1 IN-BUILDING DAS RADIO PLANNING GUIDELINES

1.1 Objective
The objective of this document is to provide the MTN Radio Planner with guidelines to planning a distributed antenna system solution. An effectively designed system is considered to be future proof, perform optimally and yield a feasible ROI. As the deployment and equipment costs of distributed antenna systems are usually high it is also important to ensure that the overall solution cost is considered when choosing the distributed coverage solution.

1.1.1

Definition An in-building or indoor distributed antenna system (Indoor DAS) is defined as an RF system designed to uniformly distribute an RF signal through a series of low power antennas connected by a cable medium. The cable medium can distribute the RF signal through either an active, passive or hybrid DAS configuration.

Passive DAS A passive indoor DAS uses the gain from the combined transceivers of the BTS to distribute the downlink and uplink signals. The RF levels to the specialized antennas are controlled using passive couplers and attenuators. Passive systems can be used to combine GSM900, DCS1800 and UMTS cabinets (triband) and is the most cost effective solution for smaller buildings as the BTS offers limited capacity and coverage. The biggest drawback of the passive system is the impact on system gain and radio link balancing when coupling a BTS operating in a higher frequency band e.g. 2G to 3G upgrade. Passive systems can optimized using specialized combiner units but the coverage area is always limited by the composite BTS power in the downlink and the UE power in the uplink. Upgrading a passive DAS requires the entire system to be redesigned and RF level changes are made in hardware.

Active DAS An active indoor DAS uses minimal RF gain from the BTS and instead up-converts the RF signal to an optical frequency at the master unit (MU) for distribution over fiber-optic cables. Each cable then terminates at a remote unit (RU) where it is down-converted to the RF signal. The wideband amplifier then distributes the RF signal through a passive RF feeder system. Due to the use of the fibre-optic transmission medium the RU and the coupled passive RF feeder system can be located up to 20km away from the Master Unit. This effectively means that the BTS is now being used primarily for capacity with coverage being provided by the active DAS components. As each Remote Unit is wideband and can be controlled independently from the master unit, each RU can create a single triband sector. The MU can support up to 190 RUs from the BTS Hotel. Upgrades and system reconfigurations are also possible by making some hardware and software changes on the MU. The active system is therefore ideal for multi-sector and multi-operator applications. The active system offers the most uniform coverage and optimal trunking efficiency and is recommended for larger buildings where future expansion and growth might be anticipated such as airports and major shopping centers. The active DAS is the most costly solution should only be used when a passive system is limited.

Hybrid DAS A hybrid DAS combines the advantages of both the active and passive DAS. In a hybrid DAS, the BTS composite RF power that would typically be dumped into a dummy RF load is instead used to provide coverage to an area in close proximity to the BTS Hotel where a passive RF feeder system can be installed e.g. parking basement. The hybrid system reduces overall system costs by reducing the number of RUs and optical transceivers (OTRXs). The hybrid system is recommended as the best DAS solution and should be used where possible.

2 RF COVERAGE PLANNING
The MTN In-building RF Specification V1 (attached) defines the primary RF design criteria for all In-Building DAS and is measured using the respective reference signal strength. The RF contractor is to design the in-building coverage meet the RF criteria in 95% of the building. The MTN Radio Planner should be familiar with the RF Specification.

MTN In-building RF Spec Ver 1.00.pdf

3 CAPACITY DIMENSIONING
As the DAS is usually a permanent infrastructure it is important to ensure that the DAS is planned to such that it can deal with the anticipated traffic capacity demands. This is of key importance when planning active DAS systems. In active DAS systems the system performance is affected by the number of carriers used in each band. It is advised that the Radio Planner stipulates the maximum number of carriers to be used in each frequency band. This is of key importance when planning a multi-operator DAS. The method used to dimension the DAS is based on typical subscriber traffic usage figures based on the area to be covered. Ideally each sector should be independently planned depending on the environment to be covered and dimensioned accordingly. Dimensioning Example: Shopping Centre Monthly Foot traffic Average daily foot traffic (30 days) Daily operating hours Average subscribers per hour MTN Market share (50%) = 1000 000 = 33 300 = 12 hrs = 2775 = 1388

Blocking Rate (2%) Erlang usage per subscriber Total estimated traffic

= 1360 = 40mE = 54 Erlang

This DAS should then be planned for sufficient carriers such that it can handle this estimated traffic capacity. The BTS capacity, number of carriers into the active system and BTS Hotel size required should all be based on the final traffic estimate.

