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Originator(s)
Network Planning Guidelines for Concentric Cells
Thomas Quick

Domain : Radio Network Engineering

Division : COR-G
Rubric : Concentric Cells
Type : Guide Paper
Distribution Codes Internal : External :

DISTRIBUTION: (please distribute internally)

COR-G COR-F
R. Collmann ACS/ONT J.-P. Braun
N. Gimple ACS/MT H. Derrey
J. Heller ACS/OP J.-P. Haag
R. Klahm ACS/ONV J.-L. Passemard
W. Zuber ACS/ON

ABSTRACT

The paper deals with network planning aspects of concentric cells. A short introduction is
given about the subject. The behaviour of concentric cells regarding to traffic capacity and
interference is shown and results are given in form of tables and figures. Technical aspects
(handover types, TRX configuration) are discussed. Finally, some calculation examples are
shown.

Approvals
Name Dr. R. Collmann R. Klahm W. Zuber

App.

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 REVIEW
Readers List:
not permitted without written authorization from Alcatel.
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COR-G: R. Collmann COR-F: G. Chafai

U. Birkel
G. Schubert

HISTORY
09.10.96 Draft Edition
14.10.96 Document Review (see readers list above)
22.11.96 Creation of Edition 01 (Approval)

INTERNAL REFERENCED DOCUMENTS

FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY

END OF DOCUMENT

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 Network Planning Guidelines for Concentric Cells
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 HISTORY .......................................................................................................................... 2

2 REFERENCED DOCUMENTS .......................................................................................... 2

3 SCOPE ............................................................................................................................. 3

4 GENERAL......................................................................................................................... 3

4.1 The Concentric Cells Concept..................................................................................... 3

4.2 Reasons for the Introduction of Concentric Cells...................................................... 3
4.3 Definition of Concentric Cells...................................................................................... 4

5 PERFORMANCE OF CONCENTRIC CELLS.................................................................... 4

5.1 Traffic Capacity ............................................................................................................ 4
5.2 Frequency Re-use and C/I ......................................................................................... 10
5.3 Handovers in Concentric Cells .................................................................................. 12
5.4 Concentric Cells and BCCH recovery ....................................................................... 14

6 EXAMPLES..................................................................................................................... 15

7 SUMMARY ...................................................................................................................... 15

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 1 HISTORY

Ed. 1-0 22.11.96 Document Creation

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2 REFERENCED DOCUMENTS

[1] OMC-R Release 3, Configuration Management Services

[2] G. Chafai, T. Quick: Concentric Cells: An introduction

[3] L. Julia: Power Control and Handover Algorithms (Alcatel Document 3BK 11202
0065 DSZZA)

[4] F. Chapelard: Concentric Cells Capacity Improvement Release 3&4, AMCF

[5] G. Chafai: Concentric Cells Position Paper: 25% increase in capacity, AMCF

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 3 SCOPE

This paper gives an introduction to Alcatel´s new concentric cell feature and deals with
not permitted without written authorization from Alcatel.

some guidelines and recommendations for network planning purposes.

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4 GENERAL

4.1 The Concentric Cells Concept

The new concentric cell feature which is available for BSS SW releases 3 and 4 has been
recently introduced as a solution for radio networks with high demands in traffic capacity
under distinct bandwidth restrictions [1, 2].
The idea is to split the cell area of a
normal cell into an inner and an outer
zone by operating a certain number of outer zone
carriers (inner zone carriers) at a lower
transmission power (Fig. 4-1). Mobile
stations situated in the outer zone
communicate on the outer carriers.
The mobiles which are closer to the inner zone
base station preferably communicate
on the inner carriers but they can use
the outer carriers if needed. A new
handover algorithm for interzone Fig. 4-1: Concentric Cell
handover is introduced to handle the
zone assignment.
Due to the zone splitting, a smaller RCS can be used for the frequency plan of the inner
zones, resulting in an overall capacity increase while maintaining the same total
interference level in the network.
As a restriction of Release 3, a mobile will always initiate its call on the outer zone by using
a TCH temporarily and may afterwards switch to the inner zone TCH by an interzone
handover. Also, a mobile which is handovered from another cell into the concentric cell will
first connect to the outer zone. In Release 4, a mobile can directly set up its communication
on a TCH of the inner zone (mechanism similar to the "Directed retry" feature). The
handover behaviour is as in Release 3.

