Assessing capacity gains from frequency hopping

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Assessment of Capacity and Performance Enhancement using Frequency

Hopping on STC GSM Network
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‫اﻟﻤﻤﻠﻜﺔ اﻟﻌﺮﺑﻴﺔ اﻟﺴﻌﻮدﻳﺔ‬
‫وزارة اﻟﺘﻌﻠﻴﻢ اﻟﻌﺎﻟﻲ‬
‫ﺟﺎﻣﻌﺔ اﻟﻤﻠﻚ ﺳﻌﻮد‬
‫ﻋﻤﺎدة اﻟﺒﺤﺚ اﻟﻌﻠﻤﻲ‬
DSR-AR-2(49) ‫ﺗﻘﺮﻳﺮ ﻧﻬﺎﺋﻲ ﻟﻤـﺸـﺮوع ﺑـﺤﺜـﻲ وﻃﻨﻲ‬
‫دراﺳﺔ ﺟﺪوى إﺳﺘﺨﺪام ﺗﻘﻨﻴﺔ اﻟﺘﺮدد اﻟﻘﺎﻓﺰ‬

‫ﻟﺘﺤﺴﻴﻦ ﺳﻌﺔ و آﻔﺎءة أداء ﺷﺒﻜﺔ اﻟﻬﺎﺗﻒ اﻟﺠﻮال ﻓﻲ اﻟﻤﻤﻠﻜﺔ‬
Final report: National Research Project DSR-AR-2(49)
Assessment of Capacity and Performance Enhancement using Frequency

Hopping on STC GSM Network
Principal Investigator:
Dr. Abdulaziz S. Alruwais
Co-Investigators:
1- Dr. Adel Ahmed Ali

2- Dr. Saleh A. Alshebeili
3- Dr. Zeyad Alotaibi (Vice President, Network Sector, STC)
Starting Date 4-1-1426
Completion Date 4-1-1428

Acknowledgement
The project is sponsored by the Deanship of Scientific Research, King Saud University,
under research grant DSR-AR-2(49)
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Prof. A.S. Alruwais Final report: National Research Project DSR-AR-2(49) 2/92
1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1.1 Introduction
Recent advances in signal processing and digital communications offer new directions for
pursuing higher spectral efficiency-such as spatial diversity by exploiting multiple antennas
and statistical multiplexing through packet switching. Frequency hopping, which is the focus
of this work, is another important and not fully exploited technique for improving system
capacity. Frequency hopping has been utilized in GSM for improving system capacity. GSM
uses random or cyclical frequency hopping (FH). Random frequency hopping (RFH), in
combination with channel coding and interleaving, provides the benefits of frequency
diversity and interference averaging.
Network operators, with their limited frequency resources, must offer the required capacity
on the one hand but on the other hand they must also keep their investment in network
infrastructure under control. SFH improves performance and capacity through frequency
diversity (FD) and interference diversity (ID), respectively. Detailed investigations
concerning the FH system configuration are required, especially in wide band FH (more
frequencies to hop over than the needed number of TRXs to serve the given traffic.
This project aims at determining under which conditions and in which network configurations
maximal gains can be achieved. Our goal is to determine the possible capacity gain using FH
at a constant speech quality and stable network operation, through a better frequency reuse.
Another goal is to work-out possible planning requirement for the radio network design,
regarding a network-wide use of FH.
1.2 Work program

The work plan for the project is based on using commercial software package, analysis and
field measurements to obtain the required results. The activities undertaken during this
project are divided into three main areas:
1. Gain in using SFH: Estimate the gain in performance and capacity which can be
obtained by implementing Slow Frequency Hopping in some specific sites, which is
known to for high interference, high traffic, or both. This was completed in the first year
and reported in the first report. A summary of the main results is presented in section 3 of
this report.
2. Network configurations for maximal gains-Simulation Results Using Planet DMS 3.2:
Determine under which conditions and in which network configurations maximal gains
can be achieved. Our goal is to determine the possible capacity gain using FH at a
constant speech quality and stable network operation, through a better frequency reuse.
This task was completed during the second year of the project and reported in section 4 of
this report.
3. Simulation Results Using Planet EV: Work-out possible frequency planning

requirement for the radio network design, regarding a network-wide use of FH. This task
__________________________________________________________________________________________
was completed during the second year of the project and reported in section 5 of this
report.
4. Capacity Analysis for Slow Frequency Hopping: This section presents theoretical
analysis for GSM-based cellular systems to estimate the capacity enhancement due to the
use of slow frequency hopping. The outage probability dependence on the loading factor
is determined. Then the maximum loading factor that keeps the outage probability under a
certain threshold value (e.g. 2%) is evaluated and used to estimate the maximum system
capacity. First we present the system models including channel model, frequency
planning and hopping model. The stochastic analysis used to estimate the outage
probability is then presented. This task was completed during the second year of the
project and reported in section 6 of this report.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
1.3 Gain in using SFH
In the first report, significant gains for SFH, PC and DTX are demonstrated. Using SFH the
BER is reduced, the improvement is 15%. Similarly, FER is reduced, the improvement is
13%, the number of dropped calls will be reduced, and QoS will be better. With SFH if traffic
increases the FER and BER increase, but also still better than the no-hopping. For traffic
heavier than 35 E/sec, SFH will not improve performance because the number of blocked
calls increases sharply. If DTX is enabled the BER, and FER are reduced by 12% and 8%,
respectively. Similarly, enabling PC reduces BER and FER by 4% and 3%, respectively. The
use of SFH reduces the effect of fading on BER, and FER by 32% and 24%, respectively.
The Slow Frequency Hopping Gain for Reuse of 1x3 is 10 dB, and is 2 dB less for a reuse of
1x1. However, Reuse of 1x1 is better to achieve very high capacity.
Results extracted from First Report:

A) Effect of using SFH on BER
Figure E1 depicts the average bit-error rate with and without slow frequency hopping for an
average traffic of 5 Erlangs per sector. Frequency hopping offers 15% improvement.
100
90
80
70
Affected Area %
60
50
Hopping
40
Non Hopping
30
20
10
0
5
10
00
~1
~2
~2
~3
~3
0~
~1
5~
10
15
20
25
30
35
BER %
Figure E1: BER with and without SFH for an average traffic of 5 Erlangs per sector
100
90
80
70
Affected Area %
60
50
Hopping
40
Non Hopping
30
20
10
0
5
10
00
~1
~2
~2
~3
~3
0~
~1
5~
10
15
20
25
30
35
FER %
Figure E2: FER with and without SFH for an average traffic of 5 Erlangs per sector
__________________________________________________________________________________________
B) Effect of using SFH on FER
Figure E2 depicts the average frame-error rate with and without slow frequency hopping for
an average traffic of 5 Erlangs per sector. Frequency hopping offers 15% improvement.
From the figure we can see the improvement of the FER by using SFH is 13%. Since calls are
dropped if the FER > 6.4%, reducing the FER will reduced the number of dropped calls.
C) Effect of using SFH in FER for different traffic
Figure E3 depicts the average frame-error rate with slow frequency hopping for traffic of 5,
10, 15, 25, 35 Erlangs per sector. From the figure it is clear that FER increases with
increasing traffic. However, using FH the FER is lower even at 35 E/sector.
100
90
80
70
60
Affected area %
50 5 E/sec
10 E/sec
40 15 E/sec
25 E/sec
35 E/sec
30
20
10
0
10
15
20
25
30
0
5
10
0~
~
5~
~
10
15
20
25
FER % 30
Figure E3: Effect of using SFH on FER for different traffic.
D) Effect of using discontinuous transmission (DTX) on BER and FER

Figure E4, E5 show the BER and FER when DTX is switched on and off. Enabling DTX
reduces BER by 12%, and reduces FER by 8%. With reference to DTX application, it is
assumed that for each call we have speech for only 60% of the conversation time. Hence, the
evaluated interference is reduced by a factor of 0.6 when DTX is enabled.
E) Effect of using Power Control (PC) on BER and FER

Figure E6, E7 show the BER and FER when PC is switched on and off. Enabling PC reduces
BER by 4%, and reduces FER by 3%. Hence, by using PC the BER and FER are reduced
and we will have a good quality of communication (by the reduction of interference) while
minimizing transmitter power consumption.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
100
90
80
70
Affected Area %
60
50
DTX ON
DTX OFF
40
30
20
10
0
15
20
25
30
35
10
5
10
0~
~
5~
~
10
15
20
25
30
35
BER %
Figure E4: Effect of applying DTX on BER

100
90
80
70
Affected Area %
60
50
40 DTX ON
DTX OFF
30
20
10
0
10
15
20
25
30
35
5
10
0~
5~
~
10
15
20
25
30
35
FER %
Figure E5: The effect of using DTX on FER.

100
90
80
70
Affected Area %
60
PC ON
50
PC OFF
40
30
20
10
0
100
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
0~
~
5~
~
10
15
20
25
30
35
BER %
Figure E6: effect of using PC on BER.

100
90
80
70
60
Affected Area
50
PC ON
40 PC OFF
30
20
10
0
100
15
20
25
30
35
5
10
0~
~
5~
~
10
15
20
25
30
35
FER %
Figure E7: The effect of using PC on FER

__________________________________________________________________________________________
F) Effect of using SFH on Fading
Figure E8, E9 show the BER and FER when SFH is switched on and off. Enabling SFH
reduces BER by 32%, and reduces FER by 24%. Hence, by using SFH the BER and FER are
reduced since “hopping” over several frequencies randomizes the occurrence of fades, which
is commonly referred to as frequency diversity. Also due to minimizing the fading, quality of
the received call (RXQUAL) will improve. This improvement is due to improvement of both
BER and FER. Figure E10, shows the improvement of RXQUAL, and Table E1 shows the
RXQUAL classifications.
70
60
50
Affected Area %
40
30 Hopping
Non Hopping
20
10
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
10
0~
~
5~
~
10
15
20
25
30
BER %
Figure E8: The effect of minimizing the fading by using SFH on BER.
50
45
40
35
Affected Area %
30
25
Hopping
20 Non Hopping
15
10
0
5
10
00
~1
~2
~2
~3
~3
0~
~1
5~
10
15
20
25
30
35
FER %
Figure E9: The effect of minimizing the fading by using SFH on FER.
60
50
40
Affected Area
30
Hopping
20 Non Hopping
10
0
0
7
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
AL
QU
QU
QU
QU
QU
QU
QU
QU
RX
RX
RX
RX
RX
RX
RX
RX
RxQUAL
Figure E10: The effect of minimizing the fading by using SFH on RXQUAL
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Table E1: RXQUAL classifications.
G) Slow Frequency Hopping (SFH) Gain

The required carrier-to-interference ratio from co-channel and adjacent channel C/(I+A) is
investigated here in relation to FER. Figure E11 depicts the required C/(I+A) with and
without hopping, for Reuse 1x3. For no hopping case, a C/(I+A) value of 19 dB is required to
achieve a FER of .01, For SFH this C(I+A) value reduces to 8.0 dB. Hence, the Slow
Frequency Hopping Gain is 11 dB. To summarize, the gain of hopping is, for a certain voice
quality (expressed in FER), a lower C(I+A) is required in hopping mode because of the better
performance of FEC than in no hopping mode. In other words, with hopping, more bit errors
can be corrected by the FEC. This mean a QoS will increase by using SFH. Similar results
are shown in figure E12 for FER using SFH with Reuse 1x1 and 1x3. From the figure, SFH
gain is about 2 dB higher for Reuse 1x3 compared to Reuse 1x1.
0.1
FER
0.01
0.001
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26
C/(I+A) (d B)
FER (Non Hopping) FER 1/3
Figure E11: The relation between C/(I+A) and FER for SFH and no hopping, for Reuse 1x3.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
1
0.1
FER 1/3
FER
FER 1/1
0.01
0.001
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
C/(I+A) (d B)
Figure E12: Relation between C/(I+A) and FER for SFH with Reuse 1x1 vs. Reuse 1x3.
Conclusions
In this work, significant gains for SFH, PC and DTX are demonstrated. Using SFH the BER
is reduced, the improvement is 15%. Similarly, FER is reduced, the improvement is 13%, the
number of dropped calls will be reduced, and QoS will be better. With SFH if traffic
heavier than 35 E/sector, SFH will not improve performance because the number of blocked
1x1. However, Reuse of 1x1 is better to achieve very high capacity
__________________________________________________________________________________________
1.4 Simulation Results Using Planet DMS 3.2
The following work is done by help of the frequency planning team of STC Company. The
earlier release of Planet software (Planet DMS 3.2) is currently used by design and frequency
plan center of STC. Hence it will be also used in the simulation study presented here. Al -
Shifa & Badr area has been selected for the study since base stations are distributed in regular
method, and the area contains medium and high traffic. The area is covered with 27 Ericsson
GSM base stations with three sectors in each side. The network configuration parameters are
summarized in Table E2.
Table E2: Network Configuration
Bandwidth 7.2 MHz
Frequency 900 MHz
Number of Carriers 36 Carriers
Number of sites 27 Sites
Number of sectors 3 sectors/site
Total served area Approx. 50 Km2
Calculating the approximate capacity per Km2 for 4/12 Network configuration:
Assume we have 27 sites in square form, and the distance between sites is 700 meters, so:
Approximate coverage area = 7Km * 7Km = 49 Km2
Number of sites = 27.
Sites per Km2 = 27/49 = 0.55 per Km2
Carrier per cell = 3, TCH per cell = 22
Erlang per cell @ 2% GoS = 14.9 (From Erlang B Tabel in Appendix B).
Approximate capacity per km2 = 14.9E * 3 cells * 0.55 sites per Km2 = 25 E / Km2
The distribution of these frequencies are arranged to minimize the occurrence of adjacent
frequencies in adjacent cells. The system uses baseband frequency hopping with the BCCH
traffic channels are the hopping channels. There are 4 frequencies to each cell, theoretically
increasing the capacity by 33% over the straight 4/12 configuration. However, the frequency
groupings are such that severe interference may be experienced with little gain from
frequency hopping. For example the gray cell in figure interfere with 75% of hopping
carriers,
Frequency hopping gain = 10 * log (1/0.75) = 1.25 dB.
Hence, using 12/8/8/8 configuration gives 40% improvement in capacity. This configuration
is susceptible to interference because of the poor grouping of carriers as evidenced by the
cells 8/6 re-using four of the same frequencies.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Multiple Reuse Pattern (MRP): 12/8/8/6 Configuration
By adding additional smaller clusters, the resultant grouping of frequencies leads to fewer
interfering carriers between two cells. This configuration is more desirable than the previous
one. The 12/8/8/8 MRP takes one of the TRX in the 8-cluster and put it in the 6-cell cluster.
Interference analysis:
In the previous figure we select randomly cell 4 in the center of network. The cells containing
possible interfering frequencies are indicated in red arrows. For cell 4 and cell 9 in the right
hand side with baseband hopping, the two cells have one common frequency 6/5 (carries 35),
so if the interference is from just one frequency, then each group of 8 TCH's possible uses the
interfering frequency for 25% of the time, which gives the following gains:
1. Frequency hopping gain:

FH Gain= 10* log (1/0.25) = 10*log (4) = 6 dB.
2. And if we use 40% DTX factor given DTX gain

DTX Gain= 10* log (1+0.4) = 10*log (1.4) = 1.5 dB
3. Then total improvement is 7.5 dB
The capacity is increased from 14.9 Erlang per cell (22 TCH @ 2% GoS) in the case of the
4/12 configuration to 22 Erlang per cell (30 TCH @ 2% GoS), the increase in the capacity by
about 40%. The overall interference levels will be lower than the previous configuration
12/8/8/8, because of the better distribution of interferes. Also we use only 34 carriers out of
37 carriers of available bandwidth, then four spare frequencies can be selectively used for
increasing capacity, or it can be used in micro cells.
Fractional Load Pattern (FLP)

