features that double GSM capacity Operators who serve a rising demand for voice capacity in megacities are suffering from declining network quality. Typically, the only option is to reduce the radio interference by lowering antenna heights and by adding new BTS sites. A new, cheaper option is to add BTS site capacity through software upgrades while maintaining consistent network quality.
Software pushes the limits of
radio interference The amount of interference a system can handle limits the amount of calls per frequency it can process. Better interference cancellation increases call capacity. Two recent software based radio features, Dynamic Frequency Channel Allocation (DFCA) and Orthogonal Sub-Channel (OSC) use new algorithms to push the boundaries. DFCA Nokia Siemens Networks unique DFCA application software feature adds up to 100% BTS site capacity in synchronized BTS clusters limited by downlink interference. Downlink interference means that mobiles do not receive the BTS signal clearly. Radio channels are allocated based on real-time interference measurements. DFCA predicts the carrier-to-interference ratio for every channel candidate and then selects the best channel. Different channel modes can tolerate different levels of background noise, and channel modes depend on handset capabilities. Enhanced Full Rate (EFR) is a sensitive channel mode that requires a high carrier-tointerference ratio: it needs a quiet channel. Adaptive Multirate Full Rate (AMR FR) is a robust mode and accepts more background noise. DFCA finds the best channels for modes like EFR and AMR hiding their different noise sensitivity from users. Unlike switching channels on television where volumes suddenly go up
and down GSM users get a
higher uniform quality voice even as channels are switched in the background. More importantly, network capacity can be doubled while maintaining the network quality. OSC While DFCA adds site capacity, the OSC application software feature adds up to 100% voice capacity in BTS cells experiencing traffic channel blockage (more traffic channels requested than available). The idea behind OSC is to allocate up to four end users into one GSM radio timeslot; this is called the Dual Half Rate concept (DHR). This is achieved by adopting a quaternary modulation scheme (QPSK) instead of the classical modulation scheme used in GSM (GMSK) in downlink, from the BTS to the mobile. In uplink direction, the BTS can decode the signals of twice the number of mobiles thanks to multiuser MIMO functionality. On the mobile side, for OSC to work, Single Antenna Interference Cancellation (SAIC) is required. Most of the handsets currently available in the market support
SAIC, thereby providing immediate
benefits from the OSC. The first regions we analyzed showed that six out of ten handsets supported SAIC. Also, BTS sites with activated OSC consume up to 50% less energy and reduce CO2 emissions up to 50% - making GSM networks greener. World-firsts quickly gaining ground Nokia Siemens Networks launched DFCA and OSC in 2010 to help operators increase voice capacities with software upgrades. Today, we have 34 DFCA customers and real life BTS site capacity can be more than doubled with the DFCA feature. The first pre-commercial live network OSC implementations have proven the Dual Half Rate concept, and first indications of the BTS site capacity increase is one third when SAIC handset penetration is around 60%. Nokia Siemens Networks connects 2.3 billion of the worlds 4.1 bn GSM subscribers in 325 GSM networks and 229 EDGE networks. Copyright 2010 Nokia Siemens Networks.