Radio Planning and

Dimensioning

Design Constraint

Design Constraint (1)

GSM Specific Parameters :

The GSM-specific parameters have been taken
from the European Telecommunications
Standards Institute (ETSI) recommendation
dealing with radio transmission and reception:
Frequency bands
Mobile Station (MS) transmit power
Base Transceiver Station (BTS) transmit power
Receiver sensitivities of the MS and BTS
Carrier-to-Interference ratios (C/I)
Equalizer performance.

Design Constraint(2)
Manufacturer specific parameters
The main manufacturer specific parameters are:
BTS transmit power
Receiver sensitivity
Combiner performance
Cable losses
Antenna performance
Availability of frequency hopping and power control functions
Handover algorithms
Capacity: number of transceivers (TRXs) provided per BTS.

Design Constraints (3)

Radio communication Some of the fundamentals are:

Propagation loss
Shadowing
Multipath fading
Time dispersion
Power link budgets
Interference effects
The (un)predictability of radio wave propagation .

Budgetary factors The following budgetary factors are

important:
Governed by business plan
Limited by shareholders investment resources
Need to identify those areas for coverage which will maximize return
on investment

Radio Planning Methodology

The radio planning methodology consists of:

Define design rules and parameters
Set performance targets
Design nominal plan
Implement cell plan
Produce frequency plan
Optimize the network
Expand the network.

Radio
Network
Planning
Process

Module objectives

At the end of this module you will be able to

DESCRIBE THE RADIO NETWORK PLANNING

PROCESS

DESCRIBE THE MAJOR TASKS IN THE PLANNING

PROCESS

DESCRIBE THE PLANNING TOOLS FOR DIFFERENT

PHASES

DESCRIBE THE INPUT AND OUTPUT DOCUMENTS

(DATA)

DESCRIBE THE PLANNING ENVIRONMENT

Content of Planning Process

INTRODUCTION AND PRE-PLANNING

DETAILED PLANNING

POST-PLANNING

DOCUMENTATION

MEASUREMENTS

Network Planning

Customer requirements
coverage requirements
quality of service
recommended sites
subscriber forecasts

External information sources

topo- & morphological data
population data
bandwidth available
frequency co-ordination
constraints
Network planning team

data acquisition
site survey and selection
field measurement evaluation
NW design and analysis
transmission planning

Network design
number and configuration of BS
antenna systems specifications
BSS topology
dimensioning of transmission lines
frequency plan
network evolution strategy

Interactions with
external subcontractors
site hunting teams
measurement teams
Operator
switch planning engineers

Network performance
grade of service (blocking)
outage calculations
interference probabilities
quality observation

Network Planning Process

PREPLANNING
Network
Coverage
Configuration Planning and
and
Site Selection
Dimensioning
Requirements
and strategy
for coverage,
quality and
capacity
,

per
service

POSTPLANNING

DETAILED PLANNING

Propagation
measurements
Coverage
prediction
Site
acquisition
Coverage
optimization

Capacity
Requirements
Traffic distribution

Service distribution

Parameter
Planning

Network
Optimization

Area / Cell
specific

Survey
measurements

Allowed blocking/queuing
System features
Handover
strategies

External Interference
Analysis
Identification
Adaptation

Maximum
network
loading
Other RRM

Statistical
performance
analysis
Quality
Efficiency
Availability

Network Planning Process

external inputs:
(traffic, subs. forecast,
coverage requirements...)

nominal cell plan

Initial NW dimensioning
TRX, cells, sites
bandwidth needed
NW topology

suggestions for
site locations
cell parameters
coverage achieved

coverage prediction
signal strength
multipath propagation
go to
frequency
planning

create cell
data for
BSC

field measurements
planning
criteria fulfilled?
N

Site
N
pre-validation
field measurements
real cell plan

site inspection

site accepted ?

Network Planning Process : Site Building

issue search
area &
requirements

on air!

find suitable
site
candidates
calculate coverage
range of each
candidate

installing & testing

propagation
measurements
needed ?
transmissio
n links
available?

construction work

sign
contract
with site
owner

get building permit

Network Planning Process Site Acquisition

radio
planner

measurement
teams

fixed network
planner

site acquisition
agent

network
operator

architect

site owner

Pre-planning: Dimensioning Key Quantities

Key quantities for radio network dimensioning (EXCEL tool)

# of BS needed for coverage reasons

# of BS needed for capacity reasons
Outage probabilities/percentages
Frequency re-use rate (vs. interference)
Bandwidth used

Design goals are inter-dependant

Network can only be optimised with respect to one single aspect

Design goals to be applied must be

clearly agreed with customer!

Pre-planning: Dimensioning Target

Antenna height?

AMOUNT OF TRAFFIC
- AND REUSE
FREQUENCY BAND

NUMBER OF BASE STATIONS (CAPACITY)

PROPAGATION PREDICTIONS
ANTENNA HEIGHT (CAP. & COV.)
MAXIMUM ANTENNA HEIGHT
ANTENNA HEIGHT FOR PLANNING AREA
PROPAGATION PREDICTION
NUMBER OF BASE STATIONS FOR
PLANNING AREA (CAPACITY OR COVERAGE LIMITED)

Pre-planning: Dimensioning Limiting factors

# of BS

capacity

coverage

T0

Before T0, the network is coverage limited

After T0, the network is capacity limited

time

The other constraint is automatically fulfilled

At the very beginning, just the

coverage planning is needed

Pre-planning: Dimensioning: Network Expansion

When the network is coverage limited, the expansion consists of:
Adding new sites in not already covered areas

When the network is capacity limited, the expansion consists of:

Adding TRXs;
Adding new sites in already covered areas;
Adding software capacity...

Dimensioning Input Data Preliminary Questions

Main purpose of the network?
1st operator in country plain coverage?
2nd operator competitive pricing?
3rd operator replacing wire line phones?

Roamer volumes expected?

Where?

Neighbouring countries
Existing international regulations?

Use of microwave links for transmission?

Each network philosophy

calls for a different planning
approach

Dimensioning Input Data Morpho data

Maps

Main cities

Important roads

Location of mountain ranges

Inhabited area

Shore lines

Local knowledge

City skylines

Typical architecture

Structure of city

Local habits

Dimensioning Input Data Demographic Data

Statistical yearbook

Largest towns, cities

Population distribution

Where are expected customers?

Local knowledge

Population migration routes

Commuting traffic volumes

Subscriber concentration points

250 000 pop.

2 mill.
pop.

400 000 pop.

400 000 pop.

300 000 pop.

Dimensioning Input Data Coverage Requirements

Roll-out phases & time
schedules
Coverage level requirements
Indoor coverage areas

phase 1
NW launch

MS classes to plan for

Operators cell deployment
strategies

Omni-cells in rural areas?

3-sector cells in urban areas?
Minimum of 2 TRX per cell?

rollout
phase 3

rollout
phase 2

Planning Process

INTRODUCTION AND PRE-PLANNING

DETAILED PLANNING

POST-PLANNING

DOCUMENTATION

MEASUREMENTS

Detailed Planning

Configuration planning
PBGT calculations (EXCEL tool)
BTS and antenna line equipment

Coverage planning / Site selection

Coverage thresholds (NetAct Planner)
Coverage predictions (NetAct Planner)
Prediction model tuning (NetAct Planner))
Propagation slope measurements (TOM/Nemo)
Antenna directions (NetAct Planner)

load_vec

ind2

load ind2 start

N N_start

dt

The cell load

Capacity planning
CS, PS traffic (NetAct Planner)
Signaling needs (NetAct Planner)

12

12.2

12.4
12.6
Time / hours

Frequency planning

Number of reserved timeslots

Reuse factor and C/I requirements (NetAct Planner)

Parameter planning (BSSPAR course)

BSC, BTS, TRX, TSL parameters (NMS/NetAct)

12.8

13

Configuration Planning

Configuration planning
PBGT calculations
DL: TX power, combiner, booster, duplexer,
diplexer, cable, power amplifier, antenna
UL: antenna, diversity, LNA, cable, diplexer,
duplexer, RX sensitivity
BTS type (macro/micro, outdoor/indoor, GSM/EDGE/3G)
SW features (FH, IFH, ...)

Coverage Planning

Coverage thresholds
DL Path loss: TX power (max.) - RX power (min.) margins
BTS type (macro/micro, outdoor/indoor, GSM/EDGE/3G)
SW features (FH, IFH, ...)

Coverage predictions
Prediction model (Okumura-Hata)
BTS-MS distance (max.) = cell range = coverage

Site selection (documentation)

Antenna height, location (x,y), direction
BTS location => cable length
PWR, TRS!!!

Site Selection Criteria

Non-radio criteria
Radio criteria

Good view in main beam

direction

No surrounding high obstacles

Good visibility of terrain

Room for antenna mounting

LOS to next microwave site

Short cabling distances

Space for equipment

Availability of leased lines or
microwave link

Power supply

Access restrictions?