Fractional reuse always uses synthesized frequency hopping. And the name indicates that the
hopping frequencies of mobile allocation list (MAL) are used only fractionally at any one
time, i.e. the MAL is much greater than the number of TRXs used. Hence, the loading of the
MAL is critical important in these applications. It is possible to get much more capacity than
the 4/12 model in the network using FLP technique.
The two common versions of FLP are 1x3 FLP and 1x1 FLP, where 1x3 refers to one
sectored site using three different sets of hopping frequencies and 1x1 refers to one sectored
site using just one hopping frequency set. In FLP the distribution of the BCCH carriers is
arranged to minimize BCCH interference, and in our test network we use 4/12 cluster. The
TCH's in the BCCH carrier do not hop since BCCH not part of hopping sequence.
FLP for the 1x3 configuration

This reuse pattern is currently used by the STC network. The loading factor of this network is
(#TRXs/MAL Size) = (5/14) = 35.7 %. The acceptable limit is less than 40%. Each cell
equipped with six TRXs, five of which hop over fourteen frequencies allocated for hopping,
and the sixth TRX is used for BCCH.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Each cell has six interferes using the same frequency set as shown in the previous figure with
red arrows. The hopping sequence number HSN must be for pseudo random hopping. If
cyclic hopping is used there is a 35.7% probability of interference in all frequencies. But with
pseudo random hopping, the maximum probability of interference is 35.7% on one
frequency. Assigning different HSN's to neighboring interfering cells using the same MAL
will help to reduce the interference and improve the performance.
Now let us calculate the interference probability to a mobile station served at cell 2 at the
bottom of the figure (indicated with red circle). At this point we measure the C/I with
interference from cells 3 and 4 at the top and right of the figure which are indicated with blue
arrows. It is found that C/I ~ 6 dB.
Using pseudo random hopping without DTX:

From Pascal's triangle for frequency hopping interference probabilities (Appendix A):
o Interference probability at served point on one frequency= 0.357.
o Interference probability at served point on two frequencies= 0.11.
o Interference probability at served point on three frequencies= 0.027.
o Interference probability at served point on four frequencies= 0.005.
o Interference probability at served point on five frequencies= 0.0005.
Interference probability of cells 3 & 4 being on the same frequency = 0.357.
The interference probability at served point being on the same frequency = (0.357).(0.357)=
0.127. Hence, there is 12.7% probability of the served point being interfered with C/I= 6 dB.
Using pseudo random hopping with DTX (40%):

The effect of DTX is (1 – 0.6 * 0.6) = 0.64
o Interference probability at served point on one frequency= 0.357(0.64) =0.228
o Interference probability at served point on two frequencies= 0.11(0.64) =0.071
o Interference probability at served point on three frequencies= 0.027(0.64) =0.0172
o Interference probability at served point on four frequencies= 0.005(0.64) =0.0032
o Interference probability at served point on five frequencies= 0.0005(0.64) =0.00032
Interference probability of cell 3 & 4 being on the same frequency = 0.228, then interference
probability at served point being on the same frequency = (0.228).(0.228)= 0.051. Hence,
there is 5.1% probability of the served point being interfered with C/I= 6 dB (about 60%
reduction on interference).
Cell and MS Operating Parameters for Frequency Hopping

There are four primary hopping parameters set for a cell and conveyed to the MS.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
1. CA - Cell Allocation this is conveyed in System Information on the BCCH or
SACCH and tells the MS all the frequencies used by the cell. If hopping is in use in
the cell, the MS may hop over all these or a sub-set of these
2. MA - Mobile Allocation. This is the set of frequencies over which the MS will hop. It
is sent with immediate ‘Assignment’ and ‘Handover’ commands. The MA will
normally be equal to The CA unless:
o The BCCH carrier is not used for hopping
o The BCCH carrier is used for hopping but the MS is assigned TNO (or any other
TN containing CCC H’s)
3. MAIO-the mobile allocation index offset - assigned with MA
4. HSN - the Hopping Sequence Number - assigned with MA.
Conclusions
Implementing tight frequency reuse by using Multiple Reuse Patterns (MRP) with frequency
hopping in GSM has been proven to be an efficient way to increase the radio network
capacity with minimal costs for a network operator. Field tests from live networks show that
it is possible to implement an average frequency reuse of 7.5 without jeopardizing the
network quality. Features like power control and DTX were not used in the trials. For
comparison reasons, a non-hopping GSM network can at its best cope with approximately a
12 reuse in average.
With MRP, it is possible to adjust the tightness of the frequency plan according to the
transceiver distribution. At the same time, MRP provides a robust frequency plan which is
very insensitive to changes, e.g. addition of transceivers.
Using MRP 12/8/8/6 Configuration, the capacity is increased from 14.9 Erlang per cell (22
TCH @ 2% GoS) in the case of the 4/12 configuration to 22 Erlang per cell (30 TCH @ 2%
GoS), the increase in the capacity by about 40%. The overall interference levels will be lower
than the previous configuration 12/8/8/8, because of the better distribution of interferes. Also
we use only 34 carriers out of 37 carriers of available bandwidth, then four spare frequencies
can be selectively used for increasing capacity, or it can be used in micro cells.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
1.5 Simulation Results Using Planet EV
In order to support the previous results obtained with Planet DMS software, we use the
updated package: Planet EV, since Planet DMS can provide only C/I and C/A for non-
hopping carriers, and does not support some layers like BER, FER and RxQual. Actually,
Planet DMS is good tool for frequency planning with frequency hopping
MRP 12/8/8/8 Configuration

Most of previous results are done manually, so we need to compare our results by using
Planet EV. Also, we use the same network configuration. Figure E13 shows C/I cumulative
distribution function CDF. This figure describes the distribution of C/I with served area in
range from -2 to 20 dB, for three different cases: Non-hopping, hopping and hopping with
DTX and PC.
1
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
CDF
0.5 NON
HOP
DTX
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
-4 -2 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
C/I dB
Figure E13: C/I CDF for 12/8/8/8 configuration
As expected, the improvement of frequency hopping is little (FH gain=1.2 dB). However,
improvement with frequency hopping, DTX and power control is more significant, the result
is an increase of about 6 dB in the C/I value.
Received Signal Quality (RxQual):

Here, we add comparison in terms of RxQual. The BER is mapped to RxQual value between
0 and 7. See Table E3.
Table E3: RxQual vs. BER.

RxQual BER
0 < 0.2%
1 0.2% to 0.4%
2 0.4% to 0.8%
3 0.8% to 1.6%
4 1.6% to 3.2%
5 3.2% to 6.4%
6 6.4% to 12.8%
7 >12.8%
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Also, RxQual is Classified in three categories: Acceptable, poor and unacceptable.
RxQual for 12/8/8/8 configuration is shown in Table E4
Table E4: RxQual for 12/8/8/8.

Configuration RxQual
Acceptable Poor Unacceptable
12/8/8/8 Non-Hopping 12.7% 8.3% 79%
12/8/8/8 Hopping 22.0% 14% 64%
12/8/8/8 Hopping DTX & PC 43.4% 40.6% 16%
MRP 12/8/8/6 Configuration

Figure E14 shows the CDF for C/I for 12/8/8/6 re-use pattern. The figure describes the
distribution of C/I with served area in range from -4 to 20 dB, for three different cases: Non-
hopping, hopping and hopping with DTX and PC.
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
CDF
0.5 NON
HOP
DTX
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
-5 -3 -1 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19
C/I dB
Figure E14: C/I CDF for 12/8/8/6 configuration
__________________________________________________________________________________________
As expected, the improvement of frequency hopping only is more than the case of 12/8/8/8
configuration (FH gain=3~5 dB). However, improvement with frequency hopping, DTX and
power control is more significant (about 9~10 dB).
Table E5 describes RxQual for 12/8/8/6 configuration.
Table E5: RxQual for 12/8/8/6 configuration

12/8/8/6 Non-Hopping 12.8% 8.4% 77%
12/8/8/6 Hopping 27.32% 14.9% 57%
12/8/8/6 Hopping DTX & PC 49.65% 40.9% 9%

Figure E15 shows CDF for 1/3 configuration, from the figure clearly there is about 6 dB
improvement in C/I when we use DTX and power control.
1
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
CDF
0.5
HOP
DTX
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
-3 -1 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19
C/I dB
Figure E15: C/I CDF for 1/3 configuration
Table E6 shows RxQual for 1/3 configuration with different MAL loading.
Table E6: RxQual for 12/8/8/6 configuration

1/3 (37.5% MAL Loading) 37% 35.22% 26%
1/3 (43% MAL Loading) 35.23% 36.9% 27.82
__________________________________________________________________________________________
1
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
25%
CDF
0.5
50%
0.4
75%
0.3
100%
0.2
0.1
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
C/I dB
Figure E16: C/I CDF for 1/3 configuration for different system loading
Figure E16 shows C/I CDF for 1/3 configuration for different system loading (25%, 50%,
75%, 100%), and Table E7 compares RxQual for different re-use patterns.
Table E7: RxQual for Different re-use patterns.

4/12 51% 16% 33
12/8/8/8 43.33% 40.6% 16%
12/8/8/6 49.65% 40.9% 9%
1/3 37% 35.22% 26%
Fractional Loading Pattern with Free Planning:

Here, we mean by free planning, that is no grouping of frequencies, we define system
requirements and then use automatic frequency planning tool (AFP) to allocate spectrum.
Figure E17 shows C/I cumulative distribution function CDF, for free planning and normal 1/3
distribution, here we note the free planning is better than 1/3 by about 1 dB
__________________________________________________________________________________________
1
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
-5 -3 -1 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19
Figure E17: CDF of 1/3 and free panning
Frequency Diversity Gain

Hopping reduces the probability that a sequence of bit errors occurs. Thus, the forward error
correction (FEC) in GSM performs better. This is clearly apparent in terms of FER so we will
show the relation between C/I and FER. Frequency diversity gain increases with the increase
of hopping frequencies that assigned to the mobile station. Figure E18 shows C/I vs. FER for
4/12 re-use (non-hopping) and 12/8/8/6 re-use pattern (Random and Cyclic).
36
34
32
30
28
26
24
22
20
FER %
18
16
14
12
10
8
Non-hop
6
Random
4 Cyclic
2
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28
C/I
Figure E18: C/I vs. FER for 4/12 re-use (non-hopping) and 12/8/8/6 re-use pattern (Random
and Cyclic).
From figure E18 we note the random hopping gives more frequency diversity gain than cyclic
hopping by about 1.2 dB, also random hopping give frequency diversity gain by about 7.5 dB
__________________________________________________________________________________________
more than Non-hopping. Figure 49 shows the frequency diversity gain for three different re-
use patterns: 4/12 non –hopping, MRP 12/8/8/6 and FLP 1/3 re-use pattern.
From figure E19 we note that the 1/3 re-use gives about 1.7 dB more frequency diversity gain
than 12/8/8/6 re-use, since in 1/3 mobile station hops over eight frequencies and in 12/8/8/6
mobile station hops over four frequencies. The 1/3 re-use pattern gives about 9 dB frequency
diversity gain than 4/12 re-use.
36
34
32
30
28
26
24
22
20
FER %
18
16
14
12
4/12
10
1/3 12/8/8/6
6
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28
C/I dB
Figure E19: Frequency diversity gain for three different re-use pattern: 4/12 non –hopping,
MRP 12/8/8/6 and FLP 1/3 re-use pattern
Conclusion
Using MRP 12/8/8/8 configuration, as expected, the improvement of frequency hopping is
little (FH gain=1.2 dB). However, improvement with frequency hopping, DTX and power
control is more significant, the result is an increase of about 6 dB in the C/I value.
Using MRP 12/8/8/6 configuration, as expected, the improvement of frequency hopping only
is more than the case of 12/8/8/8 configuration (FH gain=3~5 dB). However, improvement
with frequency hopping, DTX and power control is more significant (about 9~10 dB).
__________________________________________________________________________________________
1.6 Capacity Analysis for Slow Frequency Hopping
This section presents theoretical analysis for GSM-based cellular systems to estimate the
capacity enhancement due to the use of slow frequency hopping. The outage probability
dependence on the loading factor is determined. Then the maximum loading factor that keeps
the outage probability under a certain threshold value (e.g. 2%) is evaluated and used to
estimate the maximum system capacity. First we present the system models including
channel model, frequency planning and hopping model. The stochastic analysis used to
estimate the outage probability is then presented
Results
In this section, the results of the outage analysis are presented. The following numerical
values are used in the simulation and the analysis:
o Cell radius (R) =2 km

o Discontinues Transmission Factor (DTXF) = 0.5
o Traffic per user in Erlang (Euser) = 0.02 Er/user
The outage probability is evaluated analytically and by simulation using at different network-
loading factor values.
Table E8 lists the outage probability (Pout) at loading factor values range from 10% to 60%.
It is apparent that the outage probability can be significantly reduced using the power control.
It is evident that there is a good agreement between the results evaluated by simulation and
those evaluated analytically. The difference between the CIR values of the two methods does
not exceed 1dB for most of the results. It can be also noted that the power control has a strong
impact on the distribution of the CIR. With PC, as expected, the high values of the CIR are
emphasized while the low values are de-emphasized.
Table E9 lists the maximum loading factor at different maximum outage probability
requirements (Pmax). For example, when Pmax=2% the maximum loading factor is increased
from 8% to 20% (which is almost 250% enhancement). However, the capacity gain that can
be achieved in practice might be less than that because of the difficulty of realizing perfect
power control.
Table E8: Outage Probability at Different Loading Factors
PC NO NO YES YES
Results Analysis Simulation Analysis Simulation
LF=10% 2.9x10-2 3.5x10-2 1.0x10-5 3.0x10-5
20% 5.0x10-2 6.6x10-2 3.5x10-2 8.5x10-2
30% 7.9x10-2 9.3x10-2 2.4x10-1 4.0x10-1
40% 1.0x10-1 1.4x10-1 2.9x10-1 5.3x10-1
50% 1.2x10-1 1.7x10-1 3.3x10-1 6.0x10-1
60% 1.4x10-1 1.9x10-1 4.0x10-1 6.5x10-1
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Table E9: Maximum Loading Factor at Various Outage Probabilities Requirements Pmax
PC NO NO YES YES
Pmax =2% 8% 6.5% 19% 18%
4% 17% 15% 22% 20.5%
10% 40% 36% 29% 28%
Conclusions
It is shown that the capacity analysis of FH-TDM system can be determined analytically with
a high degree of accuracy and with much less computational time and effort than required
when simulation is used. It is also shown that power control can dramatically enhance the
system capacity, particularly at low and medium network loading conditions. In practice, it is
difficult to achieve perfect power control. However the results reported here provide an upper
bound to the performance which may be achieved as better power control techniques become
available.
1-The Network Capacity of FH-GSM can be determined analytically with a high
degree of accuracy and with less computational time compared to the simulation
approach.
2-The dependence of the signal quality (in terms of the CDF (CIR)) on the loading
factor is derived analytically and by simulation
3- The dependence of the CDF (CIR) on the loading factor shows the importance of
the CAC algorithms to enhance the system capacity without degrading the signal
quality.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
1.7 Conclusions
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Table of Contents
1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY …………………………………………………………3

1.1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………....3
1.2 Work program……………………………………………………………...….3
1.3 Gain in using SFH……………………………………………………………..5
1.4 Simulation Results Using Planet DMS 3.2…………………………………..11
1.5 Simulation and Results Using Planet EV…………………………………….15
1.6 Capacity Analysis for Slow Frequency Hopping…………………………….21
1.7 Conclusions…………………………………………………………………..23
List of Tables…………………………………………………………………………26
List of Figures ………………………………………………………………………..27
Arabic Summary……………………………………………………………………..29
English Summary…………………………………………………………………….30
2 INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………..31
2.1 GSM Basic Feature…………………………………………………………..31
2.2 System Capacity……………………………………………………………..33
2.3 Frequency Hopping Categories…………..………………………………….35
2.4 Discontinuous Transmission (DTX)…………………………………………36
2.5 Down Link Power Control (DLPC)………………………………………….36
2.6 Reuse Partitioning………………………………………………………….. 37
2.7 Reuse Partitioning and Frequency Hopping…………………………………38
2.8 GSM Frequency Plan………………………………………………………...40
3 SUMMARY OF THE FIRST PROGRESS REPORT……………………………41

