GSM Fundamentals & RF

GTL welcomes you to the Basic course on GSM Fundamentals & RF

What you will learn here?

Basic Telecom concepts Various Wireless Technologies Cellular concepts & Principal of cellular Comm. GSM Network Architecture GSM channel Architecture Call Flows in GSM GSM Planning steps (Nominal Plan & RF surveys) GSM Optimization Steps ( Performance, Drive testing & Benchmarking)
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BASIC Telephony

Signaling Traffic
Off Hook Dial Tone Dialing Digits RBT Conversation

SWITCH / EXCHANGE

Ring Off Hook & Conversation

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Wireless Communication
Alternative means of wireless communication Walkie - Talkie Pagers Trunked private radios

Mobile Phone - the magic technology that enables everyone to communicate anywhere with anybody.

Wireless Telephony
MSC

BSC BTS BTS

Mobile Subscriber...
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Different Standards Worldwide

Till 1982 Cellular Systems were exclusively Analog Radio Technology. Advanced Mobile Phone Service (AMPS)

U.S. standard on the 800 MHz Band

Total Access Communication System (TACS) U.K. standard on 900 MHz band Nordic Mobile Telephone System (NMT) Scandinavian standard on the 450 & 900 MHz band
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Different Standards Worldwide

Different Standards Worldwide

GSM - 900 The term GSM-900 is used for any GSM system which operates in any 900 MHz band. P-GSM - 900 P-GSM-900 band is the primary band for GSM-900 Frequency band for primary GSM-900 (P-GSM-900) : 2 x 25 MHz 890 915 MHz for MS to BTS (uplink) 935 960 MHz for BTS to MS (downlink) E-GSM - 900 In some countries, GSM-900 is allowed to operate in part or in all of the following extension band. E-GSM900 (Extended GSM-900) band includes the primary band (P-GSM-900) and the extension band : 880 890 MHz for MS to BTS (uplink) 925 935 MHz for BTS to MS (downlink) R-GSM-900 R-GSM-900 (Railway GSM-900) band includes the primary band (P-GSM-900) and the following extension band: 876 890 MHz for MS to BTS (uplink) 921 935 MHz for BTS to MS (downlink) GSM-1800 Frequency band: 2 x 75 MHz 1710 1785 MHz for MS to BTs (uplink) 1805 1880 MHz for BTS to MS (downlink)

Industry Vs Technology Spread

Telecom Service Providers/Operators
GSM CDMA Basic-WLL Internet Services Long Distance

Vendor Telecom Consultancy

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Analog Mobile Telephony

End of 1980s Analog Systems unable to meet continuing
demands Severely confined spectrum allocations Interference in multipath fading environment Incompatibility among various analog systems

Inability to substantially reduce the cost of mobile

terminals and infrastructure required
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Digital Mobile Telephony

Spectrum space - most limited and precious resource Solution - further multiplex traffic (time domain) Can be realized with Digital Techniques only

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GSM History and Organization

1979 1982 1986 1988 1990 1991 Europe wide frequency band reserved for Cellular Groupe Speciale Mobile created within CEPT GSM had full time in Paris ETSI takes over GSM Committee The phase 1 GSM Recommendations frozen GSM Committee renamed Special Mobile Group and GSM renamed as Global System for Mobile Communication GSM launched for commercial operations

1992

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Service Industry
Service Provider is not a Equipment Manufacturer.

The Service Provider has a license to operate in a

geographical boundary (state/circle/ country). It buys equipment from OEM Suppliers (Vendors). Installs & commissions the equipment thus making its own Network.

Provides the desired service to its subscribers.

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Vendor
Vendor is a Equipment Manufacturer.
It supplies Product, Consultancy and Trainings Service provider has the option of taking the Consultancy

and Training

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Cellular Communication
A cellular system links Mobile subscribers to Public Telephone System or to another Mobile subscribers. It removes the fixed wiring used in a traditional telephone

installation.
Mobile subscriber is able to move around, perhaps can travel

in a vehicle or on foot & still make & receive call.

