and EIR G interface-it is between VLR and other MSC VLR
Figure 2.3: Interfaces of GSM network
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2.1.2.5 Control Signalling on the GSM Radio Interface Any flow of data in a network requires some additional information that helps the data to reach the destination in the desired fashion. This additional information is known as signalling. Signalling in GSM is required at all the interfaces, but radio network planners deal mostly with the signalling between the mobile station and base station [2]. Signalling on all the interfaces except for the air-interface is done at 64 kbps. On the airinterface the signalling can be done either by using the slow associated control channels (SAACH), or by using the main channel itself wherein the signalling channel is sent instead of sending the data this is known as fast associated control channel (FAACH) signalling. Fig 2.4 illustrate physical layer signalling protocol between entire network entities.
Figure 2.4: Physical layer Signalling protocol between network entities
The processing of protocols happen at different network entities, for example the processing of Communication management (CM) is at MSC not on the BSC or BTS. The functions of some important protocols are as follow [3]. Communication Management (CM) Mobility Management (MM) Radio Resource (RR) - Controls User Information - Manages DB for Mobile location - Provide communication link (MS to MSC)
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Figure 2.5: 3 layer Signalling protocols between network entities Figure 2.5 elaborates GSM specific signalling protocols of OSI layers on the radio interface. Layer 2 signalling employs a modified version of the ISDN layer 2 signalling protocol, LAPD, that is called LAPDm (m for modified). Layer 3 signalling on the GSM radio interface contains control message exchanges between a numbers of protocol control processes. These processes are Call Control (CC), Mobility Management (MM), Radio Resource management (RR) [4].
2.2
Fundamentals of system design
The system design fundamentals include cellular concept and concept of frequency reuse. GSM architecture is a cellular architecture. The region is divided into cells of hexagon geometry. Hexagon are chosen because it covers largest area as compared to other shapes of geometry like square or circle and it covers the region without leaving gap between them.
2.2.1
Cell
A cell is defined as the area covered by one sector, i.e. one antenna system. The hexagonal nature of the cell is an artificial shape (Figure 2.6). This shape is being closest to circular, which represents the ideal coverage of the power transmitted by the base station antenna. The circular shapes are themselves inconvenient as they have overlapping areas of coverage; but, in reality, their shapes look like the one shown in the practical view in
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Figure 2.6. A practical network will have cells of non geometric shapes, with some areas not having the required signal strength for various reasons.
Figure 2.6: Hexagonal Shape of Cell. There are two main types of cell:
Omni directional cell - An omni-directional cell is defined as a BTS with an antenna which transmits power equally in all directions (360 degrees) as shown in fig 2.7
Sector cell - A sector cell is the area of coverage from an antenna, which transmits in a given direction only. The coverage area may be equal to 120 or 180. Commonly BTS uses 3 sector cell with each antenna covering an area of 120 as shown in fig 2.7 [5].
Figure 2.7: Omni Directional and Sector Cells 2.2.2 Site
A site is the position where the tower and antennas are located. Normally, a site has TRXs, power supplies, radio base station units (RBS) etc. A site may serve an omni-cell or two or more sector cells. In the first case the site is called an omni site, in the latter case a sector site.
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Chapter 2 2.2.3 Cell Splitting
Cell splitting is a process of subdividing a congested cell into smaller cells each with its own base station and a corresponding reduction in antenna height and transmitted power as shown in fig 2.8. Cell splitting increase the capacity of cellular system since it increase the number of times the channels are used.
Figure 2.8: Cell Splitting 2.2.4 Cell Sectoring It is the process of dividing a cell into three cells .Cell Sectoring keeps the cell radius unchanged and seek methods to increase coverage and capacity. Sectoring increases signal to noise ratio so that the cluster size may be reduced. Signal to noise ratio is improved using directional antennas then capacity improvement is achieved by reducing the number of cells in a cluster, thus increasing the frequency reuse [3]. The interference in cellular system may be decreased by replacing a single omni directional antenna at the base station by several directional antennas each radiating within specified sector as shown in figure 2.9.
Figure 2.9: Cell Sectoring
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Chapter 2 2.2.5 Frequency Reuse
Frequency re-use means that two radio channels within the same network can use exactly the same pair of frequencies, provided that there is a sufficient geographical distance (the frequency re-use distance) between them so they will not interfere with each other. The tighter frequency re-use plan, the greater the capacity potential of the network. Based on the traffic calculations, the cell pattern and frequency re-use plan are worked out not only for the initial network, but also for the future demands.
In [6], Groups of frequencies can be placed together into patterns of cells called clusters. A cluster is a group of cells in which all available frequencies have been used once and only once. Since the same frequencies can be used in neighboring clusters, interference may become a problem. Therefore, the frequency reuse distance must be kept as large as possible. However, to maximize capacity the frequency re-use distance should be kept as low as possible.
The re-use patterns recommended for GSM are the 4/12 and the 3/9 pattern. 4/12 means that there are four three-sector sites supporting twelve cells using twelve frequency groups. The 3/9 cell pattern is use in the project as shown in figure 2.10.
. Figure 2.10: Frequency Reuse
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Chapter 2 2.2.6 Resource Dimensioning
In Radio Access Network, resource dimensioning is an important step of architecture design. The architects study the system performance requirements and come up with an architecture that meet or exceed the requirements in a cost effective fashion. Resources mean any hardware or software entity needed to perform transactions initiated by users. Resources are outgoing digital trunks, timeslots etc.
2.2.6.1
Busy Hour
The load handled by a system varies based on the time of day and day of the week. Most systems are heavily loaded for a few hours in a day. The main objective of resource dimensioning is to make sure that the system performs well during these busy hours. This will make sure that the system has adequate resources to handle peak as well as off-peak traffic.
2.2.6.2 Erlang Erlang, a dimensionless unit is used in telephony as a statistical measure of the volume of telecommunications traffic. It is named after the Danish telephone engineer A. K. Erlang, the originator of traffic engineering and queuing theory. Traffic of one Erlang refers to a single resource being in continuous use, or two channels being at fifty percent use. Erlang can be calculated as: A = h Where A = Traffic in Erlangs = Arrival of new call per unit time. h = Call holding time. Alternatively it can be calculated as: Erlang = (Average time for all resources / Total Time ) 2.2 2.1
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Erlang calculation is used to determine whether the system is over provisioned or under provisioned (too many or too few resource allocated). The traffic calculation is also used to calculate E1 to determine how many voice lines are likely to be used during the busiest hours.There are a range of different Erlang formulae to calculate these, including Erlang B and Erlang C.
2.2.6.3 Blocking Probability The blocking probability defines the chance that a user will be denied service due to lack of resources. For example, a blocking probability of 0.01 means that 1% of the users will be denied service. Blocking probability calculations refer to the busy hour only. Blocking probability during the busy hour can be decreased by: i. ii. Increasing the resources in the system Offering incentives and discounts to encourage usage during off-peak hours
2.2.6.4 Grade of Service Grade of service is directly related to the blocking probability. A higher grade of service guarantee to the user means ensuring a low blocking probability during the busy hours. Providing a higher grade of service requires increasing the number of resources in the system. Conversely, reducing number of resources; lower the system cost, but at the expense of grade of service [6].
2.2.6.5
Erlang Calculations
There is a tradeoff between resource dimensioning and grade of service. The choice of using the Erlang-B and Erlang-C formulas is dependent upon the handling of users when all resources are busy.
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Erlang-B is used when failure to get a free resource results in the user being denied service. The users request is rejected as no free resources are available. Erlang-C is used when failure to get a free resource results in the user being added into a queue. The users stay in the queue until a free resource can be found. The formulas of Erlang B and Erlang C works under the following conditions: The number of customers is much larger than the number of resources available. In general, the formula gives acceptable results if the number of customers is at least 10 times the total number of resources. Requests from customers are independent of each other. Customer requests are blocked/ queued only when no resources are available to service them. The resource is allocated exclusively to one customer for the specified period.
2.2.7
Clutter
Clutter is defined as the man-made and natural features that may impair radio frequency propagation by reflection, diffraction, absorption, or scattering of the transmission waves. There are various sources of clutter (morphological) data. The more current the clutter data, the more accurate the propagation predictions will be. The benefits of updated clutter data are:

Enhance coverage and reduce dropped calls Predict the performance of wireless services Optimize transmission site locations and reduce infrastructure costs
Some Clutter and Terrain Descriptions are:
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Chapter 2
2.2.7.1 Dense Urban: Consist of densely built areas with mainly high buildings. Typically there is small number of trees and vegetation within this area due to the density of buildings.
2.2.7.2
Urban:
Consist of metropolitan regions, industrial areas and closely spaced residential homes and multi-storied apartments. Building density is high but may be interspersed with trees and other vegetation.
2.2.7.3
Suburban:
Consist mainly of single family homes, shopping malls and office parks. Significant vegetation, trees and parking lots are intermixed with buildings. Most buildings are 1 to 3 stories but significant exceptions do occur. Significant areas within small and medium cities along with suburban communities surrounding major cities are examples of this environment.
2.2.7.4 Rural/Quasi-Open: Consist of open space with few buildings or residences. Major interconnecting highways, farms, and barren land are found within rural areas. The largest variations in cell coverage area are found in rural areas due to differences in vegetation and terrain.
2.2.7.5
Terrain:
Terrain descriptions focus on the land mass. Examples of terrain description are: mountainous, desert, water (ocean, lake, and stream), etc. Types of terrains are
i.
Forest: Foliage descriptions focus on the tree density and tree height.
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ii.
Roads: Roads are normally described in terms of their capacity to carry traffic. For example, highways are described as being primary if they are heavily traveled multilane roads (such as toll roads and inter-state highways). Smaller roads in and around the city or town would be described as secondary roads.
2.2.8
Propagation Models:
The design of a new radio communication system starts with determination of a proper location of the base station and determination of the frequency plan, both of which depend highly on the propagation loss. By determining a model for the transmission of the information through the channel, these two characteristics can be accurately determined. In general the propagation model can be made in three steps. In the first step information for the environment has to be considered. The second step includes the definition of mathematical approximations of the physical propagation mechanisms, and the third step is the formalization of the results of the previous two steps. These steps are described in details in the following sections [7].
2.2.8.1 Influence of the Environment The environments, where mobile radio systems are intended to be installed, are ranging from in-door up to large rural areas. Wave propagation prediction methods are required covering the whole range of macro-, micro, and pico cells. In order to be described accurately, different data is considered for the different types of environment. While for the prediction of macro-cells terrain height information and land usage data is taken into account for urban environment. Table 2.3 illustrate cell type definition
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Table 2.3 Definition of types of cell Cell type Cell radius Macro cell (large 1km to 30 km cell, terrain) Mini cell (small cell, 0.5 km to 3 km suburban) Micro cell cell, urban) (small Up to 1 km Up to 500 m Typical position of Base Station Antenna Outdoor, mounted above rooftop level, heights of all surrounding buildings are below base station antenna height Outdoor, mounted above medium rooftop level, heights of some surrounding buildings are below base station antenna height Outdoor, mounted below medium rooftop-level, heights of all surrounding buildings are above base station antenna height Indoor or outdoor mounted below roof top level.
Pico Cell (indoor)
2.2.8.2
Propagation phenomena and propagation loss
Calculation of the path loss is called prediction. Exact prediction is possible only for simpler cases, such as the free space propagation or the flat-earth model. For practical cases the path loss is calculated using a variety of approximations. The propagation in free space can be characterized with the following formula: L = 32.44 + 20log (f) + 20log (d) 2.3
Where f (MHz) is the operating frequency and d (km) is the distance between the transmitter and the receiver.
The receiving power in free space is decreasing proportionally with the square root of the distance, and additionally it is influenced by the following propagation mechanisms in the mobile radio channel (fig. 2.11): shadowing, reflection, refraction, scattering, and diffraction.
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Figure 2.11: Shadowing, Reflection, Refraction, Scattering, and Diffraction. 2.2.8.3 Modeling approaches Three types of approaches have been used in order to find solutions for the problem of channel planning.
Statistical methods (also called stochastic or empirical) are based on measured and averaged losses along typical classes of radio channels.
Deterministic methods are based on the physical laws of wave propagation. These methods produce more accurate and reliable predictions of the path loss than the empirical methods; however, they are significantly more expensive in computational effort and depend on the detailed and accurate description of all objects in the propagation space, such as buildings, roofs, windows, doors, and walls. The value of losses was provided for simulation purposes.
Semi-deterministic - combines the two methods described above.
2.2.8.4 Types of Propagation Model The aim of propagation model is to predict signal strength at a particular receiving point or in a in a specific location area. The propagation models are usually divided into: i. ii. Large-scale propagation models Small-scale propagation models
i. Large-scale propagation models
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The large scale models normally are used to predict the mean signal strength for transmitter-receiver separation distances (d) of several hundred meters apart. In general when d > (5 * wavelength) the large scale model is applied.
ii. Small scale propagation models Small scale model or fading models, describe rapid fluctuations of the received signal strength over very short T-R separation distances (d) or short time durations. In general small scale model is applied when d < (5 * wavelength).
2.2.9 Outdoor Propagation Model Some of the outdoor propagation models are: 1. Longley-Rice Model 2. Durkins Model 3. Okumura Model 4. Hata Model A proper system design requires accurate and reliable radio channel models, among which the selection of prediction models are most important. Investigation of different existing models and extensive measurements of mathematical equations; Okumura-Hata model is selected. Okumura-Hata model is suitable in GSM 900 MHz network for macro - micro cells and has better accuracy in dense urban areas especially for pico cells.
2.2.9.1 Okumura-Hata model The Okumura-Hata model is a simple empirical approach for prediction. This model is based on Japanese measurements done by Okumura, while the mathematical formulation of the model is done by Hata.
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The equations derived from the measurement data require only the four parameters; therefore this model features very short computation time.
1. f is the frequency in MHz, 2. hbs is the base station antenna height above ground in m, 3. hms is the mobile station antenna height above ground in m, 4. d is the distance between BS and MS in km,
Figure 2.12: BTS and MS height for Okumura and Hata Model Because of the calibration with measurement data the model is restricted to the following ranges for the different parameters: The operating frequency is between 150 MHz and 1500 MHz. Height of the transmitter 30 to 200m. Height of the receiver 1 to 10m. Distance between transmitter and receiver 1 to 10 km.
The basic transmission loss in dense urban areas is computed according to the formula:
2.4 Where hms is a correction factor with following values: For Open Area, Suburbs, Medium city ) For Large cities 2.6 2.5
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Radio Access Network 2.7
In addition to the main formula for the dense urban case, there are some modifications for rural (village, sub urban) and open areas. 2.8
2.9 These formulas describe the model in flat way, because they describe the wave propagation without taking into account the local effects around the receiver, like reflection or shadowing.
2.2.10
Problems and Solutions of Air Interface
Radio interface is the most vulnerable part of GSM connection. The air interface has to cope with problems, such as variable signal strength due to presence of obstacles along the way, radio frequencies reflecting from buildings, interference from other radio sources etc. This section briefly discuss some of the problems occur during transmission of radio signals and some solutions. Some of the most common problems are described below.
2.2.10.1 Problems i. Shadowing Shadowing occurs when there are physical obstacles including buildings between the BTS and the MS (fig 2.13). Instead of reflecting the signal, these obstacles attenuate signal strength. When the MS moves, the signal strength fluctuates depending on the obstacles between the MS and BTS. Drop in strength are called fading dips.
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Figure 2.13: Shadowing Shadowing is generally a problem in the uplink direction; because BTS transmits information at a much higher power compared that from MS. The solution to over come this problem is known as Adaptive Power Control. Based on quality and strength of the received signal, BTS informs MS to increase or decrease power as required.
ii. Multi-path Propagation Multi path fading occurs when there is more than one transmission path to the MS or BTS, and therefore more than one signal is arriving at the receiver. This may be due to buildings either close to or far from the receiving device. Rayleigh fading and time dispersion are forms of multi path fading.
Figure 2.14: Multi-path Propagation
In figure 2.14, the received signal is the sum of identical signals that differ only in phase (and to some extent amplitude). A reflected signal that has traveled some distance causes Inter Symbol Interference where as near reflection causes Frequency Dips.
iii. Time Alignment
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Each MS on a call is allocated a time slot on a TDMA frame. This is an amount of time during which the MS transmits information to the BTS. The information must also arrive at the BTS within that time slot. The time alignment problem occurs when part of the information transmitted by an MS does not arrive within the allocated time slot. Instead, that part may arrive during the next time slot, and may interfere with information from another MS using that other time slot. A large distance between the MS and the BTS causes time alignment. Effectively, the signal cannot travel over the large distance within the given time.
Figure 2.15: Time alignment problem
In figure 2.15, an MS is assigned time slot 1 initially. During the call MS moves from position A to position B. As distance increases, answer from MS arrives late at the BTS. The delay becomes so long that the transmission from the MS in time slot 1 overlaps with the information which the BTS receives in time slot 2 [3].
2.2.10.2
Solution to Problems Channel Coding Interleaving Frequency hopping Antenna Diversity Time Advance
There are number of solutions to overcome these problems.
i. Channel Coding
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Channel coding is normally used for overcome the problems caused by fading dips. In channel coding, user data is coded using standard algorithms. This coding is not for encryption, but for error detection and correction purposes
ii. Inter-leaving Inter-leaving is the spreading of the coded speech into many bursts. By spreading the information into many bursts, it is easy to recover the data even if one burst is lost.
Figure 2.16: Inter-Leaving of data As shown in Figure 2.16, the bits of each block are sent in a non-consecutive manner. If one block is lost in transmission, it is still manageable to recover the data [2].
iii. Frequency Hopping In frequency hopping, the frequency on which the information is transmitted is changed for every burst. In GSM there are 64 patterns of frequency hopping; one of them is a simple cyclic or sequential pattern. The remaining 63 are known as pseudo-random patterns, which an operator can choose from. Generally it does not significantly improve the performance if there are less than four frequencies in the cell. The reasons of using Frequency Hopping are: Decreasing the probability of interference Suppressing the effect of Rayleigh fading
iv. Antenna Diversity Antenna diversity increases the received signal strength by taking advantage of the natural properties of radio waves. Increased received signal strength at the BTS is achieved by mounting two receiver antennae instead of one. Two Rx antennas are physically separated;
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the probability that both of them are affected by a deep fading dip at the same time is low as shown in figure 2.17. There are two primary diversity methods: space diversity and polarization diversity.
Figure 2.17: Antenna Diversity
v. Timing advance Solution to counteract the problem of time alignment. It works by instructing the misaligned MS to transmit its burst earlier or later than it normally would. In GSM, the timing advance information relates to bit-times. An MS is instructed to do its transmission by a certain number of bit-times earlier or later related to previous position, to reach its timeslot at the BTS in right time. Maximum 63 bit-times can be used in GSM systems. This limits GSM normal cell size to 35km radius.
Figure 2.18: Timing Advance As shown in figure 2.18 , BTS instruct MS to start sending information at TS-4 so that it reaches at BTS on its allocated TS i.e. at TS-5.