4.2 Reasons for the Introduction of Concentric Cells

During the recent years, the market of mobile radio networks has experienced a
tremendeous growth. For new operators, license constraints regarding to the available
bandwidth became more and more restrictive. On the other hand, subscriber demands in
traffic capacity and overall network quality have increased. Hence, in order to provide
competitive network figures in both quality and capacity, solutions must be found which
allow a more effective usage of the frequency spectrum.

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 The concentric cell feature serves as a solution for this problem due to the zone splitting.
As the inner zone carriers operate at a low power, the reuse distance is reduced. Thus, it is
possible to use a lower re-use cluster size for the inner zone carriers. As a result, the
not permitted without written authorization from Alcatel.

network-wide average RCS is lower than compared to a conventional cell design.

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Respectively, more carriers can be used while maintaining the same average RCS and
hence the network quality. We will see later in this document that the gain in traffic capacity
is lower compared to what is reached with conventional carrier upgrading. As a conclusion,
the introduction of concentric cells only makes sense if frequency resources are limited!
Concentric cells may also be introduced without carrier upgrading. This offers more
degrees of freedom for the frequency planning, so that the network-wide interference can
be reduced and the network quality can be improved. In this case, however, a loss in the
network´s total traffic capacity results. A careful engineering is required to minimize this
loss.

4.3 Definition of Concentric Cells

Declaring a cell as being concentric does not require any hardware modifications. It is done
at the software level of the OMC [1]. From SW release 3 on, a new cell parameter is
available which is called PARTITION. By setting this parameter to 1, the cell is declared as
concentric cell. Also, a new CU parameter ZONE_TYPE is introduced. If this parameter is
1, the CU is declared as an inner zone CU. The parameters which control the output power
of the outer and inner zone carriers are named BS_TXPWR_MAX and
BS_TXPWR_MAX_INNER, respectively.
For the timeslot configuration of the carriers, it must be noted that control channels (BCCH,
SDCCH, CCCH) always have to be associated to the outer zone carriers. Traffic channels
(TCHs) can be configured on carriers of both zones. The control channels apply to both the
inner and outer zone.

5 PERFORMANCE OF CONCENTRIC CELLS

In this chapter, concentric cells are analyzed regarding both traffic capacity and
interference behaviour.

5.1 Traffic Capacity

The traffic calculation of concentric cells is tricky since the inner zone may occupy TCHs
both at inner and outer zone TRXs. The theoretical approach is, like the well-known
Erlang B formula, based on the evaluation of a Markov chain [5]. Since inner and outer
zone TCHs have to be considered, the appropriate Markov chain is two-dimensional.
According to the different behaviour of releases 3 and 4 in assigning TCHs, the summation
over the probability states is different and leads to proper results for the traffic capacity.

The traffic calculations has been carried out assuming the typical timeslot configurations
used in Alcatel projects, as shown in Table 5-1.

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 # of TRX 1 2 3 4 5 6
# of TCH 7 14 21 29 37 44
Traffic [Erl], 2% blocking 2.9 8.2 14 21 28.3 34.7
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Table 5-1: Available TCHs for typical carrier configurations

A homogeneous traffic distribution has been assumed within the service area of the
concentric cell pair. The results are shown in dependence of the surface ratio of inner and
outer zone (radii Ri and Ro). Table 5-2 shows the figures for SW release 3, whereas the
results of SW release 4 are given in Table 5-3. The corresponding diagrams are drawn in
Fig. 5-1.