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Advantage of Cellular Communication

Mobility Flexibility Convergence Greater QOS Network Expansion

Revenue/Profit
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WHAT IS CELLULAR TELEPHONY ?

CONSIDERATIONS FREQUENCY
Base Station

SUBSCRIBER DENSITY COVERAGE

Base Station Base Station

Base Station Base Station

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Base Station

The Cell
Cellular Radio involves dividing a large service area into

regions called cells.

Each cell has the equipment to switch, transmit and receive calls.

Cells - Reduce the need of High powered transmission

Cells - Conventionally regarded as being hexagonal, but in reality they are irregularly shaped. Cell shape is determined by the nature of the surrounding area e.g. Hills , tall building etc.
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Cell Size
Large Cells 35 Km Small Cells Near about 1 KM

Remote Areas
High Transmission Power Few subscribers

Urban Areas
Low Transmission Power Many Subscribers
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Coverage & Capacity

Coverage Percentage of the geographical area covered by cellular service where mobile telephony is available

Capacity Number of calls that can be handled in a certain area within a certain period of time. Capacity can also refer to the probability that users will be denied access to a system due to the simple unavailability of radio channels.
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Frequency Spectrum

Designation Very Low Frequency Low Frequency Medium Frequency High Frequency Very High Frequency Ultra High Frequency Super High Frequency Extremely High Frequency

Abbreviation VLF LF MF HF VHF UHF SHF EHF

Frequencies 9 kHz - 30 kHz 30 kHz - 300 kHz 300 kHz - 3 MHz 3 MHz - 30 MHz 30 MHz - 300 MHz 300 MHz - 3 GHz 3 GHz - 30 GHz 30 GHz - 300 GHz

Free-space Wavelengths 33 km - 10 km 10 km - 1 km 1 km - 100 m 100 m - 10 m 10 m - 1 m 1 m - 100 mm 100 mm - 10 mm 10 mm - 1 mm

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GSM - IN CELLULAR TELEPHONY

Each Cell in the Cellular Network consists of one or more RF carriers. An RF carrier is a pair of radio frequencies One used in upward direction by MS - Uplink Other used in downward direction by BTS - Downlink The transmit and receive frequencies are separated by a gap of 45 MHz in GSM of 75 MHz in DCS. There are 124 carries in GSM Band. With each carrier carrying 7 timeslots, only 124 x 7 = 868 calls can be made! Frequency Reuse is the solution
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Frequency & ARFCN

Ful(n) = 890.0 + (0.2) *n MHz Fdl(n) = Ful + 45 MHz
where n =ARFCN ; 1 n 124
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Multiple Access Methods

Power Time Time Power

FDMA
Power Time

Frequency

CDMA

Frequency

TDMA

Frequency

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Multiple Access Methods

FDMA
Power

TDMA
Power

CDMA
Power

FDMA: AMPS & NAMPS Each user occupies a private Frequency, protected from interference through physical separation from other users on the same frequency TDMA: IS-136, GSM Each user occupies a specific frequency but only during an assigned time slot. The frequency is used by other users during other time slots. CDMA Each user occupies a signal on a particular frequency simultaneously with many other users, but is uniquely distinguishable by correlation with a special code used only by this user

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Frequency Reuse Pattern

Three types of frequency reuse patterns 7 Cell reuse pattern 4 cell reuse pattern

3 cell reuse pattern

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3 Site Reuse Pattern

c2

c1
c3 b2 b1 b3 c2 c1 c3
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a2
a1 a3 Cell Re-use

FREQUENCY RE - USE
Frequency Re-use

2 7 1 6 5 4 3

D Cell Dia = R

D=R (3N)
where N is Cluster size

7/21 cell cluster

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Principal Of Sectorization
Omni Directional Cells 120 degree Sectors 60 Degree sectors

Each Sector in a Site has its own allocation of Radio Carriers

Advantage

By frequent reuse of frequency more capacity can be achieved

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Frequency Hopping

Multipath Fading results in variations in signal strength which is known as Rayleigh Fading. Rayleigh Fading phenomenon is dependent on path difference and hence frequency of reception. A fast moving mobile may not experience severe effect of this fading since the path difference is continuously changing.