House owner

Rental costs

Site Selection General Considerations

Proper site location determines usefulness of its cells

Sites are expensive
Sites are long-term investments
Site acquisition is a slow process
Hundreds of sites needed per network

Base station site is a valuable

long-term asset for the operator

Site Selection Bad Site Location

Avoid hill-top locations for BS sites

Uncontrolled interferences
Interleaved coverage
Awkward HO behaviours
But: good location for microwave links!

wanted cell
boundary

interleaved coverage areas:

weak own signal, strong foreign signal

uncontrolled, strong
interferences

Site Selection Good Site Location

Prefer sites off the hill-tops
Use hills to separate cells
Contiguous coverage area
Needs only low antenna heights if sites are slightly elevated above
valley bottom

wanted cell
boundary

Site Selection Site Info

Collect all necessary information about site details

Site coordinates, height above sea level, exact address

House owner
Type of building
Building materials (photo)
Possible antenna heights
360deg photo (clearance view)
Neighbourhood, surrounding environment
Drawing sketch of rooftop
Antenna mounting conditions
Access possibilities (truck?, road, roof)
BS location, approx. feeder lengths

Site Selection & Site Survey Tools

Map
(D)GPS
(Test) mobile
Digital camera
Binoculars
Compass
Clinometers and tape measure
LOS checking tools: lights, mirrors, flags, balloons

Capacity Planning

Capacity planning

ind2

load ind2 start

N N_start

dt

TRXs/cell
.
TRX layer purposes
BCCH, GPRS, ...
TSL reservations for
signaling, HSCSD, GPRS, ...
Signaling needs
SDCCH, PCH, AGCH, ...
Special SW features for TCH
FH, extended cell, ...
Special SW features for signaling
dynamic SDCCH, ...

The cell load

Number of reserved timeslots

load_vec

12

12.2

12.4
12.6
Time / hours

12.8

13

Frequency Planning

Frequency planning
Reuse factor for speech and data (GPRS)
C/I requirements for BCCH/TCH TRX
Special requirements for intermodulation
Interference probability targets
Frequency band splitting needs
Automatic frequency planning (AFP)
interference matrix
R
measurements
calculation areas

Parameter Planning

Parameter planning (BSSPAR course)

BSC level parameters

BTS level parameters
TRX level parameters
TSL level parameters

Signaling related parameters

RRM related parameters
MM related parameters
Measurement related parameters
Handover related parameters
Power control related parameters
Other SW feature related parameters
HSCSD, GPRS
Extended cell
Dual band, Half rate, IUO/IFH

Planning Process

INTRODUCTION AND PRE-PLANNING

DETAILED PLANNING

POST-PLANNING

DOCUMENTATION

MEASUREMENTS

Post - Planning

Verification or pre-optimisation
Coverage tests (TOM/Nemo)
Call setups
Handover tests

KPI values (Traffica)

Drop call rates
Blocking percentages
Handover success rates
Traffic in Erlangs

ADCE

DX-cause

Optimisation
KPI values
Plan audit (configurations, ...)
Counters (Network doctor)
Observations (DX causes)
IMSI tracing

ADCE
BTS
HOC
POC

BTS
HOC
POC

Monitoring

BTS
HOC
POC

ADCE

MS

BTS

CH. REQUEST
(RACH)
IMMEDIATE
ASSIGN(AGCH)
SERVICE REQUEST
(SDCCH)
AUTHENTICATION
(SDCCH)
CIPHERING MODE
(SDCCH)
TMSI REALLOCATION
(SDCCH)
SETUP (SDCCH)
ASSIGNMENT (SDCCHFACCH)
CH.RELEASE
ALERTING & CONNECT
(FACCH)
CONN. ACK. and
MEASUREMENT
DISCONNECT & RELEASE
(FACCH)

BSC

Phase 1 : Paging, initial MS

Phase 2 : MM signalling
Phase 8 : Ciphering
Phase 2 : MM signalling

Phase 3 : Basic assignment

Phase 4 : Release
Phase 2 : MM signalling
Phase 15 : Conversation
Phase 4 : Release

Planning Process

INTRODUCTION AND PRE-PLANNING

DETAILED PLANNING

POST-PLANNING

DOCUMENTATION

MEASUREMENTS

Site Selection / Site Survey Documentation

SARF
Site Acquisition Request Form

SIR/SAR
Site Information (Acquisition) Report

TSS report
Technical Site Survey Report

TDRS
Technical Data for Radiating System

...

Radio Network Plan Output Documentation

SITE FOLDER

BTS configuration

Antenna line configuration

PARAMETER SET

BTS ID, Frequency, NCC, BCC, LAC,

neighbours
Default parameters

MONITORING REPORTS

Traffic history (TCH, signaling)

KPI values (DCR, blocking, ...)

Planning Process

PRE-PLANNING

DETAILED PLANNING

POST-PLANNING

DOCUMENTATION

MEASUREMENTS

Measurements Types
Propagation measurements
Check coverage area of site,
propagation model tuning
Site candidate evaluations
Test transmitter, mast antenna
CW- signal

detailed
planning

Functional test
After commissioning of site
Coverage audit
Parameter checking (HO, power control ...)

pre-optimisation
phase dry run

Performance measurements
Drive tests
Real network under live conditions
The users view

commercial phase

Measurements Choice of Routes

Propagation measurements
Stay within coverage area of cell

Functional tests
Radial from site into neighbouring cells
Check handovers in & out of cell

Performance measurements
Define a random route once
Drive repeatedly
(comparable results !)

Measurements Results

Propagation measurements
Signal averaging
Lees criterium: min. 50 samples per 40
Estimate accuracy of prediction

database resolution

correct information

Functional tests
Identify incorrect parameter settings
Check missing HO relations

Performance measurements
Detect misbehaviour of network
Calculate call success rate
Key performance indicators
Evaluate network behaviour under nominal conditions

Configuration
Planning

Objectives

At

the end of this module, the participant will be able to:

List the different elements used in the GSM network.
Calculate the power budget.
Describe how to balance uplink and downlink directions in the
power budget.

BTS : Functions

Base station transceiver

maintain synchronisation to MS
GMSK modulation
RF signal processing (combining,
filtering, coupling...)
diversity reception
typ.
RX
radio interface timing
typ.1..4
1..4TT
RX
1..3
1..3sectors
sectors
detect access attempts of
avg.
avg.7,5
7,5traffic
trafficchannels
channelsper
perTTRX
RX
mobiles
supports
supportstyp.
typ.300
300users
users
de-/ encryption on radio path
channel de-/ coding & interleaving on radio path
performfrequency hopping
forward measurement data to BSC

Antenna Systems

Antenna Systems

Antennas on base station

receiver antenna
receiver diversity antenna
transmit antenna

Transition point to / from

radio wave propagation
Best possible signal

Take every effort to make optimum

use of the available signal

Antenna Categories

Omnidirectional antennas
same radiation patterns in all directions
useful in flat rural areas.

Directional antennas
concentrate main energy into certain direction
larger communication range
useful in cities, urban areas, sectorised sites

Antennas
Eurocell panels
mounted on a
church.
Eurocell F-Panels
mounted on the wall
of an industrial
building.

Antenna Characteristics

Antenna gain
the measure for the antennas capability to
transmit / extract energy to/ from the
propagation medium (air)
dB over isotropic antenna (dBi)
dB over Hertz dipole (dBd)

Antenna gain depends on

mechanical size: A
effective antenna aperture area: w
frequency band

microwave ant. : w ~ 50 .. 60 %
optical ant. : w ~ 80 .. 85 %

4
G : 2 A w
Antenna gain

Antenna Characteristics
Lobes
main lobes

H- plane

E- plane

side / back lobes

front-to-back ratio

Halfpower beam-width
(3 dB- beam width)
Antenna downtilting
Polarisation
Antenna bandwidth
Antenna impedance
Mechanical size
windload

Input
7 /16 female
Connector position
bottom
Frequency range
870 - 960 MHz
VSWR
< 1,3
Gain
15,5 dBi
Impedance
50 Ohm
Polarisation
vertical
Front-to-back-ratio
> 25 dB
Half-power beam H-plane:
width
65 / E-plane: 13

Max. power
500 Watt (50 C ambient temp.)
Weight
6 kg
Wind load
frontal :
220 N (at 150 km/h
lateral: 140 N (at 150 km/h)
Max. wind velocity
rear : 490 N (at 150 km/h)
Packing size
1410 x 270 x 140 mm
Height / width / depth
1290 / 255 / 105 mm

Radiation Patterns

Example: patterns for high-gain directional antenna

Horizontal pattern

Vertical pattern

Antenna Down Tilting

Antenna (down-) tilting
improve spot coverage
signal attenuation
30 .. 40dB/decade
reduce interference
signal attenuation
~20dB/decade

What is the difference between electrical and

mechanical down tilt?

5..8 deg

Installation Examples

Directional antennas
sectorised sites
three-sector cell with RX
diversity
horizontal separation

Antenna Cables
Cable types
coaxial cables : 1/2, 7/8, 1 5/8
losses approx. 10 .. 4 dB/ 100m
==> power dissipation is exponential with cable
length ! !

jumper
(2 m)

40 .. 70m

Connector losses approx. 1 dB per connection

(jumper cables etc..)
Thick antenna cables
lower losses per length
large bending radii
much more expensive
jumper
(2 m)

Keep antenna cables short

Antenna Cables
Typical values for antenna
cables
Type

diameter
(mm)

3/8
5/8
7/8
1 5/8

10
17
25
47

900MHz 1800MHz
dB/100m dB/100m
10
6
4
2

14
9
6
3

Nearby Obstacles Requirement (1/3)

Nearby Obstacles Requirement (2/3)

Height Clearance vs Antenna Tilt

h (m)
9,0
8,0
7,0

6,0

From 0 up to 6
down tilt

5,0
4,0
3,0
2,0
1,0
0,0
5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Roof Edge d (m)

40

45

50

Nearby Obstacles Requirement (3/3)

Link Budget

Link Budget
Link budget calculations consist of two parts:
1) Power budget calculations
2) Cell size evaluations

Communication must be two-way

Power budget
must
be balanced

Link Budget Factors

In addition to BTS and MS powers and sensitivities, several other
factors need to be taken into account when doing Link Budget
calculations
These factors can be classified into three categories:
1) Link Budget loss factors
2) Link Budget gain factors
3) Link Budget margins