3.1 Simulation Environment……………………………………………………..41
3.2 Simulation Results……………………………………………………………41
3.3 Effect of Using SFH on BER………………………………………………...42
3.4 Effect of Using SFH on FER…………………………………………………43
3.5 Effect of Using SFH in FER for different traffic…………………………….43
3.6 Effect of Using discontinuous transmission (DTX) on BER and FER………44
3.7 Effect of Using Power Control (PC) on BER and FER……………………...44
3.8 Effect of Using SFH on Fading………………………………………………45
3.9 Slow Frequency Hopping (SFH) Gain……………………………………….48
3.10 Conclusions…………………………………………………………………..49
4 SIMULATION RESULTS USING PLANET DMS 3.2………………………….50

4.1 Frequency Hopping…………………………………………………………..51
4.2 Maximizing Interference Diversity…………………………………………..51
4.3 Multiple Reuse Patterns……………………………………………………...53
4.4 Applying Multiple Reuse Patterns (MRP)…………………………………...56
4.5 Capacity of the 4/12 Reuse Pattern…………………………………………..57
4.6 Multiple Reuse Pattern (MRP): 12/8/8/8 Configuration……………………..62
4.7 Multiple Reuse Pattern (MRP): 12/8/8/6 Configuration…………………….64
4.8 Fractional Load Pattern (FLP)………………………………………………..66
__________________________________________________________________________________________
4.9 Conclusions…………………………………………………………………..68
5 SIMULATION RESULTS USING PLANET EV………………………………...69

5.1 MRP 12/8/8/8 Configuration…………………………………………………71
5.2 MRP 12/8/8/6 Configuration…………………………………………………72
5.3 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………77
6 CAPACITY ANALYSIS FOR SLOW FREQUENCY HOPPING……………...78

6.1 Outage Probability Analysis………………………………………………….78
6.2 Results ………………………………………………………………………..81
6.3 Conclusions…………………………………………………………………..82
7 CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………………...83
8 REFERENCES……………………………………………………………………...85
9 GLOSSARY…………………………………………………………………………87
10 APPENDICES………………………………………………………………………88
__________________________________________________________________________________________
List of Tables
Table 1: RXQUAL classifications

Table 2: Network Configuration
Table 3: An MRP example with 6 MHz of spectrum, where cells have an uneven distribution
of transceivers
Table 4: The 36 radio channels available in a 4/12 frequency reuse
Table 5: Multiple Reuse Pattern 12/8/8/8 Frequency index
Table 6: Multiple Reuse Pattern 12/8/8/6 frequency index
Table 7: RXQUAL vs. BER
Table 8: RxQual for 12/8/8/8
Table 9: RxQual for 12/8/8/6 configuration
Table 11: RxQual for Different re-use patterns
Table 12: Outage Probability at Different Loading Factors
Table 13: Maximum Loading Factor at Various Outage Probabilities Requirements
__________________________________________________________________________________________
List of Figures
Figure 1: TDMA frame duration
Figure 2: Frequency Diversity
Figure 3: Interference Diversity
Figure 4: Cyclic Hopping
Figure 5: Random Hopping
Figure 6: Power Control Algorithm
Figure 7: Basic principle of reuse partitioning
Figure 8: Network 5 IFH and DL PC performance
Figure 9: 1/3 frequency reuse network
Figure 10: The locations of the selected sites
Figure 11: The best serving sectors for the selected sites
Figure 12: The signals strength for the selected sites
Figure 13: BER with and without SFH for an average traffic of 5 Erlangs per sector
Figure 14: FER with and without SFH for an average traffic of 5 Erlangs per sector
Figure 15: Effect of using SFH on FER for different traffic.
Figure 16: Effect of applying DTX on BER
Figure 17: The effect of using DTX on FER.
Figure 18: effect of using PC on BER.
Figure 19: The effect of using PC on FER
Figure 20: The effect of minimizing the fading by using SFH on BER
Figure 21: The effect of minimizing the fading by using SFH on FER
Figure 22: The effect of minimizing the fading by using SFH on RXQUAL
Figure 23: The relation between C/(I+A) and FER for SFH and no hopping, for Reuse 1x3
Figure 24: Relation between C/(I+A) and FER for SFH with Reuse 1x1 vs. Reuse 1x3.
Figure 25: The sample test
Figure 26: Example of the interference diversity effects of different hopping strategies
Figure 27: An example of frequency planning with MRP
Figure 28: The 4/12 reuse pattern
Figure 29: The 4/12 configuration
Figure 30: C/I Layer for 4/12 configuration
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Figure 31: C/A Layer for 4/12 configuration
Figure 33: The 12/8/8/8 reuse pattern
Figure 34: The 12/8/8/8 configuration
Figure 35: 6-cluster and 8-cluster shapes
Figure 36: Sample of the 12/8/8/6 test network
Figure 37: The 1x3Configuration
Figure 38: Sites studied with planet EV
Figure 39: Signal strength
Figure 40: Best serving sectors
Figure 41: C/I CDF for 12/8/8/8 configuration
Figure 43: C/I layer for 1/3 configuration
Figure 44: C/I CDF for 1/3 configuration
Figure 45: C/I CDF for 1/3 configuration for different system loading
Figure 46: C/I layer for free planning
Figure 47: CDF of 1/3 and free panning
Figure 48: C/I vs. FER for 4/12 re-use (non-hopping) and 12/8/8/6 re-use pattern (Random
and Cyclic).
Figure 49: Frequency diversity gain for three different re-use pattern: 4/12 non –hopping,
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
English Summary
This is the final report for the research project DSR-AR-2(49), “Assessment of Capacity and
Performance Enhancement using Frequency Hopping on STC GSM Network”, sponsored by
King Saud University Research Center, and carried out in collaboration with Saudi
Telecommunication Company (STC). During the first year, the simulation package
“PLANET” has been acquired through a grant from the STC, installed and utilized by the
project’s team. PLANET is a leading commercial simulation tool managed by Marconi
Company and used for the design, performance analysis and optimization of wireless
telecommunication systems. The package is particularly useful in studying the second and
third generation of cellular mobile systems: G2, G2.5 and G3.
The first report demonstrated significant gains for SFH, PC and DTX. Using SFH the BER is
reduced, the improvement is 15%. Similarly, FER is reduced, the improvement is 13%, the
number of dropped calls is reduced, and QoS is better. With SFH if traffic increases the FER
and BER increase, but also still better than the no-hopping. For traffic heavier than 35
E/sector, SFH will not improve performance because the number of blocked calls increases
sharply. If DTX is enabled the BER, and FER are reduced by 12% and 8%, respectively.
Similarly, enabling PC reduces BER and FER by 4% and 3%, respectively. The use of SFH
reduces the effect of fading on BER, and FER by 32% and 24%, respectively. The Slow
Frequency Hopping Gain for Reuse of 1x3 is 10 dB, and is 2 dB less for a reuse of 1x1.
However, Reuse of 1x1 is better for achieving very high capacity.
Providing high capacity in GSM networks at low cost, using existing macrocells, is of
increasing importance due to the competition between operators. This report shows that by
applying frequency hopping in combination with an advanced frequency planning method,
Multiple Reuse Patterns (MRP), very high traffic levels in the existing macrocells can be
supported. Simulation results and analysis show that an average frequency reuse factor as low
as 7.5 is possible without negatively affecting the network quality. Thus, the network
capacity can be doubled compared to a non hopping network with reuse 4/12. The following
are some of the project results:
- Frequency hopping enables the use more tight frequency re-use patterns, hence,
increasing frequency re-use efficiency and the network capacity.
- Random hopping gives more frequency diversity gain than cyclic hopping.
- In Fractional loading pattern FLP, the loading of MAL is critically important and its
value depends on frequency re-use pattern.
- Frequency diversity gain increases with the increase of hopping carriers allocated to a
mobile station; hence: FLP gives more frequency diversity gain than MRP.
Finally, the project objectives have been accomplished through simulation analytical studies.
Our results have confirmed the literature claims on performance and capacity gains
obtainable using SFH. Field experience in Riyadh has also been consistent with our results
and further field tests are not needed. .
__________________________________________________________________________________________
2 INTRODUCTION
Cellular systems are limited by interference. In these systems, multiple co-channel
interference (reuse frequency), but it is controlled, is a normal situation, and is the main
factor to determine the service area. High interference level is allowed in order to reuse the
available frequencies within the smallest area. As quality of service depends on the
carrier/interference ratio (C/I) more than on the signal/noise ratio, there is a certain trade-off
between quality and capacity that can be tolerated by the system.
Today, mobile networks have larger growing rates, for this growing rate to continue, higher
levels of capacity and quality are needed. This means that new techniques must be used to
improve such features in order to reach a progressive enhancement of the radio and network
performance. Current implementation of GSM has some powerful mechanism introduced to
reduce the effect of interference, slow frequency hopping (SFH), discontinuous transmission
(DTX) and down link power control (DLPC).
Slow frequency hopping improves performance and capacity through frequency diversity and
interference diversity. DTX and DLPC improve the performance by reducing the signal
strength and hence reduce the interference.
In this report Planet DMS and Planet EV simulation software are used to find different
frequency planning techniques that lead to increased system capacity. In particular, the
following will be investigated
- Interference analysis for these frequency planning techniques.
- Frequency hopping gain that is accomplished by frequency hopping.
- Frequency diversity gain.
2.1 GSM Basic Features

1- GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) is the European standard and the most
popular cellular radio system allover the world.
2- TDMA (or more accurately) Hybrid FDMA/TDMA
3- 8 time slots per carrier, 200 KHz carrier spacing and 270.833 Kbps aggregate bit rate per
carrier.
4- Modulation scheme: GMSK with a BT product of 0.3.
5- Coding and Interleaving: Cyclic block code (with a minimum free distance dmin=2) + 1/2
rate convolutional coding (with constraint length K=5) + 456 data bits are separated into 8
blocks and then spaced 8 bits apart within the interleaved block.
6- FDD at 900 MHz and 1900 MHz.
7- The raw data rate is 13 Kbps (full rate coded speech), 7 Kbps (half rate coded speech).
__________________________________________________________________________________________
8- Slow frequency hopping is optional.
9- Power control is used with 20 dB and 30 dB dynamic-range in the uplink and downlink
respectively and with a 2 dB power step size.
Figure 1: TDMA frame duration
Slow Frequency Hopping

o Slow since the hopping rate is much slower than the symbol rate
o Cyclic or Random
o Frequency Diversity: It combats the frequency selective fading since the frequency
is changing every time frame (4.614 msec)
o Interference Diversity (Averaging): A different set of cochannel interferes is
encountered every frame with different displacement and propagation parameters
Fractional Loading
o A tight frequency planning (e.g. 1/3) is used
o Only a certain FRACTION of the assigned channels to each cell (sector) can be used
simultaneously to preserve the signal quality.
o A Call Admission Control (CAC) algorithm is employed to control the cell loading.
o Less blocking and dropping rates compared to those of the conventional frequency
planning (e.g. 4/12 or 5/15).
__________________________________________________________________________________________
2.2 System Capacity
o The maximum system capacity (C) is given by
C = Nch . LFmax
Where Nch is the number of channels per cell and LFmax is the maximum cell loading factor.
o The maximum loading factor is determined from the blocking limit using the Erlang-B
formula (for the blocking-limited capacity) and from the outage probability (for the
interference-limited capacity).
o The average system capacity (Cavg) is given by
Cavg = C.(1-Pb).(1-Pd)
Where Pb is the call blocking probability and Pd is the call dropping probability
Frequency Hopping
Frequency hopping is a standard feature of GSM and has been in use in the networks for several
years. Together with channel coding and interleaving, power control and discontinuous
transmission frequency hopping makes GSM a very efficient spread spectrum system that can
distribute the load and utilize diversity of the total operator bandwidth. Frequency hopping
mitigates frequency selective fading by changing transmission frequency burst by burst. In
addition to the improvement on single link frequency hopping it also gives system level gains by
randomizing interference.
Frequency hopping gives highest gains against fading for slow mobiles moving at speeds below
30 km/h on the 900 MHz band. Faster mobiles will see changing channel conditions through their
mobility and as such do not need and will not gain against frequency selective fading, but they do
still gain in terms of interference diversity. Frequency hopping performance depends on channel
coherence bandwidth. In indoor conditions the channel is close to flat fading, which means that
even a relatively large change in frequency does not bring different channel conditions. However,
in outdoor conditions correlation bandwidth
Frequency hopping is available only with GSM. When frequency hopping is used, a mobile hops
from carrier to carrier while it is on a call. The mobile radio channel is a frequency selective
fading channel, which means that the propagation conditions are different for each individual
__________________________________________________________________________________________
radio frequency. For example, if certain frequency (channel) may suffer from some propagation
problems the other frequencies may not. To average these conditions over all the available
frequencies in a cell, slow frequency hopping (SFH) is introduced. It is called slow because the
carrier frequency is changed only with every TDMA frame, the frame duration is 4.614 ms, so
the hopping rate (1/4.614 ms = 217 hops/s), as shown in Figure 1[1].
The Benefits of Frequency Hopping Frequency Diversity: When the mobile station moves at
low speed, it may remain in a fade for many bursts (low signal level), as shown in Figure 2,
mobile station suffer from low signal level with F1. Hopping to another frequency like F2 and F3
which have good signal level can mitigate the fading on the slow and stationary MSs. Bursts sent
on frequency F1 are degraded or lost near the MS location, but the signal may still be
reconstructed from the bursts on frequencies F2 and F3 [1].
Figure 2: Frequency Diversity
Interference diversity: At any time, the amount of interference on the various channels will
vary from channel to channel. As shown in Figure 3, for non hopping MS1 will suffer
continuously strong interference, but MS2 and MS3 have low interference level. With
hopping condition, the interference is averaged over multiple users, so a mobile will not
suffer continuously bursts on the same highly interfered channel [2].
Figure 3: Interference Diversity
__________________________________________________________________________________________
2.3 Frequency hopping categories:
Frequency hopping can be classified in two categories:
Baseband hopping: In Baseband hopping, each incoming block of traffic goes into a
Baseband distribution module, which assembles the blocks and switches them between
carriers according to a hopping sequence number. Each carrier remains on a fixed frequency,
but the traffic channels are switched from carrier to carrier after each frame. The advantages
of Baseband Hopping (over Synthesized Hopping) are that the transmitter remains on fixed
frequencies and can be coupled together through a low pass filter increasing the available
transmitted power at the antenna. A possible disadvantage of this method is that the number
of hopping frequencies is confined to the number of carriers [3-4].
Synthesized hopping: In synthesized hopping, the carrier synthesizer is changed in

frequency according to the hopping sequence. The carrier re-tunes to a different frequency for
each burst and the call always stays in the same carrier. The fast re-tuning necessitates the use
of Hybrid combiners in the BTS. The possible advantage of synthesized hopping (over
Baseband) is that the range of hopping frequencies is not restricted to the number of carriers
in use. Because the carriers are continuously changing frequency, a possible disadvantage is
that it is impossible to combine carriers to a common antenna through frequency sensitive
combiners [4].
Hopping Algorithms
There are two different hopping algorithms can be assigned to the MS:
Cyclic Hopping: in which hopping is performed through the assigned frequency list
from the first frequency, to the second frequency, to the third, and so on until the
frequency list is repeated. A cyclic hopping sequence is shown in Figure 4 [3].
Figure 4: Cyclic Hopping
Random Hopping: A random hopping sequence is shown in Figure 5, random

hopping means one frequency is chosen in a random way from the frequency list [3].
Figure 5: Random Hopping

