PROPOSAL TO

Customer Name, Location

Estimation of UMTS
Cell Range based upon
Link Budget.

Date, RFP#
1 Introduction
Sophisticated Network Planning tools exist today to produce accurate, detailed predictions of UMTS
coverage and capacity performance. The accuracy of these tools is heavily dependant on the effort
spent configuring the parameters to match the geographic location and proposed network topology.
This is an extremely time consuming and complex process that can require multiple iterations.

In the initial stages of a network design it can be more effective to produce quick budgetary designs
that may be used to estimate initial Capital Expenditure and facilitate business modelling. A
practical method of constructing a budgetary design is to determine the cell radius for sites in
different environments and then use this to determine the total number of sites required for the total
area to be covered.

The effective cell range of a site under certain conditions can be approximated using a Link Budget
calculation. Link budgets may be produced independently for the Uplink and the Downlink in order
to determine the maximum allowable pathloss to meet certain specifications. Pathloss can then be
substituted into a standard propagation model to estimate the cell range.

Supplementary to providing an estimate of the number of sites required, for a given set of
conditions, calculating the cell range will determine whether the Uplink or the Downlink is the
limiting link. Comparing cell ranges for different conditions provides a quick method of analysing the
effects of changing parameters such as coverage criteria or site configurations.

2 Basic UMTS Link Budget

To characterise a given area the distribution of environment types (Clutter) must be determined.
The telecommunications industry has adopted the following general definitions.

• High Dense Urban (Indoor and Outdoor).

• Low Dense Urban (Indoor and Outdoor).
• Suburban (Indoor and Outdoor).
• Rural (Indoor and Outdoor).

Clutter types can generally be split up into groups based on the number of subscribers per Km2 and
building height and density.

• High dense urban clutter types have the most subs/ Km2 and a high density of building(s)
in a small area. Buildings are typically tall.

• Rural clutter types have the lowest subs/ Km2. Buildings are generally sparsely distributed.

Once the area to be simulated has been assigned clutter types, the environments can be defined.

Figure 1 shows an example of a clutter map. The different colours represent the different clutter
types.

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 Type Colour Bldg Subs/Km2 % of
Loss (x 1,000) area
High Dense Urban Red 18dB 10 10%
Low Dense Urban Orange 16 dB 5 25%
Suburban Yellow 12 dB 1 50%
Rural Purple 8 dB <0.5 15%

Figure 1: Example clutter map

2.1 Link Budget Parameters Explained

Each environment can be defined by the attributes described in Table 1.

Table 1: Uplink Dense Urban Link Budget

Parameter Unit Parameter Description
CDMA uses unique spreading codes to spread the
baseband data before transmission. Codes take the
form of a carefully designed one/zero sequence
produced at a much higher rate than that of the
baseband data. The rate of a spreading code is
Chip Rate C/s referred to as chip rate.
Bit Rate bit/s Bit Rate is the number of bits per second
Noise figure of an active device, over a bandwidth of
interest is the contribution by the device itself to
thermal noise at its output. The noise figure is usually
expressed in decibels (dB), and is with respect to
thermal noise power at the system impedance, at a
standard noise temperature (usually 20o C, 293 K)
Base Station Noise Figure dB over the bandwidth of interest.
K is Boltzmann constant (k = 1.380 6505(24)×10−23
K J/K joules/kelvin)
T is the temperature measured on the Kelvin
T K temperature scale
Is the wideband thermal noise floor which is equal to
kT dBW/Hz the temperature (T) multiplied by Boltzmann constant.
Is the noise floor measured in the receiver bandwidth.
This is equal to the wideband thermal noise multiplied
kTW dB by the chip rate.
Is the noise floor of the BTS receiver system. This is
equal to the noise floor measured in the receiver
bandwidth (kTW) added to the Base station Noise
NthW dB Figure
Base Ant. Gain dBi The gain attributed to the BTS antenna
Mobile Ant. Gain dBi The gain attributed to the mobile antenna
The loss attributed to your head or hands holding the
Body Loss dB mobile. This is typically fixed at 3dB
Building/Vehicle Penetration Loss dB The loss attributed to a signal travelling through a

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 Parameter Unit Parameter Description
building or car body.
The loss in the system due to the cable coupling the
Base Cable Loss dB antenna to the BTS.
Is the term given to:
(Base antenna gain + Mobile antenna gain) –
Total Effective Gain - antennas dB (Body loss + Building/Vehicle loss + cable loss)
Is the design goal margin that is allowed for due to
average cell load. A typical value may be 3dB (50%
cell loading). When increasing the Noise rise design
goal, more users are traded off against lower cell
Mean Noise Rise dB ranges.
The Eb/No value is a measure of the signal quality
required by the UE or Node B in order to recover the
required signal from the received signal. Eb/No is
highly dependant upon many different parameters
such as Bearer Rate, UE speed, Fading profile, Block
Error Rate, etc.