Link Budget Loss Factors

At base station
connectors

cables

isolator

combiner

filter

At mobile station

body loss

polarisation of antenna

cables &
connectors

~3..5 dB losses
==> 50 ..70% of
signal energy is lost
before even reaching
the transmit antenna

filter

combiner

BS output

many meters

Link Budget Gain Factors

Antenna gain

half-power beamwidth

mechanical size

antenna types

Diversity gain

Diversity can be implemented in many ways

Frequency hopping

Improves average link quality, but is not typically taken

into account in link budget calculations

Link Budget Margins

Fast fading margin

Fast variations in field strength levels that are caused by
multipath reception has to be taken into account in
calculating the maximum allowable path loss

Slow fading margin

Slow fading that is caused by shadowing has a direct effect
on the location probability; this has to be taken into
account in evaluating cell sizes

Penetration losses

Power Budget: Downlink

36 dBm

Antenna
Gain = 16dBi
52 dBm
path loss = 154 dB

Feeder
Loss = 4 dB
- 102 dBm
40 dBm
combin
er
loss = 5
Tx
dB Power
45 dBm (20W)

Rx Sensitivity
- 102 dBm

WLL subscribers

Power Budget: Uplink

Antenna
Gain = 16
-dBi
101 dBm

Diversity
Gain = 4 dB
- 121 dBm

Feeder
Loss = 4 dB

path loss = 154 dB

33 dBm
- 105 dBm
Tx Power
33 dBm (2W)

Rx Sensitivity
-105 dB
WLL subscribers

Power Budget Calculations

RADIO LINK POWER BUDGET
GENERAL INFO
Frequency (MHz):

1800

RECEIVING END:
RX RF-input sensitivity
Fast fading margin
Cable loss + connector
Rx antenna gain
Diversity gain
Isotropic power
Field strength
TRANSMITTING END:
TX RF output peak power
(mean power over RF cycle)
Isolator + combiner + filter
RF-peak power, combiner output
Cable loss + connector
TX-antenna gain
Peak EIRP
(EIRP = ERP + 2dB)
Isotropic path loss

MS CLASS:
System:

GSM1800

dBm
dB
dB
dBi
dB
dBm
dBV/m

BS
-106,00
3,00
4,00
15,00
4,00
-118,00
24,00

W
dBm
dB
dBm
dB
dBi
W
dBm
dB

MS
1,00
30,00
0,00
30,00
0,00
0,00
1,00
30,00
148,00

set starting parameters here

MS
-100,00
A
3,00
B
0,00
C
0,00
D
0,00
E
-97,00
F=A+B+C-D-E
45,00
G=F+Z*
* Z = 77.2 + 20*log(freq[MHz])
BS
can BS provide
25,00
output power needed ?
44,00
K
4,00
L
40,00
M=K-L
4,00
N
15,00
O
125,90
51,00
P=M-N+O
148,00
Q=P-F
path loss shall be balanced

Coverage
Planning

Module objectives

At the end of this module you will be able to

DEFINE COVERAGE THRESHOLD

DESCRIBE DIFFERENT COVERAGE PLANNING

MARGINS
LOCATION PROBABILITY
PENETRATION LOSS

CALCULATE COVERAGE AREAS

Coverage Threshold Basics

Based on the calculated maximum allowed path loss in PBGT, the
coverage threshold can be defined
Coverage threshold depends on margins related to
Location probability (= slow fading)
Fast fading / Interference degradation
Polarization / Antenna orientation loss
Body loss
Penetration losses (vehicle or building)

Coverage Threshold DL Calculation Process

Real maximum
allowed path loss

EIRP -

From power budget calculations

Minimum allowed receiving level

Slow fading and other margins function (location probability)
Building penetration loss

function (morphological area)

= Maximum allowed path loss => Coverage

threshold

Cell radius

Okumura-Hata

Cell area

function (morphological area)

Coverage Threshold Location Probability

Outages
due to coverage gaps Pno_cov
Pif
due to interferences

Total location probability in a cell

(1- Pno_cov) * (1- Pif)
Both time and location probability
Typical required values are 9095%
Full coverage of an area can never
be guaranteed!

Coverage Threshold Slow Fading Margin

When calculating cell radius, LP is 50% by the cell edge and ~75%
over the cell area
To get 90% LP, the cell radius has to be reduced

1
0,9
0,8
0,7

0,6
0,5
0,4

90% of
the area

0,3
0,2
0,1

Slow fading margin

-1

-2

-3

Coverage Threshold Interference Degrade Margin

ETSI specific margin

Power budget
GENERAL INFORMATION
1800
System:
Frequency (MHz):
BT99 - AFE with combiner bypass (equiv.
MS Class:
to
Case description:

DCS1800
1

RECEIVING END:
BS
MS
RX RF- Input Sensitivity
dBm -108.00 -100.00
A
3.00
3.00
Interference Degradation Margin
dB
B
0.00
2.00
Body Proximity Loss
dB
C
3.00
0.00
Cable Loss + Connectors
dB
D
18.00
0.00
Rx Antenna Gain
dBi
E
4.00
0.00
Diversity Gain
dB
F
Isotropic Power
dBm -124.00 -95.00
G=A+B+C+D-E-F
18.31
47.31
Field Strength
dBV/m
H=G+Z*
TRANSMITTING END:
MS
BS
1.00
29.50
TX RF Output Peak Power
W
44.70
(mean power over RF cycle)
dBm 30.00
K
2.00
0.00
Body Proximity Loss
dB
L
0.00
2.20
Isolator + Combiner + Filter
dB
M
42.50
RF-Peak Power, Combiner Output dBm 28.00
N=K-L-M
0.00
3.00
Cable Loss + Connectors
dB
O
0.00
18.00
TX Antenna Gain
dBi
P
0.63 562.11
Peak EIRP
W
57.50
(EIRP = ERP + 2dB)
dBm 28.00
Q=N-O+P
* Z = 77.2 + 20*log(freq[MHz])

Coverage Threshold Body Loss

Body loss happens because of the existence of the human body
Typical loss 3 dB depending on the distance between mobile and
human body
Typically taken into account in coverage threshold

Coverage Threshold Penetration Loss

Penetration losses have to be added as mean value, and standard
deviation need to be taken into account as well

type

mean

urban building

sigma

15 dB

7 dB

suburban

10 dB

7 dB

in-car

8 dB

5 dB

Cell range: Example of Dimensioning (EXCEL

based calculation)
COMMON INFO
MS antenna height (m):
BS antenna height (m):
Standard Deviation (dB):
BPL Average (dB):
Standard Deviation indoors (dB):
OKUMURA-HATA (OH)
Area Type Correction (dB)
WALFISH-IKEGAMI (WI)
Roads width (m):
Road orientation angle (degrees):
Building separation (m):
Buildings average height (m):
INDOOR COVERAGE
Propagation Model
Slow Fading Margin + BPL (dB):
Coverage Threshold (dBV/m):
Coverage Threshold (dBm):
Location Probability over Cell Area(L%):
Cell Range (km):
OUTDOOR COVERAGE
Propagation Model
Slow Fading Margin (dB):
Coverage Threshold (dBV/m):
Coverage Threshold (dBm):
Location Probability over Cell Area(L%):
Cell Range (km):

DU
1,5
30,0
7,0
15,0
10,0
DU
0,0
DU
30,0
90,0
40,0
30,0
DU
OH
22,8
59,1
-77,2
90,0%
1,33
DU
OH
4,5
40,8
-95,5
90,0%
4,39

U
1,5
30,0
7,0
12,0
10,0
U
-4,0
U
30,0
90,0
40,0
30,0
U
OH
19,8
56,1
-80,2
90,0%
2,10
U
OH
4,5
40,8
-95,5
90,0%
5,70

SU
1,5
30,0
7,0
10,0
10,0
SU
-6,0
SU
30,0
90,0
40,0
30,0
SU
OH
17,8
54,1
-82,2
90,0%
2,72
SU
OH
4,5
40,8
-95,5
90,0%
6,50

F
1,5
45,0
7,0
6,0
10,0
F
-10,0
F
30,0
90,0
40,0
30,0
F
OH
13,8
50,1
-86,2
90,0%
5,70
F
OH
4,5
40,8
-95,5
90,0%
10,69

O
1,5
45,0
7,0
6,0
10,0
O
-15,0
O
30,0
90,0
40,0
30,0
O
OH
13,8
50,1
-86,2
90,0%
7,99
O
OH
4,5
40,8
-95,5
90,0%
14,99

Coverage Area: Coverage Area in Dimensioning

After cell radius has been determined, cell area can be calculated
When calculating cell area, traditional hexagonal model is taken
into account

Omni
2
A = 2,6 R
1

Bi-sector
2
A= 1,73 R
2

Tri-sector
A = 1,95 2R3

Coverage Area : Hexagons vs. Cells

Three hexagons

Three cells

Coverage Area

Example of Planning Tool Calculation

Coverage Area
Dominance area
Service area
Coverage area

Cell Area Terms

cell coverage range

cell service range
dominance
range

6dB hysteresis
margin
coverage limit

Coverage Area : Conclusion

Achievable cell size depends on

Frequency band used (450, 900, 1800 MHz)

Surroundings, environment
Link budget figures
Antenna types
Antenna positioning
Minimum required signal levels

Coverage
Predictions

Module objectives

At the end of this module you will be able to

DESCRIBE DIFFERENT PREDICTION MODELS

DESCRIBE PREDICTION MODEL TUNING TOPICS

CALCULATE CELL RANGE

Propagation Models Used in Nokia tools

The most commonly used statistical model

Walfish-Ikegami
Statistical model especially for urban environments

Juul-Nyholm

Deterministic prediction tool for

microcellular environments

Determinist
ic

Ray-tracing

to be

Same kind of a prediction tool as Hata, but with

different equation for predictions beyond radio
horizon (~20km)

Statistical
tuned!