__________________________________________________________________________________________
2.4 Discontinuous Transmission (DTX)
There are two method of speech transmission are possible in GSM. In one method, the speech
is transmitted continuously, independent of whether the user is speaking or not. In the other
method, with DTX means that a mobile stops transmitting during silent periods in a
conversation, which reduces the average signal power and, therefore, the average co-channel
Interference. In a normal conversation, each person speaks on average for less than 40% ~ 50
% of the time. And the other benefit of DTX in uplink is save the battery power of the mobile
station, because it is reduce the average signal power.
The fundamental problem of DTX is how to differentiate between speech and noise. This is
done through the Voice Activity Detection (VAD). The VAD algorithm is very closely
linked to the speech coding algorithm. The design of a speech detector has to weigh the risk
of clipping the active talk against the risk that noise is incorrectly classified as speech.
The distinction between speech and noise can be made by measuring the spectral
characteristics of the input signal. If the background noise is stationary over relatively long
periods (compared to speech), the spectral characteristics of the noise will be quite similar
from frame to frame. In principle, it then should be possible to detect the presence of speech
by looking for deviations from the spectral characteristics of the noise. VAD incorporates an
inverse filter, the coefficients of which are deriving during noise-only periods. The energy of
the inverse filtered signal is compared to a threshold. If the energy is greater than the
threshold, then the presence of speech is declared.
Experience has shown that a listener is greatly disturbed when the background noise behind
the speech suddenly stops. This would happen regularly with discontinuous transmission. A
method to avoid the disturbance is to generate an artificial noise when no signal is received.
The characteristics of this noise are regularly updated and transmitted to the receiving end
[1].
Finally, we can summarize the benefits of DTX in:
o DTX reduces the interference level in the air.
o In uplink DTX save the battery power of the mobile unit.
2.5 Down Link Power Control (DLPC)

DLPC is the ability of the Base Station Controller, using received signal strength and/or bit
error rate (BER) information from the mobile, to determine whether to increase or decrease
downlink power.
In GSM, the base station (BS) supervises both downlink and uplink power control. For
uplink, the BS evaluates its own measurements to command the transmitting power level of
the MS. For downlink, the BS uses measurements of the MS to adjust its own power.
Figure 6 Show the power control algorithm.
Measurement PC PC PC
Reporting Preprocessing Decision Execution
Figure 6: Power Control Algorithm

__________________________________________________________________________________________
In measurement reporting, received signal quality and received signal strength are measured
and reported in each 104 TDMA frames (480 ms). Then BS averages the measurements in the
PC preprocessing. In PC decision the averaged parameters are compared in the BS with their
associated upper and lower PC thresholds. The BS comes to a decision depending on the
comparison results. After a power control decision, then the PC execution gets control and
adjusts the required power level [3].
2.6 Reuse partitioning

The basic concept of reuse partitioning is to decrease the effective reuse utilizing channel
allocation schemes able to assign connections to different layers using different reuses.
Therefore, the available spectrum of a radio network is divided into different bands, which
constitute different layers with different reuses. In this book, the layer with looser reuse that
ensures full coverage is called overlay and the different layers with tighter reuses, which
provide higher effective capacity, are called underlay layers. Mobile stations close to the base
station can use the underlay network, while mobile stations on the edge of the cell usually
utilize the overlay layer. The dynamic allocation of mobile stations to the underlay layers
provides an effective capacity increase, since these layers are deployed with tighter reuses.
There are many different practical implementations for reuse partitioning, such as concentric
cells, multiple reuse pattern (MRP), intelligent underlay overlay (IUO) and cell tiering. All
these are based on two or more layers deployed with different reuses, and channel allocation
strategies that allocate the calls into the appropriate layer according to the propagation
conditions. However, each approach has its own special characteristics. For instance, IUO
channel allocation is based on the evaluation of the C/I experienced by the mobile station,
while concentric cells utilize inner and outer zones where the evaluation of the inner zone is
based on measured power and timing advance. More insight into some of the different reuse
partitioning methods, and especially about the combination of frequency hopping and
frequency partitioning, is given in [5].
Many different studies from frequency reuse partitioning have been carried out with an
estimated capacity gain typically of 20-50% depending on system parameters such as
available bandwidth, configuration used, etc. This section does not focus on basic reuse
partitioning, but rather analyses its combination with frequency hopping since the gains of
both functionality can be combined together.
Basic operation
Frequency reuse partitioning techniques started to be deployed in the mid-1990s. At that time
some terminals did not properly support frequency hopping, especially when it was combined
with power control and discontinuous transmission. When frequency hopping terminal
support started to be largely required by operators, the terminal manufacturers made sure
these problems were fixed and frequency hopping started to be extensively deployed. It was
therefore important to combine both frequency hopping and frequency reuse partitioning in
order to achieve the best possible performance.
Basic reuse partitioning implements a multi-layer network structure, where one layer
provides seamless coverage and the others high capacity through the implementation of
aggressive frequency reuses. Figure 7 displays the basic principle of frequency reuse
__________________________________________________________________________________________
partitioning operation. The overlay layer provides continuous coverage area using
conventional frequency reuses that ensures an adequate C/I distribution. Overlay frequencies
are intended to serve mobile stations mainly at cell boundary areas and other locations where
the link quality (measured in terms of C/I ratio or BER) is potentially worse. The underlay
layer uses tight reuses in order to provide the extended capacity. Its effective coverage area is
therefore limited to locations close to the base transceiver station (BTS), where the
interference level is acceptable.
The channel allocation, distributing the traffic across the layers, can be performed at the call
set-up phase or later on during the call by means of handover procedures. Different
implementations base the channel allocation on different quality indicators. The best possible
quality indicator of the connection is C/I. Therefore IUO, which makes use of such an
indicator, is considered to be the best reuse partitioning implementation and will be the one
further analyzed across this section.
Figure 7: Basic principle of reuse partitioning.
In IUO implementation, the C/I ratio is calculated by comparing the downlink signal level
of the serving cell and the strongest neighboring cells, which use the same underlay
frequencies. These are reported back from the terminals to the network, and the C/I ratio is
computed in the network according to
where Pown_cell is the serving cell measured power, corrected with the power control
information, and Pi_BCCH is the power measured on the BCCH of interfering cell i.
2.7 Reuse partitioning and frequency hopping

Both frequency hopping and reuse partitioning reduce the effective frequency reuse pattern
and thereby enable capacity gains in cellular mobile systems. The gains of hopping are
associated with a better link level performance due to the frequency and interference
diversity. On the other hand, the gains from reuse partitioning are related to an efficient
__________________________________________________________________________________________
channel allocation that ensures calls are handled by the most efficient layer/reuse. These
gains can be combined since they have a different nature. In the IUO implementation, the
combination of frequency hopping and reuse partitioning is defined as intelligent frequency
hopping (IFH).
As with conventional frequency hopping, in BB hopping mode, the BCCH frequency is

included in the hopping sequence of the overlay layer, but not in RF hopping mode. These
results suggest that IFH provides an additional capacity increase of almost 60%. However,
the gains from IFH are tightly related with the gains of power control since both
functionalities tend to narrow down the C/I distribution, effectively increasing the system
capacity. Therefore it is important to study the performance of IFH together with DL PC in
order to deduce its realistic additional gains on top of the previously defined GSM baseline
performance.
IFH with power control performance

Simulation analysis showed the gains from DL PC and IFH were not cumulative, so a
careful analysis is required to find out the additional gain of IFH over the defined GSM
baseline performance. The simulation analysis suggests this gain is roughly 25%. Figure 8
shows the results collected in Network 5 trials. Its configuration is equivalent to Network
2. The measured gain was between 18 and 20%. However, in order to achieve this gain, the
power control and IFH parameters have to be carefully planned for the algorithms not to
get in conflict.
Figure 8: Network 5 IFH and DL PC performance.
As a conclusion, additional gains of the order of 20% on top of the GSM baseline
performance are expected with the introduction of IFH. However, this introduction requires
careful planning and parameter optimization and the gains are dependent on network traffic
load and distribution. Therefore, unlike frequency hopping, power control and
discontinuous transmission, the use of reuse partitioning is only recommended when the
capacity requirements demand additional spectral efficiency from the network.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
2.8 GSM Frequency Plan
Frequency hopping, in combination with coding and interleaving, was initially introduced to
combat fast fading. It has become evident that frequency hopping also creates interference
diversity, which gives significant improvement in interference-limited systems or systems
with limited spectrum.
There are several ways to increase capacity. In general, these methods can be divided into
two groups: the first one requires addition of new cell sites; and the second only implies
installation of new transceivers at existing base stations. Deployment of new cell sites is often
a slow and costly process, due to site acquisition and maintenance. Adding transceivers to
sites without adding spectrum requires frequency reuse in the system.
Following frequency planning schemes have been used in practice.

o Regular pattern 4/12 and 5/15, each TRX assigned one frequencies and each
frequency is used every 12 cells or15 cells.
o Multiple Reuse Pattern (MRP). The fundamental idea with MRP is to apply separate
reuse patterns with different degrees of tightness. An 8/6/4 MRP configuration
requires in total 18 frequency carriers. Three traffic channel groups would each
contain 8, 6 and 4 frequencies.
o An FLP (Fractional Load Planning) network is characterized by random frequency

hopping to achieve an effective usage of the available frequencies. The key is to use
as many frequencies as possible for each connection, but each frequency only for a
fraction of time. The most common is 1/1 or 1/3.
o Ad-hoc frequency plan. A custom set of frequencies is selected for each cell, typically
by an Automatic Frequency-Planning (AFP) tool. Frequency hopping is still used and
more frequencies than the number of transceivers can be assigned to a cell.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
3 SUMMARY OF THE FIRST PROGRESS REPORT
3.1 Simulation Environment

In this section we present a case study aimed at investigating the main properties and
capabilities of the simulation tool. A GSM 900 network having the following features and
characteristics will be considered:
• Network includes 7 sites; every site consists of 3 sectors, a total of 21 cells.
• Frequency reuse factor 1/3, most popular, as shown in Figure 9.
• Total served area is 300 km2.
• Every sector has five transceivers; four for traffic channels (TCH), and one for control
channel (BCCH), total number of 15 carriers.
• Base band Frequency, with both cyclic, and random, in every site.
• Discontinues Transmission of 60 % is used and 2dB Power Control, Traffic range 5-
35 Erlang/sector.
Figure 9: 1/3 frequency reuse network.
3.2 Simulation Results

Figure 10 shows the locations of the selected sites and the best serving sectors for the selected
sites are shown in figure11 and the signal strength for the selected sites are shown in
figure12.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Figure 10: The locations of the selected sites
Figure 11: The best serving sectors for the selected sites
Figure 12: The signals strength for the selected sites
3.3 Effect of using SFH on BER

Figure 13 depicts the average bit-error rate with and without slow frequency hopping for an
average traffic of 5 Erlangs per sector. Frequency hopping offers 15% improvement.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
100
90
80
70
Affected Area %
60
50
Hopping
40
Non Hopping
30
20
10
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
10
0~
5~
~
10
15
20
25
30
35
BER %
Figure 13: BER with and without SFH for an average traffic of 5 Erlangs per sector
3.4 Effect of using SFH on FER

Figure 14 depicts the average frame-error rate with and without slow frequency hopping for
an average traffic of 5 Erlangs per sector. Frequency hopping offers 15% improvement.
100
90
80
70
Affected Area %
60
50
Hopping
40
Non Hopping
30
20
10
0
15
20
25
30
35
0
5
10
10
0~
~
5~
~
10
15
20
25
30
35
FER %
Figure 14: FER with and without SFH for an average traffic of 5 Erlangs per sector
From the figure we can see the improvement of the FER by using SFH is 13%. Since calls are
dropped if the FER > 6.4%, reducing the FER will reduced the number of dropped calls.
3.5 Effect of using SFH in FER for different traffic

Figure 15 depicts the average frame-error rate with slow frequency hopping for traffic of 5,
10, 15, 25, 35 Erlangs per sector. From the figure it is clear that FER increases with
increasing traffic. However, using FH the FER is lower even at 35 E/sec.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
100
90
80
70
60
Affected area %
50 5 E/sec
10 E/sec
40 15 E/sec
25 E/sec
35 E/sec
30
20
10
0
10
15
20
25
30
0
5
10
0~
5~
~
10
15
20
25
30
FER %
Figure 15: Effect of using SFH on FER for different traffic.
3.6 Effect of using discontinuous transmission (DTX) on BER and FER

Figure 16-17 show the BER and FER when DTX is switched on and off. Enabling DTX
reduces BER by 12%, and reduces FER by 8%. With reference to DTX application, it is
assumed that for each call we have speech for only 60% of the conversation time. Hence, the
evaluated interference is reduced by a factor of 0.6 when DTX is enabled.
100
90
80
70
Affected Area %
60
50
DTX ON
DTX OFF
40
30
20
10
0
0
10
15
20
25
30
35
5
10
0~
~
5~
~
10
15
20
25
30
35
BER %
Figure 16: Effect of applying DTX on BER
__________________________________________________________________________________________
100
90
80
Affected Area % 70
60
50
40 DTX ON
DTX OFF
30
20
10
0
10
15
20
25
30
35
0
5
10
0~
5~
~
10
15
20
25
30
35
FER %
Figure 17: The effect of using DTX on FER.
3.7 Effect of using Power Control (PC) on BER and FER

Figure 18-19 show the BER and FER when PC is switched on and off. Enabling PC reduces
BER by 4%, and reduces FER by 3%. Hence, by using PC the BER and FER are reduced
and we will have a good quality of communication (by the reduction of interference) while
minimizing transmitter power consumption.
100
90
80
70
Affected Area %
60
PC ON
50
PC OFF
40
30
20
10
0
15
20
25
30
35
100
5
10
0~
~
5~
~
10
15
20
25
30
35
BER %
Figure 18: effect of using PC on BER.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
100
90
80
70
60
Affected Area
50
PC ON
40 PC OFF
30
20
10
100
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
0~
5~
~
10
15
20
25
30
35
FER %
Figure 19: The effect of using PC on FER
3.8 Effect of using SFH on Fading

Figure 20-21 show the BER and FER when SFH is switched on and off. Enabling SFH
reduces BER by 32%, and reduces FER by 24%. Hence, by using SFH the BER and FER are
reduced since “hopping” over several frequencies randomizes the occurrence of fades, which
is commonly referred to as frequency diversity. Also due to minimizing the fading, quality of
the received call (RXQUAL) will improve. This improvement is due to improvement of both
BER and FER. Figure 22, shows the improvement of RXQUAL, and Table 1 shows the
RXQUAL classifications.
70
60
50
Affected Area %
40
30 Hopping
Non Hopping
20
10
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
0
10
0~
5~
~
10
15
20
25
30
BER %
Figure 20: The effect of minimizing the fading by using SFH on BER.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
50
45
40
35
Affected Area %
30
25
Hopping
20 Non Hopping
15
10
0
5
10
00
~1
~2
~2
~3
~3
0~
~1
5~
10
15
20
25
30
35
FER %
Figure 21: The effect of minimizing the fading by using SFH on FER.
60
50
40
Affected Area
30
Hopping
20 Non Hopping
10
0
L0
L1
L2
L3
L4
L5
L6
L7
A
A
QU
QU
QU
QU
QU
QU
QU
QU
RX
RX
RX
RX
RX
RX
RX
RX
RxQUAL
Figure 22: The effect of minimizing the fading by using SFH on RXQUAL
Table 1: RXQUAL classifications
__________________________________________________________________________________________
3.9 Slow Frequency Hopping (SFH) Gain
The required carrier-to-interference ratio from co-channel and adjacent channel C/(I+A) is
investigated here in relation to FER. Figure 23 depicts the required C/(I+A) with and without
hopping, for Reuse 1x3. For no hopping case, a C/(I+A) value of 19 dB is required to achieve
a FER of .01, For SFH this C(I+A) value reduces to 8.0 dB. Hence, the Slow Frequency
Hopping Gain is 11 dB. To summarize, the gain of hopping is, for a certain voice quality
(expressed in FER), a lower C(I+A) is required in hopping mode because of the better
performance of FEC than in no hopping mode. In other words, with hopping, more bit errors
can be corrected by the FEC. This mean a QoS will increase by using SFH. Similar results
are shown in figure 24 for FER using SFH with Reuse 1x1 and 1x3. From the figure, SFH
gain is about 2 dB higher for Reuse 1x3 compared to Reuse 1x1.
0.1
FER
0.01
0.001
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26
C/(I+A) (d B)
FER (Non Hopping) FER 1/3
Figure 23: The relation between C/(I+A) and FER for SFH and no hopping, for Reuse 1x3.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
1
0.1
FER 1/3
FER
FER 1/1
0.01
0.001
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
C/(I+A) (d B)
Figure 24: Relation between C/(I+A) and FER for SFH with Reuse 1x1 vs. Reuse 1x3.
3.10 Conclusions
__________________________________________________________________________________________
4 SIMULATION RESULTS USING PLANET DMS 3.2
The following work is done by help of the frequency planning team of STC Company. The
earlier release of Planet software (Planet DMS 3.2) is currently used by design and frequency
plan center of STC. Hence it will be also used in the simulation study presented here. Al -
Shifa & Badr area has been selected for the study since base stations are distributed in regular
method, and the area contains medium and high traffic. The area is covered with 27 Ericsson
GSM base stations with three sectors in each side. The network configuration parameters are
summarized in Table 2.
Table 2: Network Configuration

