GSM Frequency Planning 101

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Prepared by Tarik Ouazzani

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Contents
I) Introduction : BCCH vs. TCH II) Frequency Planning Why do we use frequency planning? Channel Numbering Reuse Factor C/I II) BSIC Planning Why do we use frequency planning? BSIC Numbering III) Neighbors List IV) Frequency Hopping

BCCH vs. TCH

Each BTS Sector Need one BCCH The first Radio is the BCCH radio even if only one Time Slot is the BCCH The Second, ThirdRadio are the TCH radios
0 B 0 1 S 1 T 1 T 2 T 2 T 2 T 3 T 3 T 3 T 4 T 4 T 4 T 5 T 5 T 5 T 6 T 6 T 6 T 7 T 7 T 7 T TCH2 Radio 3 TCH1 Radio BCCH Radio

One Sector

T 0 T

Part I Frequency Planning

Why do we use frequency planning?

Efficient use of the frequency spectrum Minimize interference Improvement in voice quality

Uplink Vs Downlink
UP L DO WN INK

LIN K

Radio tower

Cell phone

450 (Tetra): Being Introduced

PCS

GSM 850 : 2*25 MHz Bands, 20 MHz Duplex spacing, 125 Carriers. GSM 900 : 2*25 MHz Bands, 45 MHz Duplex spacing, 125 Carriers. DCS 1800 : 2*75 MHz Bands, 95 MHz Duplex spacing, 375 Carriers. PCS 1900 : 2*60 MHz Bands, 80 MHz Duplex spacing, 300 Carriers.
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Channel Numbering
GSM 900 Fu (n) = 890 MHz + (0.2 MHz) x n Fd (n) = Fu (n) + 45 MHz GSM 1800 Fu (n) = 1,710 MHz + (0.2 MHz) x (n-511) Fd (n) = Fu (n) + 95 MHz GSM 1900 Fu (n) = 1,850.2 MHz + (0.2 MHz) x (n-512) Fd (n) = Fu (n) + 80 MHz
Fu = uplink frequency Fd = downlink frequency

1 e n e 124

512 e n e 885

512 e n e 810

Channel Numbering
Block E: 1885-1890 and 1965-1970 The Channel Numbers : 586 to 611. Fl(N)=1850.2+0.2*(N-512) N=[(Fl(N)-1850.2)/0.2]+512 N=[(1885-1850.2)/0.2]+512=687 N=[(1889.8-1850.2)/0.2]+512=711

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Carrier
Need to know which carriers are available in the project Put the frequency range that the FCC allow

Band A D B E F G

Channel Number 512-586 587-611 612-686 687-711 712-736 737-811

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Reuse Factor
Low power transmitters to allow frequency reuse at much smaller distances. Maximizing the number of times each channel may be reused in a given geographic area is the key to an efficient cellular system design. q= reuse factor R= center-to-vertex distance A D= Co-channel separation j=2 q= D/R
R
2 2 D= i  j  ij

i=3 A

i= along any chain of hexagons j= counter clockwise turn 60o

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Reuse Factor (contd )

Frequency Reuse factor = 3x9 f2 f1 f2 f1 f3 f2 f1 f3 f3
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f2 f1 f1 f3 f2 f1 f3 f2 f1 f3 f2

f2 f3 f1

f3

Reuse Factor ( contd)

Frequency Reuse Factor = 4x12

f3 f1 f4 f2 f3 f1 f2 f4 f2 f1

f3 f1 f4 f3 f1 f4 f2

f3 f4 f2 f3 f1 f4 f2

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Reuse Factor( contd )

Frequency Reuse Factor = 7x21 f2 f3 f5 f6 f1 f2 f4 f5 f7 f1 f3 f2 f4 f6 f1 f3 f5 f3 f5 f7 f2 f4 f6 f7 f2 f4 f6 f1 f3 f5 f7 15 f4 f6 f1 f3 f5 f7 f2 f4 f3 f5 f7 f2 f4 f6 f1 f4 f6 f1 f3

