GO - NA02 - E1 - 1 GPRS and EDGE Introduction-39

(E)GPRS Radio Network Planning
Contents
1 Introduciton to ZXG10-BSS-GPRS............................................................................................................1
1.1 V3 BSS (Base Station Subsystem)......................................................................................................1
1.1.1 ZXG10-IBSC（V3） hardware structure................................................................................1
1.1.2 ZXG10-IBSC packet service signal flow.................................................................................9
2 Early Preparations for (E)GPRS Radio Network Planning...................................................................11
2.1 Classification of planning areas.........................................................................................................11
2.1.1 Outdoor scenarios...................................................................................................................11
2.1.2 Indoor scenarios......................................................................................................................12
2.2 Prediction of subscriber number........................................................................................................14
2.2.1 Prediction rules.......................................................................................................................14
2.2.2 Classification of subscriber groups........................................................................................16
2.2.3 Prediction methods.................................................................................................................17
2.2.4 Prediction of (E)GPRS services.............................................................................................17
2.2.5 Classification of (E)GPRS services........................................................................................18
2.2.6 Prediction methods.................................................................................................................19
2.3 An Analysis of (E)GPRS Service Model...........................................................................................22
2.3.1 Methods to Analyze Service Model (take GPRS as an example)..........................................23
2.3.2 Average Busy-Hour Traffic per Data User (reference value of CDMA (China Unicom))....25
2.4 Preparing Digital Map.......................................................................................................................27
2.4.1 The Functions of Digital Map................................................................................................27
2.4.2 Data Format of Digital Maps..................................................................................................27
2.4.3 Requirements for Digital Map Accuracy...............................................................................28
3 GPRS Radio Network Planning................................................................................................................29
i
3.1 Basic Ideas in Network Planning......................................................................................................29
3.2 Site Survey, Electrical Test, and Initial Site Deployment.................................................................29
3.3 Coverage Prediction and Planning....................................................................................................30
3.3.1 An Analysis of the Factors Influencing Coverage..................................................................30
3.3.2 Concept, Selection and Requirements for Propagation Model..............................................42
3.3.3 GPRS Coverage Planning.......................................................................................................50
3.4 Capacity planning..............................................................................................................................56
3.4.1 PDCH capacity planning........................................................................................................57
3.4.2 Abis link planning...................................................................................................................74
3.4.3 GB link planning....................................................................................................................78
3.4.4 BSC relevant board planning.................................................................................................80
ii
1 Introduciton to ZXG10-BSS-GPRS
1.1 V3 BSS (Base Station Subsystem)
1.1.1 ZXG10-IBSC（V3） hardware structure
1.1.1.1 Integral structure & functions
Figure Introduciton to ZXG10-BSS-GPRS-1 Illustrative diagram of IBSC hardware system
Introduction to the structure:
1. Backplane of Control Center（BCTC）
BCTC fulfills the following functions : operation & maintenance of the whole
system, clock of the whole system, control plane process and Ethernet switch on
control plane.
2. Backplane of Universal Service Network（BUSN）
BUSN deals with system access unit and user plane.
3. Backplane of Packet Switch Network（BPSN）
BPSN provides high-capacity packet switch platform without blocks for the
system.
1
4. Backplane of Circuit Switch Network（BCSN）
BCSN provides high-capacity packet switch platform without blocks for the
system. During TC POOL, configuration of TC POOL should be adopted.
BCTC
BCTC
BUSN
BPSN
Figure Introduciton to ZXG10-BSS-GPRS-2 Diagram of IBSC frame
KPIs of IBSC are listed bellow:
Table Introduciton to ZXG10-BSS-GPRS-1 IBSC performance parameters
1
2
Indicator rac
rack
k
102
No. of TRX supported 3072
4
Gb flow /Mbps 32 96M/

M/ A,
A, Gb
2
Chapter 3 GPRS Radio Network Planning
Gb
flow
flo
=
w=
160
32
M
M
Abis interface E1 208 624
A interface E1/STM- 224 672/

1 /4 12
1.1.1.2 BCTC
Figure Introduciton to ZXG10-BSS-GPRS-3 Illutrative diagram of BCTC
1. CMP (Control Main Processor)
It refers to the system main process board. Each CMP is configured with several
cells, which correspond to several BIU. Besides, each CMP is configured with
several Gb/IU/A interface unit, TC unit and UPU, whose corresponding
signaling is sent to their home CMP.
Main function: control and process calls and PS/CS service, protocol process of
sublayers like BSSAP, BSSGP and SCTP, etc., management of distributed
resource of the system.
2. OMP
3
GPRS Radio Network Planning
OMP deals with the whole network process and the control over system
operation and maintenance (agent of operation and maintenance), connects
OMC-R, isolate internal and external network segments. Besides, it also directly
or indirectly monitors and manages the single boards in the system (two links-
Ethernet port and RS-485).
Physical board and CMP are both MPX86/2 with a little difference in
configuration- different memory capacity: OMP is 1GB/CPU, CMP is
2GB/CPU; OMP is configured with 2G electronic hard disk for storing system
software versions.
3. UIMC board
UIMC fulfills secondary switch of Ethernet on the control plane and meanwhile
provides a GE interface to be connected with CHUB on the control plane. In
addition, it fulfills distribution of single board clock on the plance (8K/16M).
There are 48 management bus spared for the boards on the plane. Besides,
UIMC provides reset function for other boards.
4. CLKG board
CLKG fulfills clock supply in the system and external synchronization. It

extracts clock benchmark through A interface; after synchronization on the
board, it drives the benchmark signals for each interface unit to use.
We can choose the source of benchmark through OMCR or manual operation.

The source includes: BITS, wires (8K), GPS, local (level two or three). Manual
operation can be screened with specific software.
It adopts loose coupling phase-lock system, featuring in four working modes:

