Prepared by:

Ahmed Mostafa
Ramadan

Contents
1. Planning basis.
2. Coverage planning
3. Capacity planning
4. Advance planning
5. Frequency Planning
6. Neighbor Planning

GSM Bandwidth
GSM 900 :
Channel spacing 200kHz,124 carriers

890

915

935

960

Duplex Spacing : 45 MHz

GSM 1800 :
Channel spacing 200kHz,374 carriers
1710

1785

1805

Duplex Spacing : 95 MHz

1880

Requirement for C/I

C/I

All useful signals

=
All useless signals
interference
Noise from

Useful signal

For Co-freq design:

Theoretical C / I >= 9 dB
Practical C / I >= 12 dB

carrier

environment
Other signals

For Adj-freq design:

Theoretical C / A >= - 9
dB
Practical C / A >= - 6 dB

Signal Quality in GSM

RX Quality
RXQUAL class : 0 ... 7

good
usable signal
acceptable
unusable
signal

RXQUAL
class
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7

Mean BER
(%)
0.14
0.28
0.57
1.13
2.26
4.53
9.05
18.1

BER range
from... to
< 0.2%
0.2 ... 0.4 %
0.4 ... 0.8 %
0.8 ... 1.6 %
1.6 ... 3.2 %
3.2 ... 6.4 %
6.4 ... 12.8 %
> 12.8 %

Interference sources

Multi-path (long echoes)

Frequency reuse
External interference

Reduce the interference

as possible.

Methods for reducing

Interference

Frequency planning
Suitable site location
Antenna azimuth, down tilt and height
Frequency hopping
Power control based on quality
Evaluate signal level and quality
DTX
Silent transmission in speech pauses

Cell Evolution

Umbrella
Cell
5-50Km
Early 80s
Macro Cell
1-5Km
Mid-end 80s
Macro Cell

Micro Cell
100m-1Km
Mid 90s

Pico Cell
10m-100m
Mid-end 90s

Layered Network

Layered Network
High layer station

Middle layer station

Middle layer station

Low layer station

Low layer station

Low layer station

Indoor station

Indoors station

Indoors station

Low layer station

Indoors station

Macro Cell Network

Cost performance solution

Suitable for covering large area
Large cell range
High antenna position
Cell ranges 2 ..20km
Used with low traffic volume
Typically rural area
Road coverage

km
2..20

Micro Cell Network

Capacity oriented network

Suitable for high traffic area
Mostly used with beamed cell
Cost performance solution
Usage of available sites equipment
Typical application
Medium town
Suburb
Typical coverage range: 0.5 .. 2km

0,5 .. 2km

Radio Link Propagation

Multi-path propagation
Radio path is a complicated propagation medium
(Reflection, hills,..etc)
Limited transmitting energy
The service range is determined by the transmission
power of mobiles
Battery life-time
Limited spectrum
Set upper limitation for data rate (Shannons theorem)
Additional effort needed for channel coding
Frequency reused result in self- interference

Radio Propagation
Environment

Multi-path propagation
Shadowing
Terrain
Building
Reflection
Interference

Reflections

Strong echoes can cause excessive transmission

delay
No impact If the delay falls in the equalizer
window
Cause self-interference if the delay falls out of
the equalizer
direct signal window
strong reflected signal

long echoes, out of equalizer window:

self-interference

amplitude

delay time
equalizer window 16 s

Fading

Slow fading (Lognormal Fading)

Shadowing due to large obstacles on propagation
direction
Fast fading (Rayleigh fading)
Serious interference from multi-path signals
Level (dB)
+10
0
-10
-20
920 MHz
v = 20 km/h

-30

5m

Objective of propagation
model

The propagation model is used to estimate the

path loss during radio wave propagation caused
by the terrain and artificial environments

The propagation model is the foundation of the

coverage planning. A good model mean more
precise planning.