C/I
Co-channel Interference
Power(dBm)

9 dB
Desired signal Interfering signal

fo

F (MHz)

Between the cells having the same BCCH More than 9 dB difference doesn't effect
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C/I (contd)
Co-channel Interference example

[-79, -80,] -70 dBm 515

A2
515

C u 9 dB I I u9

C= -70 dBm
I e 79 dBm

A1

Lower or equal than 79 dBm is acceptable

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C/I (contd)
Adjacent Interference
Power( dBm)

9 dB

fo

Fo+200 KHz (for 1st Adjacent Interference)

F ( MHz)

Between the adjacent cells Interfering signal can have signal level difference up to 9 dB for the 1st Adjacent channel.
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C/I (contd)
1st Adjacent Interference example

[-61, -62,] -70 dBm 516 515

C u  9 dB I  I u 9

(for 1st Adjacent Interference)

A2

C= -70 dBm
I e 61 dBm

A1

Lower or equal than 61 dBm is acceptable

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C/I (contd)

Relation Co-channel 1 st adjacent channel 2 nd adjacent channel 3 rd adjacent channel

Name C/I C/A1 C/A2 C/A3

Spacing ( kHz) 0 200 400 600

Protection (dB ) 9 -9 -41 -49

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Block E Channels
Calculation for a BTS Configuration Of 2/2/2: Reuse Factor N=4 Block E has 5 MHz = 25 Channels. (Channel 687 to 711). 687 used as a Guard Band.
A1 B1 C1 D1 A2 B2 C2 D2 A3 B3 C3 D3 BCCH 688 689 690 691 692 693 694 695 696 697 698 699 A1 B1 C1 D1 A2 B2 C2 D2 A3 B3 C3 D3 700 701 702 703 704 705 706 707 708 709 710 711

TCH

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Pattern N=4
BCCH planning first, Then we match it with the TCH Planning.
C1 690 B1 688 B3 D3 D2 D1 B2 696

f3 f1 f4 f2
A3

A1

C3

C2

698

694 697

689

A2

692 699 694 691

693

A B A T

B
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Interference Table
List of all the Frequencies that can cause interferences for a cell. Several steps are required:
 Best Server  C/I plots  Drive test Data : RXQual (0 to 7) Need to be 0.

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Possible Interferences
688

Adjacent Interference

690

Site A
692 698

Site C

696

694

691

689

Adjacent Interference

Adjacent Interference

Site D

Site B
693 697

699

695

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Frequency Plan For 1 Pattern

BSC: TBD National Color Code: 3

Site Id Site A

Site B

Site C

Site D

Orientation 0 120 240 0 120 240 0 120 240 0 120 240

BCCH 688 692 696 689 693 697 690 694 698 690 694 698

TCH 700 704 708 701 705 709 702 706 710 703 707 711

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Pattern N=4
f3 f1 f4 f2 f3 f1 f2 f4 f2 f2 f1 f4 f2 f1 f4 f3 f1 f4 f3 f1 f2 f3 f3 f4

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Part II BSIC Planning

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BSIC
BSIC: Base Transceiver Station Identity Code used to distinguish neighboring base stations two components: Network Color Code (NCC) Base Station Color Code (BCC) directly adjacent PLMN and BS must have different color codes
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BSIC Allocation
BSIC=NCC+BCC NCC : (0 to 7 ) predefined for a Carrier ( AWS can be 3 , VT 4) BCC: (0 to 7 ) Planned by the RF Engineer. Helps the mobile stations to distinguish between two neighboring cells sharing the same BCCH BSIC combination has to be unique for all cells that are defined in the neighbor list. The Mobile Recognize the BTS as it Neighbors or as the one it is connecting to by the Combination BSIC+BCCH

BSIC=Base Station Identity Code NCC= Network Color Code BCC= Base Station Color Code

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BSIC Allocation
BCCH = A1 BSIC = 30 BCCH = A1 BSIC = 30

