Cell planning

1) a business plan that is used for costing and traffic/revenue estimates at the proposal phase, followed by 2) a network
plan that takes physical and geographical constraints into consideration when deciding where to site the actual base
stations.
Ensuring that the RF coverage is sufficient within the network should start naturally with a good RF network plan.
A good network plan should address the coverage and capacity requirement of the area considered, but also be
sufficiently flexible to allow network expansion without major change of the existing sites.
Firstly
1.

2.

3.
4.
5.

Mobile radio environment

a. Operating Frequency
i. Uhf (300MHz 3GHz)
b. Propagation Characteristics-pathloss
i. Free space propagation
ii. Ground reflection
iii. Path loss models
1. okumura
2. hata
3. simplified okumura-hata
4. cost 231
5. simplified cost 231-hata
c. Access Techniques
i. TDMA
ii. FDMA
iii. CDMA
iv. OFDM
d. Interference
Equipment to be used
a. Planning tools
b. RBS
c. Antenna
d. Feeder
e. Transmission
Link Budget
a. Uplink (MS-BTS)
b. Downlink (BTS-MS)
Traffic projection
Frequency planning/Scrambling Code Planning/PN Planning

Network Optimization

Improving the network quality from a subscribers point of view

Improving the network quality from a operators point of view

All actions taken to improve network quality in order to increase the revenue by a minimum of additional
investment.
Radio Network Optimization
1. Initial optimization is carried out prior to and immediately following system launch and it aims to maximize the
network ability to deliver the service at a preferred and acceptable level
2. Ongoing optimization is a continuous program that aims to identify and treat problems and enhance
performance of the network throughout its operational lifetime.
3. Daily Optimization
o
Maintain current network condition
o
Further tuning/optimization of cells
4. Performance monitoring
o
Statistical data monitoring
o
Other data sources

Drivetest

Customer complaints
KPI Performance
1. TCH Drop rate abnormal termination of call
a. TCH Drop call rate
TDR=
Dropped tch connections
TCH assign complete + Incoming HO
TDR=
Dropped tch connections

2.

3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

8.
9.

TCH assign complete + Incoming HO Outgoing HO

CSSR gives the combined effect of dropped calls and call set-up problems. A successful call is defined as one
that could be set-up and has not been dropped.
CSR=
TCH assign Complete Dropped TCH Connections
TCH Assign Command Outgoing HO
HOSR handover performance of the call at the boundaries
HOSR = # successful handovers
# of handover attempts
SDR dropped calls during setup
SDR =
Dropped SDCCH connections
Total # of SDCCH Connections
TCONG defines the availability of TCH for making calls
TCONG= # of Call attempts - # of call success
# of call attempts
SCONG defines the congestion level of signaling channels
SCONG=#SDCCH attempt failure
# SDCCH attempts
Erlang Min/Drop an alternative way to specify network quality with respect to drop calls
Erlang Min/Drop = Total ErlangMin
Dropped TCH connections
Where: 1 Erlang is defined as a single TCH ciruit held for 1 hr
1 ErlangMin = Erlang x 60
ErlangMin/Drop measures the average holding time (min) of a call before its is expected to
drop.
Mean Holding time is the mean time the call last
GPRS Blocking

Basic Cell parameters

1. Offset and Hysteresis - KHYST and KOFFSET are used to control cell borders that appear when serving cell
and the neighbouring cell
Cell Identification/Description Parameters
1. BSIC Base Station Identity Code Enables MS to distinguish between the different neighboring Base
Stations. The BSIC is broadcasted in the SCH so when the mobile presynchronises it knows of the BTS
belongs to the right PLMN (Public Land Mobile Network).
a. NCC Network Color Code (3Bits) identifies the PLMN.
b. BCC Base Color Code (3Bits) identifies the Base Station to help distinguish between BS that uses
the same control frequencies.
BSIC = NCC + BCC
2. LAI Location Area Identity inform the MSC the LA in which the MS is currently situated
a. MCC Mobile Country Code (515)
b. MNC mobile network code (02)
c. LAC Location Area Code
3. CGI Cell Global Identity Identifies individual cells with in a LA
a. CI Cell Identity
4. BCCH/TCH
a. Broadcast Control Channel (BCCH) Continually broadcasts, on the downlink, information including
base station identity, frequency allocations, and frequency-hopping sequences.
b. traffic channel (TCH) is used to carry speech and data traffic
System Information Parameters
1. MAXRET is the maximum number of retransmissions an MS may do when accessing the system
2. T3212 controls the MS listening to the system information on the BCCH carrier it is told if periodic registration is
used in that cell and how often it shall inform the network that it is still attached.
3. If the MS detects a PLMN colour code that is not permitted, according to parameter NCCPERM in the BCCH
data of the serving cell, then that carrier will be excluded from the measurement report. NCCPERM tells the MS
in Idle Mode, which NCC that it is allowed to monitor when in the current cell.The MS will only take
measurement samples while listening to its own paging group. It should however be noted that NCCPERM
does not influence the cell reselection, its outcome is utilized in dedicated mode.