UMTS Initial Tuning Study

Author: T. Griparis

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1. INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................... 3

2. INITIAL TUNING VS OPTIMIZATION.............................................................................................. 3

3. PILOT CHANNEL CELL RANGE ....................................................................................................... 3

3.1. DCH AND CPICH RELATION ............................................................................................................. 4
3.2. MARGIN DUE TO CELL LOAD .............................................................................................................. 6
4. INITIAL TUNING .................................................................................................................................. 7
4.1. CPICH EC/IO .................................................................................................................................... 8
4.1.1. Measurement process & configuration ....................................................................................... 8
4.2. CPICH RSCP .................................................................................................................................. 12
4.2.1. Measurement process & configuration ..................................................................................... 12
4.3. DRIVE ROUTES SPECIFICATION ......................................................................................................... 13
4.3.1. Practical Rules ........................................................................................................................ 13
4.4. DOCUMENTATION ............................................................................................................................ 13
5. CONCLUDING REMARKS ................................................................................................................ 13

ANNEX A CPICH RSCP LEVELS CALCULATION .................................................................................... 15

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1. Introduction
The following document is an attempt to approach the initial tuning processes in UMTS
networks. The use of WCDMA implies significant capacity gains when compared to existing
GSM systems. However the benefit of capacity increase is “leveraged” by a significant
complexity increase that is inherent in WCDMA systems. UMTS is designed as an “open”
system and as such it incorporates many parameters that can be adjusted to fine tune the
system performance to the given traffic/coverage scenario. The task of initial
tuning/optimizing a WCDMA network can be viewed as the determination of those “many”
parameters for a particular traffic/coverage scenario in a certain environment on a long term
or short term basis, ideally in real time.

2. Initial Tuning Vs Optimization

In WCDMA there is no clear distinction between initial tuning and optimization. Arbitrarily it
can be said, that semi-static parameters i.e. parameters that will not vary a lot when traffic is
loading the network can be assessed/adjusted at the initial stages of the network just before
launch (initial tuning). However virtually all parameters associated with the performance of a
UMTS network are affected by system load thus should be optimized when the network is up
and running and a sufficient number of “live” network measurements is available. There are
techniques that can be used to simulate system loading e.g. inject interference with
interference generators to emulate traffic but their usage is limited and these techniques does
not address any RRM, RRC parameters at all.
In what follows a general guideline for optimizing CPICH coverage using Ec/Io and RSCP
measurements is given.

3. Pilot Channel Cell Range

CPICH is used by the UE for synchronization and SHO measurements. CPICH defines the
cell range. If common pilot is present then the UE will attempt to establish connections even
if there is no service coverage. On the other hand if there is no pilot signal present the UE will
report “No Network Coverage” even if there is actual service coverage. It is thus very
important to “fine tune” the CPICH coverage area, as it is effectively this that defines the
network coverage area. Tuning CPICH area coverage is not simple. One has to take into
account the stage at which CPICH tuning takes place (network loaded or unloaded) and the
coverage margins (SHO and CPICH/DCH).

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 3.1. DCH and CPICH Relation
CPICH range has to be such that there is pilot coverage in all the supported area and at the
same time at the cell borders there must be sufficient overlapping between the pilots of
neighboring cells to provide SHO areas.
Service coverage though is not necessarily the same of that of the CPICH.
If continuous coverage of all the services is required then during the network design site to
site distance must be based on the highest offered bit rate. If on the other hand resources are to
be saved then high rate services can be offered with almost 100% location probability close to
the center but with a lower probability (say 90%) at the cell borders.
• Continuous Coverage of all Services. This is possible if during the network design
phase the site to site distance is chosen by the link budget of the service that results
in the smallest cell range.
This case is illustrated in figure 1, where all the cells providing 384Kbps, fully
cover the area. In this scenario if 384Kbps is the highest service being offered then
any other lower bit rate service will have higher coverage area and will give
overlapping regions at the cell border (figure 2).

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3

4 384Kbps

Figure 1 Service Continuous Coverage

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 2

1
3

4 384Kbps
144Kbps
144Kbps Overlapping Region

Figure 2 Two Services Overlaid

In this case CPICH will have similar coverage area with the highest bit rate service
offered.
• Non continuous coverage. This network configuration is a result of a site to site
distance chosen to be higher than that of the highest data rate service (figure 3).

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3

4 384Kbps

Figure 3 Non Continuous Coverage

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 In this case CPICH coverage must be higher than that of the high bit rate service.