Okumura-Hata

Propagation Models: Okumura-Hata

Adapted for 900 MHz and 1800 MHz
Different land usage classes

L A B log f 1382
. loghb a(hm )
(449
. 655
. loghb )logd Lmorpho
f
h
a(hm)

frequency in MHz
BS antenna height [m]
function of MS antenna height

distance between BS and MS [km]

A = 69.55
A = 46.3

B = 26.16
B = 33.9

additional attenuation due

to land usage classes

(for 150 .. 1000 MHz)

(for 1500 ..2000MHz)

Propagation Models: Okumura-Hata

Urban
Small cells, 40..50 dB/dec attenuation

Forest
Heavy absorption; 30..40 dB/dec; differs with season (foliage losses)

Open, farmlands
Easy, smooth propagation conditions

Water
Signal propagates very easily interference !

Mountain faces
Strong reflections, long echos

Etc
Many morpho types have been defined

Propagation Models: Walfish-Ikegami

Model for urban microcellular propagation

Assumes regular city layout (Manhattan grid)
Total path loss consists of two parts:

LOS

NLOS

line-of-sight loss

roof-to-street diffraction and scatter

loss
mobile environment losses

h
w
b

Propagation Models: Walfish-Ikegami

Line-of-sight path (LOS)
Use free space propagation
Applicable for microwave & satellite links

Non-line-of-sight path (NLOS)

Heavy diffraction, refraction situations

Many models exist in literature, none is satisfying
Great uncertainties in modeling
Needs detailed building databases (vectorial information)
Use ray-tracing models?

Manhattan grid
model

Propagation Models: Ray Tracing

Deterministic model for microcellular environments

Launch rays into every direction of space

Certain number of rays calculated
Reflections calculated based on dielectric coefficients
Very high computational load

Mirror image method also possible

r
single point
signal source

Model Tuning: Basics

Its aimed to get a more realistic propagation model
It should be done at the very beginning of a planning project,
before any dimensioning activity
How?
Select typical sites for measurements
Define measurement routes
Tune propagation model to make its predictions match the measurements data

Model Tuning: Measurements

What antenna height should be used?

Typical for the area?
Model restrictions?
Okumura-Hata stay above 24 m!

Keep away from existing antennas

Mark LOS situations, tunnels, bridges etc.
Take these out of the measurement file

A power budget is needed. Note down:

TX power, cable and connector losses
Antenna type, height, direction, tilt
Site coordinates

Model Tuning: Measurements

Measure only interference free frequencies

Measure only in the main lobe of the transmitting antenna
Avoid or erase line-of-sight measurement points
Use differential GPS if possible or match the coordinates with the
map
Check coordinate conversion parameters
Measure all the cable losses (both in transmitting and receiving
end)
Measure the output power of the transmitter
Check transmitter antenna installation and ensure that there are
no obstacles nearby
Document the measurements very carefully

Model Tuning: Okumura-Hata Measurements

Measured field strength should be between 95 dBm and 60
dBm
Stay in the main coverage area of the selected cell
Not too close to cell edges
Not too close to TX antenna

Route long enough

Minimum 100 samples are needed

O-H does not predict LOS situations

Avoid routes with LOS situations

Make sure all wanted morpho classes and topo types are included
Which coordinate system?

Model Tuning: Okumura-Hata Model Tuning

Import measurement results to a
planning tool

min. distance > 500 m to filter out

too close samples

Tune morpho corrections to best

fit
Tune only factors, which have
more than 3%
Mean value +/- 1 dB
If a lot of LOS negative mean
Standard deviation 8 dB
Correction factor for urban ~ 0
dB

Model Tuning: Measurements Predictions?

Why are the predictions and measurements different?
Is the digital map accurate enough?
What is the resolution of the map?
Is the morpho data correct?
Does the measured route match the roads?
Do the measured routes have a lot of LOS situations?

Model Tuning: Detailed Process

Site and cell data

Coordinates

Digital map

System information

Calculate measurement route

Map matching
Model tuning
Measurement data
Field strenght

Compare

Analysis

Satisfactory model
Yes
End

No

Model Tuning: Detailed Process

Prediction model tuning areas

Propagation slope
Effective antenna height
Morphographic corrections
Calculation distance

Capacity
Planning

Objectives

At the end of this module you will be able to

DESCRIBE TRAFFIC THEORY PRINCIPLES

CALCULATE CAPACITY OF DIFFERENT

CONFIGURATIONS

DESCRIBE SIGNALLING CHANNELS AND

CALCULATE SIGNALLING CAPACITY

DESCRIBE MAIN FEATURES OF CAPACITY

ENHANCEMENT

Capacity Planning

TRAFFIC
SIGNALLING
CAPACITY ENHANCEMENTS

Traffic: Traffic Estimations

Estimate number of subscribers over time
Long-term predictions
Numbers available from marketing people?

Expected traffic load per subscriber

Different subscriber segments?
Expected behaviour of user segments

Particular phone habits of subscribers

e.g. mainly heavy indoor usage
Phoning while in traffic jams?

Busy hour conditions

Time of day
Traffic patterns

Traffic: Traffic Patterns

Traffic is not evenly spread across the day
(or week)
Dimensioning must be able to cope with peak loads
busy hour is typically twice the average hour load

100%
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
0

peak time
off-peak

10

12

14

16

18

20

22

24hr

Cell load
load_vec

ind2

load ind2 start

N N_start

dt

The cell load

Number of reserved timeslots

12

12.2

12.4
12.6
Time / hours

12.8

13

Trunking Basics
Problem: many customers, limited number of resources
How many resources do we need to satisfy the demand?

M potential customers

M >> m

m available resources

Trunking: Trunking Effect

Trunking increases effective usage of limited resources
When we increase the traffic, we may not need that many new lines

Main parameter: accepted blocking probability

Blocking depends on
Number of available resources
Traffic statistical distribution

Trunking: Trunking Effect

Offered new
traffic
CH 1
CH 2
CH 3
CH 4
CH 5
CH ...
CH n-2
CH n-1
CH n

time

Erlang Definition
Erlang is the unit of traffic
Definition

(calls per hour )(averageconversationtime)

xErlangs
3600 Seconds
2 formulas
Erlang B: for systems that support no queuing
Erlang C: for systems that support queuing

Agner Krarup Erlang (1878-1929)

Erlang: Erlang Formulas

Erlang B

No queuing: blocked calls are

dropped
Depends on call lengths &
statistical distribution of calls
Applicable in mobile systems
(e.g. air interface)

Erlang C

Queuing
Applicable in trunking systems

Erlang: Erlang Formulas

Erlang B

No queuing: blocked calls are

dropped
Depends on call lengths &
statistical distribution of calls
Applicable in mobile systems
(e.g. air interface)

Erlang C

Queuing
Applicable in trunking systems

Erlang: Erlang B Table

Channels
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20

Blocking Probability
1%
2%
0,01
0,02
0,15
0,22
0,46
0,60
0,87
1,09
1,36
1,66
1,91
2,28
2,50
2,95
3,13
3,63
3,78
4,34
4,46
5,08
5,16
5,84
5,88
6,61
6,61
7,40
7,35
8,20
8,11
9,01
8,88
9,83
9,65
10,70
10 ,40
11,50
11 ,20
12,30
12 ,00
13,20

3%
0,03
0,28
0,72
1,26
1,88
2,54
3,25
3,99
4,75
5,53
6,33
7,14
7,97
8,80
9,65
10,50
11,40
12,20
13,10
14,00

5%
0,05
0,38
0,90
1,52
2,22
2,96
3,75
4,54
5,37
6,22
7,08
7,95
8,83
9,73
10,60
11,50
12,50
13,40
14,30
15,20

Channels
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40

Blocking Probability
1%
2%
12 ,80
14,00
13 ,70
14,90
14 ,50
15,80
15 ,30
16,60
16 ,10
17,50
17 ,00
18,40
17 ,80
19,30
18 ,60
20,20
19 ,50
21,00
20 ,30
21,90
21 ,20
22,80
22 ,00
23,70
22 ,90
24,60
23 ,80
25,50
24 ,60
26,40
25 ,50
27,30
26 ,40
28,30
27 ,30
29,20
28 ,10
30,10
29 ,00
31,00

3%
14,90
15,80
16,70
17,60
18,50
19,40
20,30
21,20
22,10
23,10
24,00
24,90
25,80
26,80
27,70
28,60
29,60
30,50
31,50
32,40

5%
16,20
17,10
18,10
19,00
20,00
20,90
21,90
22,90
23,80
24,80
25,80
26,70
27,70
28,70
29,70
30,70
31,60
32,60
33,60
34,60

Capacity Planning

TRAFFIC
SIGNALLING
CAPACITY ENHANCEMENTS

Logical Channels: Definitions

TDMA Frame = 8 Time Slots (0.577 ms each)
Physical Channel = 1 TS of the TDMA Frame on 1 specific carrier
Logical Channel = the "purpose" a physical channel is used for

TDMA frame 4.615 ms

BURST PERIOD

Logical Channels Structure

Hyperframe = 2048 Superframes 3.5 h

Superframe =
26x51 or
51x26 Multiframes
= 6.120 sec
26 Multiframe = 120 ms

TCH

51 Multiframe 235 ms
0

24 25

7
TDMA frame 4.615 ms

49 50

SIGN.