2.2.11 Interference The signal at the receiving antenna can be weak by virtue of interference from other signals. These signals may be from the same network or may be due to man-made objects. Interference is the major limiting factor in the performance of cellular radio systems.
29
Chapter 2
Sources of interference include mobile in the same cell, a call in progress in a neighboring cell, another base station operating in the same frequency band. Interference is a major bottleneck in increasing capacity.
2.2.11.1 Co-channel Interference (C/I) Co-channel interference is caused by the use of a same frequency close to another cell. The former will interfere with the latter, leading to the terms interfering frequency (I) and carrier frequency (C).The GSM specification recommends that the carrier-to-interference (C/I) ratio is greater than 9 decibels (dB). However, its recommended that 12 dB be used as planning criterion. This C/I ratio is influenced by the following factors: i. ii. iii. The location of the MS Local geography and type of local scatters BTS antenna type, site elevation and position
Figure 2.19: Co-channel interference
2.2.11.2 Adjacent channel interference (C/A) Adjacent frequencies (A), that is frequencies shifted 200 kHz from the carrier frequency (C), must be avoided in the same cell and preferably in neighboring cells also. Although adjacent frequencies are at different frequencies to the carrier frequency they can still cause interference and quality problems. The GSM specification states that the carrier-toadjacent ratio (C/A) must be larger than -9dB. It is recommended that higher than 3 dB be used as planning criterion.
30
Chapter 2
Figure 2.20: Adjacent channel interference
By planning frequency re-use in accordance with well established cell patterns, neither cochannel interference nor adjacent channel interference will cause problems. In reality cells vary in size depending on the amount of traffic they are expected to carry. Therefore, real cell plans must be verified by means of predictions to ensure that interference does not become a problem. Nevertheless, the first cell plan based on hexagons, the nominal cell plan, provides a good picture of system planning.
2.2.12 Handover As a mobile station moves away from its serving BTS towards the coverage area of neighboring BTSs, the mobile station measurement reports will show a gradual decrease in signal strength from its serving BTS while showing an increase in measured signal strength from one or more neighboring BTSs. It is the responsibility of the serving BSC to analyze the measurement reports from the mobile station and to decide when a handover should be performed.
31
Chapter 2
Figure 2.21: The handover process
Figure 2.21 shows that as MS moves from cell a to cell b, RSL of MS decreases gradually. When RSL drop down to minimal RSL level (i.e. less than -100dBm) it hand over to neighboring BTS.
2.2.12.1 Handover types The type of handover procedure executed depends on what level of switching must be performed in order to move the call from the serving BTS to the new candidate BTS.There are basically four types of handovers: i. Internal or intra-BSS handover, which can be: Intra-cell handover Inter-cell handover.
ii.
External or inter-BSS handover, which can be: Intra-MSC handover Inter-MSC handover.
If the serving and candidate BTSs reside within the same BSS, the BSC for the BSS can perform the handover without the involvement of the MSC; thus termed internal or intraBSS handover. This type of handover can also be sub-divided into intra-cell and inter-cell
32
Chapter 2
handovers. An intra-cell handover is an intra-BSS handover within the same BTS. An intercell handover is a handover between different BTSs.
If the serving and candidate BTSs do not reside within the same BSS, then an inter-BSS handover is performed, which requires the MSC to coordinate and switch facilities (handover the call) between the serving BTS and the candidate BTS. This type of handover can also be divided into intra-MSC and inter-MSC handovers.
2.2.13 Power control Power Control enables the mobile station and/or the BTS to increase or decrease the transmission power on a radio link. Power Control is separately performed for the uplink and downlink. In both cases the BSC is responsible for initiating Power Control. The mobile station and the BTS adopt transmit power according to the BSC power control commands. Reasons for Power Control - While a mobile station is active on a call, it has the responsibility of providing measurement report about the performance of the air-interface periodically to its serving BTS so that the serving BSC can decide if a power control should be performed. Reason of power control is to save mobile station battery power. The main reason for power control is improving the carrier-to-interference ratio within the cellular network.
2.3 Radio Access Network Design GSM system network planning undergoes extensive modification so as to fulfill the everincreasing demand from operators and mobile users with issues related to capacity and coverage. In order to meet the requirements of the mobile services, the radio network must offer sufficient coverage and capacity while maintaining the lowest possible deployment costs. The designing of Radio Access Network (RAN) consists of mainly three stages that are:
33
Chapter 2
Fig 2.22: Stages of RAN Design
The Radio Access Network designing begins with traffic and coverage analysis. The analysis should produce information about the geographical area and the expected capacity (traffic load). The types of data collected are: Cost of network Capacity & Coverage of Network Grade Of Service (GOS) Available frequencies Speech quality System growth capability The simplified radio network planning process is shown in Figure 2.23:
Figure 2.23: Radio network planning process
2.3.1 Coverage Planning Coverage in a cell is dependent upon the area covered by the signal. The distance traveled by the signal is dependent upon radio propagation characteristics in the given area, since it is important for the interference management to correctly estimate the situation of the propagation from the base station. Radio propagation varies from region to region so predictions are different for both coverage and capacity. The radio wave propagation loss varies greatly depending on the incidence of buildings and the population density in the
34
Chapter 2
area. The propagation loss can be estimated either by statistical or deterministic techniques. The prime requirement is that the network design should cover 100% of the area. Fulfilling this requirement is usually impossible, so efforts are made design a network that covers all the regions with no holes. The whole land area is divided into five major classes dense urban, suburban, industrial, residential and rural based on human-made structures and natural terrains. The cells (sites) that are constructed in these areas can be classified as outdoor and indoor cells. Outdoor cells can be further classified as macrocellular, micro-cellular or pico-cellular (see Table 2.3).
2.3.2 Capacity Planning Capacity can be understood in simplest terms as the number of mobile subscribers a BTS can cater for at a given time. The greater the capacity, the more mobile subscribers can be connected to the BTS at a given time, thereby reducing the amount of base stations in a given network. This reduction would lead to an increase in the operation efficiency and thereby profits for the network operator. Capacity planning is a very important process in the network rollout. Capacity plans are made in the preplanning phase for initial estimations, as well as later in a detailed manner. The number of base stations required in an area comes from the coverage planning, and the number of transceivers required is derived from capacity planning as it is directly associated with the frequency re-use factor. The minimum frequency re-use factor calculation is based on the C/I ratio. As soon as the C/I ratio decreases, the signal strength starts deteriorating, thereby reducing the frequency re-use factor. Another factor is the antenna height at the base station. If the antenna height is too high then the signal has to travel a greater distance, so the probability that the signal causes interference becomes greater. The average antenna height should be such that the number of base stations (fully utilized in terms of their individual capacities) is enough for the needed capacity of the network. There are three essential parameters required for capacity
35
Chapter 2
planning: estimated traffic, average antenna height, erlang calculations, busy hour and frequency usage.
Average Antenna Height - The average antenna height is the basis of the cellular environment (i.e. whether it is macro-cellular or micro-cellular). If the average antenna height is low, then the covered area is small in an urban environment. This will lead to the creation of more cells, and hence increase the number of times the same frequency can be re-allocated. Exactly the opposite is the case in a macrocellular environment. Here the coverage area would be more, so the same frequency can be reallocated fewer times. All these calculations are based on the interference analysis of the system as well as the topography and propagation conditions.
Frequency Usage and Re-use - Frequency usage is an important concept related to both coverage and capacity usage. Frequency re-use basically means how often a frequency can be re-used in the network. If the average number of the transceivers and the total number of frequencies are known, the frequency re-use factor can be calculated. Example :If there are 3 TRX that are used per base station and the total number of frequencies available is 27, then the total number of frequencies available for re-use is 27/3 = 9.
2.3.3 Frequency Planning In the radio planning process, the maximum utilization of the available frequencies is known as frequency planning. Capacity and frequency planning go hand-in-hand. A good frequency plan ensures that frequency channels are used in such a way that the capacity and coverage criteria are met without any interference. This is because the total capacity in a radio network in terms of the number of sites is dependent upon two factors: transmission power and interference. Frequency plan must ensure that C/I > 12 dB and C/A > -12 dB
36
Chapter 2
(GSM recommendation).The re-use of the BCCH TRX (which contains the signalling time slots) should be greater than that of the TCHs, since it should be the most interference-free.
2.3.4
Quality
The quality of the radio network is dependent on its coverage, capacity and frequency allocation. The quality of the network is dependent upon the parameter settings. Most of these are implemented during the rollout of the network and are based on measurements. Once there are measurements available from the initial launch of the network, these parameters then can be fine-tuned. This process becomes a part of the optimization of the radio network. Most of the severe problems in a radio network are attributed by signal interference. When interference exists in the network; the source needs to be found. The entire frequency plan is checked again to determine whether the source is internal or external. The problems may be caused by flaws in the frequency plan, in the configuration plans (e.g. antenna tilts), inaccurate correction factors used in propagation models, etc.
2.4 2.4.1
Cell Planning Introduction
The Cell Planning process consists of three phases, preliminary tasks, design and implementation. This section describes these activities and the links between them. The first phases main objective is to gather hypotheses (antenna heights and technical data such as terrain database, link budget calculation, traffic dimensioning, and propagation model) in order to start the cell planning design. The second phase objective is cell planning (target site locations, frequency planning, TRX planning, and propagation modeling).
37
Chapter 2
The third phase covers the cell planning implementation (final site locations, coverage concession, frequency planning, TRX planning, network engineering support, radio acceptance support). These phases are named as preliminary tasks, design and implementation and are described below in detail.
2.4.2
Preliminary Tasks
Before starting this project several assumptions were made. The objective of preliminary tasks is to summarize the required inputs for the design activities into the cell planning. This phase is further divided into several parts which are shown below.
Figure 2.24: Preliminary Tasks of Cell Planning process
2.4.2.1 Hypotheses Gathering Most of assumptions are derived from the RFQ (Request for Quotation), from meetings with the customer or from vendor decisions (products used). Hypotheses gathering consist of collecting data from various sources that are required for cell planning (coverage target, BTS equipment information, site constraints, existing sites, traffic information, frequency information). This information was provided for this project.
38
Chapter 2 2.4.2.2 Terrain Database Selection and Improvement
Digital Terrain Map (DTM) is a mandatory input for cell planning. Purchase of a terrain database is a deal between cost, delay and accuracy. Then, it is required to perform several checks on the terrain database data (heights, clutters, and vectors, geographical continuity) to validate it. The objective of DTM with appropriate accuracy in regards to cost and delay is to check the database consistency and updating using results of RF survey.
2.4.2.3 Link Budget The link budget calculation specifies for each type of environment (urban, suburban, rural and other clutters), each type of product (indoor BTS, outdoor BTS, coupling system, antennas type) and RF design assumptions, a maximum cell radius based on the Quality of Service requirements (quality of coverage). These radius are used to produce cell counts that give an idea of the number of sites required to meet requirements.
2.4.2.4 Traffic Dimensioning The objective for this activity is to identify area where traffic is more constraining than coverage, like in urban areas; and to determine BTS maximum configuration to be used for each traffic area.