Further description is provided below table

Average Eb/No dB
Processing Gain dB The ratio of the chip rate / bit rate.
The minimum signal level that the receiver can
decode the wanted signal from whilst meeting the
BTS Rx sensitivity dBm specified BER rate.
Soft Handoff Gain dB Gain attributed to the macro diversity combining.
Maximum power of the handset which is typically
+21dBm. An optional margin of typically 2-3dB may
be included to offset power control errors due to fast
Max Power for UE dBW fading
Margin to compensate for slow fading.

Fade Margin (single cell) dB Further description is provided below table

2.1.1 Eb/No Performance

The Eb/No value is a measure of the signal quality required by the UE or Node B in order to
recover the required signal from the received signal. Eb/No is highly dependant upon many
different parameters such as Bearer Rate, UE speed, Fading profile, Block Error Rate, etc.

Motorola has produced many curve sets from both link level simulations and equipment
measurements. Error: Reference source not found shows a summary of a small set of measured
Eb/No values for the Node B.

In Table 3, the value of 1.7dB was used corresponding to 64kbit/s, Pedestrian A model at 3km/hr.
Table 2: Summary of measured Uplink Eb/No values
BLER=1% Ped. A 3km/hr Veh. A 50km/hr Veh. A 120km/hr
12.2k 5.0 6.0 6.4
64k 1.7 2.7 2.9
128k 1.6 2.6 2.8
384k 3.7 5.1 5.2

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2.1.2 Fade Margin
Coverage for all cases is for 90% cell coverage reliability, indoor and outdoor, at 64 kbit/s Uplink
and 128kbit/s Downlink. This is implemented within the link budget using a lognormal fading
standard deviation of 8dB, which produces a fade margin of 5.4dB for 90% cell coverage
reliability. Error: Reference source not found shows how the fade margin varies against cell
coverage and fading standard deviation.

Figure 2: Fade margin variation for various UMTS cell coverage reliabilities

For example with 8dB standard deviation, a cell coverage reliability of 95% requires a fade
margin of 8.6dB to be added to the link budget. In dense Urban environments, higher standard
deviation such as 10dB may be used. This requires 11.7dB fade margin for 95% cell coverage
reliability, thus reducing the cell range significantly.

2.1.3 Maximum Transmit Power per User connection

In the Uplink direction, the standard maximum transmit power for a typical handset is +21dBm
(equivalent to -9dBW or 125mW). An additional margin may be used to account for power control
error due to fast fading at the edge of the cell. This is typically 2dB, which means that a value of
+19dBm is actually used in the link budget for handset transmit power.
In the downlink, different maximum power levels per UE connection are used depending upon the
service bearer rate. For example, 1W (+33dBm) may be used for a voice user at he edge of the
cell but 4W may be available for a 384k data connection. The maximum downlink power per user
is set in the database at a level relative to the common pilot channel power and is based upon
customer specifications. Within the link budget, a Fast Fade margin may again be used with the
maximum power per link.

2.2 Link Budget Parameters Example

Table 3 and Table 4 show examples of link budgets parameter values that would be used to predict
indoor coverage in a Dense Urban environment. The following assumptions are applied

• Tri-sectored base station site.

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 • Uplink is designed for 64kbit/s service with 3dB noise rise (50% cell loading),
• Downlink for 128kbit/s with 6dB average noise rise (75% cell loading).

Table 3: Uplink Dense Urban Link Budget for Indoor 64 kbit/s Coverage
Parameter Unit Parameter Definition Value
Chip Rate C/s a 3840000
Bit Rate bit/s b 64000
Base Station Noise Figure dB c 3.5
K J/K d 1.381e-23
T K e 290
kT dB/Hz f = 10 * Log(d.e) -204.0
kTW dB g = 10 * Log(a.d.e) -138.1
NthW dB h=c+g -134.6
Base Ant. Gain dBi I 18
Mobile Ant. Gain dBi j 0
Body Loss dB k 2
Building/Vehicle Penetration Loss dB m 18
Base Cable Loss dB N 3.5
Total Effective Gain - antennas dB p=i+j–k–m-n -5.5
Mean Noise Rise dB q 3.0
Average Eb/No (1% FER) dB r 1.7
Processing Gain dB s = 10 * Log (a / b ) 17.8
BTS Rx sensitivity dBm u = f + 10*Log(b)+30+r+c -120.7
Soft Handoff Gain dB v 2.0
Max Power for UE dBW w -11.0
Shadow Fade Margin (single cell) dB x 5.4