At first, it can be seen that for Ri = 0 (i.e. the inner zone has switched off power and the
corresponding TRX are disabled) the same result is yielded as for a normal cell, with the
same number of TRX as in the outer zone of the concentric cell. Appropriately, for Ri = Ro
(i.e. the inner zone is identical to the outer zone), the result equals that for a normal cell,
with the same total number of TRX.

Attention should be drawn to these two boundary conditions, as no gain in traffic capacity
can be achieved by just changing an existing TRX configuration to a concentric cell
arrangement!

Also, a saturation effect can be seen which occurs especially for cells with a higher number
of TRX in the outer zone. This result is very interesting and shows why concenctric cells
allow a better usage of frequency resources. E.g., considering the 3+1 TRX configuration,
the same traffic as for a conventional 4 TRX design is achieved for a surface ratio > 0.4,
though the influence area of one carrier has been reduced. Thus, a tighter re-use may be
applied for the outer zone, and the spectral efficiency is improved while maintaining the
overall network quality.
A further interesting point is seen for configurations with more than one inner TRXs: The
capacity gain compared to a similar configuration (e.g. 2+2 TRX versus 2+1 TRX) is
negligible for small radii of the inner zone. Reasonable designs have more carriers in the
outer zone than in the inner zone.
It can be expected that, if a non-homogeneous traffic distribution is assumed, a better
result for designs with ≥2 inner zone carriers is yielded. To prove this, a calculation with a
linear distribution, as shown in Fig. 5-2, has been made. The result is presented in Table
5-4 and Table 5-5. The graphical presentation is shown in Figure Fig. 5-3.

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 Surface Ratio 2TRXout+ 2TRXout+ 3TRXout+ 3TRXout+ 3TRXout+
(Ri/Ro)2
not permitted without written authorization from Alcatel.

1TRXin 2TRXin 1TRXin 2TRXin 3TRXin

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0 7.4 7.4 14.04 14.04 13.18

0.1 8.22 8.22 15.6 15.6 14.65
0.2 9.25 9.25 17.52 17.54 16.48
0.3 10.56 10.57 19.57 20.05 18.83
0.4 12.12 12.34 20.74 23.34 21.97
0.5 13.4 14.8 21.01 26.72 26.35
0.6 13.93 18.13 21.04 28.1 31.91
0.7 14.03 20.55 21.04 28.25 34.49
0.8 14.04 21.02 21.04 28.25 34.68
0.9 14.04 21.04 21.04 28.25 34.68
1 14.04 21.04 21.04 28.25 34.68
Table 5-2: Traffic in Erlangs (2% blocking, homogeneous traffic distribution, SW release 3)

Surface Ratio 2TRXout+ 2TRXout+ 3TRXout+ 3TRXout+ 3TRXout+

(Ri/Ro)2 1TRXin 2TRXin 1TRXin 2TRXin 3TRXin
0 7.4 7.4 14.04 14.04 13.18
0.1 8.38 8.38 15.83 15.83 14.87
0.2 9.63 9.63 18.06 18.11 17.02
0.3 11.23 11.28 20.11 21.11 19.85
0.4 12.89 13.55 20.91 24.94 23.72
0.5 13.78 16.78 21.03 27.63 29.19
0.6 14.01 19.92 21.04 28.22 33.74
0.7 14.04 20.93 21.04 28.25 34.64
0.8 14.04 21.04 21.04 28.25 34.68
0.9 14.04 21.04 21.04 28.25 34.68
1 14.04 21.04 21.04 28.25 34.68
Table 5-3: Traffic in Erlangs (2% blocking, homogeneous traffic distribution, SW release 4)

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 Capacity R3

35
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30

25

2TRXout+1TRXin
Traffic [Erl]

20
2TRXout+2TRXin
3TRXout+1TRXin
3TRXout+2TRXin
15
3TRXout+3TRXin

10

0
0 0,1 0,2 0,3 0,4 0,5 0,6 0,7 0,8 0,9 1
Surface Ratio

Capacity R4

35

30

25

2TRXout+1TRXin
Traffic [Erl]