The propagation model depends on the working

frequency of the system. Different propagation
models have different working frequencies
ranges. Moreover, indoor propagation model

Land Usage Types

Urban: small cells, 40..50 dB/Dec attenuation
Forest : heavy absorption; 30..40 dB/Dec; differs with
season (foliage loss)
Open, farmland : easy, smooth propagation conditions
Water : propagates very easily ==> dangerous !
Mountain surface: strong reflection, long echoes
Hilltops : can be used as barriers between cells, are not
used for

antenna or site location

Propagation Model
Common propagation
models
Propagation model of free space
(Lp=32.4+20logf+20logd)
Okumura-Hata model (Applying to forecast of 900M
macro cell)
COST231-Hata model (Applying to forecast of 1800M
macro cell)
COST231 Walfish Ikegami model (Applying to forecast
of 900M and 1800M micro cells)
Indoor propagation model (Keenan-Motley, applying to
900M and 1800M cells)

Propagation Models
Propagation losses in free space
Lp=32.4+20lgfMHz+20lgdkm
It can be expressed as:
Ploss=L0+10lgd
=2 path loss slope
Propagation losses in flat area
Lp = 10lgd -20lghb - 20lghm
=4 path loss slope
hb: Height of the BS antenna
hm: Height of the MS antenna

Okumura-Hata Model
Empirical model
Measure and estimate additional attenuations
Applied for larger distance estimation (range:
5 .. 20km)
Not suitable for small distance ( < 1km)

Okumura-Hata Model
The frequency range is 150MHz to 1500MHz.

L p 69.55 26.16 log f 13.82 log hb (44.9 6.55 log hb ) log d Ahm
Lp Path loss (dB)
hb BS antenna height (m)

hm MS antenna height (m) A

hm
Middle or small-size
cities:
Big cities:

Carrier frequency (MHz)

Distance between the BS and MS
(Km)
MS antenna correction factor
(dB)

Ahm (1.1 log f 0.7)hm (1.56 log f 0.8)

Ahm 3.2(log 11.75hm ) 2 4.97

Okumura-Hata Model
The frequency range is 1500MHz to 2000MHz.

L p 46.3 33.9 log f 13.82 log hb (44.9 6.55 log hb ) log d Ahm Cm

C m 0dB
C m 3dB

Large-size cities or central areas of the suburbs

Big cities

K Model
Lp=K1+K2lgd+K3(hm)+K4lg(hm)+K5lg(Heff)+K6lg(Heff)lgd+K7diffn+Kclutter
K1- Constant related with the frequency (MHz);
K2- Constant related to the distance (km);
K3, K4- MS antenna height (m) correction factor;
K5, K6- BS antenna height (m) correction factor;
K7- Diffraction correction factor;
Kclutter- Ground fading correction factor;
d- Distance between the BS and MS (km);
hm, Heff- Valid heights of the MS antenna and BS
antenna (m)

K values

In the following table, K and fading values are given. These

values are collected during the wave propagation analysis in a
medium-size city
Clutter

Attenuation

Inland water

-3.0

149/800 (urban), 162.5/2000

(Urban)
145/800 (big city)
165.5/2000 (big city)

Watery land

-3.00

Open areas

-2.00

Rangeland

-1.00

K2

44.9

Forest

13.00

Industrial & commercial area

5.00

K3

-2.49/800(urban)
-2.93/2000 (urban)
0/800 (large city,-2.93/2000
(large city)

Village

-2.90

Parallel low buildings

-2.50

K4

0.00

Suburban

-2.50

K5

-13.82

Urban

K6

-6.55

Dense urban

k7h

-0.8

High building

16

K parameter
name

Parameter value

K1 (MHz)

Walfish- Ikegami Model

Model used for urban micro-cell propagation.

Assume regular city layout (Manhattan grid).
Total path loss consists of three parts:
Line-of-sight loss LLOS
Roof-to-street loss LRTS
Mobile environment loss LMS

h
w
b

What is diversity

Receive diversity provides an effective technique

for both overcoming the impact of fading across
the radio channel and increasing the received
signal to interference ratio

Diversity
Time diversity
Frequency diversity
Space diversity
Polarization diversity

Contents
1. Planning basis.
2. Coverage planning .
3. Capacity planning.
4. Advance planning.
5. Frequency Planning.
6. Neighbor Planning.

Cell coverage range

Achievable cell coverage depend on :

Frequency band (450, 900, 1800 MHz)

Surroundings and environment
Link budget figure
Antenna type
Antenna direction
Minimum required signal level

Link Budget

Link Budget

Equipment-related
Parameters

BTS Tx power
Maximum BS Tx power.
Maximum MS Tx power
900:2W
1800:1W
BS antenna gain
Typical value: Omni directional antenna: 11dBi or 13dBi;
directional antenna: 15 to 18dBi.
MS antenna gain
Generally, MS antenna and the connection loss are
considered to be 0dB.

