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Mentum Planet User Guide PDF
Mentum Planet User Guide PDF
User Guide
version 5.3.1
Copyright © 2011
Notice
This document contains confidential and proprietary information of Mentum S.A. and may not be
copied, transmitted, stored in a retrieval system, or reproduced in any format or media, in whole or in
part, without the prior written consent of Mentum S.A. Information contained in this document
supersedes that found in any previous manuals, guides, specifications data sheets, or other
information that may have been provided or made available to the user. This document is provided
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WARRANTIES, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THOSE OF
MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, WITH RESPECT TO
THIS DOCUMENT OR THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN.
Trademark Acknowledgement
Mentum, Mentum Planet, Mentum Ellipse, Mentum Fusion, Mentum CellPlanner, and Mentum
LinkPlanner are registered trademarks owned by Mentum S.A. MapInfo Professional is a registered
trademark of PB MapInfo Corporation. iBwave is a trademark owned by iBwave. This document
may contain other trademarks, trade names, or service marks of other organizations, each of which
is the property of its respective owner.
Chapter 1 Introduction 1
Features of Mentum Planet 2
Project Explorer 2
Site Editor 2
Traffic Map Generator 2
Interference Matrix Generator 2
Neighbor Plan Generator 3
Network Data Import Wizard 3
Survey Data tool 3
Subscriber Settings 3
Data Manager 3
Microwave Links 4
MapInfo Professional 4
Using this documentation 5
User documentation updates 5
Online Help 5
Documentation library 7
Notational conventions 7
Textual conventions 7
Organization of this user guide 9
This User Guide provides an overview of the full life cycle of a wireless
network, and includes information on the tools and procedures that are
common to all network technologies. Many procedures, for example network
analyses, are dependent on the technology being used, and are not included in
this User Guide. For more information on technology-specific procedures, see
the appropriate User Guide.
Below is a list of some of the main features of Mentum Planet. This list is not
comprehensive. For a detailed feature list, go to the Mentum web site at
http://www.mentum.com.
Project Explorer
The Project Explorer organizes all components of a project into a hierarchical
structure, enabling you to easily manage all project-related data including sites,
project information, network analyses, network data, and surveys. You can sort
components such as sites and antenna patterns by their characteristics and manage
support documents such as census tract data, capacity planning information, or RF
design review documents. Shortcut menus give you quick access to a wide variety of
commands.
Site Editor
The Site Editor brings together all the parameters you need to specify when defining
base station technologies, sites, and sectors. This includes the link configuration, the
implementation settings as well as general site and sector settings.
are required input for the Neighbor List Generator and the Automatic
Frequency Preamble and Perm Base Planning tool.
Subscriber Settings
The Subscriber Settings dialog box contains all the parameters you need to
define the characteristics of your network subscribers including the mobile
equipment and services they use as well as the Quality of Service thresholds.
Data Manager
The Data Manager enables you to store data centrally and manage projects
more efficiently, thus facilitating project collaboration and data sharing.
Microwave Links
You can visualize microwave transmission links within the context of your Mentum
Planet projects and perform basic microwave planning tasks when designing your
wireless network.
Using the shortcut menus that are accessible within the Microwave category in the
Project Explorer, you can create microwave links between sites by selecting the
sites in the Project Explorer Sites category and using the shortcut commands and
you can view links in the Map window.
MapInfo Professional
Mentum Planet includes a full version of MapInfo Professional, an industry standard
mapping tool that gives you access to a full suite of raster and vector analysis tools,
cartographic-quality tools, and advanced thematic mapping capabilities. For a list of
new features in MapInfo 10.5, see the MapInfo Professional User Guide located in the
mapinfo folder within the Mentum Planet installation folder.
http://www.pbinsight.com/support/product-documentation.
All product information is available through the online Help. You access online
Help using the Help menu or context-sensitive Help from within a dialog box by
pressing the F1 key. If you want to view the online Help for a specific panel or
tab, click in a field or list box to activate the panel or tab before you press the
F1 key. The following sections describe the structure of the online Help.
Online Help
From the Help menu, you can access online Help for Mentum Planet software
and for MapInfo Professional. This section describes the structure of the
Mentum Planet online Help.
The online Help provides extensive help on all aspects of software use. It
provides
The following sections provide details about the resources available through the
online Help.
Resource Roadmap
When you first use the online Help, start with the Resource Roadmap. It describes
the types of resources available in the online Help and explains how best to use
them. It includes a step-by-step guide that walks you through the available
resources.
Knowledge Base
You can access the Knowledge Base maintained by the Customer Care group by
clicking the Knowledge Base button on the online Help toolbar or by choosing the
Knowledge Base command from the Help menu. The Knowledge Base contains
current information on Mentum products such as How To procedures as well as
solutions to issues.
Printing
Library Search
You can perform a full-text search on all PDF files contained in the Mentum Planet
documentation library if you are using a version of Adobe Reader that supports full-
text searches. The PDF files are located in the Mentum\Planet\Help\User Guides
folder.
You can also perform a search on all online Help topics by clicking the Search tab in
the Help window. Type a keyword, and click List Topics to display all Help topics that
contain the keyword. The online Help duplicates the information found in the User
Guide PDF files in order to provide more complete results. It does not duplicate
the information in the Release Notes, or Glossary.
User Guides
All User Guides for Mentum Planet software is easily accessible as part of the
online Help.
Documentation library
Mentum Planet comes with an extensive library of User Guides in PDF format.
You can access PDF versions of the user guides by navigating to the Help/User
Guides folder within the Mentum Planet installation folder or by choosing the
Guides command from the Mentum Planet Help menu.
Notational conventions
This section describes the textual conventions and icons used throughout this
documentation.
Textual conventions
Special text formats are used to highlight different types of information. The
following table describes the special text conventions used in this document.
Each chapter in this guide provides details about how to perform a step in the
planning process and explains how it relates to the other steps. Before you
begin, you should read the “Understanding...” sections in each chapter for an
overview of the planning process.
Saving projects 19
Restoring projects 20
n configure and place sites. See “Working with Sites and Sectors”.
n generate predictions. See “Generating Predictions”.
n use the Tabular Editor to modify data. See “ Using the Tabular
Editor”.
n export project data to Excel or Comma Separates Values (.csv)
files. See "Importing and Exporting Data”.
A generic project, like a technology-specific project, contains and organizes all of the
information pertaining to a particular wireless network. At a minimum, a project is
created from a heights file (i.e., a Digital Elevation Model) although you can also
include clutter information (i.e., land use) in a project.
A project also contains the results of predictions made on the basis of this
information.
NOTE: For information on technology-specific projects, see the user guide for
the technology you are using. User Guides are available in the Help folder
within the Mentum Planet installation folder.
NOTE: You can rename a generic technology to better suit your requirements.
For example, in the Network Settings dialog box, on the General tab, you
change the technology name from Generic to DVB-H.
The Project Wizard leads you through the process of creating a project.
In order to streamline design work, you can specify that the Wizard automatically
displays when you start Mentum Planet. If you want Mentum Planet to automatically
open the last project, instead of the Project Wizard, in the Startup Options section of
the User Preferences dialog box, choose the Open Most Recent Project option.
You can use remote project folders to store and access Mentum Planet project data.
For example, you can use shared project folders for the following types of project
files to conserve disk space on your workstation:
n pathloss files
n signal (field) strength files
n prediction view files
By default, these files are saved in the local project folder. If you use shared project
folders, the project files are stored in the shared folders, instead of the local project
folder. The shared folders must have read/write access permissions for all Mentum
Planet users accessing the shared folders.
If you are using shared folders and do not enable the corresponding check box in the
Sharing section of the Advanced Options tab in the Project Settings dialog box, the
shared path is not stored in Data Manager when you check in the project. For any
Data Manager users who perform a Get on the project, all data will be stored within
their local project folder.
When you create a project, you can choose to use a workspace to save your map
window settings, although this is not required. You can also choose the coordinate
system.
By default, the Project Wizard opens when you start Mentum Planet. To
use the wizard at any other time, choose File ► New Project.
On the Choose Default Settings for Each Enabled Technology page, the
Generic.xls file containing default project settings is displayed. Default
settings are saved in the <Mentum Planet installation
folder>\Global\Technologies folder. If you want to customize the default
settings to use each time a new project is created, you can modify the
Generic.xls file.
4 Click Next.
The folder you define for geodata can be located within the project
folder although it doesn’t have to be. In order to save disk space, the
geodata folder can be located on a server or in a common location
where multiple users can access it. At a minimum, it must, however,
contain a Heights folder and a Clutter folder. The Heights folder must contain
the primary elevation file but the Clutter folder can be empty.
6 Click Next.
7 Click Finish.
NOTE: When you create a project, default propagation model (.pmf) files and
default antenna (.paf) files are copied to the project folder.
TIP: To open the Project Settings dialog box once a project is open, choose Edit
Project Settings, or click the Project Settings button on the Network toolbar.
TIP: To make a copy of an existing project, close the existing project and copy the
contents of its project folder to a new project folder. It is not recommended that you
create the new project folder as a subfolder of the existing project folder. In the new
project folder, you can delete large folders (e.g., Bin, SignalStrength, and
PredictionView) or you can elect not to copy them because Mentum Planet
automatically recreates these folders. Once your new project folder is
populated, open it in Mentum Planet and rename it using Edit Project
Settings Name. Finally, save, close, and re-open the renamed project.
If you want Mentum Planet to automatically open the last project, choose the Open
Most Recent Project option on the General panel in the User Preferences dialog box.
If you do not want the last project to open, choose the None option.
To open a project
1 Do one of the following:
2 In the Open dialog box, locate the project you want to open, and click
Open.
TIP: To view two projects side-by-side, you can open multiple instances of Mentum
Planet on your workstation.
TIP: Create a shortcut to your Mentum Planet project (.planet) file to quickly open
projects that you use often.
Saving projects
You can save project data at any time without closing a project. It is
recommended that you save your project periodically in order to avoid the loss
of data in the event of a network or system failure. You can also save a named
backup of your project. This can be useful if you want to save the project at
various stages in the network development.
To save a project
To back up a project
1 Choose File Back Up Project.
Project data is saved in the named folder within the Backup folder.
Restoring projects
Each time you open or save a project, a copy of the project is saved in the Backup
folder within the project folder. When a project has been terminated abnormally, you
can choose to restore the last opened version of the project or the last saved version
of the project.
Do not open a .planet file saved in the Backup folder. Backup .planet files should only
be opened from the Restore Project Files dialog box.
To restore a project
1 Start Mentum Planet.
3 Click the Browse button next to the Restore Project Files From box
and navigate to the .planet file saved in the Backup folder within the
project folder, and then click OK.
4 Click the Browse button next to the Restore Project Files To box
and navigate to the original folder where project files were saved, and
then click OK.
After you define site and sector properties, you can place your sites. If you are
using the same site configuration for many sites, you can save a site template,
which simplifies the process of site placement.
Choosing sites 24
Grouping sites 26
2 From the list of layers, choose your site file and click the Layer
Properties button at the top of the dialog box.
Click the Help button for more information on the Label Display tab.
Note that the Label Partial Objects parameter does not apply
to labels for sites or other point objects.
You can create complex labels that combine several pieces of information by
choosing Expression from the Label With list in the Layer Properties dialog box.
For information on how to create the expression you need, press the F1 key.
Choosing sites
There are several methods available in Mentum Planet for choosing sites. You can:
When you choose a site using the Select tool, only one sector is selected. If you want
to choose all of the sectors in a site, you must choose the sectors using the Marquee,
Radius, or Polygon Select tools or use the Select in Map window command from the
Project Explorer.
When more than one layer is displayed in a Map window, you can only make
selections using the Select tools on objects that are on the uppermost layer.
Mentum Planet automatically sets the project defaults so that the site table
and editable map layers added to the Map window are selectable. Therefore, if
you have opened several map layers, use the Layer Control to make these
layers unselectable in order to facilitate the selection process or ensure the
site table is the uppermost selectable layer.
You can also view currently selected objects in a Browser window to ensure
that the correct objects (sites and sectors) are chosen. Choose Window
New Browser Window and choose Selection in the Browser Table dialog box.
1 Click any of the following buttons on the Main toolbar and then
click in the Map window or drag the mouse pointer to select
multiple sites:
n Select tool
n Polygon Select tool
n Marquee Select tool
Grouping sites
By grouping sites, you can organize how sites are displayed in the Project Explorer.
This makes it easier to work with sites. You can group sites by the following
properties:
n antenna pattern
n propagation model
n technology
3 Right-click the group to which you want to add the copied sectors
and choose Paste.
You can also drag the grouped sites to the new group.
n Enable the Select From List check box and, in the Find list, choose
the site you want to find.
n Type the site ID in the Find box.
3 In the Zoom Width box, define the width of the map view.
NOTE: You can also choose Edit Find Site from the main menu to open the
Find Site dialog box.
At the site level, all the sectors will be selected in the Map window. At
the sector level, the chosen sector will be selected in the Map window.
TIP: You can select multiple sites or sectors in the Project Explorer by
pressing the Ctrl key and selecting multiple sites or sectors. When you choose
Select in Map Window, the chosen sites or sectors will be highlighted.
Queries can be local or, if you are working in a collaborative work environment,
shared using Data Manager.
TIP: To identify cdma2000 sectors that are within the Toronto region that use
Band Class 0A, you could create the query:
4 In the Query Clauses section, choose the elements of the query from
the following lists:
6 Once you have defined your query, from the View Result In list,
choose one of the following options:
NOTE: To calculate the number of sites and sectors that satisfy each query,
from the Queries node in the Project Explorer, right-click and choose Update
Count.
TIP: You can quickly create new queries by right-clicking an existing query
and choosing Create Copy.
TIP: You can also double-click on a site to open the Site Editor.
1 In the Project Explorer, expand the Sites node, right-click the sites
or sectors you want to copy into a group, and choose Copy.
3 Right-click the group to which you want to add the sites or sectors, and
choose Paste.
The selected sites are added to the group or the selected sectors are added to
the group under the original site name.
NOTE: To add sites or sectors to a group, you can also drag sites or sectors onto a
group under the Groups node.
2 Right-click the sector upon which you want the new sector based
and choose Clone.
3 In the Clone Sector dialog box, in the New Sector Name box,
type a name for the sector.
4 Click OK.
The new sector is added to the same site as the original sector.
All site and sector parameters will be swapped (i.e., the site and sector
parameters for Site A will be copied to Site B and vice-versa)
To rename a site
1 In the Project Explorer, in the Sites category, right-click the
site and choose Rename.
The sites list is ordered alphabetically or numerically, depending on the site ID.
n To delete one site, in the Map window, choose the site, right-
click and choose Delete, and then click Delete to confirm the
deletion.
n To delete multiple sites, in the Map window, use the selection
tools to choose the sites you want to delete, and then right-
click and choose Delete. In the Delete dialog box, click
Delete for each site you want to delete.
2 In the Site Editor, in the tree view, choose the sector you want
to modify.
4 From the Antenna list, choose the antenna you want to use with
the sector.
Only antennas that are displayed in the Antennas node are available.
2 If the Grid Analysis and Drawing toolbars are not visible, choose
View Toolbars, enable the Grid Analysis and Drawing check
boxes in the Show column, and click OK.
3 If the Map window does not contain a suitable polygon object, such as a
county or census district, click the Polygon button on the Drawing
toolbar, and draw a polygon enclosing the area in which you want to
find the highest point.
4 On the Grid Analysis toolbar, click the Find Maximum Point button
and choose the polygon in the Map window.
A point object is generated on the cosmetic layer, showing the point of highest
elevation within the polygon. To obtain the location coordinates, double-click
on the point object.
NOTE: If you drew the polygon, select it in the Map window, press the DELETE key
to remove it, and make the location of the highest point more visible.
NOTE: To delete the point object, choose the object in the Map window, and
press the DELETE key to remove it.
3 If the Map window does not contain a suitable line object, such as
a road, click the Line button on the Drawing toolbar, and draw
the line for which you want to measure the direction.
A label is added to the Map window showing the angle of the line with
respect to true north.
NOTE: To delete the label, in the Windows category of the Project Explorer,
expand the Windows node, and choose the cosmetic layer. Right-click and
choose Clear Objects.
4 In the Angle box, type the direction of the line in degrees with respect
to true north.
6 Click in the Map window where you want the line to begin.
7 If you want to draw another line, modify the Angle and Distance values
as needed, and click in the Map window at the start point of the line.
8 When you have finished drawing lines, close the Draw Angle dialog
box.
Groups are organized in the Project Explorer according to whether or not they
are used with Data Manager:
When you add or remove a site or sector from a group, or delete an entire
group, the sectors are not removed from the Sites list in the Project Explorer.
The group is added to either the Local or Shared node, under the Groups
node in the Project Explorer.
3 Choose one or more sites or sectors from the Sites list or from
another group and drag them to the group.
TIP: You can also right-click either Local or Shared and choose New to create a new
group under the chosen node.
TIP: You can also choose one or more sites or sectors in the Project Explorer, right-
click and choose Copy, then right-click the group and choose Paste.
A new layer is created in the Map window that shows only the sites in the group. For
information on working with map layers, see the appropriate User Guide for the
technology you are using.
You can also use the Tabular Editor to quickly edit sector group assignments.
For more information, see the appropriate User Guide for the technology you
are using.
To rename a group
1 In the Project Explorer, in the Sites category, right-click the
group and choose Rename.
To delete a group
1 In the Project Explorer, in the Sites category, expand Groups,
right-click the group and choose Delete.
The group is deleted from the Groups node in the Project Explorer, but
the sites and sectors in the group are not deleted.
2 In the Site Editor dialog box, in the tree view, choose the sector you
want to edit.
4 In the Groups section, enable the check boxes next to those groups to
which you want this sector to belong.
5 Click OK.
Once you have assigned flag conditions to your sectors, you can enable
specific flags using the check boxes under the Flags node in the Project
Explorer. When you enable a flag condition in the Project Explorer, the flag icon
changes from gray to color, indicating that the flag has active conditions.
When you right-click the Flags node in the Project Explorer and choose a
command, only the sectors that have been assigned conditions for the enabled
flags will be used.
Example
If you wanted to generate predictions for a new network based on sector
status and location, you could create the flags and conditions shown in Figure
3.3 .
Figure 3.3: Flags node in the Project Explorer. In this example, there are 3
sites (6 sectors) that satisfy the flag conditions.
You would then assign one Status flag condition and one Location flag
condition to each sector in your network. Figure 1.3 shows how you would
assign a Status of Active and a Location of South to a sector.
You could then generate predictions based on both the status and location of a
sector. For example, if you only wanted to generate predictions for active sectors
located in the central or south, you would enable the Active condition for the Status
flag and the Central and South conditions for the Location flag, as shown in
Figure 1.2. In this example, the flag filter would identify sites where the Location flag
is Central OR South AND the Status flag is Active.
To create a flag
1 In the Project Explorer, in the Sites category, right-click Flags and
choose New.
2 In the Add New Flag dialog box, type a name for the flag, and click
OK.
The name must contain only alphanumeric characters with no spaces.
The new flag is added to the Project Explorer tree view in the Sites category.
The new empty flag appears in the tree view under Flags.
To add a condition
1 In the Project Explorer, in the Sites category, right-click a flag and
choose New Condition.
2 In the Add New Condition dialog box, type a name for the new
condition, and click OK.
The new condition is added to the Project Explorer tree view under the flag
node.
5 To paste from the clipboard, click the Paste From Clipboard button.
6 When you have finished modifying or examining the data, click Close.
NOTE: There are some columns that you cannot edit in the Tabular Editor. These
columns are grayed out.
