Spectrum Refarming Made

Easy with uSON

Brand New Approach to Spectrum
Re-allocation

April 2017

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Introduction
For a Mobile Network Operator (MNO), the most precious yet
scarce resource is the harvested spectrum. With the rise of global
mobile data usage and increasing signaling traffic enabled by the
emerging IoT (Internet of Things) applications, the need for more
spectrum for LTE and beyond resulted in ultra-expensive
The need for more spectrum auctions all around the globe. Even with more spectrum
spectrum for LTE and allocation in the sub 3 GHz bands, the demand for more
beyond resulted in bandwidth can only be partially satisfied. Therefore, it is
ultra-expensive inevitable to re-use the existing spectrum to increase capacity
utilization and reap the benefits of much higher spectrum
spectrum auctions,
efficiency in new Radio Access Technologies. The objective is to
driving the need for
allocate some part of the underutilized frequency bands to more
refarming activities. advanced mobile technologies, which is LTE in this case. In
addition, as GSM networks are about to complete their life cycle,
frequency bands allocated to this technology should be refarmed
and used for providing more advanced mobile services to
customers.

Figure 1, Illustration of Frequency Reassignment from GSM to LTE and UMTS

Source: P.I. Works

There are various benefits of frequency refarming and the most
essential ones are outlined below:
✓ Coverage optimization and improved service quality: A benefit
of refarming GSM frequencies is that the use of lower frequencies
for UMTS or LTE allows each cell site to provide broader
coverage and better performance. Lower frequencies have less
penetration loss, meaning signal strength is maintained over longer
distances and in indoor locations.
✓ Cost reduction: With the use of lower frequencies, larger
geographical areas can be covered with less number of base

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 stations, which in turn reduces CAPEX and OPEX. With the new
set up, mobile operators will be utilizing their existing capacity
more effectively. As a result, they will defer the capital
expenditure associated with the additional capacity needs and will
be able to have a better control over their operational costs.
✓ Improving Subscriber Experience: In essence, spectrum
refarming is a cost-effective way to increase capacity and
coverage for advanced wireless telecommunication technologies.
However, it is not a straightforward task and brings its own set of
challenges to the table for MNOs. In this paper, we outline these
challenges and how uSON can help MNOs for an efficient
spectrum farming implementation.

Considerations for Spectrum

Refarming
First, MNOs need to identify the carriers to deallocate from GSM. This
requires an extensive tracking of network traffic and usage patterns.
Each MNO would have its own strategy of refarming with respect to
available spectrum and the new services that needs to be launched per
geographic area. For example, the MNO might choose to delay launch
of LTE in certain areas due to lesser smartphone penetration. This
means that the frequencies would stay in GSM and UMTS services in
these areas. In other words, the spectrum refarming effort should be in
line with the changing needs of the users across different geographies,
which might require separate planning.
Formula for
Success After refarming activities and more spectrum allocation to LTE,

The spectrum refarming neighbor lists and mobility parameters should be revised in a way that
effort should be in line with this new set-up will enable intra-RAT (Radio access technology) hand-
the changing needs of the over (LTE to LTE) and bias towards LTE frequencies. Additionally, in
users across different case of an inter-RAT handover scenario (LTE to UMTS or LTE to
geographies, which require
GSM), the prioritization should favor the advanced RAT based on the
a thorough planning and
strong execution. mobility offsets, which is LTE to UMTS in this case. This will help the
mobile network operator deliver the highest performance in their mobile
services during handovers.

An important challenge of refarming is to maintain the same levels of

QoS (Quality of Service) for the GSM service after a reduced frequency
plan is chosen for GSM. Typically, full site and cluster audits need to be
carried out for analyzing the traffic, coverage, and interference. In
addition, other metrics and network activities should be monitored to
identify any service quality related problems. If the quality degrades

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 due to insufficient spectrum, the planning might need to be revised to
ensure that GSM service quality is brought up to the desired levels and
maintained.

P.I. WORKS Approach to

Spectrum Refarming
Successful delivery of any refarming project relies on strong
coordination between the MNO and the solution provider. Before
initiating the project, both parties should agree on the technical and
regulatory requirements, identify the cross-border restrictions and other
open issues, and agree on the refarming deployment strategy. A
frequency refarming project can be divided in several phases and P.I.
Works approach is illustrated in Figure 2.

Figure 2, Spectrum Refarming by P.I. Works

Source: P.I. Works

Before starting with the refarming process, MNO and P.I. Works agree
on the activation plan, and uSON is integrated into the mobile network.
Additionally, mobile network is divided into geographical clusters.
Once this is done, spectrum refarming process starts and is executed
concurrently for each cluster. Key components of the spectrum
refarming process (phase 1 – 4 in Figure 2) are explained in below
sections.

Pre-Refarming
P.I. Works solution to spectrum refarming starts with a pre-refarming
study where several factors are considered for an effective planning. At
first, carrier utilization is analyzed to determine if there is any
underutilized carrier that can be refarmed. This way, the required

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 BCCH (Broadcast Control CHannel) and TCH (Traffic Control
Channel) for the remaining GSM frequencies can be determined and an
allocation plan can be devised. When the carriers move to UMTS and
LTE, some strategic decisions need to be made such as which bands
Carrier Aggregation (CA) should include, how the load balancing
should occur between RATs and similar. At this state, clustering
strategy should also be determined as to whether or not refarming
would be incremental. With the dynamic clustering feature of uSON,
cluster borders with similar metrics can easily be determined.

