Chapitre 355

Capacity Planning
Capacity Planning
Content :
• Fundamentals of Traffic Theory
• General remarks to traffic theory
• Traffic offered, traffic carried, traffic lost
• Traffic flow units:
• Busy Hour
• Erlang-B Formula, Erlang-C Formula
• Traffic Modelling And Resource Dimensioning
• Traffic Distribution
• Time Dependency
• Location Dependency
• Traffic Forecasting
• Traffic Measurements
• Dimensioning TRXs
• Dimensioning Control Channels
• Capacity and Cell Radius
• Dimensioning terrestrial interfaces
• Nominal Cell Plan
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MN 1790-TN-09 RADIO PLANNING AND OPTIMIZATION
Capacity Planning
1. Fundamentals of Traffic Theory
1.1 General remarks to traffic theory
The traffic theory in general uses mathematical models to describe and to optimise
traffic systems.
In telecommunication traffic theory (also called teletraffic theory) it is a

telecommunication system which is considered with the help of appropriate
mathematical models. Since real systems are quite complex systems, simplifications
and assumptions have to be performed to not deal with too complicated and
sophisticated mathematics. Later on these assumptions and simplifications have to
be justified.
Since a bad model can never lead to good results, the problem is to find a good and
“easy” model to get reliable results. Some mathematical ideas, models and formulas
which are used in traffic theory are presented now on the following pages.
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Capacity Planning
1.2 Definitions and Terms
1.2.1 General:
Each telephone system must be dimensioned in such a way that even during periods
of high traffic (offered), the subscribers still have a good chance of success in making
calls. Those subscribers who do not succeed in making a call will either be lost (in a
pure lost-call telephone system) or the calls will be delayed (in a waiting-call
telephone system). Usually, real telephone systems are combined lost-/ waiting-call
systems.
Even during the so called busy hour the percentage of non successful subscribers
should not exceed a predefined value. This means for the network operator that the
dimensioning of his telephone system must be driven on the one hand by
guaranteeing some Quality of service (QOS) and on the other hand by economical
aspects.
• From economical point of view, the amount of necessary equipment (switches,

base stations, multiplexers, cross-connectors, ...) and also the number of links
between this equipment should be kept to a minimum.
• From QoS point of view, the more trunks are offered by the telephone system, the
higher the probability for the subscribers to succeed in making calls.
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Capacity Planning
1.2.2 Traffic offered, traffic carried, traffic lost
The traffic offered is defined as the mean number of occupations (calls) offered to the
system.
Both, accepted and not accepted occupations (calls) contribute to the traffic offered.
In principle the traffic offered cannot be exactly measured, however it can be
estimated.
The traffic carried is defined as the mean number of simultaneous occupations of
servers (trunks).
In a pure loss systems, it can happen that the traffic offered is greater than the traffic
carried. The non carried traffic will be lost and is called traffic lost. In a pure waiting
system, the traffic offered is always equal to the traffic carried. All the calls which
cannot be served directly after request due to lack of servers (trunks) will wait for
being served.
In a combined loss-/ waiting-system not queued calls which could not be served will
be lost. In such systems, the traffic carried will be probably again smaller than the
traffic offered, however compared to pure loss systems the amount of traffic carried is
mostly greater.
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Capacity Planning
1.2.3 Definitions and Terms
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Capacity Planning
1.2.4 Traffic flow units:
In honour of A. K. Erlang (1878-1929), a Danish mathematician who was the founder

of traffic theory, the unit of the traffic flow (or traffic intensity) is called Erlang (Erl).
The traffic flow is a measure of the size of the traffic. Although the traffic flow is a
dimensionless quantity, the Erlang was assigned as unit of the traffic flow in traffic
theory.
By definition
1 trunk occupied for a duration t of a considered period T carries t / T Erlang.
From this definition it follows already that the traffic carried in Erlang cannot exceed
the number of trunks.
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Capacity Planning
Busy Hour
Since the subscribers –who represent the traffic sources- usually initiate their
requests for connections at random and independently for one other, and make calls
of varying lengths, the number of servers which are busy at the same time in a trunk
group will always fluctuate.
In the first place certain periodical regularities can be observed, e.g. those depending
on seasonal factors, as well as variations between different days of the week.
However, the most strongly marked fluctuations are those in the course of a day.
The busy hour of an exchange is determined from the hour to hour intervals with the
highest traffic.
In figure below, in the 20 th June there is 290 000 subscribers=> 17mErl/subs
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Capacity Planning
Several definitions can be given for the traffic flow
Especially for traffic measurements it is useful to consider the traffic flow as averaged
number of trunks which are occupied (busy) during a specified time period:
Traffic intensity = Mean number of busy trunks in a time period
If this is a long time period, ongoing calls at the beginning and at the end of this
period can be neglected. The traffic flow then can be considered as call intensity
(number of trunk occupations per time unit) times the mean holding time (which is the
average holding time per trunk occupation):
Traffic intensity = Call intensity x Mean holding time
Where The mean holding time is :
TCHMHTDR=MEBUSTCH [1..4] * Gr * 60/TNTCHCL[1..4]
• The MEBUSTCH [1..4]: gives the mean number of THC’s which have been
busy during the observation period.
• The TNTCHCL [1,3] : gives te total number of TCH connections established in
the specified cell.
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Capacity Planning
1.3 Erlang-B Formula
1.3.1 Assumptions:
• Pure loss system
• Infinite number of traffic sources
• Finite number of devices (trunks) n
• Full availability of all trunks
• Exponentially distributed holding times
• Constant call intensity, independent of the number of occupations
Time and call congestion are equal:

An
E=B=E1,n(A)= nn!
∑ Ai
i=0 i!
This formula is called Erlang`s formula of the first kind (or also Erlang loss formula or
Erlang B formula).
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Capacity Planning
1.3.2 Erlang-B Look-up Table
The Erlang B formula describes the congestion as function of the Traffic Offered and
the number of available trunks.
In real life the situation is mostly different. People often want to calculate the number
of needed trunks for a certain amount of traffic offered and a maximum defined
congestion.
That means the Erlang B formula must be rearranged:
n = function of (B and A)
This rearrangement cannot be done analytically but only numerically and will be
performed most easily with the help of a computer. Another possibility is the usage of
special tables, namely so called Erlang B look-up tables. On the following page an
example of such an Erlang B look-up table is presented.
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Capacity Planning
Erlang-B look-up table for an infinite number of traffic sources and full availability:
Number Offered Traffic A for Offered Traffic A for Offered Traffic A for Offered Traffic A for
of B=E=0.01 B=E=0.03 B=E=0.05 B=E=0.07
(1 % blocking) (3 % blocking) (5 % blocking) (7 % blocking)
trunks n
1 0.01 0.03 0.05 0.08
2 0.15 0.28 0.38 0.47
3 0.46 0.72 0.90 1.06
4 0.87 1.26 1.53 1.75
5 1.36 1.88 2.22 2.50
6 1.91 2.54 2.96 3.30
7 2.50 3.25 3.74 4.14
8 3.13 3.99 4.54 5.00
9 3.78 4.75 5.37 5.88
10 4.46 5.53 6.22 6.78
11 5.16 6.33 7.08 7.69
12 5.88 7.14 7.95 8.61
13 6.61 7.94 8.84 9.54
14 7.35 8.80 9.37 10.48
15 8.11 9.65 10.63 11.43
16 8.88 10.51 11.54 12.39
17 9.65 11.37 12.46 13.35
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Capacity Planning
of B=E=0.01 B=E=0.03 B=E=0.05 B=E=0.07
trunks n
18 10.44 12.24 13.39 14.32
19 11.23 13.11 14.31 15.29
20 12.03 14.00 15.25 16.27
21 12.84 14.89 16.19 17.25
22 13.65 15.78 17.13 18.24
23 14.47 16.68 18.08 19.23
24 15.29 17.58 19.03 20.22
25 16.13 18.48 19.99 21.21
26 16.96 19.39 20.94 22.21
27 17.80 20.31 21.90 23.21
28 18.64 21.22 22.87 24.22
29 19.49 22.14 23.83 25.22
30 20.34 23.06 24.80 26.23
31 21.19 23.99 25.77 27.24
32 22.05 24.91 26.75 28.25
33 22.91 25.84 27.72 29.26
34 23.77 26.78 28.70 30.28
35 24.64 27.71 29.68 31.29
36 25.51 28.65 30.66 32.31
37 26.38 29.59 31.64 33.33
38 27.25 30.53 32.62 34.35
39 28.13 31.47 33.61 35.37
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Capacity Planning
of B=E=0.01 B=E=0.03 B=E=0.05 B=E=0.07
trunks n
40 29.01 32.41 34.60 36.40
41 29.28 33.36 35.58 37.42
42 30.77 34.30 36.57 38.45
43 31.66 35.25 37.57 39.47
44 32.54 36.20 38.56 40.50
45 33.43 37.17 39.55 41.53
46 34.32 38.11 40.54 42.56
47 35.22 39.06 41.54 43.59
48 36.11 40.02 42.54 44.62
49 37.00 40.98 43.53 45.65
50 37.90 41.93 44.53 46.69
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Capacity Planning
1.4 Erlang-C Formula
Assumptions:
• Pure delay system.
• Infinite number of traffic sources N.
• Finite number of devices (trunks) n.
• Full availability of all trunks.
• Exponentially distributed inter-arrival times between calls which corresponds to a