TIP: To quickly copy a value across all rows in a column in the Tabular Editor, type
the new value in the first cell of the column, click the column header to select the
column, and press CTRL+D. Then, click outside the column to make the updates.
Click Apply to save your changes.
TIP: To update displayed information with current data, click the Refresh button.
This update may be longer than when you click Apply because all data is
recomputed.
2 Enable the check boxes for the flag conditions you want to display.
A new layer is added to the Map window, showing the sites with the chosen
flag conditions. For information on working with map layers, see the
appropriate User Guide for the technology you are using.
You can use the Invert Conditions option to select all of the sites and sectors
that have not been assigned the enabled flag conditions. When the Invert
Conditions option is enabled, a check mark appears beside the menu
command. The option remains enabled until you right-click the Flags node and
choose Invert Conditions again.
To rename a flag
1 In the Project Explorer, in the Sites category, right-click a flag
and choose Rename.
To rename a condition
1 In the Project Explorer, in the Sites category, right-click the
condition and choose Rename.
The Invert Conditions option is enabled, and all of the sites and sectors that
have not been assigned the enabled flag conditions will be selected.
2 To turn off the Invert Conditions option, right-click the Flags node
and choose Invert Conditions again.
To modify sector symbols for multiple sites, you can define a sector display
scheme and use the Tabular Editor to associate it to multiple sectors. For more
see the appropriate User Guide for the technology you are using.
3 From the Sector Display Schemes list, choose the scheme you
want to associate with the sector.
Only those sector display schemes that appear beneath the Sector
Display Schemes node in the Project Explorer are available.
5 Click Close.
NOTE: The rotation angle of sector symbols is defined by the azimuth of the
sector.
You can also use sector display schemes to show the relationship between sectors
and repeaters or between sectors and non co-located sectors. Sector display
schemes are saved as .xml files. shows a sector display scheme.
Figure 3.5: Sector display scheme showing various symbol types and sizes. The
lines from site11 illustrates how a sector/repeater relationship can be shown on the
map.
Within one sector display scheme you can define settings for various technologies.
Sector display schemes are saved in the Sector Display Scheme folder within your
project.
You can apply sector display schemes to sector groups, to sectors assigned specific
flags, or to all sectors. Sector display schemes are not dynamic. If you apply a sector
display scheme but then change the value of the sector property upon which
the scheme is based, the sector symbol is not automatically updated. You
must reapply the sector display scheme in order to see your changes reflected
in the Map window.
You can also define an active sector display scheme that will be used when you
place new sites.
NOTE: In order to view sector relationships in the Map window, you must first
add the SiteFile_Relation layer to the Map window. To do so, in the Windows
category of the Project Explorer, expand the Map Windows node, right-click
the SiteFile group node, and choose Add Layer. In the Add Layer dialog box,
choose the SiteFile_Relation layer and click OK.
2 Type a name for the new sector display scheme and click OK.
You can define sector display scheme settings for different technologies
within the same one sector display scheme.
4 In the Display Options section, enable the check boxes for the
settings you want to specify for the sector display scheme.
If you clear a check box, settings for that display option are not used.
5 If you enabled the Symbol check box, click the Symbol tab.
7 From the Sectorized Antenna list, choose the symbol you want to use
to represent antennas that have a horizontal beamwidth less than 360
degrees.
The Arrow symbol displays sectors based on the direction of the antenna
without any reference to the beamwidth. All other symbols display both the
direction of the antenna and the beamwidth. The width of the symbol
represents the horizontal beamwidth. The accuracy of the symbols is within 10
degrees.
10 If you are creating a sector display scheme for statistical data, click the
Data button to view detailed statistics and, once you have finished
viewing the data, click Close.
11 If you enabled the Color check box, click the Color tab.
15 If you enabled the Size check box, click the Size tab.
16 From the Property To Use list, choose the property you want to
use to determine the size of the sector symbol.
18 In the Point Size section, specify the range of the symbol point
size in the From and To boxes.
The symbol size will be determined by the values you specified in Step
17. Values that fall outside the specified range will be increased up to
the minimum value or reduced to the maximum level. For example, if
you chose Height as the property value and defined the “From” value as
20 meters and the “To” value as 100 meters, then all sectors that have
a height of 20 or less will use the point size you defined in the From box
and all sectors that have a height of 100 or more will use the point size
you defined in the To box. The symbol size of sectors with a height that
falls between the From and To values will be interpolated linearly using
the From and To values defined in the Point Size section.
Ensure you have added the SiteFile_Relation layer to the Map window.
The sector display scheme is added under the Sector Display Schemes node in
the Project Explorer. Sector display schemes are saved as .xml files.
The icons associated with sector display schemes indicate which sector
display scheme is currently active, as shown in Figure 3.5.
2 In the dialog box that opens, navigate to where the sector display
scheme file (.xml) is stored and click Open.
1 Do the following to apply the default sector symbol, size and color
in the Map window:
3 In the Select Sectors dialog box, specify the sectors to which you
want to apply a sector display scheme by choosing one of the following
options in the Sector Selection section:
4 In the Band Filtering section, enable the bands you want to include in
your sector selection.
The sectors to which the sector display scheme will be applied are displayed in
the Selected Sectors list.
5 Click OK.
Sectors that meet the criteria defined in the sector display scheme are
modified accordingly.
NOTE: You can also apply a sector display scheme from the Sites category of the
Project Explorer. Right-click the Flags node, a group within the Groups node, or the
Sites node, and choose Sector Display Scheme. In the Select Scheme dialog box,
choose the sector display scheme you want to apply or choose Default Symbol, and
click Apply.
NOTE: When you get a project from Data Manager, the default sector symbol is
used. You must reapply the sector display scheme to see changes. Similarly, if you
make any changes to sector properties after you have applied a sector display
scheme, you will need to reapply the sector display scheme to see changes.
1 Do the following to apply the default sector symbol, size and color
in the Map window:
n at the project level (in which case the data is saved locally and is
not shared)
n at the Data Manager level (in which case the data is saved in the
Data Manager and can be shared with other users)
3 Click the Custom Data tab and, for each item in the tree view,
define the custom attributes you want available in the project.
n To add site user data, click Site User Data and, in the Site
User Data dialog box, specify values for the available
parameters, and click OK.
n To add base station user data, in the tree view, choose the
base station for which you want to specify user data, and click
the User Data tab, and specify values for the available
parameters.
n To add sector user data, in the tree view, choose the sector
for which you want to specify user data, click the User Data
tab, and specify values for the available parameters.
n To add repeater user data, in the tree view, choose the
repeater for which you want to specify user data, click the
User Data tab, and specify values for the available
parameters .
n To add antenna user data, in the tree view, expand the
Antennas node, choose the antenna for which you want to
specify user data, click the User Data tab, and specify values
for the available parameters.
The process of optimizing a single site involves generating predictions along radials
that span 170 degrees (ignoring the antenna backlobe). Points spread along the
radials are then optimized using the defined criteria and layers are generated.
If the proposed changes to sector and antenna parameters are acceptable, you can
apply those changes to the site.
NOTE: Before optimizing a site, define optimization constraints for the antenna
pattern in the Site Editor.
2 In the Sector Selection dialog box, from the Band list, choose the
band you want to optimize.
4 Click Select.
5 In the Site Optimization Tool dialog box, click the General tab
and specify general optimization parameters.
General
Use A Traffic Map—choose from this list the traffic map you want to use when
generating layers.
Receiver
Noise Figure—type in this box the noise figure you want to assume at the receiver.
Environment—choose from this list the environment for which the site is to be
optimized.
Antennas
Initial values are initially retrieved from the settings in the network but may change
when you optimize the site. You can also define values that you can apply to the
network.
NOTE: If you decide to define antenna values but do not click Apply, the current
network values are used when optimizing a site.
Azimuth—displays the azimuth for the associated antenna. You can edit this value
as required.
Tilt—displays the tilt for the associated antenna. You can edit this value as required.
Antenna Model—displays the antenna model. You can change the model you want
to assign to the sector for the site optimization analysis by choosing a model from
the list.
Electrical Tilt —displays the electrical tilt of the antenna. This parameter is
only available when electrical parameters are enabled for the antenna. You can
edit this value as required.
Layers
Update —enable this check box update layers based on your changes.
Close On Exit—enable this check box to close the layer displayed when you
close the Site Optimization Tool.
View Coverage Layer—enable this check box to display the best server
signal strength coverage layer (i.e., SSOT_SignalStrength layer). This layer
displays the best received signal strength from all sectors.
Carrier Standard—choose from this list the carrier standard to use when
optimizing a cdma2000 site.
Optimization
Use the Optimization tab to specify the optimization criteria you want to use in single
site optimization.
Optimization Goals
Use Optimization Profile—choose from this list the optimization profile that
contains the optimization goals you want to use for single site optimization.
Use Generic Goals—choose this option to define coverage, interference, and area
parameters for single site optimization.
WCDMA
cdma2000
GSM
LTE FDD
LTE TDD
TDMA-FDMA
WiMAX TDD
Traffic/Area Coverage
Limit Sector Relative Coverage Variation—choose this option to define the
maximum relative traffic variation as a percentage.
Limit Sector Absolute Coverage—choose this option define the minimum and
maximum traffic values to use when limiting coverage.
Using the available Editors, you can organize, view, and manage all elements
of the antenna system.
n the Antenna Editor, where you define the various parts of the
antenna system as listed above.
n the Antenna Algorithm Editor, where you define required parameters
to model smart antennas and multiple antenna systems
n the Site Editor, where you define the general characteristics of the
antenna system assigned to the sector as well as the antenna
tuning parameters that will be used in prediction generation. You
must also specify the antenna optimization constraints you want to
use in antenna optimization.
Figure 4.1 illustrates how an antenna distributes its energy over the horizontal
plane. Figure 4.2 illustrates how an antenna distributes energy over the
vertical plane. In both examples, the boresight is at zero degrees. The
horizontal pattern is specified in terms of a clockwise angle, while the vertical
pattern is displayed in terms of an angle measured downward from the
horizontal.
Antenna patterns are used when generating signal strength predictions. The
orientation between any ground point and the sector location is determined and the
antenna gain is calculated based on this orientation. In most cases some
interpolation is required, because antenna patterns do not provide a pattern gain in
every possible orientation. The orientation between the tower and the ground point
is resolved into an azimuth and inclination relative to the direction in which the
antenna is pointing. The actual antenna gain for the particular orientation is the sum
of the horizontal gain (based on the azimuth), the vertical gain (based on the
inclination), and the boresight gain. Figure 4.3 shows how small variations in the
vertical pattern can have a major effect on the horizontal distance covered.
Depending on the resolution of the signal strength grid file (which will be the same as
that of the elevation grid file), it may not be possible to observe the influence of the
antenna vertical gain distribution at larger angles, beyond the bin in which the
antenna is located. For example, if the grid size is 50 meters, and the antenna height
is 30 meters, the inclination angle to the center of the next grid will be about -31
degrees. Therefore, the influence of all vertical gains between -31 degrees and -90
degrees is contained in the single bin where the sector is located.
These correction factors, however, are not taken into account when model
tuning. As a result, there could be slight discrepancies between model turning
results and the comparison of predictions and measurements that are based
on sector antennas.
In Figure 4.3, there is a null at +/-15 degrees in the vertical gain of the
antenna. Also, side-lobes (transmission lobes other than the main lobe) are
often disturbed by elements located in the near field when the installation is
not properly done or where constraints make it impossible to perform an
optimal installation. In order to alleviate this problem, side-lobes may be
averaged.
Vertical patterns are needed only for a few tens of degrees (e.g., -30 to 30)
around the horizon point (defined as 0 degrees). This is a simple geometric
consideration, since for a 100 meter high transmit site, 30 degrees of elevation
angle is reached after only 172 meters. At such a short distance from the
transmit site, the amount of received energy is often due more to reflections
than to the main path. Mentum Planet propagation models use the full
horizontal pattern but a vertical pattern with values between + 52° and -73°
(if available).
Antenna pattern sets that are a .dpa format and which include electrical tilt patterns
must also be converted to ensure they display hierarchically in the Project Explorer
and work with third-party tools. To combine antenna patterns into one .paf file, see
"Importing Multiple Antenna Files" on page 79
Step 3 If you are using multiple antennas, configure and assign the
antenna algorithms associated with the antenna pattern. See
“Editing antenna algorithm parameters”.
Step 5 Add antenna patterns to your project. See “Adding antenna patterns
to a project”.
Step 3 In the Site Editor, for each sector, assign an antenna, define general
antenna parameters, antenna correction factors, and antenna
optimization constraints.
When you convert full antenna patterns, the full pattern will display in the
Antenna Editor. In Mentum Planet, however, propagation models use the full
horizontal pattern while using a vertical pattern with values between + 52°
and -73° (if available). Some third-party tools, for example propagation
models, use the full vertical pattern.
The antenna pattern opens in the Antenna Editor where you can view
and modify antenna characteristics.
The first field of the first line of the antenna definition file must contain "Antenna
Definition File".
All child antennas associated with a parent are saved in one .paf file.
CAUTION: The antenna definition file must be saved in the same folder as the
antenna files you want to import.
You cannot access the Antenna Server if you are using the standalone version
of the Antenna Editor or if you are using Windows 2000.
In order to use the Antenna Server, you must have the .NET Framework,
version 3.5 with Service Pack 1 installed.
For detailed information on the settings available on this tab, press the F1 key
for online Help.
6 Click Download.
7 In the Browse For Folder dialog box, navigate to the folder where you
want to save the antenna file and click OK.
You can view high quality plots of both the horizontal and vertical antenna
patterns in the Antenna Editor.
You can customize the antenna pattern display by changing the colors used or
by modifying the scale. You can also print antenna information and patterns.
3 Choose the antenna pattern (.paf) file that you want to open and
click Open.
Antenna patterns are listed in the Project Data category of the Project
Explorer. The icons of antenna patterns that have been assigned to a
sector are displayed in color. The icons of antenna patterns that have
not been assigned to sectors, but are located in the Antennas folder of
the project, appear dimmed.
TIP: You can also open an antenna pattern by double-clicking it in the Project
Explorer.
The tabs displayed in the Antenna Algorithm Editor depend on the technology and
the antenna algorithm you choose. This procedure provides an overview of the
workflow. You can find detailed parameter descriptions in the online Help.
Antenna algorithms are saved as algorithm (.algr) files and are stored in the Antenna
Algorithms folder within an individual project.
2 In the tree view, expand the node for the network technology you are
using ((i.e., WiMAX, LTE, HSPA).
n Smart Antenna
n WiMAX MIMO A
n WiMAX MIMO B
n Smart Antenna
n Diversity
n MIMO
n Automatic MIMO Switching
n Smart Antenna + Diversity
n Smart Antenna + MIMO
n Smart Antenna + AMS
n MIMO
6 Click the tabs associated with the antenna and define the
required parameters.
An antenna pattern must follow these basic guidelines to be usable with Mentum
Planet:
In Mentum Planet, the antenna pattern must be described as the amount of gain in
any given direction compared with the boresight gain of the antenna. Information
about antenna patterns is displayed in the lower left corner of the dialog box. The
horizontal and vertical boresight angles and beamwidth angles are displayed in the
Information section. shows the beamwidth and the boresight angle.
3 Click Close.
2 In the Print dialog box, specify the printer, page size, source, and
orientation, and click Print.
Antenna patterns are added to the Project Data category of the Project
Explorer. By default, only assigned antennas are displayed beneath the
Antennas node when you open a project.
2 In the Open dialog box, choose the Mentum Planet antenna (.paf)
files that you want to add to your project and click Open.
The name of the antenna pattern displayed in the Project Explorer changes as
does the underlying antenna pattern file. When you rename antenna patterns
with electrical tilt, you are prompted to confirm how the underlying antenna
files will be renamed.
While the antenna pattern is removed from the Project Explorer, the antenna
file is not deleted.
NOTE: You can only remove unassigned antenna patterns from a project.
n horizontal beamwidth
n vertical beamwidth
n gain
n front-to-back ratio
n frequency
n manufacturer
Within the Antenna Files node, a new node is created for each group of
antennas, as shown in Figure 4.5.
The antenna patterns are listed based on the type of grouping you chose.
The Antenna Query Editor opens and a new node is created in the
Project Explorer.
The example in the following figure shows a query that selects antennas that
support MIMO and/or electrical tilts. Notice that the full query is displayed in
the Query box at the bottom of the Antenna Query Editor.
The number of antennas that satisfy the query results is displayed in the
status bar at the bottom of the Antenna Query Editor. If the number is greater
than zero, an Antenna Query Results dialog box opens and displays details
about the selected antennas.
n OK—to save your changes and close the Antenna Query Editor.
n Cancel—to close the Antenna Query Editor without saving your
changes.
NOTE: To change an existing query: in the Project Explorer, in the Project Data
category, right-click the query and choose Edit.
NOTE: To run an existing query, in the Project Explorer, in the Project Data
category, right-click the query and choose Report Previewer.
You can use survey data to accurately analyze the network based on
information from the field.
This chapter describes how to import and add survey data, work with survey
statistics, and create a new survey.
Understanding surveys 97
Understanding surveys
Surveying involves collecting signal strength values at small intervals, including
many samples from all clutter classes wherever possible. For best results, the raw
data collected must be modified to filter unrepresentative points and average
duplicate points.
Using Mentum Planet, you can work with and analyze survey data. Survey data can
greatly increase the accuracy of predictions. For information on merged predictions
that combine survey data with prediction outputs, see the appropriate User Guide for
the technology you are using.
After you import or add a survey to a project, you can modify the properties of the
survey and choose different methods of viewing the survey data in a Map window.
You can also view statistical data about the survey. Based on these statistics, you
can choose to create a new survey by averaging, filtering, combining, or comparing
existing survey data.
Once a survey is added to the project, the status of the survey is identified using the
following icon colors:
Figure 5.1 shows the Survey Data node in the Project Explorer. In this
example, survey GS040_1 has been assigned, survey GS040_2 is valid but has
not been assigned, and survey GS040_3 is invalid.
Step 1 Determine the sites from which you want to collect data and plan the
survey routes.
Step 3 Import the survey data into Mentum Planet or add survey data to the
project.
Step 4 If required, modify the properties of the surveys that you have imported
or added.
Step 6 Edit survey data to remove anomalous points (e.g., points that are very
close to the site, points where the survey route passes under a bridge or
where it goes over water). Survey data should also be averaged in order
to account for Rayleigh fading.
Step 7 Combine and compare surveys in order to better understand survey data.
The following are some general guidelines for collecting survey data:
To ensure that the survey data you add is valid, the survey must contain a minimum
of three columns with latitude, longitude, and signal strength values specified. The
columns must be in this order. The data in additional columns is added or imported if
the columns come after these first three.
The names of the columns are not taken into account when adding or importing. For
example, the first three columns could be named “x”, “y”, and “RSSI” or “1”, “2”, and
“3”.
If required, you can also modify survey properties such as survey date, operator,
and antenna information.
The surveys are added to the Survey Data node in the Project Explorer.
NOTE: For more information on creating survey points in a Map window, see
the MapInfo Professional User Guide.
To import surveys
1 In the Project Explorer, in the Operational Data category,
right-click Survey Data, choose Import, and then choose the
format of the survey that you want to import.
2 In the Open dialog box, navigate to the file that you want to
import, and click Open.
The survey is added to the Survey Data node in the Project Explorer.