3.2. Margin Due to Cell Load

It is important to note, once again, that field conditions change due to loading. An area might
have excellent coverage at a certain time when traffic loading is light but have poor coverage
when the loading is high. Any field results should have to be examined in light of the loading
condition at the time of measurement. Figure 3 illustrates the difference in coverage between
an unloaded and a loaded area with the cells “shrunk” because of Eb/Io reduction
.
Sufficient
SHO
overlapping

Before Loading
Insufficient
SHO
overlapping

1 2

After Loading

Figure 4 Different Coverage areas due to loading

If it is not possible to examine the cells under loading conditions e.g. during initial tuning,
then some margins have to be taken into account in order to accommodate the cell breathing
effect that will result from future network loading.

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 Sufficient SHO
overlapping plus
future load margin

Before Loading
Sufficient
SHO
2 overlapping

After Loading

Figure 5 Margin for predicted loading

The margins during initial tuning have to be based on the operators traffic model on the
forecasted cell loading. If high margin is chosen (e.g. 3dB) then big overlapping regions at the
cell border will be the result, thus causing high overheads at the core network during the
initial stages of the network.

4. Initial Tuning
During initial tuning only Antenna Downtilts, Antenna Azimuths and finally CPICH Tx
power can be adjusted if required. The optimum values of these 3 parameters will be decided
upon CPICH RSCP (Received Signal Code Power) and CPICH Ec/Io data collection drive
tests. The test flow chart is seen in figure 4.

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 Start
Increase CPICH
Tx Power
Decide Upon
Drive Route
Check Antenna
Down Tilt
Collect Data
(Drive Test)

NO
YES

LOW? Close to Site

CPICH_RSCP Poor Coverage
Center?

HIGH?

LOW? High Interference Adjust Neighboring

CPICH_Ec/Io
Sites Down Tilt

HIGH?

Good Coverage

Figure 6 Initial Tuning FlowChart

4.1. CPICH Ec/Io

The common pilot channel is the cell specific phase reference channel that is used from the
UE to perform all the measurements needed for good performance. The pilot chip energy to
interference ratio, or Ec/Io, is a measure that reveals problem areas. The mobile requires
sufficient Ec/Io to lock on or to remain on the system. A mobile may not even be able to
originate in an area with excessively low Ec/Io. Low Ec/Io by definition is caused by either
low CPICH EIRP (Low received CPICH RSCP), high path loss and/or high interference.
CPICH channel defines the coverage area of a cell, thus it is quite important to fine tune the
DL transmit power, antenna downtilts and antenna azimuths for this channel in order to cover
the area as good as possible and to have proper overlapping regions at the cell border for SHO
operation.

4.1.1. Measurement process & configuration

4.1.1.1. Staff
The following is suggested core configuration of the team responsible for the minimum area.
It is important to note that the responsible RF engineer is the same person that “designed“ the
area during the nominal cell plan period.

Ø One (1) RF Engineer: Responsible for all drive testing, collecting, and analyzing
statistical/drive data. Prepare all the required plots and statistical trends. Produce weekly
progress report and provide change orders to the client as needed. Review and
recommend parameter and neighbor list changes along with antenna azimuth and downtilt
modifications.

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Ø One (1) Driver/technician, or to get local drivers on a per-need basis. Work with RF
Engineer to support him in day to day projects as needed.

4.1.1.2. Equipment
At this stage it is not clear as to what exact UMTS hardware will be used for the
measurements. However general remarks on configuration and minimum measurement
capabilities can be made based on experience from GSM networks and UMTS field trials
participation.
All UMTS mobile terminals used during the initial tuning must be able to measure and export
(to a PC) the CPICH Ec/Io. The 3GPP standards specify that the common pilot channel Ec/Io
measurement resolution should be minimum 1dB within the –24dB to 0dB range
corresponding to Level 00 to Level 25 (where Level 25 indicates Ec/Io higher than 0dB).
GPS equipment must be capable of tracking a minimum of 6 satellites and use differential
techniques. The highest accuracy possible is necessary. In the market there are inexpensive
units that can track up to 12 satellites. Handheld units should be avoided because of their
general inability to export data and because these units utilize integrated patch antennas with
low gain making them inefficient for in-car use. GPS units must also have the capability to
export data to a PC as well as to provide other peripheral devices with a synchronization clock
for the stamping of the data.

4.1.1.3. Configuration
For the collection of synchronized Ec/Io data and GPS coordinate data an adapted mobile
must be provided. The mobile must be able to export data to a PC computer and accept a sync
clock for the synchronization of the exported data.
CPICH Ec/Io measurement data should ultimately be transported to our planning tool
(Tornado) in order to plot the site coverage area. The measured coverage map will enable the
engineers to quantify the coverage area and the overlapping regions between different sites
and to identify problem areas. To do so Ec/Io values must be saved together with the
corresponding GPS coordinates. Exported data needs to be time stamped as well. The most
suitable configuration is the use of the DGPS clock for time sync. This is shown in figure 1.

