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1 How to Use This Guide
1.1 Introduction
The purpose of this document is to provide systems engineers/planners with a set of guidelines and introductions to
LTE deployment planning that may aid the design of a high quality Long Term Evolution (LTE) RF System. In general,
most of the content provided in this planning guide can be applied to LTE system design with field implementation
considerations. Specific RF planning information unique to Huaweis LTE EUTRAN product is also provided.
Although there are numerous and detailed references made to particular tools, it is not the purpose of this planning
document to replace any product and tools' operating manual/instruction. Please refer to the official publications of
the respective product/tool for their most up to date functionality.
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1.3 Quick Guide to Content of Each Section
The LTE RF Planning Guide is a collection of fairly independent chapters covering various aspects of LTE system RF
design and implementation. The table below outlines the key features of each Chapter.
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2 LTE Fundamentals & Key Technologies
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2.3 LTE Modulation Technology Highlight
In Nov. 2004, 3GPP began a project to define the long-term evolution (LTE) of Universal Mobile Telecommunications
System (UMTS) cellular technology. The main goal is to provide
Wide application
TDD (unpaired) and FDD (paired) spectrum modes
Mobility up to 450km/h
Large range of terminals (phones and PCs to cameras)
LTE employs Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) for downlink data transmission and Single
Carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) for uplink transmission.
It is also important to remember that LTE systems operate in two separate domains, namely time and frequency as
shown in the figure below for downlink.
4
Figure below is the LTE uplink allocation structure from a time and frequency perspective.
OFDM is a scheme that offers good resistance to multipath and is now widely recognized as the method of choice
for mitigating multipath for broadband wireless. It can be straightforwardly extended to a multi-access scheme called
OFDMA, where each user is assigned a different set of subcarriers.
OFDM increases spectral efficiency by incorporating multiple carriers in the same frequency space as a single carrier.
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II. Reducing the Impact by Inter Symbol Interference (ISI)
Improvement of frequency spectral efficiency requires the reduction of Inter symbol interference (ISI). This is achieved
by tighter frequency roll off and alignment of nulls and peaks between different frequencies.
Smaller subcarrier and resource block bandwidth increase robustness against frequency related fading
With this smaller carrier bandwidth, the frequency coherence bandwidth is much smaller than 3G systems while and
correlation factor is much higher. As a result, it will also be much easier to implement scheduling algorithm based on
Frequency Selective Scheduling to improve system throughput in the manner shown below.
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Frequency Selective Fading Resistance
OFDM signals have a higher peak-to-average ratio (PAR)often called a peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR)than
single-carrier signals do. The reason is that in the time domain, a multicarrier signal is the sum of many narrowband
signals. At some time instances, this sum is large and at other times is small, which means that the peak value of
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the signal is substantially larger than the average value. This high PAR is one of the most important implementation
challenges that face OFDM, because it reduces the efficiency and hence increases the cost of the RF power amplifier,
which is one of the most expensive components in the radio. The figure below shows the relationship between OFDM
and SC-FDMA in LTE.
The major difference between the downlink and uplink transmission scheme is that each subcarrier in the uplink carries
information about each transmitted modulation symbol as shown in figure below, whereas in downlink each subcarrier
only carries information related to one specific modulation symbol. As a result, the uplink power level due to SC-FDMA
also need to be increased by 2~3dB to compensate for the extra noise due to more spreading.
The sampling rate in both FDD and TDD is the same and both technologies operate under a 1-ms sub-frame (TTI-
Transmission Time Interval) and 0.5us timeslot definition.
The first 3 configurations (0-2) for TDD can also be viewed as 5ms allocation due to repetition. The figure below shows
a detailed relationship between rates and frame structure.
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2.5 LTE Resource Block Architecture
The building block of LTE is a physical resource block (PRB) and all of the allocation of physical resource blocks (PRBs) is
handled by a scheduling function at the 3GPP base station (eNodeB). In summary,
One frame is 10ms and it consists of 10 sub-frames
One subframe is 1ms and contains 2 slots
One slot is 0.5ms in time domain and each 0.5ms assignment can contain N resource blocks [6 < N < 110]
depending on the bandwidth allocation and resource availability.
One resource block is 0.5ms and contains 12 subcarriers for each OFDM symbol in frequency domain.
There are 7 symbols (normal cyclic prefix) per time slot in the time domain or 6 symbols in long cyclic prefix.
Resource element is the smallest unit of resource assignment and its relationship to resource block is shown as below
from both a timing and frequency perspective.
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2.6 Reference Signal Structure
Reference signal is the UMTS Pilot equivalent and it is used by UE to predict the likely coverage condition on offer for
each of the eNodeB cell received. The figure below shows the locations of the reference signal within each sub-frame
when transmit antennae are used by the cell.
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As LTE is a MIMO based technology, it can have more than two transmit antennae and in order to avoid reference
signals from the same cell interfering with each other, different antennae will be transmitting reference signal at
different time and frequency and how these are allocated are shown below.
As defined in the standard for TDD operations, the channel-sounding mechanism involves the UEs transmitting a
deterministic signal that can be used by the eNodeB to estimate the UL channel from the UE. If the UL and DL channels are
properly calibrated, the eNodeB can then use the UL channel as an estimate of the DL channel, due to channel reciprocity.
A quick summary of all the physical layer information for LTE is shown below.
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2.7.1 Normal and Extended Cyclic Prefix
The key to making OFDM realizable in practice is the use of the FFT algorithm, which has low complexity. In order for
the IFFT/FFT to create an ISI-free channel, the channel must appear to provide a circular convolution. Adding cyclic
prefix to the transmitted signal to create a signal that appears to be just like circular convolution and this is done by
copying the last part of each OFDM symbol to the front of each symbol with the length of a guard interval, to form a
cyclic prefix (CP).
Also, to prevent the guard interval from destroying the inter-sub-carrier orthogonality, the delay of each path should
not exceed the guard interval where the number of waveforms within the integral time of the FFT is an integer
The cyclic prefix, although elegant and simple, is not entirely free. It comes with both a bandwidth and power penalty.
Since redundant symbols are sent, the required bandwidth for OFDM also increases. Similarly, an additional symbol
must be counted against the transmit-power budget. Hence, the cyclic prefix carries a power penalty of v dB in addition
to the bandwidth penalty. In summary, the use of the cyclic prefix entails data rate and power losses. The wasted
power has increased importance in an interference-limited wireless system, causing interference to neighboring users.
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Where L is the power used for non CP transmission. In the case where there is a large delay spread, e.g. due to large
cell radius, an extended CP option can be used.
The figure below shows the location of PSS and SSS in LTE-TDD and the major difference from LTE FDD is that LTE TDD
embedding the Primary Sync channel in the DwPTS so the location will not be affected by different DL/UL combination
ratio
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2.8.1 FDD Uplink Control, Sounding and Demodulation Reference Signal Structure
The figure below shows the relative position of uplink control channels in the frequency domain in relation to the
entire channel bandwidth. In summary,
1) PUCCH resources are located at the edges of the spectrum
To maximize frequency diversity
2) Multiple UEs can share the same PUCCH resource block
3) PUCCH is never transmitted simultaneously with PUSCH from the same UE
4) Two consecutive PUCCH slots in Time-Frequency Hopping at the slot boundary
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The Figure below shows respective position of the uplink demodulation reference signal in FDD LTE uplink frame
structure including sounding reference signal position.
For LTE TDD only, SRSs can be transmitted in an ordinary sub-frame or in UpPTS sub-frame to improve spectral
efficiency. Normally, it uses UpPTS sub-frame.
Additionally, if the multiple antennae are already at the base station for uplink receive diversity, the incremental cost of
using them for transmit diversity is very low. Multiple antennae transmit schemesboth transmit diversity and spatial
multiplexingare often categorized as either open loop or closed loop. A high level signal processing diagram is
shown below.
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2.9.2 Open Loop MIMO
Open-loop systems do not require knowledge of the channel at the transmitter. As a result, open loop operations
occur when the access network does not have information or feedback from the UE to do coding adjustment or signal
is not good enough.
The figure below shows a possible N Antennae + M input layers setup in spatial multiplexing
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2.9.3 Closed Loop MIMO
On the contrary, closed-loop systems require channel knowledge at the transmitter, thus necessitating either channel
reciprocitysame uplink and downlink channel, possible in TDDor more commonly a feedback channel from the
receiver to the transmitter. Hence, unlike open loop, closed loop operations occur when the access network execute
dynamic adjustment based on feedback from the UE. The figure below shows a functional view of closed loop MIMO.
As a result, a more accurate coding application can be applied to the communication with the UE. The figure below
shows where the pre-coding function may exist in a N Antennae with M input layers
In mode 5 (Multi-user MIMO), different UEs are receiving downlink data from different antenna. As a result, the overall
throughput per cell is increased.
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2.9.4 Pre-coding Matrix
3GPP 36-211 defines the types of matrix need to be used when multiple antennae are to be used for different
conditions. The following is a quick summary of some possible pre-coding matrix combination under different
scenarios
I. Spatial Multiplexing Matrix Using Two Antenna Ports with Cell-Specific Reference Signals
Spatial multiplexing is where multiple independent streams are transmitted across multiple antennas. If the receiver
also has multiple antennas, the streams can be separated out using spatial multiplexing. Instead of increasing
diversity, multiple antennas in this case are used to increase the data rate or capacity of the system. In a rich multipath
environment, the capacity of the system can theoretically be increased linearly with the number of antennas when
performing spatial multiplexing.
Even two appropriately spaced antennas appear to be sufficient to eliminate most deep fades, which paints a
promising picture for the potential benefits of spatial diversity. One main advantage of spatial diversity relative to
time and frequency diversity is that no additional bandwidth or power is needed in order to take advantage of spatial
diversity. The cost of each additional antenna, its RF chain, and the associated signal processing required to modulate
or demodulate multiple spatial streams may not be negligible, but this trade-off is often very attractive for a small
number of antennas,
However, unlike transmit diversity and beam-forming, spatial multiplexing works mainly under good SINR conditions.
A 2 2 MIMO system doubles the peak throughput capability of LTE but this is unlikely to be possible for all users in
the cell due to variation in SINR.The capacity, or maximum data rate, grows as when the SINR is large. When the SNR
is high, spatial multiplexing is optimal. On the other hand, when the SINR is low, the capacity maximizing strategy is to
send a single stream of data, using diversity pre-coding. Although capacity gain is much smaller than at high SINR, the
capacity still grows approximately linearly with since capacity is linear with SINR in the low-SINR regime.
If the mobile station has only one antenna, LTE can still support spatial multiplexing by coding across multiple users in
the uplink. This is called Multi-User MIMO (MU-MIMO).
The matrix used for two antennae spatial multiplexing is shown below.
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II. Transmit Diversity Matrix Using Two Antenna Ports
The following matrix applies to input x is and y is the resulting output using a two antenna output configuration.
III. Spatial Multiplexing Matrix Using Four Antenna Ports with Cell-Specific Reference Signals
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IV. Transmit Diversity Matrix Using Four Antenna Ports
The following matrix applies to input x is and y is the resulting output under a four antenna output configuration.
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One popular beam-forming algorithm is based on Direction of Arrival where the incoming signals to a receiver may
consist of desired energy and interference energyfor example, from other users or from multipath reflections. The
various signals can be characterized in terms of the DOA or the angle of arrival (AOA) of each received signal. Each
DOA can be estimated by using EUTRAN signal-processing techniques as requested in 3GPP-TS 36-214. From these
acquired DOAs, a beam-former extracts a weighting vector for the antenna elements and uses it to transmit or receive
the desired signal of a specific user while suppressing the undesired interference signals.
Ideally, the beam-former has unity gain for the desired user and two nulls at the directions of two interferers and can
place nulls in the directions of interferers. The DOA-based beam-former in this case is often called the null-steering
beam-former. The null-steering beam-former can be designed to completely cancel out interfering signals only if the
number of such signals is strictly less than the number of antenna elements.
Typically, there exists a trade-off between interference null and desired gain lost. Thus far, we have assumed that the
array response vectors of different users with corresponding AOAs are known. In practice, each resolvable multipath
is likely to comprise several unresolved components coming from significantly different angles. In this case, it is not
possible to associate a discrete AOA with a signal impinging the antenna array. Therefore, the DOA based beam-former
is viable only in LOS environments or in environments with limited local scattering around the transmitter.
The table below summarizes the difference between the two technologies.
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2.11 LTE Channels Hierarchy Overview
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2.11.2 Downlink Channel Functionality Breakdown
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Reference Signal (RS)
Cell specific RS
UE-specific RS
MBSFN RS
BCH indicates:
Basic L1/L2 system parameters
Downlink system bandwidth
Reference-signal transmit power
Multi-media Broadcast over a Single Frequency Network (MBSFN)-related parameters
Number of transmit antennas
HARQ resource allocation
Control region is 1-3 OFDM symbols at the beginning of each subframe, composed of control channel elements (CCEs)
4 Res = Resource element group (REG)
9 REGs = 1 CCE
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2.11.5 Downlink Control Channel and RE Mapping Relationship
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2.12.2 UE Procedure for Reporting Channel Quality Indication (CQI), Precoding Matrix
Indicator (PMI) and Rank Indication (RI)
As stated in TS 36-213, the time and frequency resources that can be used by the UE to report CQI, PMI, and RI are
controlled by the eNodeB. For spatial multiplexing, the UE shall determine a RI corresponding to the number of useful
transmission layers. For transmit diversity RI is equal to one. A UE in transmission mode 8 is configured with PMI/RI
reporting if the parameter PMI-RI-Report is configured by higher layer signaling; otherwise, it is configured without
PMI/RI reporting.
CQI, PMI, and RI reporting is periodic or a-periodic. A UE shall transmit periodic CQI/PMI, or RI reporting on PUCCH
as defined hereafter in sub-frames with no PUSCH allocation. A UE shall transmit periodic CQI/PMI or RI reporting
on PUSCH as defined hereafter in sub-frames with PUSCH allocation, where the UE shall use the same PUCCH-based
periodic CQI/PMI or RI reporting format on PUSCH. A UE shall transmit a-periodic CQI/PMI, and RI reporting on PUSCH
if the conditions specified hereafter are met. For a-periodic CQI reporting, RI reporting is transmitted only if configured
CQI/PMI/RI feedback type supports RI reporting. Figure below shows which channels will be used for different CQI
reporting scenario
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2.12.3 System Information Bit Definition
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2.12.6 Summary of Handover Call Flow 3GPP Example TS36.300
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2.13 Example of Peak Data Rate Calculation
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3 LTE Frequency and Spectrum Planning
The most popular commercial LTE bands are 2.6GHz (Band 7), AWS (Band 4) and 700MHz (Band 12) while momentum
is being built up also for 1800MHz (Band 3) as well as Public Safety spectrum (Band 14)
According to 3GPP TS 36.104 V9.4.0 (2010-06), Band 6 is no longer applicable and Band 15 and Band 16 are listed as
Reserved.
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Figure 3-2 LTE TDD Spectrum Allocation
It is worth noting that around the 2.3GHz band (Band 40), there is a significant frequency spectrum overlap (100MHz)
between LTE TDD with WiMAX. To many WiMAX operators currently in this frequency band, it is an ideal opportunity
to evolve their network back into the mainstream LTE technologies.
The channel edges are defined as the lowest and highest frequencies of the carrier separated by the channel
bandwidth, i.e. at FC +/- BWChannel /2.
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Figure 3-4 Definition of Channel Bandwidth and Transmission Bandwidth Configuration for one E-UTRA carrier
Figure 3-5 Visualizing the Relationship between Channel Bandwidth, NRB and Transmission Bandwidth Configuration
where BWChannel(1) and BWChannel(2) are the channel bandwidths of the two respective E-UTRA carriers. The channel
spacing can be adjusted to optimize performance in a particular deployment scenario.
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3.4.3 Carrier Frequency and EARFCN
The carrier frequency in the uplink and downlink is designated by the E-UTRA Absolute Radio Frequency Channel
Number (EARFCN) in the range 0 - 65535. The relation between EARFCN and carrier frequency in MHz for the downlink
is given by the following equation, where FDL_low and NOffs-DL are given in table 5.7.3-1 and NDL is the downlink EARFCN.
The relation between EARFCN and carrier frequency in MHz for the uplink is given by the following equation where
FUL_low and NOffs-UL are given in table 5.7.3-1 and NUL is the uplink EARFCN.
