RADIO PLANNING METHODOLOGY

O verall p icture It is im p ortant to crea te an ove rall picture of the ne tw ork be fore going into the deta iled ne tw ork p la nning. This is the fa ct the m ain ob jective of this presentation. C overag e C ap acity and Q uality Provid ing coverag e is usually conside red as the m ost im p orta nt a ctivity of a ne w cellula r op era tor. For a w hile , every netw ork is indeed coverage driven. How ever the coverag e is not the only thing. It provides the m eans of service a nd should m eet certa in q uality m e asure s. The starting p oint is a set of covera ge q ua lity req uirem e nts. To guarantee a g ood quality in b oth uplink a nd dow nlink direction, the p ow er levels of BTS and M S should be ba la nce d at the ed ge of the ce ll. M a in outp ut re sults of the pow er link b udge t a re: - M axim um pa th loss that ca n b e tolerated b etw een M S and the BTS. - M axim um outp ut p ow er level of the BTS tra nsm itter.

RADIO PLANNING METHODOLOGY

Th e se v a lu e s a re c a lc u la te d a s a re su lt o f d e sig n c o n stra in ts. - BTS a n d M S re c e iv e r se n sitiv ity. - M S o u tp u t p o w e r le v e l - A n te n n a G a in - D iv e rsity re c e p tio n - Lo sse s in c o m b in e rs, c a b le s e tc . Th e c e ll ra n g e s a re d e riv e d w ith p ro p a g a tio n lo ss fo rm u la s su c h a s O ku m a ra H a ta o r W a lfisc h Ike g a m i, w h ic h a re sim p ly to u se . G iv e n a m a xim u m p a th lo ss, d iffe re n c e s in th e o p e ra tin g e n v iro n m e n t a n d th e q u a lity ta rg e ts w ill re su lt in d iffe re n t c e ll ra n g e s. Th e tra ffic c a p a c ity re q u ire m e n t h a v e to b e c o m b in e d w ith th e c o v e ra g e re q u ire m e n ts, b y a llo c a tin g fre q u e n c ie s. Th is a lso m a y h a v e im p a c t o n th e c e ll ra n g e .

COVERAGE PLANNING STRATEGIES

The selection of site configurations, antenna and cables in the core of the coverage planning strategy. The right choice w ill provide cost saving and guarantees sm ooth netw ork evolution. Som e typical configurations are : - 3 sector site for (sub)urban areas - 2 sector site for road coverage. - O m ni site for rural areas. These are not the ultim ate solutions, decisions should be based on careful analysis. C ell Range and C overage A rea : For any site configurations, the cell ranges can be determ ined given the equipm ent losses and gains. The site coverage areas can be calculated then and these w ill lead to required num ber of sites for a given coverage region. This m akes it possible to estim ate the cost, eg. Per km 2, to be used for strategic decisions After getting the overall picture, the actual detailed radio netw ork planning is done w ith a RNP tool.

RADIO PLANNING METHODOLOGY

Marketing specifications Define design rules and parameters. Set performance targets. Design nominal cell plan. Implement cell plan. Produce frequency plan. Optimize network. Monitor performances.

METHODOLOGY EXPLAINED
Define design rules and parameters - Identify design rules to meet coverage and capacity targets efficiently - Acquire software tools and databases - Calibrate propagation models from measurements. Set performance targets - Clear statement of coverage requirements (rollout and quality) - Forecast traffic demand and distribution. - Test business plan for different roll out scenarios and quality levels. Design nominal cell plan. - Use computer tool to place sites to meet coverage an d capacity targets. - Verify feasibility of meeting service requirements - Ensure a frequency plan can be made for the design. - Estimate equipment requirement and cost. - Develop implementation and resource plans (including personal requirements) - Radio plan will provide input to fixed network planning.

METHODOLOGY EXPLAINED
Implement Cell plan - Identify physical site locations near to nominal or theoretical locations, using search areas. - Modify nominal design as theoretical sites are replaced with physical sites - Modify search areas in accordance with envolving network. Produce Frequency Plan - Fixed Cluster configration, can be done manually. - Flexible, based on interference matrix using an automatic tool.

