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WCDMA900 Planning Guideline

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Change history

Version Date Comments

0.1 30.08.2006 Document created
0.2 15.09.2006 Comments from FR.
1.0 10.2006 Approved version 1.
1.1 20.02.20076 Chapter 7.2 added by Anders Arte
1.11 9/2007 Minor corrections
2.0 12/2007 New references added and chapter
9. Practical Experience by Pekka Ranta

Editor: Pauli Aikio/Pekka Ranta

Date: Dec 2007
Version: 2.0

Approved by: Florian Reymond

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction................................................................................................................................... 4
2. Utra frequency bands and WCDMA900 Link Budgets...................................................................4
2.1 Cell Ranges............................................................................................................................ 7
3. Co-existense of WCDMA900 and GSM900 in the same band....................................................11
3.1 Introduction........................................................................................................................... 11
3.2 Scenario_1: UMTS&GSM (macro),urban area,Cell range of 500m,uncoordinated operation11
3.2.1 WCDMA as a victim.......................................................................................................12
3.2.2 GSM as a victim............................................................................................................ 13
3.2.3 Conclusions................................................................................................................... 13
3.3 Scenario_2: UMTS&GSM(macro),rural area,cell range of 5000m,uncoordinated operation. 13
3.3.1 WCDMA as a victim.......................................................................................................13
3.3.2 GSM as a victim............................................................................................................ 14
3.3.3 Conclusion..................................................................................................................... 14
3.4 Scenario_3: UMTS&GSM(macro), rural area,cell range of 5000m, in coordinated operation14
3.4.1 WCDMA as a victim.......................................................................................................15
3.4.2 Conclusions................................................................................................................... 15
3.5 WCDMA900 and GSM900 with 4.2 MHz separation (Scenario 4)........................................16
4. Refarming GSM900 frequencies to WCDMA900........................................................................17
4.1 Frequency refarming example for scenario 4........................................................................18
4.2 GSM900 and WCDMA900 in the same band in the same geographical area.......................20
4.3 Practical cases...................................................................................................................... 22
4.4 Deployment strategies..........................................................................................................24
4.4.1 Coverage HO between WCDMA2100 and WCDMA900................................................25
5. Parameters Related to wcdma900..............................................................................................27
6. NetAct Planner support of wcdma900.........................................................................................27
7. HW and SW issues..................................................................................................................... 28
7.1 Sameband combiner............................................................................................................. 28
7.2 Deployment of UMTS900 in areas with existing GSM900 coverage.....................................30
7.2.1 Link budgets comparison for the three different configurations......................................31
8. Transmission............................................................................................................................... 31
9. WCDMA900 Practical experiences from 900 refarming..............................................................32
References......................................................................................................................................... 36
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1. INTRODUCTION

In the 3GPP specifications in Release 7 new frequencies are allocated for UMTS. This document covers
mainly band VIII which is also known as EGSM900 band. The main difference between the core UMTS
Band I and UMTS Band VIII is the better propagation in Band VIII due to its lower frequency. Due to
better radio wave propagation in WCDMA900 than in WCDMA2100, the high bit rate services can be
provided for the same areas with lower cost and service latency times can be reduced compared to
EGPRS by using HSPA. At the beginning of refarming of the existing GSM900 frequencies to
WCDMA900 can be a challenging task due to the UEs that are GSM capable only which requires
substantial capacity still in GSM espcially in densily populated areas. WCDMA900 can also be used for
indoor coverage improvement which enables higher bit rates in HSPA. Nokia provides support for this
new UMTS frequency variant in Nokia RAS release RAS5.1.

2. UTRA FREQUENCY BANDS AND WCDMA900 LINK BUDGETS

There are new frequency bands allocated for UMTS for different regions in the world [ 1]. The allocated
frequency bands are shown in Table 1. Band I is often referred to as UMTS Core Band and band VIII as
EGSM900 Band.

Table 1. UTRA FDD frequency bands [Error: Reference source not found].

Operating UL Frequencies DL frequencies

Band UE transmit, Node B receive UE receive, Node B transmit
I 1920 – 1980 MHz 2110 –2170 MHz
II 1850 –1910 MHz 1930 –1990 MHz
III 1710-1785 MHz 1805-1880 MHz
IV 1710-1755 MHz 2110-2155 MHz
V 824 – 849 MHz 869-894 MHz
VI 830-840 MHz 875-885 MHz
VII 2500-2570 MHz 2620-2690 MHz
VIII 880 – 915 MHz 925 – 960 MHz
IX 1749.9-1784.9 MHz 1844.9-1879.9 MHz

The main effect on the UE while changing from Band I to Band VIII comes from the fact that the duplex
distance is lower in WCDMA900 being only 45 MHz and the distance between the uppermost UL and
lowest DL frequencies is only 10 MHz. This causes more losses in the UE’s duplex filter if it is kept at
reasonable size and therefore the UE’s sensitivity level is relaxed by 3 dB in WCDMA900 compared to
WCDMA2100 [Error: Reference source not found, 2]. The UE sensitivity figures for the different bands
are shown in Table 2.

Table 2. UE sensitivity levels for different bands [Error: Reference source not found].

Operating Band Unit DPCH_Ec <REFSENS>

I dBm/3.84 MHz -117
II dBm/3.84 MHz -115
III dBm/3.84 MHz -114
IV dBm/3.84 MHz -117
V dBm/3.84 MHz -115
VI dBm/3.84 MHz -117
VII dBm/3.84 MHz -115
VIII dBm/3.84 MHz -114
IX dBm/3.84 MHz -116

In BTS side there are neither changes in receiver sensitivity nor in transmitter output powers [ 3]. The
other parameter which is affected in the link budget is BTS antenna gain being lower in WCDMA900
than in WCDMA2100 if the antenna physical sizes are kept the same. Higher frequency has a negative
impact on the antenna gain through antenna effective area but in antenna arrays the distance between
the antenna radiating elements depends on the wavelength and the gain is doubled if the number of
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elements is doubled and therefore the higher frequency has a positive effect on the total gain, see an
example from Kathrein in Table 3.

Table 3. Electrical properties of a multiband antenna from Kathrein.

In the following link budgets (adapted from [4]) the difference is assumed to be about 2 dB. Cable loss is
also frequency dependent being higher for WCMA2100 than for WCDMA900 if the same cable is used.
For 7/8” cable the losses are for 900 and 2000 MHz about 3.7 and 5.9 dB/100 m, respectively. If we
consider cable length of 30 m and take into account connector (2 x 0.1 dB) and jumper losses (2 x 0.2
dB) the overall losses for WCDMA2100 are 2.4 dB and for WCDMA900 1.7 dB. For simplicity the losses
are chosen to be the same 2 dB for both bands. Building penetration loss (BPL) is assumed to be the
same even though some measurements have shown lower BPL values for higher frequencies, eg. [ 5].
The downlink link budget for different bearers with BTS LPA power of 20 W is shown in Table 4. If the
WCDMA900 maximum allowed path loss is compared to WCDMA2100 it is about 5 dB lower.

Table 4. Downlink DCH link budget.

Service Type Nokia Specific Speech CS Data PS Data  

Downlink bit rate No 12.2 64.0 64.0 128.0 384.0 kbps

Maximum transmit power Yes 34.2 37.2 37.2 38.0 38.0 dBm
Cable loss No 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 dB
MHA insertion loss Yes 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 dB
Node B antenna gain No 16.5 16.5 16.5 16.5 16.5 dBi
Transmit EIRP Yes 48.2 51.2 51.2 52.0 52.0 dBm
Processing gain No 25.0 17.8 17.8 14.8 10.0 dB
Required Eb/N0 UE dependant 7.9 5.3 5.0 4.7 4.8 dB
Target loading No 80.0 80.0 80.0 80.0 80.0 %
Rise over thermal noise No 7.0 7.0 7.0 7.0 7.0 dB
Thermal noise power No -108.0 -108.0 -108.0 -108.0 -108.0 dBm
Receiver noise figure UE dependant 11.0 11.0 11.0 11.0 11.0 dB
Interference floor No -90.0 -90.0 -90.0 -90.0 -90.0 dBm
Receiver sensitivity UE dependant -107.1 -102.5 -102.8 -100.1 -95.2 dBm
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Terminal antenna gain UE dependant 0.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 dBi
Body loss No 3.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 dB
Fast fading margin UE dependant 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 dB
MDC gain UE dependant 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 dB
Max path loss   153.5 156.9 157.2 155.3 150.4 dB
Soft handover gain UE dependant 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 dB
Building penetration loss No 12.0 12.0 12.0 12.0 12.0 dB
Indoor location probability No 90.0 90.0 90.0 90.0 90.0 %
Indoor standard deviation No 10.0 10.0 10.0 10.0 10.0 dB
Slow fading margin No 7.6 7.6 7.6 7.6 7.6 dB
Isotropic power required Yes -87.6 -88.0 -88.3 -85.6 -80.8 dBm
Allowed propagation loss Yes 135.8 139.2 139.5 137.6 132.8 dB
Cell range Yes 1.8 2.2 2.3 2.0 1.5 km

In UL direction the only parameter which has changed is BTS antenna gain when going from
WCDMA2100 to WCDMA900 [Table 5]. In this link budget the slightly better (0.2 dB) noise figure of Flexi
BTS is not taken into account.