For more information on the fields and options in the Properties dialog box,
press the F1 key.
3 Click OK.
If you want to use the survey in merged predictions, ensure that you
have provided the following information in the Antenna Information
section:
n A name for the antenna in the Name box. The name must
match an antenna available in Mentum Planet.
n A value for antenna power in the Power box
NOTE: If you want to use a merged prediction with the Model Tuning tool, all
antenna parameters must be valid. For more information on merged
predictions, see the appropriate User Guide for the technology you are using.
The Generate Survey Headers dialog box opens, showing the sector that will
be used and the surveys that will be updated.
3 If you want to view or edit the sector data that will be added to the
surveys, click View/Edit Data, modify the information in the
Properties dialog box as required, and then click OK.
For more information on the fields and options in the Properties dialog box,
press the F1 key.
The sector information is added to the surveys. The survey icon changes from
red to dimmed if the survey originally contained invalid header or antenna
information.
2 In the Save As dialog box, navigate to the folder where you want
to save the file, type a name for the file in the File Name box,
and click Save.
Each survey data point is displayed in the Map window using the default
symbol and color as shown in " Survey data displayed in the Map window using
the default symbol and color." below.
Figure 5.2: Survey data displayed in the Map window using the default symbol and
color.
TIP: To clear the survey display in the Map window, choose File Close Table,
then choose the survey from the Close Tables list, and click Close.
The survey data is centered in the Map window and the Map window
zooms in on it.
NOTE: To display the location of the transmitting antenna (as defined in the
survey properties), right-click a survey and choose View Transmitting
Location.
The Browser window opens containing the data used in the survey.
The thematic map is displayed in the Map window as shown in Figure 5.3.
For more information on thematic maps, see the MapInfo Professional User Guide.
When you create and view a thematic map of the survey data, the standard color
profile selected for signal strength grids is automatically applied. For more
information, see the appropriate User Guide for the technology you are using.
By default, surveys are thematically mapped using the color profile defined for signal
strength files. You can use a different color profile for surveys beneath the Surveys
Delta node and the Surveys Other node but you cannot change the color profile for
surveys beneath the Surveys RSSI node.
2 To change the size of the survey point display symbol in the Map
window, type the new size in the Symbol Size box.
5 Click OK.
These graphs enable you to view statistics of multiple surveys simultaneously. This
is useful when you want to compare statistics on survey data before you average,
filter, compare, or combine it.
The Survey Histogram dialog box opens, displaying a histogram for the chosen
surveys.
5 Click Close.
4 To save the statistics in a text (.txt) file, click Save, navigate to the
folder where you want to save the file, type the file name, and then
click Save.
5 Click Close.
3 Click Curves.
4 To manually define the curve, do any of the following in the boxes in the
User Defined section:
n In the Intercept box, type the value of the signal strength at the
intercept distance.
n In the Intercept Distance box, type the value of the signal
strength at which the regression curve starts.
n In the Slope box, type the value of the logarithmic regression curve
slope, expressed as dB/Dist for a linear regression or dB/Decade for
a logarithmic regression.
n To save the curve using the values in the Best Fit section, choose
the Best Fit option.
n To save the curve using the values in the User Defined section,
choose the User Defined option.
n To draw a curve using the values in the Best Fit section, enable the
Best Fit check box.
n To draw a curve using the values in the User Defined section,
enable the User Defined check box.
7 If you want to draw a free space curve on the regression graph, enable
the Draw Free Space Curve check box in the Free Space Loss
Curve section, and do any of the following:
n To define the power with which to draw the free space line, type a
value in EIRP dBm in the Power box.
n To define the frequency with which to define the free space line,
type a value in MHz in the Frequency box.
11 Click Close.
Assigning surveys
After you add a survey and modify its properties, you can assign the survey to a
sector. You must assign the appropriate survey to the corresponding sector. When
you create merged predictions, these assignments determine the survey that will be
used when updating a prediction for a site.
1 Create the survey assignment file in a text editor using the following
conventions:
n The first line is a header and must contain the following text:
For example:
If you are assigning multiple surveys to a sector, separate the survey file
names with a comma.
2 When you have completed assigning all of the surveys, save the
file as a text file.
4 Click OK.
n Review the report and click Close without saving the report to
a file.
6 If you want to save the report, in the Save Report As dialog box, do
the following:
n From the Save In list, choose the folder to which you want the file
saved.
n In the File Name box, type a name for the report.
n Click Save.
2 To unassign a survey from the sector, clear the check box next to the
survey.
3 Click OK.
n By Site/Sector
n By Survey
n By Prediction
n If you want to save the report, click Save As, and in the Save
Report As dialog box, navigate to the folder where you want to
save the file, type a name for the file, click Save, and then click
Close.
n If you do not want to save the report, click Close.
Either method can be used for any survey, but there may be a slight
advantage in using the Area method for a survey done on a rectangular
grid of roads, and the Distance method for more randomly distributed
survey points.
n If you averaged one survey, type a name for the new survey
in the Survey Name box.
n If you averaged multiple surveys, type a suffix for the new
survey in the Survey Suffix box. Each survey that you
average will be created as a new survey, with the original
name and the suffix that you define.
7 Click OK.
The new survey is added to the Survey Data node in the Project
Explorer.
3 From the Filter Type list, choose the type of filter that you want to
use.
4 Click in the Minimum and Maximum fields and type new values to
specify the range of points to be saved.
Survey sample points below the defined minimum value and above the
defined maximum value are removed from the resulting survey.
For the Clutter Class and Line of Sight filters, you can only choose the type of
points that you want to remove.
The Removed and Remaining fields update to display the number of data
points that have been filtered out of the survey and the number of data points
remaining in the survey.
6 Click Curves.
n In the Intercept box, type the value of the signal strength at the
intercept distance.
n To define the power with which to draw the free space line,
type a value in EIRP dBm in the Power box.
n To define the frequency with which to define the free space
line, type a value in MHz in the Frequency box.
This option is only available if you have chosen the Distance Plot format from
the Graph Display list.
n If you filtered one survey, in the Filtered Survey Name dialog box,
type a name for the new survey in the Survey Name box.
n If you filtered multiple surveys, in the Filtered Survey Name
Suffix dialog box, type a suffix for the new survey in the Survey
Suffix box. Each survey that you filter will be created as a new
survey, with the original name and the suffix that you define.
15 Click Close.
The new survey is added to the Survey Data node in the Project Explorer.
4 Type a name for the new survey in the Survey Name box.
5 Click OK.
The new survey is added to the Survey Data node in the Project
Explorer.
2 In the Map window, using the Select tool on the Main toolbar,
select the polygon object.
6 Click OK.
The new survey is added to the Survey Data node in the Project
Explorer.
1 Click the Zoom-in button on the Main toolbar and zoom in to the area
where you want to remove survey points.
3 Right-click the survey and choose Editable if the layer is not already
editable.
A check mark next to Editable indicates that the survey can be modified.
5 Click in the Map window to select the survey points you want to
remove.
7 When you have finished deleting survey points, choose GIS Save
Table to save the updated survey.
NOTE: You can use any of the MapInfo select tools to select points in the Map
window. See the MapInfo Professional User Guide or online Help.
These comparisons are useful when you want to determine if the predicted
signal strength data is relevant based on the actual signal strength data from
the field.
To combine surveys
1 In the Project Explorer, in the Operational Data category,
choose the surveys that you want to combine.
3 From the Use Header From list, choose the survey that
contains the header information that you want to use to create
the new survey.
4 Type a name for the new survey in the Output Survey Name
box.
5 Click OK.
The new survey is added to the Survey Data node in the Project Explorer.
3 From the Reference Survey list, choose the survey that contains the
reference data.
The Comparison Survey field updates to display the second survey. The data
from the Comparison Survey is subtracted from the data in the Reference
Survey.
The distance units that are displayed are defined on the Units pane in the User
Preferences dialog box.
If you define the maximum number of points as 1, the closest point from
the radius is included in the comparison. If you define the maximum
number of interpolation points as 10, but there are 100 points within the
radius, the 10 points that are closest to the reference point are retained
and averaged. The remaining 90 points are discarded.
6 In the Delta Survey Name box, type a name for the new
survey.
7 Click OK.
The new survey is added to the Survey Delta node in the Survey Data
node.
For information on the calculations used in the comparison, see “ Chapter 11:
Working with Network and Project Data”.
3 To save the new survey, click Save, type a name for the survey, and
then click OK.
The new survey is added to the Surveys Delta node in the Survey Data node.
3 To save the new survey, click Save, type a name for the survey,
and then click OK.
The new survey is added to the Surveys Delta node in the Survey Data
node .
Test mobile data consists of data relating to calls made by the mobile and
general network measurements collected by it along a defined route over a
period of time. A test mobile is a functioning phone and collects data about an
actual phone call/data session. The test mobile data features of Mentum
Planet are part of the AMDP module.
Test mobile data consists of records organized into columns. Mentum Planet enables
you to work with and analyze test mobile data to increase the accuracy of
predictions. For example, you can compare a test mobile value against network
analysis layers that contain the same value, or you can export test mobile data to a
survey and use the survey to increase the accuracy of Mentum Planet predictions.
NOTE: For information on merged predictions that combine survey data with
prediction outputs, see “Choosing a prediction mode”.
Because networks are not static, a test mobile recording is only valid for the
network configuration when it was recorded. If any attributes of the network,
for example, antennas or powers, are changed, the data may be less accurate
or invalid.
To ensure that the test mobile data is valid, a snapshot is taken of the network
configuration at the time the data was collected, and this information (referred
to as header information) is recorded along with the test mobile data file.
Step 3 If you want to export the signal strength values (RSSI or equivalent), do
the following:
As you proceed through the wizard, you must provide the following
information:
You must also bind the columns in the imported data to fields in Mentum
Planet. At a minimum, you must bind latitude and longitude, but you can bind
additional columns depending on the technology. Once you have bound the
columns, you can save the binding information as a template to use again. This
is useful for files from the same equipment that have been exported in the
same manner.
When binding data using the Test Mobile Wizard, you must choose a value
from the list or click the down arrow a second time to close the list.
5 On the Choose The Type Of The Source Data File page, choose the
file type of the test mobile data file and click Next.
6 On the Choose The Data File(s) You Want To Use page, click
Browse, navigate to the test mobile data file or files, click Open, and
then click Next.
7 On the Choose The Format Of The Source Data File page, do the
following:
The lower part of the page updates to show the results of your choices.
8 Click Next.
The Choose How You Want the Data Bound Page opens.
n Click in the Mentum Planet Field box and, from the list,
choose the Mentum Planet field to which you want to bind the
test mobile data column.
n Click in the Data Format row and choose the format for the
data. Typically, you will only need to choose a format for
latitude, longitude, and BSIC. All other columns offer only one
option that is automatically chosen.
By default, templates are stored in the Test Mobile Data/Template Files folder.
Once you load the template, you can modify any of the rows for a single use,
save them as a new template, or overwrite the current template.
11 If you want to bind multiple columns to a single Mentum Planet field (for
example, if you have multiple PN offset columns), do the following:
n Choose the columns by holding down the Shift or Ctrl key and
clicking the column headers.
n Click Multiple Bindings.
n In the Bind Multiple Columns dialog box, from the Mentum
Planet Field list, choose the Mentum Planet field to which to bind
the columns, from the Data Format list, choose the format for the
data, and click OK.
12 If you want to save the binding information to use with other test
mobile data files, click Save As Template, navigate to the folder
where you want to save the template, type a name for the binding
template file in the Name box, and click Save.
14 If you want to modify the file header information, on the Enter Header
Information page, do any of the following:
n In the Data Name box, type a new name. The default data name is
the file name minus the extension. This is the name that will be
displayed in the Project Explorer.
n In the Operator Name box, type the name of the network
operator.
n Click the down arrow in the Data Date box and choose a different
date to apply to the test mobile data file.
n Beside the Coordinate System box, click Change, and in the
Choose Projection dialog box, choose the new projection category
and member, and then click OK.
n In the Comments box, type any additional comments or modify the
existing comments.
15 Click Next.
The Data Import dialog box displays the progress of the import process.
The test mobile data file is added as a node to the Test Mobile node
under the Field Measurement Data node in the Operational Data
category of the Project Explorer.
n data name
n data date
n network technology
n operator name
n coordinate system
n any comments that you have entered about the test mobile data file
3 If you want to modify the information, do any of the following and click
OK:
n Click the down arrow in the Data Date box and choose a different
date to apply to the test mobile data file.
n In the Operator Name box, type the name of the network
operator.
n In the Comments box, type any additional comments or modify the
existing comments.
n the data points (i.e., the location where each record was
captured) in the Map window
n the test mobile data records in tabular format
NOTE: You can also display the values in individual columns in the Map
window, but you must first define the settings to use for these values. See
“Displaying test mobile data in a Map window”.
Each data location is displayed in the Map using a default symbol and
color.
To remove the test mobile data from the Map window, right-click the test
mobile data node and choose View again.
The test mobile data is centered in the Map window and the Map window
zooms in on it.
The Test Mobile Browser window opens containing the test mobile data in
tabular format. Any columns that you have bound are identified by a Mentum
Planet icon. You can move your cursor over the Mentum Planet icon to view
the name of the Mentum Planet field to which the column has been bound.
4 To filter the data, click the down arrow in the column header that
you want to use for filtering and choose the value to display.
The name of the filter (the column name plus the value that you chose
to display) is shown at the bottom of the dialog box, for example
([Message Type] = ‘Cell Report’).
5 If you filtered the data, in the filter section at the bottom of the
dialog box, do any of the following:
Automatic selection
When you define map view settings for a test mobile data file, if you choose to create
new point display settings, the Test Mobile tool automatically chooses an
appropriate point display setting type, and, by default, assigns the column name and
display values based on the content of the column. You can modify these values.
n Point display settings are stored under the Point Display Settings
node. They are classified as either Local (i.e., not stored in Data
Manager), or Shared (i.e., stored in Data Manager).
Figure 6.1 shows the organization of point display and map view settings in the
Project Explorer.
Figure 6.1: Point display and map view settings in the Project Explorer
The Map View Settings dialog box opens. The Map View Settings dialog box
enables you to define point display settings for the columns in your test
mobile data file. If you applied a template when you imported the test mobile
data file or if you have already defined map view settings for the test mobile
data file, the Map View Settings dialog box contains the defined values.
Otherwise, it contains no values.
3 If you want to apply a map view template to the test mobile data, click
Load, and in the Load Template dialog box, choose a template from
the list and click OK.
For information on creating a map view template, see “To create a map view
template for test mobile data”.
4 To add a data column from the test mobile data file, click Add.
5 From the Data Columns list, choose one or more columns in the test
mobile data file that you want to display.
If the data in the column is textual, only the Individual display setting
type will be available. If the data is numeric, all three types will be
available.
8 Click OK.
10 If you want to view the data in the Map window, in the Map View
Settings dialog box, choose the point display setting that you
want to view and click View.
12 When you have finished defining map view settings, in the Map
View Settings dialog box, click OK.
The names of the columns with point display settings assigned are
displayed in the Project Explorer under the test mobile data file (see
Figure 6.1). To view them, see “To display the test mobile data points in
a Map window”.
The point display settings are also added to the Shared node under the
Point Display Settings node. These settings can be used again for other
test mobile or scan receiver data files.
NOTE: You can move point display settings between the Local and Shared node by
choosing one or more point display settings in the Project Explorer and dragging
them to the Local or Shared node.
NOTE: To edit point display settings, under the Local or Shared node, right-click the
point display setting and choose Edit.
NOTE: You can also apply a map view template by dragging it onto a test mobile
data file in the Project Explorer.
1 To add a row, in the Editing Point Display Settings dialog box, click
Add.
You cannot remove the Default value. This value is used to define display
settings for any value that you do not specifically enter.
n To modify the color, click in the Color box and choose the
color that you want.
NOTE: You can also define individual point display settings by right-clicking
Local or Shared under the Point Display Settings node and choosing New.
Then, in the New Point Display Settings dialog box, choose Individual and click
OK. In this case, because you are not defining individual point display settings
based on an existing column, the Editing Point Display Settings dialog box is
not automatically populated. You must define the values manually.
NOTE: If you define the values manually, you should define them to match
the types and ranges of values that are likely to occur in your test mobile data.
n In the >=Min box, type or choose the minimum value for the
range.
n In the <Max box, type or choose the maximum value for the
range.
n To change the symbol, click in the Symbol box, and from the
list, choose the font, and then choose the individual symbol,
and click OK.
n Click in the Size box and type or choose the symbol size.
n To modify the color, click in the Color box and choose a color.
5 When you have finished defining ranges, in the Editing Point Display
Settings dialog box, click OK.
If any ranges overlap (for example, 610-620 and 615-625), when a value falls
into both ranges, only the symbol associated with the first set of values will be
displayed.
NOTE: You can also define ranges by right-clicking Local or Shared under the Point
Display Settings node and choosing New. Then, in the New Point Display Settings
dialog box, choose Ranges and click OK. In this case, because you are not defining
ranges based on an existing column, the Editing Point Display Settings dialog box is
not automatically populated. You must define the values manually.
NOTE: If you define the values manually, you should define them to match the
types and ranges of values that are likely to occur in your test mobile data.
2 Expand the test mobile data node for which you want to view data
points.
3 Right-click the column node that you want to view, and choose
View.
NOTE: To remove the test mobile data points from the Map window, in the
Project Explorer, right-click the test mobile data node (one level up from the
column node) and choose View. This clears the check box and removes the
data from the Map window.
n when you are importing a test mobile data file (see “To import
test mobile data”)
n when you are defining map view settings (see “To define map
view settings for a test mobile data file”)
l at any time by dragging the template onto a test mobile data file in the Project
Explorer
2 Choose a test mobile data node and drag it onto the Map View
Templates node.
The Edit Template dialog box opens with the columns in the test mobile data
file listed under the Data Columns heading.
3 For each column that you want to display, from the Point Display
Setting list, choose a setting to apply to the column.
4 If you want to add a row, click Add and type a name for the test mobile
data column in the Data Columns column.
5 If you want to remove a row, choose the row and click Remove.
6 Click OK.
7 In the Save Template dialog box, type a name in the New Template
Name box and click OK.
The template is added to the Map View Templates node under the Test Mobile
node.
This information provides useful options for analyzing test mobile data.
Viewing multiple parameters over time enables you to visualize the
interaction between parameters. For example, in Figure 6.2, the RxLev
is compared to the occurrences of the No Service Mode event (vertical
lines).
Figure 6.2: Comparison of data in the Test Mobile Graph dialog box
In the Test Mobile Graph dialog box, the x-axis is either Time or Index. Index
identifies the sequence of records in the test mobile file. You can display up to
four values for the y-axis.
When the Test Mobile Graph dialog box is open, if you also have a Test Mobile
Browser window or Map window open, they are all synchronized. If you choose a
record in one, the same record is also chosen in the others.
2 Right-click the test mobile data node that you want to view and choose
Graph.
3 To modify the format of the x-axis, from the Settings list, choose X
Axis and do any of the following:
4 To define y-axis values, from the Settings list, choose one of the
following options:
label for this series is located on the y-axis to the left of the
graph.
n Second Y Series—defines the second column (numeric data
only) to be displayed on the y-axis and the display settings to
be used. The label for this series is located on the y-axis to the
right of the graph.
n Third Y Series—defines the third column (numeric data only)
to be displayed on the y-axis and the display settings to be
used. The label for this series is located on the y-axis to the
left of the label for the First Y Series.
n Message Series—defines the fourth column (textual data
only) to be displayed on the y-axis and the display settings to
be used.