A slow moving mobile ( or a halted mobile ) may experience severe deterioration in quality.
But, if the frequency of reception is changed when this problem occurs ,could solve it.

The fading phenomenon is fast and almost continuos, this means the frequency change should also be continuos.
This process of continuously changing frequency is known as Frequency Hopping.

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Frequency Hopping

Frequency Hopping is done in both Uplink and Downlink . Frequency is changed in every TDMA Frame Mobile can Hop on maximum 64 frequencies The sequence of Hopping can be Cyclic or Non-Cyclic

There are 63 Non-Cyclic Hopping sequences possible

Different Hopping sequence can be used in the same cell.

BCH Timeslot can never HOP, but the remaining Timelsots can very well hop.
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Frequency Hopping
Reduction in Average Interference

With Frequency Hopping consistent interference will become bursty. So even though, both the co-channel cells will be using the same set of ARFCN's for Hopping, interference will not be continuos. This is because, GSM cells are not Frame synchronized, and change in frequency is related to Frame nos.

If same HSN is used in two cells, then either the interference will be nil , or if a phase correlation exists then it will be continuos.
So the two cells should preferably use different HSN's . Sectorial cells ( controlled by the same BTS) can use same HSN, since the sectors don't come up at the same time. Cells if they are synchronized, can use same HSN, if each cell has an offset of some TDMA frames. Offset of TDMA frames is also required to avoid SACCH occurring at the same time in all synchronized cells, as they kills away the objective of DTX. 32

Cell Sectorisation
b2 b1 a2
OMNI CELL
1 ANTENNA

b3 a3
a4
120O CELLS
3 ANTENNAS

a1 a6 a5
60O CELLS
6 ANTENNAS

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Features of GSM
Compatibility

Noise Robust
Increased Capacity & Flexibility Use of Standard Open Interfaces Improved Security & Confidentiality Cleaner Handovers

Subscriber Identification
ISDN Compatibility Enhanced Range of Services
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Handovers
Hard Handoff Analog, TDMA and GSM Soft Handoff CDMA

Break before Make

Make before Break

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Handovers
197 199 113 200

187 198 214 215 20 175 22 216 7 41 11 218 75 132 221 213 220 219 8 32 28 24 40 120 80 19 182 69 13 73 16 17 222 44 12 71 173 181 25 171 70 225 18 201

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Cleaner Handovers
The mobile measures up to 32 adjacent cells for

Signal Strength (RxLevel)

Signal Quality (RxQual) updated every 480 mS and sends to BTS

Sophisticated Handover based on

RxLevel Interference

RxQual
Timing Advance Power Budget
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38

GSM NETWORK ELEMENTS

BSC
OML

OMC OM

C
BTS BT S BTS BT S BTS BT BTS BT S BTS BT

VMSC VMS
HLR HL AUC C AU

A
BTS BT S BTS BT S TRAU

MSC MS

S
BTS BT S MS

R VLR VL R
BC

C EIR EI R

SMSC SMS

BSC

B C
PSTN

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Mobile Station Identities

MSISDN : Human Identity used to call a Mobile Station MSRN : Mobile Station CC NDC SN Roaming No

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XXX

12345
10 digits MSIN

IMSI : Network Identity unique to a SIM

3 2 digits MCC digits MNC

TMSI : Identity unique in a LAI

404

XX

12345

IMEI: Serial number unique to every Mobile Station

TAC

FAC

SNR

S
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6 digits 2 digits 6 digits 1 digit

GSM Network Components

Mobile Station consists of two parts-

Mobile Equipment (ME)

Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) ME

Hardware e.g. Telephone, Fax Machine, Computer.