Table 5. Uplink link budget for different services.

Service Type Nokia Specific Speech CS Data PS Data  

Uplink bit rate No 12.2 64.0 64.0 kbps

Maximum transmit power UE dependant 21.0 21.0 21.0 dBm

Terminal antenna gain UE dependant 0.0 2.0 2.0 dBi
Body loss No 3.0 0.0 0.0 dB
Transmit EIRP UE dependant 18.0 23.0 23.0 dBm
Chip rate No 3.8 3.8 3.8 Mcps
Processing gain No 25.0 17.8 17.8 dB
Required Eb/N0 Yes 4.4 2.0 2.0 dB
Target uplink load No 50.0 50.0 50.0 %
Rise over thermal noise No 3.0 3.0 3.0 dB
Thermal noise power No -108.0 -108.0 -108.0 dBm
Receiver noise figure Yes 3.0 3.0 3.0 dB
Interference floor No -102.0 -102.0 -102.0 dBm
Receiver sensitivity Yes -122.6 -117.8 -117.8 dBm
Node B antenna gain No 16.5 16.5 16.5 dBi
Cable loss No 2.0 2.0 2.0 dB
Benefit of using MHA No 2.0 2.0 2.0 dB
Fast fading margin Yes 1.8 1.8 1.8 dB
Max path loss Yes 155.3 155.5 155.5 dB
Soft handover gain Yes 2.0 2.0 2.0 dB
Building penetration loss No 12.0 12.0 12.0 dB
Indoor location probability No 90.0 90.0 90.0 %
Indoor standard deviation No 10.0 10.0 10.0 dB
Slow fading margin No 7.6 7.6 7.6 dB
Isotropic power required Yes -119.6 -114.8 -114.8 dBm
Allowed propagation loss Yes 137.6 137.8 137.8 dB
Cell range Yes 2.1 2.1 2.1 km
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For the dowlink CPICH link budget [Table 6] both worse BTS antenna gain and UE sensitivity have a
negative impact on the maximum allowed path loss.

Table 6. CPICH link budget.

Service Type Nokia Specific CPICH  

Maximum transmit power Yes 33.0 dBm
Cable loss No 2.0 dB
MHA insertion loss Yes 0.5 dBi
Node B antenna gain No 16.5 dBi
Transmit EIRP Yes 47.0 dBm
Required Ec/I0 UE dependant -15.0 dB
Target loading No 80.0 %
Rise over thermal noise No 7.0 dB
Thermal noise power No -108.0 dBm
Receiver noise figure UE dependant 11.0 dB
Interference floor No -90.0 dBm
Receiver sensitivity UE dependant -105.0 dBm
Terminal antenna gain UE dependant 0.0 dBi
Body loss No 3.0 dB
Fast fading margin No 0.0 dB
Max path loss UE dependant 149.0 dB
Building penetration loss No 12.0 dB
Indoor location probability No 90.0 %
Indoor standard deviation No 10.0 dB
Slow fading margin No 7.6 dB
Isotropic power required Yes -82.4 dBm
Allowed propagation loss Yes 129.4 dB
Cell range Yes 1.2 km

2.1 Cell Ranges

In order to get some idea about the cell range differences between WCDMA2100 and WCDMA900 the
propagation model should be taken into account. Free space loss is frequency dependent being bigger
for higher frequencies than lower frequencies but in a normal mobile radio propagation environment
there are also factors which have an opposite effect. By taking into account all of these factors the cell
ranges are larger for lower frequencies than higher ones. In the link budgets presented in Table 4, Table
5 and Table 6 the cell ranges are calculated based on the Okumura-Hata and COST-231-Hata models.
The models’ details are [6, 7]

L
p
 A  B  log
10
( f )  13.82  log
c 10
(H )  
b 

44.9  6.55  log
10
( H )
b 

 log
10
(d )  a
m
(H
m
)
, (0)

Where

Lp = Path loss (dB)

fc = Carrier frequency; 150 - 2000 (MHz)
Hb = Base station antenna height; 30 - 200 (m)
d = Distance from BTS (km); 1 – 20 (km)
am(Hm) = Mobile antenna height correction function which takes the following formats

For a small and medium sized city

am ( H m )  1.1 log10 ( f c )  0.7  H m  (1.56  log10 ( f c )  0.8) (0)

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and for a large city

am ( H m )  8.29  (log10 (1.54  H m ) 2  1.1, f c  200 MHz (0)

am ( H m )  3.2  (log10 (11 .75  H m ) 2  4.97, f c  400 MHz (0)

It is worth to note that am(Hm) gets value 0 by definition if the mobile height is 1.5 m but the error is
negligible if the equations for am(Hm) are used instead of 0.

A and B can get the following values

Table 7. Values for A and B as a function of frequency fc in equation (1).

150 – 1500 MHz 1500 – 2000 MHz

A 69.55 46.30
B 26.16 33.90

It can be seen from the equations ( 0 )– ( 0 ) and Table 7 that as a function of frequency the biggest
change for the path loss value is given by the factors A and B. If we take an urban macro cell and the
mobile height of 1.5 m, base station height of 30 m and frequency of 900 MHz the equation (1) gets the
following form

L p  126.4  35.2  log10 ( d ) (0)

The latter part of equation ( 0 ) is used as an exponent for slow fading marging calculations in network
planning functions in Excel. For the BTS antenna height of 30 m it is 3.52 and for 50 m it is 3.38. By
comparing this equation against the equation ( 0 ) in 2000 MHz the cell ranges can be compared with
different path loss values.

L p  137.8  35.2  log10 (d ) (0)

The cell ranges in Table 4, Table 5 and Table 6 are calculated by Okumura-Hata model with the BTS
antenna height of 30 m, MS height of 1.5 m and the UL frequency was 900 MHz and in DL 945 MHz.

By using the above models the cell ranges for different bands with the fixed propagation loss of 130 dB
are collected in Table 8. The cell range calculations are performed for both band ends, upper and lower.

Table 8. Cell ranges for different UMTS bands with the fixed propagation loss of 130 dB.
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UL f (MHz) DL f (MHz) BTS h (m) UE h (m) Propagation Loss (dB)

UL Range (Km) DL Range (Km) Delta UL-DL (dB)
UMTS Core 1920 2110 30 1.5 130 0.63 0.57 0.05
Band I 1980 2170 30 1.5 130 0.61 0.56 0.05
US PCS 1850 1930 30 1.5 130 0.65 0.62 0.03
Band II 1910 1990 30 1.5 130 0.63 0.61 0.02
GSM1800 1710 1805 30 1.5 130 0.70 0.67 0.04
Band III 1785 1880 30 1.5 130 0.67 0.64 0.03
US New 1710 2110 30 1.5 130 0.70 0.57 0.13
Band IV 1755 2155 30 1.5 130 0.68 0.56 0.12
US Cellular 824 869 30 1.5 130 1.35 1.30 0.05
Band V 849 894 30 1.5 130 1.32 1.27 0.05
Japan 830 875 30 1.5 130 1.34 1.29 0.05
Band VI 840 885 30 1.5 130 1.33 1.28 0.05
New 2.5 GHz 2500 2570 30 1.5 130 0.49 0.47 0.01
Band VII 2620 2690 30 1.5 130 0.47 0.45 0.01
GSM900 880 925 30 1.5 130 1.29 1.24 0.05
Band VIII 915 960 30 1.5 130 1.25 1.21 0.04
Japan 1749.9 1844.9 30 1.5 130 0.69 0.65 0.03
Band IX 1784.9 1879.9 30 1.5 130 0.67 0.64 0.03

It can be seen from Table 8 and Figure 1 that the cell range for WCDMA900 is more than 2 times bigger
than for WCDMA2100. By converting this one into the cell area it means about 4 - 5 times bigger area for
WCDMA900 than for WCDMA2100.