If you choose Message Series in Step 4, the list available in the Data box
is limited to the textual columns in the imported test mobile data file.
Otherwise, the list is limited to numerical values.
n From the Color list, choose the color to use for the point or
lines in the graph and the axis label.
n From the Font Size list, choose the font size for the axis label.
n Choose Points or Lines to use for the data in the graph. If you
chose Points, choose a point size from the Point Size list.
n If you want to view grid lines in the graph, enable the Grid
Lines check box.
You can compare up to three types of numeric data (using the First Y Series,
Second Y Series, and Third Y Series options) and one type of string data.
NOTE: To close the Test Mobile Graph dialog box, right-click the test mobile data
node and choose Graph again.
TIP: When you minimize the Test Mobile Graph dialog box, a Test Mobile Graph icon
appears at the bottom of the Project Explorer. Click the icon to restore the dialog
box.
TIP: You can also preview the printed version by clicking the Print Preview button.
n looking up sectors
n allocating records to sectors
For details on the manual allocation process, see “To assign sectors to test
mobile carrier nodes manually”.
The values that are looked up are saved with the test mobile data file. This
retains the attributes of the sectors that were used when the measurements
were taken.
2 Right-click the test mobile data node for which you want to look up
sectors and choose Allocate Records.
For example, if the test mobile data uses GSM technology and the carrier node
is labeled 69-67 (317), this means that there are 317 records in the test
mobile data file with a BCCH of 69 and a BSIC of 67. If the node is labeled
Missing-Missing (108), this means that there are 108 records that do not
contain a BCCH or BSIC.
3 In the Sectors section, click Look Up, and then in the Sector
Selection dialog box, choose the group of sectors to use and click
Continue.
2 In the Sector Selection dialog box, choose the group that contains the
sector that you want to assign, and click Continue.
3 In the Site Lookup dialog box, choose the sector to assign to the
carrier node and click OK.
You can also assign a sector by right-clicking a carrier node in the Serving
Site/Sector Information tree view and choosing Assign Sector.
You can add a virtual sector to the Serving Site/Sector Information tree view and
allocate the appropriate records to it. Virtual sectors appear only as part of the Test
Mobile tool. They are not added to your Mentum Planet project.
2 In the Add Virtual Sector dialog box, in the Site Name box, type a
name for the site to which the virtual sector belongs, and in the Sector
Name box, type a name for the virtual sector.
4 Click OK.
When you modify information in the Sector Information section of the Test
Mobile - Allocate Records to Sectors dialog box, you are modifying only the
data associated with the test mobile data file. You are not changing the values
assigned to the sectors in Mentum Planet. Typically, you would modify this
data when you know that a sector that actually exists (and was used to collect
the test mobile data) has different values than those assigned in Mentum
Planet.
The Sector Information displays the information for the chosen sector.
See “Allocating test mobile data to sectors” for more information on these
options.
If you click Allocate, but you have not yet looked up sectors, the Test Mobile tool
automatically looks up sectors before allocating records.
NOTE: If you want to hide sectors that have not been allocated, in the Serving
Site/Sector Information tree view, right-click the top-level node, and choose Hide All
Unmatched Sectors. You can view all sectors by right-clicking the top-level node
again and choosing Show All Sectors.
NOTE: You can also allocate records by right-clicking a carrier node in the
Site/Sector Information tree view and choosing Allocate Records by Minimum
Distance or Allocate Records by Minimum Path Loss. This option is only available if
you have looked up sectors automatically or assigned sectors manually first.
To unassign sectors
You can also unassign a sector by right-clicking the sector and choosing
Unassign Sector.
TIP: You can restore the original view by right-clicking the top-level node and
choosing Toggle View again.
For more information on what you can do with the exported surveys, see “Chapter 3:
Managing Survey Data”.
The Export to Survey function for test mobile data files is subject to the sampling
rates of the original test mobile data files. The equipment used to create the original
test mobile data files is not always configured to sample data with enough samples
for quality model tuning purposes (for example, to satisfy the Lee Criteria).
2 Right-click the test mobile data node you want to view and choose one
of the following:
The test mobile data is converted to one or more surveys. The exported
surveys are grouped under the Surveys RSSI node. The name of the group is
the same as the test mobile data name. Surveys with invalid header
information are identified by a red icon in the Project Explorer. A warning
message identifies the surveys with invalid headers.
Scan receiver data consists of data relating to the location and signal strength
of multiple carriers. A scan receiver collects only information related to signal
strength and is never involved in an actual call. The scan receiver data
features of Mentum Planet are part of the AMDP module.
Scan receiver data consists of records organized into columns. Mentum Planet
enables you to work with and analyze scan receiver data to increase the accuracy of
predictions. For example, you can compare a scan receiver value against network
analysis layers that contain the same value, or you can export scan receiver data to
a survey and use the survey to increase the accuracy of Mentum Planet predictions.
For information on merged predictions that combine survey data with prediction
outputs, see “Choosing a prediction mode”.
Because networks are not static, a scan receiver recording is only valid for the
network configuration when it was recorded. If any attributes of the network,
for example, antennas or powers, are changed, the data may be less accurate
or invalid.
To ensure that the scan receiver data is valid, a snapshot is taken of the
network configuration at the time the data was collected, and this information
(referred to as header information) is recorded along with the scan receiver
data file. See “To view information about a scan receiver data file”.
Step 3 If you want to export the signal strength values (RSSI or equivalent), do
the following:
As you proceed through the wizard, you must provide the following
information:
You must also bind the columns in the imported data to fields in Mentum
Planet. At a minimum, you must bind latitude and longitude, but you can bind
additional columns depending on the technology. Once you have bound the
columns, you can save the binding information as a template to use again. This
is useful for files from the same equipment that have been exported in the
same manner.
NOTE: This procedure may vary slightly depending on the type of data that
you are importing.
When binding data using the Scan Receiver Wizard, you must choose a value
from the list or click the down arrow a second time to close the list.
5 On the Choose The Type Of The Source Data File page, choose the
file type of the scan receiver data file and click Next.
6 On the Choose The Data File(s) You Want To Use page, click
Browse, navigate to the scan receiver data file or files, click Open, and
then click Next.
7 On the Choose The Format Of The Source Data File page, do the
following:
The lower part of the page updates to show the results of your choices.
8 Click Next.
The Choose How You Want the Data Bound Page opens.
n Click in the Mentum Planet Field box and, from the list, choose
the Mentum Planet field to which you want to bind the scan
receiver data column.
n Click in the Data Format row and choose the format for the
data. Typically, you will only need to choose a format for
latitude, longitude, and BSIC. All other columns offer only one
option that is automatically chosen.
10 If you want to use a template to bind the scan receiver data to Mentum
Planet fields, click Load Template, navigate to the template file that
you want to use, and click Open.
Once you load the template, you can modify any of the rows for a single use,
save them as a new template, or overwrite the current template.
11 If you want to bind multiple columns to a single Mentum Planet field (for
example, if you have multiple PN offset columns), do the following:
n Choose the columns by holding down the Shift or Ctrl key and
clicking the column headers.
n Click Multiple Bindings.
n In the Bind Multiple Columns dialog box, from the Mentum
Planet Field list, choose the Mentum Planet field to which to bind
the columns, from the Data Format list, choose the format for the
data, and click OK.
12 If you want to save the binding information to use with other scan
receiver data files, click Save As Template, navigate to the folder
where you want to save the template, type a name for the binding
template file in the Name box, and click Save.
n In the Data Name box, type a new name. The default data name is
the file name minus the extension. This is the name that will be
displayed in the Project Explorer.
n In the Operator Name box, type the name of the network
operator.
n Click the down arrow in the Data Date box and choose a different
date to apply to the scan receiver data file.
15 Click Next.
The Data Import dialog box displays the progress of the import process.
For details on map view templates, see “Displaying scan receiver data in
a Map window”.
The scan receiver data file is added as a node to the Scan Receiver node
under the Field Measurement Data node in the Operational Data
category of the Project Explorer.
n data name
n data date
n network technology
n operator name
n coordinate system
n any comments that you have entered about the scan receiver data
file
3 If you want to modify the information, do any of the following and click
OK:
n Click the down arrow in the Data Date box and choose a different
date to apply to the scan receiver data file.
n In the Operator Name box, type the name of the network
operator.
n In the Comments box, type any additional comments or modify the
existing comments.
n the data points (i.e., the location where each record was
captured) in the Map window
n the scan receiver data records in tabular format
You can also display the values in individual columns in the Map window, but
you must first define the settings to use for these values.
A new layer is added to the Map window displaying each location using a
default symbol and color.
NOTE: To remove the scan receiver data from the Map window, right-click the
scan receiver data node and choose View again.
The scan receiver data is centered in the Map window and the Map window
zooms in on it.
The Scan Receiver Browser window opens containing the scan receiver data in
tabular format. Any columns that you have bound are identified by a Mentum
Planet icon. You can move your cursor over the Mentum Planet icon to view
the name of the Mentum Planet field to which the column has been bound.
4 To filter the data, click the down arrow in the column header that
you want to use for filtering and choose the value to display.
The name of the filter (the column name plus the value that you chose
to display) is shown at the bottom of the dialog box, for example
([Message Type] = ‘Cell Report’).
5 If you filtered the data, in the filter section at the bottom if the
dialog box, do any of the following:
Automatic selection
When you define map view settings for a scan receiver data file, if you choose to
create new point display settings, the Scan Receiver tool automatically chooses an
appropriate point display setting type, and, by default, assigns the column name and
display values based on the content of the column. You can modify these values.
n Point display settings are stored under the Point Display Settings
node. They are classified as either Local (i.e., not stored in Data
Manager), or Shared (i.e., stored in Data Manager).
Figure 7.1 shows the organization of point display and map view settings in the
Project Explorer.
Figure 7.1: Point display and map view settings in the Project Explorer
The Map View Settings dialog box opens. The Map View Settings dialog box
enables you to define point display settings for the columns in your scan
receiver data file. If you applied a template when you imported the scan
receiver data file or if you have already defined map view settings for the scan
receiver data file, the Map View Settings dialog box contains the defined
values. Otherwise, it contains no values.
3 If you want to apply a map view template to the scan receiver data,
click Load, and in the Load Template dialog box, choose a template
from the list and click OK.
For information on creating a map view template, see “To create a map view
template for scan receiver data”.
4 To add a data column from the scan receiver data file, click Add.
5 From the Data Columns list, choose one or more columns in the scan
receiver data file that you want to display.
If the data in the column is textual, only the Individual display setting
type will be available. If the data is numeric, all three types will be
available.
8 Click OK.
10 If you want to view the data in the Map window, in the Map
View Settings dialog box, choose the point display setting that
you want to view and click View.
12 When you have finished defining map view settings, in the Map
View Settings dialog box, click OK.
The names of the columns with point display settings assigned are
displayed in the Project Explorer under the scan receiver data file (see
Figure 7.1). To view them, see “To display the scan receiver data points
in a Map window”.
The point display settings are also added to the Shared node under the
Point Display Settings node. These settings can be used again for other
scan receiver or scan receiver data files.
NOTE: You can move point display settings between the Local and Shared node by
choosing one or more point display settings in the Project Explorer and dragging
them to the Local or Shared node.
NOTE: To edit point display settings, under the Local or Shared node, right-click the
point display setting and choose Edit.
NOTE: You can also apply a map view template by dragging it onto a scan receiver
data file in the Project Explorer.
1 To add a row, in the Editing Point Display Settings dialog box, click
Add.
You cannot remove the Default value. This value is used to define display
settings for any value that you do not specifically enter.
n To modify the color, click in the Color box and choose the
color that you want.
You can also define individual point display settings by right-clicking Local or
Shared under the Point Display Settings node and choosing New. Then, in the
New Point Display Settings dialog box, choose Individual and click OK. In this
case, because you are not defining individual point display settings based on
an existing column, the Editing Point Display Settings dialog box is not
automatically populated. You must define the values manually.
If you define the values manually, you should define them to match the types
and ranges of values that are likely to occur in your test mobile data.
n In the >=Min box, type or choose the minimum value for the
range.
n In the <Max box, type or choose the maximum value for the
range.
n To change the symbol, click in the Symbol box, and from the
list, choose the font, and then choose the individual symbol,
and click OK.
n Click in the Size box and type or choose the symbol size.
n To modify the color, click in the Color box and choose a color.
n In the Value box, type a value to indicate the interval or the number
of range values. For example, if you choose a minimum value of 2
and a maximum value of 8, if you choose Interval and type 2 in the
Value box, the ranges created will be 2-4, 4-6, and 6-8. If you
choose Number and type 2 in the Value box, the ranges created will
be 2-5 and 5-8.
n Click OK.
5 When you have finished defining ranges, in the Editing Point Display
Settings dialog box, click OK.
If any ranges overlap (for example, 610-620 and 615-625), when a value falls
into both ranges, only the symbol associated with the first set of values will be
displayed.
TIP: You can also define ranges by right-clicking Local or Shared under the Point
Display Settings node and choosing New. Then, in the New Point Display Settings
dialog box, choose Ranges and click OK. In this case, because you are not defining
ranges based on an existing column, the Editing Point Display Settings dialog box is
not automatically populated. You must define the values manually.
TIP: If you define the values manually, you should define them to match the
types and ranges of values that are likely to occur in your test mobile data.
2 Expand the scan receiver data node for which you want to view
data points.
3 Right-click the column node that you want to view, and choose
View.
To remove the scan receiver data points from the Map window, in the Project
Explorer, right-click the scan receiver data node (one level up from the column
node) and choose View. This clears the check box and removes the data from
the Map window.
n when you are importing a scan receiver data file (see “To
import scan receiver data”)
n when you are defining map view settings (see “To define map
view settings for a scan receiver data file”)
n at any time by dragging the template onto a scan receiver
data file in the Project Explorer
2 Choose a scan receiver data node and drag it onto the Map View
Templates node.
The Edit Template dialog box opens with the columns in the scan receiver data
file listed under the Data Columns heading.
3 For each column that you want to display, from the Point Display
Setting list, choose a setting to apply to the column.
4 If you want to add a row, click Add and type a name for the scan
receiver data column in the Data Columns column.
5 If you want to remove a row, choose the row and click Remove.
6 Click OK.
7 In the Save Template dialog box, type a name in the New Template
Name box and click OK.
The template is added to the Map View Templates node under the Scan
Receiver node.
This information provides useful options for analyzing scan receiver data.
Viewing multiple parameters over time enables you to visualize the interaction
between parameters. For example, Figure 7.2 the RxLev is compared to the
occurrences of the No Service Mode event (vertical lines).
Figure 7.2: Comparison of data in the Scan Receiver Graph dialog box
In the Scan Receiver Graph dialog box, the x-axis is either Time or Index.
Index identifies the sequence of records in the scan receiver file. You can
display up to four values for the y-axis.
When the Scan Receiver Graph dialog box is open, if you also have a Scan Receiver
Browser window or Map window open, they are all synchronized. If you choose a
record in one, the same record is also chosen in the others.
2 Right-click the scan receiver data node that you want to view, and
choose Graph.
3 To modify the format of the x-axis, from the Settings list, choose X
Axis and do any of the following:
n From the Font Size list, choose the font size for the axis label.
n If you want to view grid lines in the graph, enable the Grid Lines
check box.
4 To define y-axis values, from the Settings list, choose one of the
following options:
If you choose Message Series in Step 4, the list available in the Data box
is limited to the textual columns in the imported scan receiver data file.
Otherwise, the list is limited to numerical values.
n From the Color list, choose the color to use for the point or
lines in the graph and the axis label.
n From the Font Size list, choose the font size for the axis label.
n Choose Points or Lines to use for the data in the graph. If you
chose Points, choose a point size from the Point Size list.
n If you want to view grid lines in the graph, enable the Grid
Lines check box.
You can compare up to three types of numeric data (using the First Y Series,
Second Y Series, and Third Y Series options) and one type of string data.
To close the Scan Receiver Graph dialog box, right-click the scan receiver data node
and choose Graph again.
When you minimize the Scan Receiver Graph dialog box, a Scan Receiver Graph icon
appears at the bottom of the Project Explorer. Click the icon to restore the dialog
box.
n In the Scan Receiver Graph dialog box, click the Print button.
You can also preview the printed version by clicking the Print Preview button.
n looking up sectors
n allocating records to sectors
For details on the manual allocation process, see “To assign sectors to scan
receiver carrier nodes manually”.
2 Right-click the scan receiver data node for which you want to look up
sectors and choose Allocate Records.
For example, if the scan receiver data uses GSM technology and the carrier
node is labeled 69-67 (317), this means that there are 317 records in the scan
receiver data file with a BCCH of 69 and a BSIC of 67. If the node is labeled
Missing-Missing (108), this means that there are 108 records that do not
contain a BCCH or BSIC.
3 In the Sectors section, click Look Up, and then in the Sector
Selection dialog box, choose the group of sectors to use and click
Continue.
2 In the Sector Selection dialog box, choose the group that contains the
sector that you want to assign, and click Continue.
3 In the Site Lookup dialog box, choose the sector to assign to the
carrier node and click OK.
You can also assign a sector by right-clicking a carrier node in the Serving
Site/Sector Information tree view and choosing Assign Sector.
You can add a virtual sector to the Serving Site/Sector Information tree view and
allocate the appropriate records to it. Virtual sectors appear only as part of the Scan
Receiver tool. They are not added to your Mentum Planet project.
2 In the Add Virtual Sector dialog box, in the Site Name box, type a
name for the site to which the virtual sector belongs, and in the Sector
Name box, type a name for the virtual sector.
4 Click OK.
When you modify information in the Sector Information section of the Scan
Receiver - Allocate Records to Sectors dialog box, you are modifying only the
data associated with the scan receiver data file. You are not changing the
values assigned to the sectors in Mentum Planet. Typically, you would modify
this data when you know that a sector that actually exists (and was used to
collect the scan receiver data) has different values than those assigned in
Mentum Planet.
The Sector Information displays the information for the chosen sector.
See “Allocating scan receiver data to sectors” for more information on these
options.
NOTE: If you click Allocate, but you have not yet looked up sectors, the Scan
Receiver tool automatically looks up sectors before allocating records.
NOTE: If you want to hide sectors that have not been allocated, in the Serving
Site/Sector Information tree view, right-click the top-level node, and choose Hide All
Unmatched Sectors. You can view all sectors by right-clicking the top-level node
again and choosing Show All Sectors.
NOTE: You can also allocate records by right-clicking a carrier node in the
Site/Sector Information tree view and choosing Allocate Records by Minimum
Distance or Allocate Records by Minimum Path Loss. This option is only available if
you have looked up sectors automatically or assigned sectors manually first.
To unassign sectors
You can also unassign a sector by right-clicking the sector and choosing
Unassign Sector.
You can restore the original view by right-clicking the top-level node
and choosing Toggle View again.
For more information on what you can do with the exported surveys, see “Chapter 3:
Managing Survey Data”.
NOTE: The Export to Survey function for scan receiver data files is subject to the
sampling rates of the original scan receiver data files. The equipment used to create
the original scan receiver data files is not always configured to sample data with
enough samples for quality model tuning purposes (for example, to satisfy the Lee
Criteria).
2 Right-click the scan receiver data node you want to view and choose
one of the following:
The scan receiver data is converted to one or more surveys. The exported
surveys are grouped under the Surveys RSSI node. The name of the group is
the same as the scan receiver data name. Surveys with invalid header
Scanner survey data consists of data relating to the location and signal
strength of multiple carriers. A scanner collects only information related to
signal strength and is never involved in an actual call. The scanner survey data
features of Mentum Planet are part of the AMDP module.
