RF Planning & Optimization

RF Planning & Optimization

Before implementing a cell, a cluster of cells, or a system, RF engineers need to

know whether or not the CDMA design of the cell, cluster, or system will sup- port the
basic radio links. In other words, are all the radio parameters adequate to maintain a high-
quality radio link between the base station and the mobile? Specifically, the carrier-to-
noise ratio was treated as the fig- ure of merit for the link.
There are three important parameters to consider in CDMA design: the E c /I 0
of the pilot channel, the E b /N 0 of the forward traffic channel, and the E b /N 0 of the
reverse traffic channel.

Forward Link Analysis

1 Pilot Channel

The E c /I 0 is the energy per chip per interference density measured on the pilot
channel; it is effectively the signal strength of the pilot channel. The mobile
continuously measures the E c /I 0 and compares it against the different thresholds, such
as the pilot detection threshold T_ADD and the pilot drop threshold T_DROP. The
results of these comparisons are reported back to the base station so that the base station
can make a determination of whether or not the mobile should be handed off from one
base station to the next. Thus, the E c /I 0 plays a prominent role in determining whether
or not a mobile is within the coverage area of a base station. Furthermore, the pilot signal
is transmitted by a base station at a relatively higher power than those of other forward-
link logical channels. A call cannot be set up without the mobile’s successful reception of
the pilot channel because, along with other functions, the pilot channel serves as a
coherent carrier phase reference for demodulation of other logical channels on the
forward link. Therefore, the E c /I 0 effectively determines the forward coverage area of
a cell or sector, and one has to ensure that the forward link E c /I 0 strength is sufficient.

In developing an expression for the E c /I 0 , four different cases of increasing

complexity are considered which are as follows:

 Single cell and single mobile;

 Many cells and single mobile;

 Single cell and many mobiles;

  Many cells and many mobiles.

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 RF Planning & Optimization

Reverse Link
Since there is no pilot channel on the reverse link, we are only interested in the
E b /N 0 of the reverse traffic channel. The link E b /N 0 translates directly into BER,
which has implications on reverse-link voice quality. Making sure that the link supports
an adequate E b /N 0 ensures the quality of the link. In order to illustrate the concept of
link analysis without introducing complicating factors, we will not consider the effects of
diversity gain in soft/softer handoff situations. In developing an expression for the
reverse E b /N 0 , three different cases of increasing complexity are considered

 Single cell and single mobile;

 Single cell and many mobiles;
 Many cells and many mobiles

PN Offset Planning

On the forward link, a logical channel (i.e., pilot, paging, sync, or traffic channel) is
separated from other logical channels by using different Walsh functions. In
addition to being spread by the Walsh function, a logical channel is further multiplied by
the short PN sequence. In effect, every logical channel on the for- ward link is multiplied
by the same short PN sequence assigned to that particular base station (or sector).
This multiplication by the short PN sequence is done to provide another layer of isolation
between forward links of different base stations. For example, suppose that base station 1
transmits a traffic channel using Walsh function 21, and base station 2 transmits a traffic
channel also using Walsh function 21. If these two base stations are next to each other,
then mutual interference will occur.
In reality, base station 1’s traffic channel is further multiplied by a short PN sequence,
and base station 2’s traffic channel is also further multiplied by a different short PN
sequence. The multiplication by these two different short PN sequences ensures that all
logical channels (i.e., pilot, paging, sync, and traffic channels) of one base station are
separated from the logical channels of another base station. For this purpose, each
base station (or sector) is assigned a different short PN sequence.

Short PN Sequences

Each short PN sequence is generated using a shift register with 15 delay elements. The
length of such a PN sequence is about 215, or 32,768 chips. If a PN sequence is
shifted by one chip, then effectively a different PN sequence generated. Therefore, given
that the PN sequence is 32,768 chips in length, we could theoretically generate and use
about 32,768 different PN sequences, and we have 32,768 different PN sequences
available to assign to different base stations! Given that we have this many different short
PN sequences, PN planning would be unnecessary. One problem with this simplistic view
is that a difference of one chip between different PN sequences provides very little
isolation in a mobile communications environment. Given that the transmission rate is
1.2288 Mcps, the duration of each chip is

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 RF Planning & Optimization

 1 sec 6
6  0.81380  10 sec  0.81380  sec
1.2288  10 chips

A time duration of 0.81380 sec corresponds to a propagation

distance of 244.14m; that is,

0.81380  10 6

sec  3  10
8 mts/sec
 244.14 meters

where 3  108 m/sec is the speed of light. Now suppose that there are two base
stations: base station 1 and base station 2. The PN sequence of base station 1 differs from
that of base station 2 by one chip. A mobile is 488m away from base station 1 and 244m
away from base station 2. A distance of 488m corresponds to a delay of two chips, while
a distance of 244m corresponds to a delay of one chip. Therefore, base station 1’s PN
sequence arriving at the mobile would appear to the mobile as a PN sequence with a
shift of two chips, and base station 2’s PN sequence arriving at the mobile would
appear as a PN sequence with a shift of one chip. These two received PN sequences
cannot be distinguished from one another.

Fig A situation where a mobile cannot distinguish the received PN sequences of two
base stations.

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 RF Planning & Optimization

In order to provide more isolation among PN sequences that can be assigned

(used), the IS-95 standard specifies that usable PN sequences need to have a minimum
separation of 64 chips between each other. Each usable PN sequence is defined by its PN
offset. For example, a PN sequence with PN off- set 1 is different from a PN sequence
with PN offset 0 by 64 chips, while a PN sequence with PN offset 4 is different from a
PN sequence with PN offset 0 by 4 * (64 chips) is equal to 256 chips.
Given that there is a minimum separation of 64 chips, the
maximum number of usable PN sequences is 512. The separation can be increased
further by using the PILOT_INC parameter specified by the stan- dard. If PILOT_INC
=1, then the minimum separation is 1 * 64 chips = 64 chips. If PILOT_INC =2, then the
minimum separation becomes 2 *64 chips =128 chips. Taking PILOT_INC into account,
the total number of usable PN sequences is given by

32,768 chips
PILOT_ INC  64 chips

Suppose that PILOT_INC is 4; then, there are only 128 usable PN

sequences available for assignment. With a limited number of usable PN sequences
available, PN sequence planning now becomes analogous to AMPS frequency
planning. The goal is to assign available PN offsets to different sectors such that there is a
minimal confusion among the various received PN sequences at the mobile.
Note that because the pilot channel is effectively broadcasting the PN sequence of
the base station, a base station’s identifying PN sequence is also referred to as the base
station’s pilot or pilot offset.

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