20
2TRXout+2TRXin
3TRXout+1TRXin
3TRXout+2TRXin
15
3TRXout+3TRXin

10

0
0 0,1 0,2 0,3 0,4 0,5 0,6 0,7 0,8 0,9 1
Surface Ratio

Fig. 5-1: Traffic of Concentric Cells (homogeneous traffic distribution)

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 Traffic Density
As expected, the saturation point has
shifted towards lower values of the
A Total Cell Area
ti Traffic Density at Center surface ratio for designs with more TRX
not permitted without written authorization from Alcatel.

ti
to Traffic Density at Fringe at the inner zone.
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T Total traffic in Cell

The linear traffic distribution is a
simplified assumption which has been
T chosen for calculation simplicity.
However, we can assume that, in
to=0
A principle, the behaviour is similar for other
Cell Surface
inhomogeneous traffic distributions.

Fig. 5-2: Linear Traffic Distribution

Surface Ratio 2TRXout+ 2TRXout+ 3TRXout+ 3TRXout+ 3TRXout+

(Ri/Ro)2 1TRXin 2TRXin 1TRXin 2TRXin 3TRXin
0 7.4 7.4 14.04 14.04 13.18
0.1 9.14 9.14 17.31 17.33 16.27
0.2 11.49 11.57 20.42 21.92 20.6
0.3 13.49 15.09 21.02 26.97 26.88
0.4 14 19.38 21.04 28.22 33.47
0.5 14.04 20.93 21.04 28.25 34.66
0.6 14.04 21.04 21.04 28.25 34.68
0.7 14.04 21.04 21.04 28.25 34.68
0.8 14.04 21.04 21.04 28.25 34.68
0.9 14.04 21.04 21.04 28.25 34.68
1 14.04 21.04 21.04 28.25 34.68
Table 5-4: Traffic in Erlangs (2% blocking, linear traffic distribution, SW release 3)

Surface Ratio 2TRXout+ 2TRXout+ 3TRXout+ 3TRXout+ 3TRXout+

(Ri/Ro)2 1TRXin 2TRXin 1TRXin 2TRXin 3TRXin
0 7.4 7.4 14.04 14.04 13.18
0.1 9.49 9.49 17.82 17.85 16.78
0.2 12.28 12.55 20.72 23.35 22.01
0.3 13.82 17.15 21.03 27.75 29.8
0.4 14.03 20.54 21.04 28.24 34.36
0.5 14.04 21.02 21.04 28.25 34.68
0.6 14.04 21.04 21.04 28.25 34.68
0.7 14.04 21.04 21.04 28.25 34.68
0.8 14.04 21.04 21.04 28.25 34.68
0.9 14.04 21.04 21.04 28.25 34.68
1 14.04 21.04 21.04 28.25 34.68
Table 5-5: Traffic in Erlangs (2% blocking, linear traffic distribution, SW release 4)

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 Capacity R3 (linear)

35,00
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30,00

25,00

2TRXout+1TRXin
Traffic [Erl]

20,00
2TRXout+2TRXin
3TRXout+1TRXin
3TRXout+2TRXin
15,00
3TRXout+3TRXin

10,00

5,00

0,00
0 0,1 0,2 0,3 0,4 0,5 0,6 0,7 0,8 0,9 1
Surface Ratio

Capacity R4 (linear)

35,00

30,00

25,00

2TRXout+1TRXin
Traffic [Erl]

20,00
2TRXout+2TRXin
3TRXout+1TRXin
3TRXout+2TRXin
15,00
3TRXout+3TRXin

10,00

5,00

0,00
0 0,1 0,2 0,3 0,4 0,5 0,6 0,7 0,8 0,9 1
Surface Ratio

Fig. 5-3: Traffic of Concentric Cells (linear traffic distribution)

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 5.2 Frequency Re-use and C/I

A typical parameter of the concentric cell design is the surface ratio a = (Ri /Ro)2. In the
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following, an estimation for the achievable C/I in dependence of a is made. A typical 4x3
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hexagonal cluster (three-sectorized sites) is treated for the estimation, as shown in Fig. 5-4.
The four cluster groups are labelled with A, B, C, and D. For the outer zones, the frequency
re-use distance is calculated

Dintout = 3 ⋅ RCScluster group ⋅ Ro = 12 ⋅ Ro ≈ 3.46 ⋅ Ro

For the inner zones, Dintin = ½ Dintout, as can be seen in the figure, and RCSi = 3.

Dintout = 3.46 Ro

A D Dintin = ½ Dintout

B C

D A
Dintin
B C
Ri
Dintout
A D
Ro

Fig. 5-4: Three-sectorized Cell Design (4x3 Cluster Arrangement)

For the given configuration, the C/I values can be calculated based on the re-use
distances. For calculating the I level, the following assumptions have been made:

• Each server is disturbed by two interferers. For the remaining interferers, the radiation in
the direction of the server is low due to the back region of the antenna diagram. Thus,
their influence can be neglected.
• The power sum for all interferes is computed (worst case). Considering two interferers,
this yields the receive level of one interferer, increased by 3dB.
• The interferers are not radiating in main beam direction. To take a typical antenna
diagram into account, and to simplify the calculations, a direction loss of 3dB is
assumed.

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 These assumptions lead to a C/I value of 19dB for the outer zone, which is taken as
reference. The optimum value for the surface ratio yields the same C/I for the inner zone.
Table 5-6 shows the results for different values of a.
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Surface Ratio
Ri /Ro inner zone C/I [dB]
a = (Ri /Ro)2
0.32 0.1 27
0.5 0.25 19
0.71 0.5 14
Table 5-6: C/I values in dependence of the size of the inner zone

In order to get the same C/I value as for the outer zones, a = 0.25 should be used.
However, modern radio networks have more and more to cope with restrictive bandwidths,
so that a = 0.5 seems also to be a reasonable choice (which of course causes higher
interference problems). With values of a > 0.5, no improvement compared to the
conventional cell design is achieved. Also, in this case, Ri > 0.7 Ro, and the inner zone is
almost covering the outer zone.
In Table 5-7, the traffic values of the TRX configurations used in the previous calculations
are shown together with normal 1, 2, and 4 TRX configurations, for two different values of
a.
If the RCS of the inner zones is fixed, a corresponding outer zone RCSo can be calculated
by noting that

B = RCSo ⋅ To + RCSi ⋅ Ti

with Ti, To the average number of carriers for inner and outer zone and B the total
bandwidth, respectively. Taking To = 3 and Ti = 1, this leads to B = 39. If this bandwidth is
taken as reference, RCSo can be calculated for comparison purposes by rearranging the
above formula (RCSi = 3). The results are included in Table 5-7.

TRX RCSo Traffic (a=0.25) Traffic (a=0.5)

configuration Rel. 3 Rel. 4 Rel. 3 Rel. 4

1 39 2.9 2.9
2 19.5 8.2 8.2
2+1 18 9.9 10.4 13.4 13.8

2+2 16.5 9.9 10.5 14.8 16.8

3 13 14 14
3+1 12 (reference) 18.5 19.1 21 21

3+2 11 18.8 19.6 26.7 27.6

3+3 10 17.7 18.4 26.4 29.2

4 9.8 21 21
Table 5-7: Traffic and average RCS for different TRX configurations

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 Note that the values for RCSo are in conjunction with different C/I values, i.e. "interference
balancing“ between inner and outer zones is only reached for the reference case.
not permitted without written authorization from Alcatel.

In the considerations above, a band splitting between the outer and inner zone carriers was
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assumed. For this case, a general rule has been derived in [4] which holds for interference
balancing. It is relating the RCS values to the surface ratio:

2
R  RCSi
a= i =
 Ro  RCSo

With RCSo =12 and RCSi =3, we get a=0.25, what has also be found from Table 5-6. In
reality, it is expected that a band separation for inner and outer carriers is mostly not
possible. Also, real cell structures are not hexagonal. This will lead to a relation

RCSi
a<
RCSo

5.3 Handovers in Concentric Cells

The existing handover algorithms have been extended in order to handle the zone
assignment of mobiles [3]. Parameters which influence the interzone handover behaviour
are listed in Table 5-8.

Parameter Meaning
MS_TXPWR_MAX Maximum power of a MS in the outer zone
MS_TXPWR_MAX_INNER Maximum power of a MS in the inner zone
RXLEV_UL_ZONE threshold for initiating a handover from inner to outer zone (uplink)
RXLEV_DL_ZONE threshold for initiating a handover from inner to outer zone (downlink)
ZONE_HYSTERESIS hysteresis parameter, used for handover from inner to outer zone
Table 5-8: Parameters for interzone handover

Three different kinds of handovers can be distinguished when treating concentric cells:

• Intercell handover
A handover between two adjacent concentric cells is always performed on outer zone
carriers. If a mobile is situated in the inner zone, it is first connected to an outer zone
carrier.

• Interzone handover
The interzone handover is based on the received signal levels. Three causes are
considered (see Table 5-9). Note that no power budget handover type is used, as all MS
would try to connect to outer zone carriers then.

• Intrazone handover
This is a handover initated due to interference. It is performed between carriers of the
same zone.
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 Fig. 5-5 illustrates the handover process. The hysteresis parameter is composed by
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Hysteresis = ZONE_HYSTERESIS + MS_TXPWR_MAX - MS_TXPWR_MAX_INNER

The ´XX´ shown in the diagram stands for either ´UL´ (uplink) or ´DL´ (downlink).

Num HO Cause Reason Action

10 inner zone UL level low MS has reached its maximum power handover from the inner
allowed in the inner zone and the received to the outer zone
level at the BS is still too low
11 inner zone DL level low BS has reached its maximum power handover from the inner
allowed in the inner zone and the received to the outer zone
level at the MS is still too low
13 outer zone UL and DL MS can safely switch from the outer zone handover from the outer
level high into the inner zone and still keep a good to the inner zone
communication quality
Table 5-9: Interzone handover causes

BS_TXPWR_MAX

BS_TXPWR_MAX_INNER

Out->In Hysteresis

RXLEV_XX_ZONE In->Out

L_RXLEV_XX_H

Rin Rout
Interzone Handover Intercell Handover

Fig. 5-5: Handover Process for Concentric Cells

Simulations showed that the implemented handover algorithm has a distinct influence on
signalling and the traffic capacity [4]. The handover rate per call is doubled in comparison
to a conventional cell design. Also, the temporary allocation of inner and outer zone
timeslots during the interzone handover process leads to a reduction in the traffic capacity
per cell. This reduction is typically 8% for R3 (4% for R4). For configurations with a bigger
ratio of the number of inner zone to outer zone carriers (e.g. 2+2 or 3+2 TRX), the
reduction is up to 16% for R3 (12% for R4).

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 Interzone handovers does not take quality into account. Therefore, the following handover
scenario may cause problems:
not permitted without written authorization from Alcatel.

• A mobile in the inner zone of a cell A initiates a handover based on quality. The mobile
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is handovered to an outer zone of an adjacent cell B!

• If the receive level of the new cell is weaker, a power budget handover back to the cell A
(outer zone) is performed.
• Finally, an interzone handover is performed to the inner zone of cell A.
Hence, there is a risk of a closed loop! In software release 3, there is no protection
mechanism. In release 4, a solution was found by prohibiting a power budget handover
from cell B to cell A directly after a quality handover from the inner zone of cell A has
occured.