For details on scan receiver data, which is similar to scanner survey data, but
has a different set of functionality, see “Managing Scan Receiver Data”.
Scanner survey data consists of records organized into columns. Mentum Planet
enables you to work with and analyze scanner survey data to increase the accuracy
of predictions. For example, you can compare a scanner survey value against
network analysis layers that contain the same value, or you can export scanner
survey data to a survey and use the survey to increase the accuracy of Mentum
Planet predictions.
NOTE: If you are importing .aod files, you must have the JDSU E6474A Wireless
Network Optimization Software installed on the same computer as Mentum Planet.
Step 1 Import scanner survey data. See “Importing scanner survey data”.
NOTE: This procedure may vary slightly depending on the type of data that you are
importing. You can view the import log for details on the import process.
3 On the Choose The Data Files You Want To Use page, choose a
value from the File Format list.
4 Click Add, locate the files you want to import, and click Open.
You can import data from all technologies except Fixed WiMAX, TDMA-FDMA,
and Generic.
6 Click Next and choose the coordinate system of the scanner survey
data being imported.
The coordinate system is saved in a .coo file for each scanner survey data file.
9 Click Finish.
The scanner survey data file is added as a new node under the Scanner
Survey node.
The name of the new node is the same as the name of the file you
imported. If you imported more than one file, the name of the new node
is the name of the first file.
The settings that are available in the export process enable you to modify the
scanner survey data so that the exported survey data more closely meets your
requirements. For example, there are numerous options for filtering the data that is
to be exported. You can also average survey data.
Once the data has been exported, see “Chapter 4: Managing Survey Data” for
information on what you can do with the exported surveys.
The Export to Survey function for scanner survey data files is subject to the sampling
rates of the original scanner survey data files. The equipment used to create the
original scanner survey data is not always configured to sample data with enough
samples for quality model tuning purposes (for example, to satisfy the Lee Criteria).
2 Right-click the scanner survey data node you want to export and
choose Export to Survey.
4 On the Selecting Sectors page, specify the sectors on which you want
to filter the data by choosing one of the following options in the Sector
Selection section:
The sectors on which the data will be filtered are displayed in the
Selected Sectors list.
6 Click Next.
7 On the Choose How You Want the Data Bound page, do one
of the following:
9 Click Next.
11 Click Next.
14 Click Next.
18 Click Finish.
Path loss and signal strength predictions are used in network analyses to
determine coverage and other metrics. The procedure for generating analysis
layers varies, depending on the technology. For information on generating
analysis layers, see the appropriate User Guide.
By default, Mentum Planet checks to make sure that valid prediction files are
available when you generate an analysis. If you have not generated predictions or
the files have been deleted or are out of date, they are generated as part of the
analysis. The process for generating network analyses and the analysis layers that
are available varies depending on the technology. For information on generating
network analyses, see the appropriate User Guide for the technology you are using.
Predictions and analysis layers are available to view or to use as inputs for other
Mentum Planet tools, including the Neighbor List Generator and the Interference
Matrix Generator. For more information, see “Viewing predictions from the Project
Explorer”.
TIP: You can use the Prediction Manager to remove prediction files that are no
longer valid or are no longer required. For more information, see “Displaying,
filtering, and deleting predictions”.
<Site_ID>_<Sector_ID>_<Grid_resolution>_<Distance>
Each set of path loss files is stored in a separate folder within the Bin folder.
The folder names include the Site ID, Sector ID, and a unique ID to
differentiate between predictions. When you regenerate predictions, new path
loss files are created, and any existing files and folders are left intact.
NOTE: High resolution grids can result in very large pathloss files.
When needed, a set of signal strength files (a .grd file and a .tab file) is created using
the following naming convention:
By default, signal strength files are deleted when you close the project. You can keep
default power signal strength files permanently by selecting signal strength as an
additional layer on the Advanced Options tab of the Project Settings dialog box. Only
one signal strength file is kept per sector and power.
When signal strength files are kept, they are saved in the project’s SignalStrength or
Temp\SignalStrength folder. All the signal strength files of a sector reside in the
same folder.
CBS_<Site_ID>_<Sector_list>_
<PowerSelectionName>.grd
Combined Sector/Repeater Signal Composite coverage of the signal
Strength strength for the selected sector,
CSR_<Site_ID>_<Sector_ID>_
<PowerSelectionName>.grd and
.tab
When you configure sectors, you can define whether to use model or merged
predictions by enabling the Merged check box and specifying an interpolation
distance. When the check box is cleared, modeled predictions are generated using
the assigned propagation model. When the check is enabled, modeled predictions
are merged with survey data. See “Generating predictions”. After generating merged
predictions, two pathloss files and two signal strength files are generated for each
site or sector.
Modeled predictions
Modeled predictions are calculated using the propagation model assigned to the site
or sector. For information on propagation modeling, see the appropriate User Guide
for the technology you are using.
Merged predictions
Merged predictions are calculated using unmasked survey data and path loss values
converted from signal strength readings. Bins that are outside the Interpolation
Distance (defined in the Site Editor) contain model prediction values. Bins that are
within the interpolation distance contain interpolated values calculated by merging
survey data and model prediction values.
When you generate advanced prediction layers, a folder with the same name
as the layer type—for example, Azimuth—is created in the root of your project
folder. A .grd file and a .tab file are stored for each of the advanced layer types
listed in Table 1.
AZ_<Site_ID>_<Site_ID>_<Sector>_<Grid_resolution>_
<Distance>
Inclination The angle below the horizontal from the transmitting antenna
to the receiving antenna.
IN_<Site_ID>_<Site_ID>_<Sector>_<Grid_resolution>_
<Distance>
Path Loss Loss or attenuation of the electromagnetic wave between the
transmitter and the receiver. This may be due to various
factors including free space path loss, refraction, reflection,
or diffraction of the transmitted signal.
PL_<Site_ID>_<Site_ID>_<Sector>_<Grid_resolution>_
<Distance>
You can also enable the Signal Strength check box to preserve signal strength
layers. Layers are generated using the default power (i.e., the prediction power)
during prediction generation (i.e., whenever you generate predictions, signal
strength files are also generated). Signal strength files are saved in the Signal
Strength folder within the project folder. When you clear this check box, signal
strength layers are saved in the temporary folder within the project folder and are
deleted on project close.
2 In the Project Settings dialog box, click the Advanced Options tab.
3 In the Additional Layers section, enable the check boxes for the
advanced prediction layers that you want to generate.
5 Click OK.
For more information on the prediction layers that you can generate, see
“Advanced prediction layers”. For information on the Sharing section of the
Advanced Options tab, see the appropriate User Guide for the technology you
are using.
Generating predictions
Path loss and signal strength predictions are a prerequisite to network
analyses. You can generate predictions prior to, or as part of a network
analysis. By default, prediction files are only generated as required; however,
you can choose to generate all prediction files, regardless of their status.
When you are generating merged predictions, the following files are created in
the Site folder (e.g., Site_1_1_6DCCCABFE512183CA1B8C6A) within the Signal
Strength folder of your project:
To generate predictions
1 In the Project Explorer, right-click the Sites node and choose
Generate Predictions.
2 In the Select Sectors dialog box, specify the sectors for which
you want to generate predictions by choosing one of the following
options in the Sector Selection section:
3 In the Band Filtering section, enable the bands you want to include in
your sector selection.
The sectors for which predictions will be generated are displayed in the
Selected Sectors list.
4 Click OK.
5 If you only want to check the status of the current set of prediction
files, click Check.
TIP: If you want to keep working in Mentum Planet while the predictions are
being generated, you can minimize the Prediction Generator dialog box. When
you minimize the dialog box, a Prediction Generator icon appears at the
bottom of the Project Explorer. Click the icon to restore the dialog box.
You can display prediction layers for various powers depending on the technology of
the sector.
NOTE: You cannot view predictions from the Project Explorer when you use the
Shift key to select multiple sectors or sites.
The prediction layers for the sector are displayed in the Map window.
TIP: You can set the translucency of the prediction layer you display by
defining user preferences for viewing. See the appropriate User Guide for the
technology you are using.
2 To view predictions for sites, select the sites in the Map window
and click the Base Stations tab.
3 In the list box, choose the site entries for which you want to see
predictions.
The entries in the List box for a site are based on the technologies and
frequency bands assigned to that site. You can choose multiple site
entries by dragging the pointer.
4 In the Type section, choose the type of prediction you want to display.
5 From the Power list, choose which power you want to view.
6 To display the prediction layer in a new Map window, enable the New
Window check box.
For each site entry chosen in the List box, a combined prediction opens in a
new Map window.
7 Click View to view the predictions for the chosen site entries.
8 To view predictions for sectors, click the Sectors tab, and in the list
box, choose the sectors for which you want to view predictions.
When you select multiple sectors that assigned different technologies, the
only power available is total power.
12 Click Save Settings to save the settings currently chosen in the View
Predictions dialog box.
TIP: To view predictions for a site, you can also click the View Predictions
button on the Network toolbar and then click an individual site in the Map
window. You can also right-click a site in the Map window and use the
commands from the shortcut menu to generate and view predictions or open
the Prediction Manager.
The Prediction Manager dialog box displays a number of different properties for each
prediction, including the Type, Site Name, Sector Name, and Model Name, to help
you identify the predictions. You can also view a detailed list of the properties
associated with each prediction.
NOTE: You cannot view detailed properties for predictions that were generated
prior to Mentum Planet version 4.1.
TIP: When you select one or more rows in the Prediction Manager, the status bar at
the bottom of the window indicates the number of files selected and the total amount
of disk space used by the files.
TIP: If your project contains a large number of predictions, you can filter the list of
predictions based on a number of different criteria. For example, you could filter the
list of predictions by file date and remove any predictions that were more than two
weeks old.
n From the File Status list, choose the status of the file on which you
want to filter.
n Enable the check box next to the properties upon which you want to
filter and define or choose the filter criteria.
4 If you want to display all predictions that have been generated for
the project, in the Prediction Manager, choose View Show
All.
5 If you want to limit the columns or change the order in which they
are displayed in the Prediction Manager, choose View
Columns, do any of the following, and then click OK:
The predictions that you chose are deleted from the project folder.
TIP: There are other ways to open the Prediction Manager. You can right-click one
or more sites, sectors, or groups in the Project Explorer, or right-click the Sites or
Flags node and choose Prediction Manager. A list of predictions is displayed based on
the nodes you selected. No predictions are displayed if you use the Sites node. You
can also right-click sites in the Map window and choose Prediction Manager.
TIP: You can also use the toolbar buttons at the top of the Prediction Manager
dialog box to access relevant commands.
Using Mentum Planet, you can focus an analysis on two points. These two
points can represent, for example, a base station and a mobile subscriber or a
base station and a possible candidate site. This type of analysis can provide
valuable information about the effect that changing sector heights, antenna
properties, transmit power, or rain fade has on the signal path and quality.
Because signal strength profiles are generated on-the-fly, you do not have to
generate predictions for the entire area of a sector but can focus instead on the
signal path alone. As a result, you can quickly and easily create a profile of the
terrain (elevation or clutter), the signal strength, the path loss, or the Fresnel zone.
In addition, you can model changes to transmitter and receiver heights, locations, or
antenna parameters within the Point-to-Point Profile Tool. Once you have achieved
the desired result, you can print a profile or export it for use in reports.
Generally, each Fresnel zone is reserved for a specific type of propagation. The first
zone typically shows the obstruction and clearance levels of the signal. The higher
zones include interference that cause the original signal to attenuate.
Where
Step 2 In the Map window, move the cursor over the map. The profile displayed in
the Point-to-Point graph window will update dynamically until you click on
an end point. The default profiles (i.e., elevation and clutter (if the project
includes clutter)) are automatically updated. By default, the line-of-sight
is also displayed.
Step 3 Add additional profiles (e.g., propagation model, Fresnel zone and line-of-
sight) as required.
NOTE: When you minimize the Point-to-Point dialog box, a Point-to-Point icon
appears at the bottom of the Project Explorer. Click the icon to restore the dialog
box.
You can quickly access the main features of the Point-to-Point Tool using the
following toolbar buttons.
When you enable the Use Maximum Gain check box on the Antenna tab for either the
transmitter or receiver, Mentum Planet assumes that the direction of the
corresponding antenna is always such that it receives with the maximum gain. If you
do not enable the Use Maximum Gain check box, the gain is calculated according to
the angle of departure or the angle of arrival.
3 If you want to add prediction profiles to the graph, in the Profiles pane,
click the Add Prediction Profile button and do the following:
The profile is added to the profile list and displayed in the graph window.
4 If you want to add a Fresnel profile to the graph, click the Add
Fresnel Zone Profile button and, in the Add Fresnel Zone
Profile dialog box, define the following parameters and click OK.
Both the Fresnel zone and the line-of-sight will be added to the graph
window.
5 If you want to view the path loss profile, click the View Path
Loss button.
The path loss profile is added to the graph window. To change the color
of the profile line, right-click on the profile in the Profiles pane and
choose Format.
6 If you want to view the signal strength profile, click the View
Signal Strength button.
The signal strength profile is added to the graph window. To change the
color of the profile line, right-click on the profile in the Profiles pane and
choose Format.
7 If you want to remove the profile from the graph window, but not
delete the profile, in the Profiles pane, clear the check box next
to the profile name.
If you want to view profiles for a different signal path, click in the Map window
to define a new start point and a new end point.
10 Click Refresh.
NOTE: You can customize the contents of the Point-to-Point Profile Tool
dialog box using the commands from the View menu. You can also resize the
graph area by dragging its edges.
NOTE: To change the color of the Fresnel profile or edit the values used in the
profile, right-click on the Fresnel Profile in the Profiles pane and choose Format
or Edit Profile. Similarly, you can change the color of the line-of-sight profile or
the elevation profile by right-clicking the profile and choosing Format.
TIP: You can open multiple instances of the Point-to-Point Profile Tool dialog
box when you want to view multiple profiles. Use the View ► New Window in
the Point-to-Point Profile Tool dialog box to open a new Point-to-Point Profile
Tool dialog box or click the Point-to-Point Profile button on the RF Tools
toolbar. If you have two dialog boxes open and draw the signal path in the Map
window, by default, both graph windows will be updated with the same profile.
Use the Toggle Profile Capture button to freeze the profiles in one Point-to-
Point Tool dialog box.
the elevation profile. The upper graph window displays the signal strength
profile along the same line. Using the View Pathloss toolbar button, you can
quickly change the profile in the upper window to show path loss instead of
signal strength. You can also remove the legend from the display using the
Toggle Legend button.
3 In the Clutter Height Editor, for each clutter class where you want to
view the clutter height above the elevation, click in the Clutter Height
column, and enter the appropriate value.
2 If you want to display two graph windows, click the Toggle Split
Axes button to stack the vertical axes above each other.
4 To format the color and style of profile lines, in the Profiles pane,
right-click the profile and choose Format.
5 In the Line Properties Editor dialog box, define the line color,
width, and style and click OK.
A Tracking tab appears next to the Transmitter and Receiver tabs at the
bottom of the dialog box.
2 Move the cursor over the signal strength or path loss profile.
Distance, elevation, and path loss or signal strength values are displayed on
the Tracking tab. The values change as you move the cursor along the profile.
3 To exit the cursor tracking mode, click the Cursor Tracking button a
second time.
3 To define your end point (or the receiving sector), do one of the
following:
Figure 10.3: Point where the reflected angles between the transmitter and the
receiver equal 1.06 degrees.
3 Click Save.
3 Click Save.
2 In the Page Setup dialog box, define the paper size, source,
orientation and margins.
n If you want to preview the print layout, in the Page Setup dialog box,
click OK and go to Step 4.
n If you want to send the point-to-point graph to the printer, click the
Printer button, review the printer settings, and click OK.
2 Navigate to the folder where you want to save the profile, in the
File Name box, type a name for the profile, and click Save.
2 Locate the .xml file you want to open and click Open.
For each survey point, the difference between the value contained within the survey
for a given point and the signal strength prediction at the bin is calculated using the
equation:
In cases where there are several survey points contained within one prediction bin,
the analysis generates a result for each value. There is no interpolation of prediction
values across a single bin.
Analysis results
Analysis results are color-coded so that the status of each key performance indicator
(KPI) is easily recognized.
Figure 11.1: An example of the Analysis Results dialog box with results color-coded
for readability.
You can define the thresholds for each color. See “Defining analysis settings”.
Step 3 Bind the surveys that are being using to the appropriate sectors. See “To
update survey header information using sector properties” and “To
assign a survey to a sector”.
Step 4 Define analysis settings. See "Defining analysis settings" on the facing
page
Step 6 Review the analysis results. See "Viewing analysis results" on page 265.
The values you define on this tab represent the minimum number of survey
points that need to be analyzed in order for the Number of Points KPI to be
classified as good (i.e., displayed in green in the results).
4 In the Model section, type a value in the Overall box for the minimum
number of points required for the propagation model.
5 In the Sector section, type values in the following boxes to define the
minimum number of points for the associated KPI:
6 In the Survey section, type values in the following boxes to define the
minimum number of points for the associated KPI:
The values you define on this tab represent the thresholds that define how the
Reliability indicator is classified in the results.
9 In the Model section, for the Overall KPI, type a value in each
threshold box for the propagation model.
10 In the Sector section, type a value in each threshold box for the
associated KPI:
The values on this tab represent the ranges from a survey point to the
sector.
3 In the Band Filtering section, enable the bands you want to include in
your sector selection.
The sectors that will be included in the analysis are displayed in the Selected
Sectors list.
4 Click Generate.
The Analysis Results dialog box opens and a new analysis node is
created in the Project Explorer. The name of the new analysis node is
analysis_<current date and time>.
3 Click Generate.
The Analysis Results dialog box opens and a new analysis node is
created in the Project Explorer. The name of the new analysis node is
analysis_<current date and time>.
2 In the tree view of the Analysis Results dialog box, do any of the
following:
n Click the Sectors node to view results related to all the sectors
included in the analysis.
n Expand the Sectors node and choose an individual sector to view
results specific to that sector.
n Expand an individual sector node to view information related to
clutter classes and distance ranges for that sector.
n Click the Models node to view results related to all the propagation
models included in the analysis.
n Expand the Models node and choose an individual propagation
model to view results specific to that propagation model.
n Expand an individual propagation model to view information related
to clutter classes and distance ranges for that propagation model.
n Click the Surveys node to view results related to all the surveys
included in the analysis.
n Expand the Surveys node and choose an individual survey to view
results specific to that sector.
n Expand an individual survey node to view information related to
clutter classes and distance ranges for that survey.
3 Click the Export All Results to Excel button to save all analysis
results to an Excel file.
TIP: Double-click a cell in the Sector, Site, Survey, or Model columns to drill
down to the details.
TIP: To view what surveys are assigned to a sector, choose the sector in the Sites
category of the Project Explorer, right-click, and choose Surveys Assigned
Surveys.
The sectors that will be included are displayed in the Selected Sectors
list.
4 Click Generate.
Results from all sectors that do not use the selected propagation model
are filtered out.
2 Enable the check boxes next to those surveys for which you want to
view information.
3 Click Generate.
Results are calculated using only those survey that use the chosen
propagation model.
A key step in network modeling is estimating how much traffic there is on the
network and where the traffic is concentrated. Using this information, you can
gage where problem areas exist and plan how to resolve traffic congestion
issues; perhaps, by adding a new site or by changing the site configuration.
