Chapter 6Coverage and

Capacity Planning of 4G
Networks
This chapter presents the key practical aspects for capacity and coverage planning of
a commercial LTE (long term evolution) network. The practical basics of coverage
and capacity planning are introduced. The LTE coverage and link budget aspects are
discussed in detail. The link budgets for different LTE channels are provided. The
limiting channel and limiting link have been analyzed in different deployment
scenarios and different frequency bands. Different propagation models and model
tuning are analyzed in detail. Practical link budget examples are provided for data
and VOLTE (voice over long term evolution) scenarios. The coverage aspects of the
LTE system have been compared with the HSPA+ (high speed packet access) system.
A case study on RF prediction for FDD-LTE (frequency division duplex) and TDDLTE (time division duplex) is provided. The practical capacity planning aspects are
presented. In addition, capacity dimensioning of LTE/HSPA+ systems is analyzed.
Several dimensioning exercises are provided for data and voice scenarios. The
dimensioning of the main LTE channels is discussed in detail along with practical
examples. A comparative analysis with the HSPA+ network is provided to benchmark
and evaluate the LTE system. This chapter can be used as a reference for best
practices in LTE network design and planning.