Achieve reduced Automated Frequency Planning (AFP) for GSM

dropped calls and Networks
This part corresponds to phase 2 and 3 in Figure 2. In the operational
improved downlink stage of the refarming, the new GSM frequency plan to assign the
quality with uSON remaining BCCH / TCH is easily carried out using Automated
Automated Frequency Frequency Planner module of uSON. Bulk frequency planning feature
of uSON offers uniform and conflict free distribution of BCCH and
Planning module.
TCH frequencies and BSIC (Base Station Identity Code) values based
on interference matrix gathered from operator GSM network.
The AFP gains can mainly be observed in reduced dropped calls and
improved downlink quality. The results shown in figure 3 are taken
during a drive-test route and it is a proof of how a new AFP
implementation significantly improves mobile user experience. The
blue lines in the figure represents the highest quality in cell coverage,
whereas yellow means average and red is poor. Following the AFP,
voice and data quality have been improved significantly (see the picture
on the right) and the problematic areas on the route have been
eliminated.

Figure 3, Impact of Automatic Frequency Replanning on Dropped Calls and Downlink Quality

Source: P.I. Works; performance indicators taken from an existing project

The performance gains from frequency planning can easily be tracked

on uSON PM’s interactive charts and dashboards (Business Analytics
tool of P.I. Works that is used for performance management). Usually

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 the improvements on call drop rates and downlink signal quality are
substantial and performance can even be better than pre-farming period.

UMTS and LTE Tuning

For carriers which are assigned to UMTS and LTE, new neighbor plans
and audits as well as code plans and area code tuning need to be carried
out as well. uSON’s forte in bulk planning of these network parameters
can easily be observed on the obtained gains after these plans are run.

Figure 4, Illustration of LAC Island Problem

Source: P.I. Works

For example, resolving the LAC (location area code) Island in the case
above (Figure 4) resulted in much less LAU (Location Area Update)
signaling in the overall network. In the first picture on the left (before
tuning), any mobile user that travels within the blue zone will have to
pass through two LAC islands (see the yellow island in the middle of
the blue zone), whereas in the second picture (after tuning) the same
user will be subject to less hand overs as the yellow LAC island is
removed.

Figure 5, Reduction in Missing Neighbor Related Call Drops

Source: P.I. Works; performance indicators from an existing project

SON’s call-traces based ANR (Automatic Neighbor Relation) module

creates Inter-RAT and Inter-Frequency relations based on mobility
activities at co-located intra-frequency. Multiple reference data is

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 compiled such as handover preparation attempts and distance between
cells. According to the example in Figure 5, the ANR module provided
more than 85% reduction in missing neighbor related call drops,
enabled by successful hand-over of mobile traffic among neighbor cells.

With integrated real-time performance alarms based on CM

(configuration management), PM (performance management) or trace
parameters (or any integrated data), the health of refarmed sites can
easily be tracked to see whether or not any catastrophic events are
happening.

Post-Refarming Activities
Once the refarming of frequencies are completed and new frequency
plan is applied, long term optimization efforts start for all Radio Access
Technologies. These activities include:

✓ Shared antenna aware coverage tuning

P.I. Works solution ✓ Neighbor Optimization
uses geolocated ✓ Load Balancing (includes offsets to specific carriers)
crowdsourced data for ✓ Code Optimization plans for resolving conflicts (or bulk planning
if new nodes are introduced)
achieving a more
✓ Quality benchmarking
subscriber-centric
transformation An important point to mention is the use of geolocated crowdsourced
data for network quality benchmarking from user’s perspective.
Crowdsourced data can enable an almost real-time analysis of refarming
activities as to how they impacted the performance. The metrics from
crowdsourced data can be monitored for the refarmed bands to observe
user behavior and usage patterns. The analysis can be per frequency
band and results can be visualized for each band to understand which
bands provide most value.
Geolocated information can be used in the pre-refarming activities as
well. This information can show areas of poor signal quality r traffic
hotspots where bands need to be refarmed to increase capacity.

Conclusion
P.I. Works uSON Solution eases the burden of spectrum refarming
efforts by helping in all stages of the activity. uSON Automated
Frequency Planner (AFP) module constructs a new GSM spectrum plan
whereas uSON UMTS and LTE modules help with new code plans,
neighbor configuration, area code plans and parameter audits. uSON’s
flagship coverage and capacity optimization and mobile load balancing
modules optimize capacity and mobility for all RATs and inter-RAT
borders allowing for a seamless network experience with increased

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 subscriber experience. The integration of crowdsourced data helps in
both pre-refarming activities to extract problematic areas for allocating
more spectrum as well as monitoring network changes and new plans
from subscribe perspective. With uSON solution, spectrum refarming
challenges can easily be tackled to extract the most benefit from
existing network resources.

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 About P.I. Works
P.I. Works is a leading provider of next-generation mobile network
planning, management and optimization solutions. P.I. Works
combines field-proven expertise with a commercially available
product portfolio and services. These solutions empower Mobile
Network Operators to accelerate network transformation, improve
network quality and subscriber experience while lowering their costs.
P.I. Works has deployed its solutions at more than 30 mobile network
operators in 28 countries.

For more information, please visit http://www.piworks.net/ or send e-

mail to sales@piworks.net.

Copyright© 2017 P.I. Works. All Rights Reserved.

...unlocking the full potential

of mobile and redefining the
mobile experience worldwide.

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