Traffic is spread across the area under consideration based on generated predictions
and the traffic density at each bin is calculated using the settings you define.
In the network optimization phase, you can base your traffic map on network data
that reflects the actual usage patterns in the network.
There are various types of data upon which you can base a traffic map:
n If clutter weighting is needed, the clutter file and the input table must be
When you work with population data, your conversion factor must include the
conversion from population to subscribers, also known as the penetration rate.
For example, if your network has a penetration rate of 10% and you want to
use a subscribers-to-Erlangs conversion of 0.025, the conversion factor when
using population data is 0.0025.
Traffic weighting
Including traffic in the network model ensures that the analysis outputs more closely
mirror the usage patterns in the real-world network. Adding a traffic weighting value
to the traffic data input adds further precision to the network analyses. Bins in the
traffic map can be weighted using:
n Clutter—use this option to take the project clutter file into account
and better reflect subscriber density within specific clutter classes.
n Vector—use this option to take main arteries into account and
better reflect subscriber density along roads, for example.
n Splice Clutter With Vector—use this option to splice the vector
file (such as roads) with the project clutter file. With this option, you
merge the two grids and in overlapping areas a mathematical
calculation is performed to determine the new grid value. Null values
are ignored.
n Stamp Vector On Clutter—use this option to stamp the vector file
(such as roads) onto the project clutter file. With this option, you
combine the two grids and in overlapping areas, the value in the
vector file overwrites the value in the clutter file. Null values are
ignored.
n None—use this option when you do not want bin traffic weighting
applied.
You use the Traffic Map Generator Wizard to create all traffic maps, but the
procedure differs depending on the form of the input. Traffic maps that you create or
add to the project are displayed in the Project Explorer, in the Project Data category.
The icon beside the traffic map name indicates whether or not you can view
properties and edit the traffic map (see Table 2).
Icon Description
The traffic map was created within the current project using one of
the methods described in this chapter. You can view and edit
certain properties.
The traffic map was modified or added to the project. You cannot
view the properties or edit the traffic map.
Figure 12.2 shows a traffic map created from population data without applying
clutter weighting. Each census region is marked with a color reflecting its total
population. Red areas are the most populated, blue areas the least. shows the
same traffic map after clutter weighting is applied.
Figure 12.2: Traffic map made from population data by region without clutter
weighting
Figure 12.3: Traffic map made from population data by region with clutter
weighting
Clutter weighting reduces the traffic data value where the underlying clutter type
implies few subscribers, for example, water, open areas, and forest. Values are
increased where the underlying clutter is urban or industrial. Only the distribution of
traffic is affected. The total amount of traffic is unchanged. You control clutter
weighting by defining a relative weighting value for each clutter type.
The clutter file you use for predictions and analyses is probably not the best one to
use for clutter weighting. Instead of ground cover types, clutter weighting requires
land use information about areas such as shopping centers, stadiums, and highways
so that subscriber densities can be determined.
During merging, vector objects are converted to bins in the clutter grid file and
assigned a clutter class. You can set the width of vector objects on the grid by
setting their buffer radius. If the vector file contains this information, you can use a
separate buffer radius setting for each type of vector object.
A vector object, such as a road, added to the clutter grid, can be assigned a clutter
class that replaces the underlying clutter type. Or, you can create a new combined
clutter type that reflects both the vector type and the underlying clutter type. For
example, you could create new clutter types such as Highway/Urban and
Highway/Open.
You can also stamp vectors into the clutter file in order to account for traffic
congestion along roads and highways, for example. With the stamping
method, bin values in the vector overwrite those in the clutter file in
overlapping areas.
Step 2 Specify the source data for the traffic map (i.e., regions, vectors, a
classified grid, or network data).
n Splice Clutter With Vector—to merge the clutter file and the
vector file and assign a traffic weight to a combined clutter class.
n Stamp Vector On Clutter—to stamp the vector file onto the
clutter grid and assign a traffic weight to the combined clutter class.
n None—to use a constant weighting value of 1 for all bins.
To take into account the indoor/outdoor traffic ratio, you must add a clutter
heights file to the Clutter Heights node within the Geodata node of the Project
Explorer or you must add a polygon file to the Polygon folder (where a polygon
file is a MapInfo table that contains three columns — Polygon ID, Polygon
Type, and AGL. The AGL column is the height above ground or sea level for
each polygon).
7 In the Unit section, from the Input Data Unit list, choose the units
used in the input data.
8 From the Output Data Unit list, choose the units that you want to use
in your traffic map.
9 If the units for the input and output data do not match, in the
Conversion Factor box, type a conversion factor for input data unit to
output data unit, or accept the default.
When converting from subscribers, the conversion factor should account for
both the conversion of units and the conversion of population to subscribers
(penetration rate).
The pages you see depend on the selections you have made. For more
information on individual pages of the Wizard, press the F1 key.
2 In the Traffic Map Generator dialog box, type a name for the
new traffic map and click Generate.
The new traffic map is added to the Traffic Maps node in the Project Data
category of the Project Explorer.
NOTE: When you create a traffic map from a fixed subscriber table, it is
created at the resolution of the Heights grid.
2 In the Add Traffic Map dialog box, navigate to the traffic map that you
want to add, and click Open.
2 In the Converted Traffic Map Name box, type a name for the new
traffic map, or accept the default.
3 From the Converted Traffic Map Unit list, choose the traffic unit to
which you want to convert.
5 Click Convert.
The converted map is added to the Traffic Maps node in the Project Data
category of the Project Explorer. Its properties are not editable.
2 In the Scaled Traffic Map Name box, type a name for the new
map, or accept the default.
5 Click Scale.
The scaled map is added to the Traffic Maps node in the Project Data
category of the Project Explorer. Its properties are not editable.
2 In the Scaled Traffic Map Name box, type a name for the new
map, or accept the default.
For Offset scaling, the factor must be between -100 000 and 100 000.
5 Click Scale.
The scaled map is added to the Traffic Maps node in the Project Data category
of the Project Explorer. Its properties are not editable.
2 In the Scaled Traffic Map Name box, type a name for the new map,
or accept the default.
By default, the Scaling Clutter File box shows the name of the clutter file that
was used to create the original traffic map. The project clutter file is set as the
default clutter file when the original traffic map was created without using a
clutter weighting file.
7 When you have finished modifying values, click Save, and then
click Close.
8 Click Scale.
The scaled map is added to the Traffic Maps node in the Project Data
category of the Project Explorer. Its properties are not editable.
The maps that you are combining must have the same coordinate system.
Differences in traffic units between the input maps and the new combined map are
resolved through conversion. You can specify conversion factors or use the defaults.
2 In the Combined Traffic Map Name box, type a name for the new
map, or accept the default.
3 From the Combining Method list, choose the method that you want to
use to combine the traffic maps.
4 In the Other Compatible Traffic Maps box, enable the check boxes
beside the traffic maps that you want to combine.
5 From the Combined Traffic Map Unit list, choose the traffic
unit that you want to use for the new map.
6 Click Combine.
The new combined traffic map is added to the Traffic Maps node in the
Project Data category of the Project Explorer. Its properties are not
editable.
NOTE: If you want to combine traffic maps that all use the same traffic unit,
you can use the quick combine method. In the Project Explorer, in the Project
Data category, choose the traffic maps that you want to combine. Right-click
any of the traffic maps you selected and choose Combine. In the Combine
Traffic Maps dialog box, type a name in the Combined Traffic Map Name box,
and click OK.
For all projects, an interference matrix is used for creating neighbor lists. It is also
used as an input to other tools such as the Automatic Frequency, Preamble, and
Perm Base Planning tool.
The completed interference matrix shows the sources of interference for each sector
in a table format.
Figure 13.1: Interference matrix listing the sectors that interfere with Site TO_158,
Sector 1
Step 2 Create signal strength predictions for the sector group. See “Generating
predictions”. If you want to use a best server grid for your specific
technology instead of the best server grid that is generated by the
Interference Matrix tool, generate a best server analysis. For information
on generating analyses, see the appropriate User Guide for the
technology you are using.
A green arrow identifies the active interference matrix, which will be used as
an input for other tools (such as the neighbor list generation).
2 In the Sector Selection dialog box, specify the sectors for which
you want to create a histogram interference matrix by choosing
one of the following options in the Selection Options section:
4 Click OK.
5 In the tree view, expand the Settings node, and define the required
settings for each item listed in the tree view:
n Calculation
n Histogram
n Conversion
TIP: You can also use the Interference Matrix Generator commands accessible from
the Optimization menu.
Calculation
Name—type in this box a name for the new histogram interference matrix.
After you generate a histogram interference matrix, its name is added to the
Interference Matrices node in the RF Tools category of the Project Explorer.
Algorithm
Overlapped Best Server Area—choose this option to generate a C/I
histogram where a single server is selected for each location and where the C/I
histograms account only for bins where signals between the serving sector and
the interfering signal overlap.
Traffic
Use this section to choose a traffic map with which to generate a histogram
interference matrix. The generated histogram interference matrix will include
traffic information from the chosen traffic map. Traffic maps are numeric grids
generated using the Traffic Map Generator that contain traffic data in the form of
Erlangs/km².
Use A Traffic Map—enable this check box to generate the histogram interference
matrix based on a traffic map.
Traffic Map—choose from this list the traffic map with which to generate the
histogram interference matrix. This list is only available when the Use a Traffic Map
check box is enabled.
RSSI Thresholds
Victim RSSI Threshold—type in this box the received signal strength threshold for
the victim. Servers with signal strengths below this value are not used to generate
the histogram interference matrix. RSSI values range from -200 to 0 dBm.
Offender RSSI Threshold—type in this box the received signal strength threshold
for the offending signal. Interferers with signal strengths below this value are not
used to generate the histogram interference matrix. RSSI values range from -200 to
0 dBm.
After the interference at each bin is calculated for a server, the Include Servers
Within and Non-best Server Weighting settings are used to weight the affected
traffic and affected area values using the following calculations:
n total affected traffic = affected traffic when the sector is the Best
Server + Non Best Server Weighting*affected traffic when the
sector is a Non Best Server
n total carried traffic = traffic when the sector is the Best Server +
Non Best Server Weighting*traffic when the sector is a Non Best
Server.
n % of affected traffic = total affected traffic/total carried traffic
Include Servers Within—type in this box the maximum signal strength that a
server can be less than the best server signal and be considered as non-best server.
Environment—choose from this list the environment within which you want to
consider the sector service probabilities.
Carrier Type (for cdma2000 only)—choose the carrier type to consider when
generating sector service probabilities.
Use HCL (Hierarchical Cell Layers, GSM Only)—enable this check box to use
hierarchical cell layers to generate the histogram interference matrix.
Use Timing Advanced Limit (for GSM only)—enable this check box to limit
the area considered in the histogram interference matrix to that of the best
server coverage region. This option is not available for generic projects.
Use Best Server Coverage Limit—enable this check box to limit the area
considered in the histogram interference matrix to that of the best server
coverage region. This option is not available for generic projects.
Histogram
Histogram Intervals
Minimum C/I—type in this box the minimum C/I value stored in the histogram.
Maximum C/I—type in this box the maximum C/I value stored in the histogram.
Number Of Steps—type in this box the size of the intervals for the histogram.
Use Relative Threshold—enable this check box to define the relative threshold
used choose the interferers for which to save full histograms. Full histograms are
saved for an interferer that has an average C/I value that is lower than the worst
interferer C/I value plus the relative threshold. In the box to the right, type a value
for the relative threshold.
Use Absolute Threshold—enable this check box to define the absolute threshold
used choose the interferers for which to save full histograms. Full histograms are
saved for interferers that have an average C/I value that is lower than the absolute
threshold. In the box to the right, type a value for the absolute threshold.
Conversion
Co-channel Threshold—type in this box the signal strength below which co-
channel interferers are considered affected traffic. This box is only available
when the User Defined Values option is chosen.
Adj. Channel Threshold—type in this box the signal strength below which
adjacent channel interferers are considered affected traffic. This box is only
available when the User Defined Values option is chosen.
n In the Servers tree view, choose a sector and view its interferers in
the Interferers table.
The Histogram Interference Matrix dialog box opens where you can view the
setting used in the generation of the interference matrix as well as details
about the creation of the matrix.
In order to design a wireless network where users can move between sectors
smoothly with no interruption of service, you need to understand how sites
influence each other and how they can better interact with each other. To do
this, you create a neighbor plan that encompasses sector neighbor lists and
using this information, you can determine the best handover strategy for the
network and make appropriate decisions about network design.
There is a wide variety of criteria that can be used to identify neighbors and non-
neighbors. Mentum Planet includes a flexible neighbor plan creation process that
ensures the neighbor plan you are working with is the one best suited for your
network environment. You can create neighbor plans for one technology or for
multiple technologies and you can focus plans on specific environments (either
indoor or outdoor).
As part of the neighbor planning process, predictions are generated and the overlap
of signals between sectors determines neighbor candidacy.
Figure 14.2: Because the serving areas overlap significantly, these sites are
considered to be neighbors
Step 2 In the network settings, define the base station type and associated
neighbor planning criteria such as the maximum number of neighbors
permitted, the handover type and the boundary for the base station type.
Step 3 In the Site Editor, at the sector level, define a black list that identifies
neighbors that are not available.
To quickly define black lists, you can export Neighbor and Black Lists,
update the lists, and re-import the data.
Step 4 If you are creating a neighbor plan based on the best server, generate a
best server coverage layer.
Step 6 Create a neighbor plan using the Neighbor Plan Generator Wizard to
define:
Step 8 If required:
Step 9 Once you have determined the best plan, apply it to sectors.
And, for each neighbor plan type there is a choice of neighbor plan algorithm:
Neighbors are sectors with adjacent best server coverage areas. However,
this definition could result in a large number of neighbors. Therefore, you can
set minimum length requirements for the common border between coverage
areas to reduce the number of sectors that qualify as neighbors. With the Best
Server method, the priority of neighbors is determined based on the area
between a server and a neighbor.
NOTE: The more detailed the neighbor requirements, the better suited the
neighbor planning results will be to your network environment. To help you
analyze neighbor planning results, neighbors are prioritized based on carried
traffic or coverage area.
Sector Selection
Selection Options
All—choose this option to include all sectors in the generation process. The
number of sites and sectors is displayed in parentheses. The label changes to
reflect the technology of valid sectors from which you can select. For example,
if you are using the Automatic Frequency Planning tool, only TDMA sectors are
valid. In this case, the label reads All TDMA Sectors.
Flag Filtering—choose this option to include those sites identified with the
flag and condition enabled in the Project Explorer.
Invert Conditions—enable this check box to include those sites that are not
part of the flag filter selected in the Project Explorer.
Group Selection—choose this option to select those sectors that are part of
the specified group.
Band Filtering
Use the Band Filtering section to choose the bands upon which you want to
create a subset of sites. Enable the check box next to the bands you want to
include. Only those bands defined in the Network Settings Editor are
displayed.
Algorithm
Best Server—choose this algorithm to use a best serving sector classified
grid to examine the best server coverage area (i.e., the area where the signal
is strongest) of each sector.
Algorithm Parameters
Best Serving Sector Layer—choose from this list the best serving sector
layer you want to use to determine neighbor relationships.
NOTE: When both the Use Absolute Border Length Threshold and Use
Relative Border Length Threshold check boxes are enabled, sectors must meet
both conditions to be considered neighbors.
Threshold Parameters
NOTE: Parameters with a value of zero are ignored in the neighbor planning
process.
Use Absolute Area—enable this check box to define the minimum interfering
area between two sectors. Neighbors are ranked by overlapping coverage area
and included, in descending order, until the maximum number of neighbors is
reached.
Use Relative Area—enable this check box to use the relative area (as a
percentage) when ranking neighbors and type a percentage in the associated
box. Neighbors are ranked by the size of the overlapping coverage area
relative to the value defined.
Use Absolute Traffic—enable this check box to define the minimum level of
traffic between two sectors. Neighbors are ranked by traffic in the overlapping
coverage area and included, in descending order, until the maximum number
of neighbors is reached.
Determine Priority Using—choose from this list one of the following options:
2 Navigate to the neighbor plan you want to add, and click Open.
Figure 14.1: Neighbor display. The color of the line indicates the type of neighbor
(i.e., inter-RAT or intra-RAT).
n generate statistics
NOTE: If you have already exported the neighbor plan to Excel, you can view
details of the plan by right-clicking and choosing Open File in Excel.
NOTE: You can also view neighbor relationships using the Carrier and Code
display dialog box accessible from the Optimization menu.
3 To filter the data in the neighbor plan comparison, from the Filtering
list, choose which data you would like displayed.
3 In the Band Filtering section, enable the check box next to those
bands you want to include in your sector selection.
4 Click Next.
7 Click Next and follow the pages of the Wizard to define the
optimization criteria.
4 Click Next and follow the pages of the Wizard to define the
optimization criteria.
n merge two neighbor plans, those neighbors that exist in the new
plan but are not in the currently assigned plan are added.
n replace the currently assigned plan with the new plan, all neighbor
relationships are replaced.
Missing neighbors are added to the neighbor lists associated with sectors in
the plan.
All neighbors are added to the neighbor lists associated with sectors in the
plan.
You can optimize network design using the Automatic Cell Planning (ACP)
features of Mentum Planet in order to extend coverage and increase capacity
by fine tuning antenna parameters and by activating only those sites that best
fit the network design and goals.
NOTE: Only LTE FDD, LTE TDD, cdma2000, and EV-DO are supported in this
release.
Lower cost
Automatic Cell Planning reports detail potential improvements to the network that
can involve:
Step 2 In the Site Editor, for the antennas being used, define the optimization
constraints.
Step 4 Define the goals and constraints to which you want network optimization
to adhere.
Step 5 If required, create one or several combined goals to merge goals based on
the weight assigned to each one.
Step 6 Define optimization settings including the optimization type, the sector
and repeater selection and, if you have chosen the site selection mode,
the activation mode and criteria.
Step 8 If you have chosen site selection, view the site selection report and , if
acceptable, apply site selection changes.
Step 9 If you have chosen site optimization, view the optimization report and, if
acceptable, apply optimization changes.
NOTE: There are two versions of the ACP available: Cluster_ACP and ACP.
Using the Cluster_ACP version, you can optimize a maximum of 100 sectors.
The ACP version extends this limit. For more information, visit mentum.com.
NOTE: Optimization goals take into account the penetration losses that are defined
in the Environment Editor.
Pilot Ec/Io Coverage—the goal is to maximize the area or traffic with all bins in
the optimization area exceeding the pilot Ec/Io threshold.
Capacity—the goal is for sectors to have loads as close as possible to the user-
defined target cell load.
Uplink Coverage—the goal is to maximize the area or traffic with all bins in the
optimization area exceeding the uplink signal strength threshold.
Pilot Ec Coverage Limit—the goal is to minimize the area or traffic with all
bins in the optimization area exceeding the pilot Ec threshold.
First Minus Nth Signal—the goal is to maximize the area or traffic in the
optimization area for which the difference between the first pilot Ec and the
Nth pilot Ec exceeds the first minus signal strength threshold.
Pilot Ec/Io Coverage—the goal is to maximize the area or traffic with all
bins in the optimization area exceeding the pilot Ec/Io threshold.
Uplink Coverage—the goal is to maximize the area or traffic with all bins in
the optimization area exceeding the uplink signal strength threshold.
First Minus Nth Signal—the goal is to maximize the area or traffic in the
optimization area for which the difference between the first pilot Ec and the
Nth pilot Ec exceeds the first minus signal strength threshold.