CATCH, TRACE, HOLD AND FREE.
It exports clock of the third level.
It has the function to judge loss of clock and degrade of input benchmarking.
It supports exchange between the master and the standby.
5. CHUB board
CHUB fulfills the cascade syntaxis of the control plane FE of each BUSN and
the processor frame; and constructs distributed processing platform. In addition,
it provides two 24+2 switch HUB and 46 FE interfaces to be connected with
4
BUSN.
6. SVR board
SVR is a balde server located on the rack of IBSC. Its function in the system is
to save the data of performance analysis and alarms, and organizes the data
according to the formats requested by iOMCR, which is convenient for
enquiring the information of OMP in OMCR.
It provides interfaces for keyboard, mouse, VGA and USB.
It provides FE interface and 2 SAS hot replaceable hard disk.
SVR and OMP constitute OMPU of the system.
1.1.1.3 BUSN
Figure Introduciton to ZXG10-BSS-GPRS-4 Illustrative diagram of BUSN
1. UIMU board
UIMU mainly completes Ethernet secondary switch in BUSN, timeslot

multiplexing switch in circuit domain, BUSN management, etc.; and meanwhile
provides outward interface for BUSN.
UIMU provides clock drive function in BUSN. After phase lock and drive,
8K/16M signals are distributed to the slots in BUSN, providing 16M and 8K
5
clock for BUSN boards.
UIMU manages BUSN and provides RS485 management interface in BUSN;

meanwhile, it also provides function for BUSN board reset and collection of
reset signals.
UIMU and UIMC use the same physical boards UIM/2.
2. DTB board
DTB provides access for 32 E1/T1 and 75ohms coaxial, 120 twisted-pair cable
and extraction of link clock.
3. SPB board
SPB provides 16 external E1/T1 interfaces;
It contains 4 CPU;
It can be used as logical boards: LAPD, signaling process board (SPB) and Gb
interface process board (GIPB), etc.;
LAPD mainly completes the process of LAPD signaling. The LAPD signaling
from BTS is accepted by DTB/DPB and then transferred to LAPD through the
circuit switch network on the UIM of BUSN, and the LAPD board completes
the process of LAPD.
SPB fulfills the process of MTP2 and X.25. It supports extraction of 8K

synchronous clock and transfers it to clock generator as clock benchmark
through cable.
GIPB fulfills process of FR and NS of GPRS and part of BSSGP and performs
Gb interface function.
4. GUP board
According to the different functions that GUP possesses, GUP can be used as
two functional boards: Abis Interface Process Board (BIBP) and Double Rate
Transfer Board (DRTB).
BIPB fulfills search of TRU frames (or PCU frames) of 20ms according to
channels and constitutes an IP package containing TRU frames (or PCU frames)
and sends it to TCU (or UPU) for processing.
DRTB fulfills code conversion function. It completes code conversion of TRAU
6
frame and rate adaptation and provides FR/EFR/HR/AMR/TFO functions.
5. UPPB board
UPPB fulfills the process of protocols of user planes like BSSGP, PDCP,
GTP_U, Iu_UP, etc. under the modes of A/Gb and Iu.
The board of UPPB is the same as that of GUP, which is VTCD. The difference
between them lies in the configuration on the board: UPPB uses D8560 subcard
and doesn’t contain circuit switch unit and each of its DSP is equipped with
16M external memory.
6. SDTB board
SDTB provides an interface for STM-1 155M optical fiber, whose capacity
equals 63 E1 cables or 84 T1 cables;
SDTB also provides extraction of 2 differential 8K synchronous clock signals

and provides them to the clock generator as benchmark.
7. BIPI board
BIPI provides 4 FE interfaces in the form of inserted cards.
BIPI also fulfills process of layer 3 protocol interface, seperates the data of
control plane and media plane data gram and transfers the data to the Ethernet
port of internal control plane and media plane respectively.
1.1.1.4 BPSN
7
Figure Introduciton to ZXG10-BSS-GPRS-5 Illustrative diagram of BPSN
1. GLI
GLI is located in the first level of switch subsystem in IBSC system. It performs
physical layer adaptation, creation of IP packet enquiry list, tansmission and
flow management. Besides, it deals with process and transmission of
bidirectional 2.5Gbps cable and provides interface for each BUSN and external
access.
GLI provides 4+4 pairs of GE fiber interface.
2. PSN board
PSN is able to provide bidirectional switch of 40Gbps user data; it is the core
switch of media plane data; it is connected to GLI with 2.5G LVDS, and adopts
CROSSBAR switch sctucture, which features in good QOS performance.
3. UIMC board
It is used in BPSN for controlling Ethernet data exchange and is connected to

the processor backplane.
1.1.1.5 BCSN
(16*32MHW)
(16*32MHW)
TFI TFI UIMT
DTU/TCU
UIMT
（TCU/AIU）
（TCU/AIU）
400M LVDS ETSN 400M LVDS
… …
128K*128K
UIMT
UIMT TFI TFI （TCU/AIU）
（TCU/AIU） 400M LVDS 400M LVDS
(16*32MHW)
(16*32MHW)
100M Control flow Ethernet
Figure Introduciton to ZXG10-BSS-GPRS-6 Illustrative diagram of BCSN frame
1. TFI board
TFI has 8 pairs of optical fibers, which are connected to one of the master and
standbay UIM in DTU/TCH, and each optical fiber carrys 8k timeslots, and
meanwhile the following should be insercted in the output direction: messages,
the status signal of corresponding fiber interface, fake random link detection
8
signal; and in the receive direction: detection of messages from the

corresponding UIM and the status (master/standby) signal of corresponding
fiber interface, 8kHz frame synchronous signal, fake random link dection signal,
and link error rate.
2. ETSN board
ETSN provides 128K data exchange matrix;
It is fixedly inserted in slot 6 and 8, adopting configuration of 1+1

master/standby.
1.1.2 ZXG10-IBSC packet service signal flow
1.1.2.1 Signal flow of PS control plane
Figure Introduciton to ZXG10-BSS-GPRS-7 Diagram of singal flow on PS control plane
ABIS signaling flow direction
1. Abis Interface Unit (BIU) transmits the control plane data on LAPD channel to
the control plane processing board (CMP) ; after the data is processed on CMP,
some signalings are directly sent to BIU to be processed (eg. Immediate Assign
messsage), and the data flow direction is 1→1 ; some are sent to the user plane
9
processing board to be processed (eg. Packet Assign message). After being

processed on CMP, the data is returned to CMP and then transmitted to BIU, and
the data flow direction is 1→3→3→1.
2. Through user plane switching network, BIU transmits the PCU data (except
those transmitted on LAPD channel) to the user plane processing board(UPPB)
(eg. the UL Channel Request on PACCH) ; control signaling will be seperated
out after the data is processed on UPPB ; the control signaling will be
transmitted to CMP to be processed. The data flow directioni is 2→3→3→2.
GB signaling flow direction
PCU transmits the control plane data to the corresponding boards to be processed (incl.
CMP, OMP, UPPB); after being processed, the data will be transmitted to Gb interface
through PCU; the data flow direction is 4→4, 5→5 or 6→6.
1.1.2.2 PS user plane signal flow
Figure Introduciton to ZXG10-BSS-GPRS-8 Diagram of PS user plane signal flow
The diagram shows uplink signal flow as an example, the flow is reversed in downlink.
The PCU frame separated from BIU is transmitted to UPPB through user plane
10
switching network; UPPB further separates PS user plane data for processing; after
processing, UPPB transmits the data to PCU through user plane switching network.
The data flow direction is 1→2.
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2 Early Preparations for (E)GPRS Radio
Network Planning
2.1 Classification of planning areas
Area classification in radio network planning is to classify the covered areas according
to certain rules. The coverages of different areas have to adopt different planning rules
and service levels, so as to reach the balance between communication quality and
network constructions cost and achieve the best configuration of resources.
In area classification, we should take into consideration of both radio transmission