UL Range (Km) DL Range (Km) Delta UL-DL (dB)

1.60 0.14
1.40 0.12

UL-DL Delta (dB)

1.20
Cell Range (Km)

0.10
1.00
0.08
0.80
0.06
0.60
0.40 0.04

0.20 0.02
0.00 0.00
I II III IV V VI VI
I II IX
nd nd nd nd VI nd
Ba nd nd nd nd
Ba Ba Ba Ba a
Ba Ba
or
e S 00 la
r n
B Ba n
C PC 18 Ne
w
lu pa Hz 0 pa
l a G 90 Ja
TS US SM Ce J
US 2.
5 SM
UM G US w G
Ne

Figure 1. Cell ranges and their UL-DL differences in different UMTS bands with the fixed path loss of 130
dB.

In practice the allowed propagation losses are different for each band and the Table 8 gives just an idea
of the achievable cell ranges in the different bands. The main differences between WCDMA2100 and
WCDMA900 link budgets are collected in Table 9.

Table 9. The main differences in WCDMA2100 and WCDMA900 link budgets with 20 W LPA.

  WCDMA2100 WCDMA900 Difference (dB)

UE Reference Sensitivity (dBm) -117 -114 -3
Cable Loss, 7/8” @30m (dB) 1.77 1.11 0.66
Antenna Gain (dB) 17.5 14.5 -3
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Max Path Loss Delta (dB)     -5.34

The cell ranges and number of sites per 100 km2 for WCDMA2100 and WCDMA900 with maximum
allowed propagation losses of 135.3 and 130 dB, respectively, are shown in Figure 2. In this example the
values in Table 9 are taken into account. The site count decreased about 57% from WCDMA2100 to
WCDM900.

Cell Range (km) # of Sites per 100 km^2

1.40 90

80
1.20

# of Sites per 100 km^2

70
1.00
Cell Range (km)

60

0.80 50

0.60 40

30
0.40
20
0.20
10

0.00 0

WCDMA2100 WCDMA900

Figure 2. 3-sector site cell areas for WCDMA2100 and WCDMA900.

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3. CO-EXISTENSE OF WCDMA900 AND GSM900 IN THE SAME BAND

3.1 Introduction

In the 3GPP specifications TS 25.101 (Release 7) the new band was introduced for WCDMA. The band
covers the same frequencies as the combined GSM900 and EGSM900 bands [8]. Simulation results for
the operation of WCDMA900 and GSM900 in the same band are collected into [Error: Reference source
not found]. The simulations are run by different vendors and the used method was based on the Monte
Carlo simulations. In this report 6 different scenarios were simulated. The main results from macro-
macro cases for uncoordinated and coordinated configurations are presented in the following pages:

 Scenario 1: performance in urban area, 500m cell range

 Scenario 2: performance in rural area, 5000m cel range,
 Scenario 3: peformance in rural area, 5000m cell range

Additionally another Nokia internal scenario 4 (a variant of scenario 3) is presented which allows more
efficient use of the frequency band if certain condtions are met.

Coordinated one resembles the case when operators in the adjacent bands are co-operating and the
GSM and WCDMA sites are co-sited. Uncoordinated scenario resembles the case when the operators
are not co-operating and the sites are located at cell edges of the interfering system meaning the worst
case scenario.

In the analysis the capacity loss was presented as a function of ACIR (Adjacent Channel Interference
Ratio). The used ACIR values for WCDMA and GSM are collected in and Table 11, respectively. The
main outcome of these simulations is that these two systems can co-exist and the RF system
characteristics assumed for UMTS900 are suitable and sufficient for UMTS900 to be deployed in the
same band with GSM900.

Table 10. ACIR for UMTS UL/DL as a victim being interfered by GSM UL/DL.

Carrier separation 2.8 MHz 4.8 MHz

UMTS UL UMTS DL UMTS UL UMTS DL
as victim as victim as victim as victim
ACIR (dB) 43.1 30.5 > 47.4 > 30.5

Table 11. ACIR for GSM UL/DL as a victim being interfered by UMTS UL/DL.

Carrier separation 2.8 MHz 4.8 MHz

GSM UL as GSM DL as GSM UL as GSM DL as
victim victim victim victim
ACIR (dB) 31.3 50 43.3 63

3.2 Scenario_1: UMTS&GSM (macro),urban area,Cell range of 500m,uncoordinated

operation

The co-existence scenario is presented in the Figure 3 and Figure 4. UMTS carrier and GSM carriers are
in adjacent placement. In this uncoordinated operation, GSM sites are located at the cell edge of UMTS
cells as shown in Figure 4. In these simulations the distance between the carriers’ center frequencies
was 2.8 MHz and the minimum coupling loss (MCL) between BTS and UE was 70 dB. Detailed
information about the simulation assumptions for this scenario is summarized in [Error: Reference
source not found, Table 1].
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Network B (GSM) Network A (UMTS)

Figure 3. Frequency configuration for the scenario_1 simulations.

Inter-site
UMTS distance 3*R Cell radius R
GSM
Cell range 2*R

Figure 4. Network topology for scenario_1 simulations.

3.2.1 WCDMA as a victim

UMTS DL Capacity Loss (%) due to interference UMTS UL Capacity Loss (%) due to interference
from GSM from GSM

12 30
Ericsson
Capacity Loss (%)

10 25
Capacity Loss (%)

Ericsson
Lucent
8 20 Lucent
Motorola
6 15 Motorola
Nortel
4 10 Qualcomm
Qualcomm
2 5 Siemens
Siemens
0 0
20 25 30 35 40 45 50 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60
ACIR (dB) ACIR (dB)

Figure 5. UMTS DL capacity loss due to interference Figure 6. UL capacity loss due to interference from
from GSM DL is about 1.5% at ACIR of 30.5 dB. GSM UL is less than 5% at ACIR of 43.1 dB.
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3.2.2 GSM as a victim

GSM DL System Outage Degradation (% ) GSM UL System Outage Degradation (%) due to
interference from UMTS
System Outage Degradation

25
0.15
20

Degradation (%)
System Outage
15 Ericsson
(%)

0.1
Nokia Ericsson
10 Siemens Siemens
0.05
5
0
0
10 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
20 25 30 35 40 45 50
ACIR (dB)
ACIR (dB)

Figure 7. DL System Outage Degradation due to Figure 8. GSM UL System Outage Degradation (%)
interference from UMTS DL is 0% at ACIR of 50 dB. due to interference from UMTS UL is negligible at
ACIR of 31.3 dB.

3.2.3 Conclusions

Based on the analysis of the simulation results for the co-existence scenario 1 between UMTS (macro)
-GSM (macro) in urban area with a cell range of 500 m in uncoordinated operation, the following
conclusions can be made:

 RF system characteristics assumed for UMTS900 are suitable and sufficient for UMTS900 to be
deployed in urban environment in co-existence with GSM;

 UMTS and GSM in urban environment can co-exist with 2.8 MHz carrier separation between UMTS
carrier and the nearest GSM carrier.

3.3 Scenario_2: UMTS&GSM(macro),rural area,cell range of 5000m,uncoordinated

operation

The network topology was the same as in Figure 4 and the frequency arrangement was as in Figure 3.

3.3.1 WCDMA as a victim

UMTS DL Capacity Loss (%) due to interference UMTS UL Capacity Loss (% ) due to
from GSM interference from GSM

6 28
Capacity Loss (%)

24
Capacity Loss (%)

5 Ericsson
20 Ericsson
4 Motorola
16 Motorola
3 Nortel
12 Qualcomm
2 Qualcomm
8 Siemens
1 Siemens
4
0 0
20 25 30 35 40 45 50 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60
ACIR (dB) ACIR (dB)

Figure 9. UMTS DL Capacity Loss (%) due to Figure 10. UMTS UL Capacity Loss (%) due to
interference from GSM DL (Scenario_2). interference from GSM UL (Scenario_2).
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3.3.2 GSM as a victim

GSM DL System Outage Degradation (%) GSM UL System Outage Degradation (%) due to
interference from UMTS
25
0.8
20
Degradation (%)

0.7
System Outage

Degradation (%)
System Outage
Ericsson 0.6
15
0.5 Ericsson
Nokia
0.4
10 Siemens Siemens
0.3
5 0.2
0.1
0 0
20 25 30 35 40 45 50 10 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
ACIR (dB) ACIR (dB)

Figure 11. UL System Outage Degradation (%) due to Figure 12. DL System Outage Degradation (%) due
interference from UMTS UL (Scenario_2). to interference from UMTS DL (Scenario_2).