NOTE: The channel numbers that designate central carrier frequencies so close to the operating band edges that the
carrier extends beyond the operating band edge shall not be used. This implies that the first 7, 15, 25, 50, 75 and 100
channel numbers at the lower operating band edge and the last 6, 14, 24, 49, 74 and 99 channel numbers at the upper
operating band edge shall not be used for channel bandwidths of 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15 and 20 MHz respectively because of
the bandwidth requirement. For example, for a 20MHz carrier, using channel 99 as center frequency will extend the LTE
carrier below the allocated spectrum (99*0.1 = 9.9MHz but actual requirement is 10MHz from lower edge)
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E-UTRA Downlink Uplink
Operating
FDL_low [MHz] NOffs-DL Range of NDL FUL_low [MHz] NOffs-UL Range of NUL
Band
35 1850 36350 36350 - 36949 1850 36350 36350 - 36949
36 1930 36950 36950 - 37549 1930 36950 36950 - 37549
37 1910 37550 37550 - 37749 1910 37550 37550 - 37749
38 2570 37750 37750 - 38249 2570 37750 37750 - 38249
39 1880 38250 38250 - 38649 1880 38250 38250 - 38649
40 2300 38650 38650 - 39649 2300 38650 38650 - 39649
41 2496 39650 39650 - 41589 2496 39650 39650 - 41589
42 3400 41590 41590 - 43589 3400 41590 41590 - 43589
43 3600 43590 43590 - 45589 3600 43590 43590 - 45589
NOTE: T he channel numbers that designate carrier frequencies so close to the operating band edges that the carrier extends
beyond the operating band edge shall not be used. This implies that the first 7, 15, 25, 50, 75 and 100 channel numbers
at the lower operating band edge and the last 6, 14, 24, 49, 74 and 99 channel numbers at the upper operating band
edge shall not be used for channel bandwidths of 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15 and 20 MHz respectively.
Application scenario
Limited application scenario in urban and suburban environment without impacting QoS/QoE.
Possible application in highly isolated rural scenario where users are also highly scattered
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Advantage
High spectral efficiency and high throughput per site.
Easy to deploy.
No special scheduling algorithm required
Disadvantage
High level of interference especially on cell edge area
Low throughput on cell boundary and lower QoS/QoE for users on boundary area.
Coverage control of cells becomes an important factor in achieving a high throughput level
Under this configuration, each sector will only use one of the sub-sections, also known as the primary band, which 1/3
of the entire carrier bandwidth, to serve the cell edge users. As a result, the interference level between sectors can be
reduced, thereby enhancing the throughput of those users.
For those users location near the center of the cell, the other 2 sections, which is the remaining 2/3 of the carrier
bandwidth, also known as the secondary band, will be used to serve these users. The figure below depicts the actual layout
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Application scenario
Recommended configuration to satisfy high traffic and high site density requirement.
Best results will require the introduction of Inter Cell Interference Coordination (ICIC)
Advantage
Reduce inter-cell interference under a high site density deployment.
Improve cell edge user throughput and quality of experience.
Besides, carrier bandwidth, co-frequency and time sharing nature between uplink and downlink in TDD also require
careful selection of guard band and pilot time slot (DwPTS, GP and UpPTS). Failure to include enough separation will
create a lot of co-channel interference which will degrade the throughput performance significantly
Figure 3-10 Uplink-Downlink Pilot Time Slot and Guard band Configuration Schemes
Lastly, for TDD to work properly, all cells must be operating in time synchronous mode to avoid any extra interference
being introduced to the network. IEEE 1588v2 implementation is recommended and will help to ensure the integrity of
time synchronization within the LTE TDD network.
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Figure 3-11 Synchronization Solution based on IPclk or 1588v2
Results shown below are typical comparison in coverage radius between different frequency bands. Final results are
highly dependent on the actual parameters used for customer design.
Figure 3-12 Cell Coverage Comparison (UL@128kbps) between various frequency bands
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Cell Range in Downlink Case -- Result
Figure 3-13 Cell Coverage Comparison (DL@1024kbps) between various frequency bands
The figure below shows the difference in symbol configurations between the normal, 7 symbols configuration (norma
lCP) against 6 symbols (long CP configuration)
Typically, higher frequency bands are likely to deploy more data centric services for high density area (e.g. CBD). As a
result, LTE is more likely the technology of choice for most Operators looking at launching data services in the higher
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frequency band. The figure below just some 1 example of what customer may do with multiple technologies and their
evolution in different frequency band. It is the responsibility of the radio planner and account managers to work with
customer to determine the best combination to meet their interest.
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4 Link Budget and Coverage Planning
Operators are rightfully focused on the service quality of a system and coverage is an important part of the service
quality of a system. The aim of radio network planning is to balance coverage, capacity, quality, and cost so none of
these can be considered in isolation.
Various factors must be considered during LTE system coverage planning and setting of these parameters will affect
coverage radius and the quantity of base stations. Coverage and design requirement must be analyzed in choosing
parameters within the following parameter groups:
Propagation-related
Equipment-related
LTE-specific
System Reliability
Specific Considerations
Achievable cell radius can be derived from the Excel based link budget tools. Network planning tool, GENEX U-net, will
provide site deployment specific simulation analysis to obtain the number of required base stations in the target area.
The coverage area offered by a 3 sector and Omni site along with coverage planning flow is shown below
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This chapter will focus on the RF link budget itself and radio transmission model. System simulation will be described in
Chapter7.
Coverage radius of a base station can be obtained according to the maximum link loss allowance under a certain
propagation model. The radius can be used in subsequent design.
The figure below shows factors that will affect the link budget calculation process.
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Figure 4-2 Link budget model Downlink and Uplink
EPA3 and ETU3 are applicable to fixed services or pedestrian speed services. ETU30, ETU60, ETU120, EVA30, EVA60
and EVA 120 are applicable to vehicular services. Common channel models in LTE systems include EPA (Extended
Pedestrian A), EVA (Extended Vehicular Model A) and ETU3 (Extended Typical Urban Model at 3km/hr).
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Table 4-1 Typical Propagation Channel Models used for LTE
Table below shows possible variation of received power in multi-path fading environment under the various extended
delay spread conditions listed below
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Excess tap delay [ns] Relative power [dB]
120 -1.0
200 0.0
230 0.0
500 0.0
1600 -3.0
2300 -5.0
5000 -7.0
A separate high speed train model is also defined and the Doppler shift trajectory is shown in the diagram below.
The assumption for this model is where Ds/2 is the initial distance of the train from eNodeB, and Dmin is eNodeB
Railway track distance, both in meters; V is the velocity of the train in m/seconds.
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4.2.3 Propagation Model
The radio propagation model plays a key role in the link budget. The coverage radius of a base station is obtained
based on the maximum propagation loss allowance in the link budget. Radio propagation models are classified into
outdoor and indoor propagation models. These two types of propagation models involve different factors. In an
outdoor environment, landforms and obstructions on the propagation path, such as buildings and trees, must be
considered. Signals fade at varying rates in different environments. Propagation in free space gives the lowest fade
rate. The fading of signals is larger than free space when radio waves propagate in open areas/suburban areas and
fading rate is the largest in urban/dense urban areas. Indoor propagation model features low RF transmit power, a
short coverage distance and complicated environmental changes.
Although every planning tool will use slightly different method in their propagation calculation, the propagation
models are generally based around modifying the following K factors.
K1-los
Indicate K1 and K2 in the line-of-sight condition.
K2-los
K1-nlos
Indicate K1 and K2 in the none-line-of-sight condition.
K2-nlos
K3 Indicates a coefficient related to Effective height of Transmitter.
K4 Indicates a coefficient related to diffraction loss.
Method of calculating diffraction includes.
0-No Diffraction
Do not count the diffraction loss.
1-Deygout
This diffraction algorithm calculates the diffraction of a maximum of three obstacles.
2-Epstein-Peterson
Method
This calculation method is the same as Deygout, except that the method for calculating the height of
obstacles is different.
3-Deygout with correction
Correct the distance based on the Deygout calculation method.
4-Millington
This diffraction algorithm calculates the diffraction of only one obstacle.
Other parameters
K5 Indicates a coefficient related to the propagation distance and the effective height of the transmitter.
K6 Indicates a coefficient related to the receiver height.
Kclutter Indicates a coefficient related to clutter loss.
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I. Free Space Model
Free space indicates an ideal, even, and isotropic medium of space. When electromagnetic waves are transmitted
in this medium, no reflection, refraction, scattering, or absorption occurs. Propagation losses are caused only by the
energy spread of electromagnetic waves. Satellite communication and microwave line-of-sight (LOS) communication
are typical examples of free space propagation. In certain conditions, the antennae of the base station and terminal
can be mounted at any height. In this case, LOS communication between the base station and the terminal is
implemented. If a clear line of sight (CLOS) exists between the transmit antenna and receive antenna, then path loss
complies with the free space model. The propagation losses in the free space model are as follows:
Where, d indicates the distance between the terminal and the base station. The unit is km. f indicates the carrier
frequency. The unit is MHz. The preceding formula does not consider the impact of ground reflection, and thus often
underestimates propagation loss. This model is applicable to the scenario when the antennas of the base station and
terminal are mounted at considerable height and CLOS exists between the base station and the terminal.
Cost231-Hata model can be used in macro cells as the propagation model. The application range is as follows:
Base station height: 30 meters to 200 meters. The base station must be higher than the surrounding buildings.
Total = L - a(Hss) + Cm
Where, f indicates the working frequency of the system. The unit is MHz.
HBS indicates the height of the base station antenna. The unit is m.
d indicates the distance between the terminal and the base station. The unit is km.
a(hss) indicates the terminal gain function. This function is related to the antenna height and working frequency of the
terminal and the environment.
The value of Cm depends on the terrain type. The values of Cm in the standard Cost231-Hata are as follows:
In large cities: Cm = 3 (as defined in Urban - large city in the related protocol)
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In medium-sized cities: Cm = 0 (as defined in Urban small city in the related protocol)
In suburban areas: Cm = -2(log( f /28))2 - 5.4dB (as defined in Urban Suburban in the related protocol)
(As defined in Rural (quasi-open) countryside where the terminal is unobstructed for 100 meters in the front in the
related protocol)
Since some of the working frequencies of the LTE networks are 2.3 GHz and 2.6 GHz have exceeded the band range
of the standard Cost 231-Hata model, that is, 150 MHz to 2000 MHz. Therefore, in the actual LTE system design, the
standard Cost231-Hata model must be corrected based on the CW test result. According to the planning experience
and actual CW test results in multiple scenarios, a set of Cm has been created in the experienced model.
The standard propagation model is a model (deduced from the Hata formula) particularly suitable for predication
in the 150MHz~3500MHz band over long distance (1Km<d<20Km) and is very adapted to GSM900/1800, UMTS,
CDMA2000, WiMAX and LTE technologies. This model uses the terrain profile, diffraction mechanisms (calculated in
several ways) and take into account clutter classes and effective antenna heights in order to calculate path loss.
The model may be used for any technology; it is based on the following formula:
LSPM = K1 + K2 log (d )+ K3 log (H Txeff)+ K4 Diffractio nLoss + K5 log (d )log (H Txeff)+ K6 H Rxeff + K cluttrt f (clutter)
Where:
K1 Constant offset (dB)
K2 Multiplying factor for log(d)
d Distance between the receiver and the transmitter (m)
K3 Multiplying factor for log(HTxeff)
HTxeff Effective height of the transmitter antenna(m)
K4 Multiplying factor for diffraction calculation, K4 has to be a positive number
Diffraction loss Losses due to diffraction over an obstructed path(dB)
K5 Multiplying factor for log(d)log(HTxeff)
K6 Multiplying factor for HRxeff
HRxeff Mobile antenna height (m)
KClutter Multiplying factor for f(clutter)
f(clutter) Average of weighted losses due to clutter
The standard propagation model can be used for propagation model calibration through CW (Continuous Wave) test
by using simulation tools- GENEX U-Net.
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IV. Okumura-Hata Model
The Hata Model for Urban Areas, also known as the Okumura-Hata model for being a developed version of the
Okumura Model, is the most widely used radio frequency propagation model for predicting the behavior of cellular
propagation in built up areas. This model incorporates the graphical information from Okumura model and develops
it further to realize the effects of diffraction, reflection and scattering caused by city structures. Okumura model was
originally built into three modes, one for urban, suburban and open areas. The model for urban areas was built first
and used as the base for others The Okumura Hata model also has two more varieties for propagation in Suburban
Areas and Open Areas. The original Okumura model for Urban Areas is a radio propagation model that was built using
the data collected in the city of Tokyo, Japan. The model is ideal for using in cities with many urban structures but not
many tall blocking structures. The model served as a base for the Hata Model and the following assumptions apply to
the use of Okumura Hata model.
The IEEE documents provide a propagation loss model in the indoor base station environment. This model is based on
the Cost231 model. The expression of this model is as follows:
Where,
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LFS indicates the propagation losses in free space.
The value of Lc is often 37 dB. In normal indoor offices, the value of n is 4. For capacity calculations in moderately
pessimistic environments, the value can be changed to 3.
Caution:
In an indoor cell, often the antenna height of the base station or terminal is not specified and the deviation of shadow
fading in log-normal distribution is often 12 dB.
The ray tracing model involves analyzing electric wave propagation by using the ray tracing method and obtaining the
field strength of received signals through theoretical calculation. Some LTE network uses the higher part of the UHF
band such as 2.3 GHz and 2.6 GHz. The wavelength of the radio wave is several centimeters. Therefore, obstructions
in the propagation environment are often larger than the wavelength of the radio wave. In this case, the ray tracing
method can be used to analyze wave propagation. In addition, geological information technologies allow you to
identify each building in a city as a right prism in a high precision degree. Such a right prism is identified by the top
coordinate of the polygon at the bottom and height. The basic idea of the ray tracing method is as follows: Determine
the position of a transmission source. Identify all the propagation routes from the transmission source to each receive
point, that is, the test point, according to the features and layout of the buildings on the 3D map. Determine reflection
and diffraction losses based on the Fresnel equation and the geometrical or uniform theory of diffraction. In this case,
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the field strength of each route to each test point can be obtained. Perform the same point coherence stacking of field
strengths of all routes to obtain the total received field strength of each test point.
The ray tracing model is integrated in common commercial planning software. Simulation software GENEX U-Net uses
a 3D ray tracing model. This model, however, requires highly precise (at least to within 5 meters) digital maps that
contain 3D building information. The prediction accuracy of the model is closely related to the precision of the digital
maps and accuracy of site engineering parameters, such as the antenna position, height, direction angle, and down-tilt
angle. Due to the cost, the ray tracing model is used only in network planning in densely populated areas of large cities.
The link budget is only concerned with the scenario in which an outdoor transmitter is used and the signals penetrate
only one wall.
The propagation modes of electromagnetic waves are as follows: direct radiation, inverse radiation, diffraction,
penetration, and scattering. In areas where no indoor distributed system is deployed, electromagnetic wave signals
are obtained through diffraction and scattering. Therefore, the indoor penetration loss is related to the incident angle,
building materials, terrain, and working frequency. Table below lists the penetration losses associated with typical
buildings.
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In the link budget, penetration loss values depend on the coverage scenario. Therefore, coverage target areas are
classified into densely populated urban areas, common urban areas, suburban areas, rural areas, and highways. Table
below lists the area classification principles.
The building penetration loss ranges from 5 dB to 40 dB. In link budget, if no actual test data in the target area is
available, an assumed penetration loss value must be used. The final assumption is also highly dependent on local
customer requirement. For example in sophisticated Asian Metropolis like Hong Kong, Singapore and Shanghai, the
indoor coverage expectation will be very high, hence requiring a high penetration loss provisioning. On the other
hand, in less developed market such as Africa and Latin America, customer expectation is lower so the penetration loss
requirement can be reduced to reduce overall cost involved. During network planning, if no actual field testing data is
available, refer to the penetration loss values listed in Table below.
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4.2.6 Feeder Loss
Feeder loss indicates the signal loss caused by various devices that are located on the path of the antenna to the
receiver. Any device using an external antenna for service provision at either the base station side or terminal side must
consider feeder loss. If a USB dongle, an indoor CPE, or an outdoor CPE integrated with an antenna is used, feeder loss
can be ignored at the terminal side, but not at the base station side.
In the actual link budget, you must calculate feeder loss according to feeder type and length and connector type.