environment and estimated traffic distribution.
2.1.1 Outdoor scenarios
According to distribution of service types, service development strategies, dynamic

distribution of subscribers in the areas, features of subscribers’ communication
behaviors, the areas of service distribution are classified into the following six types:
dense urban, urban, suburb/countryside, village, transportation lines/places of interest
and indoor coverage; among them, the first five types involves outdoor coverage.
Table Early Preparations for (E)GPRS Radio Network Planning-2 Classification of outdoor areas
Density of
Area Traffic distribution Classification of scenarios subscribers
(No./km2)
Central business districts* >12000
Dense traffic;
Urban areas with irregular
Higher demand for service rate; >8000
Dense urban layout of dense buildings;
Key areas for PS service
Urban areas with regular
development; >8000
layout of dense buildings
High traffic volume; medium service rate; moderate demand for
Urban >1000
PS service;
Suburb /
Low traffic volume; provided with low-rate PS service or none; <1000
countryside
Scarce traffic; construction of BTS is to meet coverage demand;
Village <1000
PS service quality is not to be guaranteed;
Transportation Low traffic volume; traffic volume in places of interest is of
lines/ seasonal nature;
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Places of
interest
*CBD: such as the middle ring area in HK and the Lujiazui finance & trade area in Shanghai.
2.1.2 Indoor scenarios
2.1.2.1 Prediction of number of subscribers
As in outdoor network, we also need to consider the number of subscribers and the
services supported in indoor environment. Local nework operators are familiar with
their networks and information about subscribers, so it’s better that they provide us
with the number of subscribers and services supported in the network.
When the operators are not able to provide the above information, ZTE engineers
should accordingly provide a set of methods to estimate the number of subscribers and
services supported in the network
For the various large buildings, their main functions decide the main group of
subscribers in them; different groups of target subscribers differentiate in terms of
mobile phone owing rate and usage rate. The targets of indoor distribution system are
the large buildings with poor indoor coverage, heavy traffic and higher requirement for
communication quality. In the analysis of scale of indoor subscribers, we need to firstly
estimate the numbers of subscribers in different functional areas and then sum up the
numbers to get an estimated scale of subscribers in the whole building. It should be
noted that the scale of subscribers is related to the operator’s market share. Combining
our experience in constructing GSM/CDMA indoor distribution system, some methods
of estimating the number of subscribers in different typical indoor scenarios are
provided bellow:
Table Early Preparations for (E)GPRS Radio Network Planning-3 Estimation of number of indoor
subscribers
Scenario Total number of subscribers Remarks

75% represents the net/effective area of
the building;
Office Total number of subscribers 1/１０ is the ratio of people (No.)to net
building =building area×75%×1/１０×４ 0% area;
４ 0% is the rate of people owning
mobile phones.
Shopping Total number of subscribers 75% represents the net/effective area of
14
the building;
50% is the ratio of net area to business
area;
mall/
= building area×75%×50%×1/3×２０% 1/3 represents No.of people per square
supermarket
meter;
２０ % is the rate of people owning
mobile phones.
the building;
Conference 50% is the ratio of net area to business
and Total number of subscribers area;
exhibition = building area×80%×50%×1/3×５０% 1/3 represents No.of people per square
center meter;
５０ % is the rate of people owning
mobile phones.
2 represents the number of beds;
Hotel Total number of subscribers 80% represents occupation of rooms;
/restaurant = No. of rooms×2×80%×５０% ５０ % is the rate of people owning
mobile phones.
the building;
Place of
Total number of subscribers 1/3 represents No.of people per square
entertainme
= building area×70%×1/3×４ 0% meter;
nt
４ 0% is the rate of people owning
mobile phones.
the building;
Total number of subscribers 1/7 represents No.of people per square
Parking lot
= building area×50%×1/7×５ 0% meter;
５ 0% is the rate of people owning
mobile phones.
2.1.2.2 Service features in different scenarios
Service features in different scenarios are listed in the following form. The traffic
volume in these scenarios can be concluded into the types mentioned above according
to accutual situations.
Table Early Preparations for (E)GPRS Radio Network Planning-4 Features of indoor service
distribution
Conditions Features Services Key areas

Civil airlines High proportion of CS service; PS Access ability of PS service
15
subscribers of roaming
service;
High proportion of high- in waiting hall and VIP
airport service
end subscribers; lounge should be considered;
High demand for PS
service;
Railway station, Dense distribution of
bus station, subscribers; high traffic
wharf/dock volume;
Traffic volume depends on
events; almost no traffic in
Conference &
normal times; traffic
exhibition CS service; PS High demand for PS service
volume surges once there
center/indoor service surges in the news center;
are events like exhibition,
stadium
conference, and
competition, etc.;
Shopping mall/ High traffic volume in peak
CS service
supermarket hours;
High-end subscribers
account for larger CS service; PS
Office building
proportion; high demand service
for PS service;
Traffic volume in business
High-end subscribers areas on lower floors is
CS service; PS
Hotel/restaurant account for larger higher; traffic volume rooms
service
proportion; on higher floors is
comparatively low;
CS service is
High-end subscribers
focused; PS
Road/ railway account for smaller No need to consider PS
service accounts
tunnel proportion; low traffic service;
for a small
volume;
proportion.
CS service; PS PS service should be taken
City subway High traffic
service into consideration;
Underground
Low traffic CS service
parking lot
2.2 Prediction of subscriber number
2.2.1 Prediction rules
Prediction of the number of subscribers is an important base for deciding the

16
construction scale of network. Besides, it also determines the scale of project

investment and the economic benefits to be gained after commissioning of project.
The prediction should start from the general strategy of the country’s development;
according to the population distribution in service areas and the local economic
development level and prospects, we should comprehensively consider the need of
mobile communication in local economic development and the subscribers’ financial
ability.
To be well aware of the law and current stage of cellular mobile communication
development is the precondition of predicting the need of mobile communication in the
market.
The development process of cellular mobile phone should conform to the law of
development curves. At the beginning, it was expensive and the absolute quantity of
mobile phones increased slowly; however, its growth rate was high because of a small
base number. As the cost of mobile phones is decreasing, it is gradually accepted by
most people, it will definitely go through a swift development period with exponential
increment in quantity, and then enter a stable development period, and eventually reach
a saturation period. Refer to Figure 2-1:
Figure Early Preparations for (E)GPRS Radio Network Planning-9 Development process of mobile
phone
Large amount of analyses show that the cellular mobile communication in China is
currently in a fast development period, which features in high growth rate.
17
The development features of cellular mobile communication in the following years are
as follows:
· Fast economy development continues and people start to live a stable and
affluent life;
· The ratio of communication expense to personal income is increasing gradually;
· The mobility of people is increasing, so are the requirements for mobile