2.4.2.5 Cell Count This activity consists of calculation of the number of cell sites required to both fulfill traffic and coverage requirement, in relation with choice of equipment. The cell count may be performed before design phase, to work out the number of cell sites that will be positioned. For this project cells which were required to fulfill the requirement was found to be above 70 cells.
39
Chapter 2 2.4.2.6 Model Design
This activity includes the choice of a propagation model, its calibration to focus on the major cell planning requirements linked to a contract. The propagation modeling process assumes that the terrain database is validated. The propagation model is specific to a terrain database. Propagation model which is used in this project is Okumara - Hata.
2.4.3
Design
The main task of design is Site determination activity. Model tuning, frequency planning and TRX planning may be part of this phase but not necessarily. Pictorial illustration for this phase is shown in the figure .
Figure 2.25: Design phase of Cell Planning 2.4.3.1 Site Determination This activity consists in determination of each site position and characteristics to achieve compliance with coverage and traffic requirement. Coverage maps are used to represent the result of this design step. The objective for this is to evaluate the number of sites and
40
Chapter 2
their potential locations and to predict the service area. This prediction shows and distinct the number of sites deployed in different clutters.
2.4.3.2 Model Tuning This activity is not mandatory but may occur during the design or the implementation phase. The model tuning might be required if the level of confidence in the terrain database or in the model is not high enough. The objective for this activity is to check the validity of radio measurements; and to verify consistency between existing propagation model and radio measurements.
2.4.3.3 TRX Planning Based on the contract subscriber profiles and contract products, the traffic planning specifies the TRX configuration for each site. If the required capacity cannot be provided by a site location then cell splits may be necessary. A new site determination step might have to be done. The main objective for this is to determine (or confirm) the number of TRXs per cell needed to satisfy the customer's traffic requirements.
2.4.3.4 Frequency Planning Assign frequencies according to the available RF channels in order to minimize the interference. A C/I (Carrier to Interference) map is created to determine the levels of interference. These two activities (frequency allocation and C/I analysis) are repeated until the frequency plan is acceptable. Once the cells have been positioned and the number of TRXs per cell has been set (or confirmed by the TRX Plan), frequencies must be allocated to each cell in a way which minimizes interference using tilts and azimuths. The ARFCN which have been allotted for this project are 27 which make the total bandwidth of 5.4MHz
41
Chapter 2 2.4.4 Implementation
The last phase for cell processing is of implementation. Objective of the project is planning of access part not implementation. Last phase is included to give an overview of complete Cell planning process. Theoretical site locations specified during the site determination activity represent target. SAQ (Site Acquisition) tries to find real locations which are the best matching with site location criteria. The figure 2.26 illustrates the implementation phase.
Figure 2.26: Implementation phase 2.4.4.1 Site Selection The purpose for this activity is described below: Choose a single real location per theoretical site, this location is supposed to be the best among the proposed ones. Share data (site location, antennae height, azimuths, and tilts) between cell planning, site acquisition, and transmission teams. Maintain the cellular planning tool site database up to date.
2.4.4.2 Coverage Concessions The purpose for this activity is to: Keep track of coverage problems.
Propose solutions to solve coverage holes.
42
Chapter 2
Maintain an accurate communication link with customer project management to deal with cell planning problems.
2.4.4.3 Radio Data fill Radio data fill is an iterative process which defines the radio parameters (TRX plan, frequency plan). It has an objective to: Provide updated values for TRX plan, frequency plan, and BSIC plan. Provide neighboring cell definition. Provide initial LAC definition
43
Chapter 3 CHAPTER 3 BSS Planning 3.1 Introduction
BSS Planning
The main aim of radio network designing is to provide a cost-effective solution for the radio network in terms of coverage, capacity and quality. The network design criteria vary from region to region depending upon the dominating factor or priority, which could be capacity or coverage. Our task was to completely plan the site using 27 ARFCN when its generally done with the help of 37 ARFCN. This chapter illustrates the procedure followed for designing the radio access network for the given area taking under consideration all the parameters, resources allocated and standards mentioned by HUAWEI.
3.2 Steps of Designing Process The approach adopted to accomplish designing of radio access network is broken down in different steps as shown in figure 3.1. According to project design, fig 3.1, planning steps are divided in two phases which are initial planning and System growth.
Figure 3.1: Project Design
44
Chapter 3
BSS Planning
The phase of initial or pre-planning starts from first step of traffic and coverage analysis goes till System design. The specifications and targets given by HUAWEI are: Network cost: 10 Million $ Cost per BTS: 0.2 Million $ GoS : 2% ARFCNS: 27 Number of users: 7,000
3.2.1
STEP 1: Traffic and Coverage Analysis The aspect of networks coverage includes defining the coverage areas, terrain profile and related signal strength. In this project the area allocated is Super Highway, the signal strength of -70dBm is the outdoor acceptance level required by the HUAWEI.
It is mandatory to calculate number of sites required to fulfill the coverage and capacity requirement. As per budget for this project, maximum sites that can be placed are 80. These sites have to be placed in such a way to give an optimum coverage and capacity. There are coverage-driven areas and capacity-driven areas in a given network region. The average cell capacity requirement per service area is estimated for each phase of network design, to identify the cut-over phase where network design will change from a coveragedriven to a capacity-driven process. While the objective of coverage planning in the coverage-driven areas is to find the minimum number of sites for producing the required coverage. It is necessary to experiment with both coverage and capacity, as due to the capacity requirements the number of sites may have to be increased resulting in a more effective frequency usage with minimal interference.
The denition of capacity include the number of subscribers and traffic profile in the region, information on the radio access system and the antenna system performance associated with it. Traffic is classified in two types
45
Chapter 3 Offered Traffic: It is defined as traffic which user attempt to originate . Carried Traffic: It is the traffic actually successfully handled by the system.
BSS Planning
There are basically two approaches to perform the calculation of networks capacity and required equipment. 1. Theoretical approach 2. Practical approach
3.2.1.1 Theoretical Approach The theoretical approach is the empirical method to perform the capacity calculations. The steps involved during the capacity calculations using the data and assumptions are mentioned below: i. ii. iii. iv. v. i. Choose sectorization that satisfies the desired Signal-to-Noise ratio. Calculate number of voice channels for the given area Calculate traffic density Find the traffic per sector using Erlang B chart Cell area and number of cell. Sectorization
Sectorization scheme is chosen first for pre-planning. The standard Signal-to- Noise ratio is 12dB. Following formulas are used to calculate Signal to Noise ratio. For Omni 3.1
For Sector 3.2
Where = path loss value in dB
q =3N
46
Chapter 3 ii. Voice channels (m)
BSS Planning
The number of voice channels for city and highways are calculated using eq 3.3. Voice channels are used to estimate the number of TRX required in particular area. 3.3 Where; BW = Total bandwidth Speech/RF = voice channels iii. Traffic density (TD) Traffic density of the city is calculated using eq 3.4. TD has unit of Erlang/km. 3.4 Where; E = Traffic per subscriber Pene = Market penetration Share = Market share iv. Traffic per sector (TS) ; Pop = Population ; ROT = Roll out time/year ; Growth = Annual Population growth ; Channels BW=200 kHz ; N = reuse factor
For a given GoS of 2%, traffic on each sector is calculated using Erlang-B chart for six different terrains. v. Number of cells Area of a single cell is calculated using eq 3.5. Cell area has unit of km and it is used to calculate minimum number of cells required to cover given area Cell Area = TS Sector TD Number of Cells = Total Area Cell Area 3.5 3.6
47
Chapter 3 3.2.1.2 Calculations: Area Radio Planning
BSS Planning
(A case to Study)
Given Data: Site specifications system scenario: Signal Strength = -70dBm Site Configuration = S333 Out door Highway Frequency band = 900MHz Enviroment = rural area (semi-open) Financial Specifications: Cost per BTS = 0.2 Million $ Network Cost = 2 Million $ Technical Limitations: Total BW = 5.4MHz Channel BW = 200 kHz Path loss = -156 dB GoS = 2% Statistical Analysis: Traffic per subscriber = [25mEr occupy the resource/channel for 90 seconds (standard)] Penetration (pene) = 7% [Next year 7% of the net population will be added to network] Roll out time/year = 15 days Annual population growth = 20% Number of Users (PoP) = 16000 Market share = 90% [How much share our network (N) will hold in total telecom market] Number of Interference Cell (j) = for Omni: j = 1, for Sector: j = 3 Total area = 100 x 7 km2
*If X operators in sum carry Y% of total population, our market share will be = (N/X) * Y
48
Chapter 3 Capacity Planning: Number of sites:
BSS Planning
It is mandatory to calculate number of sites required to fulfill the coverage and capacity requirement. As per budget for this project, maximum sites that can be placed are 10. These sites have to be placed in such a way to give an optimum coverage and capacity.
2 Million $ = 10 sites (Maximum) 0.2 That means we can install up to 10 sites to provide coverage. Busy-hour traffic: A is the maximum traffic on the busiest hour of system or line. A= a * b * t. .a = is everyday call times (originating and terminating) per user . b = is busy-hour to day ratio( busy-hour traffic divided by daytime traffic . t = is average call duration
Area Dense Urban
Urban
suburb
Topographic features Average height of surrounding buildings is more than 30 metres (over 10 storey) and average distance between buildings is 10-20 metres. Usually the buildings are crowded around the site with the height of 10-20 stories and the ambient roads are not considerablly wide. Average height of surrounding buildings is about 15-30 metres (5-9 storey) and average distance between buildings is 10-20 metres. The buildings are evenly distributed around the site. Mostly are below 9 stories and some are over 9 stories and the ambient roads are not considerably wide. Average height of surrounding buildings is about 10-15 metres (3-5 storey) and average distance between buildings is 30-50 metres. The buildings are evenly distributed around the site. Mostly are 3-4 stories and some are over 4 stories. Roads around are wide. Average height of surrounding buildings is below 10 metres. They are dispersed and mainly are 1-2 storey high. There are spacious space between.
rural
49
Chapter 3 a) Theoretical Approach: (i) Sectorization:
BSS Planning
Where q =3N and = path loss value in dB = -156 dB q=3 N=3 Therefore SIR = -886.3 dB for sector
(ii) Voice Channels (m)
Where; BW = Total bandwidth Speech/RF = voice channels ; Channels BW=200 kHz 27 x 9 = 3 81
N = reuse factor = no. of channels x no. of sites Total no. of TRX Since Total BW = 5.4MHz Speech/Rf = 8 (since full rate) Channels BW = 200 kHz N=3 Therefore, m = 23 Total available Channels = Total BW divide by Channel BW = 5.4 MHz/ 200kHz = 27 ARFCN Since m = 23 Therefore, 27-23 = 4 controls channels
[Note: At Half rate Speech/Rf is taken 16]
50
Chapter 3 (iii) Traffic Density (TD):
BSS Planning
TD = 25m x Population x market share Area
OR
Where; E = Traffic per subscriber = 25m Pene = Market penetration = 0.07 Share = Market share = 0.14
; Pop = Population = 16000 ; ROT = Roll out time/year = 15 ; Growth = Annual Population growth = 0.2 = 0.97 Er/ km2
TD = 25m x 16000 x 0.07 x (1 + 0.2)15 x 0.90 100 x 7 km2 (iv) Traffic per sector (TS):
One site has 3 sectors. Each sector has 3 Radios and each radio has 8 channels/slots so we have 24 slots per sector, 3 slots per sector are used for other purposes like signaling, broadcast, and data traffic so we are left with 21 slots per sector. Our GOS is 2 %. Now using ErlangB table we can find out how much traffic one sector of a site can carry it turns out to be 14.03 Erlangs, Total trafic a site can carry is 42.09 Erlangs Total traffic for that area is 0.9 Er/kmsq x 400 kmsq = 360 Erlangs Total sites required = Total traffic = Traffic per site (v) Number of Cells: Cell area has unit of km and it is used to calculate minimum number of cells required to cover given area Cell Area = TS Sector TD Cell Area = 14.03 3 = 46.76 m2 0.9 Number of Cells = Total Area Cell Area Number of Cells = 400 46.7 = 8.5 sites (app 9 sites) 360 = 8.5 (app 9 sites) 42.09
51
Chapter 3 b) Practical Method:
BSS Planning