SIM Smart Card which plugs into the ME.

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ME (Classmark Information)
Revision Level Phase of the GSM specs ME comply with. RF Power Capability Max power ME is able to Transmit. Ciphering Algorithm Used Presently A5 Phase 2 specifies Algorithms A5/0 to A5/7. Frequency Capability SMS Capability
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Mobile Equipment
Class
1 2 3 4

Power O/p
20 W 8W 5W 2W Typical Settings

0.8 W

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SIM(IMSI)
IMSI(International Mobile Subscriber Identity)
Transmitted over Air Interface on initialization

Permanently stored on SIM card

15 digit Decimal

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SIM
MSISDN

10 digit number to which a subscriber is being called.

PIN (Personal Identification Number) Four digit PIN An internal security to Protect the SIM from illegal use. Card blocks itself after three wrong entries PUK (Personal Unblocking Key) 8 digit code to unblock the SIM Card Ki (Authentication Key), A3 & A8 Algorithms
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SIM (TMSI)
Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity Periodically changed by the System Management on instances like location update etc. Reason for use of TMSI To prevent a possible intruder from identifying GSM users, TMSI is used

Management
Assignment, Administration & Updating is performed 46 by VLR.

Transcoder
Converts 64 Kbps PCM circuits from MSC to 16 Kbps BSS circuits. Each 30 channel 2 Mbps PCM link can carry 120 GSM specified voice channels.

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Base Station System (BSS)

BSS (Base Station System)
BSC (Base Site Controller) BTS (Base Transceiver Station) XCDR (Transcoder)

XCDR

Network Switching System (NSS)

BSC

BTS
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Base Station System (BSS)

BSC Controls upto 40 BTS Conveys information to/from BTS Connects terrestrial circuits & Air Interface Channels Controls handovers between BTSs under itself BTS Contains RF Hardware Limited control functionality 1 - 6 carriers in a BTS Cabinet 7 - 48 simultaneous calls per BTS
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BSS Configuration
Collocated BTS Remote BTS Star Configuration Daisy Chain BTS
BSC
BTS B T S

Loop Configuration
BTS

All BTS on 1 E1

BSC

BTS

BTS
BTS

BTS 50

Network Switching System(NSS)

NSS (Network Switching System) MSC (Mobile Switching Centre) HLR (Home Location Register)

VLR (Visitor Location Register)

EIR (Equipment Identity Register) AUC (Authentication Centre) IWF (Interworking Function) EC (Echo Canceller)
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GSM Network Component

MSC Call Switching Operation & Management Support Internetwork Interworking Collects call billing data Gateway MSC

MSC which provides interface between PSTN & BSSs in the GSM Network.
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Home Location Register (HLR)

Reference database for the Subscriber profiles Subscriber ID (IMSI & MSISDN) Current VLR Address Supplementary Services subscribed Supplementary Service Information Subscriber Status (Registered/deregistered)

Authentication Key and AUC functionality

TMSI MSRN
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Visitor Location Register (VLR)

Temporary Data, which exists as long as the subscriber is active in a particular Coverage area. Contains the following Mobile Status (Busy/ Free/ No Answer/etc.) Location Area Identity (LAI) TMSI

MSRN (Mobile Station Roaming Number)

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Equipment Identity Register (EIR) Contains Database for validating

IMEI
White List (valid ME)
Black List (Stolen ME) Grey List (Faulty ME)
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Inter Working Function

Provides function to enable the GSM System to interface with Public/Private Data Networks. The basic feature of the IWF are
Rate Conversion Protocol adaptation

IWF incorporates Modem Bank.

e.g. GSM DTE

IWF

PSTN DTE
Analogue Modem
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Echo Canceller
Echo is apparent only in Mobile - Land conversation & is generated at the 2 wire to 4 wire interface. To avoid it, Echo Canceller (EC) is used.
Echo is irritating to MS Subscriber
Total Round Trip delay of 180 ms in the GSM system EC is placed on the PSTN side of the Switch Cancellation up to 68 ms with EC
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Operation & Maintenance Centre