communication;
· Mobile communication market is getting more competitive;
· The cost of mobile communication (incl. the cost of mobile phone) is decreasing
continuously;
· Mobile communication fees are further reduced;
· There are more and more types of mobile communication services
· Network service quality is continuously being improved;
· Individual subscribers have become the major consuming group to mobile

communication services.
It can be predicted that the growth rate of cellular mobile phone market will remain fast
in a certain period of time and the market will gradually evolve to a stable development
period.
2.2.2 Classification of subscriber groups
To predict the number of subscribers is to segment the market and determine the target
segment market of 2.5G, which is closely related to operators’ market strategies.
The consuming behaviors of subscribers in the same scenario are different, so we need
to evaluate the consuming ability of subscribers and divide them into groups
accordingly.
According to their consuming ability, subscribers are divided into three groups: high-
end, middle-end and low-end. The three groups of subscribers are different in terms of
consuming behavior. The high-end subscribers refer to people with high income and
leaders of companies, who are able to afford high-rate access services for information
inquiry and mobile financing services; middle-end subscribers refer to the common
companies and people with high income, and the main services provided to them are
18
informantion inquiry, mobile entertainment and financing services; low-end subscribers

refer to the middle-income groups and students, and the main PS service provided to
them is SMS as well as some mobile games.
Table Early Preparations for (E)GPRS Radio Network Planning-5 Classification of subscriber groups
Subscriber groups Features Proportion

people with high income and leaders of
companies, who are able to afford high-rate
High-end subscribers 15%
access services for information inquiry and
mobile financing services;
common companies and people with high
Middle-end income, and the main services provided to them
25%
subscribers are informantion inquiry, mobile entertainment
and financing services;
middle-income groups and students, and the
Low-end subscribers main PS service provided to them is SMS as 60%
well as some mobile games.
2.2.3 Prediction methods
Common methods of predicting the number of GSM subscribers include: growth trend
prediction method, popularizing rate in population, curve fitting method, growth
curving method, Rayleign distribution with multifactors, etc..
The commonly-adopted method of predicting the number of (E)GPRS subscribers is

the permeation rate method, which means to get the number of (E)GPRS subscribers
by making the number of GSM subscribers multiplied by a permeation rate. The
permeation rate refers to the rate of (E)GPRS subscribers to GSM subscribers.
Therefore, the method of predicting the number of (E)GPRS subscribers is the same as
that of GSM subsceibers.
2.2.4 Prediction of (E)GPRS services
2.5G network features in coexistence of various services, which makes the research on
service models the essential job in network planning. Many key performance
parameters in (E)GPRS system, such as coverage, capacity and spectrum efficiency, are
closely related to the service models supported in the system. In order to predict the
(E)GPRS system performance in supporting multi-services and establish effective
resource distribution strategy, we need to master the features of services, especially that
19
of PS service, and establish suitable service models.
New features of PS service: compared with CS service, PS service has many new
features, such as switch of states (resting state-activation state), data transmitted in
burst mode; besides, in PS service, each conversation can include several times of
packing calling, and the resource occupied by packet callings changes as the burst
transmission of data takes place.
The models of PS service are relatively complicated, which depend on the following
factors: ①service content and features of services; ②operation strategies, such as the
average transmission rate provided to subscribers; ③subscriber behaviors, such as
proportion of services applied for by subscribers, the number of PS service used per
subscriber per day, PS traffic volume in busy hours, etc..
2.2.5 Classification of (E)GPRS services
(E)GPRS network mainly provides PS service, including point-to-point PS service

(PTP) and point-to-multipoint PS service (PTM); (E)GPRS also supports
supplementary services and SMS.
I PTP-ConnectionLess Network Service (PTP-CLNS)
PTP-ConnectionLess Network Service is a kind of data gram service; each data packet
is independent of others; end-to-end calling is not needed in information transmission
beteen subscribers; each data packet transmitted contains the destination address, and
network selects the route according to the destination address indicated in each data
packet and the current network topological structure; there is no logical connection n
packet transmission; there is no confirmation protection in packet delivery; PTP-
ConnectionLess Network Service mainly supports non-interactive application service,
which is supported by IP protocol.
II PTP-Connection-Oriented Network Service (PTP-CONS)
PTP-Connection-Oriented Network Service is a kind of virtual circuit service, which

transmits multichannel data between two or more subscribers to set up logical virtual
circuit (PVC or SVC). PTP-CONS requires of operation procedure-setup of
connection, data transmission and connection release. In PLMN, when subscriber
moves from one cellular to another, (E)GPRS keeps the connection of oriented virtual
circuit. When problems occur to the radio link, virtual circuit must be removed. Each
subscriber can be allocated with a fixed address or dynamic address; PS uses gateway
20
to indicate data packet address. Within the home service area, each subscriber is
allocated with a fixed address, with which the subscriber can roam in the home service
area. Dynamic addresses are temporarily tallocated to visiting subscribers, providing
roaming service for them. PTP-CONS supports interactive application service and
handles emergencies. PTP-CONS is supported by connection-oriented network
protocol like X.25. At radio interface, it uses confirmation method to improve
reliability.
III Point-to-Multipoint PS service (PTM)
Upon subscriber’s request, PTM can send the information to several subscribers. PTM
is subdivided into: PTM multichannel broadcast service (PTM-M), PTM group calling
service (PTM-G) and IP broadcast service (IP-M).
IV Other (E)GPRS services
Other (E)GPRS services include: (E)GPRS supplementary services, GSM SMS,

anonymous access service and various kinds of (E)GPRS teleservices.
Besides, (E)GPRS provides various kinds of network services which are based on
(E)GPRS bearer services.
1. Surf on internet;
2. Wireless POS;
3. Vehicle GPS ((E)GPRS+GPS);
4. Delivery of stock & exchange rate trend;
5. Remote sensing, remote measuring and remote controlling;
6. Highway charging system;
7. Enhanced SMS;
8. Other types of PS services.
2.2.6 Prediction methods
The current methods of predicting (E)GPRS traffic are shown in Figure2-2:
21
Qualitative
Professional research Lenear model
prediction
Delphi method
Exponential model
Traffic
Time series
prediction
S growth model
extrapolation methodd
Cause &result
Quantitative Unitary correlation
analytical mehotd
prediction
Multiple correlation
Other methods
Figure Early Preparations for (E)GPRS Radio Network Planning-10 (E)GPRS traffic prediction
methods
For the value-added CS services provided by China Mobiel and China Unicom, we
usually use time series extrapolation method to predict (E)GPRS traffic. According to
different service types, we can use lenear model or exponential model to predict the
traffic. For the value-added PS services, we adopt exponential model and professional
prediction method with reference to the development situation of China Mobile’s and
China Unicom’s current services. For the traffic of services which haven’t been
launched, we use professional prediction method to make qualitative analysis.
According to target users of services, ZTE classifies services into two types: one type
is aimed at common users; the other is directed at group customers. The two types of
services have different development features. The development of services aimed at
sommon users is similar to that of fashion consumables; while the development of
services directed at group customers is similar to that of sales of staple industrial
goods.
For fashion consumables, the development of their introduction phase and growth
phase roughly satisfies the following exponential relationship:
y  a(1  k ) t  b （2）
In their mature phase and decline phase, the development roughly satisfies the
following quadrative curve relationship:
y  a  bt  ct 2 （3）
y represents service permeation rate; a, b, c are relationship coefficients; t represents