The maximum configuration stated by customer for this project is S333. It means that each of the three sectors has 3 TRX in it. From the Erlang B table the traffic carried by this configuration is 14.03 Erlang/ sector. Site traffic it calculated as: Traffic Carried by Site = Traffic carried by a cell number of cell in that Site = 14.03* 3 = 42.09 Erlang/ Site. Total Erlang which is offered by the target population can be found as: Total offered traffic in Erlang = Number of total users * traffic offered by a user = 16000 * 25mErlang = 400 Erlang No. of sites = 16000 * 25mErlang = 8 sites (approx 24 sectors) (14.03*3) Comparison between Theoretical and practical approaches Number of sites in Theoretical = 9 Number of sites in Practical = 8 Frequency hopping and Frequency Reuse Frequency hopping and tighter reuse plan also helped in accommodating capacity requirements. This approach allows more transceivers to be deployed in the network, gradually enhancing traffic capacity.
Fractional Load = No of hopping radios = 50 % (Since we are using 1 x 3 scheme) 2x Where 2x = No. of frequencies in each MAL list Therefore, x = 2 if we want 50 % OR 2x = 4
Fractional Load Guide For 1 x 1 scheme Fractional Load = 16 % For 1 x 3 scheme Fractional Load = 50 %
(In other words, 4 frequencies will be assign to each MAL list)
52
Chapter 3
BSS Planning
Duplex Sub bands of width = 25 MHz Duplex Spacing 45 MHz Uplink Sub band = 890 915 MHz Downlink Sub band = 935 960 MHz Frequency Spacing between carriers = 200 kHz (0.2 MHz) One acrrier is used for guard band, giving: Total number of carriers (ARFCN) = (25 0.2)/0.2 = 124 Uplink frequencies: Fu(n) = 890 + 0.2n MHz Downlink Frequencies: Fd(n) = Fu(n) + 45 MHz where 1 < n < 124
53
Chapter 3 Frequency allocation Data Sheet:
BSS Planning
NCC: 2, 3 BCC: 0-7 BSIC combinations: 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 MAL frequencies for sector A 1, 4, 7, 10 MAL frequencies for sector B 2, 5, 8, 11 MAL frequencies for sector C 3, 6, 9, 12 MAIO for sector A: 0, 2 MAIO for sector B: 1, 3 MAIO for sector C: 0, 2 Guard frequency = 20 BCCH = 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 Guard Frequency for Next operator = 27 HSN: 0-63 SITE VIEW: 13/4 BCCH distribution scheme
18 24
26
15
17 19
21 23
19 16
25
14 SD Calculation: 400 kilo meter 54
Chapter 3
BSS Planning
Since no. of slots per sector = 21 and GoS = 2%, From ErlangB TS = 14.03 Therefore * 14.03 = 3.5 (app 4) SD Time Slots i.e 32 channels
Total no. of subscribers per sector = TCH traffic per sector = 14.03 Traffic per subscriber 25m = 561 subscribers Actual traffic = Total SDCCH usage SDCCH traffic = no.of subscribers per sector *no.of sectors*SD traffic/sub SDCCH traffic on each site = (561 *3) x 3.56 m erlang = 5.9 erlang So actual traffic = 42.09 5.9 = 36.09 erlang We can also refer to the standard table for SD traffic per sector E1 Calculations:
Our one site contains data = 16 kbps x 8 time slots x 9 TRX = 1.152 Mbps However one E1 carries = 32 slots x 64 kbps = 2.048 Mbps (which is greater than 1.152 Mbps) Therefore, only one E1 will be enough for communication between HUB site and BTS
CGI:
MCC
MNC
LAC
CI
Where MCC (Mobile country code) = 092, MNC (Mobile network code) = 01 LAC (Location area code) = 1234 CI = Cell Id (given to each cell)
55
Chapter 3
BSS Planning
TRX Radio#1 BCCH 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 SD = 2 time slots
TRX Radio#2
TRX Radio#3
Hopping 1 4 7 10 MAIO (0)
S333 Sector A
TRX Radio#2
TRX Radio#3
S333 Sector B
TRX Radio#2 Hopping 3 6 9 12 MAIO (0)
TRX Radio#3 Hopping 3 6 9 12 MAIO (2)
S333 Sector C
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Site 1 Site Name = HihfrmA Longitude = 67.27448 Latitude = 24.97918 CI = 123 BSIC = 27 HSN = 59 MAL = 1, 4, 7, 10 BCCH = 16 Site 2: Site Name = GothoreA Longitude = 67.37873 Latitude = 25.02176 CI = 113 BSIC = 35 HSN = 16 MAL = 1, 4, 7, 10 BCCH = 15 Site 3: Site Name = Taj_GothA Longitude = 67.5621 Latitude = 25.0731 CI = 116 BSIC = 23 HSN = 50 MAL = 1, 4, 7, 10 BCCH = 23 Site 4: Site Name = BismillahA Longitude = 67.61521 Latitude = 25.12002 CI = 119 BSIC = 31 HSN = 31 MAL = 1, 4, 7, 10 BCCH = 24 Site Name = BismillahB Longitude = 67.61521 Latitude = 25.12002 CI = 120 BSIC = 31 HSN = 31 MAL = 2, 5, 8, 11 BCCH = 18 Site Name = BismillahC Longitude = 67.61521 Latitude = 25.12002 CI = 121 BSIC = 31 HSN = 31 MAL = 3, 6, 9, 12 BCCH = 26 Site Name = Taj_GothB Longitude = 67.5621 Latitude = 25.0731 CI = 117 BSIC = 23 HSN = 50 MAL = 2, 5, 8, 11 BCCH = 19 Site Name = Taj_GothC Longitude = 67.5621 Latitude = 25.0731 CI = 118 BSIC = 23 HSN = 50 MAL = 3, 6, 9, 12 BCCH = 25 Site Name = GothoreB Longitude = 67.37873 Latitude = 25.02176 CI = 114 BSIC = 35 HSN = 16 MAL = 2, 5, 8, 11 BCCH = 17 Site Name = GothoreC Longitude = 67.37873 Latitude = 25.02176 CI = 115 BSIC = 35 HSN = 16 MAL = 3, 6, 9, 12 BCCH = 21 Site Name = HihfrmB Longitude = 67.27448 Latitude = 24.97918 CI = 111 BSIC = 27 HSN = 59 MAL = 2, 5, 8, 11 Site Name = HihfrmC Longitude = 67.27448 Latitude = 24.97918 CI = 112 BSIC = 27 HSN = 59 MAL = 3, 6, 9, 12
BCCH = 19
BCCH = 14
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Site Name = NoriabadC Longitude = 67.68612 Latitude = 25.16189 CI = 124 BSIC = 24 HSN = 9 MAL = 3, 6, 9, 12 BCCH = 14
Site Name = FayyakunC Longitude = 67.8019 Latitude = 25.1433 CI = 127 BSIC = 30 HSN = 2 MAL = 3, 6, 9, 12 BCCH = 21
Site Name = AlAhmedC Longitude = 67.79743 Latitude = 25.15303 CI = 130 BSIC = 26 HSN = 21 MAL = 3, 6, 9, 12 BCCH = 25
Site 8 Site Name = HajeramA Longitude = 67.79402 Latitude = 25.1672 CI = 131 BSIC = 32 HSN = 5 MAL = 1, 4, 7, 10 BCCH = 24 Site Name = HajeramB Longitude = 67.79402 Latitude = 25.1672 CI = 132 BSIC = 32 HSN = 5 MAL = 2, 5, 8, 11 BCCH = 18 Site Name = HajeramC Longitude = 67.79402 Latitude = 25.1672 CI = 133 BSIC = 32 HSN = 5 MAL = 3, 6, 9, 12 BCCH = 26
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3.2.1.3 General Problems and their Remedies: i) Coverage Problems: The terrain configuration and human-made structures are different on different locations resulting in different area-area predictions. The measurements made in dense urban areas are different from those made in urban, sub-urban and other areas. During coverage planning optimum level of RSL (i.e. -65dBm) was not achieved at distinct locations due to propagation losses. Following approaches are used at cell site to increase the coverage.
Increasing the Transmitted Power - Increasing the transmitted power of each affected cell results in coverage of a large area. When power level is doubled, gain increases by 3dB.
Increasing Cell-Site Antenna Height To fill the coverage holes, cell-site antennas height is increased. The effective antenna height is dependent on the location of Site and MS. Sometimes, doubling the actual antenna height results in a gain increase of less than 6dB and sometimes more.
High-Gain Antennas at Site The high gain antennas are also used to increases the coverage especially in dense urban areas, because coverage is generally found to be less at farthest part of the network
Selecting Cell-Site Location Coverage area is also increased by selecting proper site location for actual antenna height and transmitted power. For better coverage purposes, high site is selected for minimizing the impact of interference.
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Antenna Pattern - Problem is solved by immediate scrutiny of the deployed antennas pattern and tilts. Such problems are usually sorted out by moving the antenna positions and altering the tilting of the antennas.
ii) Capacity Problems: Efficient designing of Radio Access Network is all about building high-capacity networks in the most economical way, and therefore, GSM radio network capacity solutions are becoming increasingly important. Following techniques are used to cater the allocated number of users. Small Cell Size Controlling the radiation pattern results in reduction of cell size and increases the traffic capacity. This approach is based on the assumption that all mobile units are identical. Increasing the Number of Radio Channels in Each Cell Requirement of capacity is met by increasing the number of radio channels in each cell. This is done by increasing number of TRX at each site resulting in increase of TS.
Frequency hopping and Frequency Reuse Frequency hopping and tighter reuse plan also helped in accommodating capacity requirements. This approach allows more transceivers to be deployed in the network, gradually enhancing traffic capacity.
iii) Performance Aspects: Apart from achieving capacity and coverage, the two main parameters that are considered when building a network are monetary cost and timethe actual cost of each solution is market-dependent, since the costs associated with cell sites (site acquisition, site preparation, rental costs) and transmission vary from market to market. Over dimensioning of the network causes too much cost, traffic revenue gets too low to support cost of network, very poor economic efficiency. Similarly, under dimensioning of the network
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causes blocking probability to increase, has poor technical performance (in other words interference), capacity for billable revenue become low, revenue gets lower due to poor quality and very poor economic efficiency Remedy The solution to above mention problem is to deploy more transceiver on a cell site or tighter frequency reuse plan. A third option is to introduce micro cells as it is easier and less expensive to acquire sites for them. While designing trade off should be made between resources and requirements to avoid both over and under dimensioning.
3.2.2
STEP2: Nominal cell planning
A nominal cell plan is produced from the data compiled from traffic and coverage analysis. The nominal cell plan is a graphical representation of the network and looks like a cell pattern on a map. First cell plan is laid which formed the basis for further planning. The nominal plan is made by taking under consideration the following parameters and methods which help to predict the path losses, make efficient use of available frequency band and cater the interference. i. ii. iii. i. Radio propagation Frequency reuse Interference Radio propagation
To predict the signal strength and path losses of the radio wave or transmitted signal many propagation models are analyzed. The Okumura-Hata model is chosen as the prediction model .The radio propagation is highly dependent on clutter profile and the terrain assigned for planning. The Okumura - Hata model is best suited for its loss predictions. Losses due
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to clutter profile, shadowing, multi-path fading and vertical diffraction losses are catered (see figure 5.4 and table 5.3). ii. Frequency reuse
Based on the traffic calculations, the cell pattern and frequency re-use plan are worked out not only for the initial network, but also for future demands. The re-use patterns recommended for GSM are the 4/12 and the 3/9 pattern. Selected reuse pattern is 3/9. iii. Interference
Co-channel Interference (C/I) - Cellular networks are more often limited by problems caused by interference rather than by signal strength problems. The criteria of C/I used for designing the radio network is as follow: C/I >= 12dB Where, C is carrier frequency I is interfering frequency
Adjacent channel interference (C/A) - The main focus is made to mitigate C/A in the same cell during the planning. The C/A in neighboring cell is given the second priority as it does not affect the communication. Here, the criteria of C/A used for designing the radio network is as follow: C/A>= 3db Where, C is carrier frequency A is adjacent frequency
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These criterions are chosen after consultations with experienced personals and vendors. As GSM standards are C/I greater then 9db and C/A greater than -9db, these criterions taken here are well above the acceptance levels.
3.2.3 STEP3: Surveys When the pre-planning phase is completed, the site search process starts. Based on the coverage plans, prospective sites location is identified for specific areas. The process of site selection, from identifying the site to site acquisition, is very long and slow therefore it is worked out in conjunction with transmission planners, installation engineers and civil engineers to make this process faster. A good site is a place that does not have high obstacles around it and has a clear view for the main beam. The responsibilities of site acquisition, civil works and engineering teams are discussed below:
Site Acquisition The Site Acquisition process is performed in close co-operation with the Civil Works. It consists of the following activities: Searching for sites and gaining a site appraisal. Outlining the site design and evaluating the cost. Negotiating and signing leasing contracts. Handling permits and arranging the hand-over to the Engineering personnel.
Civil Works The Civil Works process consists of the following activities: Preparing a detailed civil works design of the site. Updating the costs for the site construction. Arranging the site construction.
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Engineering The Engineering process begins when the Site Acquisition process and ends when Civil Works process are complete. It consists of the following activities: Measuring and collecting information about the sites. Designing the antenna and radio conguration and producing cable drawings. Making drawings showing the position of antenna and RBS equipment.
Radio measurements are performed to adjust the parameters used in the planning tool to match the real situations. That is, adjustments are made to meet the specific site climate and terrain requirements. A test transmitter is mounted on a vehicle, and signal strength is measured while driving around the site area. Afterwards, the results from these measurements can be compared to the values the planning tool produces when simulating the same type of transmitter. The planning parameters can then be adjusted to match the actual measurements. Model Tuning Process In these steps model tuning of Okumra - Hata model is described.
1. The model tuning starts by selection of the propagation model, Okumura-Hata model is selected for signal loss prediction. The equation is; L=A + Blog(f) 13.82log(hbts) a(hms) + (C 6.55log(hbts))logd Where, A,B,C =Constant d = distance
hbts = Effective height of BTS