3.3.3 Conclusion

Based on the analysis of the simulation results for the co-existence scenario 2 between UMTS (macro)
-GSM (macro) in rural area with a cell range of 5000 m in uncoordinated operation, the following
conclusions can be drawn:

 RF system characteristics assumed for UMTS900 are suitable and sufficient for UMTS900 to be
deployed in rural environment in co-existence with GSM in uncoordinated operation with cell range of
5000 m;

 UMTS and GSM can co-exist at 2.8 MHz carrier separation between UMTS carrier and the nearest
GSM carrier in the deployment scenario 2.

3.4 Scenario_3: UMTS&GSM(macro), rural area,cell range of 5000m, in coordinated

operation

Frequency arrangement is shown in Figure 13. The carrier center frequency separation was 2.8 MHz
and MCL between BTS and UE was 80 dB. Detailed simulation assumptions are collected in [Error:
Reference source not found, Table 11]

Figure 13. Frequency arrangement is sandwich type in these simulations. Blue is WCDMA900 and GSM900
is red.

Used network topology is shown in Figure 14. In this scenario the GSM900 and WCDMA900 sites are
co-located which resembles the case when operator does refarming of the frequencies from GSM to
WCDMA.
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Inter-site
Cell radius R
UMTS distance 3*R
GSM

Cell range 2*R

Figure 14. Network topology for the coordinated scenario. WCDMA and GSM sites are co-located.

3.4.1 WCDMA as a victim

UMTS DL Capacity Loss (%) due to interference UMTS UL Capacity Loss (%) due to interference
from GSM DL from GSM UL

4 80
Capacity Loss (%)

3.5 70
Capacity Loss (%)

3 Ericsson 60
2.5 50 Ericsson
Nokia
2 40 Nokia
1.5 Nortel 30 Siemens
1 Siemens 20
0.5 10
0 0
20 25 30 35 40 45 50 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
ACIR (dB) ACIR (dB)

Figure 15. UMTS DL Capacity Loss (%) due to Figure 16. UMTS UL Capacity Loss (%) due to
interference from GSM DL (Scenario_3). interference from GSM UL (Scenario_3).

3.4.2 Conclusions

The following conclusions can be made from the analysis of the simulation results for the co-existence
scenario 3 between UMTS (macro)-GSM (macro) in rural area with cell range of 5000 m in coordinated
operation

 RF system characteristics assumed for UMTS900 are suitable and sufficient for UMTS900 to be
deployed in rural environment in co-existence with GSM at cell range of 5000 m in coordinated
operation;

 UMTS and GSM in rural environment can be deployed in the same geographical area in coordinated
operation with 2.8 MHz carrier separation between UMTS carrier and the nearest GSM carrier.

 With the deployed network topologies and simulation assumptions the differences between scenario_2
and scenario_3 were negligible.
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3.5 WCDMA900 and GSM900 with 4.2 MHz separation (Scenario 4)

It is possible to deploy WCDMA900 and GSM900 with the carrier separation of 4.2 MHz if the following
conditions are fulfilled [9].

 GSM and UMTS share the same sites

 Two closest GSM carriers are non-BCCH
 GSM uplink power control is used
 GSM power control used after handovers with “msPwrOptLevelInUse (Optimization MS Power Level
In HO In Use)”. Otherwise, GSM UE starts with max power after handover.

The frequency band configuration is shown in Figure 2.

=WCDMA/HSPA
4.2 MHz =Non-BCCH GSM carrier
=Any GSM carrier
WCDMA/HSPA

2.2 MHz
Figure 17. Frequency band configuration for WCDMA900 and GSM900 in scenario 4.

This is valid with Nokia equipment as the narrowband blocking depends on the implementation of the
WCDMA receiver. If the WCDMA sensitivity level is at -122.7 dBm the maximum tolerable GSM power
can be between -58…-76 dBm depending on the RRC (Root Raised Cosine) filter parameters. According
to 3GPP TS 25.104 (Release 7) the reference sensitivity level requirement is -121 dBm and therefore the
performed measurements were more demanding. The RRC filter measurements were performed with all
8 GSM time slots in use and without frequency hopping (FH) and discontinuous transmission (DTX). This
is the worst case scenario because in practice it is more likely to have much less than 8 TSLs in use and
FH and DTX are deployed.
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4. REFARMING GSM900 FREQUENCIES TO WCDMA900

Refarming of GSM900 frequencies to WCDMA900 requires take into account the current traffic figures in
GSM900 as well as cell ranges. The cell range for voice service in rural area for GSM900 is about the
same as for 64/128 kbps service in WCDMA900, see Figure 18. The link budgets for WCDMA and GSM
are shown in Table 12. Please note that the WCDMA UE power was 24 dBm (power class 3 in [Error:
Reference source not found]). The assumed loadings for WCDMA UL/DL were 50% and 68%,
respectively. For the cell range calculations the BTS antenna height was 30 m, UE antenna height of 1.5
m, used propagation model OH, slow fading standard deviation of 8 dB, location probability of 95%,
indoor loss of 15 dB and the correction factor for the suburban area was -5 dB. As usual the link budget
parameters should be agreed with a customer and therefore the figures shown in Table 12 and listed
above can be argued.

Table 12. Link budgets for WCDMA and GSM.

WCDMA2100 WCDMA2100 WCDMA900 WCDMA900 GSM1800 GSM900

Data (64/128) Voice Data (64/128) Voice Voice Voice
Frequency (MHz) 1900 2100 1900 2100 900 900 900 900 1800 1800 900 900
UL DL UL DL UL DL UL DL UL DL UL DL
UE tx power / DL link power [dBm] 24.0 38.0 24.0 32.0 24.0 41.0 24.0 35.0 30.0 45.0 33.0 45.0
Node-B cable loss [dB] 0.0 2.0 0.0 2.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 2.0 0.0 1.0
Combiner loss [dB] 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 4.0 0.0 4.0
Body loss [dB] 0.0 0.0 3.0 3.0 0.0 0.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0
UE antenna gain [dBi] 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Node-B antenna gain [dB] 18.0 18.0 18.0 18.0 16.0 16.0 16.0 16.0 18.0 18.0 16.0 16.0
Noise figure [dB] 2.1 7.0 2.1 7.0 2.8 10.0 2.8 10.0 2.5 9.0 2.5 9.0
User bit rate [kbps] 64.0 128.0 12.2 12.2 64.0 128.0 12.2 12.2 12.2 12.2 12.2 12.2
Eb/N0 [dB] 2.0 5.0 4.4 7.9 2.0 5.0 4.4 7.9 6.0 9.0 6.0 9.0
Rx sensitivity [dBm] -121.8 -110.9 -126.6 -118.2 -121.1 -107.9 -125.9 -115.2 -115.6 -106.1 -115.6 -106.1
Fast fading margin [dB] 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
Soft handover gain [dB] 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
Interference margin [dB] 3.0 5.0 3.0 5.0 3.0 5.0 3.0 5.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Max path loss [dB] 160.8 159.9 162.6 158.2 158.1 158.9 159.9 157.2 158.6 158.1 159.6 157.1

Cell range [km] 1.4 1.2 1.6 1.1 2.3 2.5 2.6 2.2 1.3 1.2 2.6 2.2

W CDMA2100
Data (64/128)
W CDMA2100
Voice
GSM1800
Voice
W CDMA900
Data (64/128)
W CDMA900
Voice
GSM900
Voice

0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5

Cell range [km]

Figure 18. Cell ranges for indoor users in suburban area.

In capacity wise the network can support higher traffic with the same bandwidth after refarming than
before especially if the more advanced features, like HSPA in WCDMA and AMR in GSM, are activated.
In GSM it is a common practice to divide the available spectrum between BCCH and TCH layer. In case
of baseband frequency hopping (BB FH) the TRXs in both layers can be hopping but with RF hopping
only the TCH layer can be hopping. In practice even in BB hopping the BCCH frequencies are not
hopping due to UE capabilities [10]. The effective frequency load (EFL) quantifies how loaded each
frequency available in the system is. It is independent of the frequency reuse and of the TRX
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configuration deployed [Error: Reference source not found]. One example of the EGPRS time slot
capacity as a function of EFL is shown in Figure 19.

Figure 19. TSL capacity in regular and irregular macro cell network with and without frequency hopping
[Error: Reference source not found].

EFL can be defined with

LHW
EFL(%)  (0)
Reff

where LHW is the hardware utilization and Reff is the Effective Reuse defined by

N freqsTOT
Reff  (0)
NTRXave

where NfreqsTOT is the total number of frequencies in the investigated part of the network and NTRXave the
average number of TRXs in a cell [ 11]. By setting the hardware utilization to 100% the needed spectrum
can be calculated.