different times. The relationship coefficients can be set according to the types of
22
services and the economic development situations in the areas. The permeation of
services is related to operators’ introduction strategies, flexibility of policies and
quality of services. For example, as the maturity of services improves, and personal
income increases, service fees decreases and operators’ introduction strategies are
enforced, service permeation rate and subscribers’ behavior will change accordingly.
We can make concrete analysis according to actual situations in different areas.
The mathematical models for (E)GPRS traffic prediction are shown

bellow:
· S-curve: it is suitable for predicting services with clear characteristics of cycles.
50%
40%
30%
Series1
20%
10%
0%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Figure Early Preparations for (E)GPRS Radio Network Planning-11 S curve
· Slow permeation curve: it is suitable for predicting services which improve fast
in later phase, such as SMS;
25%
20%
15%
Series1
10%
5%
0%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Figure Early Preparations for (E)GPRS Radio Network Planning-12 slow permeation curve
23
· Fast permeation curve: it is suitable for predicting services which develop fast in
the initial phase but the development slows down in later phase, such as I-
MODE in Japan.
60%
50%
40%
30% Series1
20%
10%
0%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Figure Early Preparations for (E)GPRS Radio Network Planning-13 Fast permeation curve
· Lenear curve: the services develop stably without dramatic drops or increases.
120%
100%
80%
60% Series1
40%
20%
0%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Figure Early Preparations for (E)GPRS Radio Network Planning-14 Lenear curve
Generally, we need to predict subscribers of services according to classification of

subscribers (high-end, middle-end and low-end) and areas (dense urban, urban, suburb
and village).
2.3 An Analysis of (E)GPRS Service Model

The PS traffic beared by (E)GPRS, based temporarily on personal-oriented internet
application, could be calculated through adjusting relevant parameters, according to the
24
features of (E)GPRS. Data model could be defined by the amount of information bits
transmitted per second during busy hours of data transmission, but it does not reflect
the data transmission rate that the E(GPRS) users could actually perceive.
2.3.1 Methods to Analyze Service Model (take GPRS as an example)
With reference to the formula to calculate the busy-hour traffic in other data networks
and the features of mobile data, S, the average busy-hour PS traffic per user, could be
M
figured out, i.e. S  �NTM 1M 2 M 3 R / 3600
I 1
In which：M——Categories of GPRS PS
N——Number of times the user uses a service per month
T——Average call duration

M 1 ——Busy day factor
M 2 ——Busy hour factor
M 3 ——Duty ratio
R ——Communication rate (bit/s)
A GPRS MS could be attached with several channels, and is different in rate. As most
existing business terminals are of 1u+3d mobile phones, 20.4kbit/s is adopted
temporarily for the communication rate R, if different coding modes and payloads are
taken into account (considering various coding modes and overheads, the actual rate on
each channel is estimated as 6.8kbit/s).
According to the habits of internet users and that of mobile data users in existing
networks operated by mobile operators at home and abroad, services used by mobile
data users could be assumed as in the following table:
Table. Early Preparations for (E)GPRS Radio Network Planning-6 PS Model of GPRS Users
25
Information WWW
on-demand website FTP data
Electronic Other
Categories service or short browsing E-mail upload/download
transaction services
message and WAP service
service service
High in
High in Average in
High in usage usage High in usage
usage usage
frequency; not frequency; frequency;
frequency; frequency;
large in data not large in average in data
Features large in data small in data
volume each data volume volume each
volume each volume each
time; low in each time ; time; high in
time; low in time; high in
duty ratio high in duty duty ratio
duty ratio duty ratio
ratio
N (Number of
times the user
60 30 30 30 20 15
uses a service
per month)
M1 (Busy day
0.05 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.05
factor)
M2 (Busy hour
0.125 0.125 0.125 0.125 0.125 0.125
factor)
T(s) (Average
120 450 30 60 120 60
call duration)
M3 (Duty
0.1 0.15 0.75 0.75 0.1 0.1
ratio)
S(bps)
(Average busy-
25.5 71.72 23.91 47.81 8.5 3.19
hour traffic of
data users)
From the above table it follows that the busy-hour throughput of each data user is
180bps (including uplink and downlink data volume). However, in actual network
planning, the busy-hour throughput of each data user varies with the user behavior. If
the influence from both the user group and the network development is taken into
consideration, the predicted value about different user groups in different periods of
network development could be obtained according to the above calculation method.
Then, the average value, obtained according to the corresponding proportion, could be
used as the basis for network planning. According to the operation of the existing
network, the value range of GPRS PS is between 125～250bps.
Table. Early Preparations for (E)GPRS Radio Network Planning-7 Average Busy-Hour Traffic per
26
Data User
Stages of User Group Average busy-hour traffic per data user (bps)
Network
Average Decided
Development Throughput Proportion
Value Value
Low-end user 0 0
Introductory Medium-end
80 0.2 116 125
phase user
High-end user 125 0.8
Low-end user 125 0.15
Medium-end
Growing phase 150 0.25 176.25 180
user
Low-end user 150 0.2
Fast developing Medium-end
200 0.3 215 220
phase user
2.3.2 Average Busy-Hour Traffic per Data User (reference value of CDMA (China
Unicom))
With the development of PS, service model has been changed greatly in parameter
calculation. The calculation method can still be used as a reference, but the original
calculation result is not applicable any more.
According to the statistics of CDMA 1X (China Unicom) that is close to EDGE, the
following table may be used as a reference for service planning:
Table Early Preparations for (E)GPRS Radio Network Planning-8 Statistics of PS User Action
Actual Average
User Number of Busy- Busy-Hour Data
Service Usage
Group Hour Uses Throughput (bps)
Time（S）
Low-end 0.1 11.25 3
E-MAIL
High-end 0.3 11.25 24.57
Low-end 0.18 30 14.4
WWW/WAP
High-end 0.3 30 65.53
Low-end 0.15 24 9.6
FTP
High-end 0.3 24 52.42
Low-end 0 0 0
VOD/AOD
High-end 0.025 240 43.68
27
Information Low-end 0.15 12 4.8

on-demand High-end 0.3 12 26.21
Low-end 0.05 12 1.6
E-commerce
High-end 0.1 12 8.74
Low-end 0.05 6 0.8
Others
High-end 0.075 6 0.13
Note：As the downlink PS traffic is much more than the uplink PS traffic, the planning
should be based on downlink PS traffic.
Table Early Preparations for (E)GPRS Radio Network Planning-9 Proportion of PS Application
Background Interaction Data Flow