Event & Alarm Management Fault Management Performance Management Configuration Management Security Management

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GSM Terrestrial Interfaces

Broadly classified into two types of interfaces Standard Interfaces 2 Mbps Trunks (E1) Signalling System No. 7 SS7 ( CCS7) X.25 (Packet Switched Mode) GSM Interfaces
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GSM Interfaces
Um Abis A B MS BTS BSC MSC - BTS - BSC - MSC - VLR

C
D E F G H

MSC
VLR MSC MSC VLR HLR

- HLR
- HLR - MSC - EIR - VLR - AUC
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GSM Protocol Layers

GSM protocols are basically divided into three layers:

Layer 1: Physical layer

Enables physical transmission (TDMA, FDMA, etc.) Assessment of channel quality Except on the air interface (GSM Rec. 04.04), PCM 30 or ISDN links are used (GSM Rec. 08.54 on Abis interface and 08.04 on A to F interfaces).

Layer 2: Data link layer

Multiplexing of one or more layer 2 connections on control/signaling channels Error detection (based on HDLC) Flow control Transmission quality assurance Routing

Layer 3: Network layer

Connection management (air interface) Management of location data Subscriber identification Management of added services (SMS, call forwarding, conference calls, etc.)

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Basic Processes
AUTHENTICATION CIPHERING REGISTRATION CALL ESTABLISHMENT HANDOVER / HANDOFF ROAMING
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AUTHENTICATION ALGORITHM
HLR
NSS

Ki

AUC
RAND

AUTH. ALGORITHMS A3

SRES

COMPARE

AIR INTERFACE
RAND SRES

SIM

Ki

MS
MS

AUTH. ALGORITHMS A3

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Ciphering
Data protection is required on air interface. A specific key called Ciphering Key (Kc), is generated from RAND and A8 algorithm. A8 is on the SIM.

Ki

RAND

A8
Kc
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Ciphering

Kc Ciphered
Data

Kc

A5

Data

A5

Data

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Transmission Media
Access Network Microwave 15 /23 GHz Backbone Network

Microwave 7 GHz
Optical Fibers Leased Line( From Dot or any other service provider

on any media)

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Optical Fiber
Different Possible Combinations Mono Mode Step Index 10 / 125 m Mono Mode Graded index Multi Mode Step Index 100 / 300 m Multi Mode Graded Index 75 / 130 m Mono Mode Graded Index would have been the best but fabrication not possible 140 Mbps OLTE , Mono Mode Step Index in our case

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68

Channels On Air Interface

Physical Channel Logical Channel Physical Channel

Physical channel is the medium over which the information is carried.

Logical Channel Logical channels consists of the information carried over the Physical Channel.
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LOGICAL CHANNELS
3
3 T

Normal Burst
57 encrypted
1 26 1 S training S 577S

57 encrypted

3 T

8.25 GP

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
577S x 8 = 4.615mS

TDMA Frame

26 Frame Multi-frame

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GSM Channels

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Traffic Channel
Traffic Channels Time is divided into discrete periods called Timeslots TCH/F TCH/H Full rate 22.8kbits/s Half rate 11.4 kbits/s
TCH carries payload data - speech, fax, data
Connection may be: - Circuit Switched - voice or data - Packet Switched data TCH may be: Full Rate (TCH/F) - one channel per user or

- 13 kb/s voice, 9.6 kb/s data

Half Rate (TCH/H)

or

- one channel shared between two users - 6.5 kb/s voice, 4.8 kb/s data

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Control Channel
Control Channels BCH ( Broadcast channels ) Downlink only CCCH(Common Control Chan) Downlink & Uplink DCCH(Dedicated Channels) Downlink & Uplink

BCCH
Broadcast control channel

Synch. Channels

Random Access Channel

RACH

Cell Broadcast Channel

CBCH

SDCCH
Standalone dedicated control channel

Associated Control Channels

ACCH

Frequency Correction channel

FCCH

Paging/Access grant

PCH/ AGCH

Fast Associated Control Channel

FACCH

Slow associated Control Channel

SACCH

SCH
Synchronization channel

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Broadcast Channels (BCH)

BCH channels are all downlink and are allocated to timeslot zero.