constant call intensity y, i.e. the probability of a new offered call is the same at all
points, independent of the number of occupations.
• Exponentially distributed holding times (s).
Time congestion is defined as the probability that all devices are used:
An * n
E=E2,n(A)= n-1 n! n− A
∑ Ai + An * n
i = 0 i! n! n− A
This formula is called Erlang`s formula of the second kind (or Erlang delay formula or
Erlang C formula).
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Capacity Planning
Call congestion is defined as the probability that a call has to wait: B=E
The traffic carried and traffic offered are:
Acarried = Aoffered = A = y*s
The mean number of waiting calls is:
An * n
NWait = n-1 n! n− A * A
Ai + An * n n−A
∑i =0 i! n! n− A
The mean waiting time for calls, which have to wait is:
s
t wait =
n−A
The mean waiting time for all the calls is:
An * n
s
t Wait = n-1 n! n−A *
n− A
∑ Ai + An * n
i =0 i! n! n− A
The waiting time distribution depends on the queue discipline, whereas the mean
waiting time is in general independent of the queue discipline.
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Capacity Planning
1.5 Formulae for the Waiting System ( other approach )
In many telecommunication applications calls cannot be set up immediately, but only

after a delay (delay mode). The following example shows the use of the formulae for
the waiting system if all traffic channels in a cell are seized and the subscriber has to
wait for a free TCH.
Assumed:
N TCH = 14
A ORIG = 10 Erl
tm TCH = 50 sec. (mean seizure time)
t =10 sec. (waiting time limit)
Required:
P(>0): Probability of delay for t > 0 [%]
P(>t): Probability of time limit being exceeded [%] for t > 10 seconds
Tw: Mean waiting time [s]
Ω: Mean queue length [Erl]
Solution:
B A=10 Erl, N=14 = f ( A= 10 , N = 14) [ Erlang_B] = 5.7 %
P (>0) = 0.057 . 14 / ( 14 – 10 . ( 1 – 0.057)) . 100% = 17.4 %
tw = 50 / ( 14 – 10 ) = 12.5 sec.
P (>t = 10) = 0.174 .e – 10 / 12.5

= 7.8 %
Ω = 10 . 0.174 / ( 14 – 10 ) = 0.435 Erl
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Capacity Planning
Of the total number of callers, 17.4 % have to wait for a traffic channel; 7.8 % have to
wait for longer than 10 seconds. In an unlimited waiting system the subscribers have
to wait on average 12.5 seconds. This value is shorter in practice because of
cancellation after 10 seconds (transition to the loss system). An average value of
0.435 callers are entered in the queue.
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Capacity Planning
Application : Hierarchical Cell Structures
The waiting system is used in mobile communications networks for better utilization
of the radio channels in micro and macro cells. The mean traffic value is relatively
small for a small number of channels (for example, with N = 7 or 14) if the loss is not
to exceed B =1 %:
N=7 B<= 1% A = 2.5 Erl
N = 14 B<= 1% A = 7.35 Erl
Much better utilization of the radio cells can be attained with the so-called umbrella
cell. If all traffic channels (TCH) in a macro cell are seized, a new call is inserted into
the umbrella cell. The loss formula (Erlang_B) is not used for the calculation; the
formula for the waiting system (Erlang C = Erlang formula of the second type) is used
instead. As a result, once a TCH becomes available again in the macro cell, the call
is transferred to the original cell. The waiting system is used because the call is held
in the higher level cell only until a TCH becomes free again in the lower-level cell
(Directed Retry).
The traffic load from the macro cell to umbrella cell depends on the number of TCH's
and on the offered traffic A for the macro cell.
Example:
A = 12 Erl N TCH = 14 tm = 80 sec.
tw = 40 sec. Mean duration in the umbrella cell

P(>0) = 48% Of 100 calls, 48 are transferred to the umbrella cell
P(>t) = 18% Of 100 calls, 18 remain in the umbrella for longer than 40
seconds
P(L>14) = 5.5% The probability is 5.5% that more than 14 calls are in the
umbrella cell at the same time
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Capacity Planning
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Capacity Planning
Exercise: Trunking Gain
Use the Erlang B look-up table to find out the meaning of “trunking gain”:
Which traffic offered can be handled by an Erlang B system assuming 32 trunks

and 1 % blocking?
Which traffic offered can be handled by 2 Erlang B systems for each assuming 16
trunks and 1 % blocking?
Which traffic offered can be handled by 4 Erlang B systems for each of them
assuming 8 trunks and 1 % blocking?
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Capacity Planning
2. Traffic Modelling And Resource Dimensioning
Traffic modelling, and hence resource dimensioning, are amongst of the weak points
of existing planning tools. No solution is in sight for the immediate future, and yet it is
one of the main problems the operator is facing today when the number of network
users is growing and the networks are becoming capacity limited rather than
coverage limited.
To begin with, traffic modelling requires counting on an additional layer of

geographical information, namely demographic information. From this, the traffic
models would be applied and the traffic demand per service and per pixel could be
derived. Unfortunately, the demographic information is not easily available.
Furthermore, the traffic models are not well proven yet. Accordingly, in a short to
medium term, it is expected that traffic demand estimates available to the operator
from measurement of market surveys- are used as input. Some tools also provide
utilities for creating this traffic demand (Erlang/km2) information layer out of base
station traffic measurements and distribute them according to morphology (routes) or
by considering the coverage area.
Basing on this information, resource dimensioning is performed, taking into account

the operator's predefined QoS target. The procedure typically used is quite simplified
as it is based on assuming that the users will be attached (and thus the
corresponding cells would be dimensioned accordingly) to the cell that is providing
the highest coverage level. This is not the best possible criterion in environments with
high user density, where it would be better to use one that also considers the level of
interference, particularly in multilayer environments macrocell or microcell or where
there is a possibility of dual GSM 900 and DCS 1800 operation.
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Capacity Planning
3. Traffic Distribution
3.1 Time Dependency
The traffic in a telecommunication network as a function of time will not be constant

but will show significant fluctuations. Variations of the traffic during a single day, from
day to day, for different weekdays, or even for different seasons can be observed.
Also on a long time scale the averaged traffic will not remain constant but will
increase in most telecommunication networks.
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Capacity Planning
3.2 Location Dependency
The traffic in a telecommunication network will not be location independent but will
show significant location dependencies. For example, in rural areas there will be less
traffic compared to city areas.
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Capacity Planning
3.3 Traffic Forecasting
An important aspect in dimensioning a telecommunication network is the expected

traffic in the future. Therefore, an analysis of the expected traffic is of great interest.
Even in case that the penetration (number of traffic sources) saturates; the amount of
traffic does not necessarily saturates too. Traffic forecasts are not easy and may be
influenced by many aspects: e.g. price politics, offered services…
The more the important dependencies are realised and taken into account, the more
precise the forecasts will be.
For a detailed analysis it is useful to:
• Split the total PLMN into subareas.
• Categorise the subscribers: e.g. into business, residential …
• Analyse: e.g. the number of subscribers per area, the development of the
penetration depth, the expected penetration depth…
• Analyse also “economic dependencies” like e.g. any correlation between the
demand of telephone service and e.g. the economic activities in a special region,
the economic situation in general (measured e.g. by the economic growth), the
income of the people…
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Capacity Planning
Mobile telecommunications networks can carry hundreds of thousands of calls with a

limited number of frequencies that typically can be as low as 60 or less in GSM. Such
a feat is achieved through solving a sequence of difficult design problems:
• Partition the territory to be covered into sites; partition each site into cells—
typically, one to three; determine the location and transmission power of the
Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs); determine the configuration of the
corresponding antennas (gain, height, tilt) through which the calls to and from
each cell will be received or transmitted.
• Dimension the air interface, i.e., determine the proper number of transmitters-
receivers (TRXs), hence the proper number of frequencies that will be used in
each cell so as to satisfy traffic demand and a given quality of service.
• Allocate to each cell the number of frequencies that is required in some

"optimal" way.
• Dimension the fixed part of the mobile network, i.e., determine the capacity of
the links between its various components (Base Transceiver Stations, Base
Station Controllers, Main Switch Centers, Points of Interconnect), and the
capacity of the link with the so-called Public Switched Telephone Network
(PSTN), i.e., the good old fixed telephone network.
Hint :
Ideally, these problems should be solved all together through a single global model.
In practice, each one of them is sufficiently large and challenging to justify the above
sequential decomposition, coupled with the use of heuristics.
Partitioning the territory into cells allows one to use several times each available
frequency, thereby increasing the capacity of the network. This does not come cost
free, however. Using a same frequency or adjacent frequencies in several cells
results in some interference, the level of which depends on many factors such as the
distance between the cells, the transmission powers and the antenna gains, together
with the antenna heights and tilts, the topography of the land, its natural features
(trees, spans of water, e.g.) and its occupancy (high or low concentration of buildings;
presence or absence of glass, concrete or steel buildings, etc).
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Capacity Planning
Interference affects voice quality; beyond a certain threshold, it will cause a call to be
interrupted. Interference, therefore, must be kept in check since its effect is to reduce
both quality of service and network capacity. Cell partitioning is a juggling exercise in
which one is seeking to address two conflicting issues, covering and capacity.
Indeed, consider the two extreme cases that consist of covering a given area with a
small number of large cells, or with a large number of small cells. Networks built
according to the former configuration cost less in terms of equipment, but have lower
capacity and experience a serious problem: they require more transmitter power
output and higher antennas. As a consequence, every signal is stronger, goes farther
and interferes with signals coming from distant cells.
The latter configuration is associated with higher capacity, but also with higher
equipment cost and frequent hand-offs or hand-over. At the boundary of a cell,
service and control of a given mobile are frequently handed over to a neighboring
cell; when this phenomenon occurs too often, it tends to eat up capacity. Thus, cell
partitioning and antenna location are not simply additional partitioning and location
problems. They must address a host of physical and technical constraints that have
to do with wave propagation, and the characteristics and limitations of the equipment
being used.
Network dimensioning accepts as input the network's topology, its relationships with
other cellular networks and with the PSTN, the forecast demand for each ordered
pair of origin and destination, and the quality of service, typically expressed as a
maximum blocking probability, i.e., the probability of not being able to carry a call to
destination. This is an integer nonlinear optimization problem that can be viewed as a
special case of fixed hierarchical network dimensioning , a difficult teletraffic
engineering problem. Actually, a good dimensioning of a cellular network cannot be
done without considering it as part of a super-network that encompasses the other
cellular and fixed networks to which it is linked.
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Capacity Planning
Air interface dimensioning is also a telegraphic engineering problem in which—given

the area covered by each active BTS, a level of quality of service (e.g. 2 percent call
blocking rate) and a traffic density map that indicates the amount in Erlang of offered
traffic per unit area—one calculates the number of logical circuits needed for carrying
the calls. This value in turn translates into a number of TRXs that depends on the
technology at hand.
In Frequency- and in Time Division Multiple Access networks, two simultaneous calls
are carried either by two different frequencies (FDMA) or by two different time-slots of
a same frequency (TDMA). AMPS is based on FDMA. In digital systems such as
TDMA IS-136 and GSM, each frequency is divided into a number of time-slots so that
it can carry several calls. Note that the frequency allocation problem does not apply
to the Code-Division-Multiple-Access technology (CDMA) that uses a single, wide-
band frequency without time-division to carry all simultaneous calls in which each call
is identified with a "code."
27
Capacity Planning
3.4 Traffic Measurements

It is of great interest for the network operator to measure the real traffic situation in
his network.
To perform such measurements, in former telecommunication systems special traffic

measurement equipment (e.g. the so called electromechanical meter) was needed.
Since in the meantime most telecommunication systems are digital, this kind of
equipment is not needed any more: The call and device concerning data are stored
in the memory of the system processor. It is only a question of software to read them
out.
The traffic measurements are usually part of the so called Performance Data
Measurements. Performance Data Measurements can be run continuously,
periodically or sporadically, for a long time or a short time, observing smaller or
greater parts of the network.
Concerning the traffic measurements, either special events are counted (e.g. the
number of successful calls, the number of lost calls ...) or special time intervals are
recorded (e.g. holding times, waiting times...).
The corresponding counters could in principle be actualised continuously during the
observation period, but mostly a scanning method is used. Scanning method means
that the system counts the number of events not continuously but only at particular
times. This leads to some uncertainty for the measurement results. Nevertheless, the
error performed can be estimated using statistical methods. In general, the smaller
the scanning interval the higher the precision of the measurement. Typical scanning
intervals are 100 ms or 500 ms.
28
Capacity Planning
Measurement type Abbreviation Func. group
TCH/TCH Connection related measurements
Number of defined TCHs (Fullrate/Halfrate) NRDEFTCH SCANBTS
Number of available TCHs (Fullrate/Halfrate) NAVTCH SCANBTS
Mean number of busy TCHs (Fullrate/Halfrate) MEBUSTCH SCANBTS
Attempted TCH seizures (Fullrate/Halfrate) ATTCHSEI SCANBTS
Successful TCH seizures (Fullrate/Halfrate) SUCTCHSE SCANBTS
Mean TCH busy time (Fullrate/Halfrate) MTCHBUTI SCANBTS
Total number of TCH connections, per cell TNTCHCL SCANBTS

(Fullrate/Halfrate)
All available TCH allocated time AALTCHTI SCANBTS
Number of lost radio links while using a TCH NRFLTCH SCANBTS

(Fullrate/Halfrate)
Attempted TCH seizures meeting a TCH blocked ATCHSMBS SCANBTS
state (Fullrate/Halfrate)
SDCCH/SDCCH Connection related measurements
Number of defined SDCCHs NDESDCCH SCANBTS
Number of available SDCCHs NAVSDCCH SCANBTS
Mean number of busy SDCCHs MBUSYSDC SCANBTS
Maximum number of busy SDCCHs per cell MAXBUSDC SCANBTS
Number of attempted SDCCH seizures in a period NATTSDPE SCANBTS
Number of successful SDCCH seizures in a period NASUSDPE SCANBTS
Attempted SDCCH seizure meeting an SDCCH ATSDCMBS SCANBTS

blocked state
All available SDCCH allocated time ASDCALTI SCANBTS
Number of lost radio links while using an SDCCH NRFLSDCC SCANBTS
29
Capacity Planning
TCH/SD related measurments
Measurment type Abbreviation Func. group
Number of defined TCH/SD NDFTCHSD SCANBTS
Number of available TCH/SD per cell NAVTCHSD SCANBTS
CCCH related measurments
Measurment type Abbreviation Func. group
Total number of accesses by procedures (PCH,AGCH) TACCHHBPRO SCANBTS
Number of accesses with a successful result by procedure NACSUCPR SCANBTS

(PCH,AGCH and RACH)
Number of invalid RACH messages per Cause NINVRACH SCANBTSE
Number of transmitted and discarded Paging messages on NTDPMAIN SCANBTSE

the air interface(PCH)
Number of handover indications not resulting in a handover NHOINRHA SCANBTS
attempt.
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30
Capacity Planning
GPRS related measurements
Measurement type Abbreviation Func. group
Number of available PDCH per cell NAVPDCH SCANGPRS
All available PDCH allocated time per cell NTBFRJC SCANGPRS
Number of packet channel assignement attempts per cell NUACATCL SCANGPRS
Successful PDTCH seizures per cell SULACCEL SCANGPRS
Number of retransmitted PDU’s (UL/DL) NRETPDU SCANGPRS
Number of GPRS paging procedures NATGPPAG SCANGPRS
Number of successful GPRS paging procedures NSUGPPAG SCANGPRS
Mean user data throughput (UL/DL) per cell on the RF MUTHRF SCANGPRS
interface
Mean signaling data throughput (UL/DL) per cell on the MSTHRF SCANGPRS
RF interface
Mean user data throughput (UL/DL) per cell on theRF MUTHBS SCANGPRS
BSSGP Layer Gb interface
Mean signaling data throughput (UL/DL) per cell on theRF MSTHBS SCANGPRS
BSSGP Layer Gb interface
Number of attempted packet resource reassignement NATPPRE SCANGPRS
procedures per cell
Number of successful packet resource reassignement NSUPPRE SCANGPRS
procedures per cell
Mean number of active TBF MEACTTBF SCANGPRS
Number of packet channel assignement attempts NPMSDISQ SCANGPRS
Number of GPRS (PDTCH) connections per cell TNPDTCL SCANGPRS
Number of attempted GPRS accesses per cell with no TANRGPRS SCANGPRS

GPRS Radio Ressources Allocated
Mean Packet queue Lenght (on PDCH) per cell MPDTQLEN SCANGPRS
31
Capacity Planning
Immediate Assignment measurements
Attempted immediate assignment procedures per cause ATIMASCA SCANBTS
Successful immediate assignment procedures, per cause SUIMASCA SCANBTS
Successful immediate assignments of signalling channels, per NSUCCHPC SCANBTS

cause
Assignment Procedure measurements
Total number of assignment attempts per cell per channel TASSATT SCANBTS
type
Total number of successful assignments per cell per channel TASSSUCC SCANBTS
type
Total number of assignment failures per cell, per cause, per TASSFAIL SCANBTS
channel type
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32
Capacity Planning
Measurement type Abbreviation Func. Group
Intracell
Attempted internal Handovers, intracell, per ATINHIAC SCANBTS
cause
Successful internal Handovers, intracell, per SINTHITA SCANBTS
cause
Unsuccessful internal Handovers, intracell, per UNINTHITA SCANBTS
cause
Attempted internal SDCCH Handovers AISHINTR SCANBTS
intracell
Successful internal SDCCH Handovers SISHINTR SCANBTS
intracell
Unsuccessful internal SDCCH Handovers UISHINTR SCANBTS
intracell
Unsuccessful internal Handovers intracell, with UNIHIALC SCANBTS
loss of MS
intercell
Attempted internal Handovers, intercell, per ATINHIRC SCANBTS
cause
Successful internal Handovers, intercell, per SINTHINT SCANBTS
cause
Attempted incoming internal intercell AININIRH SCANBTSIHO
Handovers per originating cell
Successful incoming internal intercell SININIRH H SCANBTSIHO
Handovers, per originating cell
Attempted outgoing intercell Handovers, per AOUINIR SCANBTSOHOI
cause, per neighbour cell relationship
Successful outgoing intercell Handovers, per SOUINIRH SCANBTSOHOI

cause, per neighbour cell relationship
Unsuccessful internal HOs, intercell, with UNINHOIE SCANBTSOHOI
reconnection to the old Channel, Cause, per
Target cell
Attempted internal SDCCH Handovers AISHINTE SCANBTS
intercell
Successful internal SDCCH Handovers SISHINTE SCANBTS
intercell
Unsuccessful internal SDCCH Handovers UISHINTE SCANBTS
intercell
Total number of Handover failures, intra BSC HOFITABS SCANBTS
Unsuccessful internal Handovers, intercell, UNIHIRLC SCANBTS
with loss of MS
33
Capacity Planning
Inter BSC
Attempted outgoing inter BSC Handovers per ATINBHDO CANBTSHONON
neighbour cell relationship
Successful outgoing inter BSC Handovers per SUINBHDO CANBTSHONON
neighbour cell relationship
Number of unsuccessful outgoing inter BSC NRUNINHD CANBTSHONON
Handovers per neighbour cell relationship
Attempted MSC controlled SDCCH Handovers AOINTESH SCANBTS
Successful MSC controlled SDCCH Handovers SOINTESH SCANBTS
Unsuccessful MSC controlled SDCCH Handovers UOINTESH SCANBTS

Number of inter BSC Handover failures NRINHDFL SCANBSC
Others
Successful internal Handovers per BSC per Cause SINHOBSC SCANBSC
HSCSD connection related Measurements

Total number of multislot (HSCSD) connections per cell TNMSCNCL SCANBTS
Number of service upgrades/downgrades for HSCSD calls TNSUDHSC SCANBTS
Queuing related measurements
Mean TCH queue lenght (Fullrate/Halfrate) MTCHQLEN SCANBTS
Mean duration a TCH is queued (Fullrate/ Halfrate) MDURTCRQ SCANBTS
Number of messages discarded from the TCH queue per cell NMSGDISQ SCANBTS
(Fullrate/Halfrate)
Mean packet queue lenght (on PDCH) per cell MPDTQLEN SCANGPRS
Number of packet channel assignement attempts discarded NPMSDISQ SCANGPRS

from the packet queue per cell
34
Capacity Planning
AMR related Measurments
Mean number of busy TCH per channel type MBTCHAMR SCANBTS
Adaptative multirate channel type uplink/downlink distribution AMRCHDIS SCANBTSM
Smooth Channel Modification related measurements
Number of TCH-SDCCH channel modifications NTCHSDCM SCANBTS
Mean duration a TCH/SD with TCH_SD_Pool can be used as MDURTCSD SCANBTS

SDCCH
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35
Capacity Planning
ASCI connection related measurements
Total number of assignement attempts relevant to VBS/VGCS TASSATVS SCANBTS

Broadcast/Group Channels, per cell
Total number of successful assignement relevant to TASSUCVS SCANBTS

VBS/VGCS Broadcast/Group Channels, per cell
Number of new notification to be sent on the notification NNNOTNCH SCANBTS

channel (NCH)
Quality Measurements
Mean number of idle TCHs per interference band MEITCHIB SCANBTS
Interferance measurements on idle TCHs ILUPLKIC SCANTRX
Power and quality measurements on UL/DL busy TCHs PWRUPDW SCANCHAN
Correlated RXLEV to RXQUAL measurements uplink CRXLVQUU SCANTRX
Correlated RXLEV to RXQUAL measurements downlink CRXLVQUD SCANTRX
Correlated RXLEV to time advance measurements uplink CRXLVTAU SCANTRX
Correlated RXLEV to time advance measurements downlink CRXLVTAD SCANTRX
Correlated FER to RXQUAL measurements CFERRXQU SCANTRX
Abis –Interface Measurements
I-Frame measurements IFRMABIS SCANBTSM
36
Capacity Planning
A-Interface/ SS7 related Measurements
SCCP
Total number of messages received TMSGREC SCANBSC
Total number of messages handled TMSHHDL SCANBSC
Total number of connectionless messages received TCMSGREC SCANBSC
Total number of connectionless messages sent TCMSGSND SCANBSC
Routing failure , DPC unavailable RFDBCUN SCANBSC
Routing failure , subsystem unavailable RFSUBUN SCANBSC
MTP
Number of message signal units (MSUs) transmitted NMSUTRAS SCANBSC
Number of message signal units (MSUs) received NMSUREC SCANBSC
Number of loccally generated automatic changeovers LOCAUTCH SCANBSC
Number of transistions of the adjacents signalling Point (ASP) NASPAVUN SCANBSC

from available to unavailable
Duration of adjacent saignalling Point (ASP) unavailable DSPUNT SCANBSC

condition
SS7 Link /Linkset
Duration of link in service state DLKSERST SCANSS7L
Duration of signalling link unavailability DSLUNAV SCANSS7L
Duration of linkset unavailable conditions DLKUNCON SCANBSC
Signalling link failure SLFAILAL SCANSS7L
37
Capacity Planning
Processor Measurements
BSC Processor load BSCPRCLD SCANBSC
BTSE processor load BTSEPRLD SCANBTSM
Miscellaneous Measurements
Transceiver available time TRANAVTI SCANTRX
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38
Capacity Planning
3.5 Dimensioning TRXs
The network dimensioning is a process of analysis and comparison of different

alternatives for building a cellular network in order to satisfy given requirements for
coverage, quality and capacity. There are several parameters that are used as input
for dimensioning and that should be known or estimated, such as network area size,
distribution of the subscribers, expected traffic load, available frequency band, etc.
The output of the process is an estimate of the equipment needed for the network
development.
In dimensioning the whole geographical area is divided into the regions based on
radio wave propagation and traffic distribution. Traffic distribution should be flat in
each region and propagation environment should not vary too much. If these two
assumptions are not valid in a region, the region should be divided into smaller
regions to fulfil the assumptions.
The three main concepts that are used to describe the composition of the cellular
network are site, cell, sector and transceiver-receiver (TRX). Usually a network
consists of more than one site. One site can be divided into several sectors. Each
sector can contain one or several TRXs and each TRX operates on a specific
frequency. A cell is more like a logical concept that is used to divide the total
geographical area into location areas. If mentioned in this document, a cell equals to
a sector. A site with three sectors (cells), one with three TRXs and two with two TRXs
is depicted in the following figure.
39
Capacity Planning
In order to be able to estimate the transmission capacity need of a network, the

number of sites and the transmission capacity of one individual site (i.e. the number
of TRXs per site) should be known. This is done by coverage and capacity
calculations. Coverage calculation calculates the number of sites that are needed to
cover the geographical area. Capacity calculation calculates the number of sites that
are needed for the estimated traffic load in the area. The total number of sites
required is then the number that is bigger, either the number of sites for capacity
(capacity limited network) or the number of sites for coverage (coverage limited
network). A new network is usually capacity limited in urban areas and coverage
limited outside of urban areas.
Capacity calculation
Network traffic is not evenly spread. There are traffic peaks, "busy hours", usually
around 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. but as the number of non-business subscribers increase,
traffic gets more and more evenly spread over time. A network has to be
dimensioned according to the "busy hour" traffic.
In order to simplify the capacity calculation some assumptions should be made.
Firstly, traffic is evenly distributed over the target area. Secondly, all the subscribers
in the target area share the same quality targets. This means that the base stations
have some common parameters (e.g. location probability, blocking probability,
bandwidth, frequency reuse number). In addition to that there are some parameters
that should be defined individually for different type of base stations (e.g. propagation
model, output power and antenna height). The purpose of the capacity calculation is
to define the number of TRXs needed to handle certain traffic load with given
blocking probability. The number of carriers, and hence the number of channels, that
are available depends on the available bandwidth. In GSM system each channel is
allowed to use 200 kHz. For example if the bandwidth is 5 MHz, the number of
channels is 25. The number of carriers that can be used per sector depends on the
frequency reuse number.
40
Capacity Planning
Each TRX operates on certain carrier. Again, if the bandwidth is 5 MHz and reuse is
12, the number of TRXs per sector is 2.08 according to the following equation :
The number of TRXs per sector and blocking probability define the amount of
traffic that one sector can handle. The number of the timeslots per TRX that are
allocated for traffic depends on the planning solution and should be noticed. Traffic
per one sector with given blocking probability can be calculated by using Erlang B
formula, see Table 1 below for some example values.
Blocking probability means the probability that a call generated by MS is

blocked because all the possible traffic channels are reserved. GSM mobiles
generate call requests for circuit switched calls as in ordinary telephony by a Poisson
process. These GSM calls have an exponentially distributed holding time with a
mean value of 50 seconds. Blocking probability for one timeslot speech call is
estimated from Poisson distribution. The unit of traffic is called Erland (Erl) and 1 Erl
equals to the amount of traffic that is carried by one channel during one hour. The
number of the signaling timeslots per TRX, and thus the number of the traffic
channels per TRX, depend on the planning solution. Blocking values used for the air
interface vary normally been between 1% and 5%. As a network evolves, the number
of subscribers will grow, while the average traffic intensity per subscriber will
gradually decline over time. At network start-up, the traffic per subscriber is typically
around 18-20 mErlangs, and this declines to 12-13 mErlangs as the network matures
41
Capacity Planning
table mapping TRx, timeslot and traffic (Erlangs)
If the number of sectors per site is not known some estimate (e.g. weighed average,
see Table 2 below) can be used and the traffic per sector and thus per site can be
calculated. Then, knowing the traffic per site and the total traffic, the minimum
number of sites for capacity can be calculated.
Table: weighed number of sector per site
42
Capacity Planning
The dimensioning of the number of TRXs per cell should be based on traffic
estimations for this area and should be performed for the busy hour.
Using:
the number of subscribers in the corresponding area (for the busy hour)
the expected averaged traffic per subscriber (for the busy hour)
The offered traffic A results from:
A = No of subscribers x traffic load per subscriber.
Using the Erlang B look up table the number of TRXs can be derived.
Hint:
This number also depends on the amount of half rate being used in the cell.
43
Capacity Planning
3.6 Dimensioning Control Channels
The real problem that GSM and TDMA IS-136 operators must solve is even more
complex because the frequencies can be assigned different roles. When k
frequencies are allocated to a cell, one of them must carry the transmission control
signal on its first time slot. Such a frequency is called Broadcast Control Channel
(BCCH) in GSM and Digital Control Channel (DCCH) in TDMA IS-136; the other
frequencies, if any, will only carry regular traffic. They are called Traffic Channels
(TCHs) in GSM and Digital Traffic Channels (DTCs) in TDMA IS-136. It follows that a
frequency used as BCCH/DCCH can carry up to seven/two user communications
instead of eight/three for a TCH/DTC. Because the control function is critical, the
frequencies that are the least involved in interference will be chosen to carry
signaling and control. Some operators address this problem by partitioning the
available spectrum so as to keep aside a number of frequencies that will only be
used as BCCH/DCCH.
Initial signaling sequence for MTC, MOC, LOCUPD, SMS...
44
Capacity Planning
Combined BCCH: includes 4 SDCCH subchannels
Uncombined BCCH: requires additional SDCCH timeslot (each one containing 8

SDCCH subchannels).
45
Capacity Planning
Exercise:
Consider 1 BTS with 2 TRXs and full rate channels. Assume 1% blocking.
Assume a typical TCH load of 25 mErl per subscriber per hour.
Furthermore, assume a typical SDCCH load of 10 mErl per subscriber per hour.
Compare configurations A and B: Which one offers the higher capacity?
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46
Capacity Planning
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47
Capacity Planning
4. Capacity and Cell Radius
In capacity limited areas of the network: Cell radius is smaller than would be for
coverage limited situation to satisfy the traffic demand.
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48
Capacity Planning
5. Dimensioning terrestrial interfaces

5.1 Signalling links: Overview
CCSS 7 CCSS 7
64 kbit/s 64 kbit/s
4x16 kbit/s TCH 1x16 kbit/s
BSC TRAU MSC
PC
BT
SE LAPD
LAPD
Abi Asu A
BSS GPRS Protocol SGSN

(over Frame Relay)
G
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49
Capacity Planning
5.2 LAPD signalling links:
• O&M signalling for BTSM: LPDLM.

• TRX signalling: LPDLR.
• Signalling for TRAU: LPDLS.
Rules of thumb:
• LPDLM and LPDLR are counted as ONE LAPD-link.

• In case of 1 or 2 TRX 16 kbit/s are sufficient for LPDLM+LPDLR.
• Otherwise 64 kbit/s are required.
• LPDLS always uses 64 kbit/s.
Processor capacity:
• Traditional BSC: One PPLD processor handles up to 8 LAPD links.
One PPCC processor handles up to 4 CCSS7 links.
• High cap. BSC: Two PPXX processors handle 248 signalling links.
Load sharing (LAPD and CCSS7).
50
Capacity Planning
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51
Capacity Planning
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52
Capacity Planning
5.3 CCSS7 dimensioning
Traffic Model with following assumptions for busy hour (standard subscriber):
Traffic Model with following assumptions for busy hour (highly mobile subscriber):
53
Capacity Planning
SS7 Signalling load per subscriber:
Profile Signalling Load
Standard profile 600 byte
High mobility profile 1100 byte
Signalling load per BSC
Number of subscr. = Traffic capacity / Traffic per subscriber
Example: 2000 Erlang / (0.025 mErlang/subscriber) = 80 000 subscribers
Total Signalling load = Number of subscribers * Signalling load per subscriber
Example 1: 80 000 subscribers * 600 byte / 3600 sec = 13.3 kbyte/sec
Example 2: 80 000 subscribers * 1100 byte / 3600 sec = 24.5 kbyte/sec
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54
Capacity Planning
6. Signaling Network
By using the no. 7 signalling system (CCS7), a separate network for signalling
messages must be created in addition to the user channel network. We have to
consider the following points when planning the network:
• utilization of the transmission capacity
• routing tables without "circular routes"
• provision of alternative routes to counteract operational faults.
The load on the signalling links in turn depends on the user who generates the
message flow. There are messages that belong to the control of the call set up and
therefore always have a reference to the user channel – for example, ISUP (MSC _
PSTN). Other messages have no relationship with the user channel – for example,
MAP messages during HLR requests.
The calculation is based on mean values obtained from extensive measurements.
Project-specific data should always be used in individual cases if traffic
measurements are available.
We assume the following planning parameters for a computation example:
CCSS7 links per BSC

• Traffic value for TCH's = 720 Erl
• Load per traffic channel = 0.8 Erl / TCH
• Number of traffic channels = 900 TCH
• Mean holding time (tm) = 80 seconds
• Messages per call = 30 MSU
• Bytes per message = 40 bytes / MSU
• Load per sig. link = 0.2 Erl / sig. link
For a signalling load of 0.675 Erl a value of 4 signalling links is obtained. The mean
load per link is 0.168 Erl.
55
Capacity Planning
Note:
The number of MSU's per call not only includes the messages for call set up but also
the component for handover, location update, services and the Short Message
Service. Consequently, the number of bytes per message is higher (= 40).
An approximation formula is used in practise for calculating the number of signalling
links:
120 ... 240 TCH 1 signalling link
For 900 traffic channels a minimum of 4 and a maximum of 8 sig. links are required.
Formula:
Example:
Traffic A = 720 Erl MSU Number = 30 MSU / Calls

tm = 80 sec MSU Length = 40 bytes / MSU
N TCH = 900
Call Attempts = Traffic A / t m = 720 Erl / 80 sec = 9 Calls / sec
Number of Sig. Links = 0.675 / 0.2 = 3.375 4 Sig. Links
56
Capacity Planning
57
Capacity Planning
7. A – Interface (BSC MSC)
7.1 Planning Aspects
The trunk groups between a BSC and MSC are designed as direct trunk groups and
are therefore calculated like the MICLOOP trunk groups with B < 0.01%.
For smaller trunk groups with N TCH < 60 we must assume greater deviations in the
traffic value from the mean value because the statistical deviations are considerably
larger than for large trunk groups.
The load on the TCH's depends on different parameters such as the geographical
location:
• rural / urban areas
• usage of services (voice, data, fax, Internet, etc.)
• tariff switchovers (high low)
• seasonal traffic (holiday regions).
The calculation must therefore be made for different load scenarios.

The traffic at the A-interface contains the sum of Mobile Originating Traffic and
Mobile Terminating Traffic.
The signaling links are used at this interface for the following functions:
• control of call setup
• subscriber features (call forwarding, automatic callback, etc.)
• handover
• location update
• Short Message Service (SMS).
58
Capacity Planning
The signalling load cannot be precisely calculated because the above functions vary
greatly in their use. In the best case four CCS7 links are enough.
Redundancy is then no longer provided however. In other words, overload could
occur if just one signalling link fails, thereby leading to a loss of messages. An
exponent of two (2, 4, 8, 16) for the number of CCS7 links is always recommended
because of the load sharing key.
59
Capacity Planning
7.2 Calculation of the A-Interface

Let us assume the following values for our planning example:
• N' Mobile Subscribers (MS) = 120 000,
• Traffic / MS = 25 mErl,
• Traffic BSC 2 MSC = 26.6 %.
Calculation:
• The traffic value of 800 erlangs between BSC 2 and MSC is derived from the
total traffic value multiplied by the percentage value of 26.6% applicable to the BSC
2.
• The number of TCH's is calculated with the Erlang_B formula and yields a value
rounded up to 900 TCH's.
• We calculate the number of signaling links with the approximation formula so that
one CCS7 link is installed for every 120 TCH's. 8 CCS7 links provide us with
enough security i.e., there is sufficient transmission capacity for SMS, high loads or
failure of transmission links.
• The number of necessary time slots is obtained from the sum of TCH's and CCS7
links and 1 OAM link. We assume a utilization rate UR = 0.8 for planning reserves,
which means that 38 PCM30 links are required. This figure has to be a multiple of
four because of the TRAU conversion.
• With 40 PCM30's we have reached the configuration limit of 10 TRAU's because

no more than 4 PCM30 modules can be connected for each TRAU.
60
Capacity Planning
Step 1: Traffic (BSC 2 MSC)

Traffic BSC1,2,3 = N‘MS * Traffic / MS
Traffic BSC 2 = 120 000 MS * 0.025 Erl * 0.26 = 800 Erl
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Step 2: # TCH (BSC 2 MSC)
# TCH BSC2 = f (B; Traffic BSC2)
# TCH BSC 2 = f (B = 0.01%, Traffic BSC 2 = 800 Erl) = 891 900 TCH
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Step 3: # Signaling Links
# CCS7 Links on A – Interface = 900 / 120 = 7.5 8 Sig.Link (BSC 2 – MSC)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Step 4: # A – Interface
# A – IF BSC 2 = (900 TCH + 8 CCS7-Links + 1 OAML) / 30 = 30.3

30.3 / 0.8 40 PCM30
61
Capacity Planning
8. Short Message Service
The Short Message Service (SMS) center is generally connected to the PLMN via a
gateway MSC. The text messages are sent through the existing CCS7 links from the
mobile station (MS) via the BSC, MSC to the SMS center.
The SMS center attempts to send the messages to the appropriate users. If a
specified subscriber cannot be reached, the message is sent during the next location
update. Messages may be periodically resent at intervals of about one hour, but this
depends on the setting of the network parameters of the operator.
The calculation refers to the number of CCS7 links between the gateway MSC and
the SMS center.
The following parameters are needed for the network planning:
• the number of mobile subscribers using SMS
• the average length of a text message
• the average length of the overhead info
• the average number of messages per subscriber during peak hour (PH)
• the usage rate [%] and
• the frequency of transmission attempts.
The next table shows the standard values for calculating the load generated by text
messages.
Abbreviations Long description Default value
#SMSsubsc Total number of SMS subscribers at switch to be to be defined

configured
ARMLSMS Average SMS raw message length [bytes] 150
AMOLSMS Average SMS message overhead length [bytes] 90
ANoMSGSMS subsc Average number of SMS messages per SMS 0.2

subscriber during PH
User_rate Percentage of SMS users in reference to entire MS 100%
Rept_factor Repetition factor for message forwarding 2.5
62
Capacity Planning
63
Capacity Planning
8.1 Dimensioning CCS7 Links for SMS

The load on the CCS7 links to the Short Message Service center is derived from the
number of messages multiplied by the average message length.
Calculation:
• A message consists of a variable part with an average of 150 bytes plus an

overhead = 90 bytes. The total length is therefore 240 bytes.
• A CCS7 link is used to 20% of its capacity under normal conditions. As a result,
we can transfer 24,000 messages over a link during the busy hour.
• We assume a region with 500 000 mobile subscribers, of which 80% have
authorization to use SMS.
• A transmission to the SMS center is counted as one message. Message
forwarding to a mobile subscriber can cause repetitions if the desired subscriber
is not available. We assume an average repetition factor of 2.5.
• We obtain a figure of 12 links from the total number of messages divided by the
number of messages per CCS7 link.
• A PCM30 system is needed to the SMS center. For safety reasons, a second
PCM link also has to be installed.
64
Capacity Planning
Step 1: Average Message Length (total)
AMLSMS = ARMLSMS + AMOLSMS [bytes]
AML SMS = 150 bytes + 90 bytes = 240 bytes

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Step 2: Number of SMS messages per CCS7 link per PH (peak hour)
# SMS messages = (64 000 bit/sec * 3600 sec) / (8bit *240 bytes ) * 0.2
= 24 000 SMS per PH
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Step 3: Number of SMS subscribers
# SMS subscriber = # MS . User Rate
# SMS subscriber = 500 000 * 80% = 400 000

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Step 4: Number of CCS7 links to SMS center
# CCS7 Links = (400 000 * 0.2 *(1 + 2.5)) / 24 000 = 11.6 12 CCS7 Links
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Step 5: # PCM30 Systems to SMS center
# PCM Systems = 2 PCM30
65
Capacity Planning
9. Voice Mail Service
A call is forwarded to the VMS center whenever a called party is not available when
setting up a call provided the voice mailbox has been activated. The subscriber can
then retrieve the messages from the mailbox at a later stage.
We distinguish between messages recorded by the VMS center and messages that
are later retrieved.
The following individual parameters need to be defined:
• average connection time of forwarded VMS messages [sec.]
• average connection time of retrieved VMS messages [sec.]
• percentage of forwarded calls [%]
• percentage of users with VMS user rights [%]
• traffic distribution: MTC = 50 %, MTM = 20%
• number of mobile subscribers = 120 000
• BHCA / mobile subscribers = 1.7 calls / hour.
The table below shows the standard values used for calculating the traffic load on the
VMS center.
Parameter name Description Default

value
AV_time_Forw_VMS: Average connection time per forwarded VMS message 20 sec.
AV_time_Retri_VMS Average connection time per retrieved VMS message 25 sec.
VMS forw_rate Percentage of MTCs and MMCs are forwarded to VMSC 20%
VMS capab. Percentage of subscribers have VMS apability 80%
66
Capacity Planning
67
Capacity Planning
Transcoder capacity: depends on cell sizes
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68
Capacity Planning
Exercises A
1. Consider a call rate of 1000 calls per hour. The mean holding time is 90 sec. What
is the Traffic Offered in Erlang?
2. Consider a Traffic Offered of 30 Erlang and a mean holding time of 120 sec. How
many calls per hour do you expect?
3. Consider a telephone system with N=6 trunks and a time period of 10 time units
(0,1,...,10).
Subscriber 1 makes a call from t1 to t3. Subscriber 2 makes a call from t2 to t4.
a. Draw the number of used trunks as function of time.
b. Draw the number p of simultaneous occupations in the trunk group as function

of the total time with exactly p occupations.
c. What is the traffic offered in Erlang?
d. What is the traffic carried in Erlang?
e. What is the lost traffic in Erlang?
69
Capacity Planning
4. Consider a pure delay system and a group of 10 trunks belonging to a trunk

group. Assume that all these trunks are available (full availability). Assume a traffic
offered of 4 Erlangs and a mean holding time of 100 seconds. The queue discipline
shall be “first come, first served” (ordered queue).
a. What is the probability to be queued?
b. What is the mean waiting time of queued calls?
c. What is the mean waiting time of offered calls?
d. What is the probability that call are queued for longer than 1 minute?
5. Consider a pure loss system and a group of 10 trunks belonging to a trunk group.
Assume full availability. What is the traffic in Erlangs which can be offered to this
system if the probability to be blocked should be maximum 1%, 3%, 5% and 7% ?
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70
Capacity Planning
10. Nominal Cell Plan

The cell planning phase, which also includes planning the network of base stations,
should give the following results:
• full coverage of the service area;