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2. The measurement reports are prepared. The amount of measurements depend on a.) Resolution of digital map provided b.) The size of target area 3. The results of model tuning measurement report are imported in the planning system software and alignment with the digital map of the given area is made. This alignment is made to minimize the GPS-SA effect or inaccuracies in coordinate conversion parameters. 4. In Okumura-HATA model there are many unassailable parameters. At first the slope of Okumura-Hata model is tuned by changing the factor C. In the equation of the model. It can be seen that first three terms are independent of distance d. As log(d) has the coefficient C 6.55log(h), by changing the factor C model has been tuned. The values of this very factor depends on the clutter, which is Lower for rural environment Higher for Urban environment
The correction by factor D affects the effect of antenna height on prediction of losses. As the Okumura- Hata model is suitable for cells that have antenna installed well above roof tops ( in other words the lattice towers ). If the antenna is installed near the roof-top then factor D in the equation is used for improving the accuracy of the predictions. The height if mobile antenna is not considered for correction as the correction factor is 0db (given in Okumura - Hata profile).
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3.2.4 STEP 4: System Design In system designing, dimensioning plays a vital role on cost of a network. Dimensioning is used to identify the equipment and the network type required in order to cater for coverage and quality requirement. Network must be planned that capacity needs are fulfilled for next 3-5 years. The inputs that are required for the dimensioning include: The geographical area to be covered The estimated traffic in each region The minimum requirement of power in each region and blocking criteria Path loss The frequency band to be used and frequency re-use.
With above parameters, number of base stations is calculated for estimated number of users (Table 3.2) in different clutters. Initially all sites deliver equal power (i.e. -43dBm). Variation in power is dependent on level of interference.
3.2.5 STEP 5: System Implementation Implementation and deployment completes the 2G-network design process by realizing the projected site locations, service target requirements and time to service. It takes into account the solution adopted for the network deployment, e.g. sharing sites with existing base stations and evolution of core network elements or a complete new overlay network. It will also take into account the hierarchy of the network, i.e. the macro- and micro layers where applicable. When deploying in the macro-cell environment the implementation will take into account the coverage dependency on the transmission rates and technology
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availability in terms of antenna configuration and interference minimizing features. Thus, the four steps outlined above do have an iterative process.
3.2.6 STEP 6: System Tuning Networks need to operate at full efficiency with a minimal amount of maintenance; a high degree of quality and with enough capacity according to the traffic demand. Once the system has been installed, it is continuously monitored to determine how well it meets demand. This is called system tuning. It involves checking whether the final cell plan was implemented successfully, evaluating customer complaints, monitoring the network performance, changing parameters accordingly and taking other signal measurements, if necessary.
Drive testing is used for system tuning. It analyzes the current performance of network and analysis measurable objectives in terms of quality, capacity and cost. TEMS, Test Mobile System, is a tool for investigations and maintenance of Cellular networks: to ensure coverage, quality or to pinpoint problem areas. Drive Tests are used to capture the throughput at lower layers over the air interface, measure radio conditions, and monitors signaling messages between the terminal and the network. Drive Testing assist in detecting specific problems in the network and performing trouble shooting. This tool composes of one mobile terminal with special firmware and software that collect information from the radio interface. Typical information that is achieved from Drive Tests is: Information about system serving cell: Cell Id, frequency, broadcast information, etc.
Measurement of radio quality: Received power (RXLEV), signal to interference ratio, RQUAL, Cell selection (C1) and Cell Re-selection (C2), TXPOWER, Call Status, neighbor information, block error rate, etc.
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Drive test tools also use GPS (Global Positioning System) in order to correlate the measurement with different locations.
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CHAPTER 4 Quick Budget
Quick Budget
4.1 Introduction The post processing RF tools enables the RF engineers to predict the effect of their designed network or changes they make to the network will have on the perceived coverage and quality. Thus expensive problems can be avoided and trouble spots can be identified early and fixed quickly. These tools basically provide the visualizing the radio access network for any specific terrain. The combination of the map, ground profiles and the 3D view can save engineers visiting sites as a lot of information can be deduced by viewing the database maintained by post processing tools.
This chapter provides a description of Quick Budget working and its back programming. Quick Budget is a software application that is intended to lend a hand in designing, operating and optimizing a cellular radio network. Its database is used to store all the relevant information on sites, base stations and cell parameters, and from this Quick Budget.
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Quick Budget
This is a screenshot of our link budgeting software that has been uploaded on the following link www.fyp.awardspace.com. For further details, visit the above mentioned link.
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Chapter 5 Optimization 5.1 Introduction
Optimization
Every alive Network needs to be under continues control to maintain/improve the performance. Optimization is basically the only way to keep track of the network by looking deep into statistics and collecting/analyzing drive test data. It is keeping an eye on its growth and modifying it for the future capacity enhancements. It also helps operation and maintenance for troubleshooting purposes. Successful Optimization requires: Recognition and understanding of common reasons for call failure Capture of RF and digital parameters of the call prior to drop Analysis of call flow, checking messages on both forward and reverse links to establish what happened, where, and why. Optimization will be more effective and successful if you are aware of what you are doing.
5.1.1. Purpose and Scope of Optimization The optimization is to intend providing the best network quality using available spectrum as efficiently as possible. The scope will consist all below; Finding and correcting any existing problems after site implementation and integration. Meeting the network quality criteria agreed in the contract. Optimization will be continuous and iterative process of improving overall network quality. Optimization can not reduce the performance of the rest of the network. Area of interest is divided in smaller areas called clusters to make optimization and follow up processes easier to handle.
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Optimization
5.2. Optimization Process Optimization process can be explained by below step by step description: 5.2.1. Problem Analysis Analyzing performance retrieve tool reports and statistics for the worst performing BSCs and/or Sites. Viewing ARQ Reports for BSC/Site performance trends Examining Planning tool Coverage predictions Analyzing previous drive test data Discussions with local engineers to prioritize problems Checking Customer Complaints reported to local engineers 5.2.2. Checks Prior to Action
Cluster definitions by investigating BSC borders, main cities, freeways, major roads Investigating customer distribution, customer habits (voice/data usage) Running specific traces on Network to categorize problems Checking trouble ticket history for previous problems Checking any fault reports to limit possible hardware problems prior to Test
5.2.3. Drive Testing Preparing Action Plan Defining drive test routes Collecting RSSI Log files Scanning frequency spectrum for possible interference sources Redriving questionable data
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5.2.4. Subjects to Investigate Nonworking sites/sectors or TRXs Inactive Radio network features like frequency hopping Disabled GPRS Overshooting sites coverage overlaps Coverage holes C/I, C/A analysis High Interference Spots Drop Calls Capacity Problems Other Interference Sources Missing Neighbors Oneway neighbors PingPong Handovers Not happening handovers Accessibility and Retainability of the Network Equipment Performance Faulty Installations
Optimization
5.2.5. After the Test Post processing of data Plotting RX Level and Quality Information for overall picture of the driven area Initial Discussions on drive test with Local engineers Reporting urgent problems for immediate action
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Analyzing Network feature performance after new implementations Transferring comments on parameter implementations after new changes 5.2.6. Recommendations Defining missing neighbor relations Proposing new sites or sector additions with Before & After coverage plots Proposing antenna azimuth changes Proposing antenna tilt changes Proposing antenna type changes BTS Equipment/Filter change Retuning of interfered frequencies BSIC changes Adjusting Handover margins (Power Budget, Level, Quality, Umbrella HOs) Adjusting accessibility parameters (RX Lev Acc Min, etc..) Changing power parameters
Optimization
5.3 TEMS Software
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Example of Bad FER
Optimization
Example of FER is OK
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Collusion of MA list causing low C/I
RX_Level
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Late Handovers
Ping-Pong Handovers
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Missing Neighboring relation
Drop call due to low signal level
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Drop call due to bad RX_Quality
Call drop due to interference
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Results & Discussions
CHAPTER 6 RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
6.1 Introduction The radio access network design being a complex process has been accomplished in eight discrete steps. Each step has its separate problems, which can be tackled in a number of ways. The choice of a solution depends on the scenario, priority and resources at hand. In this chapter the final results of each step are stated and the solutions to mitigate the problems faced during the designing process are discussed in adequate detail.
6.2 Results and Discussion 6.2.1 Step1: Traffic and coverage Analysis The final coverage and capacity is as follow: The phase of initial or pre-planning starts from first step of traffic and coverage analysis goes till System design. The specifications and targets given by HUAWEI are: Network cost: 2 Million $ ARFCNS: 27 Cost per BTS: 0.2 Million $ Number of users: 7,000 GoS: 2%
Radio network capacity solutions can be divided into three solution categories:
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i) Cell capacity solutions - These solutions consist of methods and features that permit more transceivers per cell. Factor that has the greatest influence on cell capacity is frequency reuse. Cell capacity is thus determined by different methods and functions to enhance frequency reuse. Two common methods are Multiple Reuse Pattern (MRP); and Fractional Load Planning (FLP). The Multiple Reuse Pattern, which is based on base-band frequency hopping, yields the best results for network composed mainly of filter combiners. The primary transceiver carries the broadcast control channel (BCCH) and must therefore have a relatively loose reuse pattern (explanation: a handset must listen to the information broadcast on the BCCH before it can make calls in a cell). Where as; due to the frequency hopping gain, all remaining transceivers in the network can have a successively tighter reuse pattern. Compared to a non-hopping network, the MRP solution can be more than double cell capacity. The requirements of MRP are that it requires Considerable spectrum (greater than 5 MHz) At least three transceivers per cell for good performance. Fractional Load Planning is based on synthesized frequency hopping, which requires the use of hybrid combiners. In FLP, the gain from frequency hopping is not dependent on the number of transceivers in a cell, since each transceiver can hop on every frequency allocated to the cell. Notwithstanding, due to the characteristics of synthesized frequency hopping, the BCCH transceiver cannot hop frequencies.
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ii) Network capacity solutions - These solutions focus on adding different kinds of cells and make most of cell capacity by distributing traffic as efficiently as possible. In addition to improving cell capacity, operators can introduce micro cells, since site acquisition for micro cells is usually easier and less expensive than when adding regular cells. Traffic management is an important issue in a network composed of cells of different sizes. With multilayered hierarchical cell structures, cells can be divided in up to eight layers and traffic can be prioritized and distributed between these layers. There are also numerous add-on functions, such as Cell load sharing, which distributes traffic within layers. Assignment to another cell, which redirects traffic to other cells when congestion occurs during call setup. Handling of fast-moving mobiles, which moves calls to higher layers when there are too many handovers within a given interval. This function reduces the number of handovers, thereby increasing voice quality.