Service WWW/ Information VOD/ Others
Email FTP E-commerce
WAP on Demand AOD
1X 10% 24% 31% 12% 4% 17% 2%
VOD: Video on Demand;

AOD: Audio on Demand
Table Early Preparations for (E)GPRS Radio Network Planning-10 Service Model
Busy-Hour Data Proportion of Average Busy-Hour Data

User Group
Throughput (bps) Users Throughput (bps)
Low-end 34.2（taking 35） 60%
121
High-end 224.43（taking 250） 40%
· In the CDMA service statistics of the existing network, a method similar to

traditional PS statistical method is adopted. Therefore, the number of busy-hour
uses could be obtained though the average number of uses per month, busy day
factor, number of busy-day uses, and busy hour factor; and the busy-hour data
throughput could be obtained by combining this number with average usage
time;
· The user group is divided simply into high-end users and low-end users;
· To each service, no matter it is for high-end user or low-end user, the

average time actually cost each time is the same, i.e. it is the same in a single
user action, but what is different is the number of busy-hour uses, leading to
differences of busy-hour data throughput;
· The ratio of unlink PS throughput and downlink PS throughput is UL: UL=1:4
28
2.4 Preparing Digital Map
2.4.1 The Functions of Digital Map
Network planning & optimization, a long-term and complicated system engineering, is

an interdisciplinary subject involving in lots of technical fields. With the development
of mobile communications, network expands continuously. Therefore, it becomes
increasingly important to use software in network planning and optimization. In mobile
communications, an accurate prediction about field strength is indispensable to
network planning and optimization. However, the geographical environment may exert
a great influence upon radio signal propagation. This should be taken into account;
otherwise, the predicted results may not be accurate.
Therefore, to the operators of mobile communications, a digital map matched with

planning software is absolutely necessary. The digital map used in mobile
communications contains geographical information that may affect mobile
communications wave, such as terrain height, usage of the ground, and etc. These basic
data are very important in coverage prediction, interference analysis, and frequency
planning by planning software. With the help of digital maps, planning software could
simulate the actual coverage and interference in the network. Based on the software,
engineering designers could make analogue calculations to the existing network to
analyze problems existed and adjust network parameter, in order to keep the network in
good working condition and improve network capacity and service quality. Before
establishing networks or adding new BTSs, this software may also be used in
prediction, providing a basis for site selection, parameter configuration, and etc. This
could avoid unnecessary investment and bring great economic benefits.
2.4.2 Data Format of Digital Maps
Digital maps for mobile communications contain the following information:
1. Digital Elevation Model (DEM data):
Ground elevation data, which shows the clutter with raster data, displays the
changes of landform in images according to the required resolving power.
2. Digital Object Model (DOM data)
The earth coverage data, which shows the coverage status on the ground,
displays the space distribution of the clutters’ coverage type in images according
to the required resolving power.
29
3. Line Digital Model (LDM data)
In this model, vector data structure is adopted. It displays the distributed data of
the linear clutters in geographical elements, which are always clutters with
direction or outline, such as rivers, or roads, and etc.
4. Buildings Distribution Model (BDM data)
This is the data used to describe the planimetric position and height, in which
raster data or vector data is adopted.
In the above four-layer digital map, DEM layer, DOM layer, and LDM layer
data are necessary in the field strength prediction of mobile communications by
using digital maps; BDM layer is applicable only to micro-cell prediction and is
used only when micro-cell is used in large quantity.
2.4.3 Requirements for Digital Map Accuracy
To mobile communications, the requirements for the sampling interval of digital map
are closely related propagation environments. Propagation environment differs in
complexity. The more complex the propagation environment, the higher requirements
will be for the sampling interval of digital map, and vice versa. The costs needed to
make a digital map increase with the increase of accuracy, so, both the accuracy and
cost should be taken into consideration in defining the requirements for a digital map.
The local situation should also be considered to make a proper choice from the stand
point of cost performance.
There are four standards of sampling interval for a digital map, i.e. 5m, 20m, 50m, and
100m. Generally speaking, high-accuracy data is adopted in the high-traffic urban
districts of big cities; low-accuracy data is adopted in suburban districts and small and
medium-sized cities; lower-accuracy data is adopted in the vast areas of countryside or
remote areas.
30
3 GPRS Radio Network Planning
3.1 Basic Ideas in Network Planning
Network planning process could be divided into four parts, i.e. coverage planning,
capacity planning, frequency planning and parameter planning. In the (E)GPRS
planning, coverage, capacity and frequency planning will exert a great influence upon
GSM network.
Fig. GPRS Radio Network Planning -15 (E)GPRS Network Planning Flow
3.2 Site Survey, Electrical Test, and Initial Site Deployment

As (E)GPRS is a data network superimposed on GSM network, (E)GPRS network
shares the same BTS with GSM network. The changes at BTS side are carried out
through upgrading hardware and software within the GSM BTS equipment. The
requirements for radio environment is almost the same as or higher than that in GSM
network, therefore, site survey or electrical test does not need to be conducted
separately. It needs only to upgrade the GSM BTS to conduct (E)GPRS
commissioning. In the initial site deployment, (E)GPRS is to be commissioned in some
GSM BTS upon actual requirements for data.
31
3.3 Coverage Prediction and Planning
3.3.1 An Analysis of the Factors Influencing Coverage
3.3.1.1 An Analysis of the Influences from Parameters in Uplink Budget
Formula for uplink budget:
Maximum space path loss = MS transmission power (dBm) + MS antenna gain (dB)—
body loss (dB) –BTS feeder loss (dB) + BTS receiving antenna gain (dBi) –
building/vehicle penetration loss (dB) —slow fading margin –fast fading margin (dB) –
BTS receiving sensitivity (dBm)
Uplink budget parameters could be divided roughly into four categories: system
parameters, MS transmitter parameters, BTS receiver parameters, and margin
reservation.
System Parameter
1. Carrier frequency
Carrier frequency will affect propagation path loss. Propagation path loss varies
in different frequencies.
2. System bandwidth
In GSM system, the bandwidth of receiver noise is 200kHz, which is equivalent

to W＝53dBHz.
3. Data rate
The full rate of CS in GSM is 9.6kbit/s, to which, the corresponding half rate is
4.8kbit/s;
The PS data rate of CS1- CS4 in GPRS is:
Table GPRS Radio Network Planning -11 GPRS Code Rate
32
4. Background noise
Background noise, also thermal noise, is the noise generated by the thermal
motion of electrons. The formula is:
Nth＝kTB
In which, K – the Boltzmann Constant, K=1.38×10 -23J/K; T –Absolute