5.4 Concentric Cells and BCCH recovery

In the Alcatel BSS, a BCCH recovery feature is provided. In case of a failure of the first
carrier, the BCCH functionality is switched over to the second carrier (this feature is always
applied to the first and second carrier). This affects the concentric cell settings if the
second carrier is configured as an inner zone carrier.
In the OMC software release 3.2, problems were seen for this case and the software did
not accept an inner zone setting for carrier 2. Thus, there would be a restriction as at least
three carriers must be defined as outer zone carriers (the third carrier must be configured
as outer zone carrier since it has a further SDCCH channel).
Basically, all the settings for the first carrier are transferred to those of the second carrier in
case of a failure. Thus, if carrier 2 was initially transmitting at lower power, it transmits at
the outer zone power if carrier 1 fails. As this yields an acceptable emergency situation, the
restriction was removed for OMC software release 3.1 (which is currently the newer one).
The only effect is that carrier 2 is further displayed as inner zone carrier at the OMC which
is then wrong.
The configuration restrictions and the wrong display are to be removed both for the current
releases and future software versions.

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 6 EXAMPLES

• For a=0.25, a carrier upgrading from 2 to 4 TRX shall be performed. A reasonable

not permitted without written authorization from Alcatel.

upgrading is 2 → 3+1 (156% capacity increase). A step 2 → 2+2, which one may expect
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document, use and communication of its contents

to be a better solution in view to the average RCS, yields only 28% gain in traffic. Also, it
is identical to a step 2 → 2+1, so the second inner carrier is obsolete. For a non-
homogeneous traffic distribution (Fig. 5-3), the situation is not much better.

• For a=0.5 and using SW release 4 equipment, an upgrading 2 → 2+2 (105% increase)
and further to 3+2 (64% increase) is proposed. For SW release 3 equipment, an interim
upgrade towards 2+1 is more cost-effective, as there is no difference in the traffic
figures for 2+1 and 2+2 at a=0.5.

• A 3TRX cell is reconfigured into a 2+1 concentric cell. For a=0.25 and release 4, the
traffic capacity is reduced from 14 Erl to 10.4 Erl (26% reduction). Given the examples
used in Table 5-7, the RCSo improves from 13 to 18.

• Assuming a non-homogeneous traffic distribution, an upgrading from 2 → 2+2 is

preferable to 2 → 3+1 for a ≥ 0.4 (same capacity gain, better RCS)

• A coverage area consisting of 12 BTS with 3 TRX each is changed to a concentric cell
design, while keeping the total interferer level and the bandwidth. We assume a=0.33.
The capacity of the original design is 12 x 14 Erl = 168 Erl. For the concentric cell
design, the configuration is splitted as follows (SW release 4 traffic figures):
8 BTS with 3+1 TRX: 8 x 20.38 Erl = 163 Erl
4 BTS with 2+1 TRX: 4 x 11.8 Erl = 47.1 Erl
This yields a total capacity of 210.1 Erl, which is an improvement of 25%.

7 SUMMARY

• The concentric cells concept is a problem solution for adding traffic capacity to the
network while maintaining both bandwidth and service quality. A reconfiguration of a
conventional cell design into a concentric cell design without adding carriers leads to a
traffic capacity reduction.
• As the surface ratio a is growing, the traffic capacity reaches a saturation point. This
saturation appears for smaller values of a if a non-homogeneous traffic distribution is
assumed.
• An increase of a > 0.5 has, in most cases, little effect on the traffic capacity gain, but
decreases the C/I.
• For a 4x3 cluster, theoretically the C/I value for the inner zones equals the C/I value for
outer zones for a = 0.25, so that the interferer probability is the same.
• For a < 0.2, the capacity increase is small. Thus, reasonable concentric cell designs are
restricted to a value range a = 0.2 ... 0.5
• For concentric cells, new handover algorithms are used to handle the interzone
handovers. The handover rate is ca. twice as high as for a conventional cell design.

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 All rights reserved. Passing on and copying of this
document, use and communication of its contents
not permitted without written authorization from Alcatel.

ED

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96/11/22

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Network Planning Guidelines for Concentric Cells