Analysis of LTE Network Planning with

Soft Frequency Reuse

Rajesh .L, Soumya R Gurav
Department of Electronics Engineering, MIT Campus

ABSTRACT
In mobile network the shortage of resource in 2G and 3G reached Saturation, 3GPP has proposed
Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology, but radio network planning is a challenge especially for a
densely populated, which adds a certain level of complexity in terms of proper resource management.
LTE radio network planning procedure has been elaborately presented which concentrates on
nominal and detailed planning considering possible network implementation in the dense Area. The
parameters like link budget, capacity, frequency and coverage were collected for the purpose of
theoretical analysis and simulations. The simulation was performed to evaluate the traffic demand
throughput and estimate the signal strength per pixel to ensure the coverage and capacity of the target
area using Soft Frequency Reuse Scheme.

Keywords: LTE, Soft frequency reuse Scheme, RAN.

INTRODUCTION

The rapid growth of mobile communication and technologies made an outstanding

development in our daily lives but also to make an important contribution to the persistent computing
environments. LTE is the evolution of the Third-generation of mobile communications to the Fourth-
generation technology that is essentially an all IP broadband Internet system with voice and other
services built to ensure 3GPP‟s competitive edge over other cellular technologies. The planning
approach of LTE is divided depending upon the system architecture of LTE as Radio access network
and core network planning. LTE Radio access network planning refers to analytical approach which
is based on algorithmic formulation and focuses on the radio engineering aspect of the planning
process, i.e., on determining the locations, estimated capacity and size of the cell sites (coverage and
capacity planning), and assigning frequencies to them by examining the radio-wave propagation
environment and interferences among the cells.
Soft Frequency Reuse (SFR). Frequency reuse is an important concept of cellular
communication system which allows the user in different geographical area to use the same frequency
band. The use of SFR scheme is expected to reduce interference, and to increase the spectrum
efficiency, cell coverage. Models for coverage and capacity planning are developed for dimensioning
of LTE radio access networks [2] and special emphasis is laid on radio link budget along with detailed
coverage and capacity and the tool used for planning were Excel. LTE Radio network planning
involves the coverage estimation, capacity evaluation and frequency planning using COST 231
propagation model with selected area of Addis Ababa, 53 km2 areas around National Hotel was done
using MATLAB simulation [17]. An analysis of practical coverage scenario in an urban area (i.e.
Kolkata) in terms of received signal levels, total noise, interference, throughput, and quality factor
for downlink signal level is discussed in [18 ].In [2] a detailed LTE radio network dimensioning
procedure i.e. capacity and coverage analysis has been performed in order to prepare a radio planning
guideline considering possible network operation in Dhaka city through link budget preparation along
with link and system level simulations.

2.COVERAGE PLANNING OF LTE

RF Planning is a process of assigning frequencies, transmitter locations and parameters of

wireless communication system to provide sufficient coverage and capacity for the services
required. Coverage refers to the Geographical footprint within the system that has sufficient RF
signal strength to provide for a Call/Data session. Capacity relates to the capability of the system to
sustain a given number of subscribers.

2.1. Coverage Planning

Coverage analysis gives an estimation of the resources needed to provide service in the
deployment area with the given system parameters. The link budget calculations estimate the
maximum allowed signal attenuation, called path loss, between the mobile and the base station
antenna. The maximum path loss allows the maximum cell range to be estimated with a suitable
propagation model.The cell range gives the number of base station sites required to cover the target
geographical area. Coverage and design requirement must be analyzed in choosing parameters
within the following parameter groups such as propagation related, equipment related, LTE specific
and system reliability Network coverage depend mainly on natural factors such as geographical
aspect, propagation conditions, and on human factors such as the landscape (urban, suburban, rural),
subscriber behavior etc.

2.1.1 Procedure for Coverage Planning LTE System

 Coverage analysis estimates the number of eNodeB required to cover the specified
area with good signal strength.
 The link budget calculations estimate the maximum allowed signal attenuation,
called path loss, between the mobile and the base station antenna.
 The maximum path loss allows the maximum cell range to be estimated with a
suitable propagation model.
 The cell range gives the number of base station sites required to cover the target
geographical area.

Figure 1 Block Diagram of Coverage Planning

3.1. COVERAGE PLANNING

Coverage analysis estimates the number of eNode B required to cover the specified area
with good signal strength. The link budget calculations estimate the maximum allowed signal
attenuation, called path loss, between the mobile and the base station antenna. The maximum path
loss allows the maximum cell range to be estimated with a suitable propagation model. The cell
range gives the number of base station sites required to cover the target geographical area.

3.1.1 Link Budget

Link budget used to determine the maximum path loss allowed across the radio link for a
given performance a due in part to the receiver components as well as the impact of the nvironment
through propagate.
There are two main purposes for establishing the RF link budget for LTE designs. To establish the
system design assumptions for all the gains and losses along the RF path between the base station
and the subscriber device e.g. vehicle loss, building loss, ambient noise, transmit powers, receive
sensitivities, antenna gains. To establish an estimate for maximum allowable path loss. This
maximum allowable path loss number is used in conjunction with the propagation model to estimate
site coverage, which ultimately determines the number of sites required for adequate system RF
signal coverage and hence the system cost.

