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Umts Radio Interface System Planning and Optimization
Umts Radio Interface System Planning and Optimization
OPTIMIZATION
By: David Rottmayer, Vice President, Telefocal Asia
INTRODUCTION
The goal of the UMTS (universal mobile telecommunications system) is to deliver
multimedia services to the user in the mobile domain. UMTS and multimedia services
have a significant impact not only on the RF (radio frequency) network, but also on
the core network architecture. Care must be taken to allow current GSM (global
system mobile) operators to protect their infrastructure investments when their
networks are upgraded to support UMTS.
The UMTS network architecture is reflected in the below figure. The core network
handles call control and mobility management functionalities, while the UTRAN (UMTS
terrestrial radio access network) manages the radio packet transmission and resource
management.
Packet routing and transfer within the core network are supported by definition of
new logical network nodes called GGSN (gateway GPRS (general packet radio
system) support node) and SGSN (serving GPRS support node). The GGSN is basically
a packet router with additional mobility management features, and it connects with
various network management features, and it connects with various network
elements through standardised interfaces. The GGSN acts as a physical interface to
the external packet data networks (i.e. Internet). The SGSN handles packet delivery
to and from mobile terminals. Each SGSN is responsible for delivering packets to the
terminals within its serving area. GGSN and SGSN are capable of supporting terminal
data rates of 2Mbps or greater.
A UTRAN consists of one or more RNSs (radio network subsystems), which in turn consist
of base stations (Node Bs) and RNCs (radio network controllers). The RNS performs all
of the radio resource and air interface management functionalities. The UMTS
network architecture inherits most of its structure from the GSM model in the UTRAN.
This white paper focuses on the differences between GSM radio system planning and
UMTS radio system planning. UMTS uses WCDMA (wideband code division multiple
access) as the radio transmission technology. It is claimed that TDMA (time division
multiple access) RF planning is much more difficult that CDMA-based systems. This is
true, in part, because of the interference issues. However, UMTS serves users with
various demands, and many aspects of planning are more closely interrelated to
each other in UMTS planning than they are in GSM planning.
The major differences in the UMTS radio system planning process occur in coverage
and capacity planning. In GSM, coverage is planned separately after the network is
dimensioned (based on market study), and capacity and frequency are planned in
tandem. In UMTS, coverage and capacity are planned at the same time, because
capacity requirements and traffic distribution influence coverage. Frequency and
code can be planned separately. On the other hand, the wideband nature of
WCDMA technology (5MHz) compared with GSM (200kHz) imposes new criteria in
modelling the propagation environments.
This white paper outlines the challenges and solutions for planning and optimising
UMTS networks with respect to radio interface. WCDMA air interface specifications
and their implications on transmission channel behaviour and modelling are
described first. Next, solutions are provided for system design, including coverage,
capacity, code, and frequency planning. The analysis captures both design
processes and engineering calculations. The critical optimisation and monitoring of
WCDMA network performance are then discussed.
Finally, the white paper
concludes by summarising the results and presenting the future roadmap.
therefore, the user net bit rates supported by one code channel are in the range of 1
to 936kbps in the downlink. Up to three parallel codes can be used for one user,
giving bit rates up to 2.3Mbps. In the uplink, data rates are half of these figures,
because of modulation differences.
The WCDMA standard includes two modes of operation: WCDMA/TDD (time division
duplexing) and WCDMA/FDD (frequency division duplexing). In WCDMA/FDD, the
uplink and downlink signals are at different frequency bands. In WCDMA/TDD, the
uplink and downlink signals are at the same frequency but are separated to different
time periods. 1
The nominal channel bandwidth of the WCDMA is 5MHz. The specification provides
the flexibility to define the exact channel centre frequency of 200kHz raster, so the
actual channel separation might be smaller than the nominal 5MHz, down to the
specified minimum 4.4MHz. This has to be noted carefully because it might cause
interference in the network.
The WCDMA transmission is split into 10ms radio frames, each of which consists of 15
pieces of 666ms (2560 chips) time slots. The bit rate and, for example, channel
coding can be changed in every 10-ms frame, offering very flexible control of the
user data rate. Every time slot has bits reserved for pilot signal, power control (TPC
bits), transport format indication (TFCI bits), and if necessary, closed loop transmit
diversity (FBI bits). The exact signal format and multiplexing are quite different in
uplink and downlink signalling. Also, the dedicated and shared channels have
several differences in signal format.
1 Most UMTS deployments thus far use FDD. One reason is spectrum; in countries such
as the United States, only limited spectrum is available for TDD.