Overview of Logical Channels

Same in GSM900 and GSM1800

Logical Channels
Dedicated
Channels
(DCH)

Common Channels
(CCH)

Broadcast Channel
(BCH)

FCH

SCH

BCCH
(Sys Info)

Common Control
Channel (CCCH)

PCH

AGCH

RACH

Control Channels

SDCCH

Traffic Channels
(TCH)

FACCH/ Bm

SACCH
FACCH/ Lm

TCH/F

TCH/H

TCH/9.6F
TCH/ 4.8F, H
TCH/ 2.4F, H

Broadcast Channels (BCH)

Frequency Correction Channel (FCCH)

Unmodulated carrier: like a flag for the MS which enables it to find the frequency
among several TRXs

Synchronisation Channel (SCH)

Contains the Base Station Identity Code (BSIC) and a reduced TDMA frame
number

Broadcast Control Channel (BCCH)

Contains detailed network and cell specific information as: Frequencies,
Frequency hopping sequence, Channel combination, Paging groups, Information
on neighbour cells
Careful frequency plan needed
BCCH is not allowed to involve in FH, PC

Common Control Channels (CCCH)

Paging Channel (PCH)

It is broadcast by all the BTSs of a Location Area in the case of a mobile
terminated call

Random Access Channel (RACH)

It is used by the mobile station in order to initiate a transaction, or as a response
to a PCH

Access Grant Channel (AGCH)

Answer to the RACH. Used to assign a mobile a SDCCH

Dedicated Channels (DCH)

Stand Alone Dedicated Control Channel (SDCCH)

System signalling: call set-up, authentication, location update, assignment of

traffic channels and transmission of SMS

Slow Associated Control Channel (SACCH)

Transmits measurement reports (UL)

Power control, time alignment, short messages (DL)

Fast Associated Control Channel (FACCH)

Mainly used for handover signalling

It is mapped onto a TCH and replaces 20 ms of speech

Traffic Channels (TCH)

Transfer user speech or data, which can be either in the form of Half rate traffic
(6.5 kbit/s) or Full rate traffic (13 kbit/s).

Logical Channels
Downlink

Common
Channels

Dedicated
Channels

BCCH

CCCH

DCCH

TCH

FCCH
SCH
SDCCH
PCH
AGCH

SACCH
FACCH
SDCCH
TCH/F
TCH/H

Logical Channels
Uplink

RACH

SDCCH
SACCH
FACCH
TCH/F
TCH/H

CCCH

DCCH

TCH

Common
Channels

Dedicated
Channels

Logical Channels Use

'off' state

idle mode

dedicated
mode

idle mode

Search for frequency correction burst

Search for synchronisation sequence
Read system informations

FCCH
SCH
BCCH

Listen for paging

Send access burst
Wait for signalling channel allocation
Call setup

PCH
RACH
AGCH
SDCCH
FACCH
TCH
TCH
FACCH

Traffic channel is assigned

Conversation
Call release

Logical Channels: Mapping - 1 Example

Example of mapping:

Downlink

combined CCCH/SDCCH/4 configuration

51 TDMA frames = 235 ms

f s bbbbc c c c f scc
f cc c c cc f s tf t t t t t t t f s tf t t t t t t t f s s
f ss s s s s s i
1.

Uplink

2.

3.

4.

51 TDMA frames = 235 ms

f sr r r r r r r r rf r r r r r r r r r rf r r r r t t t t t tf t t r r t t t t
t t t t r r s s s s s ss

Beware of "home-made" bottlenecks

Cell Capacity Signalling

Mainly realised by Stand-alone Dedicated Control CHannel
(SDCCH)
SDCCH is mainly used in 5 cases:

Call set-up
SMS
Location updates
Emergency call
Call re-establishment

SDCCH channel is key in achieving successful & efficient call setup

Cell Capacity: SDCCH Configurations

TS0 of BCCH TRX always for BCCH + CCCH

TS0 may be configured to carry DCCH
SDCCH channels may be configured in any other TS. Convention
(but not law!) is to put it on TS1
2 basic configurations
Combined
Non-combined

Combined configuration
0

ts0=bcch/sdcch/4/pch/agch

Non-combined configuration
0

ts1=sdcch/8
ts0=bcch/pch/agch

Cell Capacity: SDCCH Dimensioning

Efficient network design is required to achieve 2 goals
An appropriate signalling dimensioning strategy, on a cell per cell basis
An appropriate upgrade philosophy

SDDCH channels may be dimensioned in 3 ways

On a cell per cell basis
On a generic macro layer (not linked to macro/ micro cell layer definitions)
On both of the above

Capacity Planning: Conclusion

1 TRX and 7 Traffic channels means that

There can be 7 simultaneous GSM data or speech calls
The total traffic over a hour period (=busy hour) is 2.5
Erl and 1% of call attempts is blocked
Extra capacity of 64% (= (7-2.5)/7) is needed to
guarantee 1% blocking
(compare to the situation of 2 TRX => trunking effect!!)
1 TRX and 1 signalling channel means that
All signalling channels (BCCH, PCH, AGCH, SDCCH) are
sent on the 1st time slot
PCH and SDCCH capacities are the possible bottlenecks!

Example: to estimate the Service for Subscribers

Traffic channel
estimated

capacity

need

is

calculated

1. Based on the average traffic per subscriber (= 25 mErl =

90 s) and number of subscribers (250 Subs) and the total
traffic need = 250 Subs x 25 mErl/Subs = 6.25 Erl
2. Next the required number of traffic channels will be found
from the Erlang-B table based on the quality criteria that is
usually 1% blocking in GSM.
3. Erlang-B shows that 13 channels give 6.61 Erl @ 1%
blocking which exceeds the capacity demand 6.25 Erl.
4. Next it can be noted that 2 TRX equals 14 TCHs and 2 SCHs
(= 7.35 Erl = 6.25 + 1.1 extra capacity for the future).
5. 2 TRX will be implemented to the cell!

Capacity Planning

TRAFFIC
SIGNALLING
CAPACITY ENHANCEMENTS

Dual Band

Dual Band Network Basics

Dual Band means combining both GSM 900
and GSM 1800 (previously DCS) in the same
network
GSM 900 and GSM 1800 are twins from the
technical point of view

GSM1800
BSC
GSM900/1800
GSM900
GSM900/1800

Dual Band Network Basics

Capacity with GSM900 is limited:
Subscriber growth
Increased usage

Quality and capacity required:

New services
WLL
Wireless Office
Data Services

Roaming: High revenue from roaming traffic

Dual Band Network Effect on RNP

Traffic management
First priority is to camp on GSM 1800 cells
Transferring the Dual Band mobiles from GSM 900 cells to GSM 1800 cells is the
key process
Setting special BSS parameters.

Planners should pay more attention to:

Careful set of HO parameters
Dualband network configuration
LAC planning

LAC/BSC Borders
Typically BSC and LAC areas are compact and bounded to
geographical location
Microcells connected to same BSC with surrounding
macrocells
Compact BSC areas enable the effect use of Nokia features
e.g. AMH and traffic reason HO
Intra BSC HO success rate better than Inter BSC HO
success rate
Better candidate evaluation in Intra BSC HO

Optimised LAC borders decrease signalling load

User mobility
Highways and railroads
Geographical areas

Dual Band Network: Same LAC and BSC

MSC
BSCa

GSM

GSM
900

900

BSCb

LACa
GSM
1800

GSM
900

GSM
900

LACb
GSM
1800

GSM
1800

GSM
1800

 If you need to provide capacity for 20 Erlangs, 2 %

blocking, how many TRXs do
you need?
How many TRXs do you need to provide capacity for 10
Erlangs, 1 % blocking?
How many subscribers can you serve with 2 TRX/cell, 1%
blocking, with average
usage 20 mErl?
How many cells would you therefore need to give capacity
for Helsinki area (49.2 % penetration, population 1
million)?
In China the average usage is 30 mErl. How many
subscribers can you serve with 2 TRX/cell (1% blocking)?
In a small town A, with 1000 residents, the collected
statistic data shows that the average air-time in busy hour
is 90 seconds. If we want to cover this town by one cell,
how many TRXs do we need to achieve the blocking
probability of 1%?

Frequency
Planning

Module objectives

At the end of this module you will be able to

DESCRIBE FREQUENCY PLANNING

CRITERIA

CALCULATE THE FREQUENCY REUSE

FACTOR

DESCRIBE FREQUENCY ALLOCATION

METHODS

Frequency Plan: Basics

Tighter re-use of
own frequencies
more capacity
more
interference

Target

to minimise
interferences at
an acceptable
capacity level

First when a
complete area
has been
finalised
Automatic
frequency
planning tools

Frequency Plan: Basics

Why frequency re-use ?
8 MHz = 40 channels 7 traffic timeslots = 280 users
max. 280 simultaneous calls??!

Limited bandwidth available

Re-use frequencies as often as possible
Increased capacity
Increased interferences

Trade-off between interference level and capacity

Allocate frequency combination that creates least overall
interference conditions in the network

Interference is unavoidable
minimise total interferences in network

Frequency Plan : Frequency Planning Criteria

Criteria
The frequency planning criteria include the
configuration and frequency allocation aspects.
The configuration aspects consider the:
Frequency band splitting between the macro and

micro base stations,

Frequency band splitting between the BCCH and
TCH layers,
Frequency band grouping and
Different frequency reuse factors for different TRX
layers.