METHODOLOGY EXPLAINED
Optimize the network - Campaign of measurements - Analyze results - Adjust network parameters such as : antenna directions, handover parameters, and frequencies. Expand the network - In accordance with rollout requirements - In accordance with forecast traffic levels - To improve coverage quality. - To maintain blocking performances.

RF Planning Process
1 Understand the Customers requirements Coverage requirements In building coverage experiments Initial Roll out plans Pre determined number of sites ? 2 Survey Traffic Distribution and Pattern Growth areas High density business/ residential areas Propagation tests for in building coverage estimates and model calibrations 3. Prepare Planning Tool Get Digitized maps Load maps in the planning tool. Use survey data and run the programme.

RF Planning Process
4. Draft Plan Divide the city into number of regionsBusy business areas Areas that need excellent inbuilding coverage areas Use appropriate model and link budgets to calculate the number of sites required per region. 5. Fine Tune plan. Perform more with drive test, confirm plan predictions. Review plan with customer and fine tune the plan.

RF Planning Process
Understanding Customer Requirements : What are the boundaries for the network ? Are there any special pockets to be covered due to Govt. requirements ? What are the areas in which medium to average in building coverage is acceptable ? What are the areas where excellent in building coverage is needed ? Areas with high growth potential Need colonies under development High revenue areas Shopping malls , offices complex, industrial estates etc.

RF Planning Process
In itia l Im p le m e n ta tio n S tra te g y : H ig h u sa g e , h ig h re v e n u e u se rs first ? H ig h e n d re sid e n tia l a n d b u sin e ss a re a s ? S tre e t c o v e ra g e first ? S p e c ia l a re a s lik e 5 sta r h o te l, c o m m e rc ia l b u ild in g w ith fin e in b u ild in g c o v e ra g e ? H ig h w a y c o v e ra g e c ritic a l ? To ta l c o v e ra g e o n d a y o n e ? N u m b e r o f site s m o re th a n th e c o m p e titio n ? A n y B u d g e t Lim ita tio n s ? G iv e a n id e a l p la n to sta rt w ith . Le t th e c u sto m e r c u t c o rn e rs. N o t a n e a sy jo b !!

RF Planning Process
City Surveys : Basically a scouting exercise Looking for :Major traffic routes Markets Business Centres Shopping malls General customer behaviors Telephone density Congested areas with narrow lanes Narrow water canals/lakes/ponds General city layout Prestigious residential areas. VIP areas Parks/ playground/open areas. General Building types.. Multistoried, Row houses, apartments, colonies etc. Airport coverage

In building Coverage Surveys : Classify BuildingsHotel/restaurants Commercial Industrial Residential Shopping malls/markets Propagation tests in a number of buildings in each variety. Rf signal on road Vs. inside building gives building penetration loss. Repeat tests in as many buildings as possible to get an estimate of building loss for the area. In building coverage affected mostly in ground floor/basement Typical values (examples only) : > Hotel restaurants 15 dB > Commercial buildings 20 dB > Shopping malls 15 dB > Industrial Estates 12-15 dB > Residential buildings 15-20 dB > Old/Historical buildings 25-30 dB

RF Planning Surveys

RF Propagation Test Kits

Battery powered Transmitter. Portable mast Transmit antenna Receiver TEMS mobile 10 or 20 Watts output : frequency in GSM 900/1800 Mhz. Adjustable upto 5 m. With 1 m antenna on top, effective height above ground is 6 m. High gain omni or directional antenna as required Hand held mobile phone with RS232 connection to a laptop. Or an accurate portable RF sensitivity meter / CW receiver if model calibration is required. GPS system, with PCMCIA card Laptop PC with TEMS software and GPS software Calibrated cable lengths (10 m) of low loss feeder with known attenuation values; 12 Volts battery with appropriate cable to connect to transmitter.

Positioning system Computer Cables accessories

Power meter, VSWR meter.