Same BSIC + Same BCCH = Drop Call

Radi t

Radi t

Best Server

BCCH = A1 BSIC = 30

Radi t

If a Mobile receives 2 same BCCH with the Same BSIC. It will be impossible for him to make the difference between the 2 BTSs. ----> Drop Call BSIC is the way the mobile make the difference between the 2 BTSs.
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Radi t

r r

BCCH = A1 BSIC = 31

Different BSIC + Same BCCH = Call on

the best server (9 dB better)

BSIC Plan

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30 30

32

32 31

31

30 33 33 33

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BSIC Plan
f3 f3 F1 36 f4 f3 F1 30 f4 f2 f2 Reuse of BSIC 30 Far Enough F1 37 f4 f2 f3 F1 35 f2 f3 f4 f2 f3 f4 f2 F1 34 f4 f2 F1 32 f4 f2 F1 33 f4 f3 F1 31 f4 f3 F1 30 f2 f3 f3 f4

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BSIC Plan
BSC: TBD National Color Code: 3 Site Id Site A Orientation 0 120 240 0 120 240 0 120 240 0 120 240 BSIC 30 30 30 31 31 31 32 32 32 32 32 32 BCCH 688 692 696 689 693 697 690 694 698 690 694 698 TCH 700 704 708 701 705 709 702 706 710 703 707 711

Site B

Site C

Site D

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BSIC Plan For Every BSC

BSIC PLA FOR BSC XX
BCCH 688 689 690 691 692 693 694 695 696 697 698 699 700 701 702 703 704 705 706 707 708 709 710 711 BSIC Sit 2 Sit 3 30 Sit 1 Sit 1 Sit 2 Sit 3 31 Sit 2 Sit 3 Sit 1 32 Sit 2 Sit 3 Sit 1 33 34 35 36 37
  

Optimization Purposes: you can check with this table what is the Interferer BSIC Planning : Help Choosing the BSIC Available.

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Part III Neighbors Planning

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Neighbors Planning
Find ALL the possible HO If one Neighbor is Missing ---> Possible Drop Call Put in the List the Maximum numbers of Neighbors (most vendors have 20 neighbors in the NL). Check Stats Monthly (BSC Dump). When a HO occurs the mobile get a new NL from the New Sector.
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Possible HO

Site A

Site C

Site D

Site B

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Neighbor List
StartUp N ighbors
C ll N m CELL Site CELL Site CELL Site CELL Site CELL Site CELL Site CELL Site CELL Site CELL Site CELL Site CELL Site CELL Site N ighb rs it 2 Sit 1 Sit 2 2 Sit 1 Sit Sit 1 Sit C2 Sit C1 Sit C1 Sit D2 Sit D1 Sit D1 1 2 3 B1 B2 B3 C1 C2 C3 D1 D2 D3 it Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit 3 3 1 3 3 2 C3 C3 C2 D3 D3 D2 it Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit 1 1 1 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 it Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 it Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit C1 C1 C1 C1 C1 C1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit C2 C2 C2 C2 C2 C2 2 2 2 2 2 2 Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit C3 C3 C3 C3 C3 C3 3 3 3 3 3 3 Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit D1 D1 D1 D1 D1 D1 D1 D1 D1 C1 C1 C1 Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit D2 D2 D2 D2 D2 D2 D2 D2 D2 C2 C2 C2 Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit D3 D3 D3 D3 D3 D3 D3 D3 D3 C3 C3 C3

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LAC
Location Area Code: LAC. Planning the LAC can help Decrease the Signalization by decreasing the number of Authentications. When ever a subscriber enter a new LAC the network is informed of the New LAC. From time to time the Network page the Mobile to update the location of the Mobile. To reach the Mobile the Network need to know which LAC it is located.

