Antenna System Planning PDF

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Radio Network Planning Expert Center

Domain
Network Planning
Product
GSM B7
Division
Methods
Rubric
Antenna
Type
Guideline
Keywords
Release Date
GSM, UMTS, antenna type selection, feeder length planning, TMA planning, tilt planning, diversity planning,
mounting clearance,antenna separation, antenna pattern, A955, EMC
2003-Apr-29
E. SCHNEIDER (LUDWIGSBURG )
Antenna System Planning

Abstract
This document summarizes previously written documents on antenna engineering and

emphasizes the key engineering issues.
Reference Classification: 900 000

File Name: Ant_SystPl_ed01.doc Save Date: 2003-05-06
Revision Number: 008
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Predistribution
M.Hahn
V. Stuhr
K.Heinlein
FJ.Klein
R. Schwarz
S. Hosseyni
PCS/RNE
ACS/PS (ND)
B. Payer
K. Daniel

PCS/NPL/Methods
PCS/NPL/Tools
PCS/RNE
PCS/RNE
PCS/RNE
PCS/RNE
Appraisal and Approval Authorities
Department
Name
Date
MND/BU-MRA/PCS
C. Brechtmann
PCS/NPL/Methods
M. Hahn
PCS/RNE
K. Heinlein
Signature
Distribution List
PCS
2/64
(IDDL_Default)
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Contents

SCOPE .............................................................................................................................................................4
REFERENCED DOCUMENTS...............................................................................................................................5
RELATED DOCUMENTS AND INTERNET LINKS ....................................................................................................5
1 DOCUMENT OVERVIEW .................................................................................................................................6
2 RULES FOR ANTENNA PLANNING ..................................................................................................................6
2.1 Selection of antenna type .............................................................................................................................6
2.2 Planning antenna feeder length..................................................................................................................12
2.3 Planning TMA usage for GSM.....................................................................................................................14
2.4 Antenna height planning............................................................................................................................18
2.5 Planning the antenna azimuth ....................................................................................................................20
2.6 Downtilt planning ......................................................................................................................................20
2.7 Antenna diversity planning .........................................................................................................................25
2.7.1 Rx Diversity gain .....................................................................................................................................26
2.7.2 Rx space diversity ....................................................................................................................................27
2.7.3 Polarization diversity................................................................................................................................28
2.7.4 GSM space and polarization diversity on UL .............................................................................................30
2.7.5 Further rules on diversity..........................................................................................................................30
2.7.6 UMTS-FDD Tx diversity ............................................................................................................................31
2.7.7 UMTS FDD 4-RX diversity on UL...............................................................................................................34
2.8 Intra-system and inter-system compatibility assessment for site sharing ..........................................................36
2.8.1 How to ensure the intra-system and inter-system compatibility? ..................................................................38
2.9 EMC impact on antenna system planning....................................................................................................43
2.10 RNP tool related aspects on antenna planning ...........................................................................................43
3 RULES FOR ANTENNA INSTALLATION ...........................................................................................................44
3.1 Mounting rules for tower, mast, roof, wall mounting of antennas ...................................................................44
3.1.1 Side mounting of omni macro antennas on mast/ tower ............................................................................44
3.1.2 Minimum macro antenna height mounting for roof top.............................................................................45
3.1.3 Maximum skew angle for wall mounting of directional macrocell antennas .................................................46
3.1.4 Microcell antenna mounting rules ............................................................................................................46
3.2 Spacing for single band antennas in dual band GSM900/GSM1800 scenario................................................47
3.3 Tilt angle implementation ...........................................................................................................................47
3.4 Azimuth angle implementation ...................................................................................................................47
ABBREVIATIONS ..............................................................................................................................................48
INDEX.............................................................................................................................................................49
APPENDIX A
FREQUENCY BANDS ................................................................................................................50
APPENDIX B
ANTENNA TYPES .....................................................................................................................51
APPENDIX C
ANTENNA SYSTEMS OPTIONS..................................................................................................52
APPENDIX D
OVERVIEW ON ANTENNA DOWNTILT ......................................................................................53
APPENDIX E
OVERVIEW ON ANTENNA DIVERSITY........................................................................................54
APPENDIX F
PRINCIPLE OF AIR COMBINING................................................................................................58
APPENDIX G
ANTENNA PATTERN DISTORTION FOR DIFFERENT MOUNTING SCENARIOS ...........................58
APPENDIX H
INTRA-/INTER-SYSTEM COMPATIBILITY......................................................................................61
APPENDIX I
MISCELLANEOUS.....................................................................................................................63
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Readership Profile
Content Summary
The target group is: engineers planning GSM radio networks.

This document summarizes previously written documents on antenna engineering and
emphasizes the key engineering issues.
The main focus of this document lies on antenna engineering for GSM networks.
Where applicable, the considerations were extended for UMTS.
Not in the scope of the document edition 01 are: indoor and repeater application,
smart antennas, inter-system compatibility issues.
Service Information
Please send your comments, update wishes referring to this document to
rnp.methods@alcatel.de. They will be considered in a next edition of the document.
To get into contact with the Radio Network Planning Expert Center on antenna
topics, please use the intranet link of Professional Customer Services under
http://aww-mnd.alcatel.de/pcs/Antennas.
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SCOPE

REFERENCED DOCUMENTS
[1.1]
[1.2]
[1.3]
[1.4]
[1.5]
3DF 00995 000 PGZZA

Memo
Technical Sheet
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3DC 21150 0263 TQZZA
[1.6]
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[2.1]
[2.2]
3BK 10023 0001 DSZZA

Memo
[2.3]
Memo
[3]
[4.1]
3DF 00995 0000 DSZZA

3DC 20008 0001 UZZZA
[4.2]
[5.1]
[6.1]
[6.2]
[6.3]
[7.1]
[7.2]
[7.3]
[7.4]
[7.5]
3DC 20008 0003 UZZZA

3DC 21019 0005 TQZZA
ND Design Paper
TD Memo
Technical Sheet
Memo
Memo
3DC 21144 0024 TQZZA
Memo
3DC 20001 0010 UZZZA
[7.6]
3DC 20001 0014 UZZZA
[7.7]
[7.8]
[8]
3DC 21083 0001 TQZZA

3DC 21083 0003 TQZZA
ed 02, draft
[9]
[10]
3DF 00983 1050 DSZZA

William C.Y. Lee
Antenna Engineering Rules

Use of TMA for G3/G4 BTS in GSM1800
TMA for UMTS
Using GSM900 High Power TRX
GSM 900, GSM 1800 Use of High power TRX with
TMA (white paper)
TMA configurations for GSM and impact on
network design
Aspects on Polarization Diversity
Considerations of Cross Polarized Antennas for
Radio Network Planning
Performance of Cross Polarized Antennas in Rural
Areas (summary of dipl. thesis, Sept 1999)
Physical Specification of Standard Antenna Set
Hardware commercial configurator for antenna
systems
Content of Saleable Items for Antenna Systems
Site Sharing GSM-UMTS Rf Aspects (version 04)
DL Analysis Tx Diversity
Transmit diversity in UTRA/FDD
4-Ways Rx Diversity for UMTS
Enhanced Diversity with G4 TRE
BTS cell split
FFD: Cell split over 2 BTSs in Release B7
GSM product range
Hardware Commercial Configurator for
EVOLIUM A9100 Base Station
Hardware Commercial Configurator for
EVOLIUM A910 Micro-BTS
EVOLIUM A9100 BTS Product description
EVOLIUM A910 BTS Product description
Dual Band Network Engineering; Network Design,
Planning and Operational Aspects
Consideration of antenna diagrams A955 (V5, V6)
Mobile Cellular Telecommunications Systems
RELATED DOCUMENTS AND INTERNET LINKS

[A 1]
Antenna Data Sheet database; consistent with [4.2]

http://aww.stgl.sel.alcatel.de/pub/mcd/mps/ant/index.htm
[RFS 1]
Application note APN008: Isolation/Co-siting, Oct 00,

http://www.rfsworld.com
[RFS 2]
RFS white paper: Using continuously adjustable electrical

downtilt antennas to optimize wireless networks, Feb 01
Celwave Antenna datasheets and patterns
http://selldoc.rfsworld.com/IndoorDocs/Mobile%20Commu
nication%20Antenna%20Systems/Antennas/
[RFS 3]
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[KAT 1]
Memo (Kathrein) The influence of reflections on radiation

patterns
[KAT 2]
Kathrein antenna datasheets and patterns

http://www.kathrein.de/de/mca/produkte/index.htm
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1 DOCUMENT OVERVIEW
antenna planning (ch. 2)
antenna installation (ch. 2.9)
Additional background information is given in the document annex on different

antenna topics: frequency bands, antenna types, antenna systems options, downtilt,
diversity, air combining, pattern distortions and interference mechanisms.
General remark: throughout this document, GSM900 stands for P-GSM900 if not
explicitly stated; issues related to E-GSM900 are clearly marked.
2 RULES FOR ANTENNA PLANNING

This chapter gives rules for the selection of antenna type, feeder length planning, TMA
planning, antenna height and azimuth planning, downtilt planning, diversity planning.
2.1 Selection of antenna type

This chapter gives rules for the selection of antenna type for different application cases:
macro/microcell, single/dual/triple band. General info on antenna types can be found
in APPENDIX B .
The Alcatel saleable antenna items described in [4.1], [4.2] and [A1] must be
preferably selected by radio network planning to the maximum possible extent to
minimize the number of different antennas in Alcatel offers/projects; they are based on
the specification given in [3] for
?
single band (GSM850, P-GSM9001, GSM1800, GSM1900, UMTS),
dual band (P-GSM900/GSM1800, GSM850/GSM1800, GSM850/GSM1900, PGSM900/UMTS, GSM1800/UMTS)
broadband (GSM1800 /UMTS)
triple band (GSM900/GSM1800/UMTS)
Remarks to dual band:

?
BSS software release B7.2 only supports the combinations P-GSM900/GSM1800,

GSM850/GSM1800 and GSM850/GSM1900; currently there is no market
demand for GSM900/GSM1900.
the frequency combination GSM1900/UMTS is covered by broadband antennas
General rule:
It is recommended to select the same antenna type +antenna feeder for all sectors of a
site. This minimizes the logistic effort for antennas, feeders mounting kits, clamps, etc.
but also reduces the risk of installation errors .
Reminder: for a given frequency band, the radome length decreases with increasing
vertical HPBW; for a given vertical HPBW, the radome length decreases with increasing
frequency band.
Single band macrocell
application
Depending on the application environment the general antenna selection rules of Table
1, Table 2, Table 3 apply. The table contains standard antennas which can handle
most of applications. The antennas are recommended for usage in air combining
configuration.
To select the right downtilt for the antenna, the downtilt planning must be done first,
see chapter 2.6.
the P-GSM 900 antenna specification can hold also for E-GSM 900
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Main tasks of the document edition 01 are to give rules for:

Morphoclass
dense urban, urban
suburban
rural
highway coverage
Horiz.
HPBW []
65
65
90
90
360
65
33
Vert.
HPBW []
6.5
9
7-8.5
7-8.5
7
7-8.5
GSM 850/GSM 900

Gain [dBi] El. Tilt []
=17
=16.5
=16
=16
11
=17
=18
6
6
2-6
2-6
2
6
0
Polarization
Xpol
Xpol
Xpol
vert.
vert.
vert.
vert.
Ant. size
[m]
=2.5
=2.0
=2.6
=2.0
=2.5
Remarks
1
2
2, 3
4
5
Table 1: GSM 850/GSM 900; Key parameters for macrocell single band antenna
Morphoclass
dense urban, urban
suburban
rural
highway coverage
Horiz.
HPBW []
65
90
90
360
65
33
GSM 1800/GSM
Vert.
Gain [dBi]
HPBW []
6.5
=17
7-8.5
=16
7-8.5
=16
7
11
7-8.5
=17
=18
1900
El. Tilt []
Polarization
6
2-6
2-6
2
6
0
Xpol
Xpol
vert.
vert.
vert.
vert.
Ant. size
[m]
1.3
1.3
1.3
1.3
Remarks
2
2, 3
4
5
Table 2: GSM 1800/GSM 1900; Key parameters for macrocell single band antenna
Morphoclass
dense urban, urban
suburban
rural
highway coverage
Horiz.
HPBW []
65
90
90
360
65
33
Vert.
HPBW []
6.5
7-8.5
7-8.5
7
7-8.5
UMTS
Gain [dBi]
El. Tilt []
Polarization
=17
=16
=16
11
=17
=18
V
V
V
V
V
V
Xpol
Xpol
vert.
vert.
vert.
vert.
0-8
0-8
0-8
0-8
0-8
0-8
Ant. size
[m]
1.3
1.3
1.3
1.3
Remarks
6
2, 6
2, 3, 6, 7
4, 6
5 ,6
6
Table 3: UTMS; Key parameters for macrocell single band antenna

The following notation is used:
?
For the downtilt: 2 means a fix electrical tilt of 2; 2-6 means a fix electrical tilt in
the range 2-6; V 0-8 means a variable electrical tilt in the range 0-8.
for the gain: =16 dBi, means minimum 16 dBi ; it must be the maximum offered
in this category (while freezing the rest of parameters).
Remarks:
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1.
The recommended antenna type for coverage reasons is the one with the
maximum gain offered in this category. But this may not be acceptable by the
operator for dense urban, urban environment if its height > 2 m. If this is the
case the antenna with =2.0 m must be considered whith less gain.
For dense urban (high density areas), urban: the coverage between sectors with
65 antennas is achieved by increased scattering in these environments.
2.
For suburban, rural: the cell overlap with 90 antennas between the sectors is
usually sufficient to allow successful handovers.
3.
Same standard antenna as for suburban, but cross polar antenna usage is not
recommended, prefer using single polarized antennas and space diversity (see
ch. 2.7).
4.
In rural areas: as an alternative, omni antennas can be used, but consider the
pros and cons mentioned in APPENDIX B .
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Two solutions exist, depending on the type of the roadway arrangement:
preferred: same 65 antenna as for dense urban but vertical polarized. If

necessary, according to the current morphoclass, uptilt must be applied to
get the desired cell range.
for exceptional cases or straight, rectilinear highway: 33 narrow beam

antenna (Remark: two side by side coupled antennas of series AP 9065*
(RFS) also lead to 33 horizontal HPBW for highway coverage)
6.
For UMTS, analogue parameters as for the lower frequency bands, but with V08 variable electrical tilt; reasons for the variable electrical tilt:
a.) to be future proof for the remote tilt option, see APPENDIX D .
b.) due to commercial reason: same price expected from preferred antenna
suppliers.
7.
Currently UMTS is not foreseen to be deployed in rural areas; however, for the
opposite case, the same recommendation is valid as for the other bands.
Influence of cell split feature on antenna selection for monoband sites

If e.g. a 3x8 TRX monoband site is realized with the B7 feature cell split over 2 BTSs
(see [7.7]), the same antenna type and the same antenna numbers must be selected
for each BTS rack, else the measured BCCH promises coverage in areas, what cannot
be held by the TRX covering the other area.
Single band microcell outdoor
application
In the GSM850, GSM900, GSM1800, GSM1900 and UMTS bands, the antennas
specified in Table 4 can handle most of applications. The range of the parameters is
due to the fact, that the visual impact of the micro antenna has a higher influence on
the antenna selection then its electrical properties.
Omni
Sector
Horizontal HPBW
360
85 20
Vertical HPBW
60 20
65 20
Gain
5 dBi 3 dB
8 dBi 3 dB
Table 4: Key parameters for microcell single band outdoor antenna

Micro antenna selection rules:
?
For crossroad scenario with symmetrical streets or asymmetrical streets, use omni
antenna; a sector antenna can be used as an additional option for crossroad
scenario with asymmetrical streets.
For in-street scenario, wall mounting:
for coverage in 2 opposite directions: use bi-directional antenna
for coverage in 1 direction: use directional antenna
For the Alcatel Evolium A910 BTS in
low-loss configuration with air combining: the external sector antennas

should be cross polarized.
single antenna configuration: the external sector antenna is vertical

polarized
Remark: the internal integrated antenna of the Alcatel Evolium A910 BTS matches the
specified values of Table 4; its parameters are: Horizontal HPBW > 80, Vertical HPBW
= 6515, Gain > 6.3 dBi, cross polarized, isolation between the 2 polarization
branches > 25 dB; see the A910 product description [7.8].
900/1800 macrocell dual band
application
In a GSM900/GSM1800 dual band scenario, independent whether it is implemented

with
?
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co-located single band cells (dual BCCH)
? or multiband cell (single BCCH)

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5.

it is basically possible to use 3 technical solutions for antenna implementation:

?
solution 1: dual band antennas with variable electrical downtilt for each band
solution 2: single band antennas
solution 3: dual band antennas with fixed electrical downtilt
For the multiband cell the separate modification of the downtilt is a key instrument to
tune the fieldstrength level difference between the 900 and 1800 bands to the values
expected by the HO algorithms of B6/B7.
The main criteria for selection among the above mentioned solutions is the coverage
target; Table 5 makes a preference ranking for the solutions; for further details see
Table 6 which gives a comparison of single band antennas vs. dual band antennas
based on the implementation in Alcatel Evolium BTS shown in Figure 1.
multiband BSS
(dual BCCH)
multiband cell
(single BCCH)
nb. TRX in 900 band

low
other cases
low
other cases
nb. TRX in 1800 band

high
high
Preference of solutions
1 > 2 >3
1 = 2 =3
1 >> 2 > 3
1=2=3
Table 5: Preference ranking of antenna solutions for dual band (assumption: preferred band=1800)
dual band antennas (solution 1, 3)