Planning Tool preparation and Model Calibration :

RF Planning Tool

There are many planning tool available toaday : PLANET (MSI) Cell Cad (LCC) Odessy (Aethos) Asset (Aircom) NetPlan (Motorola) A planning tool Should be : Easy to use Compatible with tools like TEMS Minimum hardware requirements. Economical. Maps collected from authorized sources. 1:50000 or 1:25000 scale 50 m resolution for macro Less than 30 m resolution for Micro cell planning using Ray tracing Tool Maps are digitized under 3 categories : LandUse Digital Terrain Map Vectors (Roads, Railways, etc.)

Planning Tool preparation and Model Calibration :

RF Planning Tool

Most Planning tools use corrections for the land use or clutter. Propagation Model tuned by assigning the values to Clutter factor (Gain or Loss due to clutter ) Clutter Heights (for diffraction modeling) Different types of clutter are defined in these models/ tools 1. Dense Urban 2. Urban 3. Suburban 4. Suburban with Dense Vegetation 5. Rural 6. Industrial area 7. Utilities (marshalling yards, docks, container depots etc. ) 8. Open area 9. Quasi Open Area 10.Forest 11.Water Too many clutter type definitation complicate planning process 10 to 15 is typical.

Planning Tool preparation and Model Calibration :

RF Planning Tool

DTM Provided by the map vendor Provides contour information as a digital map. Vectors Highways Main Roads Railways Canals / water ways. Coast line Rivers. Each categories is digitized as different layer Displayed separately if required Map information is set up in the planning tool. Model calibration carried out.

All tools have provision for manipulating clutter values. Different tools have different directory structures and means of handling geographical data. The procedure mainly talks about ensuring correct data header files to include. BTS location EIRP of BTS Antenna Type BTS antenna height Description of surrounding area.

Model Calibration

Procedure uses a general core model equation : The equation has constant k1 to k6 and a constant of clutter, kclutter Initial values for the constants are set as per the model chosen (say Okumara Hata ) PLANET programme is run repeatedly to make RMS error values for all data files ZERO or a minimum. For each run of the programme, the values of k1 to k6 are manipulated. This completes model calibration.

Link Budget and other Steps

Key Points To be Considered : Coverage Probability Expected inbuilding coverage Edge probability Fade margin required Maximum permissible path loss ( from the link Budget ) What is the radius of the cell ? Number of sites required (from coverage point of view ) Is the number of sites calculated as above adequate for capacity ? Decide on more sites for capacity.

Capacity Calculations
Capacity calculations : Check if number of sites is enough to give capacity. Depends on Spectrum available This decides the site configuration. Availability of features like frequency hopping etc. If Capacity is not met, add more sites. If number of site is not OK with the customer, then :Recalculate site density, for 50 % in building coverage in place of 75 %

Fine Tune The Plan

Use Planning tool to return Coverage predictions Iterate the process in consultation with the customer. Finalize Plan and document it. Search Areas Planner issues search areas for each site location with information on : Location Lat/Long Antenna heights Specific target areas if any Size of search areas Size acquisition team scouts for buildings. 3-5 alternatives preferred.

Site Selection
Central Business area Small Search areas (100 m) Avoid near field obstruction. Antenna at or slightly above the average clutter height. Orientation is critical. Try solid structure (lift room ) for antenna mounting. This helps reduce backlobe radiation problems Avoid towers on building tops. This reduces interference to neighbouring cells. Residential suburban areas : Larger search areas (200 m) Location not very critical. Antenna 3-5 metres above average clutter height. Antenna orientation less critical.

Site Selection
Industrial area : A suitable central location. Avoid proximity to electrical installations like towers, transformers etc. Towers are common Quasi / open Highways Larger search areas (500 m) Limited by terrain and not the clutter. Hilly areas need care. Highways need closer search areas along road. Tall sites give better coverage.

Extending Cell Range

Extended cell range reduces number of sites. Cell range improvement achieved through : BTS transmit power enhancement BTS sensitivity enhancement Combination of both

Extending Cell Range

Improving BTS receiver sensitivity : Better devices in the BTS receiver. Using Mast Head amplifiers with very low noise figures. Better RF cables.