Bandwidth 7.2 MHz
Frequency 900 MHz
Number of Carriers 36 Carriers
Number of sites 27 Sites
Number of sectors 3 sectors/site
Total served area Approx. 50 Km2
This sample test is taken from Al-Shifa area in south of Riyadh and shown in Figure 25.
Figure 25: The sample test

__________________________________________________________________________________________
4.1 Frequency Hopping
Increasing network capacity, by tightening the frequency reuse, results in a heavily interfered
radio environment. This makes it more difficult to produce a frequency plan of good quality.
In the end, interference managing techniques such as frequency hopping, power control and
DTX are required in order to secure the quality in the network. We consider only the use of
frequency hopping.
With frequency hopping, frequency diversity will occur, which balances the quality between
slow and fast moving users. This implies that a cell planning margin for fast fading (Rayleigh
fading) is not needed. Thus, an approximate coverage gain equal to the fast fading margin can
be achieved from the frequency diversity effect. Today, cell planners typically use 3 dB as
the fast fading margin.
Furthermore, frequency hopping also introduces interference diversity [6-8]. Two aspects of
interference diversity combine to improve performance. Strong interferers are shared between
different users, which is often referred to as interference averaging. In addition, the time
varying interference as such increases the interleaving efficiency and thus improves receiver
performance. Altogether, a frequency plan with tighter reuse can be implemented in a
frequency hopping network, resulting in improved capacity compared to a non hopping
network.
4.2 Maximizing Interference Diversity

Interference diversity due to frequency hopping can be seen as a reduced correlation of the
interference signals experienced for consecutive bursts. Figure 26 illustrates this signal
correlation decrease for three simplified scenarios, in which the uplink of a connection in cell
A is interfered by mobile stations in co-channel cells. Cell A is assigned frequencies 1 and 10
in all scenarios.
Figure 26: Example of the interference diversity effects of different frequency hopping
strategies.
In the leftmost scenario without frequency hopping, the connection in cell A continuously
uses frequency 1, and therefore the interference I arises from the same user in cell B all the
time. The correlation of the interference signal on consecutive bursts is thus high. If the
__________________________________________________________________________________________
connection has bad quality, an improvement can only be made if the co-channel cell stops
transmitting on this frequency or if the connection in cell A is hand-overed (by an inter-cell
or intra-cell handover).
The middle scenario shows the traditional frequency hopping case, in which regular
frequency groups are used. The connection in cell A hops on two frequencies: 1 and l0, which
are both used in cell B as well. Consequently, the interference origin will alter between two
users in cell B, causing the two interference signals I1 and I2. Since the strength of I1 and I2
may be rather different, the interference signal correlation may be fairly low for consecutive
bursts. In other words, the interference diversity has increased compared to the non-hopping
case.
Finally, in the rightmost scenario, an irregular frequency plan is applied together with
frequency hopping. Typical for this case is that there are no fixed sets of frequencies used in a
cell and its co-channel cells. Thus, cell B is only a partial cochannel cell of cell A, since they
have only one frequency in common. On the other hand, this arrangement creates an
increased number of (partial) co-channel cells, in this example represented by cell C. In this
case, different bursts of a connection in cell A will be interfered by users in different cells.
Thus, consecutive bursts will experience the interference signals I1 and I2, which generally
are totally uncorrelated. Hence, this scenario is superior to traditional planning with regular
frequency groups in terms of maximizing interference diversity.
The example above indicates that to obtain maximal interference diversity, a frequency plan
without frequency groups is preferable. However, such frequency plan has apparent
drawbacks, including the extensive re-planning necessary in a continuously evolving
network. By applying the MRP technique, it is possible to provide maximal interference
diversity and still maintain a structured frequency plan, as will be described in the next
section.
It is of significant importance for the network operators to support high capacity in their
networks at minimum costs due to the increasing competition. There are several ways to
increase capacity from a cell planning point of view. Methods in use today include cell split,
overlaid, underlaid cells and hierarchical cell structures.
In general, these methods can be divided into two groups, where one requires addition of new
cell sites, while the other only implies installation of new transceivers in already existing base
stations. Deployment of new cell sites is often a fairly slow process, due to site acquisition
problems. This, together with the cost of new site equipment makes this option less efficient
from a cost and implementation perspective.
The alternative method, to reuse existing cells and only adding transceivers, is thus an
attractive option. Addition of transceivers to existing cells can be facilitated by applying radio
network features such as e.g. overlaid and under-laid cells, frequency hopping, power control
and Discontinuous Transmission (DTX). These features reduce and or change the
characteristics of the network interference so that a tighter frequency plan can be applied and
hence more transceivers can be added.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
A solution for providing high capacity in GSM using existing macrocells is highlighted here.
The solution, known as Multiple Reuse Patterns (MRP) [9-10], uses tight frequency reuse in
combination with frequency hopping.
4.3 Multiple Reuse Patterns

Multiple Reuse Patterns (MRP): is a generic method for achieving high capacity using tight
frequency reuse in combination with frequency hopping [l1-12]. The MRP technique exploits
the advantages from frequency hopping in order to increase the capacity. The fundamental
idea with MRP is to apply different separate reuse patterns with different degrees of tightness
and use frequency hopping to combine them into an average reuse.
The goal is to deploy as many transceivers as possible in existing cells to minimize the
number of costly new sites. In this report, only MRP using baseband frequency hopping is
considered.
A. Band split
The first step with MRP is to split the available frequency spectrum into different bands. One
band is the BCCH band which means that a frequency used as a BCCH frequency in one cell
will not be used as a TCH frequency in another cell and vice versa. The reasons for reserving
unique BCCH frequencies are:
o Traffic independent BSIC decoding performance: When the mobiles are trying to
decode the BSIC (Base Station Identity Code) on the SCH (Synchronization
Channel), the performance will not be affected of the traffic load in the network. The
reason is that the traffic assigned to the TCH frequencies will never disturb any
BCCH frequency on which the SCH is mapped. BSIC decoding is very important for
the handover performance. Poor handover performance could lead to increased
number of dropped calls.
o Simplified neighbor cell list planning: The number of possible neighbor cell
frequencies decreases with a separate BCCH band. A simple strategy where all
frequencies except the own BCCH frequency are included in the neighbor cell list can
be used. Using all available frequencies as BCCH frequencies may result in longer
neighbor cell lists, which has negative impact on handover performance [13].
o Full gain from power control and DTX: Only TCH frequencies can use DTX and
power control in the downlink. With a dedicated BCCH frequency band, full gain
from power control and DTX is achieved in the downlink [14-15]. This is not the case
if the BCCH frequencies interfere with the TCH frequencies. Thus, a more aggressive
power control approach can be applied.
o Replanning of TCH frequencies will not affect the BCCH frequency plan: If additional
transceivers are to be added to already existing cells, the BCCH frequency plan is not
affected (assuming that the combiner spacing requirements are neglected). The only
restriction to consider is the adjacent frequency interference.
Thus, it is possible to keep the same BCCH plan even if additional transceivers are added to
the network. The network operator then knows that if the BCCH frequency plan is good it
will remain good, independent of the TCH frequencies. As a next step, the MRP method
__________________________________________________________________________________________
implies that the remaining (TCH) frequencies are divided into different bands. Thus, one
BCCH and several TCH bands will exist. The main idea with several TCH bands is to apply
different reuse patterns on different TCH transceivers. The first TCH transceiver in all cells
will use frequencies from the first TCH band and so on.
The reasons for splitting the TCH frequencies into different bands are:
o Dimension the average frequency reuse according to the transceiver distribution of
the network: The transceiver distribution determines the average frequency reuse that
can be applied in the network. The average frequency reuse is adjusted according to
the maximum number of transceivers needed per cell and the number of cells
requiring this number. In this way, the quality can be controlled in an effective
manner in the frequency planning process.
o Small impact on existing frequency plan when adding more transceivers: The TCH
band split will limit the required amount of frequency planning work when more
transceivers are added. Only the cells with the same number of transceivers or more
will be affected if more transceivers are added. For example, adding a fourth
transceiver to a cell with three transceivers will only have an influence on the cells
with four and more transceivers.
o A structured way of frequency planning: It is possible, for instance, to make a

frequency plan for the first TCH transceiver without modifying the BCCH plan or the
plans for the other TCH transceivers. This structure will make it easier to produce a
new frequency plan and to detect a bad frequency plan.
B. Frequency Assignment
The MRP frequency assignment can be exemplified by means of Figure 27, which shows a
schematic picture of how the different frequencies can be allocated to an MRP configuration
with maximum four transceivers per cell. The example is referred to as a 12/10/8/6 plan. This
means that there are 12 BCCH frequencies (frequencies 1,3, ..., 23), 10 TCH frequencies in
group 1 (frequencies 2,4, ..., 20), 8 TCH frequencies in group 2 (frequencies 22,24, ..., 36)
and 6 TCH frequencies in group 3 (frequencies 25,27, ..., 35).
Figure 27 shows only the frequency allocations for two cells A and B which have two and
four transceivers respectively. Cell A is assigned the BCCH frequency 1 and the TCH
frequency 6. Thus, cell A uses baseband frequency hopping over two frequencies. Further,
cell B is allocated the BCCH frequency 23 and the TCH frequencies 6, 26 and 35.
Consequently, cell B uses baseband frequency hopping over four frequencies.
Note that the frequencies defined as BCCH frequencies do not have to be defined as shown in
Figure 27. Hence, any frequency from the available spectrum can be selected as a BCCH as
long as the BCCH/TCH separation is fulfilled. There is no need to strictly adhere to the MRP
technique all the time. If a cell with quality problems exists, it is acceptable to solve this
problem by changing a frequency in that cell with an “illegal” frequency which initially is
used in another transceiver group. However, it is recommended that the MRP structure is
followed as much as possible.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
C. Tailoring the frequency plan
The MRP scheme has been developed to handle the typical case when networks have uneven
transceiver distributions. This is important since every cellular network differs in
characteristics regarding e.g. cell sizes, number of available frequencies and topography. This
means that some cells have many transceivers while other cells have only a few.
To understand how the different cells with different number of transceivers experience
different frequency reuse situations, an example is shown in Table 2. A 12/8/6/4 MRP
configuration which totally requires 30 frequency carriers is selected. There are 12 BCCH
frequencies and 3 TCH groups each containing 8, 6 and 4 frequencies. In the example, it is
further assumed that different fractions of the cells (20%, 30% and 50%) have 2, 3 and 4
transceivers respectively.
The average frequency reuse factor experienced by a cell is defined as the total number of
frequencies in the groups assigned to the cell divided by the number of transceivers in the
cell. The different cells will thus encounter different average frequency reuse factors: 10 for
the two transceiver cells, 8.7 for the three transceiver cells and 7.5 for the four transceiver
cells.
Figure 27: An example of frequency planning with MRP
The “actual” average frequency reuse experienced by a cell may however be sparser, since
not all cells are fully equipped. For example, since the third transceiver is only used in 80%
of the cells, the actual reuse on that transceiver may be as sparse as 6/0.8=7.5, depending of
the geographical distribution of the cells with the third transceiver. The upper bound for the
actual average frequency reuse for cells with three transceivers is therefore (12+8+7.5)/3=9.2
(Table 3).
__________________________________________________________________________________________
The gain from frequency hopping increases with the number of frequencies included in the
hopping sequence [16]. Cells with a lot of transceivers may experience a tight reuse (which
leads to an increased interference level) but this will be balanced with a larger interference
diversity gain.
The above example illustrates how MRP can be adjusted to the transceiver distribution in the
network. That is, the frequency plan is adjusted to the network. It should be that MRP do not
need to be implemented over the entire network. MRP can just be applied in the area where
high capacity is needed. It is also possible to use different MRP configurations in different
locations of the network.
Table 3: An MRP example with 6 MHz of spectrum, where cells have an uneven distribution
of transceivers
Number of
transceivers/cell 2 3 4
Fraction of cells 20% 30% 50%
MRP groups 12/8 12/8/6 12/8/6/4
Average (12+8)/2= 10 (12+8+6)/3=8.7 (12+8+6+4)/4=7.5

frequency reuse
Actual reuse 10 9.2 8.9
(upper bound)
Diversity gain small larger larges
4.4 Applying Multiple Reuse Patterns (MRP)
The basic idea behind MRP is to apply different separate reuse patterns with different degrees
of tightness and use frequency hopping to combine them into an average reuse pattern.
Frequency hopping changes the characteristics of the network interference such that a tighter
frequency plan can be applied [17-18]. With a smaller reuse factor higher spectral efficiency
is achieved. Frequency hopping provides frequency diversity, which balances the quality
between slow and fast moving users. Then, a smaller SIRreq is required to achieve a desired
quality of service, as a cell planning margin for fast fading is not needed [19-21].
Furthermore, frequency hopping also provides interference diversity. Two aspects of

interference diversity combine to improve performance. Strong interferers are shared between
different users. In addition, the time varying interference as such increases the interleaving
efficiency and thus improves receiver performance. Thus a frequency plan with tighter reuse
can be implemented in a frequency hopping network, resulting in improved capacity
compared to a non hopping network.
With MRP the available traffic channels are divided into different bands. The fundamental
idea with several traffic channels bands is to apply different reuse patterns. Thus, the
channels are used with different reuse factors. For a microcellular network with MRP, where
__________________________________________________________________________________________
the channels are used with reuse factors of 3 and 4, the total M channels are divided into
seven groups: 1,2,3,4, A, B, and C. For example, if M = 36 the channels groups could be:
1: {1, 5, 9, 13, 17, 21},
2: {2, 6, 10, 14, 18, 22},
3: {3, 7, 11, 15, 19, 23},
4: {4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24},
A: {25, 28, 31, 34},
B: {26, 29, 32, 35}, and
C: {27, 30, 33, 36}
Thus, cells 3A can use only channels {3, 7, 11, 15, 19, 23) and (25, 28, 31, 34) for frequency
hopping. In this case and assuming a fully loaded system, channels are used on average 40%
with a reuse factor of R = 3 and the remaining 60% with a reuse factor of R = 4. We denote
this MRP system as (24 R=4, 12 R=3).
In general, the number of channels per cell is given by
Nc = NR + NR-1
Where NR and NR-1 are the number of channels used with a reuse factor of R and with a reuse
factor of R-1, respectively, which must satisfy:
M = RNR + (R – 1) NR-1
where M is the total number of available channels.
4.5 Capacity of The 4/12 Reuse Pattern
The familiar 4/12 reuse pattern will be used as the reference model. In this case, the network
is allocated 7.2 MHZ of spectrum - 36 ARFCN’s. Three ARFCN’s are allocated to each cell
as shown in the table. With this reuse pattern, this is the maximum number of TRX’s that can
be put into one cell, and if demand exceeds capacity, the network operator has the following
options:
o Decrease the cell size and increase the number of cells. This is possibly the best
engineering solution but certainly not the best commercial solution as the cost is
extremely high.
o Use half-rate channels. This is an option which a few network operators have used but
in Europe, network operators have shown reluctance to use it because of the concerns
for speech quality in a highly competitive environment.
o Make the reuse pattern smaller - e.g. 3/9. This would allow one more ARFCN in each
cell, increasing the capacity by a little more than 33%. However this will increase co
and adjacent channel interference.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
o Use concentric, micro and pico cells - this is effectively the same solution as the first,
but with targeted capacity increase.
ith a separation between sites of approximately 700m the approximate capacity obtainable
with the 4/12 configuration and 36 ARFCN’s is 110 E/km2. This is approaching the capacity
limit for this configuration, when the sheer expense of reducing the inter-site separation is
considered.
Can Frequency hopping Increase this 4/12 capacity?

