CHAPTER 1: RADIO NETWORK PLANNING PROCESS

1.1 Radio Network Planning Process

The network planning process itself is not standard. Though some of the steps may be common,
the process is determined by the type of projects, criteria and targets. The process has to be applied
case by case.

1.1.1 Network Planning Projects

Network planning projects can be divided into three main categories based on how much external
planning services the operator is using. No services means simply that the operator is responsible
for the network planning from the very beginning until the end. This type of comprehensive
responsibility for the network planning is more suitable for traditional network operators, who
have extensive knowledge of their existing network and previous network planning experience
than newcomers in this technology field. There is risk, however, that if the operator is the only
person responsible for network planning there might be a difficulty in maintaining knowledge of
the latest equipment and features.
The opposite network planning solution is when the network operator buys the new network with
a turnkey agreement (Greenfield case). In this case, the operator is involved only in defining the
network planning criteria. After the network roll-out has been finished and enters the care phase
an agreement about the future has to be made. The care services can be outsourced as well, but the
operator might also be interested to take some portion of the network operations and start to learn
the process. An operator taking all the responsibility after the outsourced planning phase includes
some risk. A better solution is to learn the network operation at a pace agreed with the network
vendor.
The network operator can also buy network planning consultancy services. In this, the operator
performs majority of the planning function and outsource selected aspects of the job. In this way
some special know-how can be bought to supplement the knowledge of the network planning
group. This is generally used in cases where new technologies need to be introduced in mature
networks.
The background of companies offering network planning services for operators is diverse. One
group are the equipment vendors with the newest technical information about the equipment and
technology. Another group are consultancy companies, who offer network planning services.
These companies are independent from the vendors, which is on the one hand an advantage but on
the other hand a disadvantage. When there needs to be selection between different vendors, the
fair choice for cooperation is an independent consulting company. Network planning services are
in some cases also offered by basic infrastructure firms, who are also involved in building the
network.

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Figure 1.1 Network planning project organization

1.1.2 Network Planning Project Organisation

The network planning project organisation is based on the network planning roll-out process steps.
The final target of the network planning roll-out process is to deliver a new network for the
operator according to the agreed requirements.
The network planning project organisation is pictured according to network planning roll-out
process flow in Figure 1.1. The roll-out process applies both for individual base stations as well as
for the whole network. The process steps need to be phased and overlapped in order to keep the
whole process inside a reasonable time limit. The network planning project management takes care
of the whole project organisation. Some support functions, e.g. marketing, selling, logistics and
technical support, are also project organisation wide and are not specifically connected to any of
the project teams.
➢ The network planning team is responsible for both network preplanning and actual
network planning, giving site proposals as the output. The network planning team has the
assistance of the field measurement team.
➢ The site proposals are an input for the site acquisition team, which is responsible for
finding the actual site locations. The site acquisition team makes technical site surveys
ending up with site lease agreements for the best possible site locations – a decision that
is always the sum of several factors.
➢ The construction works are carried out by the construction team and the target is to
prepare the site ready for telecom implementation. The site location can vary from an
existing building to a mast, which has to be built purposely. Therefore, the construction
work varies a lot from one site to another.
➢ Telecom implementation covers installation, commissioning and integration. Installation
is the setting up of the base station equipment, antennas and feeders.

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▪ Commissioning stands for functional testing of stand-alone network entities. In the
commissioning phase it is also verified that the site data depend on the network
plan and, for example, the billing and routing data meet the operator requirements.
▪ The integration phase verifies that the site is operational as a part of the network.
After this it is ready for commercial use.
▪ A separate optimisation team or the network planning team is responsible for the
prelaunch optimization phase. Here the field test measurement team is giving
support and the aim of this phase is to verify the functionality of the network. It
should be shown that the parameter settings in the network are correct and that the
planning targets can be met.