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Final Frequency Plan

BSC: TBD National Color Code: 3 Site Id Site A Orientation 0 120 240 0 120 240 0 120 240 0 120 240 BSIC 30 30 30 31 31 31 32 32 32 33 33 33 BCCH 688 692 696 689 693 697 690 694 698 691 695 699 TCH 700 704 708 701 705 709 702 706 710 703 707 711 MCC XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX XXX MNC YY YY YY YY YY YY YY YY YY YY YY YY LAC 10000 10000 10000 10000 10000 10000 10000 10000 10000 10000 10000 10000 CELL ID 10000 10001 10002 10100 10101 10102 10200 10201 10202 10300 10301 10302 BSC TBD MSC TBD

Site B

TBD

TBD

Site C

TBD

TBD

Site D

TBD

TBD

MCC:

Mobile Country Code: Unique for the Country. (208 for France, USA is ??

MNC: Mobile Network Code: Unique for the Carrier (AWS is ??). CELL ID: Each Cell ID has to be Unique In the Network.
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Part IV Frequency Hopping

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Advantages
Based on the performance measurements, the Quality Indicators and Drive tests, the following conclusions can be derived. Call Drop Rate (TCH) 9 % Improvement Much Easier Frequency Plan. More Tolerance for the RXQual. MaxRxQual=5

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Block E Channels
Calculation for a BTS Configuration Of 2/2/2: Reuse Factor N=4 Block E has 5 MHz = 25 Channels. (Channel 687 to 711). 687 used as a Guard Band. No Hopping allowed in the BCCH channel.
B 688 689 690 691 692 693 694 695 696 697 698 699 op1 op2 op3 700 703 706 709 701 704 707 710 702 705 708 711

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Hopping Planning
BCCH, TCH
688, Hop1 690, Hop1

Site C

692, Hop2 696, Hop3 698, Hop3

694, Hop2

691, Hop1

689, Hop1

Site D

Site B 693, Hop2

699, Hop3

695, Hop2

697, Hop3

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HSN and MAIO

When a GSM phone is served by a cell that is hopping over a set of frequencies, the separate traffic channels hop over the allocated frequencies according to a hopping sequence number (HSN). The traffic channels with the same HSN hop over the same frequencies in the same order but are separated in time by a mobile allocation index offset (MAIO).
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HSN and MAIO

Ensure that the HSN is unique for all cells that may cause interference to each other (random hopping). A good choice of MAIO is as follows:(Allocated per hopping group, per TRX and not per sector) Hop1: 0, 2, 4 Hop2: 1, 3, 5 Hop3: 0, 2, 4

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Frequency Hopping Table

M IO N umb r H o C rr_ of T R X

 

BT S -N o S it _ D Si Si Si Si Si Si Si Si Si Si Si Si

S ctor

HSN

o c_ M

o c_ M

o c_ M

o c_ M

o c_ M

o c_ M

o c_ M

o c_ M

o c_



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)) 1 0) 1 01 4 )) 1 0) 1 01 4 )) 1 0) 1 01 4 )) 1 0) 1 801 101 301 801 101 301 801 101 301 801 101 301   701 601 201 701 601 201 701 601 201 701 601 201   501 ) 01 001 501 ) 01 001 501 ) 01 001 501 ) 01 001  6 6 6 2 2 2 5 5 5 ) ) )  6 5 0 6 5 0 6 5 0 6 5 0 ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) 2 5 ) 2 5 ) 2 5 ) 2 5 ) $  #  "   01 4  A '& A '& A '& @ '& @ '& @ '& 9 '& 9 '& 9 '& ( '& ( '& ( '&  

Questions?

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Exercise 1
Cellular Block A: Calculate the Channel Numbers

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Exercise 2
PCS Block A (1930-1935 MHz) - (Ch512Ch586): * Frequency Plan No Hopping. * Frequency Plan Hopping * BSIC Plan * Neighbor List.
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Frequency Plan No Hopping

BCCH TCH

Frequency Plan With Hopping

BCCH TCH

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BSIC Plan
BSIC PLAN FOR BSC XX
514 515 516 517 518 519 520 521 522 523 524 525 526 527 528 529 530 531 532 533 534 535

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Neighbor List
CELL CELL CELL CELL CELL CELL CELL CELL CELL CELL CELL CELL Site Site Site Site Site Site Site Site Site Site Site Site A1 A2 A3 B1 B2 B3 C1 C2 C3 D1 D2 D3

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