In this case the answer is generally no. Frequency hopping will increase the network quality,
but no advantage can be taken of this increased quality to increase capacity as long as the
4/12 configuration with this inter-site spacing is maintained, as there are no further
frequencies to be used. Frequency hopping could also recover some of the lost capacity of
this configuration is that capacity is lost due to interference, but no absolute increase in
capacity is available unless the inter site spacing is reduced-(or unless the 4/12 configuration
is abandoned).
The (4/12) Reuse pattern (Non-hopping)

Figure 28 shows the familiar 4/12 reuse pattern which we will be using as the reference
model. This 4/12 reuse pattern is shown for a dense urban area where the distance between
sites is 700 meters.
7 6 7 6
3 2 3 2
11 10 11 10
5 8 5 8
1 4 1 4
9 12 9 12
Figure 29 show 4/12 configuration captured form Planet DMS.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Figure 29: The 4/12 configuration
The familiar reuse pattern has four sites, each site being sectored into three cells giving a total
of 12 cells. The numbering of each cell shows the frequency set allocated to that cell.
Adjacent frequencies in the allocation are in this way given the maximum spatial separation
within the 12 cell pattern, minimizing adjacent channel interference. This pattern gives the
maximum distance between cells using identical frequencies when the 12 cell pattern is
repeated, minimizing co-channel interference. Table 4, shows how 36 frequencies from a 7.2
MHz allocation may be distributed between the cells.
Table 4: The 36 radio channels available in a 4/12 frequency reuse

Cell number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Frequency index 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Frequency index 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
Frequency index 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36
Calculating the approximate capacity per Km2 for 4/12 Network configuration:
Assume we have 27 sites in square form, and the distance between sites is 700 meters, so:
Approximate coverage area = 7Km * 7Km = 49 Km2
Number of sites = 27.
Sites per Km2 = 27/49 = 0.55 per Km2
Carrier per cell = 3, TCH per cell = 22
Erlang per cell @ 2% GoS = 14.9 (From Erlang B Tabel in Appendix B).
Approximate capacity per km2 = 14.9E * 3 cells * 0.55 sites per Km2 = 25 E / Km2
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Figure 30 shows C/I layer of 4/12 configuration, and Figure 31 shows C/A layer.
Figure 30: C/I Layer for 4/12 configuration
The colors represent the following values:
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Figure 31: C/A Layer for 4/12 configuration
The colors represent the following values:
To increase capacity and improve network performance we must use frequency hopping,
frequency hopping itself can not increase system capacity, but allow use more tight frequency
reuse pattern, hence reuse efficiency can increase. There are two different frequency
planning strategies with frequency hopping:
- Multiple Reuse Pattern (MRP).
- Fractional Loading Pattern (FLP).
__________________________________________________________________________________________
4.6 Multiple Reuse Pattern (MRP): 12/8/8/8 Configuration
12/8/8/8 means a multiple reuse pattern consisting of a 12 cell pattern (for BCCH carriers
using the reference 4/12 configuration, one BCCH TRX in each of the twelve cells), and an
eight cell pattern with each of the eight cells having 3 TRX's (8/8/8). Figure 32 shows the 8/8
reuse pattern.
8/1 8/1
8/8 8/8
8/3 8/3
8/5 8/5
8/7 8/7
8/2 8/2
8/4 8/4
8/6 8/6
Figure 33 illustrates the two cluster structures, the normal 4/12 which is used only for the
BCCH carriers and superimposed upon this is an eight cell cluster. Analysis of the eight cell
cluster shows that the cells which become non-adjacent when the basic cluster is repeated are
those in Table 5.
8/1 8/3 8/7
8/6
6 8/8
7 8/5
6
2 3 2
8/3 8/7 8/4
10 11 10
8/8 8/5 8/2 8/6
8/3
5 8/7
8 8/4
5 8/1
8
1 12 1 12
8/5 8/2 8/6 8/8
9 4 9 4
8/4 8/1 8/3
7 8/6
6 8/8
7
8/2
3 2 3
8/1 8/3 8/7
11 10 11
Figure 33: The 12/8/8/8 reuse pattern
Figure 34 shows the 12/8/8/8 reuse pattern captured from Planet DMS.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Figure 34: The 12/8/8/8 configuration
Table 5: Multiple Reuse Pattern 12/8/8/8 Frequency index

BCCH Cell 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Freq. index 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
8 Reuse cells 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Freq. index 14 15 20 26 27 32 21 33
Freq. index 16 17 22 28 29 34 23 35
Freq. index 18 19 24 30 31 36 25 37
The distribution of these frequencies are arranged to minimize the occurrence of adjacent
frequencies in adjacent cells. The system uses baseband frequency hopping with the BCCH
traffic channels are the hopping channels. There are 4 frequencies to each cell, theoretically
increasing the capacity by 33% over the straight 4/12 configuration. However, the frequency
__________________________________________________________________________________________
groupings are such that severe interference may be experienced with little gain from
frequency hopping. For example the gray cell in figure interfere with 75% of hopping
carriers,
Frequency hopping gain = 10 * log (1/0.75) = 1.25 dB.
Hence, using 12/8/8/8 configuration gives 40% improvement in capacity. This configuration
is susceptible to interference because of the poor grouping of carriers as evidenced by the
cells 8/6 re-using four of the same frequencies.
4.7 Multiple Reuse Pattern (MRP): 12/8/8/6 Configuration

By adding additional smaller clusters, the resultant grouping of frequencies leads to fewer
interfering carriers between two cells. This configuration is more desirable than the previous
one. The 12/8/8/8 MRP takes one of the TRX in the 8-cluster and put it in the 6-cell cluster.
Table 6 shows the carrier allocation for 12-cluster (for BCCH), 8-cluster and 6-cluster (for
TCH)
Table 6: MRP 12/8/8/6 frequency index

BCCH Cell 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Freq. index 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
8 Reuse Cells 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Freq. index 14 26 22 24 15 16 17 23
Freq. index 20 29 25 28 19 18 21 27
6 Reuse Cells 1 2 3 4 5 6
Freq. index 32 33 34 35 36 37
Figure 35 shows the configuration of 6-cluster and 8-cluster.
8/1 8/1
8/8 8/8
6/1 6/1
8/3 8/3
6/3 6/3
8/5 8/5
6/5 6/5
8/7 8/7
6/2 6/2
8/2 8/2
6/4 6/4
8/4 8/4
6/6 6/6
8/6 8/6
6-cluster shape 8-cluster shape

Figure 35: 6-cluster and 8-cluster shapes
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Figure 36 shows sample of the test network. The bolded number show the cells for the
4/12 reuse pattern (BCCH carrier), and the small number (e.g. 8/4, 6/1) show the cell
numbers for eight and six reuse pattern.
8/1 8/3 8/7

6 7 6
8/6 6/2 8/8 6/2 8/5 6/2
2 3 2
6/4 6/4 8/7 6/4
8/3 8/4
10 11 10
6/6 6/6 6/6
8/8 8/5 8/2 8/6
5 8 5 8
8/3 6/1 8/7 6/1 8/4 6/1 8/1 6/1
1 12 1 12
6/3 6/3 6/3 6/3
8/5 8/2 8/6 8/8
9 4 9 4
6/5 6/5 6/5 6/5
8/4 8/1 8/3
7 6 7
8/2 6/2 8/6 6/2 8/8 6/2
3 2 3
6/4 6/4 6/4
8/1 8/3 8/7
11 10 11
6/6 6/6 6/6
Figure 36: Sample of 12/8/8/6 test network
It can be seen that the new 8-cluster shape has the advantage of fewer adjacent cells in the
cluster repeat pattern. This make the frequency allocations simpler if we are wish to avoid
putting adjacent frequencies in adjacent cells. There are four sets of adjacent frequencies in
adjacent cells: (8/3 & 8/7, 21 & 22), (8/2 & 8/4, 28 & 29), (6/2 & 6/3, 33 & 34) and (6/4 &
6/5, 35 & 36).
In the previous figure we select randomly cell 4 in the center of network. The cells containing
possible interfering frequencies are indicated in red arrows. For cell 4 and cell 9 in the right
hand side with baseband hopping, the two cells have one common frequency 6/5 (carries 35),
so if the interference is from just one frequency, then each group of 8 TCH's possible uses the
interfering frequency for 25% of the time, which gives the following gains:
1. Frequency hopping gain:
FH Gain= 10* log (1/0.25) = 10*log (4) = 6 dB.
2. And if we use 40% DTX factor given DTX gain
3. Then total improvement is 7.5 dB

For cell 4 and cell 5 in the right hand side with baseband hopping, the two cells have one
common frequency 8/2 (carries 26, 29), so if the interference is from two frequencies, then
each group of 8 TCH's possible uses the interfering frequencies for 50% of the time, which
given frequency hopping gain:
FH Gain= 10* log (1/0.50) = 10*log (2) = 3 dB.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Then total improvement is 4.5 dB
The capacity is increased from 14.9 Erlang per cell (22 TCH @ 2% GoS) in the case of the
4/12 configuration to 22 Erlang per cell (30 TCH @ 2% GoS), the increase in the capacity by
about 40%. The overall interference levels will be lower than the previous configuration
12/8/8/8, because of the better distribution of interferes. Also we use only 34 carriers out of
37 carriers of available bandwidth, then four spare frequencies can be selectively used for
increasing capacity, or it can be used in micro cells.
4.8 Fractional Load Pattern (FLP)

Fractional reuse always uses synthesized frequency hopping. And the name indicates that the
hopping frequencies of mobile allocation list (MAL) are used only fractionally at any one
time, i.e. the MAL is much greater than the number of TRXs used. Hence, the loading of the
MAL is critical important in these applications. It is possible to get much more capacity than
the 4/12 model in the network using FLP technique.
The two common versions of FLP are 1x3 FLP and 1x1 FLP, where 1x3 refers to one
sectored site using three different sets of hopping frequencies and 1x1 refers to one sectored
site using just one hopping frequency set. In FLP the distribution of the BCCH carriers is
arranged to minimize BCCH interference, and in our test network we use 4/12 cluster. The
TCH's in the BCCH carrier do not hop since BCCH not part of hopping sequence.

This reuse pattern is currently used by the STC network. Figure 37 shows the 1x3
configuration. BCCH carriers distributed according to 4/12 reuse pattern and shown as
number in the figure. The three sets of hopping frequencies are shown as letters A, B, C in
the figure. The loading factor of this network is (#TRXs/MAL Size) = (5/14) = 35.7 %. The
acceptable limit is less than 40%. Each cell equipped with six TRXs, five of which hop over
fourteen frequencies allocated for hopping, and the sixth TRX is used for BCCH.
B B B
A 7 A 6 A 7
3B 2B 3
B B
C C C
A 5 A 8 10
A 5 A 8
11 11
1 4 1 4
C B C C C
B B
9 7 12 9 12
A 6 7
A A
3
C 2 3
C C
11
10 11
Figure 37: The 1x3 Configuration

__________________________________________________________________________________________
Each cell has six interferes using the same frequency set as shown in the previous figure with
red arrows. The hopping sequence number HSN must be for pseudo random hopping. If
cyclic hopping is used there is a 35.7% probability of interference in all frequencies. But with
pseudo random hopping, the maximum probability of interference is 35.7% on one
frequency. Assigning different HSN's to neighboring interfering cells using the same MAL
will help to reduce the interference and improve the performance.
Now let us calculate the interference probability to a mobile station served at cell 2 at the
bottom of the figure (indicated with red circle). At this point we measure the C/I with
interference from cells 3 and 4 at the top and right of the figure which are indicated with blue
arrows. It is found that C/I ~ 6 dB.
Using pseudo random hopping without DTX:

From Pascal's triangle for frequency hopping interference probabilities (please, see Appendix
A to see how Pascal's triangle works?) we found:
o Interference probability at served point on one frequency= 0.357.

o Interference probability at served point on two frequencies= 0.11.
o Interference probability at served point on three frequencies= 0.027.
o Interference probability at served point on four frequencies= 0.005.
o Interference probability at served point on five frequencies= 0.0005.
Interference probability of cells 3 & 4 being on the same frequency = 0.357. Then
interference probability at served point being on the same frequency on= (0.357).(0.357)=
0.127. Hence, there is 12.7% probability of the served point being interfered with C/I= 6 dB.
Using pseudo random hopping with DTX (40%):

The effect of DTX is (1 – 0.6 * 0.6) = 0.64
o Interference probability at served point on one frequency= 0.357(0.64) =0.228
o Interference probability at served point on two frequencies= 0.11(0.64) =0.071
o Interference probability at served point on three frequencies= 0.027(0.64) =0.0172
o Interference probability at served point on four frequencies= 0.005(0.64) =0.0032
o Interference probability at served point on five frequencies= 0.0005(0.64) =0.00032
Interference probability of cell 3 & 4 being on the same frequency = 0.228, then interference
probability at served point being on the same frequency = (0.228).(0.228)= 0.051. Hence,
there is 5.1% probability of the served point being interfered with C/I= 6 dB (about 60%
reduction on interference).
__________________________________________________________________________________________
4.9 Conclusions
Implementing tight frequency reuse by using Multiple Reuse Patterns (MRP) with frequency
hopping in GSM has been proven to be an efficient way to increase the radio network
capacity with minimal costs for a network operator. Field tests from live networks show that
it is possible to implement an average frequency reuse of 7.5 without jeopardizing the
network quality. Features like power control and DTX were not used in the trials. For
comparison reasons, a non-hopping GSM network can at its best cope with approximately a
12 reuse in average.
With MRP, it is possible to adjust the tightness of the frequency plan according to the
transceiver distribution. At the same time, MRP provides a robust frequency plan which is
very insensitive to changes, e.g. addition of transceivers.
Using MRP 12/8/8/6 Configuration, the capacity is increased from 14.9 Erlang per cell (22
TCH @ 2% GoS) in the case of the 4/12 configuration to 22 Erlang per cell (30 TCH @ 2%
GoS), the increase in the capacity by about 40%. The overall interference levels will be lower
than the previous configuration 12/8/8/8, because of the better distribution of interferes. Also
we use only 34 carriers out of 37 carriers of available bandwidth, then four spare frequencies
can be selectively used for increasing capacity, or it can be used in micro cells.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
5 SIMULATION RESULTS USING PLANET EV
In order to support the previous results obtained with Planet DMS software, we use the
updated package: Planet EV, since Planet DMS can provide only C/I and C/A for non-
hopping carriers, and does not support some layers like BER, FER and RxQual. Actually,
Planet DMS is good tool for frequency planning with frequency hopping. Figure 38 shows
the sites selected for test.
Figure 38: Sites studied with planet EV
Figures 39 and 40 show the signal strength and best serving sector respectively.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Figure 39: Signal strength
Figure 40: Best serving sectors
__________________________________________________________________________________________
5.1 MRP 12/8/8/8 Configuration
Most of previous results are done manually, so we need to compare our results by using
Planet EV. Also, we use the same network configuration. Figure 41 shows C/I cumulative
distribution function CDF. This figure describes the distribution of C/I with served area in
range from -2 to 20 dB, for three different cases: Non-hopping, hopping and hopping with
DTX and PC.
1
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
CDF
0.5 NON
HOP
DTX
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
-4 -2 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
C/I dB

As expected, the improvement of frequency hopping is little (FH gain=1.2 dB). However,
improvement with frequency hopping, DTX and power control is more significant, the result
is an increase of about 6 dB in the C/I value.
Received Signal Quality (RxQual):

Here, we add comparison in terms of RxQual. The BER is mapped to RxQual value between
0 and 7. See Table 7.
Table 7: RxQual vs. BER.
RxQual BER
0 < 0.2%
1 0.2% to 0.4%
2 0.4% to 0.8%
3 0.8% to 1.6%
4 1.6% to 3.2%
5 3.2% to 6.4%
6 6.4% to 12.8%
7 >12.8%
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Also, RxQual is Classified in three categories: Acceptable, poor and unacceptable.
RxQual for 12/8/8/8 configuration is shown in Table 8
Table 8: RxQual for 12/8/8/8.