Equipment-related Parameters

BTS receiver sensitivity

900:-110dBm
1800:-109dBm
The sensitivity is also related with vendor and
environment
MS receiver sensitivity

-102dBm
BTS feeder and connector loss
The feeder loss is related to the signal frequency and
length.
The connector
loss is approximately
0.2dB. 2000MHz
Feeder types
Frequency
450MHz
800MHz
7/8 inches

2.7 dB/100m

4.03 dB/100m

6.46 dB/100m

5/4 inches

1.9 dB/100m

2.98 dB/100m

4.77 dB/100m

1/2 inches

7.6 dB/100m

11.2 dB/100m

17.7 dB/100m

Distance and Coverage Area

3 Sectors site

Site Coverage Radius:

R
Site distance: D=1.5R
Coverage
Area=1.949R2

Omni site

Site Coverage Radius: R

Site distance: D=1.732R
Coverage Area=2.598R2

Amount of BTS

Evaluate achievable cell coverage range

Radius=f (topography, requirements,
environment, ...)
Coverage Area=F (radius)
Number of BTS needed for coverage reason

Forecast of Coverage Distance

Principles :

According to the communication probability, obtain the receiving

level.

According to the balance of uplink and downlink, estimate the

maximum path loss.

According to the features of environment, confirm the propagation

model.

Forecast the coverage distance of cell.

Forecast of Coverage
Distance

Forecast of Coverage
Distance
Case

To construct a 900MHz Network in the suburb that requires about

100 square kilometer coverage area, -94dBm minimum receiving
level, and 91% border coverage probability, forecast the coverage
distance and calculate the required quantity of BTSs.

Useful input information

Band: 900MHz
Network environment: suburb
Coverage area: 100km
Efficient receiving level: -94dBm
Border coverage probability: 91
2

Forecast of Coverage
Distance
Frequency

Environment

Level

Probability

Coverage
radius

Coverage
acreage

Required BTS
quantity

Contents
1. Planning basis.
2. Coverage planning .
3. Capacity planning.
4. Advance planning.
5. Frequency Planning.
6. Neighbor Planning.

Basic Knowledge of Capacity

Planning
For the capacity planning, you need to know about
the following basic concepts:
Traffic
Call exchange volume of a subscriber in a particular time
Another name: traffic load ; Unit: Erlang;
where:
A Traffic.
m Number of calls per hour.
T Average call time in seconds.
Block rate ( grade of Service)
When all the channels of a system are occupied, use the following formula to
calculate call loss rate:

Basic Knowledge of Capacity

Planning
Erlang-B

Capacity Planning
Description about Capacity Planning
According to the number of subscribers, traffic model,
and local economic situations, forecast network traffic.
According to the number of BTSs, obtain the average
traffic load of a single BTS and channel configuration data.

How many subscriber can cell

support?
We must Know the following points :
Traffic volume generated by subscriber and distribution
amount of subscriber and load per user in busy hour.
GOS: Grade of Service or Block rate
Amount of TCH and signaling CH
The available bandwidth and reuse model
Channel configuration
N.B
Erlang table represent the relationship among block rate,
traffic volume and number of CH

How Many Subscriber should Cell

Support?

Given: Number of subscribers in area, Traffic load

per subscriber, Coverage area, radius
Total traffic volume
traffic per km2
traffic per cell
number of TRX needed per BTS
Allow extra capacity for roamer and busy hour
traffic

Capacity Planning
Case about Capacity Forecast
A local network will be constructed. After two
years, the number of subscribers may attain
100,000. Provide that the traffic per subscriber
is 0.02Erl, 120 BTSs are required, and the call
loss rate is 2%.

Useful information
Subscriber quantity: 100,000
Call loss rate: 2%
Traffic model: 0.02Erl
Number of BTSs: 120

Capacity Planning
Case about Capacity
Forecast
Roaming factor (traffic and developing trend): 10%; dynamic factor
(burst traffic): 15%
Network capacity: 10(1+10%+15%)=125000

In terms of congestion, use 85% to calculate the bearer capability

for traffic. Thus, the design capacity of network is: 12.5/
(85%)=147100, that is 150000.

According to the provided traffic model, that is average 0.02Erl

traffic, forecast the busy-hour traffic of the whole network: 150000
0.02=3000Erl.

The average traffic per BTS is: 3000/120=15Erl, average traffic per
cell: 15/3=5Erl.