temperature (K); B – system bandwidth.
The spectral density of thermal noise is kT. Suppose the room temperature is
300K, the thermal density will be－174dBm/Hz through calculation.
a MS Transmitter Parameter
1. Maximum TCH transmission power
As to GSM system, the maximum TCH transmission power is the maximum MS

transmission power, to which the value is usually 2W (33dBm).
2. Connector loss
This refers to the loss caused by all parts on the path from transmitter from
antenna. To MS, this value is always ignored, i.e. 0dB.
3. Transmitting antenna gain
The antenna of an MS could not be too big. And it should be able to receive
signals from all directions, so omni antennas with a gain of 0dBi are usually
adopted as transmitting antennas.
b BTS Receiver Parameter
1. Antenna gain
As to omni BTS, 11dBi is adopted for the antenna gain; as to three-sector site,
antennas with a horizontal beamwidth of 60 o ~70 o are usually adopted, to which
the antenna gain is 15~21dBi.
33
2. Feeder, jumper and connector loss
This refers to the attenuation to signal generated by various parts on the path
from antenna to receiver. Usually, 3dB is adopted in link budget. Actually, it
should be calculated according to the cable type, length, and the connector loss,
etc.
3. BTS splitter loss
Because a combiner is adopted in the downlink of the BTS, correspondingly,

there should be a splitter in the uplink. This will surely cause loss, to which 1dB
is usually adopted.
4. The C/I needed on TCH
C/I is the carrier-to-interference ratio on the air interface. Its value varies with
the propagation model, moving speed and coding rate. Generally speaking, the
value of C/I is determined through computer simulation or field test, detailed as
follows:
Table GPRS Radio Network Planning -12 C/I Values in Different GPRS Rates
GSM 900 and GSM 850

Propagation conditions
Type of
TU3 TU3 TU50 TU50 RA250
channel
(no FH) (ideal FH) (no FH) (ideal FH) (no FH)
PDTCH/CS-1 dB 13 9 10 9 9
PDTCH/CS-2 dB 15 13 14 13 13
PDTCH/CS-3 dB 16 15 16 15 16
PDTCH/CS-4 dB 21 23 24 24 *
DCS 1 800 & PCS 1 900

Type of
TU1,5 TU1,5 TU50 TU50 RA130
channel
(no FH) (ideal FH) (no FH) (ideal FH) (no FH)
PDTCH/CS-1 dB 13 9 9 9 9
PDTCH/CS-2 dB 15 13 13 13 13
PDTCH/CS-3 dB 16 15 16 16 16
PDTCH/CS-4 dB 21 23 27 27 *
34
Note: TU3 and TU1.5-TU are typical cities, in which 3 refers to 3km/h, 1.5
refers to 1.5km/h, i.e. conditions for slow speed in urban districts.
TU50 – typical urban environment. It is the condition for 50km/h
RA250, RA130 – rural environment. It is the condition for 250km/h and

130km/h.
5. Noise factor
Noise factor could be defined in many ways. It applies to the following: (a)
measure the part that the ambient noise is higher that thermal noise received by
antenna; (b) measure the value reduced in SNR after the signal passes receiver;
(c) measure the part that the noise temperature of the antenna is higher than that
of the receiver, considering the noise source from antenna (applied to satellite
antenna).
In the link budget of mobile communications network, the noise factor refers to
that of both BTS receiver and MS receiver. When signal passes a receiver, the
receiver will add noises to the signal. The noise factor is the method for
measuring the added noise, and equals the ratio of input SNR to output SNR in
value.
When signal and noise are inputted into an ideal noiseless receiver, both will be
attenuated or amplified, with the SNR not being changed, i.e. F = 1 or 0dB.
Actually, there is noise in the receiver itself, so the output noise power will be
amplified much compared with the signal power, and therefore, the output SNR
is reduced, i.e. F>1.
Noise factor is a property of the receiver. According to protocol, the noise factor
of the BTS receiver in GSM system is 8dB.
6. Receiver sensitivity
Receiver sensitivity refers to the minimum signal power that should be reached
by the input end of receiver so that signals could be successfully detected and
decoded (or the FER needed could be maintained).
Receiver sensitivity in communications system = noise spectral density

(dBm/Hz) + bandwidth (dBHz) + noise factor (dB) + C/I (dB). System noise
floor = noise spectral density + bandwidth + noise factor. C/I is the requirement
for SNR on the Um interface. In narrow-band system, C/I is the requirement for
35
demodulation performance of receiver baseband, and is a positive number; when

spread spectrum communications system is adopted, C/I is far below the
requirements for baseband demodulation performance as a result of spreading
gain, and it is usually a negative number.
The receiver sensitivity includes MS receiver sensitivity and BTS receiver

sensitivity. As the uplink is BTS receiver, the BTS receiver sensitivity should be
considered, e.g. the BTS receiver sensitivity for CS = noise spectral density
(dBm/Hz) + bindwidth (dBHz) + noise factor (dB) + C/I (dB) = －174＋53＋8
＋9＝－104dBm. In it, bandwidth (dBHz) = 10lg （200000）＝53dBHz; the
values of noise spectral density, noise factor and C/I (dB) should be settled
according to the values mentioned above. Likewise, the theoretical reference
value of the BTS receiver in various situations could be calculated according to
the above formula. Actually, BTS receiver sensitivity is influenced by many
factors, so the equipment could reach a much better BTS receiver sensitivity
than the theoretical value. Both the theoretical and tested receiver sensitivities
are listed in the following table.
Table GPRS Radio Network Planning -13 Receiver Sensitivies in Different GPRS Coding Modes
(theoretical value)
GSM 900 and GSM 850

Type of
TU50 TU50 RA250 HT100
channel static
(no FH) (ideal FH) (no FH) (no FH)
(x) (x) (x)
PDTCH/CS-1 dBm -104 -104 -104 -104 -103
(x)
PDTCH/CS-2 dBm -104 -100 -101 -101 -99
PDTCH/CS-3 dBm -104(x) -98 -99 -98 -96
PDTCH/CS-4 dBm -101 -90 -90 * *
DCS 1 800 & PCS 1 900
Type of
TU50 TU50 RA130 HT100
channel static
(x) (x)
PDTCH/CS-1 dBm -104 -104 -104 -104 -103
(x)
PDTCH/CS-2 dBm -104 -100 -100 -101 -99
PDTCH/CS-3 dBm -104(x) -98 -98 -98 -94
PDTCH/CS-4 dBm -101 -88 -88 * *
Table GPRS Radio Network Planning -14 Receiver Sensitivities in Different GPRS
36
Coding Modes (tested value)
Coding mode Static Model TU50 Model (no FH)