3.1.2.EIRP

EIRP is Effective Isotropic Radiated Power, also called the Equivalent Isotropic Radiated Power. In
antenna measurements, the measured radiated power in a single direction (that is, for a
fixed and ) is known as the EIRP. Typically, for an antenna radiation pattern measurement, if
a single value of EIRP is given, this will be the maximum value of the EIRP over all measured angles.
EIRP can also be thought of as the amount of power a perfectly isotropic antenna would need to
radiate to achieve the measured value. As an example, suppose the radiated power is measured for an
arbitrary antenna. Suppose the peak power is measured at = =90 degrees, and the value is
EIRP = 20dBm = -10 dB = [0.1 W = 100 mW]. Then a perfectly isotropic antenna radiating 20 dBm
would produce the same measured power for the peak angles of our antenna. The EIRP can be related
to the power transmitted from the radio (P_t), the cable losses (possibly including antenna
mismatch) L, and the antenna gain (G) by:
[1]
Often the cable losses L can be neglected, as they are generally a small fraction of a dB. Total (full
3D) Measurements from a Single-Point (single-direction) Measurement If the peak EIRP and
the directivity (D) are known for an antenna, then the Total Radiated Power (TRP) can be found from
the equation:
TRP = EIRP - D [2]
In this manner, if the directivity and peak angle for an antenna are known in advance, the
measurement time can be greatly reduced by using equation [2].

3.1.3.Thermal Noise

The thermal noise is a loss due to heat and can be formulated as K indicates the Boltzmann constant
(1.38 x 10 (- 23) J/K). T indicates absolute temperature at a value of 290K
B indicates channel bandwidth which is 20MHz

3.1.4The receiver sensitivity

Indicates the minimum signal strength required to enable decoding by the eNodeB or UE receiver if
there is no interference and formulated as:

Receiver Sensitivity = Noise Figure + SINR +Thermal Noise

SINR indicates the Signal to interference noise ratio
Noise figure is the ratio of the SINR at the input end to the SINR at the output end of the receiver
and used to measure the performance of a receiver.

3.1.5 Minimum signal reception strength

It used to formulate the receiver side losses and margin such as body loss, cable loss and marginal gain
to receiver sensitivity and calculated as: Minimum Signal Reception Strength=RS+IM+LR-RAG, as
shown in Fig 3.3
RS is receiver sensitivity
 IM is interference Marginal

LR is receiver body loss + Cable loss

RAG is receiver antenna gain

3.1.6 Beamwidth

The beam width is also called the half power beam width, including horizontal beam width
Figure 2 and vertical beam width Figure 3. The horizontal beam width and vertical beam width is
the beam width between two points where the power is lower 50% (3dB) than the maximum
radiation power. The common horizontal beam width of eNodeB antennas includes 360°, 90°, 65°,
60°, and 33°. The common vertical beam width of eNodeB antennas includes 6.5°, 7°, 10°, 13°, and
16°.

Figure 2 Horizontal pattern of Directional Sectored Antenna

 Figure 3 Vertical Pattern of Directional Sectored Antenna
Table 1 link Budget

Table 2 Path Loss Calculation for Downlink

Downlink

Transmitter – eNode B
a Tx power (dBm) 47.0

b TX antenna gain (dBi) 17.0

c Cable loss (dB) 3.5

d EIRP (dBm) 67.5 = a + b + c

Receiver – UE
e UE noise figure (dB) 7.0

f Thermal noise (dBm) -111.4= k(Boltzmann)

* T(290K)* B(1800MHz)

g Receiver noise floor (dBm) -104.4 = e + f

 h SINR (dB) -10.0

i Receiver sensitivity (dBm) -114.5 = g + h

j Interference Margin (dB) 3.0

k Control Channel Overhead 0.0

(dB)

l RX antenna gain (dBi) 0.0

m Body Loss (dB) 0.0

Maximum path loss 165.5 = d – i – j – k + l - m

3.2 COST 231-HATA MODEL

Cost 231 –Hata Model – wholly based on measured data - no analytical explanation
Accuracy in terms of path loss in cluttered mobile environment
Widely used for urban areas
Coverage specifications
o Frequencies ranging from 1500MHz-2000MHz
o Link Distances: upto 20km
o Base station antenna height: 30m-100m
o Mobile station antenna height: upto 10m