Channels are:
FCCH: Frequency control channel sends the mobile a burst of all 0 bits which allows it to fine tune to the downlink frequency SCH: Synchronization channel sends the absolute value of the frame number (FN), which is the internal clock of the BTS, together with the Base Station Identity Code (BSIC) BCCH: Broadcast Control Channel sends radio resource management and control messages, Location Area Code and so on. Some messages go to all mobiles, others just to those that are in the idle state
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Common Control Channels (CCCH)

CCCH contains all point to multi-point downlink channels (BTS to

several MSs) and the uplink Random Access Channel: CBCH: Cell Broadcast Channel is an optional channel for general information such as road traffic reports sent in the form of SMS PCH: Paging Channel sends paging signal to inform mobile of a call RACH: Random Access Channel is sent by the MS to request a channel from the BTS or accept a handover to another BTS. A channel request is sent in response to a PCH message. AGCH: Access Grant Channel allocates a dedicated channel (SDCCH) to the mobile NCH: Notification Channel informs MS about incoming group or broadcast calls
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Dedicated Control Channels (DCCH)

SDCCH( Standalone Dedicated Control Channel )

Uplink and Downlink Used for call setup, location update and SMS. SACCH( Slow Associated Control Channel ) Used on Uplink and Downlink only in dedicated mode. Uplink SACCH messages - Measurement reports. Downlink SACCH messages - control info.

FACCH( Fast Associated Control Channel )

Uplink and Downlink. Associated with TCH only.
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BURST
The Time Slots are arranged in a sequence , conventionally numbered 0 to 7. Each repetition of this sequence is called a TDMA Frame. The information content carried in one time slot is called a burst.

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BURST
Information Main Area where the Speech, Data or Control info is held Guard Period To enable the burst to hit the time slot (0.031ms) Stealing Flags 2 bits are set when TCH is to stolen by a FACCH Training Sequence For estimation of transfer characteristics of physical media Tail Bits Used to indicate beginning and end of the burst.
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GSM Burst & TDMA Frame

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
FRAME 1 FRAME 2

Information Training Sequence TAIL BITS

GUARD PERIOD

Information TAIL BITS

GUARD PERIOD

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Five Types of Burst

Normal Burst Traffic & Control Channels Frequency Correction Burst FCCH Downlink Downlink

Bi-directional

Synchronization Burst
SCH Dummy Burst

BCCH Carrier
Access Burst RACH

Downlink
Uplink

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Call Scenarios
Mobile to Mobile Intra-city Inter-city Mobile to Land Intra-city Inter-city Land to Mobile Intra-city Inter-city
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Mobile To Land Sequence

MS 1 2
CHANNEL REQUEST
DCCH ASSIGN SIGNALLING LINK ESTABLISHED REQUEST FOR SERVICE AUTHENTICATION SET CIPHER MODE SDCCH RACH AGCH

BSS

MSC

VLR

HLR

PSTN EIR

CR

3
4 5 6 7

CC

SET-UP
EQUIPMENT ID REQUEST

SDCCH

Call Info

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Call Contt.
8
9
COMPLELTE CALL CALL PROCEEDING ASSIGNMENT COMMAND SDCCH (channel) FAACH (TCH)

BSS MS SDCCH

MS C

VLR HLR PSTN EIR

(circuit)

ASSIGNMENT COMPLELTE INITIAL & FINAL ADDRESS (IFAM) ASSIGNMENT COMPLETE (ACM) ALTERING 10 MS HEARS RINGTONE FROM LAND PHONE