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 Mobile
Terminal

SYNC
Ec/Io
DATA

Position
&
Time DGPS
Data

Figure 7 Measurement Equipment Configuration

It is important that the DGPS unit has external antenna(e) mounted at the top of the van
(DGPS accuracy is then in 0-30m region). If this is not the case and simple integrated patch
antennas are used then the accuracy might not be sufficient enough (30-150m region
accuracy).

4.1.1.4. Fixed Parameters

4.1.1.4.1. Vehicle Speed
Data collection frequency will depend on the measuring mobile equipment capabilities.
However the speed of the vehicle can be adjusted to collect sufficient measurements. The
number of measurements per distance unit is a function of the clutter type (environment type)
that the measurements are being carried out. The leading engineer should be able to plan the
route and adjust the measurement frequency according to the classification of the
environment. In general the following apply:

Ø Dense Urban: As high measurement frequency as possible. Lead engineer should

aim at a minimum of 1 measurement every 5m. For example a measurement
frequency of 1 measurement per second would result at a max vehicle speed of
18Km/h.
Ø Urban: In this type of environment a 1 measurement every 20m is sufficient. For
the above example measurement rate, a max vehicle speed of 72Km/h is
acceptable.
Ø Rural: Finally in rural areas on average one measurement every 50m is adequate.
This means that a max vehicle speed of 180Km/h is acceptable !
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Of course, as mentioned above, the measurement parameters have to be adjusted to the needs
of the specific measurement scenario, but in practice difficulties arise only during dense urban
areas measurement.

4.1.1.4.2. Ec/Io Target Values

Siemens Ag specifies a target Ec/Io values of –13dB (Level 11) or more. This is without
taking into account the margin for the future network load. Setting the load margin as X (a
parameter that will be decided together with the operator) the target Ec/Io (or Eb/Io) is shown
below:
Parameter Value Remark
CPICH_Ec/Io -13dB (Level 11 3GPP SIEMENS
25.215)
CPICH_Eb/Io 11dB Eb=Ec+10log(256), where 256 is SF of
CPICH
CPICH_Ec/Io+X -13dB to –10dB For a load margin between 0-3dB
(TBD)
CPICH_Eb/Io+X 11dB to 14dB “
Table 1 Ec/Io Target Values for Initial Tuning Measurement

4.1.1.4.3. Overlapping Areas for SHO

Data collected during the drive tests must be imported in the planning tool. The engineer is
then able to spot any coverage “holes” and act accordingly (see 4.1.1.4.4). For the SHO
overlap regions the aim is to have a rough 30% of the cell area being in overlap with the
surrounding cells. This can be checked by drawing polygons around the measured areas and
run the statistics to get the area numbers.

4.1.1.4.4. Data Analysis Guidelines

The following general guidelines apply for the CPICH Ec/Io measurement.

Ø Site coverage area plots. By importing the Ec/Io data into Tornado and plotting
them we can check possible holes of coverage within the site. The RF engineer
should find the expected site range (from the nominal cell plan plots) and make
sure that an acceptable level ( –13dB or higher) is present in a percentage of the
area defined in the area coverage probability requirement (usually 99-95% for
Urban and 95-90% for Rural). If there are holes in the coverage then the position
of the holes has to be checked. If holes occur close to the Node B then the
following might apply:
• Antenna is placed quite high and the downtilting is not sufficient. In this
case a relative high CPICH signal range will be observed as well. Downtilt
must be changed.
• The location of the antenna is not very well chosen at the roof top and the
Fresnel clearance distance is possibly violated. Antenna must be moved
possibly closer to the roof top edge.
• There might be interfering sources at the vicinity. Check for anything that
could create interference, in-particular GSM antennas (most probably
without MHA’s) that are facing the UMTS antennas.

If the holes are at the cell edge then the following might apply:
• Obstructions like hills might cause low Ec/Io level. In this case neighboring
sites must cover this area well.

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 • Generally there is not enough coverage. In this case Tx CPICH power must
be increased.

If the overall coverage is not good then the Tx CPICH power must be increased
correspondingly.

4.2. CPICH RSCP

The common pilot channel is the cell specific phase reference channel that is used from the
UE to perform all the measurements needed for good performance. The pilot strength, or
RSCP, is a measure that reveals problem areas.

4.2.1. Measurement process & configuration

Staff, Equipment, Test Configuration and Vehicle Speed are the same described in section
4.1.

4.2.1.1. CPICH RSCP Target Values

For different propagation environments different CPICH levels should be present to guarantee
error free propagation of the CPICH. In ANNEXA a detailed presentation of the calculation
of the RSCP levels is presented. The values to be taken into account for the drive tests
however are summarized in table 2 below. All values are calculated assuming an average 60%
code orthogonality, 8dB standard deviation and 95% area coverage probability. These values
can vary according to the project and the new target CPICH RSCP values can be found
according to ANNEXA calculations.