Formulas,
Urban areas: LdB = A + B log10 R – E
Suburban areas: LdB = A + B log10 R – C
Open areas:
LdB = A + B log10 R – D A = 69.55 + 26.16 log10 fc – 13.82 log10 hb B = 44.9 – 6.55 log10 hb
C = 2 ( log10 ( fc / 28 ))2 + 5.4
D = 4.78 ( log10 fc )2 + 18.33 log10 fc + 40.94
E = 3.2 (log10 (11.7554 hm)) 2 – 4.97 for large cities, fc ≥ 300MHz
E = 8.29 (log10 (1.54 hm ))2 – 1.1 for large cities, fc < 300MHz
E = (1.1 log10 fc – 0.7) hm – (1.56 log10 fc – 0.8)
for medium to small cities LdB = F + B log10 R – E + G
F = 46.3 + 33.9 log10 fc – 13.82 log10 hb
E designed for large cities
G=0 dB medium sized cities and suburban areas
G =3 dB metropolitan areas
LdB = 46.3 + 33.9 log10 (1800) – 13.82 log10 (30) log10 R
-3.2 (log10 (11.7554 (1.5)))2 – 4.97 +3
LdB =161.5
Fc=1800MHz
Hb=30m Hm=1.5m
R=740.633m

Figure 4 Calculation of Cell Radius

Table 3.3 Clutter offsets

RESULT AND DISCUSSION

In this paper, simulation is used to investigate the RAN nominal planning of LTE networks as it is
done using Atoll simulation environment. The radio link budget calculation was simply done by
using Excel for its simplicity and its good results. The LTE radio network planning simulation is
intended to carry out the link budget calculation, propagation modeling using the terrain model,
coverage estimation and capacity evaluation.

Figure 5 Coverage by Transmitter

Figure 6 Coverage by Signal Level

The Coverage Predictions calculated for the number of sites planned in focus area. It in can observe the
distribution of signal with different levels as per the legend selected. We are made upon addition or
deletion of sites by visualizing the coverage gaps and Coverage overlapping areas.

Figure 7 Signal Level Histogram

The Figure 7 shows histogram of distribution of Signal level samples in selected focus area.
 X-Axis is showing the Area covered in Sq Km and Y-axis is showing different levels of signal
strengths
 Histogram is the output of calculated coverage predication by the tool.
 Histogram confirms the area covered in Sq Km by particular level of Signal Strengths.
Fig.no.4.4 prediction as per histogram the maximum area of approximate 48 Sq Km is covered
by signal level -80 to -85 dBm.


Figure 8 Coverage by Throughput

 Based on the requirement of expected Signal levels number sites can be added in the plan and
further coverage can be improved.
The Figure 8 shows Throughput predictions.

 With information, visualize the distribution best throughput samples in these

area covered by the planned sites.
 Signal Strength and Load distribution plays major role in throughput predications
 For getting better throughput good signal levels are required and also sites should not
highly loaded.
 With above predications we can observe low throughput areas and change serving site
parameters like antenna tilts and Antenna Height to improve throughput further

Figure 9 Throughput Histogram

The Figure 9 shows histogram is the output of Throughput prediction plot.

 With this information, we can confirm area covered by good throughput samples
 If it is not matching with plan then we can make changes in current site plan and site
parameters like antenna tilts and Antenna height to increase or decrease cell coverage
which helps in improving throughput at different locations.

Figure 10 Final Coverage

 Above Figure 10 shows predication and histogram are the results of successful Automatic cell
planning feature which is available in the tool.
 This feature make changes in number of total sites required by changing site parameters
like antenna height, antenna tilts and antenna orientation to increase or decrease the
coverage area .
 This feature helps in planning coverage for selected focus area by using adequate number
of sites.
 With this coverage overlaps and coverage gaps are removed and maximum area is
covered.

Figure 11 Capacity Planning

Above Figure 11 shows distribution of users in the planned area and their location.
During simulation tool takes reference of user distribution in selected area to calculate the levels of
interference and load on planned sites

Figure 12 Simulation Result

 Figure 13 Simulation Result (Traffic)

In above Figure 13 predication of locations of different users is calculated

As a user is selected in the map, additional information about location of the user, throughput
observed by the user, Received signal strength can be found.
Also the information about user profile which confirms the different services used by the user e.g.
high speed Internet etc

It gives results as shown in

 Max Throughput observed by group of users

 Peak throughput
 Number of active users connected to the network

CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK

The ultimate objectives of the present study of LTE radio network planning guidelines are to
introduce the relevant LTE features, to define the basic models for radio propagation planning, to
estimate coverage and network element count for Kerala city which minimize the level of planning
challenge. This study is useful for optimizing the recently launched LTE networks in dense urban of
Kerala city and spreading the coverage all over the city. Here obtained results of coverage and
capacity analysis (22655km square area and 20 sites for dense urban) have been used in nominal and
detailed radio planning stage using ATOLL and taking Kerala digital map as input. From the
simulation we can conclude as: More than 85% of the area covered by optimum signal strength.
Interference levels and signal-to-interference levels a challenge for radio network planning. C/ (I+N)
level calculates the co-channel interference as well as the adjacent channel interference. From the
analysis the carrier to interference plus noise ratio for downlink are greater than 18dB for more than
96% of target area. From the capacity perspective, the maximum throughput that we’re expecting is
28.5Mbps per site for downlink respectively.

In future, the principle of SPFR is to make decisions about the resource allocation for various MSs
on the basis of users’ location information in different cell regions and on the basis of the load
measurement in a cell. Radio Network Dimensioning alone does not bring customer satisfaction i.e.
it needs to provide the service with affordable price based on the network traffic analysis and dynamic
tariff.
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