Frequency allocation aspects include

frequency planning thresholds (QOS
requirements)

C/I requirements
Percentage of co-channel and adjacent channel

Frequency Plan: Frequency Band Splitting

Macro - Micro
needed because of inaccurate coverage predictions
between macro and micro layers
not needed if accurate coverage predictions
available in the future

BCCH - TCH
needed to ensure a good quality on BCCH
frequency (in order to ensure signalling)

Frequency Plan: Frequency Band Grouping

Frequency grouping
+ Frequency hopping (coherence bandwidth)
+ Intermodulation
+ Frequencies assigned to all TRX layers at one time
+ Frequencies evenly used
- Limitations for automatic frequency planning algorithms
- Fixed frequency reuse factor
BCCH
2. TRX
3. TRX

f1 f2 f3 f4 f5 f6 f7 f8 f9 f10 f11 f12 f13 f14

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9 10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42

Different Frequency Reuse Factors for Different TRX Layers

Frequency planning for different TRX layers

different freqency reuse factors for different TRX layers
frequency planning for different layers

BCCH
2. TRX
1. Micro
2. Micro

f1 f2 f3 f4 f5 f6 f7 f8 f9 f10 f11 f12 f13 f14 f15

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9 10 11 12 13 14 15
16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
31 32 33 34 35 36 31 32 33 34 35 36 31 32 33
37 38 39 40 41 42 37 38 39 40 41 42 37 38 39

Frequency Allocation Thresholds

C/I requirements

- C/Ic = 15 dB, C/Ia = -6 dB (Note Overlay-Underlay concepts

Interference probability
- 2% co-channel and 5% adjacent channel interference

Frequency separations
- cell/site separations
- combiner limitations

Best Method
Do not use

Hexagon cell patterns

Regular grids

Systematic frequency allocation

Use

Interference matrix calculation

Calibrated propagation models

Minimise total interference in

network

f2

f6

f3
f5
f7

f4

f2

f5

f4

f4

f3
f4

f7

f2

f6

f3

f2

f6

f4
f2

f5

f7

f5

f5

f7

f6

f3

f3

f5

f4

f2

f6
f5

f3

f3
f4

Re-Use-Factor
RuF
Average number of cells that have different frequencies
Measure for effectiveness of frequency plan
Trade-off: effectiveness vs. interferences

Multiple RuFs increase effectiveness of FP

Compromise between safe, interference free planning and effective resource
usage

same frequency
in every cell
(spread spectrum)

12

15

tight re-use planning

(IUO layer)
normal planning
(TCH macro layer)

18

safe planning
(BCCH layer)

21

Multiple Re-Use-Factor
Capacity increase with multiple RuFs
e.g. network with 300 cells
Bandwidth : 8 MHz (40 radio channels)

Single RuF =12

NW capacity = 40/12 * 300 = 1000 TRX

Multiple RuF

BCCH layer:
Normal TCH:
Tight TCH layer:
NW cap. = (1 +2

re-use =14,
(14 frq.)
re-use =10,
(20 frq.)
re-use = 6,
(6 frq.)
+1)* 300 = 1200 TRX

Frequency Plan: Constraints

Co-cell separation
e.g. 3 (4 for GSM1800)
600 (800 ) kHz spacing between frequencies in the same cell

Co-site separation
e.g. 2
400 kHz spacing between frequencies on the same site

Co-channel interferences from neighbouring sites

Adjacent channel interferences from neighbouring sites

Frequency Plan: Manual Allocation

With Frequency Groups: 8 groups, 6 ARCFN
each
A1 B1 C1 D1 E1 F1 G1 H1 A2 B2 C2 D2
BCCH 1
TCH 25

26
2

3
27

28
4

5
29

30
6

7
31

32
8

9
33

34
10

11
35

36
12

E2
BCCH 13
TCH 37

F2
38
14

G2
15
39

H2
40
16

A3
17
41

B3
42
18

C3
19
43

D3
44
20

E3
21
45

F3
46
22

G3
23
47

H3
48
24

With Separated Bands: 10 groups BCCH, 6 TCH, 3

ARCFN each
A1 B1 C1 D1 E1 F1
1 2 3 4 5 6
G2 H2 I2 L2 A3 B3
17 18 19 20 21 22
O3 P3 Q3 R3 M4 N4
33 34 35 36 37 38

BCCH
G1 H1 I1
7 8 9
BCCH
C3 D3 E3
23 24 25
TCH
O4 P4 Q4
39 40 41

L1 A2 B2 C2 D2 E2 F2
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
TCH
F3 G3 H3 I3 L3 M3 N3
26 27 28 29 30 31 32
R4 M5 N5 O5 P5 Q1 R5
42 43 44 45 46 47 48

Frequency Plan: Manual Allocation

Allocation Criteria

Take into account both:

Starting point:

theoretical dominance area and

planner's knowledge of the site

Conclusion

Method 1 is simpler than method

2
Method 2 is more accurate
(RuFBCCH > RuFTCH, intracell HO)

critical site or
critical area

"cluster approach"?
"dynamic" BCCH allocation
No more than 60-70 sites!!!

BCCH TCH
simplicity
C/I C/A C/I C/A
groups
x
x x x
sub-bands
x

Frequency Plan: Automatic Allocation

Frequency allocation algorithms

implemented in planning tools
Compute compatibility matrix across total
cell area (heavy computing!)
Allocate same frequencies in sufficiently
separated cells
Allocate frequencies until traffic needs of all
cells are satisfied
Boundary condition: minimise total network
interferences

No closed solution available for this

problem
Iterative procedure

Frequency Plan: Automatic Allocation

Choose the following parameters for all network layers

Co-cell separation

Co-site separation

Target level for co-channel + adj channel interference

Frequency band allowed

Algohorithm:

Interference
parameters
setting
Separation
parameters
setting

Interference matrix calculation

Separation matrix calculation
Frequency allocation

Analyze
results

Frequency Plan: Automatic Allocation

Interference matrix
Element (i,j) = amount of interference caused on cell i by cell j
Comparison parameter = co-channel (adj channel) C/I

Separation matrix
Element (i,j) = minimum channel separation between cell i and cell j
Comparison parameter = maximum C/I (C/A) probability
Co-site, co-cell and adj-cell separations manually set

Frequency Plan: Automatic Allocation

Evaluation criteria

Check the avg co-channel

interference parameter
Check the channel distribution
Check the contraints violation
list
Use the Interference Analisys
tool

Automatic
frequency plan
Manual analysis and
error correction

Final
result

Frequency Plan: Frequency Coordination

Regulations for international boundaries

18 dB V/m at borderline

18 dB V/m at 15km distance from border for preferential frequencies

Set of preferential and reserved frequencies must be mutually

agreed between operators

15km

international
borderline

Frequency Plan: Intermodulation

Intermodulation interference can be avoided

by
Ensuring that the base station site equipment quality is
such high that the
intermodulation does not exist,
Grouping the frequencies such that the intermodulation
products do not cause interference or
Allocating the frequencies such that the intermodulation
products do not cause interference or

its complex influence on the

planning can be made easier by

frequency

Preventing the power control (only for the downlink

intermodulation products) or
Directing the intermodulation products to the BCCH
frequencies (there is no downlink power control on the
BCCH).

FREQUENCY HOPPING
The Frequency Hopping feature changes the frequency used by a
channel on the air-interface every new TDMA frame in a regular
pattern.
ADVANTAGES:
Decreasing the probability of interference
Ease in frequency planning
Increase in Capacity
:

TYPES OF HOPPING
BASEBAND HOPPING:
Here frequency hopping is done by
switching the information frame of 1 call
from one trans receiver to another within
the cell.
Here the hop between different
frequencies depends on the number of
carriers (TRXs) present in that particular
cell.
Here hopping of frequencies occur by
shifting a single call between different
TRXs of the same sector for every burst.

TYPES OF HOPPING
SYNTHESIZER FREQUENCY HOPPING:
No. of frequencies hopping on one TRX card.
In this technique a unique
This list contains a number of frequencies
within which the TRXs present in that sector
would hop
Synthesized hopping is preferred over base
band hopping due to the fact that for hopping
to be really effective in case of base band
hopping,

Parameters:
MA (Mobile Allocation) List ARFCNs used
in hopping sequence
HSN (Hopping Sequence Number)
Algorithms of sequence (0-63)
MAIO (Mobile Allocation Index Offset)
Entry of MA List at which hopping
sequence begins

RF Survey
The proposed network design shows only approximate site
locations. The exact site position depends on the possibilities
to construct a site on the suggested location. Different
permits are usually necessary, e.g. a planning permit from the
local council planning committee.

There are two types of surveys

Sharing Survey
Anchor Survey
Tools Used:
1 GPS (Global Positioning System) Latches with
satellite and tells the lat long
2 Magnetic Compass
We are given the latitude and longitude of the hot spot and
moving on to the particular lat long we find the nominal
spots keeping in mind the various points:
1)The lat long of nominal point
2)The obstacles
3)Clutter
4)Height of antenna
5)Other competitors and their plan and their schemes

Sharing Survey
Nominal data about the site like lat-long, planned height and planned orientation.
Go to lat long and check the presence of the site.
Check the shelter space, stability, antenna height, and orientation so planned. If
there is no place in the shelter, one can use outdoor BTS.
Take pictures at 360 degrees angle.
Anchor Survey
(I)Nominal Survey
PROCEDURE FOR SITE SELECTION
Maximum height of the building is to be considered so that we can find where we
need to plan the site. But we also need to check the second highest building so that
the coverage can be given to the top floor of the highest building.
G+3N=height of site
Where G= Ground Floor (4m)
N= No. of floors
All the buildings with basement have to be taken care of, so as to finalize the tilt.
Our site should cover the maximum clutter so as to give the bets possible coverage.
While performing the survey all the area information should be collected like type of
area, clutter, major competitor, total population, and percent of mobile users.
After this orientation of GSM antenna should be planned according to the clutter.