RSRQ Coverage—the goal is to maximize the area or traffic with all bins in
the optimization area exceeding the RSRQ threshold.
Downlink C/(N+I) Coverage—the goal is to maximize the area or traffic with all
bins in the optimization area exceeding the Downlink C/(N+I) threshold.
Capacity—the goal is for sectors to have loads as close as possible to the user-
defined target cell load.
Uplink Coverage—the goal is to maximize the area or traffic with all sectors in the
optimization area exceeding the uplink signal strength threshold.
Limit Coverage—the goal is to minimize the area or traffic in the optimization area
for which the RSRP exceeds the RSRP threshold.
Site selection is the first of those phases and can be a long and tedious task
depending on the number of sites involved. Using the Mentum Planet
optimization features facilitate this work. Once you have specified the sites to
consider and the sites to optimize, Mentum Planet:
NOTE: To preserve disk space, you should periodically delete the optimization
caches (i.e., delete the pathloss structure used by all existing optimizations). To do
this, right-click the Optimizations node and choose Delete All Optimization Caches.
To delete optimization caches automatically once an optimization is complete, in the
User Preferences dialog box, on the Miscellaneous panel, clear the Retain
Optimization Cache check box.
7 Expand the Combined Goal node and choose the newly created
combined goal.
10 Click OK.
4 Click Finish.
6 Follow the pages of the Wizard to define the scenario and then click
Finish.
EXAMPLE: You could create two LTE goals: RSRP Coverage and RSRQ
Coverage. You could then combine these goals in order to optimize your
network.
7 Expand the Combined Goal node and choose the newly created
combined goal.
EXAMPLE: You could create two goals for different technologies: RSRP and
Pilot Ec and then use them to optimize your network.
EXAMPLE: You could create two cdma2000 goals: Pilot Ec and Pilot Ec/Io. You
could then combine these two goals in order to optimize your network.
4 Repeat Steps 2 and 3 to add a goal for Pilot Ec/Io Coverage and define
parameters as shown below.
7 Expand the Combined Goal node and choose the newly created
combined goal.
A weight of zero means the goal won't have an impact on the optimization
results.
9 Click OK.
A step, during the site selection process, is the activation or deactivation of one
additional site.
A step, during the site optimization phase, contains the configuration changes to all
sectors of a specific site as well as all repeaters with a donor sector that belongs to
that specific site.
You can visualize microwave links within the context of your Mentum Planet
projects and perform basic microwave planning tasks when designing your
wireless network.
Using the shortcut commands, you can create microwave links between two points,
analyze link performance, and adjust microwave link settings to ensure that you
achieve optimal link performance.
NOTE: To use the microwave link planning features, you must have a license.
Recommendations
You can specify parameters related to the various ITU standards in the Microwave
Settings dialog box.
NOTE: ITU recommendations are available from the ITU website at www.itu.int.
Microwave data
When you work with the microwave features in Mentum Planet, data is saved
in the Microwave folder within the Mentum Planet project folder. The data you
define for microwave link planning is used solely with the microwave features.
Microwave link planning data and results are intended to compliment the
contents of your Mentum Planet project but microwave links are not taken into
consideration when generating network analyses or Monte Carlo simulations.
Step 2 Configure user equipment including antennas, radios, and feeders. See
"Configuring user equipment" on page 360
Step 5 Configure the microwave link such that you assign and configure antennas
and associate channels with radio equipment. See "Creating and
configuring microwave links" on page 367.
Step 7 Analyze microwave links. See "Analyzing microwave links" on page 372.
NOTE: The Microwave Settings Technical Note available in the Help folder
within the Mentum Planet installation details how parameters are calculated.
NOTE: User profiles, defined in the Link Editor, override GIS parameters defined in
the Microwave Settings dialog box.
4 If you are adding a new vector layer, in the New Vector Layer dialog
box, in the Name box, type a name for the layer and then specify
either the vector file itself or the folder where it is saved.
5 If you are adding a new raster layer, in the New Raster Layer dialog
box, in the Name box, type a name for the layer and then specify
either the raster file itself or the folder where it is saved.
6 Click OK.
To configure radios
1 In the Project Explorer, in the Microwave category,
right+click Radios and choose Add to add a new radio type to
the project.
2 Right-click the radio type you want to configure and choose Edit.
TIP: To add a new radio configuration, open the Default Radio equipment,
right-click the top-level node and choose New Radio Configuration.
TIP: To add a new feeder to the project, right-click the Feeders node and choose
New.
3 Click OK.
NOTE: If you have more than one frequency plan in your project, right-click
the frequency plan that you want to use for automatic channel assignment and
set it to be the Active plan.
Figure 16.1: Microwave link planning line of sight with Fresnel zone.
NOTE: These layers are used only for microwave link planning and must be defined
in the microwave settings. See "Defining microwave settings" on page 358.
AMSL layers
The AMSL (Above Mean Sea Level) layer is a raster grid that contains height values
for specified distances at defined intervals from site A. Intermediate points along the
profile are calculated using a linear interpolation method.
You can create an AMSL layer using the User Profile Editor.
Figure 16.2: Link Editor showing profile source list where you can create layers
by clicking the hyperlinks.
AMSL data is adjusted to account for the earth curvature where the radius
equals 637 km.This radius is modified to take into account propagation with a k
factor set, by default, to 1.33. The longer the microwave link, the more
pronounced the earth curvature will appear in the Link Editor path profile
display.
AGL layers
The AGL (Above Ground Level) layer is a raster grid. There are three types of AGL
layers:
You can create AGL layers in the Link Editor using raster data such as clutter heights
or a vector layer that consists of obstacle outlines associated along with the
associated height.
Link clearance
Display colors provide a quick visual summary of the clearance conditions
between two sites.
You can display profile clearances for all available antenna configurations.
Antennas
You can display link profiles and clearance ellipsoids for each antenna
configuration and use the buttons on each side of the profile view to display
the profile ellipsoids. To display the clearance ellipsoid between two selected
antennas, enable the antenna buttons.
For each microwave link, radio diversity is configured and diversity antennas
installed on both sites. On site A, the main antenna is on one tower and the
diversity antenna is on another one. On Site B, the main antenna and the
diversity antenna are installed on the same tower.
You can view various profiles using the buttons on either side of the display
window in the Link Editor. For example, you can display a profile between the
main antenna A and the main antenna B or a profile between the main antenna
A and the main antenna B alongside the diversity antenna A and the main
antenna B.
The link is added to the Project Explorer beneath the Links node.
NOTE: Parameters defined in the Link Editor are link specific and override
parameters defined in the Microwave Settings dialog box.
3 Click Import.
2 In the Link Editor, click the Export Microwave Link button on the
Microwave toolbar.
3 In the Export Link To File dialog box, specify a name and location and
click Save.
5 Click OK.
NOTE: The details generated for microwave links are intended to provide you
with information you can use to better understand how the microwave element
of the network behaves. Microwave links are not considered in network
analysis or Monte Carlo simulation results.
2 In the tree view, click the node to view details in the right-hand panel.
You can extend the Mentum Planet feature set by adding tools and links. This
chapter describes how to to do this using the Extension Manager. For detailed
examples, see the Customizing Mentum Planet Using the Extension Manager
Application Note.
When you install a Mentum Planet (.pex) extension, it is copied to the Documents
and Settings folder. A .pex file is a compressed file that contains at a minimum an
.xml file with the necessary instructions and structure.
The Customizing Mentum Planet Using Extensions Application Note details how to
create .pex files for various applications. You can find this document in the Help
folder.
CAUTION: The compressed .pex file cannot be a .rar archive file. It must be a
compressed zip file or folder.
To add an extension
1 Choose Tools Extension Manager.
To uninstall an extension
1 In the tree view, select an extension and click the Uninstall
button.
All files associated with the extension will be deleted when Mentum
Planet is re-opened.
2 In the Save As dialog box, navigate to the folder where you want
to save the .pex file and click Save.
2 Click Close.
TIP: Use the Tool Manager command accessible from the GIS Tools menu
to add the Sync Windows functionality to Mentum Planet. Using the Sync
Windows feature enables you to easily compare layers in separate windows.
Gridding is the basic mapping technique used in Mentum Planet. The Grid
Manager is the central dialog box from which you can open, sort, view, and
manipulate grids. Mentum Planet also has tools that enable you to retrieve
information from grids and perform basic topological analysis.
n Grid Legend—displays the color scheme and value ranges used for
the map display.
n Grid Manager Info Function—provides information about the
grid, including metadata.
n Grid Info Tool—returns information about the selected
geographical location from all grids currently open in the Grid
Manager. The grid files being inspected do not have to be layers in
the current Map window.
n Region Info Tool—displays a statistical summary of the data
within a selected region for all active grids in the Grid Manager.
n Line Info Tool—displays a statistical summary of the data along a
selected line for the grid highlighted in the Grid Manager.
n Find Maximum Point Tool—finds the highest point in a region.
This is an aid to finding good locations for sites. For more
information, see “Using sector placement tools”.
n Grid Query Tool—builds new grids from existing grids where the
new grid values are derived according to whether specific queries
imposed on the existing grid files have been met. For more
information, see the Grid Analysis User Guide.
n Grid Calculator Tool—creates mathematical expressions using an
unlimited number of grids. For more information, see the Grid
Analysis User Guide.
NOTE: To get additional information on analysis files, you can use the Layer
Statistics tool. For more information, see the appropriate technology-specific User
Guide.
2 In the Grid Legend dialog box, choose the grid file for which you
want to see the legend.
Only grid files that are currently open appear in the list.
2 In the Grid Manager, choose a grid from the list, and click the
Info button.
The Grid Manager lists only grids that are currently open in the project.
You can open other grids as needed from the Grid Manager.
For more information about the types of information available using the Grid
Manager Info function, see Chapter 5, “Working with the Grid Manager”, in the
Grid Analysis User Guide.
The Grid Info dialog box opens, listing the value of each open grid at the
cursor location. You can click the Map to view information for other
locations. The Cursor Tracking option provides a continuous display of
data as you change the cursor position. The Capture Data option
captures data to a table. For more information, see “Using the Grid Info
tool” in Chapter 5 of the Grid Analysis User Guide.
TIP: You can specify Grid Info options in the Preferences dialog box accessible by
choosing GIS Grid Analysis Preferences.
TIP: If you need to inspect a large number of predefined points, you can use the
Point Inspection function. For more information, see the Grid Analysis User Guide.
2 In the Toolbar Options dialog box, enable the Grid Analysis check
box, and click OK.
The Volume calculation is the sum of all the values found in the region multiplied by
the bin dimensions. This value is only meaningful when the z-unit is a linear
measurement. The % null value indicates how much of the enclosed area contains
null values.
TIP: To view statistical information for a large number of regions contained in the
same table, use the Region Inspection function. For more information about region
inspection, see the Grid Analysis User Guide.
2 In the Toolbar Options dialog box, enable the Grid Analysis check
box, and click OK.
NOTE: The number of samples taken along the line is determined by the
Cross Section: No. of Samples parameter in the Preferences settings. The
default is 100. To change this value, choose GIS ä Grid Analysis ä Preferences
and enter a new number in the No. of Samples box. For more information about
preferences, see the Grid Analysis User Guide.
NOTE: You can choose whether or not values are interpolated within bins by
enabling or clearing the Use Closest Node Values check box on the z-units tab
in the Grid Manager Info function.
NOTE: To view information for a large number of lines contained in the same
table, use the Line Inspection function. For more information about line
inspection, see the Grid Analysis User Guide.
Contouring a grid
Mentum Planet provides tools to convert grids to attribute-coded vector files using
processes that thread isolines, or contours, through the grid network (Figure 18.1).
Contour lines are paths of constant values. Mentum Planet computes contour lines as
separate polylines or closed complex regions where holes or islands have been
“knocked-out”. This is important in the GIS environment because the contour
regions can immediately be used for analysis.
You can also generate contours as topologically built regions using a process similar
to the polyline threader. Contour region intervals are user-defined with the additional
option of applying a custom gradient color ramp to assign incremental colors to the
contour regions.
For contour regions, you can define the Greater than or Equal to Lower Value
(>=Value) and the Less than Upper Value (<Value). These values define each
contour region based on Contour settings. Each contour represents the lower value
of the interval. For example, the 200 contour region encloses all values ³ 200
and <250.
3 In the Contour dialog box, choose the appropriate grid file from
the Grid list, and click Polylines if you want to create polyline
contours or Regions if you want to create region contours.
4 Click Intervals.
8 To save the contour map, click Browse, navigate to where you want to
save the contour map, type a name or accept the default, and then click
Save.
NOTE: The default setting in the Minimum box is the lowest value encountered in
the grid file and may need to be changed for the contouring process.
NOTE: To modify the interval values manually, double-click in any Value field in the
Interval List and type a value.
2 In the Grid Manager, highlight a classified grid file in the list of open
grids and click the Contour button.
3 In the Save Contours As dialog box, type a name in the File Name
box and click Save.
The contouring function automatically completes and draws the region table
into a new Map window.
The new regions are an exact reproduction of the classified grid (.grc)
regions but are in vector format with an attached column entry
representing the contour class name.
When you create grid contours using standard contouring tools, contour lines are
threaded through bins at defined intervals. If you are contouring a complex grid with
many isolated bins, holes, or islands, the resulting grid may be too visually crowded
to be meaningful. The contouring process will also be very time consuming. Using the
Smooth Contour tool, you can reduce the size and complexity of the grid before
generating contours. As a result, the time required to contour a complex grid
decreases and the resulting grid is simpler and more meaningful.
Figure 18.3: Phase 1 of the Smooth Contouring process where the grid is
resized and the new bin values are calculated.
Phase 1
In the first phase, the grid is resized and bin values recalculated based on one
of five methods.
Figure 18.4: Using the Gaussian filter method, a Gaussian curve is applied to all the
points in the Smoothing window and a weighted value is assigned to each point. The
weighted values are then averaged to produce a value for the bin (i.e. the point at
the top of the curve).
While the calculations used to determine the bin value are different, the method
used to calculate the value is the same. Using the averaging method, for example,
given an original bin size of 180m, an output bin size of 540m, and smoothing window
of 3780 m, the Smooth Contour tool takes the bin values within the 3780m
smoothing window, averages them and then applies this new value to the output
bins.
Figure 18.5: The Smooth Contour Tool uses all the values in the smoothing
window to calculate the new bin value.
Phase 2
In the second phase, contours are applied to the newly processed grid.
2 From the Grid list, choose the grid you want to contour.
3 In the Resize Options section, from the Filter Method list, choose
one of the following methods:
4 From the Interim Bin Size list, choose the bin size you want to use
during phase 1 of the contouring process.
5 From the Smoothing Window list, choose the area you want included
in contouring calculations.
6 To save the interim grid, enable the Preserve Interim Grid check
box, click the Browse button, navigate to the folder where you
want the file saved.
7 In the File Name box, type a name for the grid, and click Save.
9 To save the new contour file, click the Browse button, navigate
to the folder where you want the file saved.
10 In the File Name box, type a name for the grid, and click Save.
11 Click OK.
Aspect measures the direction that each bin faces in three-dimensional space and is
recorded in azimuth degrees relative to either true north or the top of the map. In
Mentum Planet, aspect is calculated by averaging the aspects of the eight triangle
faces that are formed from the surrounding nodes.
Figure 18.7: The eight triangles are created to determine the slope at node “A.”
3 In the Slope And Aspect dialog box, choose a grid from the Grid list.
The z-unit of the grid must be a linear unit of distance, such as meters or feet.
If this is not the case, you must reproject the grid.
4 To create a slope grid, enable the Create Slope Grid check box.
When you clear this check box, the slope is calculated in degrees.
9 In the File Name boxes, enter a file name for each grid to be
created.
10 Click OK.
NOTE: To view slope and aspect values, choose Tools Grid Legends in the
Grid Manager, and then choose the grid from the list in the Grid Legend dialog
box.
Using the Area node in the Project Data category of the Project Explorer, you can
create area grids using MapInfo tables that contain region objects, or you can use
the drawing tools to create vector objects, and then generate an area grid based on
the vector objects. You can also add existing area grids to your project.
The resolution of area grids is, by default, the same as the project elevation file, but
you can define the resolution based on a number of preset values if required. For
example, if you are defining a very small area, you may want to use a higher
resolution.
4 Click Generate.
The area grid is saved in the Areas folder within your project folder and
is listed in the Project Explorer under the Areas node in the Project Data
category.
The area grid is copied to the Areas folder within your project folder and
is listed in the Project Explorer under the Areas node in the Project Data
category.
The area grid is removed from the Project Explorer and the files are deleted
from the project folder.
Figure 18.8: Point-to-Point Visibility graph. The red line depicts the surface,
the green line depicts what you can see.
You can use the point-to-point visibility function only on a numeric grid that
has a z-unit type of feet or meters.
2 In the Grid Manager, choose the grid on which you want to analyze
point-to-point visibility.
6 With the left mouse button held down, draw the path in the Map window
of the open elevation grid file, where the line direction corresponds to
the direction of sight, i.e., the “looking from” position is the start of the
line.
If you want to draw the path starting at a site location and snap the cursor to
the nearest point, press the S key to activate the Snap tool.
9 Enable the Plot On Map check box if you want view a line plot in the
Map window after clicking Solve.
The line plot traces the extent of the line of sight and indicates, using color,
the intervals between the endpoints that are visible (green) and obstructed
(red) relative to the direction of sight. Line plots are saved as individual .tab
files using default file names (subdirVMLineX.tab). As subsequent lines are
chosen and solved, new files are saved with incremental numbers in the file
name.
10 Enable the Create Results Table check box if you want to create a
table of results.
11 Click Solve.
You can customize the appearance of the point-to-point solution graph using
the shortcut menu. To access it, right-click in the graph window and choose
one of the available commands. You can also zoom in and zoom out of the
graph by clicking in the graph window and dragging the cursor over the area
you want to view.
Viewshed function
Viewshed is defined as a delineation process identifying all locations on a grid
that are visually connected (visible in a direct line-of-sight) to a single
observation point.
In other words, if a destination bin is not visible from the viewpoint, then a
negative value is returned specifying the height below the line of sight. To
become just visible, this height has to be added to the destination bin. For
example, if the number returned is -98 meters, then the destination bin must
be raised 98 meters in order to be visible.
If the destination bin is visible, then a positive value is returned specifying the
height above the line of sight. In this case, the viewpoint can be lowered by
this height and remain just visible. For example, if the number returned is
55 meters, then the viewpoint can be lowered 55 meters and still be visible.
You use the Viewpoint Pick tool found on the Grid Analysis toolbar to identify
the view point from which intervisibility for an entire elevation grid file is
calculated or you can use it to select an existing point in the Map window.
The Viewshed function is appropriate only for use on a grid file that has a unit
of elevation (feet or meters) as its z-value.
2 In the Grid Manager, choose the grid on which you want to perform
the viewshed analysis.
6 Using the left mouse button, choose a point in the Map window of the
open elevation grid file that represents the point of origin for the
viewshed calculation.
7 In the Viewshed dialog box, choose one of the following options in the
Viewshed Methods section:
10 Click OK.
TIP: To view visibility values, choose Tools Grid Legends in the Grid
Manager, and then choose the grid from the list in the Grid Legend dialog box.
You can also access the Viewshed tool from the Grid Manager. Click the
Analysis button, and choose the Viewshed Analysis command.
2 In the Map window, using any of the Select tools on the Main
toolbar, select point objects representing the locations you want
to perform the analysis on.