1.1.3 Network Planning Criteria and Targets

Network planning is a complicated process consisting of several phases. The final target for the
network planning process is to define the network design, which is then built as a cellular network.
The network design can be an extension of the existing GSM network or a new network to be
launched. The difficulty in network planning is to combine all of the requirements in an optimal
way and to design a cost-effective network.
Before the actual planning is started for a new network the current market situation is analysed.
The market analysis covers all the competitors and the key information from them: market share,
network coverage areas, services, tariffs, etc. Based on the market situation it is possible to create
a future deployment strategy for the new operator. Questions arise about the nature of the targeted
user group, how large is the coverage provided in the beginning and how it will grow in the future.
It is also decided in the beginning what kind of services will be offered and which is connected to
the target user group. This leads to estimations of market share at the beginning and objectives
for the future. More detailed estimations are needed on how much each user of a certain type is
using the services provided. The needed capacity for each service and onwards for the whole
network can be calculated from the estimated average usage.
The basic requirements for the cellular network are to meet coverage and quality targets. These
requirements are also related to how the end user experiences the network. Coverage targets firstly
mean the geographic area the network is covering with an agreed location probability, i.e. the
probability to get service. The requirements also specify the signal strength values that need to be
met inside different area types. The quality targets are related to factors such as the success of
the call, the drop call ratio, which should not exceed the agreed value, and the success ratio
for the call setup and for handovers.
Environmental factors also greatly affect network planning. The propagation of radio waves
varies depending on the area morphology (clutter type). The attenuation varies, for instance,
when comparing rural, suburban and urban factors and also indoor and outdoor differences
caused by buildings. Most importantly, the frequency range has an impact on propagation. The
topography of the planned area, the location of cities, roads and other hotspots are obviously
factors having an impact on planning. As the frequency band is a limited resource the available
bandwidth partly determines the tactics for network planning.

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All previously mentioned factors, i.e. data based on market analysis, operator requirements,
environmental factors and other boundary conditions, help to define planning parameters and
frames for the network plan. Due to various design parameters the network planning process
requires optimisation and compromises in order to end up with a functional cellular network. The
network planning target is to build as high a quality network as possible. On the other hand, there
is the cost-efficiency – how much money the operator can spend for the investments so that the
business is financially profitable. The two factors i.e. network quality and investments are
connected to profit. To simplify, the better the end users can be served and the more traffic the
network can handle, the more impact there is on the profits. This explains the complexity of
network planning, where sufficient cellular network coverage and capacity need to be created with
as low investments as possible.
A summary of the main factors affecting network planning are listed below:
1. Market analysis
▪ Competitor analysis
▪ Potential customers
▪ User profiles: services required and usage
2. Customer requirements
▪ Coverage requirements
▪ Capacity requirements
▪ Quality targets: call setup success, drop call rate, etc.
▪ Financial limitations
▪ Future deployment plans
3. Environment factors and other boundary conditions
▪ Clutter type
▪ Area topography
▪ Hotspot locations
▪ Available frequency band
▪ Recommended base transceiver station (BTS) locations
The radio network planning deliverables are final BTS configurations and site locations. The
final coverage predictions including dominance and composite maps are delivered. Power budgets
are calculated for all the configurations. Related to the frequency plan, the allocated frequencies
are documented and an interference analysis is also presented. Deliverables also include the
adjacency plan and allocated parameters, either default or optimized ones.

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1.2 Radio Network planning phases