4.1 Frequency refarming example for scenario 4

The capacity before and after refarming can be estimated by considering 10 MHz band with following
assumptions [Error: Reference source not found]

• WCDMA/HSPA can be deployed with less than 5 MHz

• 4.2 MHz is enough for WCDMA/HSPA when deployed together with GSM assuming. This
implies 2.2 MHz carrier separation between WCDMA and GSM. It is feasible with the
following assumption:
• A) GSM and UMTS share the same sites
• B) closest GSM carrier is non-BCCH
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• GSM with AMR (Adaptive Multi-Rate speech codec) with 5.6 MHz allows for 4+4+4
• BCCH reuse = 12 Þ 12*0.2 = 2.4 MHz spectrum
• Hopping carriers effective frequency load of 20% Þ 3*0.2/20% = 3 MHz spectrum
• Total 5.4 MHz spectrum

• GSM with non-AMR with 5.6 MHz allows for 2+2+2

• BCCH reuse = 15 Þ 15*0.2 = 3 MHz spectrum
• Hopping carriers effective frequency load of 8% Þ 1*0.2/8% = 2.6 MHz spectrum
• Total 5.6 MHz spectrum

Further on for a single sector

• GSM EFR (Enhanced Full Rate) case Þ 4 TSL allocated for EDGE, each slot carrying 30 kbps
with EDGE
• GSM AMR case Þ 1 full TRX allocated for GPRS/EDGE, each slot carrying 30 kbps with EDGE
• 1 GSM EFR TRX carries 7 voice calls and AMR TRX carries 10 voice calls with AMR half-rate
• UMTS carrier is split 50/50 between circuit switched voice and HSPA packet data
• UMTS voice users per cell = 60
• HSPA throughout per cell = 2000 kbps

The assumptions and the calculation results are collected in Table 13. As an example the
GSM/EDGE (AMR) capacity calculations are carried out in the following way

GSM/EDGE (AMR) channels = (GSM TRXs with AMR-EDGE TSL with AMR/7.5)*GSM
voice/TRX with AMR = (4-7.5/7.5)*10 = 30 channels

GSM/EDGE (AMR) Data kbps = EDGE TSL with AMR*EDGE kbps/TSL = 7.5 TSL*30
kbps/TSL = 225 kbps.

For WCDMA the calculations are performed by doing 50/50 split between CS voice and HSPA data
and for voice the capacity is

WCDMA/HSPA voice channels = 0.5*WCDMA Voice = 0.5*60 = 30 Voice channels

For HSPA data the capacity is

WCDMA/HSPA HSPA data = 0.5*WCDMA data kbps = 0.5*2000 kbps = 1000 kbps.

Table 13. Capacity calculations for the refarming example.

Assumptions    
GSM TRXs without AMR 2.0  
GSM TRXs with AMR 4.0  
GSM voice/TRX without
AMR 7.0  
GSM voice/TRX with AMR 10.0  
EDGE TSL without AMR 4.0  
EDGE TSL with AMR 7.5  
EDGE kbps/TSL 30.0  
WCDMA voice 60.0  
HSPA kbps 2000.0  
HSPA share 0.5  
     
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Voice Data
Outputs channels kbps
GSM/EDGE (non-AMR) 10.3 120.0
GSM/EDGE (AMR) 30.0 225.0
WCDMA/HSPA 30.0 1000.0
     
Total (non-AMR) 40.3 1120.0
     
Total (AMR) 60.0 1225.0

Voice channels per sector Data kbps per sector

35 1200
30 1000
25
800
20
600
15
10 400

5 200
0 0
GSM/EDGE (non- GSM/EDGE (AMR) WCDMA/HSPA GSM/EDGE (non- GSM/EDGE (AMR) WCDMA/HSPA
AMR) AMR)

Figure 20. Voice channels per sector for Figure 21. Data capacity per sector for GSM900 +
GSM900 + WCDMA900. WCDMA900.

It can be seen from Figure 20 and Figure 21 that the overall capacity is higher for a combined WCDMA
and GSM network than it would have been for GSM only.

4.2 GSM900 and WCDMA900 in the same band in the same geographical area

At the beginning of the WCDMA900 deployment in the GSM900 band there can be situations when
these two systems are active exactly at the same frequencies, see Figure 22. This is possible if the
WCDMA900 and GSM900 cells are not overlapping or the overlapping area is so small that the interferer
does not introduce too high interference into the victim’s receiver. This type of scenario is quite probable
at the beginning of WCDMA900 deployment in the GSM900 band.
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Area A GSM WCDMA GSM

Area B GSM GSM GSM

Area A Area B

Figure 22. WCDMA900 and GSM900 exactly at the same frequencies in the same geographical area.

Interference coming from GSM900 UEs increases the uplink interference floor and the GSM900
transmission increases the downlink interference floor which then reduces both the coverage and
capacity. If the power level of the interferer is at the same level as the noise floor it reduces the
sensitivity by 3 dBs, see Figure 23.

7 170

165
6
160
5
Noise Rise (dB)

155
Path Loss (dB)

4 150

3 145

140
2
135
1
130

0 125
-15 -10 -5 0 5 10 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Relative Strength of Interferer (dB) Cell Range (km)
Figure 23. Effect of the interferer’s power level on Figure 24. Okumura-Hata propagation model’s path
the noise rise. loss curve.

Detailed interference analysis is carried out for different interference scenarios in [ 12]. The main outcome
of this analysis is that the minimum link loss between the victim and the interferer should be at least 150
dB. By taking into account the typical antenna gains between 14 and 17 dB the order of the required
maximum path loss is about 164 – 167 dB if the acceptable noise rise is about 1 dB which equals to 5 -
6 dB power difference between the interferer and the victim. This would mean that one or the other site
should be moved further away or preferably the maximum power should be decreased about 6 dB. If we
assume path loss difference of 5 dB in a typical macro cell environment and Okumura-Hata propagation
modeling this would mean about 13 km in cell range at these path loss figures, see Figure 24. These
actions would have very bad user perception and in practice these actions can not be taken. The better
solution would be to use some kind of pool of transition frequencies for GSM900, see Figure 25. This
may introduce some quality and capacity degradation but it can be accepted as a temporary bad side
effect during the transition period.
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Area A GSM WCDMA GSM

GSM GSM GSM At the border of A and B

Border frequencies chosen These frequencies are not

from these blocks used at the border areas

Figure 25. Frequency usage at the border area.

4.3 Practical cases

In practice the allocated frequencies for each operator may produce a mixture of the coordinated and
uncoordinated cases. The frequency allocations in Finland around EGSM band are shown in Table 14.

Table 14. Frequency allocations in Finland around UL EGSM band.

  Military GSM-R UL EGSM Military

f (MHz) 870-880 876.2-880 880-915 915-925

In mainland Finland there are 3 operators which have got allocated frequencies in the EGSM band (UL =
880 – 915 MHz, DL = 925 – 960 MHz), Table 15 and Figure 17. It can be seen from Figure 17 that
TeliaSonera can have a coordinated case for the sandwich scenario 3 but Finnet has much less
spectrum which may cause frequency refarming to be a pretty challenging task if switching from
GSM900 to WCDMA900. By taking into account GSM1800 band the task can be much easier as Finnet
has frequency allocation of 14.6 MHz in GSM1800 band and therefore all the GSM bands should be
taken into consideration when planning frequency refarming from GSM900 to WCDMA900.

Table 15. Frequency allocations in Finland in the EGSM900 band (only UL shown).

  Finnet; f(MHz) Elisa; f(MHz) TeliaSonera; f(MHz)

EGSM900 880.2 - 885.4 888.2 - 888.4 888.8 – 889.8
GSM900 902.0 - 905.0 904.0 - 913.8 890.2 - 901.6
EGSM Band; f(MHz) 5.2 0.2 1
GSM Band; f(MHz) 3 9.8 11.4
Total f(MHz) 8.2 10 12.4
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1.5

GSM900 UL; 890 – 915

MHz
EGSM900 UL; 880 – 915 MHz
1

Finne
TeliaSonera Elisa
t

0.5

0
880 885 890 895 900 905 910 915
Frequency (MHz)

Figure 26. EGSM900 frequency allocations in Finland.

With the frequency allocations shown in Table 15 and Figure 26 the possible deployable scenarios
described in chapters 3.2, 3.3, 3.4 and 3.5 and are collected in Table 16.

Table 16. Scenarios that can be used in EGSM900 band in Finland.

Scenario 1 Scenario 2 Scenario 3 Scenario 4

Sonera x x x x

Finnet x x

Elisa x x x x

Sonera and Elisa can deploy all 4 scenarios and the best solutions from the interference controlling point
of view are Scenario 3 and 4. By using these scenarios the operator has a full control over the
interference coming from the adjacent GSM bands. In case of Elisa the capacity of the network before
and after refarming follows the example shown in chapter 4.1. Possible configurations for WCDMA and
GSM EFR and AMR cases are listed in and Table 18 based on the method presented in chapter 4.1.