+ better suitability for multiband cell operation
single band antennas (solution 2)

not suitable for multiband cell (accurate
identical azimuth setting required in 900 and
1800 is more difficult to achieve)
not ideal for coverage optimisation (separate
+ better for coverage optimization due to
electrical but no separate mechanical tilt possible separate mechanical downtilt for 900 and 1800
in solution 1)
(separate azimuth is possible but doesnt
represent a real advantage due to the goal to
achieve a maximum overlap in 900/1800)
+ separate antenna configuration planning for
both bands possible, e.g. 4 TRX in 900 (BTS
standard configuration wired to one crosspolar
900 antenna) and 4 TRX in 1800 (BTS low loss
configuration with air combining)
0 same number of feeders, (expensive costs for feeders, clamps and their installation can be
reduced by diplexer usage; diplexer impact on coverage =1dB loss)
+ need of 2 external diplexers (if the dual band
need of 4 external diplexers
antenna has 2 internal diplexers inside the
radome)
+ twice less antennas (visual impact)
twice more antennas (visual impact)
higher antenna price; dual band antenna price
> sum of 900+1800 antenna prices
(subject to commercial conditions)
+ somewhat lower total cost for the site
including hardware (antennas, cable, clamps)
and installation labour
+ lower antenna price; sum of 900+1800

antennas< dual band antenna price
(solution 2 is especially cheaper if initial antenna
can be reused after migration from single to
dual band operation)
somewhat higher total cost for the site
including hardware (antennas, cable, clamps)
and installation labour
twice more weight and wind load
higher pole required for vert. separation resp.
more mounting space for horiz. separation
Legend: + advantage; drawback for the solution; 0 equal rating
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X
X
900
1800
Diplexer
Tx/Rx/Rxdiv 900+1800
Diplexer
Diplexer
Diplexer
Diplexer
Tx/Rx/Rxdiv Tx/Rx/Rx div

900 MHz

1800 MHz

900 MHz
Evolium BTS
Diplexer

1800 MHz
Evolium BTS
Figure 1: Dual band antenna solution (here with integrated diplexer in the antenna) and single band antennas solution for Alcatel Evolium
BTS
Remarks to Table 5, Table 6:
?
The conclusions of Table 6, Table 5 mainly apply for the single operator case (1
operator colocates on a site 2 systems in GSM 900, GSM 1800).
For the multioperator case, mainly solution 2 is applicable. But if there are EMC or
mounting constraints imposed by local authorities, than operators may be forced to
cooperate and make an antenna sharing with solution 1 or 3.
Solution 1: main advantages are separate electrical tilt tuning and better suitability
for multiband cell operation; especially when used in a multiband cell with high
QoS (CSR, CDR, HSR etc.) requirements and higher TRX number in the preferred
band (e.g. 2x900+6x1800), solution 1 is the only recommended
(the reason: in the multiband cell the intra-zone HO outer=>inner (900=>1800) is done
with B7.2 HO cause13, which is based only on the outer zone level and in B7-on the traffic
balance between outer/inner zone; in cases with higher TRX number in the preferred band,
MSs will be often pushed in the inner zone to keep the load balance condition of cause 13,
but this can lead to bad QoS if there is no perfect overlap of the inner and outer zones; with
solution 1, the risks of solution 2 - like mismatching azimuths or non-clearance in the near
field of one of the single band antennas- is eliminated; see [8])
Solution 2: main advantage is the individual mechanical tilt tuning; this advantage
especially is relevant for high QoS requirements (CSR, CDR, HSR etc.) for colocated single band cells or multiband cell.
Solution 3: is a tradeoff for cases where the QoS requirements can be met with
fixed down-tilts and especially fixed delta between GSM900 and GSM1800
fieldstrength level (cf. [8])
Antenna selection rules for the 900/1800 dual band macrocells:

Depending on the application environment the general antenna selection rules of Table
7 apply for dual band antennas cf. solution 1 (for the selection of single band
antennas cf. solution 2, refer to Table 1, Table 2).
Table 7 contains antennas which can handle most of applications. The parameters are
valid for both bands; the electrical tilt is variable and band independent.
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Table 6: Comparison of single band antennas vs. dual band antennas

Morphoclass
dense urban, urban
suburban
rural
highway coverage
900/1800, 900/UMTS, 1800/UMTS, 850/1800, 850/1900

Horiz.
Vert.
Gain
El. Tilt Polarization
Diplexer in the
HPBW [] HPBW []
[dBi]
[]
radome
65
7.5
=17
V 0-8
XXpol
yes
90
7.5
=16
V 0-8
XXpol
yes
90
7.5
=16
V 0-8
vert.
no
65
7.5
=17
V 0-8
vert.
no
33
=18
V 0-8
vert.
no
Remarks
1
2, 3
4, 5, 6
7
Table 7: Key parameters for macrocell dual band antenna

The following notation is used:
?
for the gain: =16 dBi, means minimum 16 dBi ; it must be the maximum offered
in this category (while freezing the rest of parameters).
for the downtilt, V0-8T means a variable electrical downtilt in the range 0-8.
Remarks:
1. For dense urban (high density areas) and urban: the coverage between sectors is
achieved by increased scattering in these environments.
2. For suburban, rural: the cell overlap between the sectors is usually sufficient to allow
successful handovers.
3. A XXpol 90 antenna is recommended, but currently not offered by the Alcatel
preferred antenna suppliers; e.g. Kathrein plans its market introduction for 3 Q 2003.
4. Same standard antenna as for suburban, but cross polar antenna usage is not
recommended, prefer using single polarized antennas and space diversity (see ch. 2.7)
5. In rural areas: a standard omni dual band antenna is not specified due to its low
market penetration, cf. APPENDIX B .
6. Currently UMTS is not foreseen to be deployed in rural areas.
7. In many projects, dual band coverage is planned for highway coverage only in
exceptional cases; instead single band coverage is done.
?
If enough frequencies are available in the 900 band, typically this band is used
due to its better coverage.
If (typically) more frequencies are available in 1800 band than in 900, than this
band is used due to the higher capacity which can cope with the total traffic.
However, if it is desired to have dual band coverage, two solutions exist, depending on
the type of the roadway arrangement:
?
preferred: same 65 antenna as for dense urban but vertical polarized. The tilts
must be carefully tuned in both bands to get a matching coverage overlap.
for exceptional cases or straight, rectilinear highway: 33 narrow beam antenna; it

is currently not offered by the Alcatel preferred antenna suppliers;
Rule for diplexer usage: diplexer usage is recommended, since:

?
it is cheaper to install external diplexers (at BTS side) and possibly at antenna
connector side (if not already incorporated in the antenna radome) than to install a
second feeder pair
at migration single => dual band, the old feeder system can be kept if the cable
losses in the new band are still in the allowed range, i.e. =3 dB (see ch. 2.2).
Influence of cell split feature on antenna selection for multiband cell (single BCCH)
If e.g. a 3x(4+4) TRX multiband cell is realized with the B7 feature cell split over 2
BTSs (see [7.7]), by doing a migration from multiband BSS (dual BCCH), the
previously installed antennas of the multiband BSS solution can be kept unchanged.
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1800/UMTS macrocell
broadband application
850/1800, 850/1900 macrocell
dual band application
900/1800,850/1800,850/1900,
900/UMTS,1800/UMTS microcell
outdoor dual band application
For parameters see Table 7.

For parameters see Table 7. Broadband antenna shall be selected only if commercially
required (if cheaper).
For parameters see Table 7. However, market availability strongly depends on the
project demands.
In many projects dual band microcell coverage is rather an exception. If (typically)
more frequencies are available in 1800 band than in 900, than this band is used for
single band coverage due to the higher capacity which can cope with the total traffic.
As mentioned in the subchapter Single band microcell outdoor application, the visual
impact of the antenna has a higher influence on the antenna selection than its
electrical properties. So, deviations from the standard antenna parameters mentioned
below are possible.
Often, antenna manufacturers offer broadband antennas instead of dual band
antennas, which cover the whole band from GSM850 to UMTS.
The specified values of Table 4 are valid and hold for both bands. However, the sector
antenna for the in-street scenario is cross polarized (XXpol) in both bands.
Triple band macrocell

application
A triple band sector antenna for this case is defined by the parameters for all 3 bands:
HPBW 65 (horizontal), 7.5 (vertical), gain 17 dBi, V0-8 T variable and band
independent electrical tilt, cross polarized (XXXpol) in all bands
This is not a standard antenna, as it covers only a small application range.
Triple band microcell outdoor

application
see subchapter 900/1800 microcell outdoor dual band application
2.2 Planning antenna feeder length

This chapter gives rules for feeder length dimensioning and feeder selection and
illustrates them with practical examples.
Feeder characteristics
Exemplary feeder types used in Alcatel projects and their loss characteristics are given
in Table 8.
To retrieve these and further characteristics (e.g. bending radius), refer to the
manufacturers catalogue.
Cable Type
Diameter Supplier
Losses in dB/100m
series
900 MHz 1800 MHz 2200 MHz
LCF 12-50
1/2
6.80
9.91
11.10
RFS
LCF 78-50
7/8
3.87
5.73
6.44
LCFS 114-50
1 1/4
2.77
4.15
4.68
LCF 158-50
1 5/8
2.34
3.57
4.05
Table 8: Typical feeder types and losses in dB/100m, exemplary for Cellflex Low-Loss Foam-Dielectric Coaxial Cable (RFS)
Jumper configuration
Jumper cables have to be provided at the points A, B, C along the feeder path of
Figure 3. Table 9gives the jumper cable configuration for sites with and without TMA;
the number of jumpers is per feeder, i.e for a single band crosspolar antenna fed by 2
cables, the number of jumpers must be multiplied by 2 (see figure in APPENDIX C ).
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900/UMTS, 1800/UMTS
macrocell dual band application

Feeder cable type

LCF 12-50
LCF 78-50
LCFS 114-50
LCF 158-50
Jumper cable type
Jumper per feeder

0*
2
2
2
LCF 12-50 J
jumper
Jumper per feeder on TMA sites

1*
3
3
3
Table 9: Jumper configuration
* Remark to Table 9:
From practical point of view it is better to use for the LCF 12-50 feeder cable type:
- no jumper cables of type LCF 12-50 J jumper, if no TMA used (instead of 1) and
- only 1 jumper cable of type LCF 12-50 J jumper if TMA used (instead of 2), between
TMA and antenna.
The reason is that LCF 12-50 J jumper and LCF 12-50 have the same loss and nearly
the same handling/bending flexibility. Anyway, the LCF 12-50 feeder is usable only for
short distances of 6-7 m, so additional jumpers are difficult to justify.
For the LCF 12-50 J jumper cable of RFS the loss/m is given in Table 10 (without
connector losses which must be added; a typical connector loss is <0.02 dB).
LCF 12-50 J jumper
loss
900 MHz
0.068 dB/m
1800 MHz
0.099 dB/m
2200 MHz
0.110 dB/m
Table 10: Insertion losses of jumper cable

Typical lengths of the jumper cable LCF 12-50 J jumper are: 1m, 2m or 3m (where
2m, 3m are mostly used).
Feeder length dimensioning
Rule: recommended maximum allowed attenuation (losses of feeder cable+jumper

cables+connectors) between the BTS front end connector and the antenna connector is
3 dB (value typically used in practice).
Exemplary, Table 11 give the maximum feeder length for the typical losses of RFSs
Cellflex cables mentioned in Table 8, considering the jumper configuration of Table 9
and the jumper insertion losses of Table 10.
Analog, Table 12 gives the maximum feeder length for the case of TMA usage.
Cable type
900 MHz
1800 MHz
2200 MHz
LCF 12-50
44.1
30.3
27.0
LCF 78-50
67
42.0
36.3
LCFS 114-50
93.6
58
50
LCF 158-50
110.8
67.4
57.8
Table 11: Recommended max. feeder length (m) assuming 2x LCF12-50 Jumper usage of 3m each (for 1/2 cable: no jumpers)
Cable type
900 MHz
1800 MHz
2200 MHz
LCF 12-50
35.2
23.2
20.5
LCF 78-50
51.4
29.8
25.0
LCFS 114-50
71.8
41.2
34.4
LCF 158-50
85
47.9
39.8
Table 12: Recommended max. feeder length (m) assuming 3x LCF12-50 Jumper usage of 3m each (for 1/2 cable: 1 jumper)
and TX DL insertion loss of TMA (cf. Table 10)
Feeder selection
The antenna feeder have to be selected according to the following criteria:
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maximum allowed feeder length (see Table 11, Table 12)
site construction constraints (existing space in cable trays and wall breakthroughs,
minimum allowed bending radius)
commercial conditions (price)
Selection rules:
?
It is recommended to select the same feeder type for all antennas of a site. This
minimizes the logistic effort for feeders, mounting kits, clamps, etc. but also
reduces the risk of installation errors .
Usually, the usage of the 1/2 feeder cable is not recommended; a breakeven
calculation shows that the 1/2 cable offers less total loss vs. the 7/8 cable only
for very small feeder length of 6-7 m.
The RNE must first try to use the 7/8 feeder cable due to its lowest price and
highest handling flexibility; it can already cover many practical applications, due to
the achieved length.
If the required feeder length is longer than the value indicated in Table 11 for 7/8
the usage of next thickness class is recommended (1 ).
If 1 5/8 is still not long enough, the distance BTS-antenna must be reduced or the
losses of >3 dB must be tolerated.
One must keep in mind that for e.g. rural tower sites the feeder length must cover
the exemplary distances as indicated in Figure 2.
Feeder length:=2m+7m+(H tower-2m-0.5* H ant. radome)+2m H tower+8m,
where 0.5* H ant. radome is approximized with 1 m.
H Tower
Max. H planning A955
Lightning protection
jumper
2m
BTS shelter
2m
feeder
7m
2m
Figure 2: Rural site example; Feeder length + antenna height planning
2.3 Planning TMA usage for GSM

This chapter gives rules for/shows the consequences of TMA usage and illustrates them
on an example.
For general remarks on TMA see APPENDIX C . Further related documents to this topic
are [1.5], [1.6].
When to use TMA ?
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A TMA may be used in coverage driven (noise limited) environments (e.g.

suburban/residential, rural, roads).
If the link budget is UL limited, a TMA usage may be sensible for high power (HP)
TRX configurations and for suburban or rural sites with antenna height 20 m; its
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MAPL
DL
benefits are the gain in cell range (due to gain in the maximum allowed path loss,
MAPL) and the improvement of indoor coverage.
DL no TMA
Tx insertion loss
TMA contribution

MAPL
UL
UL no TMA
A TMA helps to improve the MAPL in a UL limited linkbudget only if

0 < ? - Tx insertion loss of TMA in DL < TMA contribution in
UL
where ?=MAPL (DL,no TMA) - MAPL (UL,no TMA)>0
and ? - Tx insertion loss of TMA in DL=improvement in linkbudget
The breakeven of TMA usage for the business case is given in [1.6].
For a turnkey project in a coverage driven environment, the improvement in

linkbudget must be at least:
0.6 dB for area coverage with 3-sectored sites
0.9 dB for road coverage with 2-sectored sites
?
If the link budget is DL limited, a TMA will show no effect on the cell range.
If the link budget is balanced, the TMA can be used as a network enhancing
feature depending on the operator policy: it efficiently reduces the UL MS power
yielding better MS standby times and reduced UL electromagnetic pollution levels.
Also if the link budget is balanced and no power reduction for MS is done, the TMA
helps to increase the UL throughput for GPRS and E-GPRS.
Table 14 and Table 15 indicate for GSM 900 and GSM 1800 in the environments
suburban, rural, roads: the limiting link in the link budget and if a TMA is sensible or
obsolete. The recommendation for TMA usage is based on the:
?
computation of typical link budgets for the Alcatel G4 Evolium A9100 BTS for MP
and HP (see also [1.4], [1.5], [1.6]);
BTS output power at antenna connector for the used BTS configurations as given in
[7.7]; combining/no combining stands for the operation mode of ANc module in
the BTS;
TMA parameters for the present products in Table 13.
Band
GSM 900
GSM 1800
Gain
Noise figure
TX insertion loss in DL
14 dB
1.8 dB
0.6 dB
12 dB
1.8 dB
0.4 dB
Table 13: Most important TMA parameters
GSM 900
Medium Power TRX (MP)
High Power TRX (HP)
BTS config.
without use TMA?
BTS config.
without
use TMA?
TMA
TMA
3x2 no combining UL
rather not (remark
3x2 no
UL
yes (remark 2)
1)
combining
3x3 combining
DL
no
3x3 combining
DL
no
3x4 no
UL
yes (remark 2)
combining*
3x4 combining
DL
no
3x4 combining
DL
no
3x6 combining*
DL
no
3x6 combining*
DL
no
Remarks:
* this BTS configurations is realized with 2 cabinets (B7 feature cell split over 2 BTS)
1. no, if benefit of TMA in MAPL is too low (e.g. 0.4 dB); to be checked case by case
2. benefit of TMA in MAPL is typically better than 1.6 dB
Table 14: GSM 900 Typical link budget limitations and indication for TMA usage
GSM 1800
Medium Power TRX (MP)
High Power TRX (HP)
BTS config.
without
use TMA?
BTS config.
without
use TMA?
TMA
TMA
3x2 no
balance
rather not (remark
3x2 no
UL
yes (remark 2)
combining
1)
combining
3x3 combining
DL
no
3x3 combining
DL
no
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UL
yes (remark 2)
3x4 combining
DL
no
DL
no
3x6 combining*
DL
no
DL
no
Remarks:
* this BTS configurations is realized with 2 cabinets (B7 feature cell split over 2 BTS)
1. no, if benefit of TMA in MAPL is too low (e.g. 0.4 dB); to be checked case by case
2. benefit of TMA in MAPL is typically better than 2 dB; see example in Table 16
Table 15: GSM 1800 Typical link budget limitations and indication for TMA usage
Remark to Table 14 and Table 15:
?
If the link budget for MP is already UL limited or balanced, the migration from a
MP to a HP TRX in the same TRX configuration shows a benefit for the MAPL, only if
the HP TRX is deployed together with a TMA.
Improvement (lowering) of the noise figure of the total receive chain =>getting a
better sensitivity (desired) according to Friess formula => increased MAPL.
Degradation of the blocking and intermodulation characteristics of the BTS (not

desired) i.e. risk to not fully comply with 3 GPP recommendation 05.05 regarding
blocking and intermodulation for the case that the value of the TMA amplification
gain (mostly fix cf. TMA data sheet, e.g. 12 dB) greatly exceeds the value of the
losses between the antenna and the input of the base station, i.e. the losses of the
feeder+jumper cables and connectors;
This degradation may exist in the G3 and G4 BTS, because the excess gain
compensation capability is =0 for 1-2 TRX (exactly the cases of major interest for
the TMA application in GSM1800) .
Consequences of TMA usage
Measure to combat BTS blocking characteristics degradation ([1.2]):

planning an antenna height = 20 m; realistic for rural, roads and possibly for
suburban sites.
Measure to combat BTS IM characteristics degradation:
no measure, since required minimum coupling loss between the antennas of MS and
BTS of typ. 100 dB cannot be achieved with realistic BTS antenna heights; however, the
risk of having this IM created is extremely low and can be tolerated.
If Alcatel suggests TMAs to operators whos gain greatly exceeds the losses of
feeder+jumpers+ connectors, these need to be made aware of the possible 3GPP non
compliance of that configuration.
Impact of TMA on link budget
Example for TMA usage with

HP TRX in GSM1800
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In case TMAs are present in the system, they have to be considered in the network
design.
?
For the UL path of the link budget in a coverage driven scenario, the TMA impact
cannot be treated by simply adding the TMA gain; instead the TMA contribution
has to be added (the TMA contribution is the value indicating the BTS sensitivity
improvement by the TMA). The calculations for the TMA contribution in UL are
done with the Friess Formula (see APPENDIX C ).
In the DL path of the link budget the TMA will add a Tx insertion loss composed of
the TMA insertion loss according to the data sheet (Table 13) and the loss of an
additional jumper cable (Table 10).
Given is a 3x2 HP TRX no combining BTS configuration in rural environment with

antenna height= 35m. Figure 3 shows the UL receive path for G3 (ANx) or G4 BTS
(ANc) in GSM 1800.
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3x4 no
combining*
3x4 combining
3x6 combining*
Antenna
Tower
A mounted RX B

Amplifier
(MHA)
Frontend
(ANX or E
ANC)
F Splitter G
(ANY)
H Splitter I
(ANY)
Receiver
(TRE)
BTS
Figure 3: UL receive path for G3 (ANx) or G4 BTS (ANc) in GSM 1800

For the calculations the following figures have been considered:
?
total cable loss (feeder plus jumpers) of

3.0 dB = 2.4+3*0.2 for 40m cable length
1.2 dB = 0.6+3*0.2 for 10m cable length
feeder Cable losses cf. Table 8: 2.4 dB (40m) and 0.6 dB (10m)
usage of 3 Jumper cable of 2 m each (at point A, between antenna/TMA;

point B, between TMA/feeder cable and point C between feeder cable/BTS)
Losses per jumper cable=0.2 dB for GSM1800, cf. Table 10.
Selecom TMA technical data according to datasheet, see Table 13
for a G3 BTS with a Noise Figure 4dB, a S/N = 6dB leads to a sensitivity of
111dBm, since:
sensitivity = -174 dBm + 10*log (200 kHz)+S/N + system noise figure=
-121 dBm+ S/N + BTS noise figure= -121+6+4 = -111 dBm
Table 16 gives the exemplary impact of TMA usage for GSM 1800HP TRX. The TMA
contribution (benefit) is calculated with the Friess formula (see APPENDIX C )
compared to the same BTS configuration without TMA and the same total cable loss
The new system sensitivity (taking into account the TMA presence) to be considered in
the link budget is calculated in Equation 1:
new system sensitivity= -111 dBm - |TMA contribution|
Equation 1: BTS sensitivity calculation due to TMA usage
The benefit of TMA for the MAPL is lower then the TMA contribution since the link
budget gets DL limited through the TMA introduction.
TMA
Gain
[dB]
12
12
Antenna
height [m]
35
35
Cable
TMA
New BTS
Benefit of TMA
length
contribution Sensitivity
for the MAPL
[m]
[dB]
[dBm]
[dB]
40
4.2
-115.2
2.1
10
2.6
-113.6
2.1
Table 16: Exemplary impact of TMA usage for GSM 1800 HP TRX
Gain in
cell range
[%]
14
14
Blocking &
IM degradation
[dB]
9
10.8
Remark: the blocking degradation (resp. IM degradation) of Table 16 is taken into

account for the calculation of the required minimum separation (i.e of the required
minimum coupling loss) between the antennas of the MS and of the BTS by subtracting
the degradation value from the 3GPP specified maximum allowed in-band blocking
level for the BTS (resp. from the 3GPP specified maximum allowed IM level caused by
2 MS in the receiver front end of the BTS).
Conclusions on the example:
If a TMA with 12 dB gain is applied the benefit for the MAPL is maximum of 2.1 dB.
The improved UL sensitivity leads however to a degradation in terms of blocking resp.
intermodulation cf. Table 16; but this can be combated resp. tolerated as shown in the
section Consequences of TMA usage.
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2.4 Antenna height planning
It is quite hard to give a general guideline for antenna height only in function of the
morphostructure. Though, the selection of the antenna height, shall be done based on:
?
simulations (fieldstrength, coverage, interference probabilities) with a RNP tool

such as A955, taking into account the morphostructure, the topography, building
geometry etc., to meet the QoS requirements in the cell (fieldstrength, coverage
probability);
necessary clearance in the antenna near field range (cf. Equation 7 , chapter 3.1
for flat roof);
site constraints, due to
existence of adjacent operator(s) on site;
maximum mast heights (see below).
The selected antenna height has a strong impact on the cell coverage range and
interference situation in the vicinity. The higher the antenna height, the bigger the
coverage area is, but also the potential interference area.
Especially in the areas where Alcatel doesnt face any coverage commitment, one
should try to minimize the antenna height to a value, guaranteeing coverage e.g. for
the intended village, but not covering the tree areas around. Reason: minimize site
construction costs (see next subchapter).
Maximum mast heights
For macrocells mounted on masts, two types of masts are used: guided masts (70-80%
of cases) and self supporting masts. They are typically offered in the height classes
mentioned in Table 17, but the availability of classes may differ on a Alcatel project
basis.
If possible, the RNE must try to minimize the antenna height to a value fitting into the
next lower mast height class given in Table 17, in order to save installation costs.
The top of the sector antenna radome may reach the top of the tower but never
overtop it due to the lightning protection of the tower.
Guided mast heights [m]

Self supporting mast heights [m] 21
Table 17: Mast height classes [m]
26
29
31
35
36
41
41
47
46
53
51
Further issues
1.
Typical cell antenna heights
Field proven values for cell antenna height are 3 15 m and below rooftop, whereas
the umbrella cell antenna height are 15 35 m.
In cases with very high buildings, cell antenna height can be > 10m; the big cell can
relief from traffic congestion in umbrella cell.
But the risks associated to high cell antenna heights are also present if the frequency
spectrum doesnt allow an optimized frequency plan:
-for outdoor MS served by the high cell, the risk to get the UL disturbed by a neighbour macro
site increases with increasing cell antenna height
-for indoor MS located in higher building floors and served by the high cell, there is a risk of
DL+UL interference.
If the target is to relieve hot spot macrocell from in building traffic, dedicated indoor solutions
must be evaluated.
2.
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Impact of close proximity scenario on cell antenna height
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This chapter gives rules for planning the GSM antenna height, which is key result of the
RNP process.
Impact on antenna engineering: choice of cell antenna height below rooftop, to

prevent from receiver blocking of the BTS receiver (in UL path). However, problems
due to the close proximity scenario were never reported from the field.
For a description of the close proximity scenario see APPENDIX I .
3.
Influence of antenna height on space antenna diversity separation
According to Equation 3 in ch. 2.7.2 the separation of the diversity antennas must be:
d_horiz > effective antenna height/10 .
4.
Antenna heights in dual band case with single band antennas (solution 2 in chapter
2.1)
It is recommended to mount the higher band antennas above the lower band antennas
to partially compensate weaker propagation conditions in lower frequency band (e.g.
1800 antennas above 900 antennas).
5.
Impact of cell split feature on antenna height
If e.g. a 3x8 TRX monoband site is realized with the B7 feature cell split over 2 BTSs
(see [7.7]), the same antenna height must be selected for the Tx resp. for the Rx
antennas of each BTS rack.
If e.g. a 3x(4+4) TRX multiband cell is realized with the B7 feature cell split over 2
BTSs (see [7.7]) by using separate single band antennas (solution 2, see chapter 2.1)
the same rule as in the previous point applies.
6. Antenna height planning for hopping networks:
Hopping type
impact on interference situation in network

same antenna height
regular antenna azimuth
tilt tuning
Remarks
RFH 1x3
RFH 1x1
++
++
BBH
O
O
O
Table 18: Impact of height, azimuth, tilt planning for hopping networks
Remarks on Table 18:

?
Generally in RFH networks, it is necessary to achieve a minimum coverage

overlap (to reduce interference) which still allows secure HO between cells.
With a reuse scheme of 1x3: RFH is most efficient if the network design is
regulary, i.e same antenna heights, regular antenna azimuths.
With a reuse scheme of 1x1, the same frequency group is used everywhere;
here the requirement to have same antenna height is even higher as for
1x3, whereas there is no requirement for same azimuth.
For BBH networks there are no such constraints on network design.
7.
Consideration of antenna height in A955 RNP tool
Reminder for RNE (see Figure 2):

?
antenna height used for tool predictions :=

height above ground of Tx antenna radome center.
maximum allowed sector antenna height for the tool predictions:=

tower/mast/pole height (without lightning protection) 0.5* radome size
The top of the sector antenna should never trespass the top of tower/mast/pole
due to the existing lightning protection for the construction.
Example: for a 31 m mast height, the maximum allowed antenna height for the
A955 prediction in GSM 1800 with a typical antenna height of 1.3 m is 30m (in
fact 30.4m=31m-1.3/2). The antenna connectors at the antenna bottom will be at
29.7 m.
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2.5 Planning the antenna azimuth
General rules for azimuth planning:
Dual band GSM900/GSM1800

scenario
Hopping networks
For a standard planning, with a standardized 3 sector arrangement, the antenna

azimuth is planned following a fixed grid pattern with sector direction e.g. 60,180
and 300.
In urban areas it may not be sensible to direct the main beam of a sector along a
straight rectilinear road since this ensures a larger cell range then planned for this
morphoclass. The following scenario is possible: a MS far from the site on the road
may still be booked on the site due to direct line of sight along the road, whereas
the monitored neighbours in the neighbour list do not offer anymore a sufficient
level for a secure HO; if the serving cell level further decreases, a call drop is
possible.
For 2 sector sites on roads in rural area the main beams must follow the direction
of the road.
For the co-located dual band TRXs in GSM900/GSM1800 scenario the planning of
the antenna azimuth is a critical issue:
?
For the co-located single band cells (where solutions 1, 2, 3 of chapter 2.1 are
possible) it is recommended to achieve a maximum coverage overlap in both
bands by planning antenna azimuths identical in both bands.
Reason: multiband MS benefit most from the traffic distribution between bands if
the coverage overlap is maximum; for single band MSs there is no impact.
For the multiband cell (where solutions 1, 3 of chapter 2.1 are favoured vs.
solution 2) this is even mandatory to do so.
Reason: there is no BCCH reception in that regions of the inner zone which do not
overlap with the outer zone.
See subchapter Further issues in 2.4.
2.6 Downtilt planning

This chapter gives rules for planning the antenna downtilt in GSM; in UMTS-FDD
extensive field experience on the tilt-traffic dependency must be acquired on the field.
General remarks on downtilt for all frequency bands are given in APPENDIX D .
Goal of downtilt planning
Principle
The goal of downtilt planning is:

?
for urban areas, to find a tradeoff between maximum fieldstrength level at cell
border and interference reduction;
for rural areas, to ensure a maximum fieldstrength level at cell border (good fringe
coverage).
The downtilt planning is done with a geometrical ray optics method under
consideration of:
?
vertical HPBW of the BTS antenna
BTS and MS antenna height above ground
effective BTS antenna height (see Figure 6) which takes into account the
topography between BTS and MS location
morpho-structure in the vicinity of the BTS antenna.
Figure 4, Equation 2, Table 19 show the principle under the simplifying assumption of
flat terrain.
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This chapter gives rules for planning the antenna azimuth, which is key result of the
RNP process. First some general rules are given, then some particular cases are
treated.
HPBW
main beam direction
HPBW
2 downtilt
7 vertical HPBW
4 downtilt
7 vertical HPBW
tilt
H
HPBW
a
main beam dir.

b
Figure 4: Assessment of required tilts

There is a strong impact of vertical antenna pattern on the minimum efficient downtilt
angle. The downtilt angle is efficient, only if it is bigger than of vertical HPBW (see
Figure 4 and Table 19). For the example of vert. HPBW = 7 a minimum efficient
downtilt angle is 4.
It is possible to further increase the downtilt, e.g. until the vertical patterns minimum
between the main beam and the 1st upper side lobe is oriented towards the horizon.
For a vertical HPBW = 7 the first upper side-lobe lies on the horizon line at an
downtilt angle of 89.
Equation 2 gives the rules for calculation of required tilt according to the desired
coverage range using geometrical ray optics.
It gives the dependency of position of points c (corresponding to the upper 3 dB point
in the vertical pattern), b (corresponding to the main beam) and a (corresponding to
the lower 3 dB point in the vertical pattern) of the antenna height above ground (H),
the required electrical + mechanical downtilt angle (tilt) for the main beam and the
antennas vertical HPBW (HPBW).
c=
H
H
H
; b=
; a=
tan( tilt HPBW / 2)
tan( tilt )
tan( tilt + HPBW / 2)
Equation 2: Tilt assessment with geometrical ray optics
Remark to Equation 2:
If e.g. the height H is fixed by constraints and the resulting value for tilt is relative
high (>20) it is worth it to look for alternative lower sites and/or select another
antenna with a more narrow vertical pattern.
Reason: high risk for pattern distortions for the case of flat roof mounting of the
antennas.
A calculation example (for qualitative purpose only) is given in Table 19:
Downtilt []
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Dist. of point a [km]

0.38
0.31
0.26
0.23
0.20
0.18
0.16
0.15
Dist. of point b [km]

1.72
0.85
0.58
0.43
0.34
0.29
0.24
0.21
Dist. of point c [km]

over radio horizon
over radio horizon
over radio horizon
3.44
1.14
0.69
0.48
0.39
Table 19: Exemplary calculation of points a, b, c positions for antenna height = 30 m, vert. HPBW = 7, flat terrain
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Figure 5, Table 20 and Table 21 show how the tilt is determined as function of
morphoclass and coverage range under the simplifying assumption of flat terrain.
With Equation 2 it is possible to adjust cell overlap areas during the initial network
design phase, as shown in Figure 5; this first design may be subject for a later
optimization.
Case 1: tilt planning for dense urban, urban environment
The tilt planning is done for point c in Figure 4, i.e. the upper 3dB lobe of the vertical
pattern is directed towards the calculated cell range.
It is assumed that multipath propagation ensures for this 3 sectorized cell arrangement
a sufficient cell overlap for a secure handover (to be validated on the field).
The required tilt can be read out of Table 20 exemplary for a vertical HPBW=7; here
the cell range may be indoor/incar/outdoor cell range based on coverage and/or
capacity requirements in the cell.
If the required tilt doesnt match the electrical tilt for the selected antenna in Table 1 an
additional mechanical uptilt/downtilt must be applied.
Further, if this tilt planning leads to HO drop due to
?
level (bad coverage) between some distinct sites, less downtilt must be applied,
e.g. by using mechanical uptilt;
interference between some distinct sites, more downtilt must be applied.
Advantages of this tilt planning are:

?
frequency reuse improvement through interference reduction further away from site
improvement of indoor coverage close to the site.
Case 2: tilt planning for suburban, rural, highway environment

The tilt planning is done for point b in Figure 4, i.e. the main beam of the vertical
pattern is directed towards the calculated cell range.
The required tilt can be read out of Table 21. If the required tilt doesnt match the
electrical tilt for the selected antenna in Table 1 an additional mechanical
uptilt/downtilt must be applied.
For rural areas with big cell ranges, pointing the main beam towards the targeted cell
border, can yield downtilt of 0=arc tan (mast height/cell range).
Advantages of this tilt planning: good fringe coverage.
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Required tilt
Case 1: Dense urban, urban coverage; Tilt planning for point c (Intersection plane X-X)
Tilt 2
Site A
Tilt 2
be
e lo
Sid
Ma
in
be
am

Site B
Cell range R2
0.5* R2
Inter Site Distance A-B = 1.5* R2
R2
0.5* R2
Case 2: Suburban, rural, highway coverage; Tilt planning for point b

Tilt 1
Tilt 1
Site C
Ma
in b
eam
Site D
eam
in b
Ma
Cell range R1
Cell range R1
Inter Site Distance C-D = 2* R1
Figure 5: Tilt planning for different environments
cell range [m]
Antenna height [m]

30
35
15
20
25
40
45
50
300
400
6.4
5.6
7.3
6.4
8.3
7.1
9.2
7.8
10.2
8.5
11.1
9.2
12.0
9.9
13.0
10.6
500
600
5.2
4.9
5.8
5.4
6.4
5.9
6.9
6.4
7.5
6.8
8.1
7.3
8.6
7.8
9.2
8.3
700
800
900
4.7
4.6
4.5
5.1
4.9
4.8
5.5
5.3
5.1
6.0
5.6
5.4
6.4
6.0
5.7
6.8
6.4
6.0
7.2
6.7
6.4
7.6
7.1
6.7
1000
1300
4.4
4.2
4.6
4.4
4.9
4.6
5.2
4.8
5.5
5.0
5.8
5.3
6.1
5.5
6.4
5.7
1500
1700
4.1
4.0
4.3
4.2
4.5
4.3
4.6
4.5
4.8
4.7
5.0
4.8
5.2
5.0
5.4
5.2
2000
3.9
4.1
4.2
4.4
4.5
4.6
4.8
4.9
Table 20: Downtilt (electrical+mechanical) in degrees referring to case 1 of Figure 5 (vertical HPBW=7)
Antenna height [m]

cell range [m]
300
400
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15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
2.9
2.1
3.8
2.9
4.8
3.6
5.7
4.3
6.7
5.0
7.6
5.7
8.5
6.4
9.5
7.1
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1.7
2.3
2.9
3.4
4.0
4.6
5.1
5.7
600
700
1.4
1.2
1.9
1.6
2.4
2.0
2.9
2.5
3.3
2.9
3.8
3.3
4.3
3.7
4.8
4.1
800
900
1.1
1.0
1.4
1.3
1.8
1.6
2.1
1.9
2.5
2.2
2.9
2.5
3.2
2.9
3.6
3.2
1000
1300
0.9
0.7
1.1
0.9
1.4
1.1
1.7
1.3
2.0
1.5
2.3
1.8
2.6
2.0
2.9
2.2
1500
1700
0.6
0.5
0.8
0.7
1.0
0.8
1.1
1.0
1.3
1.2
1.5
1.3
1.7
1.5
1.9
1.7
0.4
0.6
0.7
0.9
1.0
1.1
Table 21: Downtilt (electrical+mechanical) in degrees referring to case 2 of Figure 5
1.3
1.4
2000
Further rules on downtilt
The tilt angles can be implemented only with a resolution of 0.5, see also ch. 3.3.
Prefer electrical vs. mechanical downtilt (refer to APPENDIX D ).
Tx and all Rx antennas must have the same tilt.
If e.g. a 3x8 TRX monoband site is realized with the B7 feature cell split over 2
BTSs (see [7.7]), the same tilt must be selected for all antennas on each BTS rack.
For microcell and picocell antenna downtilt is not recommended.

Reason: for these very small antennas (i.e. length up to a few tens of cm) with a
typical vertical HPBW between 45 and 80, downtilt is beneficial in terms of field
strength reduction only with relative high tilt angles (35 to 50).
In a 900/1800 multiband cell scenario (single BCCH, independent whether it is

realized with one BTS or with the B7 feature cell split over 2 BTSs) where the HO
algorithms (e.g. cause 13) assume a constant fieldstrength level difference between
900/1800 bands, it is recommended (especially for indoor places with high 1800
TRX ratio) to match the fieldstrength level distributions (along the distance) for the
900/1800 bands by
setting different downtilt values for 900 and 1800 bands (typically lower tilt
value for 1800) or
possibly selecting single band antennas with different antenna gains and
vertical patterns (high RNE effort).
This helps to divert the 900 traffic into the 1800 band with the required QoS and
to efficiently use the high number of 1800 TRXs.
A955 RNP tool simulations and sample measurements recorded in the respective
places help to determine the downtilt settings (see [8]).
24/64
In RFH networks, it is necessary to achieve a minimum coverage overlap (to

reduce interference) which still allows secure HO between cells.
For a reuse scheme of 1x3 and even more for 1x1 a careful tilt tuning is
recommended.
Combination of mechanical and electrical tilt for GSM :
Choosing sector antennas with high electrical downtilt (6...8) and applying
mechanical uptilt in main beam direction is a very effective means for
interference and range reduction in side lobe direction.
The high high electrical downtilt + mechanical uptilt is a favoured solution
vs. low electrical downtilt + additional mechanical downtilt.
For very high antenna locations (e.g. on the tops of high mountains, or on
the roof-tops of tall buildings for coverage in the street below) a combination
of electrical and mechanical downtilt is recommended.
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500

Tilt consideration in RNP tools

?
The antenna manufacturers typically provide two cuts through the radiation pattern
in horizontal and vertical direction. Mathematically, there is no exact method to
rebuild a three-dimensional structure from two two-dimensional cuts. So
assumptions and simplifications are made. Different planning tools have different
approaches, as no exact solution exists. Refer to [9] for A955s approach
description (valid for V5 and V6 of A955). Also consider, that A955 does not
consider three-dimensional radiation patterns provided by some antenna
manufacturers for parts of their product range.
If a manufacturer provides for a variable electrical tilt antenna several patterns

(e.g. one pattern per tilt value), it is recommended to create as many antenna types
as tilt values, to be able to use all patterns. Reason: within A955 tool, an antenna
type can have only one pattern (horiz. and vert.). See also the section Handling of
cross polar antennas in RNP tools in ch. 2.7.3.
2.7 Antenna diversity planning

This chapter gives rules for planning antenna diversity in GSM and UMTS-FDD: this
comprises the Rx diversity, Tx diversity, space diversity and polarization diversity.
General remarks on antenna diversity are given in APPENDIX E and APPENDIX F .
Impact on service coverage
Antenna diversity has only an impact on the service coverage, if the system is UL
limited.
It needs to be checked with a linkbudget for the installed equipment, if there will be an
impact on the cell range in UL, see also Table 14, Table 15.
If the linkbudget is DL limited by e.g. 2 dB, there will be no improvement in the service
coverage when improving the UL with better diversity gain.
Summary
Table 22 summarizes the GSM rules for diversity planning. For additional details refer
to the following subchapters.
Environment
recommended
diversity type
Rx Div. gain
(UL)
dense
urban+urban
+ suburban
crosspolar
diversity
3 dB
rural, highway
space diversity
for horizontal
separ.: 5 dB
for vertical
separ.: 3 dB
Addit. Tx loss
(DL) for crosspolar diversity
0 dB
1.5 to 3 dB
Comparison of diversity types for the

environment
crosspolar diversity:
+lower visual impact of antennas
+ same Rx diversity gain in NLOS areas
as with space diversity
+air combining possible with 4 TRX *
space diversity:
higher visual impact of antennas
- air combining possible only with 2 TRX*
crosspolar diversity:
-negligible Rx diversity gain in NLOS areas
-additional Tx loss of 1.5 to 3 dB

space diversity:
+ high Rx diversity gain in NLOS areas
+ no Tx loss
+higher visual impact of antennas not as
relevant as in urban environments
*provided, that the requirement is to have max. 2 antennas per sector in dense urban+urban + suburban
Table 22: Summary table with rules and key parameters for GSM diversity planning (+=advantage; =drawback)
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2.7.1 Rx Diversity gain

Table 23 presents the overview on diversity gains for space and polarization diversity in
different environments for GSM900/1800. The bold values are for a conservative RNP.
The gain for polarization diversity in rural areas has been examined in [2.3].
Diversity gain
Environment
dense urban+urban +
suburban
rural, highway
Space diversity
Polarization diversity
same order of magnitude

Horiz separ.: 3..6 dB
3..6 dB, dep. on UL
wave propag. condition
Vert. separ: 3..4.5 dB
(LOS, NLOS, ), MS
antenna inclination
Horiz separ.: 5 dB
negligible
0-0.6 dB
Vert. separ: 3 dB
Table 23: Summary on diversity gain for space and polarization diversity in different environments for GSM900/1800
Remarks:
1. The values of Table 23 are valid for maximum ratio combining (MRC) method
used in the Alcatel G3 TRX.
For the G4 TRE, and for B6.2 BSS software release onwards, a new combining
method (Enhanced diversity combining, see APPENDIX E ) offers additional
antenna diversity gain vs. the MRC method.
According to [7.1], currently there are only simulated values available for the
antenna diversity gain of the enhanced diversity combining method vs. no
combining (the values are independent on the penetration rate of BTS using
enhanced diversity):
In interference limited environment (dense urban, urban): 2-5 dB

improvement.
In noise limited environment (suburban/residential, rural): 3-6 dB

improvement;
As long as the simulated values are not confirmed by extensive field tests, it is
recommended to consider the values of Table 23.
Impact on RNP of enhanced diversity combining:
No changes on existing antennas and supporting constructions;
Improved Rxqual in UL direction only;
The additional gain of the enhanced diversity combining can only be

applied if the mobile and the interfering MS are located in different direction
from the BTS: this happens typically e.g.
a.) in random hopping scenarios or
b.) in indoor scenarios where it is desired to reduce the uplink interfering
signals coming from an outdoor micro cell for a mobile in indoor
environment connected to a G4 TRE.
2. For urban and suburban environment the diversity gain has the same order of
magnitude.
3. For rural environment polarization diversity gain is negligible (in LOS areas there
are no reflection, diffraction effects which are responsible for polarization
direction changes).
4. The diversity gain of Table 23 is considered only in the UL path of the link
budget.
5. Modeling of diversity gain in A955 RNP tool:
no impact on predictions, independent if MRC or enhanced diversity combining
method is active, since there is no UL prediction in A955; furthermore, the UL
path is further improved through antenna diversity.
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Rx Diversity gain GSM900/1800
Rx Diversity gain UMTS FDD
In an UMTS system, the RX diversity gain depends on the service, on the multipath
profile and on the velocity. The Rx diversity gain is manifested by a reduction of the
required received uplink Eb/No.

A typical RX diversity gain on Rx Eb/N0 is between 1.5 and 4 dB; it is slightly larger in
Pedestrian A than in Vehicular A environment since the channel power variations are
larger and the interchip interference is lower in Pedestrian A.
This is shown exemplarily in Table 24 by simulation results for an 8 kbit/s voice
channel simulation results for different services (provided by TD/SYT). The simulation
assumption was that the two RX signals were completely uncorrelated, i.e. it can be
expected that in high scatter environments (urban, suburban) the same order of
magnitude can be achieved with space and cross polar diversity.
Environment
Speed
(km/h)
3
6
10
25
50
120
200
350
3
6
10
25
50
120
Vehicular A
Pedestrian A
1 antenna
7.7
7.9
8.0
8.1
8.3
8.9
9.5
11.1
7.2
7.7
7.8
8.2
8.6
9.1
Uplink
2 antennas
5.1
5.2
5.3
5.4
5.5
6.3
7.0
8.5
4.2
4.8
4.7
4.8
5.0
5.8
Rx Div. Gain
2.6
2.7
2.7
2.7
2.8
2.6
2.5
2.6
3.0
2.9
3.1
3.4
3.6
3.3
Table 24: Rx Eb/N0 required for a BER of 10-3 in speech 8 kbps and corresponding Rx diversity gain for UMTS-FDD
2.7.2 Rx space diversity
Required Rx antenna separation for space diversity
There are 2 driving factors for the required Rx antenna separation in case of space
diversity:
Separation to achieve sufficient

signal decorrelation
Separation to achieve sufficient signal decorrelation;
Separation due to effective antenna height.
The recommended and required separation between the two Rx antennas to achieve
sufficient signal decorrelation and so the space div. gain given in Table 23, Table 24 is:
d H=20, dV =15
Table 25 gives the corresponding values ( 33/16/14.6 cm for

GSM900/GSM1800/UMTS-FDD frequency ranges).
Rx antenna
separation
horizontal
vertical
GSM900
6.6 m
5m
frequency band
GSM1800
UMTS-FDD
3.2 m
2.9 m
2.4 m
2.2 m
Table 25: Recommended Rx antenna separation for space diversity

Remark: the vertical separation is measured between the antenna radomes (i.e. between
the bottom of upper and the top of lower mounted antenna).
Rules:
1.
3DF 01902 2711 VAZZA
For space diversity prefer horizontal separation vs. vertical separation, due to
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higher diversity gain
lower mast/pole heights.
On the other hand in case of flat roof mounting of antennas, the number of poles
possibly increases (due to 2 poles per sector diversity, but with common usage of
poles for adjacent sectors) .
2.
If the installation space is limited, lower separations than dH=20, dV =15 can
be applied, at the cost of a lower diversity gain, but they should not be reduced
below 50% of the values in Table 25.
There is no deterministic formula to calculate the diversity gain as function of
separation distance, because the gain is highly dependent on the multipath
environment.
But a lower diversity gain due to lower separations than dH=20, dV =15 has
only an effect, if the system is UL limited. It needs to be checked with a
linkbudget for the installed equipment, if there will be an impact on the cell range
in UL (see also Table 14, Table 15).
Separation due to effective

antenna height
The required (horizontal) antenna spacing is not only determined by Table 25, but
additionally by Equation 3:
d > effective antenna height/10
Equation 3: Space diversity separation as function of effective antenna height
dH
where the effective antenna height takes into consideration the

topography as shown in Figure 6.
Both conditions need to be fulfilled; the highest separation is valid.
BTS
heff = f ( ,D1, hBTS, hMS )
BTS
MS
heff
hMS
The rule comes into account only for e.g. antennas placed on a 20
m tower on a high hill serving the valley below, where the effective
antenna height can easily trespass 60 m, e.g. 100 m. The dH for
optimum space diversity gain should be 10m, but this is irealistic to
implement. So it is not relevant whether the implemented spacing is
6m or less, since the diversity gain given in Table 23 is never
reached and will be low.
Figure 6: Effective antenna height
D1
Dual band, triple band

Dual band resp. triple band cases with Rx space diversity:
?
Single band antenna usage: for required Rx antenna separation refer to Table 25.
Dual band resp. triple band antenna usage: the required Rx antenna separation is
determined by the lower band requirements in Table 25.
2.7.3 Polarization diversity

The main issues of cross polar antennas application are:
Rx application of cross polar

antennas in GSM, UMTS
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only Rx application
Tx+Rx application
cross polar vs. horiz./vert. polarized antennas
The main issue for the Rx application is the Diversity gain in UL (cf. [2.2], [2.3]):
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Tx+Rx application of cross polar

antennas in GSM
The Rx diversity gain improves only the UL path of the link budget.
For achievable values, see Table 23 and Table 24.
In rural (low scatter) environment, Rx polarization diversity gain is negligible for

GSM and UMTS.
The following considerations are valid for GSM and need to be verified for UMTS.
The main issues for the Rx application are the same as above.
The main issues for the Tx application are:
1. Additional pathloss for DL

Pathloss differences between scenarios with cross polarized transmitting antennas and
vertical polarized ones depend on propagation conditions (LOS or NLOS, scattering,
MS antenna inclination) in the current environment. [2.3] examines the dependency for
GSM ( 900,1800).
In high scatter NLOS areas, the polarization of the received wave fronts is independent
from the polarization of the source antenna and randomly distributed around 360O
(cf. [2.2]). This means, that the polarization of the receiving antenna has no impact on
the pathloss, so that vertical and cross polarized transmitting antennas lead to the
same pathloss result, no matter of which polarization is the receiving antenna.
The additional pathloss for the Tx path (DL) in urban/suburban environment for cross
polarized antennas vs. vertical polarized antennas, is 0.6 dB, so nearly 0.
In contrary, for a LOS condition, the additional measured pathloss is considerable (up
to 4.3 dB) if the polarizations of transmitting and receiving antenna do not match.
Rule of thumb for RNP: for GSM in rural areas, the mean additional loss compared to
vertical polarization is in the range of 1.5 to 3 dB.
2.
Air combining gain for DL
For air combining principle see APPENDIX F .

Air combining is recommended if no heavy visual impact is to fear, as in e.g. rural
areas/highways.
With air combining, combiner losses can be saved, resulting in a lower path loss of 3
dB/saved combiner stage independent on frequency range.
To be more accurately on the air combining gain: according to [7.7] the air combining
gain isnt entered anymore directly in the link budget (the former definition of the BTS
transmit output power was based on the internal TRE output power e.g. 35 W, from
which duplexer, combiner and internal cabling losses were subtracted); instead, the
new definition of the BTS output power specified at the antenna connector already
considers/omits duplexer, combiner and internal cabling losses.
Handling of cross polar
antennas in RNP tools
1.
Consideration of the additional pathloss in the A955 RNP tool
For the prediction calculations of A955, only the transmitting aspect is relevant. It is
assumed that in this case, the receiving antenna (the MS antenna) is vertical polarized.
(However the fact, that in reality a high percentage of receiving MS antennas are
inclined is not considered in A955).
An additional pathloss is currently not automatically considered in A955 V5/V6, since
the tool has no information about polarization planes.
Workaround: RNE can manually subtract this pathloss from the EIRP for rural regions.
2.
Consideration of the air combining gain in the A955 RNP tool
The treatment of the combining gain for A955 RNP tool can be considered by using
the new specified value of the BTS output power at the antenna connector which
already omits duplexer, combiner and internal cabling losses.
3.
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Cross polar antenna pattern modeling in RNP tools
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has no information about polarization planes;
can consider only one of the antenna diagrams, i.e it assumes the same relative
antenna gain and though predicts the same pathloss for the DL and UL spectrum
portions of the same frequency band.
Example: a broadband crosspolar antenna for GSM 1800/UMTS with variable

electrical downtilt (0-8) has 20 patterns specified by the manufacturer: for each of the
5 downtilt values (0, 2, 4, 6, 8), 4 antenna patterns are given (for UL band in +45
polarization plane , UL 45, DL +45, DL 45). Preprocessing yields one antenna
pattern for each considered downtilt value and it typically involves the following steps:
Cross polar vs. horiz./vert.

polarized antennas
conversion of the dB pattern values into W
averaging the W values for UL+45, UL 45, DL +45, DL 45
conversion of W values back into dB.
Cross polar antennas have the same polarization diversity gain compared to
horiz./vert. polarized antennas. Still, cross polar antennas are preferred instead of
horiz./vert. polarized antennas because: in case of air combining, both polarization
directions of a cross polar antenna can be used for Tx, whereas only the vertical
polarization direction of a horiz./vert. polarized antenna can be used for Tx ([2.3]
shows that important losses can also be expected on the horizontal polarization
direction, assuming a vertical polarized MS antenna).
Air combining with horiz./vert. polarized antennas is not practicable; so, horiz./vert.
polarized antennas have a low market penetration.
In this document, the focus within dual polarized antenna class will be only on cross
polar antennas and not on horiz./vert. polarized antennas.
2.7.4 GSM space and polarization diversity on UL

An interesting combination of space and polarization diversity is given in Figure 7.
Ant. A
Ant. B
ANC 1
ANC 2
TRX1 TRX2
TRX3 TRX4
Figure 7: GSM 4-RX diversity on UL

It is not a 4-Rx diversity, since for a given call only 2 reception paths are present. For
the separation D, Table 25 applies. The gain benefit of this mixed diversity
configuration is expected to be higher than the one indicated in Table 22 (to be
confirmed on field tests.
2.7.5 Further rules on diversity
Selection space vs. polarization
diversity for GSM900/1800
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For the Rx application the selection between space and polarization diversity is based
on the diversity gain, according to ch. 2.7.1:
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Some antenna manufacturers provide antenna patterns for different spectrum portions
in the same band (e.g. for UL/DL) and for different polarizations (+45 / 45; they
result from co-polar measurements, i.e. Tx and measuring Rx antenna have the same
polarization). In the main beam direction the patterns are typically very similar, but in
the side lobes differences of = 20 dB are possible. Since RNP tools generally (and
A955 particularly) cannot handle more than one (horiz. and vert.) antenna pattern, the
different pattern data has to be preprocessed by the planner.
A955 V5/V6 currently:

Selection space vs. polarization

diversity for UMTS-FDD
Compatibility of downtilt and
diversity
Rx antenna orientation in space
diversity
For dense urban, urban and suburban areas crosspolar antennas are
recommended.
For rural areas and highway coverage in a tyypical coverage driven planning, the
space diversity (with vertical polarized antennas) is recommended.
For the exceptional case of a traffic driven planning in these environments,
crosspolar antennas can be considered to minimize project logistic.
Cross polar antennas must be used in urban and suburban areas, whereas two
separated vertical polarized antennas must be used in rural areas for space diversity.
Space and cross polar diversity are compatible with mechanical and electrical downtilt;
but in general electrical downtilt is preferred vs. mechanical downtilt (see ch. 2.6),
especially in UMTS (interference limited system).
The orientation of the Rx diversity antenna arrangement must correspond to the cell
orientation (see Figure 8), to achieve highest space diversity gains (cf. [10])
RxA
Maximum
Diversity
Maximum
Diversity
RxA
RxB
Cell
Border
Correct orientation
Figure 8: Orientation of Rx antennas for space diversity
RxB
Incorrect orientation
2.7.6 UMTS-FDD Tx diversity

In this chapter only the expected gain due to STTD and closed loop mode 1 is given.
Further details on UMTS-FDD Tx diversity are provided in APPENDIX E and [6.1].
Simulation results on Tx diversity gain for different services are provided by TD/SYT in
[6.2].
Tx diversity gain
The Tx diversity gain provided by Tx diversity in DL is manifested by 2 effects:

?
a reduction of the required Tx DL Eb /N0.
a reduction of the required Rx DL Eb /N0 .
For Tx Eb /N0 and Rx Eb /N0, the denominator N0 denotes the noise measured at the
receiver side and Eb is the energy per information bit at the transmitter side and
receiver side respectively.
Table 26 exemplary shows Tx DL Eb /N0 required for a target BLER=10-2 (AMR 12.2
kbps) and the corresponding Tx diversity gain for STTD/ Closed loop mode 1 for the
3GPP defined multipath environments Vehicular A (representative for macrocellular
propagation) and Pedestrian A (microcellular propagation). Some remarks on the
TD/SYT simulation results:
3DF 01902 2711 VAZZA
STTD always improves the performance compared to no transmit diversity. The

largest gain is obtained for low speed and environment with low multi-path
diversity such as rural or indoor environments (3.3 dB in Pedestrian A environment
at 3 km/h). The gain then rapidly decreases when the speed increases.
Closed loop mode 1 improves the performance compared to no transmit diversity

only for low mobile speeds (typically below 60-80 km/h) and degrades them
otherwise. The largest gain is obtained for low speed and environment with low
multi-path diversity like with STTD (4 dB in Pedestrian A environment at 3 km/h).
Comparison STTD/Closed loop mode 1: the closed-loop mode 1 enables better

performance (higher capacity gain) than STTD for low mobile speeds (below 50-60
km/h). For larger mobile speeds (above 50-60 km/h), STTD enables better
performance.
A big advantage of STTD over closed-loop mode 1 is that STTD is always better
than no transmit diversity, which is not the case of closed-loop mode 1. Indeed,
closed-loop mode 1 degrades the performance compared to no transmit diversity
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for medium and large mobile speeds (above 60-80 km/h) with a loss that may be
significant (up to 1.1 dB at 120 km/h and even larger loss above 120 km/h).
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Speed
(km/h)

Environment
3
6
10
25
50
120
250
350
3
6
10
25
50
80
120
Vehicular A
Pedestrian A
DL Target transmit Eb /N0

Without
STTD
ClosedTx
loop
diversity
mode 1
7.4
6.7
6.2
7.7
7.4
7.0
6.6
6.8
8.1
10.1
11.3
11.1
10.8
8.9
8.0
7.9
7.9
6.8
6.7
6.6
6.3
6.6
8.1
10.1
8.0
8.0
8.3
7.2
7.1
7.0
7.0
Tx diversity gain
STTD
Closedloop
mode 1
0.7
1.2
6.3
6.3
6.1
6.4
7.9
9.6
14.3
7.3
7.3
7.2
6.8
6.5
7.8
8.6
0.9
0.7
0.4
0.3
0.2
0
0
3.3
3.1
2.5
1.7
0.9
0.9
0.9
1.4
1.1
0.9
0.2
-1.1
-1.5
-4.0
4.0
3.8
3.6
2.1
1.5
0.1
-0.7
Table 26: Target Tx DL Eb/N0 and corresponding Tx diversity gain for UMTS-FDD for a target BLER = 10-2 (AMR 12.2 kbps)
Table 28 shows Rx DL Eb /N0 required for a BER of 10-3 in speech 8 kbps and the
corresponding Tx diversity gain for STTD in the multipath environments Vehicular A
and Pedestrian A (simulation results provided by TD/SYT):
?
Only a slight reduction is achieved (= 1 dB).
The Tx diversity gain on Rx Eb /N0 is larger for Pedestrian A than for Vehicular A.
Environment
Speed
[km/h]
Vehicular A
Downlink
Eb/No
Eb/No
without
Tx STTD
diversity[dB] [dB]
6.8
6.6
Tx div. gain [dB]
0.2
6
7.1
6.9
0.2
10
7.2
7.0
0.2
25
7.2
6.9
0.3
50
7.4
7.1
0.3
120
7.6
7.5
0.1
200
8.4
8.2
0.2
350
10.4
10.0
0.4
Pedestrian A
3
6.5
6.3
0.2
6
7.1
6.6
0.5
10
7.6
6.9
0.7
25
8
7.0
1
50
8.3
7.3
1
120
8.5
7.7
0.8
Table 27: Rx DL Eb/N0 required for a BER of 10-3 in speech 8 kbps and corresponding Tx diversity gain for UMTS-FDD
Impact on antenna engineering

1. For Tx diversity the 2 Tx paths need to be uncorrelated; this is achieved by:
3DF 01902 2711 VAZZA
space diversity: for the separation rules refer to chapter 2.7.2 and Table 25;
polarization diversity.
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2. With duplexer usage, each Rx diversity antenna can also be used for transmission
with Tx diversity.
3. TX diversity gain variation in urban and rural environment: to be studied on field.
2.7.7 UMTS FDD 4-RX diversity on UL

Diversity gain
The gain of 4-RxDiv can be mapped onto a gain in cell range only in case of limited
UL in the link budget. If the system is DL limited, 4RxDiv will show no effect on the cell
range (cf. [6.3]).
The diversity gain is manifested by a reduction of the required Rx UL Eb/No which will
improve the coverage and capacity performance of the system.
The potential gain of receive antenna diversity with 2, 3 or 4 perfectly uncorrelated
antennas is simulated by TD/SYT for vehicular A and pedestrian A environments,
where the BER is measured at the output of the channel decoder ([6.3]). For a BER of
10-3 there is a difference on Rx Eb/No level in the node B of:
?
3 dB between using 1 or 2 receiving antennas;
2 dB dB between using 2 or 4 receiving antennas.
The real potential gain of 4-RxDiv will depend on the environment (propagation
channel), the service (BER or BLER), the speed of the mobile and antenna
characteristics.
Implementation
4-Rx diversity for UMTS-FDD is provided optionally only in the Node B.

To achieve these gains the decorrelation of the Rx branches must be ensured by space
diversity or polarization diversity.
?
For space diversity, this decorrelation can be achieved by spatially separating the
antennas, horizontally or vertically, by applying the separation rules of Table 25
and Equation 3.
For polarization diversity, the decorrelation is obtained with cross polar antennas
(+/-45).
Upgrade towards 4Rxdiv

The upgrade strategy towards 4Rxdiv depends on the previously implemented 2Rxdiv
antenna solution.
Upgrade starting from space diversity
?
Initial situation: 2RX diversity scheme with single polarized antennas and vertical or
horizontal separation.
After upgrade: for low visual impact, replacement of the 2 existing antennas with 2
cross polar antennas, see Figure 9.
Space
Diversity
Vertical
polarised
antenna 1
Distance d
Rxdiv1
Vertical
polarised
antenna 2
Replace
Antennas
Polarisation Space
Diversity Diversity
Xpol
antenna 1
Distance d
Rxdiv1 Rxdiv2
Rxdiv2
Polarisation
Diversity
Xpol
antenna 2
Rxdiv3 Rxdiv4
Figure 9: 4-Rx div upgrade starting from space diversity

Upgrade starting from polarization diversity
?
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Initial situation: 2RX diversity scheme with 1 cross polar antenna (typical in dense
urban, urban, suburban environment).
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4. Consideration of TX diversity gain in A955 RNP prediction: use Eb/No of Table 26.
After upgrade: combination of space and polarization diversity; adding of an

additional cross polarized antenna, either vertically or horizontally separated from
the first one; the separation rules of Table 25 and Equation 3 must be respected;
higher visual impact; see Figure 10.

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Xpol
antenna
Rxdiv3
add Xpol
antenna in
distance d
Polarisation Space
Diversity Diversity
Xpol
antenna 1
Distance d
Rxdiv1 Rxdiv2
Rxdiv4
Polarisation
Diversity
Xpol
antenna 2
Rxdiv3
Rxdiv4
Figure 10: 4-Rx div upgrade starting from polarization diversity
2.8 Intra-system and inter-system compatibility assessment for site sharing

Mobile intra-system and inter-system compatibility for the same site have an impact on
antenna engineering of this site. This chapter describes the methodology for
compatibility analysis and shows how to achieve the compatibility. For related
documentation to this topic see [5.1].
EMC aspects
The possible interference scenarios and most important EMC interference mechanisms
(Transmitter Noise/Spurious Emissions , Blocking, Intermodulation) need to be
combated to guarantee the intra-system and inter-system compatibility for site
sharing/co-location. They are described in APPENDIX H .
Methodology
The assessment methodology for mobile intra-system and inter-system compatibility for
site sharing (co-siting) consists in the following steps (for GSM and UMTS):
1. Listing of possible relevant intra- and inter-system incompatibility issues.
example: for a site which is shared by operator1 (which operates in 900/1800
dual band) and operator2 (which operates UMTS) the possible system
incompatibility issues are: a.) intra-system incompatibility inside 900, 1800, UMTS
b.) inter-system incompatibility between 900-UMTS, 1800-UMTS, 900-1800.
2. For the cases identified in step 1:
Analysis of the 3 EMC interference mechanisms by considering:
the requirements specified by the relevant standardization body (e.g.

3GPP for GSM and UMTS) for: level of spurious emissions, level of
blocking limit, in-band IM attenuation etc.
the Alcatel values for: level of allowed spurious emissions, level of

limiting interference signal (for spurious emissions), level of allowed
blocking limit, allowed IM level etc.
(In order to prevent performance degradation for co-located mobile
systems, the BTS hardware of the vendor needs to fulfill the
requirements specified by the relevant standardization body.)
Determination of the resulting decoupling requirements for each of the 3

EMC interference mechanisms.
Finding out which decoupling values are the dimensioning ones (see Table
28, Table 29 for some important combinations).
3. Planning how to implement the decoupling.

For exemplary calculations see [5.1].
Tx/Rx decoupling requirements
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Definition: The decoupling (isolation) is measured between the antenna connectors of

the transmitter in mobile system 1 and of the receiver in mobile system 2, as shown in
Figure 11. The achievable decoupling value is strongly influenced by:
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Polarisation
Diversity
Antenna
Antenna
TX power

Decoupling
Rx
BTS
or
Node B
the antenna spacing between Tx antenna (of mobile system 1) and Rx antenna (of
mobile system 2),
the gains and radiation patterns of the 2 antennas,
the presence of filters and diplexers.

Figure 11: Definition of required decoupling
Tx
BTS
or
Node B
Alcatel proposes in Table 28 (cf. [5.1]) the Tx/Rx decoupling requirements for intraband and some important inter-band mobile system co-locations, both for Alcatel BTS
and other vendors BTS (also fulfilling the mentioned 3GPP specifications); Table 28
also mentions the interference mechanism which is the dimensioning one.
GSM900 (RX)
Specification
according to:
GSM
05.05
GSM 05.05
Alcatel
25 dB
GSM1800 (RX)
GSM
05.05
Alcatel
3G TS
25.104
Alcatel
46 dB
25 dB
IM
v.8.5.1:
34dB
v.8.5.1:
34dB
GSM
spurious
GSM
spurious
Blocking
GSM900 (TX)
IM
Alcatel
25 dB
46 dB
Blocking
25 dB
IM
IM
GSM 05.05
39 dB
Blocking
GSM1800 (TX)
Alcatel
39 dB
Blocking
3G TS 25.104
UMTS (TX)
Alcatel
35 dB
Blocking
35 dB
Blocking
25 dB
IM
25 dB
IM
25 dB
IM
30 dB
Blocking
30 dB
Blocking
UMTS (RX)
25 dB
IM
43 dB
Blocking
43 dB
Blocking
30 dB
Blocking
30 dB
Blocking
61 dB
Blocking
30 dB
Blocking
v.8.4.1:
85 dB
v.8.4.1:
85 dB
v8.5.1:
34dB
v8.5.1:
34dB
GSM
spurious
GSM
spurious
62 dB
34 dB
Blocking
GSM
spurious
58 dB
Blocking
58 dB
Blocking
34 dB
Spurious
34 dB
Spurious
Table 28: Tx/Rx decoupling requirements for some important system co-locations
Remark:
the requirements specified by 3GPP are based on the assumption that the decoupling
(between the Tx antenna connector of mobile system 1 and the Rx antenna connector
of mobile system 2, as shown in Figure 11) provided by the antenna system is
minimum 30 dB; this assumption is indeed confirmed by antenna manufacturer
measurement series, refer to [RFS 1]. But by using the Alcatel EVOLIUM 9100 BTS
(G3, G3.5, G3.8, G4, G4.2, Evolution step 1, Evolution step 2), even less decoupling
is required than the 30 dB of Table 28:
3DF 01902 2711 VAZZA
For certain combinations 900 TX-900 RX, 1800 TX-1800 RX, 900 TX-1800 RX,
1800 TX-900 RX: 25 dB are sufficient (IM is the dimensioning scenario; Transmitter
Noise/Spurious Emissions: no problem, due to high selectivity of Tx filter as
specified by 3GPP for GSM; Out-of-band blocking: no problem, due to the high
selectivity of the Rx filters).
For other combinations, the 30 dB in Table 28 provide additional safety margin,

since the required decoupling is also less than 30dB due to relaxed receiver
blocking requirement (derived from [5.1]), see Table 29.
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2.8.1 How to ensure the intra-system and inter-system compatibility?

This chapter gives engineering hints on how to achieve the sufficient decoupling for
intra-system and inter-system compatibility.
The decoupling to combat the 3 interference mechanisms is achieved by space
separation, filters, diplexers and duplexers.
Additionally for IM a careful frequency planning is required.
Space separation
For the intra-system case it is possible to apply the empirical formulas below (source:
Celwave/RFS) giving an orientative value for the decoupling; they are applicable:
?
for calculation of the decoupling/isolation between Tx/Rx antennas of
the same sector;
adjacent sectors;
co-sited adjacent operators;
for in-band case in GSM and UMTS bands;
for omni and directional antennas;
for vertical polarized Tx/Rx antennas ;
for 0 mechanical tilt.
The distance required for a specific isolation varies with operational frequency and
antenna gain. Lower frequencies and higher gains require greater separations.
1. Achievable decoupling/isolation DV by vertical separation
DV=28+40log(dV/) [dB]
Equation 4: Decoupling by vertical separation
Tx
dv
Mast
dV = vertical separation as indicated in the sketch

= wavelength (GSM900 33 cm, GSM1800 16 cm; UMTS-FSS 14.6 cm)
Rx
This formula is only valid for dV/ > 10
dm
For optimum distance dm to the mast/wall, see ch. 3.1.

2.) Achievable decoupling/isolation DH by horizontal separation
Tx
dH
DH=22+20log(dH/)-(GT()+GR()) [dB]
Equation 5: Decoupling by horizontal separation
Rx
This formula is only valid for dH / > 10

G T and G R are gains (T=transmit; R=receive) measured on the horizontal antenna
diagrams of the Tx and Rx antennas in the direction (angle ) of the imaginary
antenna connection line, i.e. = (gain in main beam direction relative gain in
direction )
3.) Achievable decoupling D by combination of horizontal and vertical separation
Tx
dV
38/64 dH
D=(DV-DH)/90+DH [dB] (no tilt considered )

Equation 6: Decoupling by of horizontal+vertical separation separation
Rx
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required decoupling
900 Tx-UMTS Rx
21 dB
UMTS Tx-900 Rx
18 dB
UMTS Tx-UMTS Rx
13 dB
Table 29: Tx/Rx decoupling requirements for Alcatel BTS co-location in some important systems
This is a linear interpolation of the 2 formulas above.

Remarks to the decoupling Equation 4, Equation 5, Equation 6 :
1. Since the formulas given are not exact and have several restrictions, it is
recommended to carry out decoupling measurements locally on the site to verify the
compliance with the requirements. This is the more recommended in the cases:
the separation distances yielded by the mentioned formulas, are too high
and not feasible for the network operator (from financial, visual, civil
engineering/site construction etc. p.o.v.);
mechanical downtilt application;
cross polar Tx/Rx antenna usage;
inter-system co-siting with substantially different frequency band (e.g.

GSM1800-UMTS).
2. In case of spatial Tx/Rx separation with dual band / triple band antennas, the
decoupling values of the lowest frequency band are dimensioning.
E.g. for GSM900/1800, the isolation has to be calculated for the 900MHz band,
since the decoupling for horizontal separation is 6 dB lower than in 1800MHz and
for vertical separation 12 dB lower than in 1800MHz (Figure 12).
Figure 12 shows the achievable decoupling based on horizontal (for a 11dBi omni
antenna) and vertical separation according to equation given above.
110
105
35
30
GSM 900
GSM 1800
25
20
Decoupling Dv [dB]
100
95
90
GSM 900
85
GSM 1800
80
75
70
65
15
9 10
10
60
Decoupling Dh (dB)
40
vertical separation [m]
Horizontal separation (m)
Figure 12:Decoupling achieved by horizontal and vertical separation

Antenna spacing for the Evolium
A9100 BTS (G3 /G4) with
antenna diversity
In Figure 13, the antenna separation dH and dV between Ant A and Ant B is
dH and dV := max { X, Y} where
X=space diversity separation cf. Table 24 between RxA-RxdivA, RxB-RxdivB
Y=decoupling separation cf. Equation 4, Equation 5, Equation 6 between TxA-RxB,

TxA-RxdivA, TxB-RxA, TxB-RxdivB.
Figure 13: Antenna spacing for the Evolium A9100 BTS (G3 /G4) with antenna diversity
TxA, RxA, RxdivB
TxA, RxA, RxdivB
Ant A
TxB, RxB, RxdivA
dV
dH
Ant B
Ant A
TxB, RxB, RxdivA

ANC
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Evolium
BTS
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For the Evolium A9100 BTS (G3 /G4) with antenna diversity, the decoupling
requirement is easier fulfilled with a vertical separation of antennas (horizontal spacing
distances may not be feasible in practice). This is valid for omni and directional
antennas, and for any frequency range.
But this must be balanced against the fact that the diversity gain for vertical separation
is 2 dB lower than for horizontal separation (see Table 22, Table 23).
Examples for space separation
Example 1: Low-loss configuration for more then 2 TRXs per sector
Ant. C
Ant. A
Ant. B
Ant. C
Ant. D
Ant. D
D1
D2
D1
D2
D1
Ant. A
Ant. B
D1
ANC 1
ANC 2
ANC 1
TRX1 TRX2
ANC 2
TRX3 TRX4
TRX1 TRX2
solution 1
TRX3 TRX4
solution 2
Figure 14: Separation for low-loss configuration for more then 2 TRXs per sector
Given is a low-loss configuration Evolium A9100 BTS (G4) with 4 TRXs/sector (e.g. for
rural areas in GSM1800) and directional vertical polarized antennas of Celwave series
AP 186516 (65 horiz. HPBW, 7.5 vert. HPBW, 17 dBi gain) see Figure 14.
The issues are:
?
Tx/Rx antenna spacing inside the same sector: D1, D2=?
Tx/Rx antenna spacing between adjacent sectors (of the same operator) D3 =?
D1 (between the antennas of the same ANc, i.e. A-B and C-D)
The distance D1 is determined by the diversity spacing requirement of Table 25.
Here it is recommended to choose horizontal separation (if site installation space is not
limited) to achieve higher diversity gain (see Table 23). With vertical separation site
construction is simplified however the required separations can also lead to high
towers.
D2 (between the antennas of the 2 ANc s of the same sector, i.e. A-C, A-D, B-C, B-D)
Two solutions are possible as indicated. The distance D2 is determined by the
minimum decoupling requirement of the Evolium BTS to prevent from IM which is min.
25 dB between TX and RX paths (Table 28).
The formulas in 2.8.1 can be used only for calculation of the theoretical decoupling for
d/>10, yield: D2 (solution 2) << D2 (solution 1) and are not practicable.
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Rule:

Practically, decoupling measurements done locally on the site by RFS/Celwave (cf. [RFS
1]), typically yield for GSM1800 antennas of series AP 186516 a minimum isolation of:
?
30 dB, at 0 cm horiz. antenna separation (i.e. A+C, B+D may almost touch)
60 dB, at 0 cm vertical separation

Seen from this p.o.v., solutions 1 and 2 are equally recommended.
D3 (between the antennas of the two ANc s of adjacent sectors)

The distance D3 must respect the same requirement as D2. So, for the typical case of a
3 sector site with equal 120 sector arrangement (i.e. sites, where the antennas of the
sectors point in different directions and installation space on the site is sufficient to
avoid crossing of antenna main beams) the antennas of the adjacent sectors may
almost touch each other (decoupling measurements cf. [RFS 1] typically yield a
minimum isolation of 30 dB at 0 cm horiz. antenna separation).
Example 2: similar to example 1, but antennas A+B, C+D are each replaced by one
GSM1800 cross polar antenna of Celwave series APX 186515 (65 horiz. HPBW, 7
vert. HPBW, 17.5 dBi gain). (Remark: lets consider this although it is better to use
space diversity in rural areas)
D1 not applicable in this case
D2 similar considerations as in example 1
?
For calculation of the theoretical decoupling, the formulas in 2.8.1 are not
applicable.
Practically, decoupling measurements cf. [RFS 1] yield for cross polar antenna of
the type APX 186515 (65 horiz. HPBW, 7 vert. HPBW, 17.5 dBi gain) and APX
186516 (65 horiz. HPBW, 4.5 vert. HPBW, 18.3 dBi gain) a minimum isolation of
45 dB (worst case for co-polar or cross-polar measurement), at 0 cm

horizontal antenna separation
55 dB (worst case for co-polar or cross-polar measurement), at 20 cm

vertical antenna separation
Seen from this p.o.v., solutions 1 and 2 are equally recommended.

D3 similar considerations as in example 1
Decoupling measurements for type APX 186515 (resp. APX 186516) cf. [RFS 1],
typically yield a minimum isolation of 30 dB at 0 cm horiz. antenna separation (worst
case for co-polar or cross-polar measurement)
Example 3: similar to example 1, but for GSM900
same conclusions as in example 1.
Example 4: similar to example 1, but for dualband sites GSM900/GSM1800
Given is a dualband Evolium A9100 BTS (G4) configuration with 2 TRXs/GSM900 + 2
TRXs/GSM1800.
For each frequency band the chosen antennas are directional, single band, vertical
polarized antennas (lets assume that the operator preferred single band antennas for
flexible tilt tuning and antenna space diversity for rural area)
?
for GSM 900 Celwave AP 909014 (90 horiz. HPBW, 8.5 vert. HPBW, 16 dBi)
for GSM 1800 Celwave AP 189014 (90 horiz. HPBW, 7.5 vert. HPBW, 16.1 dBi)
Same considerations apply as in example 1.

D1- will be different for GSM900 and GSM1800
D2- decoupling measurements for vertical polarized antennas will typically yield a
minimum isolation of
3DF 01902 2711 VAZZA
30 dB (in GSM900) and 32 dB (in GSM1800), at 0 cm horizontal antenna

separation
40 dB (in GSM900) and 52 dB (in GSM1800), at 0 cm vertical separation
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D3- Same considerations as in example 2.
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2.9 EMC impact on antenna system planning

When a site needs some re-engineering to respect the exposure index in a neighbour
living place (mainly fixed by local authorities), the most straightforward solution is to
change the height, the tilt or the EIRP. These modifications will then impact the
coverage and frequency reuse in neighbour cells.
This chapter anticipates how Alcatel would implement these changes and what would
be the actual impact on dense urban and urban environments. Reason: the exposure
index requirement has not been finally settled for the time being.
Option 1: if site re-engineering is not desired/allowed/possible, the certain distances
must be respected to fulfil the exposure index requirement.
Option 2: site re-engineering by increasing only the antenna height
Advantage: the coverage gets better (this may not necessarily be an advantage if the
coverage was sufficient before the modification)
Drawbacks:
?
risk to increase the interference (if no additional downtilt can be applied)
limitation on antenna mast height may apply
critical/not feasible in case of mast sharing with competitor operator
Option 3: site re-engineering by decreasing only the antenna downtilt

Drawbacks:
?
close to the site, it is almost impossible to reduce the exposure index to the
required limit even with 0 downtilt
far from the site, the interference risk is increased (especially in 1x1 RFH networks)
Option 4: site re-engineering by reducing only the EIRP of the BTS
Consequences:
?
undermining the benefit of high power TRX in MAPL
less coverage and increased number of sites
Option 5 (most probable): site re-engineering by mixed solution, i.e antenna height
increase + downtilt increase + EIRP reduction
2.10 RNP tool related aspects on antenna planning

This chapter summarizes the handling of the antenna system planning aspects which
are relevant from point of view of RNP tool (e.g. A955) handling. These are:
3DF 01902 2711 VAZZA
filling of the vertical antenna pattern outside the main beam;

necessary in order to approach the prediction to the measurements; currently this
topic is under investigation in PCS
planning for a maximum antenna height, see chapter 2.4 ;
consideration of vertical patterns with an electrical tilt, see chapter 2.6;
handling of crosspolar antenna patterns, see chapter 2.7;
respecting the exposure limit in a specified distance from the antenna to the next
building/housing apartment in main beam direction, see chapter 2.9
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3 RULES FOR ANTENNA INSTALLATION
3.1 Mounting rules for tower, mast, roof, wall mounting of antennas
This chapter gives mounting rules for omni, sector, macro and micro antennas for
common mounting places; this comprises mainly clearance rules such as:
?
minimum mount distance of omni antennas from supporting structure, see 3.1.1
minimum mounting height of antennas (see 3.1.2)
maximum skewing angle for antennas relative to a reflective surface (see 3.1.3).
The considerations below are generally valid for GSM and UMTS. Further details are
contained in APPENDIX G .
Table 30 gives a summary on the required standard mounting restrictions.
If the rules cannot be respected, site operation is still possible but with QoS results
worse as predicted.
Macro
antennas
Tower
Mast
Roof top
antennas
Mounting on
top
side
top
side
wall (e.g. elevator shaft)
mast - top
mast - side
Wall
Omni
NR, remark 1
see 3.1.1
NR, remark 1
see 3.1.1
n.a.
see 3.1.2
see 3.1.1, 3.1.2
see 3.1.4
Sector (remark 2)
n.a.
see 3.1.3
n.a.
NR
see 3.1.2,3.1.3
n.a.
see 3.1.2
see 3.1.4
Table 30: Summary on required mounting restrictions (NR=no restriction; n.a.= not applicable)
Remarks to Table 30:
1. For top mounting of omni antennas on tower /mast (nowadays rarely done) : no
mounting restrictions apply if there are no further obstacles in the near field range,
except the lightning protection. An almost circular pattern is created (with some
tolerable ripples in the pattern due to the lightning rod).
2. For side mounting of sector antennas on a tower/mast/wall, the mounting spacing
to the tower/mast/wall can be reduced to a feasible minimum (i.e. 0 cm), since
the antenna housing acts as an reflector (everything behind the antenna has no
impact on the pattern).
3.1.1 Side mounting of omni macro antennas on mast/ tower
A tower or mast, which usually consists of a good reflecting material (steel, concrete),
changes the antenna pattern considerably. Decisive factors are the spacing between
the mast and the antenna as well as the mast dimensions.
Cylindrical mast
For side mounting of omni antennas on a cylindrical mast the antenna manufacturer
can calculate the resulting pattern relatively simply for typical radiation patterns.
An exact quantitative degradation calculation can be simulated by the antenna
manufacturer.
Figure 18 in APPENDIX G shows the degradation of the pattern independent from
the frequency range [KAT 1]. It can though be used for RNP purposes, only from a
qualitative p.o.v., since e.g. a mast diameter of 0.04 lambda is not feasible. But one
can see, that a spacing of 0.25 , 0.50 , 0.75 may be implemented to achieve the
desired coverage around the site.
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Some issues arising during antenna installation are not subject of the network design
phase. This chapter gives rules for antenna mounting during installation phase.

Lattice tower
For side mounting of omni antennas on a lattice tower the antenna manufacturer can
calculate the resulting pattern, but the modeling of each tower element causing
reflections (tower legs, bracing, existing ladders and cable traces) is more complex.
Typically, larger spacings to the mast always create the risk of unexpected nulls in the
pattern.
At smaller spacings (0.25 / 0.5 ) the tower leg on which the antenna is mounted, is
mainly responsible for the pattern. The principal pattern shapes of offset and bidirectional characteristic still exist, but compared to a cylindrical mast the patterns will
have certain irregularities and discontinuities.
The exact pattern distortion needs to be simulated by the antenna manufacturer on a
case by case study.
3.1.2 Minimum macro antenna height mounting for roof top

The considerations in this chapter apply for all cases indicated in Table 30.
Antennas are frequently mounted on (flat) roofs. The recommended location for this
kind of installation is the roof edge, but for optical reasons the antennas are placed
within the roof plane for example on the top/at the wall of an elevator shaft.
Depending on the vertical HPBW and the roof shape, the roof plane may create
reflections, which cause an uptilt of the resulting final pattern. So, the radiated power
towards the roof must be limited, by mounting the antenna with a sufficient height
above the roof.
The rule is that the first Fresnel zone, which carries the main signal RF energy, shall not
be disturbed by any obstacles in the antenna near field (in this case the dominating
obstacle is the roof edge; the roof itself represents a strong reflecting plane for RF
energy). But the exact determination of the Fresnel zone is hardly possible, due to the
variable distance between transmitting and receiving antenna.
In the approach of Figure 15 (see [1.1]), the first Fresnel zone is approximized by the
antenna vertical HPBW with an additional safety margin (vertical clearance margin) of
20, which means no obstacle 20 below the 3dB (HPBW) point of the vertical pattern .
With ray optics, the allowed distance and height of obstacles in the beam direction of
the antenna can be approximized to prevent antenna near field obstruction:
H>=D*tan(HPBW/2+dt+20)
Equation 7: Antenna height as function of roof geometry and vertical antenna pattern
where dt = downtilt angle
omni or sector
omni or sector
Downtilt angle
HPBW/2+20
HPBW/2+20
D
roof side view
roof side view
Figure 15: Mounting distances for a flat roof or a reflective plane

It is possible to set a lower vertical safety margin of 10..15, as long as the QoS
requirements for the site are fulfilled even with a distorted antenna pattern.
Example: 8.5 vertical HPBW, 2 dt results in easy to apply rule of thumb: H>=0.5 *D:
3DF 01902 2711 VAZZA
Distance
D [m]:
10
>20
Required height
H [m]:
2.5
10
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3.1.3 Maximum skew angle for wall mounting of directional macrocell antennas
Max. skew
70 - horiz. HPBW/2
Horiz. HPBW/2
20
for a horizontal HPBW of 33..65..90 ..(105)

In the sketch, the 20 between the horizontal HPBW/2 and the horizontal line represent
a horizontal safety margin.
Wall Trespassing this limit for project needs requires a measurement campaign to verify the
fulfillment of QoS requirements for the site even with a distorted antenna pattern.
APPENDIX G shows the qualitative impact of antenna inclination and horizontal

HPBW on horizontal antenna patterns for an ideally reflective wall (the antenna
radiation characteristics strongly depends on the wall structure and roughness):
horizontal antenna patterns are more and more damaged with increasing:
?
antenna inclination angle with reference to the wall perpendicular
antenna horizontal HPBW.
Further rules on skewing:

?
Skewing the space diversity antennas mounted on a wall is not recommended.
Mounting of directional antennas on building corners as shown in the sketch is not

recommended due to:
shadowing of both Rx-antennas radiation patterns by the Tx-antenna;
negative influence on the space diversity performance creation of

unequal Rx radiation patterns mirror imaged reflections
increased installation cost and effort
3.1.4 Microcell antenna mounting rules

Directional microcell antennas
Omni microcell antennas;

crossroad case
For microcell outdoor antennas (in-street or crossroad) the skewing rule mentioned for
macrocells (3.1.3) is valid, but maybe harder to fulfill due to the possibly resulting
visual impact of the antenna installation.
?
In case of continuous cell coverage layer, it is recommended to stick to the rule as

much as possible.
In case of hotspot application cases (majority of microcell applications) violating

the rule is not so critical since the service coverage is required only in a delimited
area around the site.
The maximum distance R of a cross road omni cell antenna from the street corner is
defined based on experience; recommended angle is = 20 ; see Figure 16.
Omni micro antenna
Street
top view
max = 20
building
Street
Figure 16: Clearance for omni cells

R = tan( max) * D = 0.36 * D
Equation 8: Clearance for omni cells
Example: D=50 cm results in R =18 cm
For picocell antenna indoor
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(out of documents scope): engineering is mainly determined by visual aspects.
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Maximum azimuth inclination angle (skew) relative to the wall perpendicular for
crosspolar antennas and vertical polarized antennas with no space diversity (to prevent
excessive antenna pattern distortion):
3.2 Spacing for single band antennas in dual band GSM900/GSM1800 scenario

In a GSM900/GSM1800 scenario, independent whether it is implemented with

?
co-located single band cells
or multiband cell
it is possible to use single band antennas for antenna implementation (cf. technical
solution 2 in chapter 2.1).
In case of Alcatel Evolium A9100, A910 BTSs, the single band antennas for GSM900
and GSM1800 can be mounted side by side, horizontally or vertically, due to minimum
30 dB, specified and confirmed by decoupling measurements of antenna
manufacturers (e.g. in [RFS 1]); 30 dB is sufficient decoupling according to Table 28.
Here horizontal side by side mounting means same antenna azimuth.
3.3 Tilt angle implementation

The mechanical down-/uptilt to be implemented must be given by the RNE to the
installation team in the resolution of 0.5. A higher resolution e.g. 0.1 cannot be
implemented due to the tilt scaling restriction on the antenna.
3.4 Azimuth angle implementation

The considerations below are valid for each frequency band.
An azimuth angle implementation by the installation team with a compass is highly
erroneous due to magnetic perturbation caused by ferrous constructions in the antenna
vicinity. Instead the following reliable procedure is proposed to reduce risk of frequent
installation errors:
3DF 01902 2711 VAZZA
Selection of a prominent obstacle on a good resolution paper map (e.g. building,

tower, building, church etc.). If the obstacle is far away it is sufficient to consider its
center, otherwise an edge of it (e.g. corner) which can be identified from the site.
Map read out of the angular difference ? between the planned azimuth of the
antenna and the azimuth of the identified obstacle; the same angular azimuth
reference must be used as for RNP (e.g. N over E).
If no good resolution paper map is available, the azimuth to the obstacle can be
calculated geometrically with the GPS coordinates of the obstacle (must be
retrieved) and of the site (already known).
Implementation of ? with a tool supplied by the antenna manufacturer (not the

compass).
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ABBREVIATIONS
A910
A9100
A955 V5/V6
Anc
Anx
ANXU
Any
B7
BBH
BTS
CDR
CSR
dBc
dBm
DL
Eb/No
EIRP
G3 BTS, G4 BTS
GSM
HO
HP TRX
horiz.
HPBW
HSR
IM
MAPL
MHA
MP TRX
MRC
MS
OMC-R
PCS
QoS
RF
RFS
RNE
RNP
Rx
RFH/ SFH
TMA
TRE
TRX
Tx
UL
UMTS-FDD
UTRA
vert.
VSWR
XPD
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Evolium A910 micro BTS

international standardization body (does the
work of former ETSI)
Evolium micro BTS
Evolium macro BTS
RNP tool of Alcatel verion 5 resp. 6
network combining stage
duplexer stage
Antenna Network for UMTS
combiner stage
BSS software release
baseband hopping
Base Transceiver Station
call drop rate
call success rate
decibel carrier
decibel miliwatt
downlink
bit energy to noise ratio
equivalent isotropic radiated power
(Alcatel internal) release names of Evolium
A9100 macro BTS
Global System for Mobile Communication
handover
high power TRX for 900, 1800
horizontal
half power beamwidth
handover success rate
intermodulation (product)
Maximum allowed path loss
mast head amplifier
medium power TRX for 900, 1800
maximum ration combining
Mobile Station
operation and maintenance center radio
Professional Customer Service
quality of service
radio frequency
Antenna manufacturer
radio network engineer
radio network planning
receive
radio (synthesized) frequency hopping
tower mounted amplifier
TRX with GMSK and 8PSK modulation
transceiver with GMSK modulation
transmit
uplink
UMTS frequency division duplex
UMTS terrestrial radio access
vertical
voltage standing wave ratio
cross polar discrimination
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INDEX
1x1, 19
diversity gain, 56
mechanical downtilt, 53
1x3, 19
dual band, 6, 8
MRC combining, 56
4-Rx diversity, 34
Dual band antennas, 51
narrow beam, 8, 11
A955, 18, 19, 24, 25, 26,
effective antenna height,
omni antenna, 51
29, 30, 34, 48, 53
28
polarization diversity, 28
Additional pathloss, 29
enhanced
diversity
combining, 26, 56
Polarization Rx diversity,
air combining, 6, 8, 9, 25,
57
29, 30, 52, 58
Evolium BTS, 9, 10, 40

remote electrical tilt, 54
antenna near field, 18, 45,
feeder selection rules, 14
64
Sector antennas, 51
fixed electrical tilt, 53
antenna pattern, 21, 29,
SFH, 19, 48
30, 44, 45, 46, 53
frequency bands, 50
Space Rx diversity, 27, 56
antenna selection rules, 6,
Friess, 16, 17, 52, 53
TMA, 6, 12, 13, 14, 16,

G4 BTS, 16, 17, 48, 56
17, 48, 52, 53
BBH, 19, 48
interference mechanisms,
Broadband antennas, 51
transmitter noise, 62
6, 36, 38, 61, 62

triple band antenna, 51
clearance, 10, 18, 45
interference
scenarios,
36, 61
Tx diversity, 31
close proximity scenario,

64
Intermodulation, 36, 63
variable electrical tilt, 8,

53
decoupling requirements,
link budget, 14, 15, 16,
36, 37, 38, 62
17, 26, 29
visual impact, 8, 9, 12, 25,

29, 46, 53, 58
directional antennas, 51
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mast height, 18
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System
FREQUENCY BANDS
Total
Bandwidth
GSM 850
2x25MHz
Uplink
frequency
band
450.5-467.5
MHz
824-849 MHz
GSM900
2x25MHz
890-915 MHz
935-960MHz
200 kHz
www.3gpp.org/
EGSM
2x35MHz
880-915 MHz
925-960MHz
200 kHz
www.3gpp.org/
876-915 MHz
17101785MHz
1850-1910
MHz
18501910MHz
921-960 MHz
1805-1880MHz
200 kHz
www.3gpp.org/
not
applicable
19201980MHz
19001920MHz
(UL+DL)
824-849MHz
2110-2170MHz
5 MHz
www.3gpp.org/
3.84 Mcps
2020-2025MHz
(UL+DL)
5 MHz
3.84 Mcps
869-894MHz
1.25 MHz
18501910MHz
824-849MHz
1930-1990MHz
1.25 MHz
1.2288
Mcps
1.2288
Mcps
869-894MHz
30 kHz
18501910MHz
824-845 MHz
1850-1910
MHz
824-849 MHz
871-904 MHz
915-925 MHz
890-915 MHz
940-956 MHz
1930-1990MHz
30 kHz
GSM 450
R-GSM
GSM1800
2x75MHz
GSM1900
PCS 1900
(USA)
IMT-2000
(UMTS FDD)
UMTS TDD
2x60MHz
IS-95 800
(cdmaOne)
IS-95 1900
2x25MHz
IS-136 800
US-TDMA
IS-136 1900
TDMA
D-AMPS 850
D-AMPS 1900
2x25MHz
E-AMPS
ETACS
NTACS
NTM900
PDC900
20MHz +
5MHz
2x60MHz
2x60MHz
Downlink frequency
band
Carrier
Spacing
869-894MHz
200 kHz
Internet Link
Chiprate
479-496 MHz
not
applicable
not
applicable
not
applicable
1930-1990 MHz
1930-1990MHz
869-890 MHz
1930-1990MHz
869-894
916-949
860-870
935-960
810-826
MHz
MHz
MHz
MHz
MHz
Table 31: Frequency Bands
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APPENDIX A
APPENDIX B
Omni antenna
ANTENNA TYPES
The omni antenna is used in order to achieve large continuous coverage ranges
especially in homogeneous, rural, low traffic areas or as an umbrella cell for
microcellular networks [1.1].
Main advantages:
?
Continuous coverage is achieved around the site.
Antenna installation is more simple than for sector antennas.
Better trunking efficiency (e.g. a 6 TRX omni has a higher capacity than a sector
site 3x2; provided of course, that there is enough frequency spectrum available to
allow a 6TRX omni cell)
Main drawbacks:
?
No mechanical (but electrical) downtilt is possible.
Clearance of the antenna is required in all directions: no wall mounting possible,

further there are restrictions for side mounting on masts/poles (see ch. 3.1)
The omni cell can catch a lot of traffic and get quickly in high load situation if it is
not/or can not be equipped with a sufficient number of TRXs.
The omni cell can create a lot of interferences and disturb the frequency reuse; the
TRXs of an omni site require a higher frequency reuse than the same TRXs in a 3
sector configuration.
Omni antennas are also offered for UMTS as macro and micro antennas.
Sector antenna
Sector antennas/directional antennas are typically used:

?
in high traffic areas to increase capacity with sectorized sites;
to focus on special areas (road coverage, indoor coverage);
to achieve low coverage in regions of low interest (e.g. forest).
Main advantages:
?
Electrical downtilt and mechanical downtilt are possible.
Wall mounting is possible.
Higher capacity per site can be achieved.
Drawback: more hardware (TRXs) is required.

Typical parameters: gain = 17dBi, horiz. HPBW = 65105, vert. HPBW = 8.5
Dual band antenna
Dual band antennas are characterized by being suitable for two frequency ranges and
having two separated input connectors; e.g. GSM900/GSM1800, GSM1800/UMTS,
GSM900/UMTS; GSM 850/GSM 1800
Currently dual band antennas are mostly offered as sector antennas.
Triple band antennas
A GSM900/GSM1800/UMTS triple band antenna combines three antennas inside one

radome.
Broadband antennas
Broadband antennas serve the specified frequency range with only one antenna inside
the radome.
E.g.: GSM1800/GSM1900/UMTS or GSM 900/GSM1800/UMTS (frequency range:
890-2170 MHz)
Main advantages:
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Possibly cheaper price than the respective dual band/triple band antennas;
Only a single feeder cable per antenna branch needed;
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No diplexer at antenna side required (but if the broadband antenna is used as a

dual band antenna, an additional diplexer at BTS side is necessary per antenna
branch).
Main drawback: identical antenna characteristics for all bands, e.g. no different
electrical downtilt possible.
A broadband antenna shall be selected instead of a dual band antenna only if
commercially required (if cheaper).
Dual polarized antenna
Polarization is defined as the direction of oscillation of the electrical field vector. Dual
polarized antennas are used to integrate two RX antennas in one, reducing the
necessary number of antennas on site (gain of space and esthetic). Used with a
duplexer, they permit the integration of the TX path on the same antenna. Used with
air combining, one TRX can be associated with one polarization direction.
Dual polarized antennas are offered only as sector antennas (and not omni).
Microcell antenna
Picocell antenna
Repeater antennas
APPENDIX C
Can be offered as single band, dual band, broadband or triple band antennas.
They are characterized by esthetical design, suitability for indoor wall/ceiling mounting,
low dimension and light weight. Their installation is quick, easy, and unobtrusive. They
can be omni, directional, single and dual polarized; they are offered in all frequency
ranges.
For repeater applications antennas with a high directivity such as Yagi antennas are
used for the link between the donor cell BTS and the repeater.
ANTENNA SYSTEMS OPTIONS

TMA
A tower mounted amplifier (TMA) can be used at a BTS/Node B to improve (i.e.
reduce) the effective receiver system noise figure when a long length of feeder cable has
to be used, due to high tower/mast heights. The reduction in the receiver system noise
figure means an improvement in the uplink power budget. This can be interpreted as
compensating the losses between the antenna and the input of the base station: of the
feeder+jumper cables, connectors, diplexers, filters ([1.3], [1.6]).
X
900
TMA
TMA
Jumper
Within the TMA, the duplexer separates and recombines the signals on the Rx and Tx
paths. It also provides sufficient out-of-band filtering and isolation between the two paths
(min 30 dB isolation). Only the RX signal gets amplified by a low-noise amplifier inside
the TMA, thus, improving the quality of the UL branch; the TX signal is bypassed to the
antenna.
For RX or RX/TX antenna diversity operation, the configuration has to be doubled. This
means that for each antenna, one TMA unit is required (see figure). If the two units are in
the same housing, it is called dual TMA.
Feeder
TMA usage in multiband configurations is possible only if the signals applied to each
antenna are single band signals (i.e. the TMA module which is used per antenna is only
single band).
BTS
The DC supply of the TMA is done via the RF feeder cable from the Bias-T included in the
Node B's antenna unit ANXU.
Friess Formula
In order to calculate the overall noise Figure of a reption chain, the Friess Formula is
used. Equation 9 gives an example (cf. [1.3]) with TMA and no jumper cables:
n tot = n TMA +
n cable 1
n DX 1
n BS 1
+
+
g TMA
g TMA g cable gTMA g cable g DX
Equation 9 Friess Formula with TMA
with
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n element = 10
NFelement
10
and
g element = 10
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10
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where NFelement is the noise figures in dB and Gelement is the gain in dB of the
corresponding element (note that a loss is a negative gain!). The index element can
be TMA, cable (denotes cables and connectors, here excluding jumper cables), DX
(denotes diplexer or filter) or BS (denotes node B). If there are no diplexers or filters in
the chain, nDX and gDX are set to 1.
In case there is no TMA, the Friess Formala is given in Equation 10:
n tot = n cable +
n DX 1
n BS 1
+
g cable
g cable g DX
Equation 10 Friess Formula without TMA
APPENDIX D
Scope of downtilt
OVERVIEW ON ANTENNA DOWNTILT

With introduction of downtilt, the antenna signal in the main beam direction is focused
below the horizon. Downtilt can be achieved mechanically, electrically or with a
combination of the two; downtilt can be controlled remotely for certain antenna types.
Downtilt improves outdoor and indoor coverage probability close to the site, while with
a certain distance away, the coverage probability gets lower; it reduces co-channel
interferences by reducing the cell radius or by maintaining cell radius (and reducing
the overshoots over the planned cell range); it adjusts cell borders for optimum
handovers and removes insular coverage.
Mechanical downtilt
Benefit: it is achieved by the mounting hardware (cost-effective); no antenna swap is

necessary.
Drawbacks:
Fixed electrical tilt
Non-regular coverage reduction is achieved (maximum interference reduction in

main direction only).
The adjusted downtilt angle is only valid for the main direction of the horizontal
radiation pattern. In the tilt axis direction (+/-90 from main beam) there is no
downtilt at all. Further, the resulting gain reduction depends on the azimuth
direction. This effect is considered in A955 V5/V6.
Distortions in horizontal antenna pattern in case of mechanical tilt cause large

gain variations i.e. large signal fades ; risk of call drops is increased (see [RFS 2]).
The polarization plane is also rotated.
Frequent mechanical tilt adjustment (done onsite!) has bad visual impact (site
operation outage).
Benefit: the adjusted downtilt angle is constant over the whole azimuth range, so all
lobes are equally tilted; this yields an equal reduction of all interferences and a regular
reduction of coverage.
Drawback: electrical tilt adjustment is not possible (antenna swap necessary associated
with visual impact, site operation outage).
Variable electrical tilt
Benefits:
?
Easy cell size tuning according to capacity evolution while minimizing co-channel
interferences;
For electrical tilt adjustment the antenna remains unchanged =>
No outage on site operation;
Cost saving through reduced inventory management.
Drawbacks :
3DF 01902 2711 VAZZA
Variable electrical tilt adjustment must be done via control button at the antenna
radome (i.e. installer must climb up);
Higher price.
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Remote electrical tilt
Benefits (cf. [RFS 2]):

For electrical tilt adjustment the antenna remains
No outage on site operation;
Cost saving through reduced inventory management.
For time being, tilt adjustment is done from the base of the antenna tower via a
control unit linked with a cable to a laptop. For the next BSS releases (B8?) it is
foreseen to implement an interface to the OMC-R=>tilt tuning without sending
crew onsite, i.e reduction of network optimization costs especially for badly
accessible sites.
Provision of easy adaptation coverage versus capacity and interference control;
Control of cells overlapping;
No limitation on frequency of tilt tuning;
Compatible with future dynamic capacity allocation.
Drawback: possibly elevated price.