iii) Channel capacity solutions - These solutions center on ways of using the available throughput of the channels in the air in a more efficient manner, for example half-rate voice channels and GPRS. In the context of circuit-switched traffic, the channel capacity is about half-rate voice channels and the way they are managed as shown in the figure 5.1. Since the half-rate technique reduces the quality of voice, it has not been widely deployed. However, operators are now beginning to use this technique more and more, since it can be allocated on a dynamic basis during traffic peaks as shown in figure 5.1.
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Figure5.1: Dynamic half-rate allocation 6.2.1.1 Capacity Planning Approaches For comparative analysis purpose capacity planning is done using two approaches. i. Cell based approach
i) Cell based Approach During the cell based capacity planning of the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) network, traffic measurements are of significant importance. Because of false predictions, the capacity planning of a cell may be done inaccurately. If the capacity of the cell is not adequate to handle all of the busy-hour requests, the requests are not granted a channel and users are blocked. Thus, when the blocking ratio is high, the cellular capacity should be re-planned.
6.2.2 STEP2: Nominal cell planning The result of nominal cell planning is shown in the figure 5.2 which is the cell pattern on map. The densely polluted areas have cells with small radii and others have comparatively larger radii. The small radius cells are enabling greater number of traffic channels in the respective area, thus more users can be catered in densely polluted areas.
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The following results are achieved from the three under considered parameters while making the nominal plan. i) Radio propagation The prediction model Okumura-Hata is selected. The figure 5.3 shows the coverage prediction of a site by using Okumura- Hata.
Figure 6.3: Coverage Prediction by Okumura-Hata
ii)
Interferences
Reduction of co channel interference in a cellular mobile system is always a challenging problem. A number of methods are considered to overcome this problem, such as a) Increasing separation between two co channel cells b) Using directional antennas at BTS c) Lower antenna height at BTS Method a is not advisable because as number of frequency-reuse cells increases, the system efficiency, which is directly proportional to the number of channels per
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cells increases, decreases. Method c is not recommended either because such an arrangement also weakens the RSL at mobile unit. Method b is a good approach, because the use of directional antennas in each cell serves two purposes:
Further reduction of co channel interference when it is not eliminated by a fixed separation of co channel cells
Increasing the channel capacity when traffic increases.
Initially the co-channel interference was 60%, which is reduced to 10% by using one of the following methods:
Designing of Antenna Pattern - By designing an antenna that emit strong signals in a particular direction and no signal in other direction, co channel interference can be significantly reduced. Tilting Antenna Pattern Co-channel interference is minimized by confining the energy within small area. This is achieved by downward tilting of directional antenna. Reducing Antenna Height This method is used because minimal interference is more important than radio coverage.
Reducing the Transmitted Power In certain circumstances, reducing transmitted power is more effective in eliminating interference than reducing height of antenna Four conditions are used to compare the co channel interference results:
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If Carrier to interference ratio C/I is greater than 15 dB throughout the network, system is properly designed for capacity. If C/I is greater than 12 dB and Carrier to Noise ratio C/N is greater than 18dB in some areas, there is a co channel interference If both C/N and C/I are greater than 3dB and C/N = C/I in a particular area, there is a coverage problem If both C/N and C/I are greater than 3 dB and C/N > C/I in particular area, there is a coverage problem and co channel interference.
6.2.3 STEP3: Site surveys The site surveys were conducted for all sites and following are the results of checked parameters. Exact location Most of the sites locations were mono pol. These sites are displaced to acceptable location such that it doesnt affect the coverage to considerable level. Space for the BTS equipment- The equipments used is HUAWEI BSC-6000. The HUAWEI BSC-6000 belongs to the BSC family of HUAWEI. Its a 10 Transceiver (TRX) radio base station for outdoor applications. The HUAWEI BSC-6000 is a high coverage base station and configured for three sectors site. Antennas The 25dBi gain antennas are used, one for each sector. It has zero electrical polarization and 4 to 5 degree mechanical down tilt where ever there was requirement of more capacity. The radio measurement is done to find the corrections in prediction model. The quality of a network plan is dependent on the accuracy of the propagation model used to predict
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coverage pattern. The model tuning of Okumura-Hata resulted in modified area curves as under.
Figure6.4: Okumura-Hata Correction curves Due to the model tuning, the prediction gets better as in figure 5.3, which shows the coverage pattern of same site as in figure 5.4. These graphs are being provided by external advisor for calculation purposes
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Figure 6.5: Coverage prediction by Tuned Okumura-Hata
6.2.4 STEP4: System Design Once the planning parameters have been adjusted to match the actual measurements, dimensioning of the BSC is performed and the final cell plan produced. As the name implies, this plan can then be used for system installation. New coverage and interference predictions are run at this stage, resulting in Cell Design Data (CDD) documents containing cell parameters for each cell. In [1], Dimensioning of BSC includes: i. ii. iii. iv. v. vi. vii. viii. Calculation of number of E1 (trunk circuits) at each site. Total number of Erlang supported by BSC. Determination of the kinds of links. Distribution of microwave links. Assigning the BTS sites to appropriate BSCs. Link Capacities calculations. Total num4ber of radio required. Bandwidths for radio links.
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i.
Calculation of E1s For calculations of E1s at each site it is mandatory to calculate the traffic carrying capacity of each Site. Data rate of 1 Time slot of E1 = 64 Kbps Traffic channel on E1 = 30 Data rate of 1 Time slot of TRX = 16 Kbps. Data rate of 1 TRX = 16 Kpbs 8 = 128 Kbps. Traffic carrying capacity of 1 cell = 3 128 Kpbs = 384 Kbps. Traffic carrying capacity of 1 Site = 384 Kbps 3 = 1152 Kbps Required time slot for carrying traffic of S333 site = 1152 / 64 = 18 TS of E1s Results show that one E1 is required by each site for supporting S333 configuration. So total number of required E1 in the network is equal to total number of sites deployed. In total 79 E1 are required.
ii.
Capacity of BSC : Total number of Erlang supported by BSC is dependent on type and size of BSC. Here, capacity of BSC is given to be 900 Erlangs.
iii.
Determination of kind of link: The determination of link is dependent on real site location and neighboring sites. This parameter is calculated during installation and integration phase.
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iv. Assigning BTSs to BSCs :
The assignment of BTSs to a particular BSC is dependent on amount of traffic and location of site. In this project, four BSCs have been deployed each is linked to 8 BTSs.
6.2.5
STEP5: System tuning The system tuning is done by drive testing using TEMS. Beside drive testing the system tuning also include: a.) Eliminating equipment failures b.) Improving network operation indicators, such as radio completion rate, call drop rate, the worst cell, handover success rate and congestion rate, etc. c.) Improving voice quality, such as balancing the traffic between the cells inside the network. d.) Network balancing, such as signalling load balancing, equipment load balancing and link load balancing, etc. e.) Adjusting the network resources reasonably, for example, improving equipment and spectrum utilization and adjusting the traffic in each channel. f.) Creating and maintaining a long term network optimization platform, and creating and maintaining network optimization archives.
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CHAPTER 7 CONCLUSION
7.1 CONCLUSION It can be concluded that radio access network designing requires a thorough analysis of resources, geographical area and required standards. A fine line or trade off is to be made at different stages, depending on the circumstances. This very project provided an opportunity of grasping the concepts of RAN, understanding the procedure of its designing, resolving different encountered problems and studying diverse solutions. It also granted a juncture, to interact with professionals of the telecommunication industry. This project provides an individual with intrinsic details of BSS planning and radio access network. The analysis made between the theoretical and practical approaches is based on professional consultancy, theory mentoring and real environment testing. Thus this project provides information about working in the field. The radio access network is developed in four distinguished steps, which can assist an individual in developing a clear idea of the complex process of designing of RAN. The proposed design is enabling an optimum service of 94%. The required stages of coverage, capacity, and frequency planning are well accomplished in the designed RAN and the frequency planning has been taken to the next level, called transceiver planning for all the sites which contributes in mitigating the problem of interferences. The coverage prediction and loss estimations are improved by model tuning and drive testing. The outcome of model tuning is implemented. The surveys and site
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visits gave a clear idea of hardware requirements, its limitations and cost which assisted in increasing the real environment realization of the designed RAN.
The designed RAN is a cost effective design, it can be said so as the cost of network is 1.6 million$ (cost per site is 0.2 million $ and total sites are 8). The total given budget for the network was 2 million$, thus 0.4 million$ have been saved. This RAN also has the dispensation of easy implementation because of likeness between sites of a clutter or defined traffic density.
Although the designed RAN is fulfilling the given target but it can be improved in a number of ways. The shortcomings of few stages of designing are as follows. In the stage of coverage planning, the loss and gain factors to cater open qausi terrain could not be found due to clandestine company data. 100% service could not be enabled in the given city. Thus, efforts can be made to further improve the tuning of applied model. In the second stage of capacity planning, the concept of cell hierarchy can be applied to improve the user catering, as it will classify the outdoor, indoor, moving and stationary users.
The designed RAN in this project is for a 2G technology (GSM), as its currently deployed all over Pakistan and license of 3G has not been provided by PTA. Yet 3G is the future of mobile communication technology. The foremost and major recommendation is to make this network for the 3G technologies (like WCDMA or WIMAX); developing a RAN will provide an opportunity to be distinctive and gain latest knowledge. The second recommendation is the application of quality planning in the proposed design. This stage is not implemented as it was not a requirement of HUAWEI but it can make the network resource utilization efficient. The quality planning will also satisfy the customers needs more appropriately.
92
GLOSSARY
ARFCN: BSC: BSIC: BSS: BSSMAP: BTS: dTRX: CCH: CDD: CDU: CM: EIR: FDMA: FLP: GoS: GSM: HLR: ISDN: LAC: LAPD: LAPDm: MAP: MRP:
Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Number Base Station Controller Basic Station identity controller Base Station Subsystem. BSS Management Application Part Base Transceiver Station. double Transceiver Unit Control Channel Cell Design Data. Combiner Distribution Unit. Control Module. Equipment Identity Register Frequency Division Multiple Access. Fractional Load Planning. Grade of Service Global System for Mobile communications. Home Location Register Integrated Services Digital Network Location Area code Link access Protocol on Data channel Link access Protocol on Data modified channel Mobile Application Part Multiple Reuse Pattern 93
MS: MSC: MTP: NSS: PSU: PTT: RAN: RBS: RIL3: RSL: RSM: TRAU: TRM: TRX: TDMA: TCH: TCAP: SAQ: SCCP: Um: VLR:
Mobile Station. Mobile Switching Centre Message Transfer Part Network Switching Subsystem Power Supply Unit Postal Telephone and Telegraph Radio Access Network Radio Base Station. Radio Interface Layer 3 Received Signal level Radio Subsystem Management Transcoding Rate and Adaptation Unit. Transmission Module. Transceiver Unit. Time Division Multiple Access. Traffic Channel Transaction Capabilities Application Part Site acquisition Signaling Connection Control Part User mode Visitor Location Register
94
REFERENCES
[1] Modern Approaches in Modeling of Mobile Radio Systems Propagation Environment, http://www.comsoc.org/livepubs/surveys/public/3q00issue/neskovic.html; [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] access date: 18/06/07 Wireless and cellular wireless communications, 3rd Edi by Willian C.Y.LEE atlas.cc.itu.edu.tr/~pazarci/WandelGoltermann_gsm.pdf COST 231 Walfisch- Ikegami Model http://www.ee.bilkent.edu.tr/~microwave/programs/wireless/prop/costWI.htm; access Wireless Network by Jeffery Wheat End-to-End Quality of Service Over Cellular Networks: Data Services ... By Gerardo Gomez, Rafael Snchez Principles and Applications of GSM by Vijay k. Garg and Joseph E. Wilkey en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GSM
95