Figure below shows the typical connections of the antenna feeder system in an indoor base station.
The formula for calculating the feeder loss according to the feeder type and length is as follows:
Feeder loss (dB) = Feeder loss per 100 m (dB/100 m) feeder length (m)/100
The feeder loss per 100 meters is related to the frequency band. Table below lists typical feeder losses.
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Frequency (MHz) 1/2" 7/8" 5/4"
2400 11.733 6.733 5.000
2500 12.035 6.906 5.129
3000 13.218 7.525 5.624
3300 13.932 7.932 5.928
3500 14.348 8.169 6.105
If a base station is mounted indoors, the link budget must include the losses of all devices from the RF port of the base
station to the antenna interface, including the indoor jumper, connector, main transmission feeder, combiners, splitters
and the outdoor jumper. If the RRU of a distributed base station is mounted on the tower top, you need to consider
only the loss of the outdoor 1/2" jumper. In this case, the total cable loss can be greatly reduced to approximately 0.5dB.
The value is as follows: 1.38 x 10 ^ (- 23)J/K. T indicates absolute temperature at a value of 290K. The result of KT is
the density of the heat noise power spectrum and the value is -174dBm/Hz. B indicates channel bandwidth and in LTE,
it can be 1.4MHz/3MHz/5 MHz/10 MHz/15 MHz/20 MHz
With the adoption of MIMO technology, two or more antennae are used at the same time at the base station for
transmission. Therefore, the power combining gain must be considered. The formula for calculating the power
combining gain is as follows:
For example, when a base station contains two transmitters and two receivers, the power combining gain is 3 dB.
Therefore, the transmit power in each sector (2T2R) is as follows:
46 dBm (40 Watt) in total for a 2x2 system with 20W from each transmit path
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4.3.2 Receiver Sensitivity
The receiver sensitivity indicates the minimum signal strength required to enable decoding by the eNodeB or UE
receiver if there is no interference. In link budget tool, each of the subcarrier receiver sensitivity can be calculated by
the following formula:
SINR indicates the demodulation threshold of the receiver. The demodulation threshold is related to the specific code
modulation mode involved, the BLER chosen and whether other quality affecting features are implemented e.g. MIMO
and Coding repetition. The SINR used in the link budget is obtained from the system simulation result.
Nfloor indicates the multiplication result of K and T and is the density of the thermal white noise power. The value is
-174 dBm/Hz.
The relationship between antenna gain, horizontal beamwidth, and vertical beamwidth is as follows:
G(dBi)=10*log[32000/(A*B)]. In this formula, A and B indicate the horizontal beamwidth and vertical beamwidth. G
indicates antenna gain.
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In LTE system, we often use 65 18-dBi directional antennas and 11-dBi omni-directional antennas as the antennas
in base stations. Figure 4-6 and Figure 4-7 show the antenna lobes of the 65 18-dBi directional antenna and 11-dBi
omni-directional antenna.
Figure 4-8 Definition of Features on Horizontal & vertical patterns of directional antenna
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We recommend the 65 dual-polarized 18-dBi directional antennas for the base stations that are distributed in densely
populated urban areas and common urban areas. The 90 or 65 directional antennas can be used for base stations in
suburban areas. We recommend the 11-dBi omnidirectional antennas for coverage in rural areas, especially in isolated
towns. The 33 horizontal beamwidth antennas can be used for highway coverage. The gain of such antennas can
reach 21 dBi, which helps increase coverage radius.
The antenna gains of the terminals in the LTE system vary. This results in a large difference in the coverage scopes of
different terminals. However, the LTE terminal market is dominated by USB dongle at this stage and CPE antenna gain
values will be based on final product availability. However, since CPE antenna is external, gain similar to those currently
available in 3G/WiMAX product is expected.
Figure 4-9 Transmit Diversity and Spatial Multiplexing MIMO TS36.211 (fig 6.3-1)
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In the example above, a single data input stream is used to feed two separate antennae but it is equally possible to
feed two different input data streams into this setup to provide higher data rate and it is the fundamental principle for
Multiple Code Word (MCW) in LTE.
Multi-antenna technology can improve system capacity and coverage without largely increasing cost. This is because
the multi-antenna technology gives the following gains: power combining gain, array gain, space diversity gain,
and interference reduction gain. In addition, the MIMO achieves a spatial multiplexing gain, which is mainly used to
increase the system capacity. This section describes the various gains brought by the MIMO.
2. Array gain
The array gain indicates an improvement in the average signal noise ratio (SINR) at the receive end when the total
transmit power is the same. The array gain can be obtained through the coherent combining of various antenna
signals. Various multi-antenna systems can obtain the array gain. That is, after the multi-antenna technology is used,
the receiving SINR can be improved.
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required edge rate, the larger the cell coverage radius. This comes about due to the fixed power offered by UE (normally
23dBm) being spread evenly to the number of RBs involved in the modulation scheme assigned, assuming there is no
power control (i.e. Downlink ICIC also disabled). Some of the factors that affect the edge rate in the LTE system are as
follows:
Uplink/downlink TDD proportion
MIMO schemes chosen
eNodeB Power Amplifier power (affect downlink only)
Number of RB used at the sector edge
Modulation mode (1 of 29 coding methods)
Repeated coding times
The formula for calculating the downlink cell edge rate is as follows:
Cell edge rate_Phy = Number of Different data stream transmitted x Number of Resource Block assigned to
user per frame x Number of available Traffic carrying Resource Element per Resource Block x Coding rate x
Modulation model level / Duration of each frame - Where,
Number of Resource Block Assigned (a single RB is the basic resource assignment level) reflects the number of
resource blocks used by user at the edge of the sector. The smaller the number of resource blocks assigned, the
lower the cell edge rate. In previous version of link budget tools, receive sensitivity of a base station is defined by the
bandwidth of the RB which is 180 kHz. More recent version are using per subcarrier as basis of receiver sensitivity and
the conversion value is simply 10log10(12). RB can be assigned down to a per TTI level (1 ms duration)
Number of Different data stream transmitted is related to the number of data stream being simultaneously
transmitted. Number can be ranging from 1 (SFBC) to 2 (MCW 2x2). In case of BF, the value should be 1 for single
antenna port transmission mode 7 (port 7 or 8), and 2 streams for dual antenna port transmission mode 8 (port 7 and 8).
Number of available Traffic carrying Resource Element per Resource Block indicates the number of RE available
for each resource block. In FDD system, a maximum of 3 symbols (36 Res) can be consumed per frame (10ms) for
control channel signaling purposes and there is at least 6 more extra RE can be used for Downlink Reference signaling
per TTI (1ms). A minimum of 1 symbol (12 Res) will be required per RB for control signaling purposes. In TDD system,
due to frequency sharing and time gap requirement for switching between uplink and downlink, 6 symbols equivalent
(72 Res) will be the minimum overhead requirement per TTI.
Coding rate indicates the volume coding rate of the channel code. For example, the volume coding rate of QPSK1/2 is
1/2, and the volume coding rate of 16QAM3/4 is 3/4.
Modulation model level indicates the number of bits in the modulation mode. For example, the modulation mode
levels of QPSK, 16QAM, and 64QAM are 2, 4, and 6 respectively.
Duration of each frame indicates the frame size. As regulated by the protocols, the frame size in LTE networks is 10 ms.
In the link budget, the settings of the uplink/downlink cell edge rates (in particular the uplink cell edge rate) will
determine the final cell coverage radius. Hence, an understanding of edge coverage requirement is very critical from
a network planning perspective. If Downlink ICIC is enabled, downlink power control must be enabled also (which
is executed at 20ms intervals based on UE BER reported value) and edge rate calculation will be more complex and
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beyond the formula listed above. However, the cell edge data rate requirement will still be the single most important
factor in any cell planning activities.
The interference margin indicates the degradation of system receive performance caused by internal interference in
the system due to system traffic. In fact, due to the frequency division nature of LTE, there is also a close correlation
between actual traffic load and interference margin experienced by the network. Nonetheless, the orthogonal nature
of LTE allows a smaller provisioning of cell breathing and interference margin when compared with WCDMA/HSUPA/
EVDO.
Various techniques (e.g. FemtoCell, Relay, Coordinated Multi-Point) are being proposed by the industry to reduce the
level of interference over thermal increase which will further improves the capacity and throughput offered by LTE in
the future.
Beam forming scheme is a signal processing technology that is used to direct radio transmission in a chosen angular
direction. It is mainly based on an adaptive beam patterns that acts to make the strongest point of main-lobe of the
system output always be toward the direction of the expected UE and hence reducing the overall interference level for
the whole cell.
Its algorithm is highly complex and utilizes channel state information to achieve array processing SINR gain.
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Channel state information that is required includes:
Fast fading channel coefficient
Direction of arrival (DoA) of signal
CQI information
As it is based on a multiple transmit configuration, this feature can significantly improve downlink system throughput
and coverage performance and also provide good user experience by offering higher data rates. The main drawback
here is there is also the requirement of either 4 (4x4) or 8 (8x2) transmit path from the eNodeB side which could make
this more expensive to implement.
There are two type of beam forming mode defined by 3GPP, Mode 7 (Rel 8) and Mode 8 (Rel 9). Mode 7 supports
only single data flow so it can mainly improve coverage but Mode 8 can support multiplexing dual data stream as well
which means it can improve both throughput and coverage.
To minimize the effect of shadow fading and ensure a certain edge coverage probability, certain allowances must be
made. This is called the slow fading margin, or the shadow fading margin. Figure below shows the relationship
between the slow fading margin and cell edge probability.
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Figure 4-11 Impact of the slow fading margin on system reliability
The difference found in the slow fading is reflected by the standard deviation of slow fading. The standard deviation
of slow fading shows the distribution of the radio signal strength at different test points at similar distances from the
transmitter. This spread of values approximate to the standard deviation of the signal strength at different test points
from similar distances. The standard deviation of slow fading varies with the geological form. The value ranges from 5
dB to 12 dB. In plain areas, such as rural areas and open areas, the standard deviation of slow fading is lower than that
in suburban and urban areas. Standard deviations requirement in Dense Urban area with highly integrated building
layout and deeper indoor coverage requirement is even higher than typical urban environment. Table below lists the
typical standard deviations of slow fading in different geological locations.
The slow fading margin can be obtained based on the cell edge coverage probability and standard deviation of slow fading.
Slow fading margin = Q-1(1 - Edge coverage probability) Standard deviation of slow fading
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The edge of coverage probability of a cell is based on area coverage probability. Suppose that the area coverage
probability of a cell is PCov. Use this probability to try the edge coverage probability PEdge for multiple times. If the area
coverage probability of the cell is PCov' = PCov the obtained edge coverage probability PEdge of the cell is the actual edge
coverage probability of the cell.
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4.6.2 TTI Bundling
By repeating the same uplink information, lower SINR will be required by the receivers at the eNodeB. The code
repetition rate will also be affected by the Redundancy Version chosen and it is currently based on Incremental
Redundancy for LTE. The application of this feature is ideal for lower data rate applications such as VoIP and Packet
data services requiring slower rate. At least 4 dB gain can be achieved through this data repetition.
In situation where TTI bundling collides with periodic CQI/PMI/RI reports, TTI bundling will take precedent and the
periodic reporting will be dropped accordingly. TTI bundling Gain is included as part of SINR in link budget estimation.
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then remove the interferer from the received signals.
In comparison, Maximum ratio combining (MRC) do not make use of the spatial characteristics of the interference
when calculating antenna weighting. So in cases where there are only a small number of dominating interfering
sources, IRC can provide more improvement than MRC especially when there are a reasonable number of receive
antennae for IRC to execute the compensation. Conversely, if there are a large number of equal power signals arriving
at the receive antennae, the gain of IRC over MRC is not as significant.
IRC is implemented in the baseband processing module (WBBP) of NodeB. It can reduce the interference impact of
the neighboring users in the uplink. Therefore, IRC can increase the uplink users throughput significantly and hence
improves the users experience.
When Uplink IRC is used, simulation has shown a maximum SINR gain of 7dB can be achieved over traditional MMSE
interference reduction method. By outperforming Maximum Ratio Combining and MMSE receivers, IRC can enhance
network coverage and provide better QoS for cell edge users.
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4.6.4 Reference Signal Power Boosting Gain
Power boosting in LTE is mainly perform on the Reference signal. However, since the radio power is shared equally by
all Resources element, the power allocation for each RE is fixed. By increasing the number of Resources element being
used as Reference Signal, the RS can be boosted by 2x (3dB), 3x (4.7dB) or 4x (6dB) accordingly. Power Boosting
value = 0 if there is no extra resources used. Default Power boosting = 1 (2x) for network planning
Alternatively, reliability of information transmission can also be boosted not by radio transmission power but by
adjusted to a lower modulation level (MCS adjustment).
Possible Radio configurations on offer range from 20W per carrier, single transmit branch to two transmit at 40W each.
Radio planning engineers should pay particular attention to the following input parameters:
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Type of MIMO multi-antenna technology used (At this stage, default is 2T2R)
Design target area coverage probability. (Operator dependent ranging from 90 to 95%)
The antenna in a base station is mounted at a height of 30 meters. The terminal antenna is mounted at 1.5 meters high.
The Cost231-Hata model that is amended based on planning experience is generally used as the propagation model.
Below listed are some of the critical and selectable parameters from the Link Budget tool
Duplex Mode: Option Frequency division duplex (FDD)/ Time division duplex (TDD).
Frequency (MHz): Frequency used in this system (700, 800, 850, 900, 1500, AWS, 1800, 2100, 2300, 2600)
MIMO Scheme: Separately settable for Downlink (1x2, 2x2 SFBC, 4x2 SFBC+FSTD) and Uplink (1x2, 1x4, 1x8). Please
Note, In a AxB configuration, A is always refers to the transmit function of the device
DL/UL Cell Edge Rate (kbps): Setting in accordance to the actual customer requirements
DL/UL Edge MCS: Total of 29 Coding selection that can be chosen separately for DL and UL. As UL normally is the
weakest link due to limited UE power, We recommend UL MCS coding of QPSK 0.25 at the Edge as UE power is
shared across only 8 RBs for best Maximum path loss results against other MCS.
DL/UL Target Load: Target customer loading should be provided here separately for Downlink and Uplink so the
desired interference margin can be incorporated into the link budget. Common values are 30%, 50%, 70% and 100%
Propagation Model: Option include Cost231-Hata (Classic), Cost231-Hata-Huawei, Okumura Hata (Classic), Okumura
Hata-Huawei, SPM, Cost231-Micro (Classic) and Cost231-Micro-Huawei. Further information is available in the
Propagation Model section below
eNodeB Total Transmit Power: Customer configuration specific, referring to per TX path transmit power value.
Typical value is either 43dBm (20W) or 46 dBm (40W). Further information can be seen in the following sections.
However, please refer to detailed eNodeB configuration guide for final detail.
eNodeB cable loss: Value is dependent on cable configuration at customer site (0.5dB for RRU) vs 3dB (standard cable
length) or more (extended length) for RFU based configuration
UE Transmit Power: Typical value is 23dBm +/- 2dB for a Class 3 unit. The minimum transmit power by this UE is
-40dBm according to 3GPP TS 36.101. Actual UE power can be reduced by the modulation used.
UE Antenna Gain: Typical value is 0dB in the absence of any external antenna
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Below listed is an example for LTE link budget.
The link budget is based on only theories, and can neither ensure the capacity nor coverage reliability of the actual
network. The coverage target and requirements also vary with different network requirement and the respective
assumptions. As a result, the link budget result varies greatly, depending on the different input parameters. Therefore,
to design the link budget that reflects the requirement of a particular network, the designer must discuss with the
operator to determine the value of each input parameter in the link budget.
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Link budget also assumes a uniform landform, simple terrain, ideal site locations, and even subscriber distribution.
System simulation covers detailed landform distribution, actual site location, terrain type, and subscriber distribution.
Hence, the link budget result serves ONLY as the theoretical calculation result. The calculated coverage radius is
used for reference in simulated site distribution. The detailed coverage planning must be completed through system
simulation. For a given coverage area, the number of planned base stations will depend on the system simulation
result.
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5 Interference and Guard Band Analysis
5.1 Overview
In mobile communication network, interference is one of the key elements that affect the network quality. With
the development of mobile communication technologies, it becomes a common phenomenon that multiple mobile
networks with different frequencies and modulation characteristics coexist in the same area. The signals transmitted by
one system are useless signals (that is, interference) to other systems.