Table 17. Frequency band requirements for a co-existed GSM EFR and WCDMA.
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WCDMA
GSM # of WCDMA WCDMA Nokia +
GSM BCCH Bandwidth BCCH band Hopping TCH Band Total GSM WCDMA + GSM Nokia GSM
Configuration Reuse (MHz) (MHz) Freqs EFL (%) (MHz) Band (MHz) (MHz) (MHz) (MHz) (MHz)
2+2+2 12 0.2 2.4 1 8% 2.5 4.9 5 9.9 4.2 9.1
2+2+2 15 0.2 3 1 8% 2.5 5.5 5 10.5 4.2 9.7
2+2+2 18 0.2 3.6 1 8% 2.5 6.1 5 11.1 4.2 10.3
3+3+3 12 0.2 2.4 2 8% 5 7.4 5 12.4 4.2 11.6
3+3+3 15 0.2 3 2 8% 5 8 5 13 4.2 12.2
3+3+3 18 0.2 3.6 2 8% 5 8.6 5 13.6 4.2 12.8
4+4+4 12 0.2 2.4 3 8% 7.5 9.9 5 14.9 4.2 14.1
4+4+4 15 0.2 3 3 8% 7.5 10.5 5 15.5 4.2 14.7
4+4+4 18 0.2 3.6 3 8% 7.5 11.1 5 16.1 4.2 15.3

Table 18. Frequency band requirements for a co-existed GSM AMR and WCDMA.

WCDMA
GSM # of WCDMA WCDMA Nokia +
GSM BCCH Bandwidth BCCH band Hopping TCH Band Total GSM WCDMA + GSM Nokia GSM
Configuration Reuse (MHz) (MHz) Freqs EFL (%) (MHz) Band (MHz) (MHz) (MHz) (MHz) (MHz)
2+2+2 12 0.2 2.4 1 20% 1 3.4 5 8.4 4.2 7.6
2+2+2 15 0.2 3 1 20% 1 4 5 9 4.2 8.2
2+2+2 18 0.2 3.6 1 20% 1 4.6 5 9.6 4.2 8.8
3+3+3 12 0.2 2.4 2 20% 2 4.4 5 9.4 4.2 8.6
3+3+3 15 0.2 3 2 20% 2 5 5 10 4.2 9.2
3+3+3 18 0.2 3.6 2 20% 2 5.6 5 10.6 4.2 9.8
4+4+4 12 0.2 2.4 3 20% 3 5.4 5 10.4 4.2 9.6
4+4+4 15 0.2 3 3 20% 3 6 5 11 4.2 10.2
4+4+4 18 0.2 3.6 3 20% 3 6.6 5 11.6 4.2 10.8

The actual usable frequency separation between GSM900 and WCDMA900 systems depends at least
on the used hardware, minimum coupling loss between BTS and UE, GSM power control parameters,
BCCH/TCH usage at the band edges, GSM time slot usage, DTX and if frequency hopping is used or
not.

If one WCDMA frequency is in use the combined GSM and WCDMA capacity depends mainly on the
available spectrum for GSM after refarming of the frequencies from GSM to WCDMA. In rural areas and
if the 3G capable UE penetration is high then the low capacity in GSM is not a problem.

4.4 Deployment strategies

Due to favorable propagation there will be needed fewer sites to cover the same geographical area with
WCDMA900 than with WCDMA2100. This makes WCDMA900 a good candidate to cover rural areas
and provide better indoor coverage for HSPA services in more densely populated areas. With a 40 W
LPA the CPICH power can be increased from 33 to 36 dBm still conforming the default 10% power for
CPICH rule. By increasing the CPICH power over the default value the coverage can be further
extended but with a reduced capacity. In rural areas the capacity requirements are lower and therefore
refarming of the GSM900 frequencies to WCDMA900 should not be a problem. In urban areas the
capacity requirements are higher and refarming of the frequencies should be carried out more carefully
especially if an operator has frequencies only in EGSM900 band but not in WCDMA2100 band.

WCDMA900 and GSM900 can be co-sited without any changes to the existing RF system requirements
as shown in chapter 3 simulation studies [Error: Reference source not found]. Co-located setup is
actually even preferable configuration as the potential near-far effects can be avoided.

Different HO scenarios between UMTS900 and UMTS2100 are presented in Figure 27. Same kind of
scenarios can also be presented between WCDMA900 and GSM900. At the beginning of WCDMA900
deployment the coverage HOs may be the first ones to be used both with WCDMA2100 and GSM900.
 25/37 Guideline WCDMA900 Planning Guideline
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UMTS2100 only area with UMTS2100 + UMTS2100 +

multiple operators (urban) UMTS900 area UMTS900 area
5
UMTS2100
UMTS2100f2
f2 UMTS2100
UMTS2100f2
f2 UMTS2100
UMTS2100f2
f2 4
UMTS2100
UMTS2100f1
f1 UMTS2100
UMTS2100f1
f1 UMTS2100
UMTS2100f1
f1 2
1 6
UMTS900
UMTS900f3
f3 UMTS900
UMTS900f3
f3
3

=Another operator UMTS

=UMTS in 900 MHz and 2.1 GHz

Figure 27. Handover strategies for a multilayer network.

Handovers between different layers are shown in Figure 27 and listed below.

1. Load and service balancing handover between UMTS2100 and UMTS900

2. Coverage handover from UMTS2100 to UMTS900
3. Coverage handover from UMTS900 to UMTS2100
4. Inter-operator coverage handover from UMTS2100 to UMTS900
5. IMSI based handover back to operator’s own UMTS2100 network
6. Directed RRC connection setup between layers

4.4.1 Coverage HO between WCDMA2100 and WCDMA900

Coverage handover between WCDMA2100 and WCDMA900 is likely to be the most probable HO
scenario if WCDMA900 is mainly used as a coverage extension in rural areas. The coverage and quality
HO triggering reasons can be the following

• FMCI: IFHOcauseCPICHrscp = UE received pilot power

• FMCI: IFHOcauseTxPwrUL = Mobile transmission power
• FMCI: IFHOcauseTxPwrDL = Downlink connection based transmission power
• FMCI: IFHOcauseCPICHEcNo = UE received pilot quality
• FMCI: IFHOcauseUplinkQuality = Uplink block error rate

Switching from WCDMA2100 to WCDMA900 means in practice that the cell edge can be pushed further
away from the site, see Figure 28.

HO
Area
GSM900 WCDMA2100

r
HO
Area
GSM900 WCDMA900

Figure 28. GSM900 and WCDMA2100/900 cell borders.

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This implies that the HO parameters related to coverage between WCDMA900 and GSM900 remains
the same as at the border of WCDMA2100 and GSM900. Parameters and their default values which are
associated with IFHO and ISHO can be found from [13], [14] and [15].
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5. PARAMETERS RELATED TO WCDMA900

There are no new parameters for WCDMA900 [ 16]. Due to different band the new UTRA Absolute Radio
Frequency Channel Numbers (UARFCN) are taken into use. The channel raster is 200 kHz.

The UARFCNs for WCDMA 900 are the following:

 Uplink: 880 MHz – 915 MHz, UARFCN 2712 – 2863.

 Downlink: 925 MHz – 960 MHz, UARFCN 2937 – 3088.

 Duplex distance is 45 MHz.

The new channel numbers has effect on AdjiUARFCN but other parameters are untouched.

The power parameters remain the same as in WCDMA2100. The common channel parameters are still
related to CPICH power and with a higher LPA power the CPICH power can be increased as in
WCDMA2100 which is more likely to happen if the coverage is the main concern. There are no changes
on the handover parameters as they are not based on the absolute values but rather on the relative
values.

In case that RSCP value is used for triggering some event eg. in handovers or cell reselection it should
be noted that at the cell edge the value is different for WCDMA900 than for WCDMA2100. According to
the link budget the difference is about 6 dB being higher for WCDMA900.

6. NETACT PLANNER SUPPORT OF WCDMA900

NetAct Planner supports different frequency variants and the propagation model parameters can be
changed for each case in order to calculate the coverage areas. The same requirements for model
tuning are valid as for WCDMA2100 or GSM and digital map resolution should be based on the clutter
type; for urban areas higher than for rural. Monte Carlo simulations can be run in the same way as for
WCDMA2100. NetAct planner does not support interference analysis of a mixed GSM900 and
WCDMA900 network in the same band. This feature would be useful to tackle the case described in
chapter 4.2.