The main parameters i.e antenna type, antenna height, area type that affect radio network planning
also define the radio propagation environment that specifies the characteristics of the radio
propagation which furthermore has a significant effect on the coverage and capacity in the radio
network. Radio network planning is a process that defines the stages i.e. visits in the area,
measurements, planning, documentation required to provide a desired radio network plan
for a certain geographical area. Moreover, the radio network planning process has to be defined
carefully and carried out in different phases in order to manage the strong influences between:
▪ coverage
▪ capacity
▪ quality (interference probability)
These three areas must all be optimised in order to achieve a cost-efficient and overall high Quality
of Service (containing good speech quality, minimum radio network congestion, minimum number
of drop calls or handover failures) radio network.
In coverage planning the aim is to maximise the base station coverage areas and thus minimise the
required infrastructure. Correspondingly, the base station need has to be minimised in the capacity
planning by reusing the frequencies as often as possible. These two topics have different
applications: base station coverage area can be maximised by maximising the base station antenna
height and the base station capacity can be maximised by maximising the frequency reuse that can
be reached by minimising the base station antenna height. Furthermore, quality is not a real
planning topic but is a very important “issue” and refers to primarily interference that can be
connected to capacity and frequency planning that depend on coverage issues like the base station
antenna heights. Quality connects radio network coverage and capacity planning and is related to
frequency planning. This illustrates that any of these “topics” cannot be maximised but that they
all have to be optimised in order to achieve a cost-efficient and high Quality of Service radio
network.
In order to plan good coverage while simultaneously optimising capacity and maximising quality,
the radio network planning process and key areas for this process have to be clearly defined. Figure
1.2 presents the radio network planning process and its different phases which can be adapted to
radio networks from commencement of deployment to their radio evolutionary extension. The
same phases and studies are required time after time to deploy new and maintain existing networks.
Three major radio network planning phases:
▪ dimensioning
▪ detailed radio network planning
▪ monitoring and optimisation
can be identified and each of these has a specific purpose.
➢ First, dimensioning is required to “generally” analyse the network configuration and to
decide the radio network deployment strategy.

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➢ Next, the radio network is accurately designed in the detailed radio system planning phase
➢ Finally, the radio network evolution requirements are considered in the optimisation and
monitoring phase.

Figure 1.2: Radio Network planning phases

Figure 1.2 shows that the three major radio network planning phases (dimensioning, detailed
planning, monitoring and optimisation). Two parameters (traffic and coverage threshold) have a
strong influence on the coverage, capacity and quality in the radio network and can thus be called
“global.” These parameters define the basic required configuration that is related to base station
antenna heights in the radio network.
Traffic together with the available frequency band defines the number of base stations over a
certain coverage area. Correspondingly, the coverage threshold defines the required number of
base stations to cover the same area. By comparing these two results it can be shown whether the
radio network planning is coverage or capacity driven oriented. When the theoretical base station
quantity is studied, the average base station antenna height and also the average base station
coverage area for the radio network can be defined. The average base station antenna height could
be the third “global” parameter because it has the strongest individual influence on the base station
coverage area and furthermore the strongest influence on the frequency reuse. Hence, traffic,
coverage threshold and antenna height must be considered during network evolution.

1.2.1 Dimensioning
Dimensioning is the first phase of the radio network planning process and its purpose is to initially
draft the radio network configuration and deployment strategy for the long-term. This work could
also be called a strategy of radio network planning because the aim is to define the essential radio
parameter values and technologies in order to deploy the network. If the radio network is new there
have to be several scenarios on how to exceed the coverage thresholds in different traffic situations.
If an existing network is extended, the traffic history over the area has to be utilized to identify
traffic increases during the next 1–3 years. The better the traffic forecasts the better the
configuration (antenna heights and capacity) can be optimised for network evolution.
The network planning criteria is used as an input for network dimensioning. Listed below are some
basic inputs for dimensioning:
▪ size of the covered area