Upper side lobe suppression
UMTS; Tilt adjustment for

optimum traffic distribution
A high first upper side lobe suppression is a mandatory feature for electrically tilted
antennas. The drawback of increased antenna length has only a small impact on site
geometry and can be tolerated.
The first upper side lobe, which is typically in the range of up to max. 20, is critical for
inter-cell interference.
Electrical tilt adjusts antenna footprint: it minimizes inter-cell interference while
maintaining cell coverage. Both coverage and inter-cell interference are traffic
dependent =>optimum tilt value to control inter-cell interference is traffic dependent.
In inhomogeneous traffic scenarios:
?
Reduce footprint of highly loaded cells by increasing electrical tilt.
Enlarge footprint of lower loaded cells by decreasing electrical tilt.
Scope:
?
Avoid overload in single cells
Even traffic distribution between cells
Table 32 below presents the application area of UMTS adjustable tilt:

Remote electrical tilt
Variable electrical tilt
Inhomogeneous traffic
Inhomogeneous traffic
distribution
distribution
High time dependency of
Low time dependency of
traffic
traffic
Table 32: Application area of UMTS adjustable tilt
APPENDIX E
Fixed electrical tilt

Homogenous traffic
distribution
Very low time dependency of
traffic
OVERVIEW ON ANTENNA DIVERSITY

Purpose
The purpose of using diversity is to reduce short-term fading effects, such that an
acceptable level of performance (receiver sensitivity) can be achieved, without having
to increase the transmitted power or the bandwidth.
Principle
The principle relies on the combination of two or more signals, containing the same
information, which are at least partially decorrelated. If two signals of the same level
are completely decorrelated, the probability that both signals experience the same
depth of fade is only the square compared to the probability for one signal. Therefore
the signal reliability is increased.
Rx Diversity systems
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unchanged =>

The diversity types which are subject of this document are:
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Category
GSM
yes
yes
yes
n.a.
no
no
Rx diversity
space div.
polarization div.
space div. + polarization div.
4-Rx diversity
space div. + polarization div.
Tx diversity
space div.
polarization div.
Figure 17: Overview on diversity types
Applicable in
UMTS
yes
yes
n.a.
yes
yes
yes
Only two Rx diversity systems are subject of this document:

?
For space diversity, the decorrelation is achieved by receiving the signals with two
spatial separated (horizontally or vertically) antennas.
For polarization diversity, decorrelation is achieved by using antennas with different

polarization planes (horizontal/vertical or cross, i.e. +/-45).
To achieve a maximum Rx diversity gain it is required to have [2.1]:

?
high signal decorrelation between receiver paths
low signal level difference between receiver paths (due to the maximum ratio or
enhanced diversity combining methods in the Alcatel BTS which weighten the
signals in proportion to their signal/noise ratio, see APPENDIX E ).
With space diversity better signal decorrelation can be achieved.

MRC combining
The G3 receivers in the Alcatel BTS use the maximum ratio combining (MRC) method.
The MRC method does not reduce the interference level received from other mobiles
using the same frequency(ies) (co-channel interference) or from adjacent frequencies
(adjacent interference). It only improves the received signal by steering a beam into the
direction of the mobile; it estimates the phase difference between the two antennas,
corrects this phase difference, weightens the signals in proportion to their signal to
noise ratio before the co-phased signals are added; there is coherent addition of the
signals and incoherent addition of the noises; this increases the signal to noise ratio.
MRC combining offers:
Enhanced diversity combining
Very good performance under noise limited conditions; for diversity gain see
Table 23: 3 6 dB improvement compared to no antenna diversity.
Less improvement under interference limited condition;, up to 3 dB diversity

gain compared to no diversity.
The G4 receivers in the Alcatel BTS (G3 BTS or G4 BTS) use the enhanced diversity
combining method. This feature is available from B6.2 BSS software release onwards.
The enhanced diversity combining uses several algorithms:
?
There is an beam forming algorithm to improve the received signal by steering a

beam into the direction of the mobile (like in MRC method).
But moreover, there is an algorithm to reduce interference: it cancels interferers by

steering a null into their directions (it estimates the phase difference between the
two antennas for the interfering signals and then, it rejects these interfering signals
by adding the signals with an inversed phase).
Enhanced diversity combining gives its best efficiency when the useful signal and the
interfering signals come from different directions.
Space Rx diversity
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Principle: during a deep fade at one Rx antenna location, the fade will not be as
severe at the other Rx antenna location, if the two Rx antennas are sufficiently
separated. For space diversity, reflections are not so important.
Advantages:
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Diversity type

UL improvement (optimum diversity gain for wide area);
Space diversity works better than polarization diversity in rural environment

(characterized by wave propagation with few reflections).
Drawback: possibly large space requirement for sufficient Rx antenna

separation=> expensive tower/mast construction.
(An alternative can be to mount the diversity Rx antennas on 2 separate poles
constructed in the required distance; equal feeder length required).
Principle: polarization decorrelation of the different signal rays which encounter

different multipath reflections while traveling between the MS to the BTS. So the
reflections are mainly important for polarization diversity, since they change the
wave polarization.
Advantages:
Polarization Rx diversity
UL improvement (diversity gain);
2 Rx antennas with different polarizations mounted under the same radome;
No need for large site structures as in case of space diversity.
Drawback: effective only in high multipath environments.

UMTS-FDD Tx diversity
The aim of transmit diversity is to alleviate fast fading and therefore to increase the
capacity of the downlink transmission.
The transmit antenna diversity technique consists in using at the transmitter several
antennas, broadcasting complementary signals. To implement the TX diversity feature,
two power amplifiers per sector are needed. Adding a power amplifier will double the
available output power (3dB gain on output power); this gain of 3dB is not a diversity
gain in the original sense of the word, but merely linked to the second power amplifier.
Several transmit diversity techniques have been standardized in the FDD mode of
UMTS for two transmit antennas:
?
open loop transmit diversity
TSTD, Time Switched Transmit Diversity (for the DL synchronization channel)
STTD, Space Time Transmit Diversity (for traffic channels)
closed loop transmit diversity mode 1 and mode 2.
Antenna transmit diversity is provided optionally for UMTS-FDD Node B, but it is

mandatory for the MS. It can be switched-on on a per channel basis.
The MS (with omni, vertical polarized antenna) uses the maximum ratio combining
method to combine the 2 DL signals.
Support by HW and SW: Open and closed loop are supported by Evolium Node B; but
in R1 only 'closed loop Tx diversity mode 1' is implemented. In R2 neither open loop
nor closed loop TX diversity are implemented.
Important characteristics for
cross polar antennas
The isolation between ports is the attenuation between the branches in near field. In
contrary the cross-polar discrimination is the attenuation between the two branches in
far field.
Antenna inter-port isolation: Denotes the ratio in dB of the power level applied to one
port of a dual polarized antenna to the power level received in the other input port of
the same antenna. Typical value is minimum 30 dB.
Cross polar discrimination (XPD): The difference in dB between the co-polarized main
beam signal and the cross-polarized signal measured within an angular zone in
azimuth of twice the maximum half power beam width of the frequency band. E.g. for
a 65 hor. HPBW antenna , XPD is measured both in the main axis and at 60 opening
angle. Typical value is 3035 dB minimum.
The better the cross polarized discrimination is,
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the better the diversity gain of the antenna;
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APPENDIX F
the lower the level of disturbing signal (coming from the opposite slant) is, in order
to insure a safer reception.
PRINCIPLE OF AIR COMBINING

The idea of air combining is to combine transmitted signals in the air and not with an
BTS internal combiner, in order to avoid combining losses. Each TX-signal will be
transmitted via a separate antenna. With air combining combiner losses can be saved
(depending on the number of saved combiner stages, i.e. on the number of TRXs),
resulting in a lower path loss in the DL. This results in an improved coverage range for
macrocells or in an improved indoor coverage for microcells.
Air combining can be realized with:
?
two sector or omni antennas (vertical polarized)
one cross polar antenna transmitting different carriers on +-45.
Thus cross polar antennas allow air combining configurations with a single antenna.
Remark: Air combining with horiz./vert. polarized antennas is not recommended, since
there are losses of typ. 3 dB on the horizontal polarization direction, assuming a
vertical polarized MS antenna (see also ch. 2.7.3).
APPENDIX G
ANTENNA PATTERN DISTORTION FOR DIFFERENT MOUNTING

SCENARIOS
Refer to [KAT 1].
Regarding Figure 18:
Spacing 0.5
An increase of the spacing to 0.5 creates a bi-directional pattern perpendicular to
the line antenna mast, which becomes more characteristic with bigger mast
diameters. This pattern shape provides 2-3 dB more gain and could be applied for the
coverage of highways and railway lines.
Spacing 0.75
At a spacing of 0.75 a further beam grows in the direction of the antenna; a
tridirectional pattern is formed.
Spacing 20
The number of beams becomes greater and the depths of the corresponding minima
become smaller as the spacing is increased; the pattern changes back into an omni
characteristic. However the influence of the mast can still be recognized up to spacings
of 20-25 . Such a spacing of 20 lambda is not feasible due to heavy visual impact
but shows the behaviour from a qualitative p.o.v.
Regarding Figure 19, Figure 20:
The antenna radiation characteristics strongly depends on the wall structure and
roughness. Figure 19, Figure 20 are given for an ideally reflective wall (such as
concrete walls or aluminum covered facades.
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Figure 18: Typical radiation pattern distortions of mast side mounted omni antenna
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Figure 19: Typical horizontal radiation pattern distortions of wall mounted GSM900 directional antennas;22 inclination
Figure 20: Typical horizontal radiation pattern distortions of wall mounted GSM900 directional antennas;45 inclination
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APPENDIX H
INTRA-/INTER-SYSTEM COMPATIBILITY
Intra-/Inter-system compatibility
Intra-system compatibility guarantees no disturbances due to interference mechanisms

within the same communication system
?
1 system, 1 operator
1 system, 2 operators (e.g. UMTS-UMTS co-siting on multi operator site)
Inter-system compatibility guarantees no disturbances due to interference mechanisms

within the different communication systems
Interference scenarios
2 system, 1 operator (e.g. GSM1800-UMTS co-siting operated by same operator)
2 system, 2 operator (e.g. GSM1800-UMTS co-siting on multi operator site)
The following interference scenarios are generally valid for any type of cellular systems.
Two different cellular systems shall cover the same area. The co-existence of two
systems or even site sharing means, that there are 4 possibilities that interference arise.
Serving Base Transceiver Station
Interfering Base Transceiver Station
S I
Figure 21: Two cellular systems covering the same area

The different combinations of interference disturbing the serving BTS and the MS,
which is dedicated to the serving BTS, is shown in the following picture. Some
abbreviations are used: S=Serving; I=Interfering; green=carrier; red=interferer signal
I-BTS DL S-BTS UL
S I
I-BTS DL S-MS DL
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I-MS UL S-BTS UL
S I
I-MS UL S-MS-DL
S I
Figure 22: Interference scenarios

The four combinations of Figure 22 are:
Transmitter
Link creating
/Interference source
interference
BTSBTS
BTSMS
MSBTS
MSMS
I-BTS
I-BTS
I-MS
I-MS
DL
DL
UL
UL
Receiver
Link which is
interfered
S-BTS
S-MS
S-BTS
S-MS
UL
DL
UL
DL
Table 33: Interference scenarios

Planning a radio network mainly means planning site locations for transceiver stations.
Therefore BTS BTS interference problems can be reduced or avoided.
The BTSMS interference comes from a interfering BTS. Normally, the influence on
planning this configuration is low, if another operator handles this network.
The MS BTS situation is only taken into consideration by planning the BTS, with all its
attributes like antenna height, antenna orientation, and so on.
The location of a mobile user can have a big variety. In the MSMS scenario, it is not
avoidable, that two mobile users of different systems get close to each other.
So the focus is on combating the BTS BTS interference scenario.
Co-location of base stations may cause interference resulting in performance
degradation. In order to minimize this performance degradation to an acceptable
defined level, decoupling requirements between the systems have to be met.
Interference mechanisms
The most important interference mechanisms are:

Transmitter noise/ spurious emissions
The transmitter noise floor or transmitter spurious of system "A" within the receive band
of system "B" causes interference of system "Bs" receiver and vice versa. This could be
avoided by increasing the stop band attenuation of system "As" antenna network in
the transmit path for the receive band of system "B", or by increasing decoupling
between the two systems, either the air decoupling or the decoupling provided by
diplexer.
Receiver blocking
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Transmit signals of system "A" are blocking the receiver of system "B" and vice versa.
This could be avoided by increasing the stop band attenuation of system "Bs" antenna
network in the receive path for transmit frequencies of system "A", or by increasing the
decoupling between the two systems (air or diplexer decoupling).
Intermodulation (IM) products

Significant intermodulation products are generated in nonlinear devices (especially
mixers and amplifiers but also connectors), if two or more strong signals are applied.
Intermodulation problems due to co-location might rise, if transmit carriers from the
co-located system "A" generate intermodulation products falling into a used receive
channel of system "B" or vice versa. Also a combination of transmit frequencies of both
systems might fall into a used receive channel of either system "B" or system "A."
?
IM can occur within one system, without co-location of any other system (1 system,
1 operator); this is an intra band IM; condition: both frequency signals are applied
on the same duplexer
IM can occur between 2 co-located systems; condition: antenna and/or feeder

sharing (there are no IM between 2 co-located systems if this condition is not given)
Intra band IM: can happen on multi operator sites (e.g. UMTS-UMTS colocation: 1 system, 2 operators)
Inter band IM: can happen on multi operator sites (e.g. GSM1800-UMTS colocation: 2 systems, 2 operators ) or on single operator sites (e.g.
GSM1800-UMTS co-location- 2 systems, 1 operator)
General formula for IM products:

fIM = m f1 + n f2
with m, n = 0, +1, +2, +3, ...
where the order of the IM product=|m|+|n|; only positive fIM make sense.
Only low order IM products are critical; the higher the IM order, the less their power
and the less critical the IM products are.
The reference point for IM products inside a used Rx channel is the BTS antenna
connector. As long as the signal level of the interfering critical IM product is well below
the systems noise floor, almost no receiver degradation, and thus no problem due to
IM will occur.
The total intermodulation level compared to a power-rating of 1 mW is expressed in
dBm:
IM = 10 log PIMP3 [dBm] .
On the other hand, dBc is defined as the ratio of the third order intermodulation
product to the incident Tx carrier signal power:
IM = 10 log(PIMP3/P Tx ) [dBc] .
APPENDIX I
MISCELLANEOUS
Antenna mounting location

For outdoor macrocell antennas it is possible to have the following cases:
?
tower/mast/pole: top mounting or side mounting;
roof: top mounting;
wall: side mounting.
Microcell outdoor antennas used for in-street coverage are mounted on the wall/pole
but below rooftop and the ones used for crossroad coverage are mounted on a pole.
Antenna near and far field
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The antenna radiation behaviour is splitted in a near and a far field characteristic.
Typically the antenna radiation characteristics given in antenna catalogues are valid for
the far field. The near field antenna radiation characteristic depends on tower /mast
/wall construction elements and the antenna dimensions; it is not depending on the far
field radiation characteristics.
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The range of the antenna near field is dependent on the maximum size of the antenna
aperture D (i.e. antenna length) and the wavelength . It can be estimated with the
following deterministic formula:
Rmin=2D/
Typical values for macro antennas are:
GSM900 (D = 2.5 m; = 33 cm; Rmin = 38 m)
GSM 900 (D = 2.0 m; = 33 cm; Rmin = 24 m
GSM1800 (D = 1.3 m; = 16 cm; Rmin = 21 m)
UMTS (D = 1.3 m; = 14,6 cm; Rm i n = 23 m)
Close proximity scenario ( cell)
An indoor mobile is connected to micro BTS 1, while another mobile being connected
to micro BTS 2 might turn around the corner and have sudden direct line of sight
condition to micro BTS 1. In such a scenario there is a high risk of BTS receiver inband-blocking. In order to achieve a sufficient minimum coupling loss between mobile
antenna and BTS receiving antenna the mounting height has to be accordingly high,
taking into account the following two basic items:
?
In order to increase the minimum coupling loss between MS and BTS, the antenna
should be positioned as high as possible.
With increasing mounting height the interferer potential will be increased,

especially since microcells often are planned with a reduced Reuse Cluster Size.
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There should not be any obstacles within the near field since the antenna diagram is
then severely disturbed.

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