FACCH

ANSWER(ANS)

Hello!
FACCH FACCH

11 CONNECT

RING TONE STOPS

CONNECT ACKNOWLEDGE
TCH

BILLING STARTS
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Supplementary Services
Calling Line Identification Present Absent Connect Line Identification

Present
Absent Closed User Group - CUG

Only incoming
Only outgoing Operator Controlled Barring
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Data Services
Data
2.4

rates supported as of today are

Kbps

4.8

Kbps

9.6 Kbps

GPRS

& EDGE implementation takes the data

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capability to higher level of the order of 184

kbps and more

Customer..Expectation
Good coverage where ever he goes Good quality No blocking Value added services
SMS Voice mail MMS Call forward/call waiting Data/internet at high data rates prepaid
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Basic Network Design Objectives

The basic objectives of a wireless system are: COVERAGE: provide sufficient cell sites to deliver RF coverage of the entire desired area. BUILDING/VEHICLE PENETRATION: deliver sufficient signal levels to adequately penetrate buildings and vehicles where appropriate. TRAFFIC: ensure that no cell captures more traffic than it can handle at the desired grade of service (i.e., blocking percentage) PERFORMANCE: design, construct, and adjust the network to deliver reliable service free from excessive origination and call delivery failures, dropped calls, quality impairments, and service outages. ECONOMICS: provide return on investment sufficient to support operating and capital expenses, expand the network to take advantage of growth opportunities, and retire costs of construction prior to depreciation of the network equipment.

87

High Level Design

Inputs Coverage objectives Area coverage objectives Coverage penetration objectives Morphology data/clutter information Terrain data and Vector maps Traffic objectives Number of subscribers defined Traffic per subscriber defined Desired grade of service defined City regulations BTS Hardware specifications Link Budget Business and Logistical objectives Capital budget Timing: launch data Operating revenue Vs. total costs Output Cell database and traffic model Composite coverage plot Equal power handoff boundaries plot

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Background Issues Impacting System Design

Site acquisition Availability of suitable candidate (building or land) Owner interest Cost of leasing Frequency clearance (SACFA) Government authority approval Space constraints and other construction issues Candidate Location line of sight to the objective Clutter type Terrain variations Physical Blocking buildings, hoardings Water Mumbai High end, high traffic areas are very close to water. Makes RF design much more challenging Deviation from desired location impacts surrounding site locations
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Design considerations of Network (GSM/CDMA)

Understand geographical area as per license agreement Define coverage expectations in terms On road coverage In-building coverage (different penetration margins) Capacity considerations busy hour per subscriber call attempts and minutes of use (Erlangs) 1 Erlang is 1 call of 1 hour duration Decide number of sites based on coverage capacity requirement Propagation tools used for this analysis Finalize exact site locations after field survey Initiate candidate identification process Site acquisition/antenna positioning Modify existing design if site location changes 90

Flow Chart for Network Deployment

Market Requirement

System/Site Dimensioning Propagation model verification RF &Network Planning

Site Search Plan

Site Search & Selection

Site Acquisition

Performance Monitoring

Site Build

Traffic & Growth Analysis

Operational Network

System Optimisation

Site Coverage Confirmation

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GSM Planning Steps

Various steps are listed below
CW survey Model Tuning Nominal Planning RF site Surveys Realized Planning Frequency Planning

Implementation Optimization
Drive Testing Performance Analysis
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Nominal Planning
It consists of planning a set of sites on planning tool so as to predict the coverage of the target area Tool needs to be made intelligent so as to predict the coverage as close as possible to actual coverage Coverage plots are based on customer intension of providing indoor and outdoor coverage
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Mumbai Coverage Expectation Boundary

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Coverage Maps Reverse Link.