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▪ coverage requirements, the signal level for outdoor, in-car and indoor with the coverage
probabilities
▪ quality requirements, drop call rate, call blocking
▪ frequency spectrum, number of channels, including information about possible needed
guard bands
▪ subscriber information, number of users and growth figures
▪ traffic per user, busy hour value
▪ services.
Dimensioning gives a preliminary network plan as an output, which is then supplemented in
coverage and parameter planning phases to create a more detailed plan. The preliminary plan
includes the number of network elements that are needed to fulfil the quality of service
requirements set by the operator, e.g. in GSM the number of BTSs and TRXs (transceivers).
It also needs to be noted that dimensioning is repeated in the case of network extension.
The result of dimensioning has two aspects; it tells the minimum number of base stations due
to coverage or capacity reasons. Both of these aspects need to be analyzed against the original
planning targets. It is also important to understand the forecasts for the subscriber growth and also
the services that are going to be deployed.
The dimensioning result is an average capacity requirement per area type like urban, suburban,
etc. More detailed capacity planning, capacity allocation for individual cells, can be done using a
planning tool having digital maps and traffic information. The dimensioning results are an input
for coverage planning, which is the next step in the network planning process.

1.2.2 Detailed Planning

Detailed radio planning is the second phase in the radio system planning process. After defining
the average base station antenna height in the dimensioning phase (based on the traffic and
coverage threshold requirements) , the required radio network finally has to be designed and
implemented. Detailed radio planning i.e. coverage, capacity and frequency planning, has to be
performed and documented. These three different planning phases are typically presented in
discussion about the radio planning process. Noting the connection between coverage and capacity
planning and the influence on base station configurations, the detailed planning process phases are
(see also Figure 1.3):
▪ configuration planning
▪ coverage planning
▪ capacity and frequency planning
▪ parameter planning
Each of these phases are utilizing dimensioning results with the aim of designing a cost-efficient
and high Quality of Service radio network in practice.

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1.2.2.1 Configuration planning
Configuration planning must always occur in a specified area in order that traffic and coverage
thresholds are exceeded. The area definition also needs to use a constant base station site
configuration (e.g. macro sites and coverage driven configuration) as possible in the radio
interface. These constant configurations make it easier to achieve the high-quality radio network
and they also help, for example in logistics. Configuration planning is thus needed prior to
coverage and capacity planning to analyse all available coverage and capacity related hardware
and software features and single-, multi band equipment, to define features which are required at
base station sites in different environments. Configuration planning analyses the capacity related
system features and their influence on performance regarding the maximum number of frequencies
at base stations. These capacity features and frequency assignments have a direct effect on the base
station site equipment (e.g. narrowband or wideband combiners) which typically cause losses at
the base station and in the antenna line.
The base station site has to be configured based on both coverage and capacity requirements; the
required capacity features define the capacity related base station site elements (combiners, etc.)
and the required coverage or dominance area defines the need for other coverage related equipment
(e.g. antenna gain, low noise amplifier (LNA), power amplifier (PA), diversity reception). The
optimised base station configuration can finally be analyzed by calculating the power budget
for the BTS–MS connection for the uplink and downlink directions. The above-mentioned
capacity and coverage related equipment specifications can be taken into account in this power
budget calculation and both coverage as well as capacity can be optimised.
As a result of configuration planning the
▪ base station site type (macro, micro, indoor)
▪ base station antenna line (antenna height, single-, multi band)
▪ base station coverage/dominance (in other words service) area and capacity
for different areas and environments have to be defined. These three configuration parameters
define the total base station site configuration that is to be used for a specific area in order to
maximise the radio network cost efficiency and QOS. As only the final base station site locations
may yet amend these configurations these can be clarified and confirmed in the detailed coverage
planning.
1.2.2.2 Coverage Planning
Configuration planning defines the base station site equipment for different environments (for
coverage or capacity purposes). Coverage planning ultimately defines the radio network
configuration. The aim of coverage planning is to utilise the dimensioning results (the average
base station antenna height) and the configurations defined in the configuration planning (based
on the power budget calculations) to minimise the number of base station sites. Thus, coverage
planning has to be done over a certain area in order to be able to optimise the base station site
locations and thus to utilise the base station configurations. The different phases of the coverage
planning process are presented also in Figure 1.3 that shows the importance of the radio
propagation measurements during radio coverage planning. Coverage planning begins with an

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open-minded coverage area survey which considers environmental limitations such as high
buildings, hills or other obstacles. This survey indicates potential propagation problem areas and
may already suggest some requirements for base station site locations. In this way this survey
initially defines the critical base station site locations and suggests strategies to cover the area.