4 In the Viewshed dialog box, choose the grid you want to analyze
from the Grid list.
8 Click OK.
You can create a variety of reports in Mentum Planet. Coverage map reports
present analyses, and can include legends and graphics. A site table report
exports the information from your site table to a tab-delimited or comma-
delimited text file. An FCC report provides coverage and interference plots
required by FCC regulations.
n forward-link analysis
n reverse-link analysis
n combined analysis
n throughput analysis
n gain analysis
Once you have generated output grids, you can organize the grids in a report, which
you can print. You do this using the Layout functionality, which enables you to
customize a layout to your specific requirements. You can create a template that you
can use to create all your reports. For more information on creating layouts, see
“Working with Layouts” in Chapter 12 of the MapInfo Professional User Guide.
TIP: To include elements such as company logos or other graphics and legends in
your reports, you must first display them in Map windows. For more information on
opening graphic files, see “To open a graphic file”.
3 In the New Window Layout dialog box, choose one of the frame
options, and click OK.
n Move and resize frames by selecting a frame using the Select tool
on the Main toolbar, and then resizing or repositioning the frame on
the layout page. Using the Shift key when resizing will maintain the
aspect ratio of the window.
TIP: Choose Layout View Actual Size to view the layout window as it will
appear when printed.
To add a frame
1 On the Drawing toolbar, click the Frame button.
3 In the Frame Object dialog box, choose the window you want to
include in the layout, and adjust the placement and the size as
required.
4 Click OK.
NOTE: If you want to change the window displayed in the frame, click the
Select button from the Main toolbar, double-click on the frame, select a new
window from the Window list, and click OK.
2 Choose an object.
4 In the Border section, choose the options you want for the border.
5 Click OK.
2 In the Grid Manager, choose the grid for which you want to
create a legend.
If you chose a numeric grid, the Grid Color Tool opens. If you chose a
classified grid, the Dictionary Editor opens.
4 Click Legend.
After you have saved a .vml file, you can use the same color
configuration for other legends.
9 In the Print dialog box, specify the printer, page size, source,
and orientation, and click OK.
NOTE: If some of the text in your legend overlaps, choose File Close Table
and close the legend file. Reopen the Legend Generator, and use the Range,
Text, and Format tabs to adjust the number and position of range values. A
common cause of overlap is the alignment of value and percentile labels when both
Show Value and Show Pct are enabled on the Range tab.
TIP: You can also view a legend of a grid by choosing View Grid Legend. You
cannot print the legend using this method. For more information, see the appropriate
User Guide for the technology you are using.
For general information about creating a thematic map, see the MapInfo
Professional User Guide.
3 In the Create Legend dialog box, ensure that the thematic map layer
is the only layer listed in the Legend Frames section, and click Next.
For more information on the Create Legend dialog box, see the MapInfo
Professional User Guide.
7 In the Print dialog box, specify the printer, page size, source, and
orientation, and click OK.
NOTE: You can modify the properties of the thematic map before creating the
legend by choosing Map ä Modify Thematic Map. For more information, see the
MapInfo Professional User Guide.
NOTE: You can also view a legend of a thematic map by choosing View Grid
Legend. You cannot print the legend using this method. For more information, see
the Grid Analysis User Guide.
For VHF and UHF services, Planet creates the area where an operator can
provide a service without causing interference with any neighboring carrier. In
addition, it generates the interference contour for both VHF and UHF services,
thereby helping you establish the interfering contour overlap and determining
how it may affect a protected co-channel sector controlled by a carrier other
than the applicant.
Where:
The FCC_Points table represents the radial points generated for each of the eight
radials per sector that make up the FCC contour. Click on an FCC radial point using
the Info tool to view this information. The table includes
n Radial
n HAAT
n Site_Id
n Distance_Km
n ERP_Watts
n AHAAT (Antenna Height Above Average Terrain)
The FCC_Regions table provides information for each individual contour region
that has been generated for each sector. Click on an FCC region using the Info
tool to view this information. The table includes
n Site_Id
n Max_Power
n Elevation (m)
n Radials
n Height (m)
n AHAAT
n Site_LocX
n Site_LocY
n Antenna File
n Antenna Properties (Azimuth, Tilt, Twist, and Gain)
n Gulf Area
n Contour type
n Frequency
n Rx_Height
n DEM
n DEM bin size
n HAAT
The FCC_Combine table contains the same column headings as the FCC_
Regions table. When you generate a combined region for all the FCC contours,
this table is not updated with any database information. The reason for this is
that in order to support a spatial region, Planet must create a corresponding
database table in order to view it in the map window.
3 In the Sector Selection dialog box, specify the sectors for which you
want to generate FCC contours by choosing one of the following options
in the Selection Options section:
4 In the Band Filtering section, enable the bands you want to include in
your sector selection.
The sectors that will be included in the FCC generation are displayed in the
Selected Sectors list.
5 Click OK.
6 In the FCC Contour Generator, click the Settings tab and choose the
contour type you want to generate from the Contour Type list.
8 If you chose VHF, UHF, or narrowband PCS contour types, from the
Frequency list, choose the frequency range.
You can only override the service when it is defined along eight radials
(as required by the FCC). See “To define override values for 32 dBu
services”.
11 If you decide that the overrides are not needed, clear the Use
Overrides check box.
13 Click Generate.
Your Map window refreshes to view the FCC contours. Dashed red lines
highlight the composite region contour, and solid black lines indicate the
individual sector contour regions.
folder.
Overriding values for 32 dBu services is not a practise that is endorsed by the FCC.
2 If you want to use the same value for all sectors, enable the Override
By Sector check box.
3 If you enabled the Distance (km) check box, click the Override
Distance Values tab and do the following:
n Enable the check box next to a sector to use the distance values.
n Click in the field for each radial and enter a value.
4 If you enabled the Elevation (m) check box, click the Override
Elevation Values tab and do the following:
5 If you enabled the ERP/EiRP (dBm) check box, click the Override
ERP Values tab and do the following:
n Enable the check box next to a sector to use the ERP values.
n Click in the field for each radial and enter a value.
6 If you enabled the HAAT (m) check box, click the Override
HAAT Values tab and do the following:
n Enable the check box next to a sector to use the HAAT values.
n Click in the field for each radial and enter a value.
7 Click OK.
NOTE: You can filter what is displayed on the tabs in the 32 dBu Overrides
dialog box by clicking the down arrow next to the column title and making a
selection. If you choose Custom, the Custom AutoFilter dialog box opens
where you can create a custom display filter.
2 Click in the Map window at any location within the elevation grid
to automatically generate an FCC service contour.
5 Click the Advanced tab and define any of the following settings:
Figure 19.1: The impact of curve smoothing—in the output on the right, curve
smoothing has been applied
6 Click Generate.
3 In the New MapInfo Table dialog box, type a file name and click
Save.
The new tables are saved to the chosen folder with the given file name added
as an extension. For example, if you save the file name as FCC_sample, the
new tables become FCCRegion_FCC_Sample.tab, FCCPoints_FCC_sample.tab,
and FCCCombine_FCC_sample.tab. You can add more FCC contour information
to these tables.
You can generate an FCC combine table only if you have enabled the Combine
Regions check box and have generated a contour for a group of sectors. You can
combine regions only for Planet site tables.
2 In the Select FCC Output Table dialog box, choose a valid FCC table
and click OK.
3 In the Text Output File dialog box, type the name of the text file that
will contain the FCC contour information and click Save.
TIP: Enable the View Export check box to automatically open the FCC contour
information in Notepad.
TIP: You can also use Crystal Reports, included with Mentum Planet to create
specialized reports from FCC tables. You can access Crystal Reports from the GIS
Tools menu.
A key stage of network planning resolves around the analysis of network data
and subsequent tweaks to network and site parameters that lead eventually to
a network model that you are satisfied with.
The Tabular Editor is a powerful tool that you can use to globally edit project
parameters.
If custom data columns have been created by the Data Manager Administrator,
these columns will be available on the Sites and/or Sectors worksheets in the
Tabular Editor after you have connected to Data Manager Server. You can add values
or edit existing custom column data using the Tabular Editor.
NOTE: If you want to globally edit network settings, you must use the
Import/Export Wizard. Network settings are not visible in the Tabular Editor.
6 When you have finished modifying or examining the data, click Close.
NOTE: There are some columns that you cannot edit in the Tabular Editor. These
columns are grayed out.
TIP: To quickly copy a value across all rows in a column in the Tabular Editor, type
the new value in the first cell of the column, click the column header to select the
column, and press CTRL+D. Then, click outside the column to make the updates.
Click Apply to save your changes.
TIP: To update displayed information with current data, click the Refresh button.
This update may be longer than when you click Apply because all data is
recomputed.
You can import and export project data using Microsoft Excel spreadsheets
(.xls) or comma separated value (.csv) files. This is useful when you want to
analyze data and, based on your analysis, edit site, sector, and network
parameters.
You can also import network data in order to better model the real-world
environment. And, if you have a Mentum CellPlanner project, you can import it
into Mentum Planet.
NOTE: You can use the Import/Export command-line utility (iecon.exe) to export
Mentum Planet data to an .xls file, .xlsx, .csv file, or database. You can then make
changes to the data and use iecon.exe again to import the data back into Mentum
Planet or Data Manager. The iecon.exe utility is useful if you want to automate the
import and export of data using scripts (e.g., if you want to make Mentum Planet
data accessible to other systems via a database or import updates to projects from
another source). See “Appendix A: Import/Export Command-Line Utility” in the Data
Manager Server Administrator Guide. When you use the iecon utility to import sites
and sectors, you must always include the Summary.csv file in the data import.
TIP: To specify the Import/Export Excel file format, choose Edit Preferences. In
the User Preferences dialog box, in the tree view, choose Miscellaneous. In the
Import Export Settings section, choose the default Excel file extension (i.e., the
Excel 2007-2003 format (.xls) or the new Excel Workbook format (.xlsx)).
TIP: If your project is stored in Data Manager, and you export it and re-import it
using the Import/Export tool, Data Manager will treat it as a new project if you use
the Replace All Data option. In this case, if you want to continue using the existing
project, you must merge the new project into the existing project. See Chapter 2,
“Using Data Manager” in the Data Manager User Guide.
Importing data
You can use .xls, .xlsx or .cvs files to add or remove sites, edit project
settings, and then import the new or updated data. Each worksheet in an .xls
file, .xlsx or each .csv file you use to import project data must contain the
required and mandatory columns, and must be formatted correctly for the type
of data in a column (i.e., text or numeric). Unless you specifically request that
data be replaced on import, data is never removed from a project when you
use the Import Wizard. For example, if the worksheet or .csv file from which
you are importing does not contain all of the sectors currently in your project,
only the sectors listed in the worksheet or .csv file are updated in the project.
The other sectors in your project are not affected by the Import Wizard. If you
are working with a large project and only want to update specific project data,
you can import individual worksheets or .csv files, and include only the sites or
sectors that require updating or are being added. For descriptions of
worksheets or .csv files and the columns they contain, valid values and
ranges, and an indication of required and mandatory columns, see the Import
Export Worksheet Parameters folder within the Mentum Planet Help folder.
For information on how to import data, see “To import project data”.
TIP: To ensure the proper worksheet or .csv file format when importing, use
previously exported .xls, .xlsx or .csv files to edit or update project data.
Replacing data
When you import data, you can choose to replace specific data. This can be
useful, for example, if:
n you want to delete sites from your project. When you delete a
site, however, you must delete the site from all dependent
worksheets.
n you want to change the prefix used in the site IDs (e.g., from
“Site” to “Ott”). When you change site IDs, however, you
must change the site ID on all dependent worksheets.
n you want to share and merge project data.
Before you replace data, you can review the impact of those changes on project data
to ensure you are satisfied. This is important because once data has been replaced it
cannot be recovered.
Exporting data
When you export data to a spread sheet, individual worksheets are created in the
.xls or .xlsx file for each category of project data. When you export data to a .csv
file, a folder is created containing individual .csv files for each category of project
data. In addition, a Summary worksheet or .csv file is also created for the exported
project. For descriptions of the data types that can be exported, and the
corresponding location (dialog box) of the field in the Mentum Planet graphical user
interface, see the Import Export Worksheet Parameters folder within the Mentum
Planet Help folder.
By default, when you export data, the site coordinates are saved in the
Longitude/Latitude (WGS 84) projection and the sector coordinates are saved in the
projection specified when you originally created the project. If you import an
exported .xls file, .xlsx or .csv files, only the site and sector coordinate systems are
imported from the Summary worksheet or .csv file.
n If you want to export project data for all sites and sectors, choose
Data Export.
n If you want to export project data for individual sites, sectors, or
groups, in the Project Explorer, in the Sites category, choose one
or more groups, sites, or sectors, right-click and choose Export.
n If you want to export repeater data, in the Project Explorer, in the
Sites category, right-click the Repeaters node, and choose
Export.
n If you want to export project data based on enabled flag conditions,
in the Project Explorer, in the Sites category, right-click the
Flags node, and choose Export.
2 On the Data Selection page, in the Tables list, enable the check
boxes for each of the tables that you want to export.
You can click Select All or Clear All to speed up the selection process.
3 In the Columns list, for each of the tables that you chose in Step
2, enable the check boxes for each of the columns that you want
to export.
4 Click Next.
7 Click Finish.
The data types that you chose in Step 2 and Step 3 are exported to the type of
file you chose in Step 5. If you chose the Microsoft Excel option and enabled
the Open the File in Microsoft Excel After Export in Step 5, Microsoft Excel
opens automatically.
All values in the Excel file from which you are importing must use the default units
indicated in the worksheet column names, and the file must contain required and
mandatory columns.
1 If you want to import general site, sector and project data, choose
Data Import Project Data.
5 Click Next.
The Data Selection page lists the tables available to import and options for
replacing project data on import.
6 On the Data Selection page, enable the check boxes for each of the
tables that you want to import.
You can click Select All or Clear All to speed up the selection process.
When you replace data, the selected data is first deleted from the project and
the new data is then imported into the project. Once data has been replaced,
the original data cannot be recovered.
9 Click Finish.
The project data you chose will be updated or added to your project. The Log
dialog box displays the status of the import operation.
NOTE: Status messages are displayed cumulatively in the Log dialog box. Click the
Export button to save the log messages to a text file. Click the Clear button to
remove all messages from the Log dialog box.
3 On the Choose The Data File You Want To Use page, choose one of
the following options:
n If you want to import network data from an Excel file, choose the
Microsoft Excel option.
n If you want to import network data from a folder of comma
separated text files, choose the Comma Separated Values Text
Files option.
4 Click Browse and navigate to the folder where the network data is
saved and click Open.
5 Click Next.
6 On the Choose How You Want The Data Bound page, choose one of
the following options:
7 Click in the header row and, from the list, choose the Mentum
Planet data to which to bind the network data.
8 Click Finish.
The Report Preview dialog box opens. The Mapping Status column
indicates whether the data is mapped or not in the project.
n To view site parameters, click the site name to open the Site
Editor.
n To change the columns displayed in the dialog box, click the
Change Options button.
n To sort the data in ascending order, click the Sort In Ascending
Order button.
n To sort the data in descending order, click the Sort In Descending
Order Button.
n Choose the sector property for which you want to create a sector
display scheme.
n Click the Generate Sector Display Scheme button.
11 In the New Sector Display Scheme dialog box, type a name for the
scheme and click OK.
13 To view the network data upon which the scheme is based, click
the Data button.
16 Click Close.
From Mentum CellPlanner, you must also have exported the CellPlanner project to an
XML format.
Geodata can be saved locally or remotely and can use the naming convention that
best suits your needs. The geodata folder must, however, contain a folder called
"Heights" that contains the elevation file and a folder called "Clutter". The Clutter
folder can be empty if you are not using clutter.
NOTE: You can only migrate LTE technology projects created with CellPlanner,
version 10.0.
CAUTION: Using geodata that has not been migrated using the Geodata Converter
may result in prediction differences (e.g., when the heights file covers a smaller
area).
4 From the Primary Heights File list, choose the project height file.
5 From the Primary Clutter File list, choose the project clutter file and
click OK.
When you compare a survey to a numeric grid, the following comparisons are
made for each clutter class.
Mean
The mean indicates the mean difference between the survey and grid signal
strengths, and is calculated using the following formula.
Where
Where
RMS (root-mean-square)
The RMS indicates the spread around zero in the difference between the
survey and grid signal strengths, and is calculated using the following formula.
Where
The RMS includes the effects of both the mean difference and the spread. It is
sometimes used to characterize the accuracy of a propagation model.
Alternatively, the mean and standard deviation can be used. If model tuning
has been performed, the mean should be close to zero and the standard
deviation can be used alone
Confidence Level
The confidence level equals the probability, in percent, that the true mean
error is within ±1 dB of the calculated mean error, and is calculated using the
following formula. The confidence level indicates the statistical significance of
the survey to grid signal strengths and should generally be close to 100%. If,
for example, the confidence level is 95% and drive test samples are collected
from the same transmitter configuration and compared to the signal strengths,
there is 95% chance that the mean error will be within ±1 dB of the results
obtained using the original drive test data.
Where
a = 1 dB
For example, assigning a the value 1 dB, produces the following result
Correlation factor
The correlation factor indicates the correlation between the survey and grid
signal strengths, and is calculated using the following formula.
Where
x and y are the survey and grid signal strengths, respectively. The smaller the
standard deviation of x – y, the higher the correlation factor; however, it
cannot exceed 1.0.
The following values are used repeatedly in the various calculations for the Key
Performance Indicators (KPI).
The difference values, x , between the survey value and the prediction signal
i
strength value.
Where:
This is the Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) of the errors between survey point
value and the prediction value for the bin.
Where:
To calculate the RMS error, the difference between the prediction and survey
values is calculated at each survey point:
then,
all the squares of the difference values are added together (i.e., sum of
squares)
Where:
x are the difference values and x is the mean of all the difference values.
i
then,
the difference between the prediction and survey value at each bin is
calculated by:
For each difference value, the difference between that value and the average
value of all differences is calculated.
Correlation
This is the correlation coefficient of the survey points and predictions for this
category. The result is a value between -1 and 1 where 1 represents a perfect
positive correlation and -1 represents a perfect negative correlation.
Where:
Simplified Pathloss
The simplified pathloss is calculated using the Free Space pathloss formula.
Thi formula allows you to determine the serving sectors during the assignment
of survey points to sectors where multiple servers with the same PN offset
may exist. The serving sector is determined using a calculation of “simplified
pathloss”.
Where:
f = frequency in MHz
D = distance in kilometers
where:
<free space pathloss> is determined using the linear distance between the
sector and the survey points, and the centre frequency of the first carrier in
Planet’s Network settings.
Quality (%)
An arithmetic measure of Quality based on RMS error and Correlation.
If the RMS error is low and correlation high, then the Quality value will tend towards
100%. Note that a negative correlation will result in the Quality value being
negative.
Reliability
or
A low number of points will result in a low reliability value. A high proportion of
points analyzed where the difference between measured value and prediction
is greater than 3 standards deviations from the mean, is indicative of
unreliable data, so in this case the reliability value will also be low.
Confidence
The confidence value represents the probability, as a percentage, that the true
mean error is within ±1 dB of the calculated mean error, and is calculated
using the following formula. The confidence indicates the statistical
significance of the survey to grid signal strengths and should generally be
close to 100%. If, for example, the confidence is 95% and drive test samples
are collected from the same transmitter configuration and compared to the
prediction, there is 95% chance that the mean error will be within ±1 dB of the
results obtained using the original drive test data.
Where: