User Instructions: Automated Site Planner (RF Planner in Anp)

USER INSTRUCTIONS:
AUTOMATED SITE PLANNER

(RF PLANNER IN ANP)
Version 4.0
User Instructions: Automated Site Planner (RF Planner in ASP) v4.0
1) User access to the Advanced Network Planning portal is required to run experiments.
2) Start a new project/new plan. Give it a name, a description and select the planning technology you
want to use (e.g. RF Planning)
3) Choose “RF Planning” as in the picture below
4) Within a project, you can have multiple versions. Versions can help you differentiate plans which
could be using different settings (e.g. different equipments, different costs, different target population
etc.), or to run plans by region or focused on specific areas (e.g. Limpopo, Western Cape etc.), or to
re-run a previous version that did not worked (you can replicate and create a new version from a past
version). multiple plans or versions can be run at the same time (no limitations)
5) If you click on new version, you can choose between templates. 3 options:
a. Automated site Planner: This is to plan new sites. As part of this, you can also run the RF
propagation if you tick the RF-in-the-loop and Model RF boxes (+ you’ll need to add your RF
parameters)
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b. RF Analyzer: This is just to run the RF propagation model for a given lists of sites. It will not do
the site planning (i.e. placing sites on maps)
c. Older versions: This is to replicate a version you already created with inputs but if you want to
change some them. It is therefore prefilled with previous inputs
6) Once you have created a version, you should click on ‘Manage Settings’. A window will open so that
you can start uploading the inputs.
7) You can find in associated examples for templates of input files and Parameters.
a. Boundary: A KML or KMZ file of the boundary where you want to restrict planning. This can
also be created during region selection.
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b. Site File: You can upload your own site file in csv format for brownfield design. Alternatively,
the xlsx output of a previous run can be used (the “Site Metrics” sheet will be read).
Please see definitions in the start guide – not all fields are mandatory for the tool to run.
• Mandatory fields are Site ID, Latitude, Longitude, Tower, Fiber, RAN, Radio Type
• Adding Height, Backhaul Type, RAN Type, Azimuths, etc. will make the planning better
The below list outlines the structure and allowable values of the site file.
“Site ID”: the ID of a site

- Allowable values: a unique identifier for each site
“Latitude”: the latitude of a site.
- Allowable values: -90 to +90
“Longitude”: the longitude of a site.
- Allowable values: -180 to +180
“Tower”: whether a tower already exists at the site. This is 0 if a new tower needs to be built
at this site and 1 if the existing tower may be used.
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- Allowable values: 0, 1 (corresponding to “no” and “yes”)

“Height”: the height, in meters, of a tower. Default tower height will be used for empty rows.
- Allowable values: numbers greater than 0
“Fiber”: Is the site a fiber PoP, or not?
“RAN”: Is the site equipped with an access radio?
“Radio type”: the radio technology currently available on towers, when “RAN” is 1.
- Allowable values: 2G, 3G, 4G
“RAN Type”: the ID of RAN equipment associated with this site. If a value is supplied here,
it must match the ID of a RAN in the equipment input form. If it is empty, the user-provided
default RAN equipment is set for 4G sites, and some simple default equipment is set for 2G
and 3G sites.
- Allowable values: IDs of RANs in the equipment input form
“Tower Type”: the ID of tower equipment associated with this site. If a value is supplied
here, it must match the ID of a tower in the equipment input form. If it is empty, the “Height”
column will be used to set the tower equipment.
- Allowable values: IDs of towers in the equipment input form
“Backhaul Type”: The backhaul type currently available at the tower
- Allowable values: Fiber, Microwave, VSAT
“Required”: whether the site is mandatory to include in the final plan. This is relevant only
when the experiment includes microwave backhaul. 1 means that if it is possible to establish a
backhaul route to the site, the site will appear in the final output
“Azimuths”: a comma-separated list of sector boresight azimuth angles. The "RAN Type"
column must specify a RAN with 1+ directional antennas. This will override any default
values for boresight azimuth angles specified in the RAN equipment specifications.
- Allowable values: 0 to 360 (degrees clockwise from north)
“Max Radius”: maximum radius of RAN equipment at the site, in kilometers. This will
override any default values for max radius specified in the RAN equipment specifications.
- Allowable values: 0.1 to 40 (km)
“Transmit Power”: maximum transmit power of RAN equipment at this site, in dBm. This
will override any default values for transmit power specified in the RAN equipment
specifications.
- Allowable values: 30 to 60 (dBm)
“Do Not Upgrade”: whether to block this site from consideration for upgrade to 4G
- Allowable values: 0, 1 (corresponding to “not blocked”, “blocked”)
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c. Equipment parameters:
i. You can either create from scratch. Click ‘Create New’ and Add Towers, RANs, Power
details etc.
ii. Or you can use the example input in the folder: the JSON DEMO_equipment_file_flat_rural.
You can edit, upload this file into the interface. And then re-edit it into the interface if you
want to use it as a base.
To upload a file (click on browse and upload)
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You can either upload file or get files already uploaded within the project or even in other projects if you
tick the box bottom left
Definitions can also be found in the start guide or directly into the product mousing over the ‘i’
Equipment inputs come as lists of towers, access radios, backhaul radios, and power sources, with each
list representing the set of options for the type of equipment. The available choices determine the cost and
coverage of the network, as well as which links are and are not viable. For each of these input lists, you
can add as many options as you like, but you must supply at least one option for each category.
Towers: A tower option has four fields:

• The ID of a tower options is just the name you want us to use to describe it in the network's bill
of materials (BOM).
• The height of a tower is given in meters.
• The max_payload_weight (in pounds) of a tower sets an upper limit on the number of radios
we can place on a tower of that type in our plans.
• The cost of a tower is a special kind of recurring object you'll see in all the equipment options.
It has three further fields:
• The depreciation_lifetime (in years) of a piece of equipment is how long you expect it
to last before it needs replacing.
• The capex is the cost associated with the initial procurement, installment, etc., of the
equipment.
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• The opex is the amount of annual operational expenses we expect the equipment to
incur.
• Approximate Coverage Range (km) is the estimated coverage range (radius) of the RAN, in
km.
• Maximum Capacity (Mbps) is the maximum capacity supported by the RAN and associated
active equipment (Mbps).
• Maximum Simultaneous Users is the maximum number of simultaneous connections
supported for a minimum quality of service, across all sectors.
• Maximum Power Consumption (W) is the maximum power draw of the given piece of
equipment, in watts.
• Sectors is the set of sectors associated with this RAN. This information is required for RF
analysis purposes.
• Frequency (MHz) is the Frequency in MHz at which these sectors operate.
• Antenna Radiation Pattern is the antenna radiation pattern to use for the sector.
• Tx Power (dBm) is the Transmission power in dBm.
• Boresight Gain (dBi) is the Antenna gain at boresight (dBi).
• Antenna Distance from Top of Tower (m) is the distance from the top of the tower to the
antennas (m).
• Horizontal Boresight Angle (deg) is the horizontal Boresight Angle (deg). Not required for
the "Omnidirectional" antenna pattern.
• Channel Bandwidth (MHz) is the difference between the upper and lower frequencies in a
continuous band of frequencies. The channel bandwidth of a wireless signal determines that
signal's data rate. The higher the channel bandwidth, the faster the connection.
• Mechanical Downtilt (deg) is the tilting the antenna, through specific accessories on its
bracket, without changing the phase of the input signal
• Electrical Downtilt (deg) is the modification obtained by changing the characteristics of
signal phase of each element of the antenna.
• Beamwidth (deg) is the aperture angle from where most of the power is radiated.
• Noise Figure (dB) and noise factor are measures of degradation of the signal-to-noise ratio,
caused by components in a signal chain.
You can also use the interface
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d. Financial parameters: You can then follow a similar concept for the other inputs – start from
scratch or use JSON and then modify.
JSON file in folder is DEMO_financial_params
e. Dimensioning Parameters: You’ll also have to define Dimensioning per year. We recommend
using the same number of years as the deprecation lifetime you’ve set for your equipment.
i. Adoption rate (% of population that will become clients)
ii. Monthly tonnage
iii. ARPU
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The dimensioning parameters are a set of parameters that allow the user to express their assumptions
about how to dimension the network for anticipated usage and demand.
• After accounting for incumbent (competitive) providers in any given area, the adoption rate for
one particular service provider is further scaled down; we call this
the effective_adoption_rate, and it is a percentage of potentially covered people who will
become users of the network. This should be a list with length equal to the investment planning
horizon, so we can model the change in the value as time passes.
• The monthly_tonnage_GB is the expected data use per subscriber, per month, in gigabytes,
for every year in the planning horizon. This should be a list with length equal to the investment
planning horizon, so we can model the change in the value as time passes.
• The busy_hour_ratio is how many more times busy the network is expected to be at its peak
usage, compared to its average usage.
• The amount of overprovisioning is a percentage, also called a utilization ratio, representing
how much we are underestimating demand. If we set it at 75%, we are saying that we think we
should provision as if the current demand at each site were only 75% of what the site will
eventually have to handle.
• The contention_ratio is the peak percentage of users simultaneously using the network.
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f. Target population and Tile Resolution: You also need to define your target population and tile
resolution. This will be used to project the value of each site (combining this with the ARPU,
adoption rate etc.)
i. Uncovered
ii. 2G or worse
iii. 3G or worse
iv. Full population
• Tile Resolution lets one optionally specify the (Bing Tile) resolution at which RAN greenfield
planning (ASP) is done — finer is more accurate and slower than coarser (higher the number
the smaller the tile)
g. Demand Layer: Select the demand layer to be used for analysis and reporting. Residential
population density will use population data. Internet Demand Model will use demand projections.
h. Enable Carrier-Specific Coverage Data: Select this to use carrier-specific coverage data
instead of data aggregated across all carriers ("carrier-agnostic"). This will affect selections of
target population layers other than "Full Population". Selecting this will ignore all cell sites from
other networks when estimating existing network coverage.
i. Select Add Greenfields if you want the Planner to propose new Greenfield Sites (that’s generally
the most common use case). If you don’t select it, then it means you have imported site
candidates into the site file (in point 6.a.) where you have put required=0.
Note that the greenfield sites will be tagged as ‘Potential’ in the outputs (the existing sites from
your current network will have the 2G, 3G, 4G tag)
j. Site Prioritization Mode: Select the site prioritization objective to use for brownfield upgrade
and greenfield planning optimizations. Coverage mode will prioritize sites deemed most valuable
based on population coverage but may not adequately densify sites in urban areas. Capacity mode
will prioritize site configurations which provide a higher quality of service over coverage in
densely populated areas.
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k. Sector Optimization Enable: Enable sector optimization in RAN analysis. Depending on the
goal user selected in Sector Optimization Mode and Parameters, the algorithm evaluates the
existing sector boresight configuration along with exploring candidate configurations, then
propose an upgrade recommendation if better configuration(s) exist.
• Sector Optimization Modes: Select sector optimization mode.
1. Coverage Area: maximize the area of coverage footprint satisfying the min
coverage specs.
2. QoS Area: maximize the area of QoS footprint satisfying the min QoS specs.
3. Coverage Pop: maximize the Population footprint satisfying the min coverage
specs.
4. QoS Pop: maximize the Population of QoS footprint satisfying the min QoS
specs.
• The output results will show the recommended Azimuth reconfiguration as below:
8) RF-in-the-loop and Model RF prediction – you can run plans without RF propagation
done - in which case the tool will use the theoretical circle range you have defined in
the equipment parameters (e.g. 5km) – or you can decide to use RF propagation to
inform 1. the site placement 2. have in outputs the LOS, RSRP propagations etc. Running
with RF-in-the-loop takes longer (given the needs for computation) but would create
more precise results. If you run with RF-in-the-loop, we recommend limiting the area of
your plan using ‘Boundary’ – and use for example a state shapefile or any polygons –
whereas without RF, you can run country-size plans in a few hours.
a. RF-in-the-loop: if selected, it will use RF propagation to place sites (vs. using the simple radius
coverage defined in equipment). It will however not provide the outputs from the RF
propagations
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b. Model RF Propagation:
c. When doing RF in the loop or Model RF – you need to define the propagation parameters.
To do so, same process as the other inputs, you can either create new:
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Or upload the JSON and then edit it
RF Coverage Prediction Modeling is done only if Model RF Propagation is checked in the RF &
Financial Analytics step. This step is expensive and can take up to 24 hours for an entire country. The
recommendation, therefore, is to turn it off if performing a full-country analysis and to turn it on only for
a detailed analysis specified in a smaller region using a boundary polygon).
The RF Prediction Modeling Parameters encode all the experiment-level parameters and assumptions
(sector/site-independent) that govern RF propagation prediction.
propagation_model specifies the RF propagation model to be used (and in the case of “SPM”,
associated parameters)model_name specifies the propagation model, from the following list. Note that
not all models are valid over the full range of LTE carrier frequencies or possible tower heights
• “3GPP”: 3GPP channel models for 0.5 to 100 GHz — RMa
• “WINNER2”: WINNER II channel models — RMa
• “HATA”: Okumura-Hata channel models — rural
• “COST231”: COST Hata channel models — rural
• “FSPL”: Free-space path loss equation
• “SPM”: Standard Propagation Model — user defined coefficients
• k0, k1, k2, k3, k4, k5, k6, k7, k8, k9: user-defined coefficients of the SPM, when chosen
• downlink_margins_db and uplink_margins db: margins [dB] to add to link budget in downlink
(to users) and uplink (from users), respectively
• signal_power_min_dbm: the minimum received signal power at a user location [dBm] below
which that location will not be considered covered
• sinr_min_db: the minimum signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) at a user location
[dB] below which that location will not be considered covered
• user_equipment gives assumptions on a standard user for link budgets and propagation
modeling
• tx_power_dbm: the assumed transmit power [dBm] of the representative user equipment (UE)
• antenna_gain_dbi: the antenna gain of the UE [dBi] (in general this is 0.0)
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• noise_db: the RF noise figure of the UE [dB]

• tx_diversity_gain_db and rx_diversity_gain_db: antenna diversity gains of the UE [dB] in
transmit and receive, respectively
• tx_misc_loss_db and rx_misc_loss_db: miscellaneous losses of the UE [dB] (e.g. cable losses)
• height_m: assumed height above ground of the UE, in meters
9) Other Inputs:
• RAN Placement Buffer: Enter a number from 0.2 to 0.5 that specifies how far the base station
(RAN) location can be moved to a nearby road-accessible high point to make backhaul more
feasible, relative to the approximate range of the RAN.
• Antenna Pattern File: This field is only required when sectors in the equipment file are
specified with external antenna patterns. The file should be a .txt file following the .pln format
(converted from .pln files) with a set of parameters that specify the antennas.
10) Once you have uploaded all the inputs, you can Save and Launch – you’ll have a spinning
wheel saying ‘running’. And then you need to wait. It runs on cloud services, so you do
not have to keep your laptop opened or on.
11) Results:
a. They can be downloaded. Or viewed in the product directly.
b. Once a version has successfully run, you can find outputs under ‘files’ at the bottom Right (please
note that there are also the inputs file here)
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c. Option to toggle between Manage Settings and map view is on the right side.
10. The outputs to check out are:

i. (RF & Financial Analytics) optimized_network_plan.kml - this will give you the kml files with
sites. It can be viewed in QGIS, Google Earth etc. It can also be directly consumed in the product
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i. (RF & Financial Analytics) microwave_network_report.kml – this will give you details per site.
For example:
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ii. If you have run Model RF propagation, you will also get this output: (RF & Financial Analytics)
RF_coverage_vizualisations.tar. This will give you the raster images of the propagation for LOS,
RSRP etc. Once you import an image into Google Earth, QGIS or if you want to see the RF
propagation directly in the product (by clicking on the ‘eye’ symbol next to RF), you should have
something like this
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User Instructions: Automated Site Planner (RF Planner in Anp)

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USER INSTRUCTIONS:

AUTOMATED SITE PLANNER

3) Choose “RF Planning” as in the picture below

“Site ID”: the ID of a site

- Allowable values: 0, 1 (corresponding to “no” and “yes”)

To upload a file (click on browse and upload)

Towers: A tower option has four fields:

You can also use the interface

Or upload the JSON and then edit it

• noise_db: the RF noise figure of the UE [dB]

10. The outputs to check out are:

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