NetAct Planner tool is giving good initial estimate of the interference situation with new GSM plan and it
is possible to make refarming with it. More information related to NAP usage within 900 refarming can be
found from document GSM & UMTS900 radio planning with NAP 5.2 v1.0.doc [17].
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7. HW AND SW ISSUES

WCDMA900 is available for Nokia Flexi BTS only, (Nokia Ultrasite platform does not support this feature)
and both HW and SW upgrades are needed. For Flexi BTS the RF module should be chosen based on
the frequency but the system module can be the same for both WCDMA2100 and WCDMA900. There is
no need to change the cables but it should be ensured that the filters and antennas can operate in
WCDMA900. Following SW levels should be installed into network in order to support WCDMA900

 RNC RN 2.2 CD

 BTS_Flexi WBTS3.3

 NetAct OSS4.1 CD set.

7.1 Sameband combiner

Antenna and feeder sharing is a standard procedure in case of separate bands. Sharing is normally
implemented by using diplexers, see Figure 29 and Figure 30. If the antenna sharing is going to take
place in the same band diplexer is not anymore feasible solution due to high losses introduced by it as
steeper filters would be needed. Sameband combiner is a combiner which has electrically tunable filters.
The principle of the filter is shown in Figure 31. With sameband combiner the DL loss for GSM is
estimated to be 0.5dB and for WCDMA 0.5dB. In UL the loss is estimated to be 4dB both for GSM and
WCDMA. The UL losses can be compensated by Nokia Dual Mast Head Amplifier for 900 MHz (MDGA).
The sameband combiner will be available for RAS06.

Loss UL/DL 0.3 Loss UL/DL 0.6

dB dB
Separate
antennas for
GSM and
WCDMA
Shared
antenna
Diplex
er

Shared Shared
antenna lines antenna lines

Diplexe
Diplexer
r

GSM Flexi WCDMA GSM Flexi WCDMA

BTS BTS BTS BTS

Figure 29. Both antennas and feeders shared. Figure 30. Shared antenna lines and separate
antennas.
 29/37 Guideline WCDMA900 Planning Guideline
19.12.2007

A C B C’ A C B A’ B’
Main uplink Downlink Diversity uplink Downlink

TXC/RXC RXAB RXC TXAB/RXAB

RX path RX path
extraction extraction

TXAB/RXAB

Band
selective
combining

TXA

RXAB

TXC/RXC RXC TXA/RXAB TXB/RXAB

C C’ WCDMA GSM A B A’ B’
Main uplink Downlink Main uplink Downlink

C A B
Diversity uplink Diversity uplink

Figure 31. Principle of the sameband combiner.

Sameband combiner can be installed into the new Ultrasite GSM cabinet shown in Figure 32. In case of
Ultrasite GSM before year 2005 the sameband combiner should be installed on the wall or into the 19”
cabinet.

Sameban
d
combiner

Sameban
d
combiner

Figure 32. Sameband combiner installed into the Figure 33. Sameband combiner installed on the wall
Ultrasite GSM cabinet from 2006 onwards. Ultrasite GSM cabinet until year 2005.
 30/37 Guideline WCDMA900 Planning Guideline
19.12.2007

7.2 Deployment of UMTS900 in areas with existing GSM900 coverage

There are three different deployment solutions for introducing UMTS900 in areas with existing GSM900
coverage; configuration A using the Flexi Multiradio combiner and configuration B and C without the
Flexi Multiradio combiner.

Configuration A the main benefit of this configuration is the reduced cost due to a single multi-band
antenna being used thus also reducing the visual impact of the site. However, in order to share the same
port of the antenna the GSM900 and UMTS900 feeders are diplexed. The antennas and feeders can be
shared between GSM and WCDMA with Nokia Flexi Multiradio Combiner. The estimated combining loss
in GSM downlink is 0.5dB and in WCDMA 0.5dB. In case the maximum DL power is not fully utilized in
the GSM BTS the combining loss can be compensated by increasing the GSM BTS DL power. In UL
direction Nokia Dual Mast Head Amplifier can be used to compensate for uplink losses and to ensure
that UMTS900 and GSM900 coverage are similar.

Configuration B requires the existing antenna to be replaced with a 4 port 900+900 MHz antenna. This
type of antenna is not available today. However an American company called Quintel makes similar
antenna products that provide independent electrical tilts for both systems sharing the same antenna
even though both systems use the same band. The benefits of this configuration are that a single
antenna would be required. This allows separate electrical tilts to be set for UMTS900 and GSM900. In
addition, since UMTS900 is using Flexi BTS platform it is possible to minimize the cable losses by
locating the Flexi RF modules close to the antennas. In this case no MHA are required. However, if MHA
is required to compensate for the cable losses, its use is easier with FlexiBTS since BiasT is not needed
because the integrated MHA power feeding and control exist in the RF module.

Configuration C has the highest cost. The main benefit of this configuration is that UMTS can be
planned and optimised independently of GSM therefore maximising the quality of both systems. The
exiting GSM system is not impacted. Also an MHA can be used separately for UMTS900 in order to
match GSM900 coverage if required.
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7.2.1 Link budgets comparison for the three different configurations

The link budgets for WCDMA and GSM for the three different configurations are shown in table below.
Please note that the WCDMA UE power was 24 dBm (power class 3 in [Error: Reference source not
found]). The assumed loadings for WCDMA UL/DL were 50% and 68%, respectively. For the cell range
calculations the BTS antenna height was 30 m, UE antenna height of 1.5 m, used propagation model
OH, slow fading standard deviation of 8 dB, location probability of 95%, indoor loss of 15 dB and the
correction factor for the suburban area was -5 dB. As usual the link budget parameters should be agreed
with a customer and therefore the figures shown in table below and listed above can be argued.

Configuration B Configuration A Configuration A Configuration B Configuration A Configuration A

Configuration C (without MHA) (with MHA) Configuration C (without MHA) (with MHA)
WCDMA900 WCDMA900 WCDMA900
GSM900 GSM900 GSM900 Voice Voice Voice
Frequency 900 900 900 900 900 900 900 900 900 900 900 900
UL DL UL DL UL DL UL DL UL DL UL DL
UE tx power / DL link power [dBm] 33.0 45.0 33.0 45.0 33.0 45.0 24.0 35.0 24.0 35.0 24.0 35.0
MHA 4.0 4.0
Node-B cable loss [dB] 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 0.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 0.0 1.0
Multiradio combiner loss [dB] 0.0 0.0 4.0 0.5 4.0 0.5 0.0 0.0 4.0 0.5 4.0 0.5
GSM Combiner loss [dB] 0.0 3.5 0.0 3.5 0.0 3.5
Body loss [dB] 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0
UE antenna gain [dBi] 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Node-B antenna gain [dB] 16.0 16.0 16.0 16.0 16.0 16.0 16.0 16.0 16.0 16.0 16.0 16.0
Noise figure [dB] 2.5 9.0 2.5 9.0 2.5 9.0 2.8 10.0 2.8 10.0 2.8 10.0
User bit rate [kbps] 12.2 12.2 12.2 12.2 12.2 12.2 12.2 12.2 12.2 12.2 12.2 12.2
Eb/N0 [dB] 6.0 9.0 6.0 9.0 6.0 9.0 4.4 7.9 4.4 7.9 4.4 7.9
Rx sensitivity [dBm] -115.6 -106.1 -115.6 -106.1 -115.6 -106.1 -125.9 -115.2 -125.9 -115.2 -125.9 -115.2
Fast fading margin [dB] 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
Soft handover gain [dB] 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
Interference margin [dB] 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.0 5.0 3.0 5.0 3.0 5.0
Max path loss [dB] 158.6 157.6 154.6 157.1 159.6 157.1 158.9 157.2 154.9 156.7 159.9 156.7

Cell range [km] 2.2500 1.8493 2.1776 2.1963 1.8897 2.1257

8. TRANSMISSION

In case co-located GSM900 and WCDMA900 the site throughput can be expected to increase due to
higher data traffic and therefore the available transmission capacity should be checked and upgraded
accordingly.
Otherwise the collocation scenarios for transmission used in WCDMA 2100 can be reused.
By considering the case when WCDMA900 has both HSDPA and DCH channels fully used there will be
needed for WCDMA900 only at least 2*E1 connections + the capacity for GSM900.
 32/37 Guideline WCDMA900 Planning Guideline
19.12.2007

9. WCDMA900 PRACTICAL EXPERIENCES FROM 900 REFARMING

Introduction

During the end of 2007 Finnish operator, Elisa, tested WCDMA900. This test included a rearrangement
of existing GSM frequencies in order to enable usage of WCDMA900. 4.2 MHz bandwidth was allocated
to WCDMA. This was not challenging in low traffic location such where this trial was conducted also
Elisa has 9.8 MHz GSM900 band available (49 Channels). 21 Channels was reserved for WCDMA, next
figure shows frequency refarming.