Delay, s
fc, MHz
WCDMA
GSM
Bandwidth
BW = 5 MHz
BW = 0.2MHz
Urban
0.5
0.32
SB
NB/WB
Rural
0.1
1.6
WB
NB
Hilly
3
0.053
WB
WB
Microcellular
<0.1
>1.6
NB/WB
NB
Indoor
<0.01
>16
NB
NB
Characteristics of GSM versus UMTS for Different Radio Propagation Environments
The coherence bandwidth is related to the correlation of fading over the transmission
bandwidth. In a propagation environment where a system is narrowband, fading is
frequency nonselective or flat. In the wideband environment, fading for signal
frequencies is uncorrelated and the fading is called frequency selective. Comparing
the chip duration (0.26ms) of WCDMA to the typical urban channel delay spread, it
can be seen that the delay spread is larger than the chip duration. A WCDMA
receiver achieves optimum performance by using all of the delay spread is larger
than the chip duration. A WCDMA receiver achieves optimum performance by using
all of the multipath components via a Rake receiver. The Rake receiver receives and
combines different multipath delayed elements of the received signal.
This
combining method is an advantage of WCDMA compared with GSM and TDMA
signals and increases the received signal power.
Dimensioning
Configuration planning
Parameter planning
The overall planning goal in any wireless system is to maximise coverage and
capacity while meeting the KPIs (key performance indicators) and QoS (quality of
service).
In the initial dimensioning phase, a fixed load is assumed for all base stations within
the targeted area. The value for the load can be the maximum acceptable load for
the cells or it can be the predicted load during the busy hour. If the highest
acceptable load is used, the dimensioning is done according to the worst-case
scenario, which may lead to an unnecessarily high number of sites. It is better to use
the predicted load, because it will give more realistic results.
In the detailed planning phase, the traffic distribution is used to allocate the
predicted traffic to the planned cells. This may lead to situations in which the load
between the cells can vary remarkably. Some cells may have a load very close to
the maximum acceptable load, and some cells may have a fairly low load.
Coverage targets must also be checked during this planning phase.
Although, in dimensioning, the traffic is assumed to be evenly distributed across a
particular area, in reality, each area may have a different traffic density. Also in
dimensioning, propagation is assumed to be similar for all cells and all cells are
assumed to be identical. During detailed planning, coverage predictions can be
quite different among the cells due to propagation environment and traffic
distribution. Typically, Monte-Carol distribution of the mobile stations is used to predict
instant traffic demands.
The link budget in the table is divided into five parts. In general information, the
frequency band, chip rate, temperature and Boltzmans constant are given. In
service information, the bit rates and loads for uplink and downlink are defined.
Receiving end and transmitting end define the ration links in the uplink and downlink
directions, respectively. Finally, isotropic path loss is defined as the maximum
expected path loss between the receiver and transmitter.
General Information
Units
Value
Frequency
MHz
2100
Chip rate
Mcps
3.84
Temperature
K
293
Boltzmans Constant
J/K
1.38E-23
Service Information
Load
Bit Rate
Units
%
Kbps
Urban
Uplink
30
64.0
Downlink
50
144.0
Receiving End
Thermal noise density
Receiver noise figure
Receiver noise density
Noise power
Interference margin
Receiver interference power
Total noise (thermal + interference)
Processing gain
Required Eb/No
Receiver Sensitivity
Rx antenna gain
Cable loss
LNA gain
Antenna diversity gain
Soft handover diversity gain
Power control headroom
Required signal power
Field Strength
Z = 77.2 + 20*log(freq[MHz])
Units
dBm/Hz
dB
dBm/Hz
dBm
dB
dBm
dBm
dB
dB
dBm
dBi
dB
dB
dB
dB
dB
dBm
dBV/m
Uplink
-173.93
3.00
-170.93
-105.09
1.55
-108.77
-103.54
17.78
5.00
-116.32
18.00
4.00
0.00
0.00
3.00
0.00
-133.332
10.32
Transmitting End
Units
Uplink
TX power per connection
W
0.126
TX power
dBm
21.00
Cable loss
dB
0.00
TX antenna gain
dBi
0.00
Peak EIRP
dBm
21.00
Isotropic path loss
dB
154.32
Typical Link Budget for WCDMA Cell
Downlink
-173.93
6.00
167.93
-102.09
3.01
-102.09
-99.08
14.26
4.00
-109.34
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
3.00
0.00
-112.34
31.31
Downlink
1.00
30.00
4.00
18.00
44.00
156.34
Coverage Planning
The propagation predictions for WCDMA require the same planning phases as in
GSM. First, the base station configuration and the link budget have to be defined.
Also, the coverage threshold has to be well defined to exceed the required quality
criteria but avoid unnecessary additional investments for the radio network elements.
Moreover, the capacity targets and forecasts have to be well known at this phase
because they have a strong effect on the base station coverage area. When the
base station antenna height, coverage threshold, and capacity requirements are
defined and the base station configuration is clarified in the link budget calculations,
the actual propagation predictions process can start. Propagation measurements
can be performed to fine-tune the propagation prediction model. When the
prediction model is tuned, the final base station parameters can be used to make the
propagation predictions.
Optimised base station parameters can be evaluated when the planning criteria are
defined. This planning threshold means that agreement must be reached on the
reasonable QoS level required for the different geographical locations. The threshold
also depends on whether the service has to be extended inside vehicles and
buildings in different areas. The planning threshold is defined in GSM by starting from
the mobile station sensitivity (for the forward link) and by adding the required clutter
planning margins to the sensitivity value in each particular planning terrain bin.
