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The first step in a system design is setting up the link budget to model the path between the mobile
and the base station. This link budget accounts for all of the gains and losses along the path.
There are two main purposes for establishing a link budget for CDMA designs. The first main
purpose is to establish system design assumptions (such as vehicle loss, building loss, ambient
noise margin, maximum subscriber transmit power, etc.) which are used as inputs to NetPlan in the
design process. The second main purpose of a link budget is to establish an estimate for maximum
allowable path loss. This maximum allowable path loss number is used in conjunction with the
propagation model in NetPlan to estimate cell site coverage.
Analyzing the coverage based on a maximum allowable path loss is an important step since it can
help determine major issues such as cell site placement problems (sites spaced too close or too far
apart), terrain obstruction issues, and sites which may present interference problems (sites on
mountain tops or near large bodies of water). By identifying these issues early in the design
process, some of these issues can be resolved before going through the time and effort of
simulations. This allows the simulator process to be used to concentrate on issues that can only be
analyzed with the simulator rather than issues that can be addressed by coverage plots based on
path loss only.
A detailed discussion of the link budget and all its parameters can be found in Section 5 of the
CDMA RF Planning Guide (version 1.7, February 16, 1996). It is recommended that this section
of the RF Planning guide be read before generating a link budget or producing a propagation study.
Once the parameters are understood, the following information can be used to determine initial link
budget values and to show how these values are used to determine the inputs into NetPlan.
Note: This document assumes a detailed design process is followed using the NetPlan
maximum allowable path loss step as well as the NetPlan CDMA simulator. Budgetary
designs are not addressed.
The values within the link budget provide the designer with input parameters to be used within both
the NetPlan maximum allowable path loss step as well as the NetPlan CDMA simulator.
A link budget must be determined for each different site configuration. The link budget for each
site must incorporate any specific parameters that have been supplied by the customer (such as
building penetrations, antenna heights, antenna gains, cable losses, coverage criteria, coverage
reliability, etc.). If these parameters change from site to site, then the link budgets will need to be
calculated for each site.
Since a high percentage of subscriber units sold are portables and these units are often used in
vehicles, it is recommended that a vehicle loss factor be included in all designs. If the customer
does not specifically state a value to be used for vehicle loss, use an estimate of 6 dB.
* These values are all used as input into the CDMA simulator.
NOTES:
1. One has to be careful when specifying the portable transmit power. In the IS95
specifications (for 800 MHz), the minimum effective radiated power (ERP) for a Class
III personal station is listed as 23 dBm. However, in the J-STD-008 specifications (for
1.9 GHz), the minimum isotropic effective radiated power (EIRP) for a Class II personal
station is listed as 23 dBm. The ERP is calculated with respect to a dipole (antenna
gains given in dBd) while the EIRP is calculated with respect to an isotropic antenna
(antenna gains given in dBi). (dBd = dBi - 2.14)
To illustrate this further, consider the following ERP and EIRP calculations:
At 800 MHz
with respect to an with respect to a dipole
isotropic antenna
Portable Tx Power 23 dBm 23 dBm
Portable Antenna Gain 2.14 dBi 0 dBd
25.14 dBm EIRP 23 dBm ERP
At 1.9 GHz
with respect to an with respect to a dipole
isotropic antenna
Portable Tx Power 23 dBm 23 dBm
Portable Antenna Gain 0 dBi -2.14 dBd
23 dBm EIRP 20.86 dBm ERP
As these tables show, if you are not careful to specify all of your values with respect to
either an isotropic antenna or a dipole, the calculations can easily be off by roughly 2
dB.
2. The antenna gain values are given in terms of dBd since the NetPlan tool requires
calculations to be done using antenna values in dBd. (dBd = dBi - 2.14)
4. The value listed is an example line loss value. A 1-5/8” heliax cable @ 1.9 GHz has
~ 1.25 dB loss per 100 ft. Also, another 0.75 dB was assumed for jumpers and
connectors. NOTE: An analysis should be done for each particular sector to determine
the estimated line loss. This calculation should include all losses between the antenna
and the base station such as the top jumper, the main transmission line, a surge protector,
the bottom jumpers, and all connectors. Also, keep in mind that the line loss is frequency
dependent. The following chart shows an example of this.
Example main transmission line losses:
850 MHz 1900 MHz
7/8” Foam Dielectric Coaxial Cable 1.23 dB/100’ 1.97 dB/100’
1 5/8” Foam Dielectric Coaxial Cable 0.767 dB/100’ 1.25 dB/100’
7. If a value is known for the ambient noise of the system, it should be added to the link
budget.
8. The shadow fade margin assumes the effects of soft handoff and multiple cells. The
value shown here is an example of the fade margin required based on a multi-cell system
simulation to achieve an area reliability of 97%. (An 8 dB standard deviation for
lognormal shadowing and a propagation slope of 40 dB per decade were used in the
simulation.) This value will vary depending on the actual area reliability that the system
is designed to achieve.
The link budget information is used to determine the specific values used as input in the NetPlan
tool. Specifically, the information is used to calculate the system cutoff level (used when viewing
or plotting coverage) and cell “ERP” levels used in generating coverage studies.
Since the NetPlan tool allows for only one value to be used as a cutoff value for the entire system,
all site specific variables need to be accounted for in the site’s “ERP” term. These variations
include such parameters as percent loading, building loss, vehicle loss, line losses, and antenna
gains. “ERP” is referred to here in quotes because if all of the variables of a site such as vehicle
losses or building losses are accounted for in this term, then it is really no longer a true ERP value.
A true ERP (effective radiated power) refers to the power that is being radiated out from an
antenna.
Using the above link budget, the following shows the values that would be used for the NetPlan
maximum allowable path loss coverage studies.
NOTES:
This action opens up the cell site editor window as seen in Figure 2-2: Edit Site. Two areas have
been circled in this figure. The area marked “Area - A Common Input” denotes inputs which must
be defined whether the cell site is analog or CDMA. These include name, location, propagation
boundaries, etc. The area marked “Area - B Antenna Input” denotes inputs which are specific to
each sector “antenna”. It is in area B that the NetPlan Rv “ERP” values will be entred.The Rv ERP
values calculated for each sector may then be entered into the Rv ERP boxes of the edit site
window. See Figure 2-3: Edit Site - Rv ERP below:
Area - A
Common Input
Area - B
Antenna Input
Rv ERP (dBm)
1 2