Environment Minimum CPICH_RSCP Remark

Dense Urban -86,38dB According to ANNEX A
Urban -89,38dB “
Suburban -95,38dB “
Rural -107,38dB “
InCar -101,38dB “

Table 2 RSCP Target Values for Initial Tuning Measurement

4.2.1.1.1. Data Analysis Guidelines

The following general guidelines apply for the CPICH RSCP measurement.

Ø High RSCP and:

• Low Ec/Io. This means there is high interference. For unloaded networks
interference is caused only by the neighboring UMTS sites with bad antenna
adjustments and/or from existing GSM sites at the vicinity. Special attention
must be given to GSM (dual band without MHA in particular) base stations
that their antenna orientation is not good as seen in the figure below.

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 High
interference

UMTS
Site

GSM
Site

Figure 8 Interference caused by non WCDMA sources

• High Ec/Io. This situation is good. There is good coverage and low
interference.

Ø Low RSCP and:

• There is poor coverage. In this case depending on the measured position either
antenna downtilt must be changed (when far from cell center) or CPICH Tx
power increase has to be considered (when measurement is close to the cell
center).

4.3. Drive Routes Specification

4.3.1. Practical Rules

When specifying a drive route the following have to be taken into account:
Ø Highways and main roads are of high priority and must be “driven through”.
Ø In Urban areas, the engineer should contact “punctual” studies. Because of the
usual high amount of roads/streets a 80-90% utilization is enough to give
statistically reliable data.
Ø In Rural areas however the above percentage can be bigger 90-100%.
Ø Before starting the drive tests OMC should be contacted to certify that all the cells
under measurement are radiating without problems.

4.4. Documentation
At this stage there is no final proposal for the documentation and documentation numbering
structure. However relevant documents should contain information about the measured
parameters, time, location and drive route details as well as the version of the test.

5. Concluding Remarks
It is important to understand that in reality a combination of the above factors will affect the
observed measurement. For example a combination of poor RSCP coverage and Low Ec/Io
typifies a problem known as no dominant server. This problem is characterized by many
pilots present in the affected area, but none of the pilots has an adequate Ec/Io to be a
dominant server and because there are many pilots on the forward link, the resulting forward
link interference is high.

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Most often (in a live network scenario) if a cells performance is limited by either forward or
reverse link interference, provided that all RRM parameters and antenna positioning are ok,
the cell capacity has been reached. To the extend that the interference can be reduced the
capacity of that cell can be increased. It is important to keep in mind that managing WCDMA
performance is effectively managing interference and noise.

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 ANNEX A CPICH RSCP Levels Calculation
The main reason for measuring CPICH received signal level is because CPICH effectively
defines the cell coverage areas. CPICH signal levels depend on the CPICH Tx Power and the
environmental propagation characteristics.
The best way to calculate CPICH Rx Signal levels is by the use of a link budget modified for
the CPICH rate.

Ø Tx Part. Starting with the CPICH TX power, SIEMENS specifies a CPICH Tx power
being 10-15% of the total BTS Tx power. This means 30-35dBm allocated to the pilot. If
we assume 2dB feeder loss at the BTS tower and 18dBm BTS antenna gain the resulting
EIRP (for 33dBm CPICH Tx PWR) is:

CPICH Tx Power 33
Feeder Loss 2
Tx Antenna Gain 18
CPICH EIRP 49

Table 3 CPICH Tx End

Ø Fixed System Parameters. Using a 50% cell load and a 60% average downlink
orthogonality the interference rise from these two parameters is given by 10*log((1-
cell_load)*(1+orthogonality)). Given the above, the minimum received CPICH level
(without taking into account any propagation fading) is:

Thermal Noise Density -174

Noise Figure (UE) 7
Cell Load (intercell Interference) 50,00%
Average Orthogonality Factor (DL) 60,00%
Chip Rate (*1000) 3840
Required Ec/Io -13
Sensitivity at the antenna connector -113,187588

Handoff Gain 5,9

Min Rx Level -119,087588

Table 4 Min CPICH Rx Power (no Fading)

Ø Intracell interference and Environmental fading parameters. For a standard deviation

of 8dB and a coverage probability of 95% the shadowing margin should be 8,7dB. We
assume a simplified intracell interference of 3dB and a penetration loss depending on the
cluster type, given by the following table:

Dense Urban -21dB

Urban -18dB
Suburban -12dB
Incar -6dB
Rural 0dB
Table 5 Penetration Losses

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 Given the above the min CPICH Rx level per environment is:

Environment Minimum CPICH_RSCP

Dense Urban -86,38dB
Urban -89,38dB
Suburban -95,38dB
Rural -107,38dB
InCar -101,38dB
Table 6 Min CPICH Rx Level per Environment
The above calculations can be repeated if some of the parameters is different.

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