12/8/8/8 Non-Hopping 12.7% 8.3% 79%
12/8/8/8 Hopping 22.0% 14% 64%
12/8/8/8 Hopping DTX & PC 43.4% 40.6% 16%
5.2 MRP 12/8/8/6 Configuration

Figure 42 shows the CDF for C/I for 12/8/8/6 re-use pattern. The figure describes the
distribution of C/I with served area in range from -4 to 20 dB, for three different cases: Non-
hopping, hopping and hopping with DTX and PC.
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
CDF
0.5 NON
HOP
DTX
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
-5 -3 -1 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19
C/I dB
__________________________________________________________________________________________
As expected, the improvement of frequency hopping only is more than the case of 12/8/8/8
configuration (FH gain=3~5 dB). However, improvement with frequency hopping, DTX and
power control is more significant (about 9~10 dB).
Table 9 describes RxQual for 12/8/8/6 configuration.

12/8/8/6 Non-Hopping 12.8% 8.4% 77%
12/8/8/6 Hopping 27.32% 14.9% 57%
12/8/8/6 Hopping DTX & PC 49.65% 40.9% 9%

Figure 43 shows C/I layer for 1/3 distribution. Figure 44 shows CDF for 1/3 configuration,
from the figure clearly there is about 6 dB improvement in C/I when we use DTX and power
control.
Figure 43: C/I layer for 1/3 configuration

__________________________________________________________________________________________
1
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
CDF
0.5
HOP
DTX
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
-3 -1 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19
C/I dB
Figure 44: C/I CDF for 1/3 configuration
Table 10 shows RxQual for 1/3 configuration with different MAL loading.

1/3 (37.5% MAL Loading) 37% 35.22% 26%
1/3 (43% MAL Loading) 35.23% 36.9% 27.82
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
25%
CDF
0.5
50%
0.4
75%
0.3
100%
0.2
0.1
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
C/I dB
Figure 45: C/I CDF for 1/3 configuration for different system loading
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Figure 45 shows C/I CDF for 1/3 configuration for different system loading (25%, 50%,
75%, 100%), and Table 11 compares RxQual for different re-use patterns.
Table 11: RxQual for Different re-use patterns
4/12 51% 16% 33
12/8/8/8 43.33% 40.6% 16%
12/8/8/6 49.65% 40.9% 9%
1/3 37% 35.22% 26%
Fractional Loading Pattern with Free Planning:

Here, we mean by free planning, that is no grouping of frequencies, we define system
requirements and then use automatic frequency planning tool (AFP) to allocate spectrum.
Figure 46 shows C/I layer for free planning.
Figure 47 shows C/I cumulative distribution function CDF, for free planning and normal 1/3
distribution, here we note the free planning is better than 1/3 by about 1 dB
Figure 46: C/I layer for free planning

__________________________________________________________________________________________
1
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
-5 -3 -1 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19
Figure 47: CDF of 1/3 and free panning
Frequency Diversity Gain

Hopping reduces the probability that a sequence of bit errors occurs. Thus, the forward error
correction (FEC) in GSM performs better. This is clearly apparent in terms of FER so we will
show the relation between C/I and FER. Frequency diversity gain increases with the increase
of hopping frequencies that assigned to the mobile station. Figure 48 shows C/I vs. FER for
4/12 re-use (non-hopping) and 12/8/8/6 re-use pattern (Random and Cyclic).
36
34
32
30
28
26
24
22
20
FER %
18
16
14
12
10
8 Non-hop
6
Random
4 Cyclic
2
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28
C/I
Figure 48: C/I vs. FER for 4/12 re-use (non-hopping) and 12/8/8/6 re-use pattern (Random
and Cyclic).
__________________________________________________________________________________________
From figure 48 we note the random hopping gives more frequency diversity gain than cyclic
hopping by about 1.2 dB, also random hopping give frequency diversity gain by about 7.5 dB
more than Non-hopping. Figure 49 shows the frequency diversity gain for three different re-
use patterns: 4/12 non –hopping, MRP 12/8/8/6 and FLP 1/3 re-use pattern.
From figure 49 we note that the 1/3 re-use gives about 1.7 dB more frequency diversity gain
than 12/8/8/6 re-use, since in 1/3 mobile station hops over eight frequencies and in 12/8/8/6
mobile station hops over four frequencies. The 1/3 re-use pattern gives about 9 dB frequency
diversity gain than 4/12 re-use.
36
34
32
30
28
26
24
22
20
FER %
18
16
14
12
4/12
10
6 1/3
4
12/8/8/6
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28
C/I dB
Figure 49: Frequency diversity gain for three different re-use pattern: 4/12 non –hopping,
5.3 Conclusion
Using MRP 12/8/8/8 configuration, as expected, the improvement of frequency hopping is

little (FH gain=1.2 dB). However, improvement with frequency hopping, DTX and power
control is more significant, the result is an increase of about 6 dB in the C/I value.
Using MRP 12/8/8/6 configuration, as expected, the improvement of frequency hopping only
is more than the case of 12/8/8/8 configuration (FH gain=3~5 dB). However, improvement
with frequency hopping, DTX and power control is more significant (about 9~10 dB).
__________________________________________________________________________________________
6 CAPACITY ANALYSIS FOR SLOW FREQUENCY
HOPPING
In this section, we present theoretical analysis for GSM-based cellular systems to estimate the
capacity enhancement due to the use of slow frequency hopping. The outage probability
dependence on the loading factor is determined. Then the maximum loading factor that keeps
the outage probability under a certain threshold value (e.g. 2%) is evaluated and used to
estimate the maximum system capacity. First we present the system models including
channel model, frequency planning and hopping model. The stochastic analysis used to
estimate the outage probability is then presented [22-25]
1) Propagation Model: Basically the wireless channel is characterized by the path loss,
shadowing and fading. The path loss is an exponential function of the distance between the
BS and the MS. The path loss exponent (n) depends on the environment of the wireless
network and it ranges from 3 to 4 in urban areas. The shadowing is modeled as a Log-normal
distribution with standard deviation (σ) that ranges from 6 to 8 dB depending on the
environment.
The fast multipath fading (or simply the fading) is best modeled by Raleigh distribution. If
the slow frequency hopping is employed, the frequency diversity property mitigates the effect
of the fading effectively. Other techniques such as equalization and interleaving will also
reduce the impact of fading considerably and make it possible to ignore its effect and
consider that the exponential path loss and log-normal shadowing are sufficient to model the
wireless channel. The path loss exponent (n) is assumed to be equal to 3.5 while the standard
deviation of the Log-normal shadowing (σ) is equal to 6.
2) Frequency Planning and Hopping Algorithm: A (1/3)-frequency reuse factor is used for the
FH carriers. This tight frequency plan can be used without degrading the QoS provided that
fractional loading is employed. Non-FH (BCCH) carriers are allocated using (4/12) frequency
reuse pattern. The carrier hopping is done using the GSM frequency hopping algorithm for
the non-BCCH channels only.
3) Tele-traffic model: User arrival is modeled as a Poisson process with an average arrival
rate λ, while the call duration is assumed to have an exponential distribution with a mean
value (l/u).
6.1 OUTAGE PROBABILITY ANALYSIS

The outage probability is determined analytically and by simulation in the uplink with and
without power control. A total of 27cells, distributed uniformly over a rectangular area of 7
km x 8 km are considered in this simulation. Uniform spatial traffic distribution is assumed.
Users are assumed to move with fixed speed and direction. User parameters (such as speed,
direction and initial location) are generated randomly for each user upon its arrival. A
wraparound grid is used to avoid the boundary effect. Other parameters and models are
chosen to conform to the analytical model. In the sequel, the outage probability is determined
analytically for the cases of no power control and with power control
__________________________________________________________________________________________
A. Without Power Control
The cochannel interference from the BS in jth cell at the MS in cell 0
λ
⎛ j
⎞ −n
I = A j Pt ⎜ 10 10 ⎟l j (1)
j
⎜ ⎟
⎝ ⎠
Where:
o Pt is the transmit power.
o j is the cochannel interferer index (j=1,2,..Nint)
o lj is the distance between the MS in the jth cell and the BS in central cell.
o Aj is a Bernoulli random variable representing the activity of the jth interferer MS.
Aj=1 with probability q that is equal to the product of the Loading Factor (LF) with
the Discontinuous Transmission Factor (DTX).
o λj is the shadowing parameter of the jth interferer.
Due to the interference averaging effect from the frequency hopping, we are interested in the
mean value of the interference power rather than the instantaneous value. The mean value of
the interference from the MS in the jth is given by
v ⎛ λj ⎞ −n
I j = E ( I j ) = qP t E ⎜ 10 10 ⎟l j (2)
⎜ ⎟
⎝ ⎠
It is straightforward to show that
⎛ 10λ ⎞
⎟ = exp ⎜ (ασ )
⎛ 2
⎞
E ⎜⎜ 10 ⎟ ⎜ 2 ⎟⎟ (3)
⎝ ⎠ ⎝ ⎠
Where α = ln(10)/10. Then total interference is given by
N int
I tot ( r m , θ m ) = ∑I
i =1
j (4)
Where Nint is the number of the interferers and where rm and θm are the coordinates of the MS
in cell 0 in polar form. While the carrier power from the BS to the MS at cell 0 is given by
λ
−n
C = P r 10 t m
10
(5)
Thus the CIR can be expressed as
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Pt rm− n 10 λ / 10
CIR = (6)
I tot
The outage probability Pout is defined as
⎛ C ⎞
Pout = P ( CIR < γ ) = P ⎜⎜ < γ ⎟⎟ (7)
⎝ I tot ⎠
By substituting for C Eq. (5), the outage probability can be expressed as
⎛ P r − n 10 λ / 10 ⎞ ⎛ λ γ I tot ⎞
Pout = P ⎜⎜ ( t m ) < γ ⎟⎟ = P ⎜ 10 10 < ⎟ (8)
I tot ⎜ Pt rm− n ⎟
⎝ ⎠ ⎝ ⎠
Since λ has a Gaussian distribution, the outage probability can be given by

2π / 3 R
⎛ ⎛ β ⎞⎞ (9)
P ( CIR < γ ) = ∫ ∫ ⎜⎜⎝ 1 − Q ⎜⎝ σ
0 0
⎟ ⎟⎟ f ( r m , θ m ) r m dr m d θ m
⎠⎠
And β = 10 log ⎛⎜ γ I tot ⎞

⎟⎟
⎜ P r −n
⎝ t m ⎠
Where f(rm,θm) is the PDF of the MS to be at the location defined with (rm,θm). Since users are
uniformly distributed f(rm,θm) is equal to 3/лR2
B. With Power Control

Here the transmitted power is adjusted such that the received power at the BS from each MS
is constant S. Thus the interference from the BS at jth cell at the MS in cell 0 is
n
⎛ rj ⎞ λ j −λ jj
I j = Aj S⎜ ⎟ 10 10 (10)
⎜l ⎟
⎝ j ⎠
where λij is the shadowing parameter for the jth cochannel interferer in the jth cell. Thus the
mean value is
2π / 3 R
v
I j = E ( I j ) = ql j S exp(( σα ) ) ∫ ∫ r jn f ( r j , θ ij ) dr j d θ ij
−n 2
(11)
0 0
Then the total interference Itot is determined from the summation given in Eq. (4). Thus the
outage probability is expressed as
2π / 3 R
⎛ S⎞
P ( CIR < γ ) = ∫ ∫ u ⎜⎜⎝ I
0 0
tot ( rm , θ m ) ⎟ f ( rm , θ m ) dr m d θ m
γ ⎟⎠
(12)
Where u( ) is the unit step function