Figure 1.3: Coverage planning process

Measurements are required to tune the radio propagation prediction model which is extremely
important when considering capacity and frequency planning along with the functions of the radio
network.
Radio coverage planning is traditionally calculated in planning tools (advanced software
programs) in the downlink direction from the base station transmitter to the mobile station antenna
by defining the
▪ base station transmission power
▪ base station equipment and antenna line losses (combiner loss, cable loss)
▪ base station antenna height, direction, gain, and tilting if it is used.
The radio propagation prediction model is then checked once more and tuned, and finally the base
station coverage area is calculated by using the input parameters, prediction model and digital
maps. Typically, all these coverage planning phases are done in the radio planning tool, which
provides a radio planning platform where the measurements can be imported, prediction models
can be tuned and the coverage, capacity and frequency planning can be done.
The target for the coverage planning phase is to find optimal locations for BSs to build continuous
coverage according to the planning requirements. Coverage planning is performed with a planning
tool including a digital map with topography and clutter type information and a tuned model for
propagation. The propagation model tuning measurements have been performed with good
accuracy.
The last phase in coverage planning is to define the final coverage thresholds and the coverage
areas where these thresholds have to be exceeded. The coverage planning thresholds can be defined
based on the power budget and the coverage planning margins. These thresholds also finally define
the average maximum distance between two base station sites.

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1.2.2.3 Capacity and Frequency planning
Capacity and frequency planning are radio planning tool-based processes because the radio
network configuration, as the number of frequencies used at each base station is already decided
in the dimensioning phase and the aim is only to provide the best possible result by using the
required configuration. Capacity and frequency planning start (or they have to be taken into
account) when the base station sites are selected. The base station locations should be selected by
trying to achieve equal base station coverage areas (and enough overlapping) and thus try to
minimise interference in the radio network.
Capacity and frequency planning begin by defining the planning thresholds, which depend on the
hardware and software features used in the radio network. When the thresholds have been defined
the rest of the capacity and frequency planning process is planning tool-based work at the onset of
the radio network deployment. When the question is about the extension of a radio network a more
detailed analysis is required to understand the actual capacity needs in the radio network. This
analysis again has to be done over an area and based on the traffic measurements from the radio
network. The total traffic has to be gathered from the specific area and the number of frequencies
have to be calculated and compared to the actual configuration.
In the capacity planning phase, the final coverage plan including composite and dominance
information is combined with the user density information; in this way the capacity can be
allocated. Boundary conditions for capacity allocation are agreed with the customer earlier, i.e. the
maximum TRX number per base station.
Planning tools have frequency planning algorithms for automatic frequency planning. These
require parameter setting and prioritization for the parameters as an input for the iteration. The
planning tool can also be utilised in manual frequency planning. The tool uses interference
calculation algorithms and the target is to minimise firstly the co-channel interference and also to
find as low adjacent channel interference as possible. Frequency planning is a critical phase in
network planning as number of frequencies that can be used is always limited and therefore the
task here is to find the best possible solution.
1.2.2.4 Parameter Planning
Parameter planning is actually a very short phase before the launch of the radio network because
the radio network parameter values are typically fixed and because their values are based on the
measurements from the other networks and thus on precedence. Typically, parameters are divided
into subgroups like:
▪ signaling
▪ radio resource management
▪ mobility management
▪ neighbour base station measurements
▪ handover and power control.
These parameters all concern and handle one type of function in the radio network. The parameter
values are also quite fixed for the different environments but some small changes can be utilised,