Based on 2% call loss rate, query the Erlang-B to find the number of
voice channels: 10 channels/every cell

The number of control channels: 12 channels/every cell, 2TRX/every

Contents
1. Planning basis.
2. Coverage planning .
3. Capacity planning.
4. Advance planning.
5. Frequency Planning.
6. Neighbor Planning.

Why Indoors

Indoor coverage become the main competition between

operators
Subscribers expect continuous coverage and better quality
Outdoor cell cant provide sufficient indoor coverage
Good
Quality!

INDOOR SOLUTION

Building Penetration
Loss
Signal level in building is estimated by using a building
penetration loss margin
Big differences between rooms with window and without
window(10~15 dB)
signal level increases with floor
number :~1.5 dB/floor (for
1st ..10th floor)

Pindoor = -3 ...-15 dB
Pindoor = -7 ...-18 dB

Pref = 0 dB

rear side :
-18 ...-30 dB
-15 ...-25 dB

no coverage

Building Penetration
Loss
Signal loss for penetration varies between different
building materials, e.g.:
mean value
reinforced concrete wall, windows
dB
concrete wall, no windows
30 dB
concrete wall within building
10 dB
brick wall
armed glass
8 dB
wood or plaster wall
6 dB

17

9 dB

In-Building Path Loss

Simple path loss model for in-building environment

Outdoor loss: Okumuras formula
Lout = 42,6 + 20 log( f ) + 26 .. 35 log( d )
Wall loss
Lout
Lwall = f (material; angle)
Indoor loss: linear model
Lwall
For Pico-Cells
Lin = L0 +(loss per meter)*d
Lin
building type

loss

application example

old house

0,7 dB/m

(urban l)

commercial type

0,5 dB/m

(modern offices)

open room, atrium

0,2 dB/m

(museum, train station)

Indoor Coverage
Examples

With Repeater
Relay outdoor signal into target building
Need donor cell, add coverage but not
capacity
With indoor BTS and distributed antenna
Heavy loss bring by power splitting and cable
-50 dBm

50m

1:1

1:1

4th floor
50m
50m

1:1

1:1

Outdoor Antenna
Gain: 18 dBi

3rd floor
50m

7/8'' Cable
Loss: 4dB / 50m
Cable length : 25m

4th Floor
3rd Floor

50m

1:1

1:1:1

1:1

2nd floor
50m
50m

1st Floor

1st floor
50m
50m

1:1

50m

2nd Floor

ground floor

Ground Floor
Indoor Antenna
Gain: 9dBi

Target Indoor Coverage Building

Location Area Design

Location update affects all mobiles in network

Location update in idle mode
Location update after call completion
Location update brings extra burden to the network
Good location area design should avoid ping-pong
location update
Paging ability is limitation of location area
Location area 2
major road

Location area 1

Paging VS Location update

Traffic
signaling
traffic

function of user density,

cell size, call arrival rate ...

function of
user mobility

Paging

Location update

optimum number
of cells in Loc. area

# of cells in Loc. area

minimize signaling traffic

optimum varies with network evolution

Contents
1. Planning basis.
2. Coverage planning .
3. Capacity planning.
4. Advance planning.
5. Frequency Planning.
6. Neighbor Planning.

Interference (C/I)
Estimation
Interference of six co-channel cell to service cell

C q

I
6

fn

fn
1/2

q = D/R = ( 3 k )
fn
D : is the co-channel reuse distance
R : is the radius of the hexagon cell
K : is the frequency reuse density
: path attenuation slope specified by
actual landform environment (Path
attenuation value in mobile environment
=4)

fn

fn

fn

fn

4*3 Frequency
Reuse
C1 C2
A1 A2
C3 D1
C1 C2
D2
A3 B1
A1 A2
B2 D3
C3 D1
D2 B3
A3 B1
C1 C2
C1 C2
B2 D3
A1 A2
A1 A2
B3 C1
C3 D1
C3 D1
C2 A3
D2 A3
D2
A1 A2
B1 B2
B1 B2
C3 D1
D3 C1
D3
D2
C2
A3 B1
B3 A1
B3
B2 D3
A2 C3
D1 D2
B3
A3 B1
B2 D3
B3

Illustration of Frequency Allocation of

4*3 Frequency Reuse

Reuse Density
Reuse density is the number of cells in a basic reuse
cluster.

4*3 12
n*m n*m
n: BTS number in a basic reuse cluster
m: Frequency
group
in a BTS
Tighter reuse
Looser number
reuse
0

10

Higher frequency reuse

efficiency, but interference
is serious. More technique
Is needed.