Mazgaon

Indoor Coverage: Penetration Margin Legend

Malabar Hill

>=30dB:: 3-4 wall coverage 25-30dB : 3 Wall Coverage 23-25 dB : 2-3 Wall Coverage 18-23dB: 2-3 Wall Coverage 16-18 dB : 2 Wall Coverage

8-16dB : 1-2wall Coverage

08 dB : On Road-1 Wall Coverage

00 dB : On Road/No Coverage

Colaba
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Composite Coverage Plot

Propagation models are used to predict coverage from a particular site A composite coverage plot shows the overall coverage produced by each sector in the field of view The color of each pixel corresponds to the signal level of the strongest server at that point Such plots are useful for identifying coverage holes and overall coverage extent

96

Clutter Types
Clutter types
Dense Urban Urban Sub Urban Rural Water Vegetation Industrial Forest
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RF surveys
Each nominal has a search ring defined by the RF Planner Candidates needs to be identified as close as possible to the nominal within the search ring Height, orientations & antenna placement at site are the key RF parameter which are based upon the coverage requirement in the area Major obstructions and clutter type in various directions to be observed on RF survey
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RF surveys
Equipment required for RF Survey
GPS Digital Camera Binoculars Magnetic Compass

There might be 3 or more candidates surveys for one site Each candidate would have an RF survey form and panoramic associated with it
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Drive Testing
Drive testing is an important activity to get statistics & graphs on coverage, quality & capacity in the downlink direction Drive test setup DT tool, Engineering Handset, GPS, accessories Call in 2 modes Dedicated while the mobile is on call Idle while the mobile is idle Important parameters observed during drive testing Coverage Rx level (Full & Sub) Quality RxQual & SQI Handover, Dropped call, Neighbor list, TA
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Selecting and Tuning Propagation Models

Parameters of propagation models must be adjusted for best fit to actual drive-test measured data in the area where the model is applied The figure at right shows drive-test signal strengths obtained using a test transmitter at an actual test site Tools automate the process of comparing the measured data with its own predictions, and deriving error statistics Prediction model parameters then can be tuned to minimize observed error
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Drive Test Screen

102

What is Performance Optimization?

The words performance optimization mean different things to different people, viewed from the perspective of their own jobs System Performance Optimization includes many different smaller processes at many points during a systems life recognizing and resolving system-design-related issues (cant build a crucial site, too much overlap/soft handoff, coverage holes, etc.) cluster testing and cell integration to ensure that new base station hardware works and that call processing is normal fine-tuning system parameters to wring out the best possible call performance identifying causes of specific problems and customer complaints, and fixing them carefully watching system traffic growth and the problems it causes implementing short-term fixes to ease hot spots, and recognizing problems before they become critical

103

Optimization
Optimisation is an ongoing process of analysing network performance against Quality of Service targets:

104

Performance
Measurements of network performance cover:
Traffic in erlangs TCH and SDCCH Grade of Service (Congestion) Call success rate Handover failure Coverage area Coverage quality Subscriber base and growth Key Performance Indicators (KPI) are measurable dynamic parameters that help to target areas of concern
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KPIs
Appropriate KPIs to use depend on: The nature of the network Data sources available Measurement tools available Ability of engineering team Cost of network infrastructure
Sources of data include: Surveyed data - from drive tests Network statistics - from OMC Field engineer reports
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Radio Interface Optimization

Transmission Timing Power Control VAD Voice Activity Detector and DTX Multipath Fading Equalization Diversity Frequency Hopping Antenna Parameters ( Height, Azimuth, Tilts )
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Antenna Tilts

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Antenna Tilts

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Benchmarking
Surveyed data from test-mobile measurements can be used to benchmark system performance against that of a competitor Problems that may be identified from surveyed data: Poor coverage

Unexpected interference
Missing handover definitions Installation problems at BTS

Test-mobile measurements should include:

continuous calls to test coverage repetitive short calls to test call-success
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Overview
RF Planning Tool Drive Test Tool

Optimization Tool
MapInfo
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