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e.g. for outdoor and indoor locations. Some special cases—like the dual band radio network and
the traffic distribution between the frequency layers—need more detailed radio parameter analysis.
The parameters themselves and the special cases are explained later because a detailed parameter
planning is more connected to the optimisation process. The radio network parameters are also
very powerful because they can be used for example for the prioritization of the base stations, as
traffic can be distributed to a certain base station first and then others. After parameter planning
the radio network is ready for operational mode and also ready to restart the same process—
dimensioning and detailed planning—from the beginning due to radio network evolution.
However, some statistics (from monitoring) are required from the network and some corrections
(towards optimisation) can be done with the radio network before the radio network extensions
need to start.
In the parameter planning phase a recommended parameter setting is allocated for each
network element. For radio planning the responsibility is to allocate parameters such as
handover control and power control and define the location areas and set the parameters
accordingly. In case advanced system features and services are in use care must be taken with
parameter planning.

1.2.3 Verification and Acceptance

After the planning phase has been finished the aim of the prelaunch optimisation phase is to ensure
optimal operation of the network. In addition to fine-tuning, a search is made for possible mistakes
that might have occurred during the installation. Prelaunch optimisation is high level optimisation
but does not go into detail. Network optimisation continues after the launch and goes into a more
detailed level. At that point the detailed level is easier to reach due to growing traffic.
The quality of service requirements for the cellular network, i.e. coverage, capacity and quality
requirements, are the basis for dimensioning. The targets are specified with key performance
indicators (KPIs), which show the target to meet before network acceptance. Drive testing is used
as the testing method for the network functionality verification. During the verification the
functionality of different services agreed with the operator has to be tested.
Table 1.1: Example coverage thresholds

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1.2.4 Optimisation and monitoring

The actual radio network planning process contained dimensioning, coverage, capacity and
frequency planning and it would be perfect if the number of mobile stations and their locations
were constant and already established in the radio planning phase. Unfortunately, neither the
number of mobile stations nor their location is constant and thus there is no exact information
about the configuration needs of the radio network before the network is up and running and some
statistical data is gathered (monitoring). This statistical data indicates the final traffic in a certain
area and it shows whether the radio network has overcapacity or congestion. The monitoring
results (statistical data) are also a very important input for the dimensioning phase (for the network
extensions) and thus a starting point for the network evolution. The optimisation process fits the
designed radio network to the actual coverage demands and traffic. The first target is to verify the
coverage and to analyse whether it is good enough. Next, the traffic over a certain area is studied
and if the base station coverage area is overloaded (base stations are congested) it has to be
analyzed whether:
▪ the traffic has to be balanced between the base stations or
▪ more frequencies have to be assigned or
▪ more base stations have to be implemented.
The optimisation phase is an adjustment process based on real life changes that were not
taken into account in the original radio network planning, which was based on the coverage
threshold requirements and traffic forecasts. Thus, both coverage and traffic verifications may
trigger changes which influence back upon them. Moreover, the radio system planning process has
to be repeated in the optimisation (optimisation = replanning) phase using the real information
about coverage and traffic. When the actual coverage and capacity have been measured the
optimisation work starts with an analysis of required base stations for traffic and continues with
the coverage analysis, as in dimensioning. When the radio network configuration is defined, based
on these real parameters, operational optimisation can be started. In this operational phase
coverage may be improved by
▪ maximising the base station site configuration
▪ moving the base station sites.
Base station site capacities are directed at corresponding to the requirements by
▪ defining the actual need for frequencies at each base station location
▪ balancing the frequency assignments at each base station
▪ defining the required capacity-related software features to improve capacity.
When the base station coverage areas are satisfactory and the base station dominance areas
correspond to the capacity requirements the radio network is balanced.
After the network has been launched the planning and optimisation related activities do not end
because network optimisation is a continuous process. For the optimisation the needed input is all
available information about the network and its status. The network statistic figures, alarms and
traffic itself are monitored carefully. Customer complaints are also a source of input to the network
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optimisation team. The optimisation process includes both network level measurements and also
field test measurements in order to analyse problem locations and also to indicate potential
problems.

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