20
Little interference, but frequency
reuse efficiency is low.

Frequency Planning
Principle

In the same cell, the frequency interval between

channels should be higher than 400K.
In the same site, the frequency interval between
channels should be higher than 400K.
In the direct adjacent sites, avoid co-channel, even
if the direction of the antenna is different
In the opposite adjacent cells, avoid adjacent
channel
Avoid that co-BCCH and co-BSIC appear in

Good network structure is the basis of a good frequency plan.

adjacent area.

Example 1

How to judge the BTS configuration base on the frequency reuse

Frequency
resource
9.6MHz

Interval
200K
48
channels

4*3 pattern
43
12
48/12=4

Available
site type
S444

Example 2
How to allocate 1*3 Frequency Reuse

Suppose 900 band: 96 124

BTS configuration: S3/3/3
BCCH layer: 96 109 reuse pattern: 4*3
TCH layer: 110 124 reuse pattern: 1*3

TCH Consecutive Allocation

Scheme
Cell1
MA1

Cell1
MA1

Cell1
MA1

Cell2

Cell3
MA2

Cell2

Cell3
MA2

MA3

MA3

Cell2

Cell3
MA2

MA3

MAIO
MA1

110

111

112

113

114

0,2

MA2

115

116

117

118

119

0,2

MA3

120

121

122

123

124

0,2

TCH Interval Allocation

Scheme
Cell1
MA1

Cell1
MA1

Cell2

Cell3
MA2

Cell3
MA2

Cell1
MA1

Cell2
MA3

MA3

Cell2

Cell3
MA2

MA3

MAIO
MA1

110

113

116 119 122

0,2

MA2

111 114

117 120 123

1,3

MA3

112 115

118 121 124

0,2

Class of
Hopping
Hopping

can be implemented in two ways

Base-band hopping

RF hopping

Class

according to the min hopping time

unit

Timeslot hopping

Frame hopping

Base Band Hopping Principle

RF Hopping
Principle

Parameter of
hopping

CA (Cell Allocation) All frequencies available in the cell

MA Mobile Allocation ) All frequencies available for FH
in the cell
HSN (Hopping sequence number): an array of all
frequencies in MA
HSN=0 cycle hopping.
HSN0 random hopping. Every sequence
number corresponds a pseudo random sequence.
MAI (Mobile Allocation Index ): the sequence number of
frequency
MAIO Mobile Allocation Index Offset The offset from
the initial point in an array of frequency
TSC Training Sequence Code Consistent with the
cell BCC and cannot be edited

Contents
1. Planning basis.
2. Coverage planning .
3. Capacity planning.
4. Advance planning.
5. Frequency Planning.
6. Neighbor Planning.

Wh
y
Handover is based on the neighbor relationship.
Existing problem of neighbor planning
No neighbor relationship, no handover
Co-BCCH and co-basic between adjacent cells lead to
handover failure.
redundant neighbors
missing neighbor

Neighbor Cell
Description

There are table BA1 and table BA2.

Table BA1 describes BCCH frequencies of the adjacent
cells to be measured when the MS is in idle mode.
Table BA2 describes BCCH frequencies of the adjacent
cells to be measured when the MS is in dedicated mode.
There are two kinds of neighbors
bidirectional neighbors
unidirectional neighbors
Bidirectional neighbors are common, and unidirectional
neighbors are used in special condition, such as
overshooting

Overshooting and unidirectional neighb

The signals of cell A covers some areas far away from this

B
cell. It is overshooting.
When MS moves from this area towards B and C

in dedicated mode, the signal is worse and worse.

since cell B and C is not the cell As neighbor,

call drop will occur finally.

There are three solution:

Adjust the downtilt of the antenna
Adjust the transmitting power of the BTS
Add B and C as the neighbor of cell A, no need to add
A to B and C, that is unidirectional neighbor.
(make sure that there are no co-BCCH and co-BSIC in
neighbor list)

Neighbor Planning
Principle

The cells of co-site must be set as neighbor cells

The cells confronting directly must be added to neighbor
list
The cells facing toward the same direction should be
neighbors
The cells shooting by the original cell
The cells shooting at the original cell
The cells, one site apart, face to face should be neighbor
cells.

Demonstration (ideally)

Original cell
co-site cell
Confronting cell
same directional cell
one site apart
face to face cell

Thank you