MTN has identified 2 types of typical DAS sites:

Corporate Site
The corporate environment where Fixed Mobile Convergence is foreseen should be planned to handle a high traffic volume at the outset. Corporate sites a typified by the following characteristics: High ARPU per subscriber higher traffic usage. High tri-band handset penetration High data usage due to the increasing penetration of wireless modems Consistent traffic demands High GoS expectation High LCR usage Minimal traffic hotspots

The initial DAS RF plan must make provision for anticipated future upgrades in corporate buildings. This is a stringent requirement and will influence the space required for additional cabinets, ABIS capacity, composite power into the feeder system and possible power reduction if coupling into existing passive and active feeder systems is required to accommodate additional transceivers/carriers. Typical subscriber traffic figures are 45mE/sub however with Fixed Mobile Convergence this figure might increase to 100mE/sub. If fixed mobile terminals are present, their capacity should be taken into account. Fixed mobile terminals units should be dimensioned at 650mE per unit.

Public Site
A public site is defined as an in-building environment most frequented by a diverse mix of subscriber profiles e.g. shopping malls, airports, stadiums, etc. Public sites a typified by the following characteristics:

Medium to lower ARPU per subscriber lower traffic usage. Mixed handset penetration Low data usage Inconsistent traffic demands that typically peak on weekends Low/medium GoS expectation Minimal LCR usage Likely traffic hotspots

The public environment should be planned at 45mE/sub. The DAS should be dimensioned to deal with traffic peaks from hotspots.

4 DAS PROJECT PLAN

During the initial site survey, the MTN Radio Planner will finalize the following aspect of the DAS: 1. Building Classification (used in service pricing of project) 2. Location BTS Hotel 3. Number of BTS cabinets required for the room size 4. Number of sectors required based on the architectural limitations of the building 5. Extent of coverage of each sector The DAS Planning Specification spreadsheet attached should be completed and attached to the DAS project after the initial survey. If the DAS is to be shared with another operator, the sharing operator carrier, coverage and sector requirements are also to be agreed upon and documented. This will ensure that the system performance is not compromised by either operator in future.

Where possible it is recommended that both operators should adhere to the same planning specification.

MTN DAS Planning Specifications.xls

DAS Building Classification.doc

4.1

DAS Planning Procedure

The DAS planning procedure is illustrated in the attached project workflow and explains functional roles and responsibilities for DAS projects. The Radio Planner should be familiar with the process to facilitate the successful deployment and seamless planning of DAS projects.

DAS Project Procedure V2.vsd

4.1.1

Responsibilities MTN has opted to outsource the function of designing and building the RF infrastructure for indoor DAS coverage to an RF contractor The RF contractor is responsible for following functions: interfacing with architects/or landlords obtaining building plans obtaining plan approval by architects/or landlords designing the DAS supplying the test equipment that would be required for the evaluation of the RF design

validating the design measurements with the actual measurements obtained from the test equipment building the BTS Room or BTS hotel commissioning and optimizing the DAS providing site layout and DAS plans providing commissioning reports

The MTN Radio Planner is responsible for the following functions: issuing the project RFQ and WA attending initial and commissioning surveys describing the coverage area of each sector stipulating future sectorization configurations (max number of sectors required) stipulating the maximum planned carrier count per sector stipulating the number of BTS cabinets required for sizing of the BTS Hotel stipulating the presence of a sharing operator and their carrier and sector requirements approval of all RF plans prior to DAS implementation assisting in commissioning of the DAS