• compliance with current and future traffic requirements; and
• capability to provide the desired GoS and QoS
while at the same time minimising the operator's total system cost.
The traffic demand - that is, the number of subscribers who will be connected to the
system and the amount of traffic they will generate - forms the basis of cell planning.
The volume and the geographical distribution of the traffic demand can be forecast
by using demographic data, such as structure of the population, motor-vehicle
density, distribution of income, telephone density and data on land utilisation. The
result of this forecast is the starting point for the initial cell planning work in areas that
have no previous experience from mobile systems.
Figure below shows the basic components of the cell planning process.
Figure The cell planning process
71
Capacity Planning
A nominal cell plan shows the mast sites of the base stations, the coverage of each
antenna and the distribution of frequencies among the cells. These factors and
others are based on the forecast of traffic demand. The nominal cell plan often takes
the form of a hexagonal pattern.
When preparing the nominal cell plan, the operator must take into account not only
current traffic demand but also the possibility of future cell splitting. Hence, mast sites
should be planned to permit use in future network configurations.
The propagation of radio waves is primarily affected by the topography of the area
but is also affected by the type of vegetation, rivers and lakes, buildings and so forth.
For this purpose, different digitised maps and other land-utilisation data can be used
in preparing the nominal cell plan.
The operator should try to calculate the received signal strength in the different parts
of each cell in the system. Since the operation of cellular systems is limited by
interference rather than by noise, the calculation of co-channel and adjacent-channel
interference is a very important part of cell planning work.
72
Capacity Planning
10.1 Radio survey
The purpose of a radio survey is to test the nominal cell plan and the calculated
signal strength and interference values. Movable test transmitters are installed at the
proposed antenna sites, and a specially equipped vehicle is used to measure
received signal levels in all parts of the service area.
The radio survey is followed by calculations aimed at giving a rough description of
how the system will operate. After any required modifications have been made to the
cell plan, the system is installed.
10.2 Tuning
After the system has been in commercial use for a couple of months, it must be
tuned. The operator uses the traffic data collected to decide on any measures
required to adjust system operation to the actual traffic demand. The following are
examples of such measures:
• changing the parameters for handover in individual cells to transfer traffic from
a frequently congested cell to an adjacent cell;
• changing the routing parameters to optimise traffic handling capacity in the
core network; and
• adding cells and frequencies in overloaded cells and reducing the number of
frequencies in cells that carry less traffic than expected.
To cope with the rapidly increasing number of mobile subscribers, there must be
margins for growth during the period immediately after the planning phase. However,
it can be advisable to start a new cell planning process shortly after the system has
been tuned.
73
Capacity Planning
10.3 Cell hierarchies
A number of hierarchical cell concepts have been developed to ensure better

utilisation of the limited number of frequencies.
"Superimposed" cells
In areas with high traffic intensity, capacity can be increased if one cell is
"superimposed" on another one. The two cells use the same base station
infrastructure and the same control channel, but the coverage of the "superimposed"
cell is limited. This can be a practical solution to capacity problems in cases where
the traffic demand near the base station is decidedly higher than near the cell
boundary.
Umbrella cells
An umbrella cell, which covers several smaller cells, can be used to eliminate
coverage gaps and to serve as backup in case of radio congestion. Since it is difficult
to fit the frequency (or frequencies) of the umbrella cell into a reuse pattern, this
solution is only used for systems with spare frequencies.
Hierarchical cell structure
The next developmental stage after umbrella cells is a hierarchical cell structure
(HCS), which means that the cell plan has three levels: microcells, macrocells and
umbrella cells. Mobiles will always try to establish contact within a microcell first, and
fast-moving mobiles will then be directed to the highest possible level to minimise the
number of handovers
74
Capacity Planning
Example : Number of Cells required for coverage of 2500 km2 area
Cell Requirement: A –90 dBm signal level is assumed to be required for 90%
coverage of each cell. Mobile has a 3 dBi gain antenna whereas the base station
uses 10 dB gain omni-directional antenna. s is assumed to be 8 dB and path loss
exponent n equals 4. n indicates the rate at which the path loss increases with
distance d.
Total Number of Cells:
Where 2500 km2 is the total coverage area and area of the cell (hexagon) is given
by 2.5981*R2. The radius R of the cell can be found using the following expression:
The value obtained for R using the above expression is approximately 1.734 km.
Therefore, total number of cells sites for 2500 km2 area is:
Based on the radius, the co-channel interference becomes minimal with the co-
channel separation distance of about 3.4 times the radius of the cell that is calculated
from the expression with a 4-cell cluster, i.e., N=4.
75
Capacity Planning
Exercise : Nominal Cell Plan
Consider a suburban area (clutter correction term = 5 dB) of 1000 km2 with an
expected traffic of 20 Erlang/km2. The standard deviation 1 sigma in building was
measured as 9 dB. The planning target was decided as 99% cell area probability.
Consider also an adjacent rural area (dense forest, clutter correction term = 9 dB) of
5000 km2 with an expected traffic of 1 Erlang/km2. The standard deviation 1 sigma for
outdoor coverage was measured as 6 dB. The planning target was decided as 95%
cell edge probability.
The blocking rate for both areas was defined as maximum 1%.
Assume that in total 60 RF channels are available. Assume also a typical antenna
height of 30 m, a C/I>21dB being required for the BCCH and a C/I>15 dB being
required for the TCH. No tower mounted amplifier is used. The antenna gain is 15 dBi
/ 17 dBi for 900 / 1800 MHz.
Assume 1 SDCCH is required for up to 2 TRX per cell, 2 SDCCH are required for up
to 4 TRX per cell, 3 SDCCH are required for up to 6 TRX per cell and 4 SDCCH in
further cases.
How many sites are needed for a 900 / 1800 MHz system in case frequency hopping
is used / not used?
76

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Chapitre 355

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Capacity Planning

• Nominal Cell Plan

1. Fundamentals of Traffic Theory

1.1 General remarks to traffic theory

In telecommunication traffic theory (also called teletraffic theory) it is a

1.2 Definitions and Terms

• From economical point of view, the amount of necessary equipment (switches,

1.2.2 Traffic offered, traffic carried, traffic lost

1.2.3 Definitions and Terms

1.2.4 Traffic flow units:

In honour of A. K. Erlang (1878-1929), a Danish mathematician who was the founder

1 trunk occupied for a duration t of a considered period T carries t / T Erlang.

Several definitions can be given for the traffic flow

Traffic intensity = Mean number of busy trunks in a time period

Traffic intensity = Call intensity x Mean holding time

Where The mean holding time is :

TCHMHTDR=MEBUSTCH [1..4] * Gr * 60/TNTCHCL[1..4]

1.3 Erlang-B Formula

Time and call congestion are equal:

1.3.2 Erlang-B Look-up Table

That means the Erlang B formula must be rearranged:

1 0.01 0.03 0.05 0.08

2 0.15 0.28 0.38 0.47

3 0.46 0.72 0.90 1.06

4 0.87 1.26 1.53 1.75

5 1.36 1.88 2.22 2.50

6 1.91 2.54 2.96 3.30

7 2.50 3.25 3.74 4.14

8 3.13 3.99 4.54 5.00

9 3.78 4.75 5.37 5.88

10 4.46 5.53 6.22 6.78

11 5.16 6.33 7.08 7.69

12 5.88 7.14 7.95 8.61

13 6.61 7.94 8.84 9.54

14 7.35 8.80 9.37 10.48

15 8.11 9.65 10.63 11.43

16 8.88 10.51 11.54 12.39

17 9.65 11.37 12.46 13.35

18 10.44 12.24 13.39 14.32

19 11.23 13.11 14.31 15.29

20 12.03 14.00 15.25 16.27

21 12.84 14.89 16.19 17.25

22 13.65 15.78 17.13 18.24

23 14.47 16.68 18.08 19.23

24 15.29 17.58 19.03 20.22

25 16.13 18.48 19.99 21.21

26 16.96 19.39 20.94 22.21

27 17.80 20.31 21.90 23.21

28 18.64 21.22 22.87 24.22

29 19.49 22.14 23.83 25.22

30 20.34 23.06 24.80 26.23

31 21.19 23.99 25.77 27.24

32 22.05 24.91 26.75 28.25

33 22.91 25.84 27.72 29.26

34 23.77 26.78 28.70 30.28

35 24.64 27.71 29.68 31.29

36 25.51 28.65 30.66 32.31

37 26.38 29.59 31.64 33.33

38 27.25 30.53 32.62 34.35

39 28.13 31.47 33.61 35.37

40 29.01 32.41 34.60 36.40

41 29.28 33.36 35.58 37.42

42 30.77 34.30 36.57 38.45