The interference to the LTE system is in multiple forms. This section describes the basic concepts and the method to
determine the influence of interference to sensitivity.
Spurious interference refers to the additive interference generated by the interference source in the working frequency
band of the interfered receiver. Spurious interference includes the out of band power leakage of the interference
source, amplified background noise, and transmit inter-modulation product. Spurious interference can reduce the
signal noise ratio (SNR) of the interfered receiver.
Spurious interference is generated by a transmitter and usually includes the thermal noise generated and amplified by
the power amplifier (PA). Inter-modulation products can be generated during the multi-carrier operation and spurious
signals can also be generated by frequency mixer.
Blocking Interference
Receivers usually work in linear areas. When a strong interference enters a receiver, it may also overdrive the receiver
to work in non-linear state or even worse, in saturation mode as the out of band suppression ratio of the receiver may
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be limited. This type of interference is called blocking interference.
Generally, blocking interference is generated by a strong interference signal out of the receive band that makes the
receiver work in saturation state and then reduces the gains. In addition, the interference signal may mix with the local
oscillator signal and then generate the interference in the intermediate frequency (IF). Blocking interference can reduce
the receiver gains and increase the noise.
Inter-Modulation Interference
When multiple strong signals with different frequencies enter a receiver at the same time, the inter-modulation product
at the receiver is generated by the signals by the front end due to the non-linear circuit of the receiver. Unfortunately,
the frequency of the inter-modulation product drops into the useful frequency band of the receiver and generates the
inter-modulation interference.
When a strong signal is reflected back from the transmitting end of a transmitter back into the transmitter, this signal,
together with the transmitted signal of the transmitter may also generate some inter-modulation products because of
the non-linearity of the transmitter.
When multiple signals with different frequencies transverse across conductors at the same time, the inter-modulation
product is generated because of the non-linearity of the metals.
Because of the non-linearity of the receiver and the limitation of out of band suppression, multiple harmonic waves are
generated on the received signal. When two strong interference signals are received at the same time, the frequency
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combination such as 2f1-f2 and 2f2-f1 of the two strong interference signals may drop into the band of the receiver
and then generates interference.
The capability to resist inter-modulation is a feature of the receiver. If you want to eliminate the inter-modulation
interference by installing a filter, you need to install a receive filter in the interfered system.
ACS
Adjacent channel selectivity (ACS) is a protection index to determine the capability of a receive filter. ACS refers to
the capability to receive the power of the local in band channel when the interference signal from the adjacent
frequency exists. ACS is the ratio of the receive filter attenuation on the assigned channel frequency to the receive
filter attenuation on the adjacent channel(s). Hence, ACS is the ratio of the receive filter loss on the designated
channel to the loss on the adjacent channel.
ACLR
Adjacent Channel Leakage power Ratio (ACLR) is measure of transmitter performance and it is defined as the ratio of
the transmitted power to the power measured after a receiver filter in the adjacent RF channel. Alternatively, it can be
referred to as the ratio of the average power on the designated frequency point to the average power on the adjacent
channel. ACLR represents the suppression capability of the transmit filter to the adjacent channel.
As shown in the figure below, ACLR is the dB value of C (total transmit power of the designated frequency point)
subtracting D (total in-band leakage power of the adjacent channel). The adjacent channel may be used by the same
system or a different system. The bandwidth is determined based on the system in the adjacent channel.
ACLR was also formerly called Adjacent Channel Power Ratio and ACLR is specified in the 3GPP standard.
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Figure 5-5 ACLR
ACIR
It is difficult to separate ACLR and ACS because they coexist; therefore, ACLR and ACS are usually considered together.
The result of the consideration is Adjacent Channel Interference Ratio (ACIR) and ACIR is the ratio of the total power
transmitted from a source (base station or UE) to the total interference power affecting a victim receiver, resulting from
both transmitter and receiver imperfections. The formula is as follows:
The interference in the adjacent channel affects both the system coverage and system capacity. When near-far effect
exists, interference from the adjacent channel greatly affects the system coverage, and may even cause the dead zone.
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As shown in the preceding figure, when the terminal in system A enters system B, the interference power of system B
to system A is even greater than the useful power of system A. Therefore, the dead zone occurs, where the terminal
cannot access the network.
In the uplink, the limiting design factor is the UE transmitter, which will dominate the uplink interference. The reason
is that ACLRUE << ACSBS, which implies that uplink ACIR ACLRUE. Thus, in an uplink simulation, it is essentially the UE
ACLR performance that is simulated.
In the downlink, the limiting design factor is the UE receiver, which will dominate the downlink interference. The
reason is that ACSUE << ACLRBS, which implies that downlink ACIR ACSUE. A downlink simulation will thus essentially
be a simulation of UE ACS performance.
OFFSET/BW/GB
Figure below is the relationship of the Offset (frequency offset value), BW (channel bandwidth) and Guard Band.
If the demodulation carrier-to-interference ratio C/I (unit: dB) of the eNodeB receive system for a particular modulation
scheme (MCS), then the theoretical receive sensitivity of the eNodeB is as follows:
The noise level directly affects the eNodeB receive sensitivity, that is, when the noise level rises by 1 dB, the eNodeB
receive sensitivity decreases by 1 dB.
In the system, 1 dB decrease in the receiver sensitivity of the system is regarded as the threshold of interference.
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For LTE, sensitivity is calculated on per subcarrier rather than the entire channel allocation as in GSM, WCDMA
or WiMAX because it is the basic bandwidth that needs to be demodulated by each UE. In actual component
implementation level, receivers IF bandwidth and noise coefficient are affected by the specific circuits and can never
reach the theoretical value or optimum value from a pure analog circuitry perspective.
Assume that the external receive intra-frequency spurious interference has the feature of the quasi-white noise, the
influence of the interference to the system is that the interference adds to the original equivalent noise of the system
and then raises the receive noise level of the system. Table 5-1 lists the receive background noise rise level due to the
presence of the external interference at level specified.
Table 5-1 Increase of background noise due to the presence of interference levels
In general, the new total interference increase from original due to extra interferer can be represented by:
10.log(1+10^(P/10))
1. T he interference level is 0 dB lower than the original noise level of the system, that is, the interference level is also 1
w. The total noise level of the system is (1 + 1 = 2 w). Therefore, after the system is interfered, the total noise level
increase is as follows: 10 log (2 w/1 w = 2) = 3 dB.
2. T he interference level is 3 dB lower than the original noise level of the system, that is, the interference level is 0.5
times of the original noise level (1/103/10 = 0.5), that is, 0.5 w. The total noise level of the system is 1 + 0.5 = 1.5 w.
Therefore, after the system is interfered, the total noise level increase is as follows: 10 log (1.5 w/1 w = 1.5) = 1.76 dB.
In the broadband system, the allowed interference level is generally 6 dB lower than the original receive noise
coefficient of the system. Therefore, the original receiver sensitivity of the system decreases by 1 dB.
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congestion, network coverage and capacity. How to reduce or eliminate interference is one of the key tasks in network
planning and optimization. The decrease of sensitivity is the most direct influence of interference, which results in the
decrease of coverage radius. Table 5-2 lists the relationship between the decrease of sensitivity and the decrease of coverage
radius (calculated based on the classic propagation model Okumura-Hata, with the eNodeB antenna height of 30 m).
Table 5-2 Relationship between the decrease of sensitivity and the decrease of coverage
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Scenarios (a) and (c) described above clearly indicate inter-carrier interference. Implementation of time synchronization
equipment such as IEEE 1588v2 as discussed in Chapter three will help to resolve most of the asynchronous systems problem.
To resolve this problem in LTE TDD system, a longer guard band period can be selected between DwPTS and UpPTS as
discussed in Chapter 3.5. For FDD system, the delay in propagation can be resolved by using a smaller Cyclic Prefix of 6
(Extended CP) instead of 7 (Normal CP).
The CP is a copy of the end of a symbol inserted at the beginning. If this guard period is longer than the delay spread
in the radio channel, the inter-symbol interference can be completely eliminated if each OFDM symbol is cyclically
extended into the guard period (by copying the end of the symbol to the start to create the cyclic prefix). By sampling
the received signal at the optimum time, the receiver can remove the time domain interference between adjacent
symbols caused by multi-path delay spread in the radio channel.
Cyclic prefix lengths for the downlink and the uplink are shown in the figure below. In the downlink case, f represents
the 15 kHz or 7.5 kHz subcarrier spacing. The normal cyclic prefix of 144 x Ts protects against multi-path delay spread
of up to 1.4 km. The longest cyclic prefix provides protection for delay spreads of up to 10 km.
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The interference scenarios can be classified into the following four types: eNodeB->UE, UE->eNodeB, eNodeB-
>eNodeB, and UE->UE, as listed in Table 5-3 Please note the TDD system can be either WiMAX or LTE TDD
From simulation result with no filtering, when eNodeBs are co-located, the most serious interference is the eNodeB-
>eNodeB interference. The network coverage and capacity losses caused by the other three types of interference
are smaller than 2% even if the guard band is not provided. This section mainly describes the eNodeB->eNodeB
interference and UE->UE interference.
The eNodeB->eNodeB interference can cause serious performance deterioration when the isolation between systems is
not good. As ACIR increases, network coverage shrinkage and capacity reduction also decreases.
Assuming the situation that eNodeB of the interfering system is in transmitting state and the eNodeB of the interfered
system is in receiving state. Due to the spill over of transmitted signal into the receiving band, uplink coverage and
capacity losses will occur. When total ACIR of radio equipment (eNodeB, Filter, Combiners etc) is greater, the network
coverage reduction and capacity losses are limited. Based on our analysis, most installations can meet the interference
requirement under a 5MHz guard band setting. Therefore, if interference exists within the entire network, a 5 MHz
guard band should ensure the network coverage and capacity losses are limited.
When two systems are sharing the same site location, UE->UE interference does not seriously affect the network
coverage and capacity. UE->UE interference comes about due to timing misalignment and one UE becomes the
interfering system in transmitting state while another UE of the interfered system is in the receiving state. Hence, the
downlink coverage and capacity losses occur as the interfered UE cannot perform in the best fashion.
As specified in 3GPP TS 36.101, both ACS and ACLR are required to be at least 33dB for a Class 3 and Class 4 mobile
at +/- 5MHz from centre frequency. In addition, it is difficult to control the positions of the UEs through network
planning. When two UEs of two systems are very close to each other, the isolation between the UEs is in the worst
scenario, but only a small portion of the subscribers are affected and the influence is only temporary.
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Table 5-4 Impact of UE->UE interference to the network coverage Monte Carlo Spread
From simulation result with no filtering, when the eNodeBs are not co-located, the most serious interference is from
eNodeB->eNodeB. The network coverage and capacity losses caused by the other three types of interference are smaller
than 2% even if the guard band is not provided. Hence, our focus of analysis is the interference between eNodeBs.
When the interfering eNodeB is close to the victim eNodeB, the eNodeB->eNodeB interference can causes serious
performance deterioration. This is especially the case when the eNodeBs are from different systems and operating
under different bandwidth. However, as the eNodeBs separation and ACIR increase, the network coverage loss and
capacity reduction gradually decrease.
Assuming the offending eNodeB is in transmitting state and the victim eNodeB is in receiving state. Both uplink
coverage and capacity loss will occur.
Coupling loss between the eNodeBs is calculated based on the free space propagation model by taking into
consideration of eNodeB antenna gains caused by the direction angle and tilt. Figure below shows the simulation
result of coverage change due to distance variations between the interfering eNodeB and interfered eNodeB.
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5.3 Guard Band Requirement: LTE-FDD vs GSM/UMTS
Configuration is simpler for FDD based systems because both LTE FDD and its neighboring technologies are based on
frequency duplex and offer sufficient frequency separation between transmit and receive signals. With the introduction
of SDR and SRAN product, the requirement of guard band for LTE has been further reduced in a co-located eNodeB.
Figure 5-13 Co-Site GuardBand (MHz) between LTE Carrier of different Bandwidth &GSM
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5.5 Spectrum Refarming for LTE
5.5.1 Summary
Operators worldwide are looking forward to new LTE technologies deployment but not every one of them possess
brand new spectrum required for LTE deployment. As a result, many networks are expected to perform some level of
refarming so new LTE technologies can be deployed there. Current and the expected migration timeframe for different
frequency band are shown below.
Tight Frequency Reuse (TFR) technology helps Operators refarm existing GSM spectrum for the deployment of LTE or
UMTS networks. An overview of capacity improvement and KPI achieved with one Operator is listed below.
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Figure 5-15 Tight Frequency Reuse Results
LTE1800 eNodeB supports the compact bandwidths by strict filer and RB punching. Compact bandwidths for 5 MHz,
10 MHz, 15 MHz and 20 MHz are supported.
Compact bandwidth configuration helps operators make full use of anomalous frequency bands and reduce the
waste of frequency fragment.
Compact bandwidth need not to accord with standard bandwidth; Compact bandwidth produces higher
throughput and better user experience.
Compact bandwidth is completely transparent to UE and has no impact to R8/R9 UE.
148Mbps downlink speed rate in trial test with 20MHz LTE bandwidth for LTE1800.
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Figure 5-16 Buffer Zone for LTE and GSM Co-existence Deployment
The final implementation will certainly be more complex due to coverage variations, traffic requirement, interRAT as
well as possible frequency planning arrangement but buffer zone concept will remain a feasible option for LTE and
GSM co-existence.
5.6.1 Overview
As mobile networks around the world evolve to offer more applications and services, there always needs to introduce
new technologies. Co-location of multiple technologies can save both deployment and operation cost and with
SingleRAN solution can definitely help to reduce footprint and TCO. This section plans to provide some high level
recommendation for radio engineers on co-location strategies and configurations.
The different ports used for 2.6G and 900/1800 in the figures below also indicate the antennae are physically
separable. In fact, based on the current antenna availability, GSM900/1800 system has to use separate antenna to LTE
2.6G.
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LTE 2.6G with GSM900 (DCS1800) macro BTS antenna solution
Figure 5-17 Co-location Antenna Configuration for LTE 2.6G and GSM 900/1800MHz
Figure 5-18 Co-location Setup for LTE 2.6G and GSM 900/1800MHz with RCU and TMA
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The following Configuration is not recommended due to the extra component requirement and addition insertion loss
introduced.
Figure 5-19 Co-Location Configuration Not Recommended for LTE 2.6G and GSM
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This antenna below for LTE2.6G:
The example below shows possible configuration of eNodeB when both GSM and LTE are operating at 1800MHz and
the two technologies are sharing the same RF output (e.g. Single RAN configuration)
Figure 5-20 Co-location Setup for LTE/GSM 1800MHz with RCU and without/with TMA
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This antenna below for LTE1800 and GSM1800 co-antenna solution:
Physical distance is the separation between the outer physical casing (not from the center of antenna) with both
antennae being placed perfectly flat and parallel. Based on field measurement results, a horizontal separation of 0.5m
or vertical separation of 0.2m between antennae can meet the isolation requirement for co-locating LTE at 2.6G with
GSM900/DCS1800.
OR
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IV. Different Frequency and Different RFU Co-location
The first example displayed the antenna separation required when the two technologies are sharing the same site
so only antenna isolation separation is required. The 2nd example shows the isolation requirement when the 2
technologies are located at different sites and a physical distance separation is required. In both examples, it is also
clear that a wider guard band between the 2 technologies will reduce the isolation requirement in antenna or site
spacing.
In general, it is recommended to synchronize both WiMAX and LTE TDD to remove the guard band requirement.
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WiMAX & LTE-TDD Co-site and Un-Synchronized
Figure 5-23 Antenna Isolation due to LTE TDD and WiMAX Co-location
Figure 5-24 Physical Separation due to LTE TDD and WiMAX Co-existence but not co-located
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6 LTE Access Network Capacity Planning
However, with the increased availability of new services in wireless networks, user perceived quality or QoS is now also
included in many capacity measures. For instance, voice services have long been designed with a probability of error (non
connection) ranging from 1% to 3%
In the data centric world, the system capacity could be defined as the maximum aggregated data rate subject to the
constraint that the average experienced quality of all flows in the system should be fulfilled according to a given target.
As average experienced quality we can mention the average delay of all transmitted packets or the average
packet throughput. Since the required average experience varies across different services, the traffic mix chosen by
the Operators will have a strong influence on the final maximum aggregate data rate that will be required and smart
phone will further complicated the situation with their new user behavior pattern.
The aim of LTE capacity dimensioning is to obtain the PS throughput supported in the network based on the
bandwidth available and channel condition of each user. A high level summary for capacity planning process and input
requirement is listed in the diagram below:
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Figure 6-1 Overview of EUTRAN Capacity Planning Process
Most of these parameters are similar to those used for 2G/3G network dimensioning and by carefully considering the
contribution of all these parameters, network planning engineers can determine which customer service level can be met.
Nevertheless, the arrival of smart phone, which has completely different behavior compared to feature phones, is going
to add a new level of challenges to planning engineers. They frequently changes state between "idle" and "connected",
its fast dormancy feature forces the terminal to switch to an "idle" state every six to eight seconds in order to save
battery power, and the service heartbeat mechanism periodically communicates with the application server. According to
signaling statistics of operator S in Singapore, one smart phone creates 14 times the signaling load of a feature phone.
In addition, the increasing popular level of applications like twitter will hasten the evolution of customer behavior and
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traffic model in the next few years. Average subscriber usage at busy hour has rapidly increased from the low 10kbps
(since R99/1xRTT) to be in the mid to high 30kbps right now.
The table below shows the relative priority, expected error rate and delay for each QoS class.
From a EUTRAN design perspective, how customer chooses the proportion and combination of these different services
will be translated into bits per second requirement for the customer network. Although the dynamic nature of E-UTRAN
capacity limiting factors listed below will affect the final user throughput and capacity, it is essential that the network
is dimensioned properly in the design stage to reduce the impact of services offer booking and short term surges in
services due to unexpected events.
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Operating Frequency band
RF Coverage - RSRP
Impact of Interference on Capacity
Signal Interference Noise Ratio and Adaptive Coding
Radio (Transmitter) Power Availability
Spectrum Bandwidth Availability
Channel Card (LPPB) Processing Capacity
S1/X2 Capacity
Application of Special Antenna Technologies (MIMO/BF/Virtual MIMO)
Scheduling Mode
Actual Cell Site Placement in Relation to Traffic
UE Capability
User Traffic Mix and Call Modeling
Time Slot Allocation for Uplink and Downlink TDD specific
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when it comes to capacity planning. The frequency propagation and penetration characteristics will determine the
number of sites that need to be built in order to cover the designated area chosen by the Operator. This in turn will
decide the final capacity that can be offer for commercial services.
The figure below gives a high level view of the likely difference in coverage strength offered by the different major
frequency band currently chosen for LTE deployment.
With its shorter coverage range, 2.6GHz is more likely to be used and is best suited for urban environment which
also demand higher capacity within a smaller area. On the other hand, 800MHz is more likely to be used for rural
applications due to the more extended coverage (e.g. Germany white spot wireless DSL project)
Reference Signal received power is a common measurement that can provide the coverage quality level. Although
intercell interference will not be reflected by RSRP level, it is still a strong indicator of throughput level as long as the
initial radio network was designed properly.
On the other hand, field trial results confirmed the overall cell downlink throughput continues to degrade as the
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number of users increase. At the same time, the per user throughput also decrease as the number of users in the
cell increases due to resources sharing. This clearly identifies interference control (either through cell coverage
control, Downlink ICIC or efficient power control) as the most important factor in cell capacity protection.
Conversely, the availability of UE power will also determine the uplink coverage and throughput a user can achieved.
Most users are expected to be using Class 3 mobile (23dBm +/- 2dB)
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Figure 6-6 Graphical View of 2x2 MIMO in Operation
In addition, We offer a separate antenna related technology in uplink, which is focusing on capacity improvement. This
feature is called Uplink Virtual MIMO and it achieves uplink throughput by allocating same RB for different uplink users.
Uplink Virtual MIMO can increase overall uplink spectral efficiency and hence increasing the overall uplink throughput.
It is similar to a feature called CSM for WiMAX.
The network will carefully select two users with the following characteristics:
Highly uncorrelated in the Uplink
Offer the best capacity improvement to the cell after combining
Highest Max PFair output when the 2 users are combined together
These selection criteria will allow users with the most uplink data need and most uncorrelated to be chosen first. Since
those two users are highly uncorrelated, they can be easily removed from each others overall signal.
Scheduling algorithm enables the system to decide the resource allocation for each UE during each TTI. Scheduler
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algorithm can bring the following benefits:
1) Flexible selection for the scheduling algorithm
2) Flexible configuration for QoS priority parameters
3) Strong QoS guarantee mechanism for different services
4) Optimal tradeoff among throughput, fairness, and the QoS
We advanced scheduling algorithm includes Basic Scheduling, Enhanced Scheduling and VoIP Semi-persistent Scheduling.
The actual capacity degradation due to the amount of users and their distance from cell antenna is highly variable and will
also depend on the actual traffic distribution at the time. A general rule is the further the users are from the cell antennae,
the lesser the amount of capacity a cell can offer. Capacity will be degraded even more if more users are to be located
towards the edge of cell coverage and it is possible to have a capacity degradation of up to 25% in some situation.
6.3.12 UE Capability
It is important to remember that the composition and penetration of various UE types will also have an impact on
the final achievable cell throughput level. A high concentration of relatively low end UEs will result in low resources
utilization efficiency, thereby bringing down the overall cell throughput. This will certainly be depending on when the
network is launched, pricing model of Operators as well as UE vendors as well as the form factors of UE offered at the
time. The figure below summarizes the capability of UEs by their category. E.g. only Cat-5 UE can support 64QAM on
uplink initially and will affect user uplink throughput.
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6.3.13 User Traffic Mix and Call Modelling
As listed in previous section, LTE has 10 Quality of Service Classifications. The more freedom eNodeB has in user
throughput allocation (represented by Best Effort only users), the more likely the cell will have a higher aggregate
throughput as the scheduler can adjust the resources allocation more appropriately based on radio condition. On the
other hand, the more Guarantee Bit Rate users are present in the cell, the more likely the cell will have a reduction in
its average aggregate throughput.
6.3.14 Time Slot Allocation for Uplink and Downlink TDD specific
The time division nature of LTE TDD will also require radio engineers to consider how time slots are shared between
uplink and downlink based on both customer input as well as commercial users usage pattern between uplink and
downlink in that country. This will have a direct impact on the EUTRAN capacity. There are 7 time sharing configuration
between Uplink and Downlink in LTE TDD as defined by 3GPP. They are shown in the figure below and in summary,
they are (DL : UL) - 1:3 or 2:2 or 3:1 or 2:1 or 7:2 or 8:1 or 3:5
Besides time sharing configuration, there is also a need to define how uplink and downlink pilots are configured based
on the Guard band requirement. The guard band duration is also a direct result of propagation delay requirement
due to the designated cell coverage radius. Inadequate guard band provisioning will result in direct interference
between users within the same cell due to difference in signal delay arrival. 3GPP has defined 9 different guard period
configuration schemes for Operator to choose. They are listed in the figure below.
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Figure 6-10 Uplink-Downlink Pilot Time Slot and Guard band Configuration Schemes
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Figure 6-11 E-UTRAN Network View
In general, the traffic on S1 interface is divided into two different plane, the control plane, which uses SCTP (Stream
Control Transmission Protocol) developed by IETF for the purpose of transporting various signaling protocols over IP
network, and the user plane, where GPRS tunneling protocol for user plane (GTPU) is adopted as the tunneling method.
Main X2 dimensioning factors that need to be considered (in eRan2.0 and 2.1) include:
The frequency of handover between eNodeBs
The duration time of handover
The overlapping nature between eNodeBs
Hysteresis setting at cell level
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Average service rate and packet size per handover
Signaling overhead in control plane of X2 interface
The throughput on X2 is negligible compared to that on S1. Similar to the S1 control plane throughput calculation, the
throughput of X2 is estimated to be 3% of the throughput on S1 in order to simplify the dimensioning process.
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Although LTE capable terminal is required to rescan for LTE network after 6 minutes, this rescanning could be
hindered by any active connections to UMTS/GSM during this period. The final delay period could also depend on
individual UE manufacturers rescanning algorithm.
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Figure 6-15 Co PLMN Idle Mode Handover
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7 U-Net Simulation and Operation
7.1 Introduction
This chapter describes the basic information of the U-Net in terms of use method, meanings of common parameters,
and relations between parameters in software. It is not aimed at replacing the U-Net user manual but is intended to
give an overview of U-Net operation.
This chapter includes ten sections to give an overview of what U-Net V3R6 can offer from a LTE FDD radio planning
perspective as of end of 2010. Planning information for LTE TDD is not yet available and will be added later on once
the planning tool is approved by the responsible RNP experts.
Simulation Process
1. Create a simulation project. Mandatory.
2. Import mapsset the coordinate system. Mandatory.
For existing sites, directly copy and
3. Import site parameters. Mandatory, select one from two.
paste the site parameters.
For new sites, default parameters are
Mandatory, select one from two.
automatically set but need adjustment.
The antenna of the eNodeB is
4. Import the antennae of the eNodeB and terminal. mandatory and that of the terminal is
optional.
5. Set network parameters. Set the Frequency Band. Mandatory.
6. Set the Transmitter table. Mandatory.
7. Set the parameters of the eNodeB
Set the Feeder Equipment. Optional.
equipment.
Set the eNodeB Equipment. Optional.
Set the User Equipment. Mandatory.
8. Set the Transmitter global parameter. Mandatory.
9. Set the Clutter Classes parameter (standard square deviation of shadow fading). Mandatory.
10. Set the parameters of propagation models (including the propagation models
Mandatory.
for different geographic types).
11. Set the Predictions global parameter. Optional.
Service setting. Mandatory.
12. Set the parameter of the traffic Terminal setting. Mandatory.
model. User Profile setting. Monte Carlo simulation setting.
Environment setting. Monte Carlo simulation setting.
13. Set prediction parameters.
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7.3 Creating Project
1. Run the U-Net.
2. Click on the toolbar or choose File>New. The Project Templates dialog box is displayed.
3. Select LTE and then click OK. The LTE U-Net project is created.
4. Click on the toolbar or choose File>Save. The Save As dialog box is displayed.
5. Select the storage directory and name of the project from the Save Project File dialog box and save the file, as shown below.
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Maps related information can then be imported individually via highlighting each of the following
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Display of Coordinate Systems can be changed after importing either Clutter or Height information into the project. It
can be changed by calling up the Map Setting function in the following way
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Parameter Description
Code Indicates the code of the clutter class.
Name Indicates the clutter class.
Indicates the average height of the clutter. Unit: m.
Statistics that indicates height of the clutter above the ground.
Height
Indicates the height that above the DTM map if the DTM map is imported.
Functional when the SPM model is used and not functional when the Cost-Hata model is used.
Model, C/ The standard deviation is used to calculate the shadow fading margin. Unit: dB. Value range: 4-10 dB.
I standard The standard deviation is used to calculate prediction items. If it is not C/I prediction, the standard
deviation deviation of Model is used.
Indicates the indoor loss of each clutter class. The indoor loss is used when buildings exist. The value is
Penetration Loss consistent with that of the Estimation tool, with a common value of 8-20 dB.
If the indoor coverage is considered when estimating, indoor penetration loss should be considered.
7.5.1 Overview
This chapter describes the setting and related properties of equipment like the eNodeB, transmitter and UE in the U-Net.
The figure below gives a high level view of the relationships between various parameters in U-Net
I. Setting Frequencies
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Field Description
Name Indicates the frequencies and has no impact on the calculation.
Channel Width (MHz) Channel bandwidth. Indicates the bandwidth of each sector.
The first channel that can be used, number normally starting from 0 (or any positive number).
Start channel
Related to the frequency width and channel bandwidth.
Last channel The last channel that can be used.
Excluded channels The channels between the first channel and last channel that cannot be used.
Indicates the start frequency. Indicates the start frequency in the time division duplex (TDD)
Frequency (DL) (MHz)
mode and the downlink start frequency in the frequency division duplex (FDD) mode.
Frequency (UL) (MHz) Indicates the FDD uplink start frequency.
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Field Description
Adjacent Channel Signal to
The default value is 30. The value range is from 0 to 231
Interference Ratio
Duplexing Method Indicates the duplex mode. TDD (Time Division Duplex) or FDD (Frequency Division Duplex) mode.
A detail cell configuration layout will appear and numerous LTE specific parameters will appear.
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III. Setting MCS Parameter
Users can then set the value for each of the Uplink and Downlink MCS threshold separately. However, please
doublecheck the default value in U-Net as it may differ from the actual requirement.
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Users can then match the required MCS table accordingly to Uplink and Downlink table defined above through the
selection tab shown below.
By clicking Cell reception equipment or Default UE reception equipment and then followed by clicking on MCS
threshold, users can also view the MCS value format used in U-Net.
Set the number of Tx/Rx antennae per eNodeB transceiver here. Make sure all fields are displayed as well.
Also set the number of Tx/Rx antennae per transceiver here for different services type
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Field Description
Name Indicates the name of MIMO.
Tx_Antennas Indicates the number of Tx antenna.
Rx_Antennas Indicates the number of Rx antenna.
SM_Supported Indicates whether space division multiplexing is supported.
SM_Gain (dB) Indicates SM gain.
All MIMO parameters must be set correctly in order to allow simulation to be performed correctly especially for MCS function.
Set the number of Tx/Rx antennae per transceiver here for different terminal type
Then enable Space Multiplexing by checking the box under LTE Terminal folder. This will allow simulation to switch
between SFBC and MCW where appropriate. Under U-NetV3R6 only downlink spatial multiplexing is enabled.
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Path: [Explorer / Data / Transmitters/Cell]
To enable AMS (Automatic MIMO Switching), both the transceivers and terminals must have between 2 to 4 antennae
in their configuration.
7.5.3 Equipment
Field Description
Name Indicates the name of TMA equipment.
Noise Figure Indicates the thermal noise of the equipment. Unit: dB.
Gain (UL) Indicate the reception gain. Unit: dB.
Loss (DL) Indicate the transmission losses. Unit: dB.
Field Description
Name Indicates the feeder name.
Please refer to Chapter 4 for feeder loss at particular frequency. Unlike Atoll, it is better to
dB/100m include connector loss under jumper or miscellaneous loss as U-Net calculates cable loss by
cable length.
Field Description
Name Indicates the Site Equipment Name, e.g. DBS 3900.
Noise Figure Indicates the thermal noise parameter. The Default Noise Figure of U-Net is 2.3 dB.
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The results should appear as below after importing file with correct format.
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7.5.5 Viewing Hidden Parameters
Many parameters are not shown in the default U-Net display. They can be recalled using the following steps:
By checking the corresponding box, the actual label will appear in an excel like table after the selection has taken
place. Extra fields can also be added according to the users requirement
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User adjusted propagation model can also be created by modifying the individual K parameters, diffraction method as
well as effective height definition.
Drive test/CW data can be imported and then used for calibration which is performed in the following steps
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After choosing/creating an appropriate model for network design, this model can be assigned to each cell in the
network accordingly within the Cell table
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7.5.7 Clutter Related Modelling
User can configure individual clutter related modeling if Okumura Hata or Cost Hata were chosen with the following tab
Upon completion make sure the right selection is chosen under LTECell/Propagation Model
This will allow each clutter type to be assigned to an appropriate morphology type (Dense Urban/Urban/Suburban/
Rural) and saving the time needed for radio planner to assign different model for different cell.
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Notes: Target Load/Target Iot for simulation, Actual Iot/Actual Load for coverage prediction
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I. Max Power
The maximum power from the eNodeB by summing all the transmit paths. If eNodeB is a 2x20W configuration, the
Max power is 46dBm. An eNodeB of 2x40W will be 49dBm
II. RS Power
This is the power allocated to the Reference signal and will be dependent on the bandwidth as well as the number of
RE (15kHz) channel allocation. For example, if there is 2x20W at a 20MHz spectrum while Power Boosting (PB) = 1,
then the RS power
RSRE Power = 43dBm (20w) Log10 1200 (100 RB) + 3 (PB = 1) = 15.2dBm
Since different RE will be used for RS at different antennae, U-Net is avoiding any uncertainty in UE RSRP measurement
methods by providing only a single path RS power. It is likely the actual RSRP measured in the field be higher due to
the implementation of downlink MIMO.
III. PB
Power Boosting with a range of [0, 1, 2, 3], this value is defaulted to be 1 and represent the number of extra RE used
for the addition of Reference signal transmission.
Power value of other channels such as PCFICH, PHICH, PDCCH, PBCH, SCH can all be offset against the Reference
signal power.
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7.6.2 Load Setting
System loading will have a determining factor on throughput in an LTE network. U-Net allows user to simulate the
network with loading in both forward and reverse directions. Path: [Explorer / Network/ Transceiver / Cell /]
The number of RB allowed to be used for Simulation of traffic in cell (out of all available RB). Normally, a value of 1 (100%) is given
The number of RB allowed to be used for Prediction of traffic in cell (out of all available RB). Normally, a value of 1 (100%) is given.
Increase in uplink interference level created by Simulation traffic. Typical value is 2-4dB which corresponds to the uplink
interference margin in link budget.
Increase in uplink interference level used in Prediction. Typical value is 2-4dB which corresponds to the uplink
interference margin in link budget.
During Simulation, U-Net will gather Target load (UL/DL) and Target IoT (UL) from the configuration information. Radio planner can then
choose to commit the resulting values or not as the Actual Load and Actual IoT.
V. Neighbor load
Impact estimation due to interference from Neighbor cell can be set under Properties function of a particular
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Prediction. Path: [Explorer / Operation/ Prediction].
If Neighbor load is not selected, Actual Load value of the neighboring sector will be chosen by U-Net in neighbor
load calculation. Normally, Neighbor load value will be of 50 75%.
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Before running the allocation, ensure the band and channel index shown below are selected
I. Channel Index
Value of Channel Index will determine the frequency reuse pattern. Under Single frequency reuse (1x1), all cells will be
labeled as using Channel 0 only. With multiple frequency reuse (U-Net only support 1x3 currently), user can select N
Channel index (N = 3 under 1x3) and frequency planning function will allocate different Channel to different cell.
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In U-Net, the first step is to select the frequency Reuse pattern, then select the Channel index that can be used for
frequency planning before running the allocation. Upon completion, the frequencies will be allocated according to
the table below. An example output is shown based on 1x3 selection where Channel 0 -2 are chosen.
The style corresponds to the frequency pattern chosen and only applicable to (1x1). Basically, it shows which 1/3 part
of the frequency has been chosen by Automatic frequency plan for the downlink and uplink of a particular sector. A
graphically representation of style for downlink is shown below.
ICIC function for Uplink and Downlink can be enabled separately for simulation.
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Various settings in Edge frequency Style, ICIC switch and Channel index will not affect the prediction results as these are mainly used for traffic
simulation.
Planning engineers can select between Proportional Fairness, Round Robin or Max C/I for scheduling policy. PF is the
default and recommended policy.
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III. Max Schedule User
Controls how many users can be scheduled within a single TTI (1ms) for uplink and downlink separately. Default value
is 10. U-Net scheduler can simulation multiple TTI condition if the number of data transferring users (e.g. 30) exceed
the max schedule users (e.g. 10).
Most common antennae categories are already included as part of U-Net standard tools without any need of new
input. However, user may also need to configure special antennae due to customers requirement by incorporating
data into the 4 tables under Antenna New option.
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Parameter Description
Indicates the antenna name.
The naming rule of the U-Net antenna consists of the following four parts:
Half power angle
Name
Antenna gain
Electrical tilt
Application frequency
Manufacturer Indicates the antenna manufacturer
Gain Indicate the antenna gain. Unit: dBi.
Indicates the mechanical tilt of the antenna.
Pattern Electrical Tilt
This parameter is not used in calculation.
I. Horizontal Pattern
Parameter Description
Figure area Indicates the horizontal or vertical beam figure of the antenna.
Angle Indicates the antenna angle. Value range: 0 359
Indicates the attenuation value of the current transmission angle. Unit: dB.
Antenna gain of this angle is represented by:
Att. (dB)
Antenna Gain() = Standard Gain Attenuation()
The antenna angle is from 0 to 359, giving all angles and corresponding fading values.
Other Properties
The U-Net defines three parameters for antenna data: Beamwidth, Max Frequency and Min Frequency. However, all
these values are for labeling purposes only and dont affect prediction results
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Parameter Description
Beamwidth Indicates the antenna vertical beamwidth.
Max Frequency Indicates the maximum supported frequency.
Min Frequency Indicates the minimum supported frequency.
I. General
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Parameter Description
Name Indicates the name of the current transmitter.
Site Indicates the name of the site to which the current transmitter belongs.
Parameter Description
Indicate the offsets of coordinates X and Y of the current transmitter relative to the site
Dx, Dy location.
User can simulate a remote transmitter by setting this parameter.Equipment
Equipment Allow user to fill in total loss or add individual component such as TMA separately
TMA Indicates the tower-mounted amplifier.
Feeder Indicates the feeder type and will recall feeder table.
Power Ratio Indicates the power allocation to the transmit equipment. Default value = 1
Indicates the transmit feeder length and the receive feeder length. The feeder loss is equal to
Feeder Length
the feeder loss per unit length multiplied by the total feeder length.
Indicates the miscellaneous transmit loss and the miscellaneous receive loss.
Miscellaneous Losses The U-Net software does not establish a loss model for each piece of equipment. You can
define additional losses, such as combiner loss and power splitter loss.
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III. LTE Cell
Most of the critical parameters inside LTE cell table have been mentioned before and the content is shown here again.
Parameter Description
Indicates whether the current transmitter is activated. If Activate is selected, the current
Active transmitter is activated.
A transmitter not yet activated does not participate in any calculation.
Main Antenna
High Speed Selectable between High Speed, Low Speed and Highway
Click this button to view and modify the properties of the Advanced Parameters, Neighborlist
or Propagation Models related to this transceiver.
Frequency Band Indicates the Frequency Band used.
I. General
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II. LTE Cell Properties
Parameter Description
Main Antenna
Model Indicates the transmitter antenna.
Indicates the azimuth of the first sector for a N sector site. The U-Net software evenly
1st Sector Azimuth allocates the azimuth of the transmitter according to the azimuth of the first sector and the
number of sectors of the eNodeB.
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7.7 LTE Traffic Model Parameters
7.7.1 Overview
This chapter describes how to set the properties of LTE Parameters folder, the types of traffic maps, and the methods
for creating traffic maps.
7.7.2 Environments
Path: [Explorer/Data/Traffic Parameters/Environment/Any environment type/ Properties]
I. General
Parameter Description
Name Indicates the name of the environment type.
Indicates the user type.
User
For details on the setting of the user type in User Profiles, please see in the section below.
Indicates the mobility type corresponding to the user type.
Mobility
For details on the setting of the mobility type in User Profiles, please see in the section below.
Density Indicates the user density in subscribers/km2.
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II. Clutter Weight
Field Description
Clutter class Indicates the clutter class.
Weight Indicates the user distribution weight corresponding to the clutter class.
Indicates the proportion of indoor users corresponding to the clutter class.
%Indoor For indoor users, indoor loss is added during the simulation. The indoor loss per clutter class is user
settable in the clutter properties. Please refer to 7.4.3 Properties of Clutter Class.
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Parameter Description
Name Indicates the name of the user profile.
Indicates the service used by the current user.
Service
Please refer details on the setting of Service to Services section
Indicates the terminal of the current service.
Terminal
Please refer to Terminal section for setting detail
Calls/hour Indicates the number of calls per hour.
Duration Indicates the duration of a call in seconds.
UL Volume (Kbytes) Indicates the uplink user volume.
DL Volume (Kbytes) Indicates the downlink user volume.
7.7.4 Terminals
Path: [Explorer/Data/Traffic Parameters/Terminals Profiles/Any Terminal type/ Properties]
Parameter Description
Name Indicates the name of the current terminal type.
Indicates the type of equipment used by the current terminal. Defined under Path: [Explorer/
Reception Equipment
Data/Traffic Parameters/ Terminals Profiles/Any Terminal type/ Properties]
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Parameter Description
Indicates the minimum transmit power allowed for the current terminal.
During the simulation, the U-Net software calculates the transmit power of the terminal
Min Power required to meet the current network QoS requirements. If the required transmit power
of the terminal is lower than this value, the terminal transmits signals using this minimum
transmit power.
Indicates the maximum transmit power allowed for the current terminal.
During the simulation, the U-Net software calculates the transmit power of the terminal
Max Power required to meet the current network QoS requirements. If the transmit power of the
terminal is greater than this value, the terminal is denied by the U-Net and limit the transmit
power to Tx Max.
Losses Indicates the receive loss of the terminal.
Noise Figure Indicates the noise figure of the terminal.
Antenna
Model Indicates the model of the terminal antenna. In general, this parameter should be left blank.
Gain Indicates the antenna gain of the terminal.
Spatial Multiplex Support Indicates the antenna technology used by the terminal.
Indicates the number of transmit antennas and the number of receive antennas at the
MIMO
terminal side.
Parameter Description
Name Indicates the name of the mobility type.
Average Speed Indicates the terminal rate.
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7.7.6 Services
Path: [Explorer/Data/Traffic Parameters/Services/LTE/Any Services type/ Properties]
Parameter Description
Name Indicates the service name.
Type Indicates the service type, which can be set to Voice or Data.
GBR Indicates the GBR service. You can select the GBR service only after selecting Data.
Indicates the priority of the current service.
Priority During the simulation, low-priority services are denied first when the cell resources reach the upper limit.
1 represents the lowest priority.
Indicates the uplink/downlink activation factor. This parameter is required for only the CS services.
Activity Factor Uplink: uplink activation factor. Value range is from 0 to 1.
Downlink: downlink activation factor. Value range is from 0 to 1.
Indicates the rate of the CS services. The unit is kbit/s. The values are 4.75, 5.15, 5.9, 6.7, 7.4, 7.95,
AMR Rate
10.2, and 12.2.
Max Throughput Indicates the uplink or downlink maximum throughput per service
Min Throughput Indicates the uplink or downlink minimum throughput of the service.
Average Indicates the average throughput requested by the service (using in creating a traffic map based on
Throughput environment only).
Indicates the uplink/downlink transmission rate.
Transmission
Uplink transmission rate. Value range is 0.01 to 1.
Efficiency
Downlink transmission rate. Value range is 0.01 to 1.
IBER Indicates the block error rate. Value range is 0 to 100.
This parameter is used to calculate the application layer throughput. Indicates the fixed uplink/downlink
overhead, which is the length added to an encapsulated packet during the transmission at the MAC or
Offset RLC layer.
Uplink: fixed uplink overhead. Value is 0 to 232.
Downlink: fixed downlink overhead. Value is 0 to 232.
Body loss Indicates the body loss, which is usually 3 dB for voice services and not considered for data services.
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7.7.7 Traffic Map
The U-Net software provides a total of three types of traffic maps.
Parameter Description
Map based on Environments (Raster) Indicates the traffic map based on environments.
Map based on User Profiles (vectors) Indicates the traffic map based on user profiles.
Map based on Transceiver Coverage Indicates the traffic map based on the coverage.
Select the Environment type (DU/U/SU/RU) as discussed in previous section for a particular Polygon chosen to create
Environment traffic map. The Environment type will have the user type and their density distributed according to clutter
weighting defined under Environment.
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III. Map based on User Profiles (Vectors)
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Parameter Description
User profile Indicates the user profile.
Mobility Indicates the mobility type.
Density Indicates the traffic density in subscribers/km2
Parameter Description
Name Indicates the name of the area/polyon to which the vector area belongs.
Density Indicates the traffic density of the vector area in subscribers/km2.
The transceiver selected will be based on the Prediction Group chosen. A prediction group will only be created after
a prediction has been carried out. So only transceiver that had prediction information attached will be part of any
prediction group.
Path: [Explorer/Geo/Traffic/Map based on Transmitters and Services & Map based on Transmitters and Services (#Users)/
Properties]
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Parameter Description
Terminals (%) Indicate the distribution ratios of terminals and mobility of the service or user.
Mobility (%) If the total ratio is not equal to 100%, the U-Net software automatically recalculates the ratios.
Weight Indicate the distribution weight and indoor distribution ratio of the service or user for
% Indoor different clutter classes.
The input here is the number of users for each service type
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Parameter Description
Prediction Group Selects a coverage prediction group
Indicates the transmitter name, which is set in the properties of a single transmitter in the
Tx_ID
Transmitters folder.
LTEFTP (UL) Indicates the number of uplink users corresponding to the FTP service.
LTEFTP (DL) Indicates the number of downlink users corresponding to the FTP service.
LTE (UL) VideoConferencing Indicates the number of uplink users corresponding to the video conferencing service
LTE (DL) VideoConferencing Indicates the number of downlink users corresponding to the video conferencing service
LTEVoIP (UL) Indicates the number of uplink users corresponding to the VoIP service
LTEVoIP (DL) Indicates the number of downlink users corresponding to the VoIP service
LTE (UL) WebBrowsing Indicates the number of uplink users corresponding to the Web browsing service
LTE (DL) WebBrowsing Indicates the number of downlink users corresponding to the Web browsing service
7.8.1 Predictions
Path: [Explorer/Operations/Predictions/Properties]
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I. General information
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Indicates the resolution of the prediction map.
If the precision is not specified for a prediction, the default precision (50m) is used for the
Resolution
prediction. Otherwise, the precision specified for the prediction is used. In general, the
prediction precision is the same as the map precision.
Indicates the handover threshold of intra-frequency cells. This parameter is valid during the
Intra-Frequency Handover (dB)
prediction of the counters Handover Area and Overlapping Zones
Indicates the handover threshold of inter-frequency cells. This parameter is valid during the
Inter-Frequency Handover (dB)
prediction of the counters Handover Area and Overlapping Zones.
Polygon Indicates the area calculated in coverage prediction.
Neighbour load Loading of Neighbour cells. Please refer to Load Setting section
With Shadow Indicates whether shadow fading is considered in the calculation
Cell Edge Coverage Indicates the probability of cell edge coverage, ie, the probability that the receive signal
Probability strength is stronger than the specified threshold at the edge of a cell
Indoor Coverage Indicates whether penetration loss is considered in the calculation
Indicates whether frequency offset is considered in the calculation.
If RS Shifting is selected during the prediction of the counter DL RS SINR, it indicates that
RS Shifting the interference is calculated according to values of cell PCIs after the modulo operation
is performed. If cell PCIs are not planned, only the interference on the RS is taken into
consideration.
II. Advanced
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III. Condition
Parameter Description
Parameter on the left of the Indicates the lower limit of the predicted value. No calculation is performed if the value of
inequality the parameter in the middle of the equality is lower than this value.
Parameter in the middle of
Indicates the method used for the current prediction.
the inequality
Parameter on the right of the Indicates the upper limit of the predicted value. No calculation is performed if the value of
inequality the parameter in the middle of the equality is higher than this value.
Service Indicates a service type
Terminal Indicates a terminal type
Mobility Indicates a mobility type
Interferer Reception
Indicates the interference threshold
Threshold (dBm)
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In either Cumulative Distribution Function or Probability Distribution Function format
7.8.2 Simulation
Path: [Explorer/Operation/Simulations/]
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I. Setting
Traffic Map needs to be created prior to running simulations. Once it is ready, Planner can adjust the Source Traffic
table as below.
Parameter Description
Indicates the scaling factor of user number.
Global Scaling Factor
Number of users = Size x User density x Scaling factor of user number
Select Traffic Maps Indicates a traffic map to be selected.
Select Calculate Area Indicates a calculation area to be selected.
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Finally, configuration of Advance Parameters Table is also required
Parameter Description
Indicates the number of transmission time intervals (TTIs) within a snapshot. U-Net adopts the
semi-dynamic simulation to obtain the instantaneous network information as per TTI within
Number of TTI
a snapshot. A larger TTI count allow better reflection of scheduling, therefore increases the
precision of simulation results but requires longer calculation period.
Site Corr Indicates the shadow fading factor on the base station side.
UL IOT Convergence Indicates the uplink IoT convergence threshold, which is used for checking whether a
Threshold network is converged.
UL Load Convergence Indicates the uplink load convergence threshold, which is use for checking whether a
Threshold (%) network is converged.
DL Load Convergence Indicates the downlink load convergence threshold, which is used for checking whether a
Threshold (%) network is converged.
UL Throughput Convergence Indicates the uplink throughput convergence threshold, which is used for checking whether
Threshold (%) a network is converged.
DL Throughput Convergence Indicates the downlink throughput convergence threshold, which is used for checking
Threshold (%) whether a network is converged.
TTI Bundling Indicates whether TTI Bundling is considered.
VMIMO Indicates whether the virtual multiple-input and multiple-output (VMIMO) is considered.
IRC Indicates whether interference rejection combining (IRC) is considered.
HARQ Indicates whether hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) gain is considered.
Fix User Position Indicates whether the location of user is fixed.
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148
Individual users simulation results can also be seen by pointing the mouse on top of the user locations within the
Simulation
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II. Simulation Results
Various results can be obtained from the simulation results, including cell loading, IoT, and throughput results. Planners
can then see the average value as well as the distributions of these results graphically.
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7.9 Point Analysis Tool
This section describes how to use the point analysis window and explains the relevant parameters.
7.9.1 Profile
Purpose of this window is to display the terrain profile in relation to signal loss.
Parameter Description
Indicates the transmitter. After you specify the transmitter, you can view the profile of the
Transmitter
path from a point on the map to this transmitter.
Path Loss/DL RSRP Choose to display either the path loss or the DL RSRP at the Cursor.
Cell Edge Coverage Probability User enter the required value and Margin needed will be displayed
7.9.2 Reception
Parameter Description
Indicates the names and signal strength of all the cells available for the terminal at the Cursor
Display area
location
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7.9.3 Signal Analysis
Parameter Description
Indicates a simulation or a group of simulations, whose simulation results are used to
Simulation group
simulate the current analysis environment.
Indicate the type of the terminal, moving speed, service, and the permitted access carrier of
Terminal or Mobility or Service
the terminal represented by .
7.9.4 Result
This page displays the coordinates and altitude of the current cursor location, the class of clutter in the position where the
terminal is located as well as list of cells from which signals can be received,the received signal strength and Clutter class
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Path: [Explorer/Operation/LTE Cell Planning/]
Parameter Description
Name Indicates the name of an RF planning group
Analysis Area Indicates the RF auto-planning area
Simulation Area Indicates the simulation area of RF auto-planning (this area must contain the analysis area.)
Indicates the maximum number of iterations. Value range is from 0 to 32,768. The greater
Max Iteration Count the number of iterations is, the more accurate the planning result is but longer time the
calculation takes.
Resolution Indicates the precision in calculation.Value range is from 0 to 10,000
Indicates the percentage of the downlink RSRP that reaches the specified threshold in the
RSRP Target Ratio
selected calculation area. Value range is from 0 to 100.
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Parameter Description
Indicates the weight of the RSRP performance counter of a cell. Value range is from 0 to 1.
RSRP FitnessWeight
RS SINR Fitness Weight + RSRP Fitness Weight = 1
Indicates the weight of the RS SINR performance counter of a cell. Value range is from 0 to 1.
RS SINR Fitness Weight
RS SINR Fitness Weight + RSRP Fitness Weight = 1
Indicates the percentage of the downlink RS SINR that reaches the specified threshold in the
RS SINR Target Ratio
selected calculation area.
Calculate Now Indicates whether to perform the RF auto-planning immediately
Parameter Description
Indicates the size of a population, that is, the total number of individuals in a population. In
U-Net, an individual represents the configuration combination of the RF parameters related
Population Size to all the cells in a calculation area. Individuals of Population Size are calculated in each
iteration and the greater the number of individuals, the more accurate the planning result is,
but the longer time the calculation takes. Value range is from 10 to 40.
Antenna Tilt Max or Min
Indicates the maximum/minimum downtilt angle. Value range is from -90 to 90.
Value
Indicates the maximum adjustment range of the downtilt angle.The value range is from 0 to
Antenna Tilt Max Range
180.
Indicates the minimum adjustment range of the downtilt angle. The value range is from -180
Antenna Tilt Min Range
to 0.
Tilt Step Size Indicates the step length at which the downtilt angle is adjusted. Value range is from 0 to 90.
Reference Power Max or Min Indicates the maximum/minimum transmit power of the reference signal. Value range is from
(dBm) -32,768 to 32,768.
Indicates the maximum adjustment range of the reference signal. Value range is from 0 to
Maximum Range
32,768
Indicates the minimum adjustment range of the reference signal. Value range is from -32,768
Minimum Range
to 0.
Indicates the step length at which the reference signal is adjusted. Value range is from 0 to
Power Step Size
32,768.
Antenna Azimuth Max Range Indicates the maximum adjustment range of the azimuth. Value range is from 0 to 360.
Antenna Azimuth Min Range Indicates the minimum adjustment range of the azimuth. Value range is from -360 to 0.
Antenna Azimuth Step Size Indicates the step length at which the azimuth is adjusted. Value range is from 0 to 360.
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Clutter Name Area (sq.km.) Percentage (%)
unclassified 0 0.0
sea 0.05 0.2
inland_water 1.17 3.9
wetland 0 0.0
barren 0 0.0
grass/agriculture 3.71 12.3
rangeland 0 0.0
woodland 2.31 7.7
forest 0 0.0
village 0 0.0
suburban 0 0.0
dense_suburban 0.61 2.0
urban 0.52 1.7
dense_urban 2.94 9.8
core_urban 3.42 11.4
building_blocks 0.01 0.0
industrial 0.83 2.8
airport 0.01 0.0
open_in_urban 0.2 0.6
open 14.35 47.6
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7.11.3 Parameter Configuration and General Assumption
According to the network design requirements and agreements with Operator, the planning parameters are configured
in U-Net. Necessary assumptions are made based on wireless network planning experiences. These common
assumptions have been applied in global LTE projects
Parameter Value
Used DL Spectrum 2630-2650 MHz
Used UL Spectrum 2510-2530 MHz
Frequency (GHz) 2.6
Bandwidth (MHz) 20
eNB Antenna Configuration 2T2R
UE Antenna Configuration 1T2R
eNB Tx Power (W) 2x20
eNB Noise Figure (dB) 2.5
eNB Antenna Height (m) According to Engineering Information
eNB Cable Loss (dB) 0
eNB Jumper Loss (dB) 0.5
UE Tx Power (dBm) 23
UE Antenna Gain (dBi) 0
UE Antenna Height (m) 1.5
UE Cable Loss (dB) 0
Body Loss (dB) 0
UE Noise Figure (dB) 7
Propagation Model Used COST231-Hata (Huawei)
PDCCH: 3 symbols
Control channel overheads
PUCCH: 9 RBs
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Name Penetration Loss (dB) Model Standard Deviation (dB)
unclassified 0 7
sea 6 7
inland_water 6 7
wetland 6 7
barren 6 4
grass/agriculture 6 4
rangeland 6 4
woodland 6 4
forest 6 4
village 12 7
suburban 14 7
dense_suburban 16 9
urban 18 9
dense_urban 20 11
core_urban 20 11
building_blocks 20 11
industrial 14 7
airport 14 7
open_in_urban 6 4
open 6 4
I. Downlink RSRP
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II. Uplink RSRP
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IV. PUSCH SINR
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VI. Uplink MAC Peak Throughput
The above coverage prediction plots show that in 95% of the planning area, DL and UL RSRP levels are higher than -115dBm,
PDSCH SINR and PUSCH SINR levels are higher than -5dB, DL and UL MAC Peak Throughput levels are higher than 5Mbps.
FTP service is considered in the Monte Carlo simulation. The traffic map is created based on cell coverage and designed
as following settings.
Terminal %
MIMO Terminal LTE 100
Mobile Terminal LTE 0
Mobility %
30 km/h 0
50 km/h 0
60 km/h 0
90 km/h 0
Fixed 80
Pedestrian 20
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Clutter Class Weight % Indoor
unclassified 0 0
sea 0 0
inland_water 0 0
wetland 0 0
barren 1 0
grass/agriculture 1 0
rangeland 1 0
woodland 1 0
forest 1 0
village 1 0
suburban 1 0
dense_suburban 2 0
urban 2 0
dense_urban 3 0
core_urban 1 0
building_blocks 1 0
industrial 1 0
airport 1 0
open_in_urban 1 0
open 1 0
Users are created randomly in the Monte Carlo Simulation. One of five Snapshots is presented in figure below. Part of
the simulation result is presented in the table below.
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MAC MAC
Tx Power IoT(UL)
Site Transceiver Load (UL) Load (DL) Throughput Throughput
(dBm) (dB)
(UL) (kbps) (DL) (kbps)
403 4031 41.17 5.60 0.89 0.94 22,750.17 30,452.48
403 4032 41.12 5.67 0.94 0.90 20,597.09 26,731.86
403 4033 41.20 5.29 0.98 0.97 28,958.01 33,994.38
405 4051 41.20 8.54 0.97 0.96 23,103.69 24,083.91
405 4052 41.13 8.35 0.97 0.96 15,406.92 23,570.73
405 4053 41.11 7.08 0.96 0.99 20,397.32 29,832.70
4050 40501 41.21 5.53 0.85 0.92 24,937.39 34,495.55
4050 40502 41.07 6.28 0.90 0.98 22,811.09 29,829.18
4050 40503 41.14 5.57 0.93 0.93 26,540.54 30,793.67
4051 40511 41.13 9.51 0.95 1.00 14,012.50 22,644.85
4051 40512 41.16 5.95 0.91 1.00 14,103.35 27,611.93
4051 40513 41.15 6.25 0.92 0.99 17,009.39 30,454.95
4052 40521 41.15 6.81 0.98 0.98 20,963.90 28,689.63
4052 40522 41.10 8.72 0.99 0.87 20,852.64 27,229.36
4052 40523 41.14 6.93 0.99 1.00 30,605.76 31,372.96
Cell throughput is the benchmark to evaluate the system capacity. The cell throughput statistics results (both downlink
and uplink) are presented in the figures below. It shows that over 95% cells can reach over 15Mbps DL throughput
and 10Mbps UL throughput in the target area. Cell capacity of this simulation case is good enough.
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8 LTE Network Key Performance Indicators
LTE KPIs are mainly classified into 5 classes, which are, Accessibility, Retainability, Mobility, Latency, and Integrity. The
KPI architecture is shown in the following figure.
KPI Architecture
The above KPI classification fully considers the customer experience and focuses on the Quality of Experience,
providing a wide range of network KPIs to reflect network factors that are relative to the service quality, using industry
standards as reference to define network counters and KPIs.
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During the phase of preliminary acceptance before commercial launch, KPIs will be derived from the drive test analysis
and stationary measurements, and this analysis and measurement are on the basis of cluster which constitutes a group
of sites (20-40 sites).
Statistics KPIs are not proposed and measured at this stage as the traffic is insufficient, statistics will not eligible
statistical result without enough samples.
After on-going optimization while the traffic keeps increasing after commercial launch, the final acceptance of the
whole network performance on the basis of statistics will be implemented. However, the KPI values of statistics
probably might not be same with those in drive test due to different calculations and considerations.
Service KPIs are the KPIs that are not subject to be effected by cluster tuning and optimization activities, mainly
determined by product performance, configuration and parameter setting, e.g. ping delay, throughput, etc. We
recommend that only one cluster (named pilot cluster) is selected for the evaluation and acceptance for the Service
KPIs, no necessary for repeating the measurement in all clusters
Based on the above reasons, the Service KPIs test is suggested to be performed by Stationary Test (ST) in the area with
good RF conditions and close to the cell in order to eliminate the affect of poor RF or non-equipment factor and the
test is proposed to be implemented under the condition of one serving cell.
Whereas, for Network KPIs, such as Call setup success rate, Call Drop Rate, Handover Success Rate, which is
determined by the radio network environment, planning and optimization capabilities, should be performed on the
Drive Test (DT) routes in rollout clusters.
Performing optimization/acceptance per Cluster is recommended. Cluster means a group of sites (Normally 20-40
sites) which are geographically neighbor and all the eNodeBs of this test cluster should be integrated and on air,
along with surrounding neighbor cells, but the actual sites number of per cluster should be flexible to allow a faster
rollout and acceptance.
For cluster optimization, the planning of the test route shall consider the handover performance, neighboring
relations, coverage, etc. In general the test routes shall be planned according to the following criteria:
(a) All sectors of each site in the cluster should be covered by the drive route, if possible.
(b) Routes shall pass through Key business centers, major roads, shopping centers, tourist attractions and railway stations.
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8.5 Proposed Key Performance Indicators
There are two types of methods for KPIs measurement: Field Test and Statistic Collection. Different measurement
methods and KPI categories shall be taken into consideration so as to match the following two acceptance phases.
For Preliminary Acceptance (before the commercial launch), low traffic (even empty) is not able to produce
sufficient traffic data to evaluate the correlative Statistics KPIs. The main purpose of Preliminary Acceptance is to
verify whether the optimized cluster achieves the coverage and performance requirements or not, so the Field Test
(Drive Test and Stationary Test) KPIs are recommended for this phase.
For Final Acceptance (after the commercial launch), statistics collection method could be introduced under the
condition that a minimum amount of traffic per site at the Busy Hour is reached (the sufficient data are available).
Based on worldwide experiences of LTE commercial networks, the following KPIs are suggested for Preliminary
Acceptance and Final Acceptance separately.
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9 Network Planning Checklist
9.1 Introduction
By now, radio planning engineers should have a good understanding on the technological background, limitations
and considerations required for the planning of a LTE network. This chapter will go through the required information
step by step from a practical implementation perspective to highlight the approach needed for both radio engineers in
deciding on the strategy required for LTE network planning.
The purpose of the checklist is to ensure all the major aspects are considered either from our intelligence or with
customer input. With all these information on hand, the final network plan created will sure be more customer relevant
and less rework will be required.
However, it is generally true downtown area would require higher bandwidth (15MHz or 20MHz) due to higher traffic
requirement while rural and/or suburban area may only require smaller bandwidth (10MHz). Further issues need
clarifications include
Spectrum availability and timeframe e.g. will customer buy more spectrum in same band, different band.
Will customer need to perform migration or refarming of 2G/3G technologies first before spectrum is available for LTE
Any government plan for Spectrum recovery (e.g. swapping customer current spectrum to another band)
Any spectrum licenses restrictions (e.g. Spectrum only available within 100km from City centre)
Will the entire network be running on the same frequency spectrum (e.g. City is 2.6G but countryside is 800)
Too often proposals are based on wrong assumptions on spectrum and the available bandwidth that will be used for
new network deployment which results in a significant cost and work implications.
The same five questions/issues raised in Understanding Customer Spectrum Bandwidth Availability also need to be
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clarified here if it has not be done so before any detail planning activities are to begin.
It is also worth noting here although the bits/Hz value will not change with different frequency band (i.e. per cell
capacity is bandwidth not frequency band dependent), the final capacity offer by the network will be different due
to the coverage requirement. This is mainly because the final site count is more likely to be determined by coverage
requirement and the capacity offered by the network is the product of site count x capacity per site.
For radio planners, answers to these questions are highly variable and every network will be different due to their
current capacity status, growth forecast, marketing strategies and even management preferences to showcase their
technological leadership or not. As a result, it is recommended until a clear vision is obtained from customer for all 3
questions listed above, no detail network design activities should begin.
In case where LTE is to be introduced after spectrum refarming, the following items will need to be considered carefully
prior to detail network design:
Any co-location with Existing Technology (2G/3G)?
Guard Band in place already? If not, Guard band spectrum availability?
Additional passive equipment/path loss introduced due to possible equipment swap out (e.g. antennae change,
jumper cable, coupler or splitter addition) to enable co-siting with existing technology (CDMA/GSM/UMTS)
Changes in Hardware (e.g. RRU, TMA) which will lead to path loss changes.
Extra workload requirement due to refarming which may have human resources impact (e.g. require GSM planning).
Not necessary LTE specific but will be required by 2G/3G e.g. introducing TFR to improve GSM efficiency first.
Currently, there is also a big push in Europe for white spot (rural) wireless DSL coverage in Europe DD spectrum based
on LTE. Therefore, different customers will have different focus on traffic requirement.
In general, high subscriber density area are most likely made up of users with low mobility so the emphasis on site
placement for dense urban is more critical and it is important to be closer to users in high traffic area. On the other
hand, in rural and highway condition, users are likely to be of lower usage and of higher speed so maximizing
coverage through site antenna height or higher terrain is more important.
In summary, radio planning engineers need to have a good understanding of where customer traffic will be in order
to allocate an appropriate distribution of base stations. This allocation can be affected by such factors as indoor
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penetration margin and slow fading margin in the link budget. If customer focus is just in covering dense urban area, it
will be inappropriate to design a radio network with solid coverage everywhere (suburban/rural alike) where customer
do not appreciate the value or return on their investment.
One major problem for this type of coverage is the feasibility of installation due to for example space and air
conditioning restrictions inside tunnel or location restrictions along major highway so Radio planner also need to
ensure the appropriate type of eNodeB is chosen. In general, it is NOT a good practice to rely on the external eNodeBs
to provide coverage inside the tunnel.
Hence, understanding the current status of the underlying network from both a coverage and performance perspective
is critical in finalizing the LTE network design and capacity planning. For example,
It is unwise to place an InterRAT border in a heavily congested area.
Similarly, it is not appropriate to locate an InterRAT border in location where the existing 3G or 2G network is of
poor coverage.
It is also not recommended to place any InterRAT border along interRNC/BSC or inter PLMN border area.
Try to locate LTE InterRAT border in area where customer network is offering good throughput to reduce the level
of future customer complaint.
In order to make these InterRAT boundary decision intelligently, it is reasonable to request traffic loading and
performance information from the customer regarding the existing network both within and on the edge of the
proposed LTE network
Besides data resolution, it is also important to ensure the clutter data is not shifted from the real structural location.
Another important factor is when the database was made available and when was the latest update made. It is very
worthwhile to valid the clutter information against other sources of information e.g. Google earth (which is normally 3
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to 6 months late) to ensure critical structures have been included.
Nevertheless, at important indoor locations such as lobbies of major hotels, popular sport stadium, subway stations
and airports, there is always a need of indoor microcell and customer is normally quite willingness to pay for the extra
coverage. On the other hand, customer may have difficulties in accessing certain buildings or shopping malls so these
areas may need to be covered by outdoor eNodeBs which will increase the penetration requirement.
Depending on the network morphologies weighting, final site count will also be affected as it would be unwise to
assume high data traffic usage uniformly across the entire network. It is likely high data usage traffic be concentrated
around dense urban and urban area while Rural and Highway area will consist of lower than average data user. By
assigning appropriate data user model inside U-net, different usage behavior should be simulated accordingly.
Other important questions to be considered before finalizing the network plan are
How much spare capacity the network has to tackle the growth and change in subscribers usage without adding
extra equipment?
How well data hot spots (e.g. big shopping mall, major pedestrian walkways, major stadium and other high profile
locations) are covered? Do they have dedicated cell coverage?
How much penetration margin is provided for indoor coverage? Indoor user will be a major factor for interference
generation to other users due to the higher power requirement.
Any major driver for surprise usage increase in the near future? (e.g. Government legislation to improve rural/
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suburban usage, home DSL replacement package, shutting down of existing data network and migrating users to
new LTE networks)
On the other hand, if the LTE network is to be overlay on other vendors network within the same frequency band,
addition loss (e.g. combiners, splitters and jumper cables) needs to be included in the prediction design to ensure all
the extra combining loss are included due to equipment co-siting.
While use of separate and/or new antenna may incur additional project cost, radio planners need to evaluate the
benefit of having this tilting and orientation flexibility carefully on a site by site basis. Existing radio networks are also
likely to have additional downtilt for coverage control purposes so independent tilt for Greenfield LTE network may
help to reduce the final site count required.
New multiband antennae now offered by Huawei Agisson can provide independent electrical tilt for different band
which may be useful for some situations. However, certain network requirements may demand new antennae
altogether due to different network coverage requirement.
Finally, installation of new antennae in certain locations may not be possible due to local authority restriction, for
example: inside shared antenna system in major shopping malls, tunnels and sporting stadium. Hence, radio engineers
need to ensure project team or customer can provide appropriate installation feasibility for such locations. In general,
engineers should not rely on tunnel coverage to be provided by radio signals coming from the base station located
outside the tunnel premises.
In addition, indoor DAS (distributed antenna system) may contribute to interference problem particularly on the
uplink due to PIM related inter-modulation, over drive of input RF power as well as impedance mismatch between
components.
Wideband repeaters operating in the same or even adjacent band to the LTE networks may generate unwelcomed
interference. Due the close vicinity to traditional microwave frequencies, LTE networks at 2.3G to 2.6G may also be
subjected to interference either from standard microwave, satellite transmission or MMDS/LMDS networks. Conversely,
700/800MHz digital dividend spectrum could be subjected to interference signals coming from big television
broadcasting towers. These two factors could lead to extra guard band and worst case full retune requirement for
protection purposes.
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At certain cell site sectors, antenna orientation and tilt may need to be adjusted to avoid interference from external
sources and existing customer network configuration may give hints in this direction.
Although external interference sometimes could be unavoidable due to various reasons, ideally, radio engineers should
choose a spectrum that is relatively clean in both the uplink and downlink for new LTE systems deployment.
Finally, interference increase due to traffic loading is always an important consideration especially when subscriber
number increases. Careful planning of location update border and coverage control remains two of the most important
techniques in resolving this problem.
All these considerations will affect the selection of network components involved (e.g. filter bandwidth, RRU power
and guard band/spectrum requirement). Depending on the chosen direction, the total path loss will also be different
so radio engineers need to discuss with customer in detail on their plan and preference to ensure the discussion results
are reflected in the detail network design plan.
However, radio engineers need to remember the addition of new antennae may incur extra CAPEX and OPEX cost on
the operator due to extra mounting pole requirement so prior customer discussion is recommended.
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Radio engineer should also discuss with customer to ensure any sites needing extended coverage are addressed by
using the Long CP configuration as discussed in Chapter 3 and 6.
Although the expansion of backhaul capacity will normally occur in conjunction with LTE access network rollout, it is
still essential to ensure no commitment of radio access throughput beyond backhaul latency, capability and capacity is
made. Transmission expansion based on microwave could be lengthy from a time perspective due to various technical
and spectrum regulations so radio planners should report their requirement as soon as possible.
If the target network is a dense metropolis like Hong Kong, Shanghai or Singapore, using the wrong incorrect (higher
mobility) channel models will have a higher demand on capacity and throughput estimation. On the other hand, for more
mobility oriented cities in Western Europe, North America and Australia/New Zealand, using a more pedestrian oriented
channel model will most likely result in an under-estimation of equipment requirement. This is because power control
works much more efficiently in low mobility environment and its gain diminishes as the speed of mobility increases.
Hence, radio engineers should observe the local condition and make appropriate adjustment in their radio plan.
Radio engineers are recommended to determine the traffic ratio between downlink and uplink from the customers
current network to assist in the selection of appropriate slot assignment ratio. Requirement of extended cell can also
be determined via customer discussion and current network coverage review to minimize provisioning of guard band
in LTE TDD network.
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factor will help to improve coverage perception and reduce cell site count as RSRP is always a major requirement from
customer.
However, once network traffic grows steadily, there will be a need to scale back power boosting as
Power Boosting consumes extra RE that could have been used for traffic
The higher the MIMO order, the more RE will be consumed
More new sites are likely to be added to enhance coverage as well as capacity so Power boosting will indeed have
a negative impact on coverage control in this situation.
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10 Appendix: RF Antenna Systems
10.1 Overview
Antenna is a device which converts an electric wave guided by a conductor into a free-space, unguided
electromagnetic wave, and vice versa. Electrical energy is fed to the antenna via a transmission line, a conductor which
passes electrical energy from one point to another. A matching device is usually required to ease the abrupt transition
between the guided and the free wave. The wave guided by the line is radiated into space by the antenna.
10.2.1 Frequency
Antennas can be classified as single-band antennas (narrow-band antennas), wide-band antennas, dual-band
antennas, triple-band antennas, etc
10.2.2 Directivity
Antennas can be omnidirectional, sector or directive. Omni-directional antennas radiate roughly the same pattern all
around the antenna in a complete 360 pattern. The most popular types of omnidirectional antennas are the dipole
and the ground plane. Sectorial antennas radiate primarily in a specific area. The beam can be as wide as 180 degrees,
or as narrow as 60 degrees. Directional or directive antennas are antennas in which the beamwidth is much narrower
than in sector antennas. They have the highest gain and therefore used for long distance coverage. Types of directive
antennas are the Yagi, the biquad, the horn, the helicoidal, the patch antenna, the parabolic dish, and many others.
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Power capacity
Impedance
Third order intermodulation
The only major band not covered by Huawei Agisson is 700MHz band used mainly for US LTE networks.
dBi: the capability of concentrating power by actual directional antenna (including omnidirectional) compared with
the isotropic antenna. The i in dBi means isotropic.
dBd: the capability of concentrating power by actual directional antenna (including omnidirectional) compared with
half-wave dipole antenna. The d in dBd means dipole.
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Figure 10-1 Relation between dBi and dBd
The antenna gain is relevant to the number of oscillator units, horizontal and vertical beamwidth.
The antenna pattern is a cubic figure, usually represented by two patterns which are vertical to each other in a main
plane. This is the surface pattern. The surface pattern includes vertical pattern and horizontal pattern. There are also
omnidirectional antenna pattern and directional antenna pattern. There are other special directional antennas, such as
heart-shaped antenna and 8-shaped antenna.
The directionality of antenna lies in the ranking of oscillators and the variety of feeder phase, similar to the
interferometric effect of optics in principium. As a result, the power in some directions is strengthened while the power
in some directions is weakened. The lobes of various shapes and zero points form. The lobe with the highest power is
the main lobe. The lobes near the main lobe with the second highest power are the first side lobes. The second side
lobes are those with the third highest power. The directional antenna produces a rear lobe. Figure 6-2 shows the
horizontal and vertical patterns of directional antenna.
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Figure 10-2 Horizontal and vertical patterns of directional antenna
10.3.4 Beamwidth
The beamwidth is also called the half power beamwidth, including horizontal beamwidth and vertical beamwidth. The
horizontal beamwidth and vertical beamwidth is the beamwidth between two points where the power is lower 50% (3
dB) than the maximum radiation power. The common horizontal beamwidth of eNodeB antennas includes 360, 90,
65, 60, and 33. The common vertical beamwidth of eNodeB antennas includes 6.5, 7, 10, 13, and 16.
Wherein,
Ga: the antenna gain in the unit of dBi.
: the vertical beamwidth in the unit of dBi.
: the horizontal beamwidth in the unit of dBi.
According to the previous formula, if you have known the antenna gain and horizontal, you can calculate the vertical
beamwidth.
For example, for an omnidirectional antenna, the gain is 11 dBi, the horizontal beamwidth is 360, so the vertical
beamwidth is calculated as below:
Due to the deficiency of design and manufacturing process, the actual vertical beamwidth of omnidirectional antenna is
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usually smaller than the calculated result. The less difference between the two beamwidth, the better the antenna is designed.
Figure 10-3 Relation among antenna gain, vertical beamwidth, and horizontal beamwidth
According to the figure above, when the antenna gain is low, the vertical beamwidth and horizontal beamwidth are
usually large. When the antenna gain is high, the vertical beamwidth and horizontal beamwidth are usually small.
In addition, the antenna gain depends on the number of oscillators. The larger the number of oscillators, the higher
the gain is and the larger the aperture of antenna (the effective receiving area) is. For an omnidirectional antenna, if the
antenna gain increases by 3 dB, the antenna length will double. Therefore, the antenna gain is usually within 11 dBi.
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the D/U ratio (the ratio of strength of useful signal to that of interference signal). The level of the first upper side lobe
compared with main lobe shall be smaller than 18 dB. This is invalid to the antennas of macro cell eNodeB.
The electromagnetic wave of which the spatial direction of electric filed vector keeps fixed any time is the linear
polarization wave. With the ground as a reference, the polarization of which the direction of electric field vector is
parallel to ground is the horizontal polarization wave and polarization of which the direction of electric field vector is
vertical to ground is the horizontal polarization wave.
The elliptical polarization wave and circular polarization wave have polarization direction.
The electromagnetic wave of different bands caters for different polarization modes for propagation. The mobile
communication systems usually choose vertical polarization while the broadcasting systems usually choose horizontal
polarization. The elliptical polarization usually applies for satellite communication.
The polarization modes of antennas include the polarization and dual polarization, and they are all linear polarization.
The dual polarization antenna reduces the impact from multi-path attenuation and improves the quality of signals
received by the eNodeB by using polarization diversity. The dual polarization antenna in LTE networks usually use 45
cross polarization mode.
You can adjust the mechanical down tilt and electrical down tilt simultaneously.
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So the reflection coefficient is calculated as below:
You can also represent the matching character of port with echo loss as below:
When the input impedance of antenna is not equal to characteristic impedance, the reflected and incident waves form
standing wave after overlapping on the feeder. The ratio of the maximum adjacent voltage of standing wave to the
minimum adjacent voltage of standing wave is the voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR). If the VSWR is over large, the
communication distance will be shortened and the reflected power will return the transmitter. As a result, the power
amplifier may be burnt and the communication system will work abnormally.
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Loose connection
Rusty or water filled connection
Magnetic objects
The intermodulation product interferes with communication systems, and especially the intermodulation products in
the receiver band have severe impact on the receiving performance of system. As a result, there are strict requirements
on the intermodulation feature of passive parts like connectors, cable, and antennas as below:
Passive intermodulation index of connects: 150 dBc
Passive intermodulation index of cable: 170 dBc
Passive intermodulation index of antenna: 150 dBc
The operators have more and more strict requirements on the dimensions, weight, and outlook of antenna, so you
must focus on both the technical and non-technical specifications upon antenna selection. In urban areas, the antenna
of eNodeB shall be light, small, and beautiful. In suburban and rural areas, there is no such restriction.
The antenna can usually resist strong wind. In some windy areas, the antennas are damaged due to unstable tower
and pole, so you shall choose the antennas with small surface area.
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proceeds smoothly. The camouflaged antenna applies for urban site construction and coverage solutions for top grade
residence area.
There are no fixed modes and methods for antenna camouflage. The antenna camouflage changes to flexible
forms in different scenarios. The antenna camouflage aims to hidden it in the environment. You can choose proper
beautification modes according to the environment for actual installation. The following paragraphs focus on some
antenna camouflage schemes.
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10.3.22 Outlook Camouflage
For outlook camouflage, according to the special installation position of antenna, you need design a scheme that the
installed antenna accords with the environment and residents can seldom identify the antenna. Paint the antenna with
an ambient color so that the residents take it as ornament of environment, as shown in figure below
You can camouflage antennas with the previous methods. In addition, you can use the following methods. In communities
or on streets, you can use the flat panel antenna, as the advertising board and road sign shown in figure below.
Figure 10-7 Flat panel antennas camouflaged by advertising board and road sign
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11 References
3GPP Specification TS 36.101: E-UTRA: User Equipment (UE) radio transmission and reception
3GPP Specification TS 36.104: E-UTRA: Base Station (BS) radio transmission and reception
3GPP Specification TS 36.133: E-UTRA: Requirements for support of radio resource management
3GPP Specification TS 36.201: E-UTRA: Long Term Evolution (LTE) physical layer; General description
3GPP Specification TS 36.304: E-UTRA: User Equipment (UE) procedures in idle mode
3GPP Specification TS 36.306: E-UTRA: User Equipment (UE) radio access capabilities
3GPP Specification TS 36.321: E-UTRA: Medium Acces Control (MAC) protocol specification
3GPP Specification TS 36.322: E-UTRA: Radio Link Control (RLC) protocol specification
3GPP Specification TS 36.323: E-UTRA: Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) specification
3GPP Specification TS 36.331: E-UTRA: Radio Resource Control (RRC); Protocol specification
V. Erceg, K.V.S. Hari, M.S. Smith, D.S. Baum et al, Channel Models for Fixed Wireless
FCC: methods for predicting interference from response station transmitters and to response station hubs and for
supplying data on response station systems.
GSM/3G and LTE Market update: Global mobile Supplier Association, March, 2011
3GPP TSG RAN TSGR#3(99) 231 Technical Specification Group Meeting #3, Yokohama, 21-23 April 1999
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Consultant:
Wang Tao
Editors-in-chief:
Liu Jinghai, Cheng Tangbai, Yang Bo
Editors:
Lin Guangpu, Dong Fei, Zhong Fanliang, Xu Haihong,
Jin Keyou, Xie Guozhu, Li Guoyue, Gao Zhengwei,
Zhao Yinghe, Zhang Fan, Hao Guangming, Zhou Dongfei,
Ma Guotian, Hu Kangyan, Chen Qi, Wang Mingmin,
Zhou Zhibing, Zhao Xinlei, Liu Yingwei, Fang Minxi,
Liu Yadong, Fang Minghai, Xiang Rui
Auditors:
Lin Guangpu, Dong Fei, Ying Weimin, He Gang, Tan Zhu
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