Coverage Planning with Link Budget

Frequency Planning

Coverage and Interference

Planning

(E)GPRS Coverage Planning and Link

Budget
The (E)GPRS coverage area depends on the GSM service area
The coverage planning aspects concern the provision of
sufficient C/N ratios across the coverage area to allow for
successful data transmission (UL/DL)
Each coding scheme is suited to a particular range of C/N (or
Eb/No) for a given block error rate (BLER)
The higher the level of error protection, the lower required C/N
Due to the different C/N requirements the relative coverage
area of the coding schemes is different:
The MCS-5 coverage is approx 50% of MCS-1, while MCS-8
coverage is approx 40% of MCS-5

In urban areas coverage is not usually the limiting factor but

the interference caused by reused frequencies -> C/I
requirements

(E)GPRS Coverage Planning and Link

Budget
2.5

(E)GPRS Coverage Relative to MCS-5 (Noise

limited)

Relative Range

1.5

0.5

MCS-1MCS-2 MCS-3 MCS-4 MCS-5 MCS-6 MCS-7 MCS-8 MCS-9

Link Budget Calculation Voice/ (E)GPRS

Receiving End
Sensitivity

Cell Range

Additional fast fading margin

BS and MS antenna
height

Connector, cable and body loss

Standard deviation

Antenna gain

Building penetration
loss (BPL)

MHA and diversity (space, IUD,

IDD) gain

Transmitting End
Output power

BPL deviation
Area Type correction
factor
Location probability

Back-off
Isolator, combiner and filter
loss
Connector, cable and body loss
Tx Antenna gain

BTS Area
k*R

EGPRS and GPRS Coverage Comparison

Es/No=42.3 dB
120.8
60

132.1

138.8 143.5

Path loss [dB]

147.1 150.1 152.6 154.8

156.7 158.4

160.0

DL Throughput per TSL [Kbps]

EGPRS
50

GPRS CS1-2
GPRS CS1-4

Avera
ge
gain:
2.3

40
30

Avera
ge
gain:
3.6

20

Es/No=8.3 dB

10
0
1

Pathloss distance [km]

10

11

Frequency Planning
With Impairments

Lower C/I can reduce the

TSL data rate
significantly
The figure shows that
the TSL data rate is
around 25 kbps if the C/I
is 15 dB.

Throughput

The TSL data rate is C/I

dependent

The proper frequency

plan of GSM network is
very important to
maximize TSL data rate
C/I

Frequency Planning
Combined interference and noise estimations needed for (E)GPRS link budget
Frequency allocation and C/I level
The existing frequency allocation has high impact on EGPRS performance
Loose re-use patterns will provide better performance for all MCSs

Data rate and network capacity

EGPRS highest data rates require high C/I, typ > 20dB for MCS-7, 8 & 9
Possibly no extra spectrum for EDGE so efficient use of the existing spectrum is very
important
EGPRS traffic suited to BCCH use - typically the layer with highest C/I. But limited no. of
TSLs available on BCCH; may need to use TCH layer too

Sensitivity in tighter reuse and higher load

EDGE can utilize tighter reuse schemes and this is beneficial when planning for high load
with limited frequency resources
For systems with stringent spectrum constraints, EGPRS can offer good performance even
with tight re-use patterns (1/3 or 3/9). Load dependent

Data rate vs. CIR in Time (Field

Measurement)
Good quality environment
140

25

20

100
15

80

CIR(dB)

Throughput (kbps)

120

60

10

40

Data Throughput
Application Throughput
TEMS-C/I-GMSK
Poly. (TEMS-C/I-GMSK)

20
0

0
0

10

20

Time (s)

30

40

Data rate vs. CIR in Time (Field

Measurement)
Average quality environment
120

25

20

80
15

CIR(dB)

Throughput (kbps)

100

60

10
40
Data Throughput
Application Throughput
TEMS-C/I-GMSK
Poly. (TEMS-C/I-GMSK)

20

0
0

10

20

30

40

Time (s)

50

60

70

Data rate vs. CIR in Time (Field

Measurement)
Worse quality environment
80

Data Throughput
Application Throughput
TEMS-C/I-GMSK
Poly. (TEMS-C/I-GMSK)

70
60

18
16
14

50

12

CIR(dB)

Throughput (kbps)

20

40

10

30

8
6

20

10

0
0

50

100

Time (s)

150

Deployment Planning
The aim behind the preparation of deployment plan
Adapt the existing network configuration for (E)GPRS
Maximize the TSL data rate (RLC/MAC) and multislot usage
Minimize the impact of PSW services on CSW services (and vice
versa)
Take all the hardware and software considerations into account
Controlled investment

Most of the networks can be described by few cell/segment

options
The analysis of the different options can give exact picture about
the network based on:
Hardware types, software releases
Features, parameters
Current network structure and functionality
Coverage, quality and capacity characteristics of BSS

Deployment Plan - Cell / Segment Option

Creation
The options can cover most of the cell/segment configurations of the
network
These options can be analyzed in details, so the time consuming
cell/segment based analysis is not needed
All the options are examples and can have different channel
configuration

Deployment Plan - Cell / Segment Option

1 Analysis
Layer strategy
No multiBCF/CBCCH
GPRS and EGPRS have the same territory data rate degradation due to
multiplexing
There is not any dedicated territory (CDED) The implementation of NMO1 is
not recommended, because the MS cannot paged if there is not any GPRS
territory
GPRS Enabled is a must for all the cells with NMO1
Signaling strategy
Combined signaling structure load check is needed
TCH usage (CSW)
TRX1 has TCH/D TSLs - which can lead to heavy signaling.
The CSW calls will be allocated to FR firstly.
AMR packing more capacity for PSW traffic
TCH usage (PSW)
CDEF is 2 TSLs only - the 4 TSL DL capable terminals require territory upgrade,
which takes time

Capacity Calculations
After the network audit the following need to be
completed:
Air Interface Capacity Calculations
TSL data rate
Multislot usage
Available / required capacity calculation

BSS Connectivity Calculations

PCU calculation
Gb link calculation
PAPU and SGSN calculation

Capacity Planning Introduction

The accuracy of BTS dimensioning depends on the accuracy of
the input values
The capacity of the radio interface has a significant role in
defining the capacity of the rest of the network elements (BSC,
SGSN and transmission interfaces between the different network
elements)
Changes in the BTS configurations have direct impact on the BSC
and SGSN configuration
The BSC can handle a limited number of BTSs, TRXs and
timeslots and the PCUs have maximum data traffic limitations
and restrictions for the number of PAPU units in the SGSN

Capacity Planning Inputs

The following information should be available to define the available/required capacity:
BSC

BTS

Abis

BSC variant

TRXs

Available time slots

PCU variant

Time slots (Territory)

EDAP

Restrictions (EDAPs,
pools, DSPs)

Voice traffic load

EDAP sharing probability

TRX configuration

BTS

Signaling channels

TRX/PCM

Segment

Free timeslots (Guard

TSL)

TRX
SW version
Half rate

TRX signaling

GPRS Territory
(DED/DEF/ADD.)

Link management

Deployment

E1/T1 links

Coverage

DFCA

Interference

DTM/ HMC/ EDA

Throughput/TSL

PBCCH/ PCCCH

PCM usage

GPRS/EDGE
Data volume
Traffic mix Voice/Data

Air Interface Capacity Calculations

The capacity planning is based on calculations for:
Available capacity:
Calculation determines how much traffic is available through the current system
The calculation input is a pre-defined system configuration
The calculation output is the available traffic capacity with a defined
performance level
Alternatively, the available capacities for different alternative configurations can
be calculated

Required capacity:
It is calculated to design a network that supports the defined amount of traffic
and targeted performance level
The inputs are additional traffic volume, type, and performance requirements
The output is the needed amount of traffic dependent hardware and associated
software configurations

Air interface Capacity Calculations

Available Capacity
The air interface capacity planning is based on deployment
scenarios (PCU-1)
All the HW, SW and feature interworking are audited by the
different cell/segment options
The next step is to calculate the capacity of the air interface
related to the different cell / segment options analyzed above
The air interface capacity calculation contains the following
items:
TSL data rate estimation
PSW Multislot usage (with CSW traffic volume and free TSLs)

The TSL data rate calculations and the territory figures together
for all the cells/segments can give the calculation results of
available air interface capacity

Air Interface Capacity Planning Required

Capacity
The needed capacity is usually estimated based on assumptions
on the number of data users and on the average user traffic
during busy hour considering also different types of user profiles
Voice traffic capacity:
Half/dual rate usage
maximum allowed blocking

Data volume per cell can be calculated/estimated as the total

data volume per cell (MB/BH/Cell, avg throughput/TSL)
Using subscriber information is more complicated, data user
penetration must be known and user data amount per busy hour
must be estimated
The required capacity can be defined with dedicated time slots
(Guaranteed Bit Rate) when the data volume has been calculated

Air Interface Capacity Planning Required

Capacity
The required capacity calculation is the calculation of number of TSLs
needed for both circuit switched traffic and packet switched traffic in
each cell in order to achieve a given blocking probability for circuit
switched traffic and required throughput for packet switched traffic.
User profile for BH (example)
PSW BH traffic in kbps and in MB
CSW BH traffic in Erlang
Service Mix: e.g. 45 % Voice, 10 % Video Streaming, 20 % PoC, etc
Application

BH Traffic

BH Traffic in MB

Bearer

12 mErl

Voice

Voice channel

1(UL)/32 (DL) kbps

0.45 /2.8

32kbps

Voice
Video (Streaming) GBR
PoCTHP=ARP=1 NBR

8 (UL)/8 (DL) kbps

1.8 /1.8

8kbps

Browsing (Interactive) NBR

0.5 (UL)/3(DL) kbps

0.225/1.35

NRT

Email (Background) NBR

0.25(UL)/1(DL) kbps

0.1125/0.45

NRT

MMS (Background) NBR

0.1(UL)/0.1(DL) kbps

0.045/0.045

NRT

Traffic distribution
# of users phase by phase
Traffic density
GPRS/EGPRS multiplexing

Connectivity Capacity Planning (MS-Gb)

The aim of connectivity capacity planning is to calculate the
amount of required PCUs and allocate the sites (BCFs) among
these PCUs (BSCs) for avoiding connectivity limits and
maximizing QoS
The view here is on the chain between MS and Gb, so all the
network elements and interfaces are planned for enough
connectivity capacity
The number of required PCUs are CDEF and DAP size dependent
from physical layer point of view, while the amount of Gb links
used by PCUs is PAPU limiting factor (or the limited number of
PAPUs can limit the number of PCUs, because of Gb link limits in
PAPU).