__________________________________________________________________________________________
6.2 RESULTS
In this section, the results of the outage analysis are presented. The following numerical
values are used in the simulation and the analysis:
o Cell radius (R) =2 km
o Discontinues Transmission Factor (DTXF) = 0.5
o Traffic per user in Erlang (Euser) = 0.02 Er/user
The outage probability is evaluated analytically and by simulation using at different network-
loading factor values.
Table 12 lists the outage probability (Pout) at loading factor values range from 10% to 60%.
It is apparent that the outage probability can be significantly reduced using the power control.
It is evident that there is a good agreement between the results evaluated by simulation and
those evaluated analytically. The difference between the CIR values of the two methods does
not exceed 1dB for most of the results. It can be also noted that the power control has a strong
impact on the distribution of the CIR. With PC, as expected, the high values of the CIR are
emphasized while the low values are de-emphasized.
Table 13 lists the maximum loading factor at different maximum outage probability
requirements (Pmax). For example, when Pmax=2% the maximum loading factor is increased
from 8% to 20% (which is almost 250% enhancement). However, the capacity gain that can
be achieved in practice might be less than that because of the difficulty of realizing perfect
power control.
Table 12: Outage Probability at Different Loading Factors
PC NO NO YES YES
LF=10% 2.9x10-2 3.5x10-2 1.0x10-5 3.0x10-5
20% 5.0x10-2 6.6x10-2 3.5x10-2 8.5x10-2
30% 7.9x10-2 9.3x10-2 2.4x10-1 4.0x10-1
40% 1.0x10-1 1.4x10-1 2.9x10-1 5.3x10-1
50% 1.2x10-1 1.7x10-1 3.3x10-1 6.0x10-1
60% 1.4x10-1 1.9x10-1 4.0x10-1 6.5x10-1
Table 13: Maximum Loading Factor at Various Outage Probabilities Requirements Pmax
PC NO NO YES YES
Pmax =2% 8% 6.5% 19% 18%
4% 17% 15% 22% 20.5%
10% 40% 36% 29% 28%
__________________________________________________________________________________________
6.3 CONCLUSIONS
It is shown that the capacity analysis of FH-TDM system can be determined analytically with
a high degree of accuracy and with much less computational time and effort than required
when simulation is used. It is also shown that power control can dramatically enhance the
system capacity, particularly at low and medium network loading conditions. In practice, it is
difficult to achieve perfect power control. However the results reported here provide an upper
bound to the performance which may be achieved as better power control techniques become
available.
1-The Network Capacity of FH-GSM can be determined analytically with a high
degree of accuracy and with less computational time compared to the simulation
approach.
2-The dependence of the signal quality (in terms of the CDF(CIR)) on the loading
factor is derived analytically and by simulation
3- The dependence of the CDF (CIR) on the loading factor shows the importance of
the CAC algorithms to enhance the system capacity without degrading the signal
quality.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
7 CONCLUSION
This is the final report for the research project DSR-AR-2(49), “Assessment of Capacity and
Performance Enhancement using Frequency Hopping on STC GSM Network”, sponsored by
King Saud University Research Center, and carried out in collaboration with Saudi
Telecommunication Company (STC). During the first year, the simulation package
“PLANET” has been acquired through a grant from the STC, installed and utilized by the
project’s team. PLANET is a leading commercial simulation tool managed by Marconi
Company and used for the design, performance analysis and optimization of wireless
telecommunication systems. The package is particularly useful in studying the second and
third generation of cellular mobile systems: G2, G2.5 and G3.
The first report demonstrated significant gains for SFH, PC and DTX. Using SFH the BER is
reduced, the improvement is 15%. Similarly, FER is reduced, the improvement is 13%, the
number of dropped calls is reduced, and QoS is better. With SFH if traffic increases the FER
and BER increase, but also still better than the no-hopping. For traffic heavier than 35
E/sector, SFH will not improve performance because the number of blocked calls increases
sharply. If DTX is enabled the BER, and FER are reduced by 12% and 8%, respectively.
Similarly, enabling PC reduces BER and FER by 4% and 3%, respectively. The use of SFH
reduces the effect of fading on BER, and FER by 32% and 24%, respectively. The Slow
Frequency Hopping Gain for Reuse of 1x3 is 10 dB, and is 2 dB less for a reuse of 1x1.
However, Reuse of 1x1 is better for achieving very high capacity.
Providing high capacity in GSM networks at low cost, using existing macrocells, is of
increasing importance due to the competition between operators. This report shows that by
applying frequency hopping in combination with an advanced frequency planning method,
Multiple Reuse Patterns (MRP), very high traffic levels in the existing macrocells can be
supported. Simulation results and analysis show that an average frequency reuse factor as low
as 7.5 is possible without negatively affecting the network quality. Thus, the network
capacity can be doubled compared to a non hopping network with reuse 4/12. The following
are some of the project results:
1 Frequency hopping enables the use more tight frequency re-use patterns, hence,
increasing frequency re-use efficiency and the network capacity.
2 Random hopping gives more frequency diversity gain than cyclic hopping.
3 In Fractional loading pattern FLP, the loading of MAL is critically important and its value
depends on frequency re-use pattern.
4 Frequency diversity gain increases with the increase of hopping carriers allocated to a
mobile station; hence: FLP gives more frequency diversity gain than MRP.
5 Frequency hopping itself does not increase the network capacity, but will increase the
network quality. Frequency hopping could also recover some of the lost capacity due to
interference.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
6 Discontinuous transmission (DTX) reduces interference by limiting transmissions to
times of active speech.
7 Power control limits transmission power levels to the minimum necessary, which reduces
interference.
8 DTX and power control have large effect in interference reduction.
9 Network Performance becomes worse with frequency hopping when the traffic increases;
however, in non-hopping network performance is independent of traffic.
Finally, the project objectives have been accomplished through simulation analytical studies.
Our results have confirmed the literature claims on performance and capacity gains
obtainable using SFH. Field experience in Riyadh has also been consistent with our results
and further field tests are not needed.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
8 REFERENCES
1. Engstrom, S., Johanson, T., Kronestedt, F., Larsson, M., Lidbrink, S., and Olofsson, H.,
“Multiple Reuse Patterns for Frequency Planning in GSM Networks,” IEEE VTC’98,
Ottawa, pp. 2004-2008, May 1998.
2. Timo Halonen, Javier Romero, Juan Melero; "GSM, GPRS and EDGE Performance
Evolution towards 3G/UMTS"; England John Wiley & Sons, Ltd; 2002
3. Planet DMS 3.2 user guide
4. Dahlin, J., “Ericsson’s Multiple Reuse Pattern for DCS 1800,” Mobile Communications
International, pp. 55-57, Nov. 1996
5. Olofsson, H., Naslund, J., RitzCn, B., and Skold, J., “Interference Diversity as Means for
Increase Capacity in GSM”, EPMCC’95, Bologna, pp. 97-102, 1995.
6. Olofsson, H., Nlslund, J., and Skold, J., “Interference Diversity, Gain in Frequency
Hopping GSM,” IEEE VTC’95, pp. 102-106, May 1995.
7. West, K. A., and Stiiber, G. L., “An Aggressive Dynamic Channel Assignment Strategy
for a Microcellular Environment,” IEEE Trans. on Veh. Technol., vol. 43, pp. 1027-1038,
Nov. 1994.
8. Cmz-P Crez, F. A., and Lara-Rodriguez, D., “DDCA with VRP: a New Family of
Distributed Dynamic Channel Assignment for Microcellular Systems,’’ IEEE VTC’98,
Ottawa, pp. 2580-2584, May 1998.
9. Cruz-Perez, F. A., and Lara-Rodriguez, D., “Reuse Efficiency in DDCA Schemes with
Violation to the Reuse Pattern for Microcellular Environments,” IEEE ICT’98,
Chalkidiki, vol. II, pp. 17-21, June 1998.
10. M. Madfors et al., “High Capacity with Limited Spectrum in Cellular Systems“, in IEEE
Communications Magazine, Aug., 1997.
11. Dahlin, “Ericsson’s Multiple Reuse Pattern for DCS 1800”, in Mobile Communications
International, Nov., 1996.
12. Kolonits, “Evaluating the Potential of Multiple Re-Use Patterns for Optimizing Existing
Network Capacity”, IIR Maximizing Capacity Workshop, London, June, 1997.
13. Olofsson et al., “Interference Diversity as Means for Increased Capacity in GSM, in
Proceedings of 1st EPMCC, Italy, 1995, pp. 97-102.
14. Wigard et al., “Capacity of a GSM Network with Fractional Loading and Random
Frequency Hopping”, in Proceedings of the 7th IEEE PIMRC, 1996, pp. 723-727.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
15. H. Olofsson, S. Magnusson, M. Almgren, “A Concept for Dynamic Neighbor Cell List
Planning in a Cellular System”, in Proceedings of the 7th IEEE PIMRC, 1996, pp. 138-
142.
16. F. Kronestedt and M. Frodigh, “Frequency Planning Strategies for Frequency Hopping
GSM’, in Proceedings of the 47th IEEE VTC, 1997, pp. 1862-1866.
17. Naghshineh and M Schwartz, “Distributed Call Admission Control In Mobile Wireless
Networks”, in Proceedings of the 6th IEEE PIMRC, 1995, pp 289-293
18. Beming and M. Frodigh, “Admission Control in Frequency Hopping GSM Systems”, in
Proceedings of 47th IEEE VTC, 1997, pp. 1282-1286.
19. Carneheim, C.; Jonsson, S.-O.; Ljungberg, M.; Madfors, M.; Naslund, J.; “FH-GSM
frequency hopping GSM” IEEE 44th Vehicular Technology Conference, 8-10 June 1994
vol.2, Pages: 1155 - 1159
20. Svet, V.; Bogdan, I.; “Synthesized frequency hopping in GSM networks: implementation
and results” International Symposium on Signals, Circuits and Systems, 2003. SCS
2003, Volume: 2, 10-11 July 2003, vol. 2Pages: 537 – 540
21. Meriem, H.N.B.; Tabbane, S.; “Simulations of frequency hopping schemes with power
control in a GSM network” IEEE 51st Vehicular Technology Conference Proceedings,
VTC 2000-Spring Tokyo, 15-18 May 2000,vol. 3, Pages: 2380 – 238
22. Ahmed, M.H.; Mahmoud, S. “Capacity analysis of GSM systems using slow frequency
hopping and smart antennas” IEEE 51st Vehicular Technology Conference Proceedings,
2000. VTC 2000- Spring Tokyo, 15-18 May 2000, Volume: 1, Pages: 355 – 359
23. Afonin, S.V.; Lipatov, A.A.; Fedorova, T.M.; Kolomytzev, M.A.; “Estimates of slow
frequency hopping efficiency in GSM” 13th International Crimean Conference
Microwave and Telecommunication Technology, 2003. CriMiCo 2003, Sept. 8-12, 2003,
Pages: 350 - 352
24. Nielsen, T.T.; Wigard, J.; Michaelsen, P.H.; Mogensen, P.;“Resource allocation in a
frequency hopping PCS1900/GSM/DCS1800 type of network
IEEE 49th Vehicular Technology Conference, 1999, Volume: 1 , 16-20 May 1999, vol.1,
Pages:209 – 214
25. Toftegaard Nielsen, T.; Wigard, J.; Skjaerris, S.; Jensen, C.O.; Elling, J.; “Enhancing
network quality using baseband frequency hopping, downlink power control and DTX in
a live GSM network”, The Ninth IEEE International Symposium on Personal, Indoor and
Mobile Radio Communications, 1998., Volume: 2 , 8-11 Sept. 1998, vol.2, Pages:905 –
909
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Glossary
BER Bit Error Rate
BS Base Station
CH Cyclic Hopping
DLPC Down Link Power Control
DTX Discontinuous Transmission
FER Frame Erasure Rate
FH Frequency Hopping
FLP Fractional Loading Pattern
GSM Global System for Mobile Communication
HSN Hopping Sequence Number
MAIO Mobile Allocation Index Offset
MAL Mobile Allocation list
MS Mobile Station
MRP Multiple Re-use Pattern
PC Power Control
RH Random Hopping
TDMA Time Division Multiple Access
VAD Voice Activity Detection
__________________________________________________________________________________________
APPENDIX A
Pascal’s Triangle and Interference Probabilities
Pascal’s triangle, one half of which is shown in Figure A1, gives the coefficients of the
binomial expansion:
(p + q)n
This expansion triangle can be used for frequency hopping where n is the number of
frequencies hopped over (or MA - the mobile allocation), p is the presence of one of the
frequencies, and q is the absence of one of the frequencies.
This is illustrated in Figure A1 for an MA of 4 frequencies, using 2 and 3 TRX’s

respectively. These two examples gives coefficients 6 and 4, where 6 is the number of sets of
frequencies when two TRX’s are used and 4 is the number of sets of frequencies when 3
TRX’s are used.
This information can be extracted form Pascal’s triangle by moving down the triangle until
the number 4 is reached as a second entry in a horizontal row. This is n, the MA in our
example. Moving to the right along this horizontal row the sequence 4- 6 -4 - 1 emerges. The
first 4 is n the MA and this would also be the number of frequency combinations available if
just one TRX was used. The 6 is the number of frequency combinations when 2 TRX’s are
used. The second 4 is the number of frequency combinations available if 3 TRX’s are used.
The 1 is the number of frequency combinations if 4 TRX’s are used.
Figure A2 illustrates how Pascal’s triangle is used for frequency hopping. In addition to
providing the number of frequency sets for any combination of MA and TRX’s, the triangle
also gives the interference probabilities for cells using the same MA and number of TRX’s.
This is illustrated by the example of Figure 30 which has an MA of 6 with 4 TRX’s.
Finding a horizontal row with 6 as the second entry, gives the MA and the total number of
frequency sets if one TRX is used.
Moving to the right we have 15 (number of frequency sets if two TRX’s are used), 20
(number of frequency sets if three TRX’s are used), 15 (number of frequency sets if four
TRX’s are used) Reading from the triangle, the first number above and to the left of these
numbers gives the probability of interference on one frequency if another cell is using the
same MA and number of TRX’s. Hence for 6, read 1 and the probability is 1/6; for 15 read 5
and the probability is 5/15; for 20 read 10 and the probability is 10/20; for 15 read 10 and the
probability is 10/15.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Appendix A: Pascal's Triangle for Frequency hopping Interference Probabilities .
1
1 1
1 2 1
1 3 3 1
1 4 6 4 1
1 5 10 10 5 1
1 6 15 20 15 6 1
1 7 21 35 35 21 7 1
1 8 28 56 70 56 28 8 1
1 9 36 84 126 126 84 36 9 1
1 10 45 120 210 252 210 120 45 10 1
1 11 55 165 330 462 462 330 165 55 11 1
1 12 66 220 495 792 924 792 495 220 66 12 1
1 13 78 286 715 1287 1716 1716 1287 715 286 78 13 1
1 14 91 364 1001 2002 3003 3432 3003 2002 1001 364 91 14 1
__________________________________________________________________________________________
MAL 1-TRX
1 2-TRX
1 1 3-TRX
1 2 1 4-TRX
1 3 3 1 5-TRX
1 4 6 4 1 6-TRX
7-TRX
1 5 10 10 5 1
8-TRX
1 6 15 20 15 6 1
1 7 21 35 35 21 7 1
1 8 28 56 70 56 28 8 1
9 36 84 126 126 84 36 9 1
Figure A1: This figure is describes how Pascal's triangle work

__________________________________________________________________________________________
- From MA row, choose the length of MA. Example: -
If MA=6 and number of TRXs=4
- From TRXs row, choose number of TRXs . -
- Move horizontally and diagonally until reach cross point. The probability of interference in one frequency=
- 10/15.
- One place diagonally upward gives the probability of interference The probability of interference in two frequencies=- 6/15.
On one frequency. Two places diagonally up, the interference for -
The probability of interference in three frequencies= 3/15.
Two frequencies, three places three frequencies and so on. -
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Appendix B: Erlang B Traffic Table.
N is the number of channels. The numerical column headings indicate blocking probability B in %.
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DSR-AR-2(49) ‫ﺗﻘﺮﻳﺮ ﻧﻬﺎﺋﻲ ﻟﻤـﺸـﺮوع ﺑـﺤﺜـﻲ وﻃﻨﻲ‬

‫دراﺳﺔ ﺟﺪوى إﺳﺘﺨﺪام ﺗﻘﻨﻴﺔ اﻟﺘﺮدد اﻟﻘﺎﻓﺰ‬

Final report: National Research Project DSR-AR-2(49)

Assessment of Capacity and Performance Enhancement using Frequency

1- Dr. Adel Ahmed Ali

Starting Date 4-1-1426

Completion Date 4-1-1428

1.2 Work program

3. Simulation Results Using Planet EV: Work-out possible frequency planning

Results extracted from First Report:

C) Effect of using SFH in FER for different traffic

Figure E3: Effect of using SFH on FER for different traffic.

D) Effect of using discontinuous transmission (DTX) on BER and FER

E) Effect of using Power Control (PC) on BER and FER

Figure E4: Effect of applying DTX on BER

Figure E5: The effect of using DTX on FER.

Figure E6: effect of using PC on BER.

Figure E7: The effect of using PC on FER

G) Slow Frequency Hopping (SFH) Gain

FER (Non Hopping) FER 1/3

1. Frequency hopping gain:

2. And if we use 40% DTX factor given DTX gain

3. Then total improvement is 7.5 dB

Fractional Load Pattern (FLP)

FLP for the 1x3 configuration

Using pseudo random hopping without DTX:

Using pseudo random hopping with DTX (40%):

Cell and MS Operating Parameters for Frequency Hopping

MRP 12/8/8/8 Configuration

Figure E13: C/I CDF for 12/8/8/8 configuration

Received Signal Quality (RxQual):

Table E3: RxQual vs. BER.

RxQual for 12/8/8/8 configuration is shown in Table E4

Table E4: RxQual for 12/8/8/8.

MRP 12/8/8/6 Configuration

Figure E14: C/I CDF for 12/8/8/6 configuration

Table E5: RxQual for 12/8/8/6 configuration

FLP for the 1x3 configuration

Figure E15: C/I CDF for 1/3 configuration

Table E6: RxQual for 12/8/8/6 configuration

Table E7: RxQual for Different re-use patterns.

Fractional Loading Pattern with Free Planning:

Figure E17: CDF of 1/3 and free panning

Frequency Diversity Gain

o Cell radius (R) =2 km

1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY …………………………………………………………3

3 SUMMARY OF THE FIRST PROGRESS REPORT……………………………41

4 SIMULATION RESULTS USING PLANET DMS 3.2………………………….50

5 SIMULATION RESULTS USING PLANET EV………………………………...69

6 CAPACITY ANALYSIS FOR SLOW FREQUENCY HOPPING……………...78

Table 1: RXQUAL classifications

2.1 GSM Basic Features

Figure 1: TDMA frame duration

Slow Frequency Hopping

o The average system capacity (Cavg) is given by

Figure 2: Frequency Diversity

Figure 3: Interference Diversity

Synthesized hopping: In synthesized hopping, the carrier synthesizer is changed in

Figure 4: Cyclic Hopping

Random Hopping: A random hopping sequence is shown in Figure 5, random