Table 4: Downlink Dense Urban Link Budget for Indoor 128 kbit/s Coverage
Parameter Unit Parameter Definition Value
Chip Rate C/s a 3840000
Bit Rate bit/s b 128000
Base Station Noise Figure dB c 7.0
K J/K d 1.381e-23
T K e 290
kT dB/Hz f = 10 * Log(d.e) -204.0
kTW dB g = 10 * Log(a.d.e) -138.1
NthW dB h=c+g -131.1
Base Ant. Gain dBi i 18
Mobile Ant. Gain dBi j 0
Body Loss dB k 2
Building/Vehicle Penetration Loss dB m 18
Base Cable Loss dB n 3.5
Total Effective Gain – antennas dB p=i+j–k–m-n -5.5
Mean Noise Rise dB q 6.0
Average Eb/No (1% FER) dB r 4.2
Processing Gain dB s = 10 * Log (a / b ) 14.8
BTS Rx sensitivity dBm u = f + 10*Log(b)+30+r+c -111.7
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 Soft Handoff Gain dB v 2.0
Power for UE DL connection dBW w 3.0
Shadow Fade Margin (single cell) dB x 5.4

The link budgets parameters are used to calculate the maximum allowable pathloss for the
specified conditions at the edge of the cell. These are given in Table 5.

Table 5: Maximum Isotropic Pathloss

Parameter Unit Parameter Definition Value
Max Uplink Isotropic Pathloss dB y = -h +p–q–r+s+v+w-x 127.8
Max Downlink Isotropic Pathloss dB y = -h + p – q – r + s + v + w - x 129.8

3 Propagation Models

Propagation models provide a mathematical formula that can be solved to provide the cell range.
Due to the deterministic nature of the models they are generally only valid over a certain range and
therefore cannot be generally applied to all situations. For UMTS modelling there are two main
models.

I. Modified Hata COST231 for cell ranges over greater than 1km.

II. COST 231 Walfish-Ikegami for cell ranges less than 1km

3.1 Modified Hata COST231 Propagation Model

The basic propagation model used for UMTS is the COST 231 Hata model for frequencies above
1500MHz. This model is detailed in the ETSI GSM specification TR 101 362 V6.0.1 (1987-07).

While Hata’s standard equations are for use up to 1000MHz, COST 231 modifies Hata’s
equations to cover propagation losses for systems operating between 1500 and 2000 MHz. Also,
strictly speaking, Hata’s model is basically for cell ranges greater than 1km and therefore, an
alternative propagation model is included for cell ranges below 1km.

3.1.1 Definitions for Equations

• f = frequency (MHz)
• Hm = mobile station antenna height (m)
• Hb = base station antenna height (m)
• d = distance (km)

3.1.2 Urban Area : COST 231 – Hata Model

Propagation loss, Lp = 46.3 +33.9 Log (f) – 13.82 Log (Hb) – A (Hm)

+ {44.9 – 6.55Log (Hb)} * Log (d) + Cm

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Correction factor, Cm = 0dB (for medium sized city areas)
= 3dB (for high density urban areas)

Mobile correction factor, A (Hm) = {1.1Log (f) – 0.7} * Hm - 1.56 Log (f) – 0.8

3.1.3 Suburban Area: COST 231 – Hata Model

Pathloss is Lp – Lps, where

Lps = - 2Log2 { f / 28 } – 5.4

3.1.4 Rural Area: COST 231 – Hata Model

Pathloss is Lp – Lpr, where

Lpr = - 4.78Log2 (f) + 18.33Log(f) – 35.94

3.1.5 Open Rural Area: COST 231 – Hata Model

Pathloss is, Lp – Lpo, where

Lpo = - 4.78Log2 (f) + 18.33Log(f) – 40.94

3.1.6 Hata COST231 Propagation Model Example

The following example is based on using a macro base station. The assumptions made for the
macro base station are provided:

• Uplink frequency of 1940MHz,

• Downlink frequency 2140MHz,
• 1.5m mobile antenna height,
• 25m base station antenna height for all environments.

Using these numbers, the above equation for Lp yields the following simple equations for each
environment:Error: Reference source not found
Table 6: Summary of COST231 Propagation Model Values

Clutter Type Propagation model - UL Propagation model - DL

Dense urban Lp = 138.5 + 35.7*Log (d) Lp = 139.8 + 35.7*Log (d)
Urban Lp = 135.5 + 35.7*Log (d) Lp = 136.8+ 35.7*Log (d)
Suburban Lp = 126.3 + 35.7*Log (d) Lp = 127.3+ 35.7*Log (d)
Rural Lp = 111.1 + 35.7*Log (d) Lp = 111.9 + 35.7*Log (d)

Lp refers to the propagation loss between the base station antenna and the mobile station
antenna and can be calculated from the link budget. ’d’ is the distance between the UE and Node
B antennae. Thus once the propagation loss is calculated for a certain environment, the variable
‘d’ can be obtained to establish the maximum range of the cell.
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The propagation loss Lp must be derived for each specific case using a standard link budget
calculation. These equations may be used for macro cells only and not micro or pico cells.

In the propagation loss table, the COST 231 Hata equation for Dense urban environments is:

Lp = 138.5 + 35.7 * Log (d)

Substituting Lp for the Uplink Pathloss of 127.8dB from Table 3:

Uplink Cell Range (d) = 0.50 km

Therefore, in a dense urban environment, for 64 kbit/s service, the maximum indoor range of a tri-
sectored cell with 50% mean loading is 0.50 km.

3.2 COST 231 Walfish-Ikegami Propagation Model

This model provides a method of estimating small cell ranges (<1km), in dense metropolitan
urban areas, where there is no line of sight between the Node B and UE. This model has been
simplified slightly for the purpose of this document, an explanation of which will be given as the
equations are defined.

3.2.1 COST 231 Walfish-Ikegami Propagation Model

Pathloss, Lb = Lo + Lrts + Lmsd

Free space loss, Lo = 32.4 + 20 * log( d ) + 20 * log( f )

Roof top to street diffraction and scatter loss;

Lrts = -16.9 – 10 * log( w ) + 10 * log( f ) + 20 * log ( Hr – Hm ) + Lcri
Lcri = -10 + 0.354 * Phi { 0 <= phi < 35 deg)
Lcri = 2.5 + 0.075 * ( Phi -35) { 35 <= phi < 55 deg)
Lcri = 4.0 - 0.114 * ( Phi – 55 ) { 55 <= phi < 90 deg)

Multiscreen diffraction loss;

Lmsd = Lbsh + 54 +18 * log( d ) – 2.34 * log( f ) – 9 * log( b )

Lbsh = -18 * log( 1 + Hb – Hr )

Where; d = cell range (to be calculated)

f = frequency (UL = 1940MHz, DL = 2150MHz)
w = width of road (assume 20m)
Hr = height of roof (assume 20m)
Hm = height of mobile (assume 1.5m)
Hb = height of Node B antenna (assume 30m, i.e. 10m above average roof level)
Phi = road orientation with respect to direct radio path (assume 45 deg)
b = building separation (assume 30m)

The model has only been considered for cases where the Node B antenna is above the average
building height to simplify the examples shown. All the terms in the equation for Lmsd have
variable values depending upon antenna height relative to roof height.

Therefore, for Uplink dense urban environment;

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 Lo = 32.4 + 20 * log (1940) + 20 * log (d) = 98.2 + 20 * log (d)

Lrts = -16.9 – 10 * log (20) + 10 * log( 1940 ) + 20 * log( 18.5 ) + Lcri

Lcri = 2.5 + 0.75 = 3.25

Therefore, Lrts = 31.55

Lmsd = -18 * log (11) + 54 + 18 * log (d) – 2.34 * log (1940) – 9 * log (30) = 14.27 + 18 * log (d)

Therefore, Lb = Lo + Lrts + Lmsd

Uplink Pathloss, Lb = 98.2 + 20 * log (d) + 31.55 + 14.27 + 18 * log (d) = 144.0 + 38 * log (d)

As before, with the Hata Model, the pathloss calculated from the link budget can be substituted
into this equation in order to estimate the maximum cell range.

From Table 3 Uplink Dense Urban Pathloss = 127.8dB

Therefore, 127.8 = 144.0 + 38 * log( d )

Uplink cell range, d = 0.37 km

3.3 Propagation Model Summary

This alternative (COST 231 Walfish-Ikegami) model has produced a cell range of 0.37km compared
to the range of 0.50km obtained with the COST 231 Hata model.

It is recommended that the Hata model is used only for Suburban and rural environments where cell
ranges greater than 1km are predicted.

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