How To Do RF Planning

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Chapter 1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

Chapter 2 CHAPTER 2 RADIO ACCESS NETWORK OVERVIEW

Radio Access Network

Radio Access Network

Figure 2.1: Block diagram of RBS 900

Radio Access Network

Chapter 2 Table 2.1: Specifications of GSM System

Radio Access Network

Radio Access Network

Figure 2.2: FDMA/TDMA based radio channel concept

Chapter 2 i. Traffic channels

Radio Access Network

Chapter 2 2.1.2.4 Interfaces

Radio Access Network

Figure 2.3: Interfaces of GSM network

Radio Access Network

Figure 2.4: Physical layer Signalling protocol between network entities

Radio Access Network

Fundamentals of system design

Radio Access Network

Figure 2.7: Omni Directional and Sector Cells 2.2.2 Site

Chapter 2 2.2.3 Cell Splitting

Radio Access Network

Figure 2.9: Cell Sectoring

Chapter 2 2.2.5 Frequency Reuse

Radio Access Network

. Figure 2.10: Frequency Reuse

Chapter 2 2.2.6 Resource Dimensioning

Radio Access Network

Radio Access Network

Radio Access Network

Some Clutter and Terrain Descriptions are:

Radio Access Network

Radio Access Network

Radio Access Network

Pico Cell (indoor)

Propagation phenomena and propagation loss

Radio Access Network

Semi-deterministic - combines the two methods described above.

i. Large-scale propagation models

Radio Access Network

Radio Access Network

Radio Access Network 2.7

Problems and Solutions of Air Interface

Radio Access Network

Figure 2.14: Multi-path Propagation

iii. Time Alignment

Radio Access Network

Figure 2.15: Time alignment problem

There are number of solutions to overcome these problems.

Radio Access Network

Radio Access Network

Figure 2.17: Antenna Diversity

Radio Access Network

Figure 2.19: Co-channel interference

Radio Access Network

Figure 2.20: Adjacent channel interference

Radio Access Network

Figure 2.21: The handover process

Radio Access Network

Radio Access Network

Fig 2.22: Stages of RAN Design