MW and frequency planning

MW path and frequency planning

The delicate task
The steps

•Select MW configurations to be used in the project

•Make a Q/A allocation for single MW-hops
•Make a channel allocation model (from allocated spectrum)
•Assign MW-band to the hops according to hop-length and equip
the hops with corresponding MW-configuration
•Assign High and Low duplex and select polarization and
channels for the hops
•Perform Q/A calculations and then far interference calculations
•Adjust polarization, channel and in worst case band, so that the
Pth-degradation is small enough (Q/A objectives achieved)
Defining MW configuration for the project

Sys Type/Band Pout Pth (10^-3) Dant Gant Config MTBF Cap
dBm dBm m dBi y/term Mbit/s
1 E38 16.5 -76 0.6 44 1+1 72 17x2
2 E38 16.5 -82 0.3 39 1+0 24 4x2
3 uE38 20 -88 0.2 36.9 1+0 26 2x2
4 E23 20 -81 0.6 39.5 1+1 72 17x2
5 E23 20 -87 0.3 34 1+0 24 4x2
6 uE23 20 -90 0.2 31.8 1+0 26 2x2
7 E18 24 -81 1.2 44.6 1+1 72 17x2
8 E18 24 -87 0.3 32.5 1+0 24 4x2
Q/A allocation example ITU-T G.826
PI/PSTN

MSC layer 1
Section 1
Short Haul MSC layer 2
section

BSC

BSC-HUB hops HUB-BTS hops

PC
25%
Section 2.1 Max 2 hops Max 6 hops
[ratio/hop] [ratio/hop]
Cluster
HUB/BTS1 Access SESR 2.00E-05 2.00E-05
section ESR 1.60E-03 1.60E-03
BTS 1/2
BBER 2.00E-06 2.00E-06
Section 2
Access BTS 2/3
section 75% UATR 6.25E-05 6.25E-05
Section 2.2
BTS 3/4

BTS 4/5

BTS 5/6
About the need of MW-spectrum

• MW channels must be requested from the country frequency

authority, the answer might have a long lead time.
• For a large GSM network about 6-8 [28MHz channels] are needed,
assuming 17x2 cluster feeder links and 4x2 cluster links.
• It is good to have the channels divided in two bands, for example
26 and 38 GHz
• Some cluster feeder links will probably need lower bands: 15 or 18
GHz, due to hop length and frequency planning.
• For road sites, rural areas and backbone long-haul transmission
networks, lower bands are needed: 2, 7, 8, 13 and/or 15 GHz.
Channel Plan
Low sub-band High sub-band
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

f
Duplex distance

Tx=4 low Tx=4 high

Rx=4 high Rx=4 low
L (Low) H (High)
Channel Separation

Channel
separation
Capacity Channel separation
• 2x2 Mbit/s 3.5 MHz
• 4x2 / 8 Mbit/s 7.0 MHz
• 8x2 Mbit/s 14.0 MHz
• 17x2 / 34 Mbit/s 28.0 MHz
Channel allocation Cluster Cluster Cluster Cluster
Channel group 1 Channel group 2 Channel group 1 Channel group 2

Cluster Cluster Cluster Cluster

Channel group 3 Channel group 4 Channel group 3 Channel group 4

Cluster Cluster Cluster Cluster

Channel group 1 Channel group 2 Channel group 1 Channel group 2

Cluster Cluster Cluster Cluster

Channel group 3 Channel group 4 Channel group 3 Channel group 4
 Hop lengths for the configurations
UAT [%] Hop length in the K rain zone
MiniLink E hoplengths, Rain intencity=42 [mm/h] @0.01% of time. POL=Vertical
0.02
E38GHz 1+1 17x2 0.6m
0.018 E38GHz 1+0 4x2 0.3m
uE38GHz 1+0 2x2 0.2m
E23GHz 1+1 17x2 0.6m
E23GHz 1+0 4x2 0.3m Sys Type/Band Cap Hoplength
0.016 uE23GHz 1+0 2x2 0.2m
E18GHz 1+1 17x2 1.2m K zone L zone
UAT [%] (Radiowave+Hardware)

E18GHz 1+0 4x2 0.3m

0.014 42 mm/h 60 mm/h
Mbit/s km km
0.012 1 E38 17x2 4.3 3.3
2 E38 4x2 3.2 2.4
0.01 3 uE38 2x2 3.7 2.8
4 E23 17x2 9.1 6.8
0.008 5 E23 4x2 6.4 4.7
6 uE23 2x2 6.3 4.7
0.006
7 E18 17x2 25.1 17.8
8 E18 4x2 10.9 7.9
0.004

0.002

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Hoplength [km]
Hop lengths [km]
Assigning frequency bands to the hops

•For the cluster hops use the highest possible

band, in this case 38 GHz and 23 GHz would be
good
•For the HUB-PC hops maybe sometimes 18
GHz will be needed due to hop length
High / Low Tx Allocation
H L
H L
H

H L
H L

Near
interference
H/L
High / Low Tx Channel Allocation, II

Rings with an odd number of sites

should be avoided.