Figure 34 Frequency refarming

900 refarming consists multiple tasks which involve both GSM and WCDMA evaluation. Poor frequency
planning in GSM might cause degradation on both technologies and poorly evaluated allocation might
cause major challenges to network operation. 900 refarming needs high consideration especially in
cases where we have dense cities involved, or high traffic GSM layers, or small frequency allocation etc.
The 900 refarming can be highly complex in some cases. More detailed information about 900 refarming
can be found from GSM_900_Refarming.doc [18], which considers 900 refarming mainly from the point of
GSM.

Planning tools

NetAct Planner tool is giving good initial estimate of the interference situation with new GSM plan and it
is possible to make refarming with it. More information related to NAP usage within 900 refarming can be
found from document GSM & UMTS900 radio planning with NAP 5.2 v1.0.doc [19].

NetAct Optimizer can be used for better frequency planning, because it is based on real UE
measurements. In BSC S11 release there is new FEP method for this, where UE reports measurement
results based on certain BA list and that BA list is changing so that all frequencies can be scanned and
reported so that it is possible to make interference matrix both form co- channel and adjacent channel
interference (see more in optimizer product documentation).

Trial experiences

UMTS900 seems performing well with narrow 4.2 MHz bandwidth when the sites are co-located with
GSM (coordinaded case). It is possible to maintain GSM quality even if this has been taken from the
total BW of 10 MHz. According to the link budget calculations the GSM900 voice and UMTS900 voice
coverate is about the same so GSM900 sites could be reused to have the same coverage with
UMTS900.

WCDMA900 support is only in Flexi BTS, also in TN 48 it says that it is not possible to configure single
antenna without diversity with Flexi. Either separate splitter is needed to combine one Rx connection to
 33/37 Guideline WCDMA900 Planning Guideline
19.12.2007

RXmain and RXdiv branch. The solution for single antenna configuration is coming with RU10 SW
release. See more in TN48 [20].

Sameband combiner works also fine with MHA. However the limitation of the existing FMC is that it
possible to combine only forst GSM layer (1+1+1) TRX and WCMDA 1+1+1. If there are more GSM
carriers the extra combining system is needed.

Inbuilding coverage seems to be better with UMTS900 because lower frequencies penetrate through
walls easier but the higher frequencies go easier through openings and holes.

HSDPA performance seems much better in cell edge with this lower frequency, even douple throughputs
has been measured. The mobility works also fine to GSM and between UMTS900 and UMTS2100.

Regarding the parameter optimization there will be need to tune some parameters:

 UMS900 will be more interference limited due to GSM, different EcNo levels
 UMTS900 data goes much further than GSM voice, more service with lower ISHO triggers
 And the end of coverage area reselection from back from GSM could be more easier
 UMTS900 UE sensitivity seems 3 dB worse than UMTS2100 UE sensitivity

Some examples: It was noticed that EcNo was triggering the ISHO more often than with UMTS2100, so
it was suggested to change the EcNo from -12 dB to -14 dB to increase the UMTS900 service area.
Also it was difficult to come back to 3G once the data call was ongoing in GSM. So minimum EcNo level
to 3G was recommended from -8 dB to -10 dB.

There is also some DL interference, red area of ecNo<10 dB with RSCP > -95 dBm. This was not
affecting to the 3G perfomance. GSM frequencies were used about 15+/-2 km distance from the
UMTS900 area so it could ne possible that the interference is coming from GSM BTS DL Tx. See next
picture.
 34/37 Guideline WCDMA900 Planning Guideline
19.12.2007

Figure 35 Drive test result, red area of ecNo<10 dB with RSCP > -95 dBm

KPIs to be monitored are quite common ones:

 GSM and WCDMA drops calls

 UL interferences, PRxNoise rise in WCDMA
 DL quality in GSM

Below is one example of the PrxNoise rise up to 10 dB due to GSM. However this did not have impact to
the performance.
 35/37 Guideline WCDMA900 Planning Guideline
19.12.2007

12.00 -100.00

-101.00

10.00
-102.00

-103.00
8.00

-104.00

PrxNoise_rise
6.00 -105.00
RNC_135b/Maximum Prx Noise

-106.00

4.00
-107.00

-108.00
2.00

-109.00

0.00 -110.00

Figure 36 PrxNoise

Below is one example of the GSM drop rate before and after the launch. From this figure it can be
observed that no impact due to the reallocation. In matter of fact the newly made frequency reallocation
improved the GSM quality.

450000 0.60%

400000

0.50%
350000

300000
0.40%

250000
Launch Day
TCH_ATTEMPTS
200000 0.30%
Radio drop %
Linear (Radio drop %)
150000

0.20%
100000

50000
0.10%

-50000 0.00%
 36/37 Guideline WCDMA900 Planning Guideline
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REFERENCES
1
2 3GPP TR 25.816: “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; UMTS 900 MHz Work Item Technical Report,
(Release 7)”

3 3GPP TS 25.104: “Base Station (BS) radio transmission and reception (FDD), (Release 7)”

4 3G Radio Network Planning Guidelines, Chris Johnson

http://qp2.connecting.nokia.com/QuickPlace/npcommunityqp/PageLibraryC2256FB8004C9ABD.nsf/h_Index/892CF
77489AA01A2C2256FEE00467569/?OpenDocument

5 Propagation into and within buildings at 900, 1800 and 2300 MHz, de Toledo, A.F.; Turkmani, A.M.D.;
Vehicular Technology Conference, 1992 IEEE 42nd 10-13 May 1992 Page(s):633 - 636 vol.2
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/VETEC.1992.245316
6 Empirical formula for propagation loss in land mobile radio services, Hata, M.;
Vehicular Technology, IEEE Transactions on Volume 29,  Issue 3,  Aug 1980 Page(s):317 - 325
7 COST 231, "Urban transmission loss models for mobile radio in the 900- and 1,800 MHz bands (Revision 2)," COST 231
TD(90)119 Rev. 2, The Hague,The Netherlands, September 1991

8 FICORA 4 H/2006 M, RADIO FREQUENCY REGULATION, Issued in Helsinki on 31 July 2006

9 UMTS900_060706.ppt; Harri Holma

10 GSM, GPRS and EDGE Performance: Evolution towards 3G/UMTS, Second Edition Edited by Timo Halonen, Javier
Romero and Juan Melero, Copyright 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. ISBN: 0-470-86694-2

11 Comparison of networks with different frequency reuses, DTX, and power control using the effective frequency load
approach, Wigard, J.; Mogensen, P.; Michaelsen, P.H.; Melero, J.; Halonen, T.; Vehicular Technology Conference
Proceedings, 2000. VTC 2000-Spring Tokyo. 2000 IEEE 51st, Volume 2,  15-18 May 2000 Page(s):835 - 839 vol.2
Digital
3GPP TSObject Identifier
25.101: “User 10.1109/VETECS.2000.851242
Equipment (UE) radio transmission and reception (FDD) (Release 7)”
12 UMTS900 Co-channel interference.ppt; Chris Johnson

13 Inter Frequency Planning Guideline, Mika Kleemola

http://qp2.connecting.nokia.com/QuickPlace/npcommunityqp/PageLibraryC2256FB8004C9ABD.nsf/h_A2E80324FC41BA
27C2256FB8007889F0/3C9725AA44940347C225701500486F12/?OpenDocument

14 ISHO Radio Network Planning Guide,; Mikko Toivonen, Johanna Kähkönen and Mika Kleemola
http://qp2.connecting.nokia.com/QuickPlace/npcommunityqp/PageLibraryC2256FB8004C9ABD.nsf/h_A2E80324FC41BA
27C2256FB8007889F0/22A980306F94B4BFC2256FF7002CE725/?OpenDocument

15 RANPAR Training Material

http://qp2.connecting.nokia.com/QuickPlace/npcommunityqp/PageLibraryC2256FB600456130.nsf/h_BF7D43D7A96E4A5
DC2256FB600497B1F/6EB05E30E0E84DA8C22571A4003AD92A/?OpenDocument&ResortAscending=7

16 473093601.doc; Risto Aalto

17 GSM & UMTS900 radio planning with NAP 5.2 v1.0.doc

18 GSM_900_Refarming.doc

19 GSM & UMTS900 radio planning with NAP 5.2 v1.0.doc

20 Commissioning of RXDiv antenna port with Flexi WCDMA BTS, Technical note 48.v2