Capacity Planning
WCDMA capacity planning is directly related to the link budget and, thus, to the
base station coverage area. In the link budget reflected in the table labelled
Typical Link Budget for WCDMA Cell, only one type of service (64/144kbps data
transmission) was introduced, and the base station coverage was fixed for this
service. It is possible to have any type of service between the voice calls and 2Mbps
data traffic in the WCDMA base station. This means that the base station coverage
area is different for different users.
Relative Cell Range and Cell Area versus User Bit Rate Using WCDMA
(Cell ranges calculated by using Okumura-Hata propagation formula and antenna
height of 25 meters)
Basically, the question is about the spreading factor, SPF, which varies significantly
when comparing the 12.2kbps voice call (SPF=25dB) and 2Mbps data transmission
(PG=2.8dB) connections.
In the uplink direction, the main objective in capacity planning is to limit interference
from the other cells to an acceptable level. Network planning can increase the
uplink load by reducing other cell interference. This can be achieved by using
buildings, hills, etc., as obstacles to block the interfering cells. Also, down-tilting is a
very useful tool to limiting interference. In the downlink direction, two aspects should
be considered: the interference from other cells and the power of the base station.
The load equation for the downlink is similar to the equation for the uplink. However,
in the downlink there is a new parameter called orthogonality. Orthogonality is a
measure of how much the users in the same cell do not interfere with each other. In
the downlink, users are much more orthogonal compared with uplink, because the
base station is transmitting to all the mobiles with very accurate timing of the
spreading codes.
Traffic
Drop calls
Traffic deviation
Interference
Traffic mixture
Inter-system handovers
Average TX power
Throughput
Average RX power
network. In fact, even within cells traffic tends to be distributed unevenly among the
sectors.
Such imbalance has the effect of locking up network capacity in
underutilised sectors while causing blocking problems in the most heavily used
sectors. Balancing the traffic load among the sectors of a cell alleviates the blocking
and creates headroom for traffic growth. And by creating headroom at network
hotspots, a targeted traffic load-balancing strategy allows more traffic growth and
more efficient use of infrastructure and spectrum across the entire network.
One way of achieving load balancing is to modify the antenna orientation and
angular beamwidth of each sector to unify the traffic. This is possible using smart
array antennas, as shown in the figure below.
CONCLUSIONS
The UMTS radio interface system planning has the same basic philosophy as GSM but
varies in the detail mainly because of two reasons: the change of radio propagation
channel that is a wideband type, and the change in modulation and transmission
mechanism that is DS-CDMA. The major subjects and findings are reflected in the
table below to summarise the major challenges concerning radio interface system
planning in UMTS.
Subject
Finding
WCDMA radio
REFERENCES
1. T. Ojanpera and R. Prasad, An Overview of Air Interface Multiple Access for IMT2000/UMTS, IEEE Communications Magazine, September 1998
2. European Telecommunications Standards Institute, GPRS, GSM, EDGE, and UMTS
Standard Documents
3. M. Hata Empirical Formula for Propagation Loss in Land Mobile radio Services,
IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, Vol VT-29, No. 3, August 1980
4. E. Diran and B. Jabbari, Spreading Codes in Direct Sequence CDMA and
Wideband CDMA, IEEE Communications Magazine September 1998
5. T. Ojanpera and R. Prasad, WCDMA: Towards IP Mobility and Mobile Internet,
Artech house Publishers 2000
6. Viterbi CDMA: Principles of Spread Spectrum Communication, Addison-Wesley,
1995
7. H. Holma and A. Toskala HSDPA/HSUPA for UMTS; high Speed Radio Access for
Mobile Communications, Wiley, 2006C. Chevallier, C. Brunner, A. Garavaglia, K.
Murray, and K. Baker, WCDMA Deployment Handbook; Planning and
Optimisation Aspects Wiley 2006
8. J. Laiho, A. Wacker, and T. Novosad Radio Network Planning and Optimisation
for UMTS, 2nd Edition Wiley 2006
9. http://www.umtsworld.com
10. http://www.3gamericas.org
11. Unicorn Communications UMTS Network Design and Optimisation Guidelines, Jan
2010
12. 3GPP TS 25.201 Description
13. 3GPP TS 25.211 Physical channels and mapping of transport channels onto
physical channels (FDD)
14. 3GPP TS 25.212 Multiplexing and channel coding (FDD)
15. 3GPP TS 25.213 Spreading and modulation (FDD)
16. 3GPP TS 25.214 Physical layer procedures (FDD)
17. 3GPP TS 25.215 Physical layer Measurements (FDD)
18. 3GPP TS 25.855 High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA); Overall UTRAN
description
19. 3GPP TS 25.856 High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA); Layer 2 and 3
aspects
20. 3GPP TS 25.876 Multiple-Input Multiple-Output Antenna Processing for HSDPA
21. 3GPP TS 25.877 High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) - Iub/Iur Protocol
Aspects
22. 3GPP TS 25.890 High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA); User Equipment (UE)
radio transmission and reception (FDD)