H L H H
L L H

New freq.
band
L

H/L H L H

Interference! Ok! Ok!

Hop Calculations
Predictable (static) Statistically Predictable (dynamic)

Free space loss Rain fading

Gas absorption Multipath fading
Refraction fading
Obstacle loss

Fading Prediction
Link Budget => P.530
P.341
Fade margin
Q&A Estimation Ericsson
Far interference calc comparison

Q&A Objectives G.821

Perform performance calculation for the hops
•Reduce output power as much as possible
•Antenna selection (if needed)
•This calculation is dependant of polarization
•If the Q/A objectives (not considering interference) are not met
one can consider:
• 1+1 configuration (will reduce HW unavailability)
•Larger antennas (will increase the fade margin)
•Lower band (will decrease rain fading)
•Space diversity (will decrease multipath fading)
•Leave a couple of dB extra fade margin for potential threshold
degradation in the later far interference calculation
Significance of fading

Rain fading

Multipath fading

10 20 f [GHz]
General rules for good spectrum efficiency
when assigning polarization and channels

• Use as high frequency band as possible

• Use as large parabola as possible
• Attenuate the Tx as much as possible
• Reuse the channels as much as possible
• Use Horizontal pol as much as possible
• Try change polarization before changing
channel (@ small path angles)
38 GHz 0.3m antenna
co-polar
cross-polar
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
dBi

5
0
-5
-10
-15
-20
-25
-30
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
± Degrees
Parameters to play with

• Frequency (channel) separation or Band

• Transmitter attenuation (at interfering transm.)
• Cross polar antenna discrimination (V/H)
• Co polar antenna discrimination (directivity) =
• Larger antennas (smaller beam width and higher
antenna gain)
• High performance antennas (side- and back lobe
attenuation)
• Reduced spectrum width (low deviation) = lower
capacity
… put these parameters are locked by your
MW configurations, so when interference
occurs:
(assuming reused channels, reduced output
power and the antenna is locked by the
configuration)
#1 Try another polarization
#2 Try another channel
#3 Try another band for your hop
Frequency Planning
Threshold degradation

Degradation
Signal level, dBm

The sum of the receiver Noise PthD

power, N, and the aggregated D
interference power, I, give rice
Pth
to the Degradation, D S/N
S/N
N+I
D
N
I
Receiver threshold degradation
Heinz Karl formula for 4FSK modulation

24

22

20

18
Threshold degradation [dB]

16

14

12
Co channel
10

0
-10 -8 -6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Pth/I [dB]
Frequency Planning
General Planning Rules

• Calculate preliminary Q&A, use a

margin for future degradation due to
interference.
• Perform far interference calculation,
avoid high threshold degradations, D.

• Calculate final Q&A for all paths,use

the new fade margin M - D.
 Frequency Planning
Degradation and Q&A

Assign frequencies [26 GHz example]:

Frequency Planning
Degradation and Q&A
Frequency Planning
Degradation and Q&A
Frequency Planning
Degradation and Q&A

Quality & Availability Signal level

The fade margin M-4.8 Pin

dB will probably not
meet the M-4.8 dB; Pth/I= 10.9 dB
objectives for:
• ESR PthD
• SESR Degradation 4.8 dB
• UATR Pth -82 dBm; BER=10-6
 Frequency Planning
Degradation and Q&A

Assign frequencies
(attempt #2):
Frequency Planning
Degradation and Q&A
Frequency Planning
Degradation and Q&A

Final
Signal level
Quality & Availability

The fade margin Pin

M-0.1 dB will probably
meet the objectives for:
M-0.1 dB; Pth/I=29.3 dB
• ESR
• SESR Degradation 0.1 dB
PthD
• UATR -82 dBm ; BER=10
-6
Pth
Example 1

To much interference at STO321!

Suggest actions
Example 2

Allocate channels 91, 92 and

polarization