Connectivity Planning
The connectivity planning for maximum capacity is based on the proper set of CDEF and DAP size
To provide enough capacity for territory upgrade the 75 % utilization in the connectivity limits is
recommended by Nokia

Outputs

Max
Limit*

Utilizati
on

Limi
t

Unit

256

75%

192

TSLs

EDAPs*

16

100%

16

Pcs

BTS (cell, segment)

64

100%

64

Pcs

128

100%

128

Pcs

Abis Channels (Radio and EDAP slave

TSLs)*

TRXs

(*PCU & PCU-S only handle 128 radio TSLs with S11.5, PBCCH not implemented)

The CDEF is allocated to the cells (BTSs in segment), so the too big CDEF territory will need more PCUs.
The Dynamic Abis Pool (DAP) is allocated to the sites (BCFs). Higher DAP size provides more MCS9 capable
TSLs on air interfaces, but on the other side, higher DAP size needs more capacity on E1s and more PCUs as
well.

So the proper value of CDEF on cell (BTS) level and DAP on BCF level can help to be below the 192
(96*) radio TSL limit with 75 % utilization to avoid connectivity bottlenecks even in case of territory
upgrades

*It is important to know that the PCU and PCU-S have 128 radio TSL limit with S11.5, which can cause limitations in
GPRS only networks.
**Recommended number of EDAPs per PCU1 is 1,2,4 or 8

Connectivity Limits in SGSN (SG5)

The following limits must be taken into account:
1024 PCUs can be connected to SGSN (with 16 PAPU)
64 PCUs can be connected to PAPU
3072 Gb links can be connected to SGSN (with 16 PAPU)
192 Gb links can be connected to PAPU
120 E1s can be connected to SGSN (with 16 PAPU)

Dimensioning Inputs
Network/BSC with 40 BCFs
EDGE/GPRS implementation on top of existing CS voice
3 BTSs per BCF
Site configurations & amounts
4+4+4 15 BCFs central area
2+2+2 25 BCFs surrounding area

BCF voice traffic

2+2+2 site on average has traffic of 8 Erl per BTS
4+4+4 site on average has traffic of 18 Erl per BTS
Blocking criteria 2%

Data traffic
Streaming user support requirement per BTS ~ 50 kbit/s
Average data throughput per BTS (by operator)
Central area - 200 kbit/s
Surrounding area 100 kbit/s

Other considerations
All BTSs and TRXs EDGE capable
Gb implementation planned as Frame Relay

Dimensioning Inputs
TRX and Abis Configurations
before EDGE Implementation
TRX configurations
No DR/HR implementation

Abis configurations
Each BCF has own E1

2+2+2 configuration

4+4+4 configuration

2+2+2

4+4+4

Dimensioning Inputs Deployment

Scenarios
TRX configurations
No DR/HR implementation
GTRX = Y

BTS configuration
GENA = Y, EGENA = Y, CMAX =
100 %

Abis configurations
Each BCF has own E1

Rf-environment
Average C/I = 16 dB (BCCH-layer)
Average RxLevel = -85 dBm
Average RLC/MAC throughput for
EDGE
35 kbit/s (BCCH
layer)

Typically best C/I TRX preferred

for maximum throughput
Depending on frequency plan this
can be either BCCH or TCH TRX
Features impacting location
selection:
DR RTSL location needs to be
considered with 2+2+2
configuration
DR RTSLs should not be allocated
close to GPRS territory boundary.

Dimensioning Inputs Free timeslots on

Air IF
TSL number after CS downgrade
TRX number

free TSL for CS downgrade (%)

(CSD)

70
95
99

1
0

2
1

3
1

4
1

5
2

TSL number after CS upgrade

TRX number

free TSL for CS upgrade (sec)

(CSU)

1
4
7
10

Free RTSLs between CS and PS territory required in order to serve incoming

CS calls without blocking
Table above gives free RTSLs with default parameters
CS downgrade if less RTSLs free in CS territory, PS territory downgrade triggered
CS upgrade PS territory upgrade can be triggered if at least that amount of RTSLs
free
Free TSLs for up and downgrade can be controlled by BSC parameters
free TSL for CS downgrade
free TSL for CS upgrade

Mean free RTSLs for 2 TRXs: 1.5; Mean free RTSLs for 4 TRXs: 2.5

Air Interface Available Capacity

2+2+2 configuration

4+4+4 configuration

2 TRXs, 16 RTSLs

4 TRXs, RTSLs

2 RTSLs for signaling

14 RTSLs for CS traffic

3 RTSLs for signaling

29 RTSLs for CS traffic

CS BH traffic 8 Erl per BTS all BTSs

have same BH traffic
Erlang B table 1.7% CS blocking @ BH
Mean free RTSLs = 1.5

CS BH traffic 18 Erl per BTS all BTSs

have same BH traffic
Erlang B table 0.4% CS blocking @ BH
Mean free RTSLs = 2.5

Average available for PS traffic @ CS BH

Amount_of_TRXs*8 - signaling_RTSLs
CS_BH_traffic-free_RTSLs =
2*8-2-8-1.5 =4.5 RTSLs

Average available for PS traffic @ CS BH

Amount_of_TRXs*8 - signaling_RTSLs
CS_BH_traffic-free_RTSLs =
4*8-3-18-2.5 = 8.5 RTSLs

Average PS traffic @ CS BH
4.5*35 kbit/s = 157.5 kbit/s (> 100 kbit/s)

Average PS traffic @ CS BH
8.5*35 kbit/s = 297.5 kbit/s (> 200 kbit/s)

Air Interface Available Capacity (Default

Territory Size)
2+2+2 territory
considerations

4+4+4 territory
considerations

MS multislot capability (4 RTSLs)

Data throughput 100 kbit/s
Air interface 35 kbit/RTSL

MS multislot capability (4 RTSLs)

Data throughput 200 kbit/s
Air interface 35 kbit/RTSL

=> RTSLs to support 100 kbit/s

100/35 = 2.9 TSLs ~ 3 RTSLs

=> RTSLs to support 200 kbit/s

200/35 = 5.7 TSLs ~ 6 RTSLs

Default territory size

Max(MS_multislot, traffic) = 4
RTSLs

Default territory size

Max(MS_multislot, traffic) = 6
RTSLs

Air Interface Required Capacity

(Dedicated Territory Size)
Streaming user support required per BTS (one streaming user)
Streaming requires 50 kbit/s
=> (50kbit/s)/(35 kbit/s/RTSL) = 2 RTSLs needs to be dedicated
(CDED) per BTS in order to support streaming
2+2+2 configuration
Available RTSLs for CS traffic per BTS
14 2 (CDED) = 12 RTSLs
Traffic per BTS = 8 Erl
Erlang B (8Erl, 12 TSLs) = 5.1% CS
blocking

5.1% > 2% - NOK

Needed channels for 2% CS blocking
Erlang B (8Erl,2%) = 14 channels
Either 2 more RTSLs (DR/HR) are needed
or one new TRX
Capacity increase done with DR RTSLs

4+4+4 configuration
Available RTSLs for CS traffic per BTS
29-2 (CDED) = 27 RTSLs
Traffic per BTS = 18 Erl
Erlang B (18Erl, 27 TSLs) = 1.1% CS
blocking
1.1% < 2% - OK

Air Interface Calculations Summary

2+2+2 configurations

4+4+4 configurations

Territory located in BCCH TRX

Territory located in BCCH TRX

2 RTSL dedicated territory to

support streaming

2 RTSL dedicated territory per

BTS for streaming support

4 RTSL default territory for

2+2+2 configuration

6 RTSL default territory for

4+4+4 configuration

2 additional DR RTSLs needed to

get blocking less than 2%

No additional DR RTSLs or TRXs

needed

Connectivity Capacity - EDAP Size

Considerations

EGDE resources

Non-EGDE resources

Cell A & B resources

Cell A

Cell C resources

TRXs grouped by function

TRXs grouped by cells

One EDAP 9TSL

Two EDAPs 8 TSL and 6 TSL

Connectivity Capacity - EDAP Summary

2+2+2 configuration

4+4+4 configuration

EDAP size 6 TSLs

EDAP size 9 TSLs

EDAP fits in existing E1

EDGE TRXs grouped for same E1

A new E1 needed for each 4+4+4
BCF -> need for 15 new E1s

Connectivity Capacity - PCU Planning

Considerations
Target is to calculate the optimal number of PCUs to serve the
given network.
PCU utilization 75% (25% connectivity for territory upgrdaes)
Recommended number of EDAPs per PCU is 1,2,4 or 8
The optimal number of EDAPs and associated default RTSL is
calculated for each PCU configuration.
E.g. up to 5 EDAPs of size 6 TSL serving three cells each having
default territory size 4 RTSL can be allocated to PCU without
exceeding the 75%.
To full fill the 1,2,4 and 8 recommendation the number of EDAPs
would be 4

Connectivity Capacity - PCU

Configurations and Requirements
Table below lists possible PCU combinations

4+4+4 configurations -> 3 sites per PCU has too low load, 4 too low
2+2+2 configuration -> 5 sites per PCU provides reasonable load

When considering total network, 15 (4+4+4) and 25 (2+2+2)

configurations one possibility is to have
5 PCUs with 1 (2+2+2) and 3 (4+4+4) configurations
4 PCUs with 5 (2+2+2) configurations