CS -109 -105.5
CS1 -112.5 -107
CS2 -110.5 -103.5
CS3 -109 -101.5
CS4 -103 -90
Note: 1. the unit is dBm; 2, the simulated noise floor is -115dBm/200KHz.
Margin Reservation
1. Shadow fading margin
Shadow fading is also called slow fading. In the calculation of radio coverage
area, it is generally agreed that the value of shadow fading is in lognormal
distribution. To reach the required coverage rate, certain power needs to be
reserved for the transmitter (BTS or MS) in radio network planning in order to
overcome the influence from fading. The reserved power, also called shadow
fading margin, is corresponding in value to the communications probability at
the edge of the sector and to the standard deviation of shadow fading.
2. Standard deviation of shadow fading
The standard deviation of shadow fading is closely related to the propagation

environment of electromagnetic wave. Generally speaking, the standard
deviation of shadow fading is about 8~10dB in urban districts and about 6~8dB
in suburban or rural areas.
3. Edge coverage probability & area coverage probability
To evaluate the reliability of communications link under shadow fading,

coverage probability is adopted in radio communications system to reflect the
quality of network coverage. Coverage probability refers to the probability that
MSs and BTSs at the edge of (or within) radio coverage area may reach a certain
requirements (e.g. BER). It includes location probability and time probability.
As to land mobile radio communications system, the communications is
influenced little by the changes in time, so location probability is considered
mainly in network planning. Coverage probability consists of area coverage
probability and edge coverage probability. The former is more direct in defining
coverage probability, while the latter is more convenient in link budget.
37
Edge coverage probability, an indicator that is used to define coverage quality, is

defined as the probability that the received signal at the edge of a cell is higher
than the receiving threshold. In radio transmission, path loss changes very fast in
any given distance. Path loss could be regarded as the random variables that
follow lognormal distribution. If the average path loss is adopted to design
network, the loss at the edge of the cell may be higher than the mean path loss
for half of the time, and lower than the mean path loss value for another half of
the time, i.e. the edge coverage probability is only 50%. In this case, there is a
50% possibility that subscribers at the edge of the cell could not receive the
expected service quality. To improve cell coverage rate, a fading margin needs to
be preserved in link budget: 75% is usually adopted for edge coverage
probability. At present, it is required that the edge coverage probability reach
90% in cities and 75% in countryside. In the following explanations about edge
coverage probability, 75% is taken as the example:
Given that  is the random variable of propagation path loss,  is the Gauss
distribution series, to which, suppose the mean value is m , the standard
deviation is  , the corresponding probability distribution function is a Q
function. Given the loss threshold  1 , if the propagation path loss exceeds this
threshold, it follows that the receiving signal is too weak to satisfy the expected
service quality. Therefore, at the edge of the cell, the edge coverage probability
reaching 75% could be calculated by:
1 (  m ) 2
1 
Pcov erage  Pr (   1) 
2  e

2 2
d
In outdoors, 8dB is usually adopted for the standard deviation for the random
variable of propagation path loss. And the margin value corresponding to 75%
of edge probability could be obtained:
 1  m  0.675  0.675  8  5.4dB
38
Detailed as shown in Fig 3-1 and Fig.3-2:
Fig. GPRS Radio Network Planning -16 Diagram of Fading Margin—Probability Distribution
Function
Fig. GPRS Radio Network Planning -17 Diagram of Fading Margin—Probability Density Function
According to the above figures, during network planning and designing, it needs
to reserve 5.4dB’s margin so that 75% could be reached for the edge coverage
probability. If 90% is required for edge coverage probability, it follows that
10.3dB should be reserved for fading margin through looking up table.
4. Area coverage probability
Area coverage probability is also involved in actual project. It is defined as the

percentage that the area, in which the received signal strength exceeds the
receiving threshold, takes in the total areas within a circular region that has a
radius R. This item is related to edge coverage probability. If μ＝3 and σ＝8dB,
the edge coverage probability 90% is corresponding to area coverage
probability, and 75% is corresponding to 89%.
39
Table GPRS Radio Network Planning -15 Edge Coverage Probabilities and Shadow Fading Margins
Commonly Used
Edge coverage probability (%) 70 75 80 85 90 95 98

Shadow fading margin/dB 0.53σ 0.68σ 0.85σ 1.04σ 1.29σ 1.65σ 2.06σ
Note: In the above table,σrefers to standard deviation of shadow fading, to

which the value is usually 6, 8, 10, and etc.
Table GPRS Radio Network Planning -16 Area Coverage Probabilities and Shadow Fading Margins Commonly Used
μ＝3 μ＝4
Area σ＝8dB σ＝10dB σ＝8dB σ＝10dB
coverage Edge Shadow Edge Shadow Edge Shadow Edge Shadow
probability coverage fading coverage fading coverage fading coverage fading
（％） probability margin probability margin probability margin probability margin
（％） /dB （％） /dB （％） /dB （％） /dB
98 95 13.2 96 17.6 93 11.8 94 15.6
95 87 9 89 12.3 85 8.3 87 11.3
90 77 6 80 8.5 73 5 76 7.1
75 52 0.5 56 1.6 47 0 51 0.3
Note：In the above table, σ is the standard deviation of shadow fading; μis the
path loss index.
Obviously, in the same radio environment propagation, coverage probability is

the main factor determining shadow fading margin. The higher coverage
probability required, the larger margin reserved, and the smaller the maximum
coverage range, influencing directly the number of BTSs. In actual network, the
BTSs are always in irregular distribution as a result of the block by buildings.
Therefore, the coverage probability affects the number of BTSs less than what is
calculated theoretically, but the number of BTSs will surely increase with
coverage probability.
In general, in urban districts, ifσ ＝8dB, and edge coverage probability is 90%,
10.3dB should be adopted for shadow fading; in rural areas, if σ＝8dB, and edge
coverage probability is 75%, 5.4dB should be adopted for shadow fading.
6. Fast fading margin
Fast fading occurs when the propagation wave is reflected by scatters (refers
mainly to the man-made building) or natural blocks (refers mainly to forest)
40
around (within 50~100 wavelengths) an MS, causing multi-path wave

interference and forming standing-wave field. When an MS passes through the
standing-wave field, a short-term fading may occur to the received signal, thus,
the signal strength will fluctuate.
Fast fading margin refers to the increased part of Rx_lev, needed to guarantee
the same voice quality as that when internal noise of the receiver is the only
noise source, under multi-path effect and man-made noise (refers mainly to the
interference caused by spark plug)
In GSM system, 3dB is adopted for the fast fading margin in both CS and PS.
7. Antenna diversity gain
Antenna diversity gain occurs when diversity technique is adopted in BTS. It

could be calculated together with receiver sensitivity, or calculated separately.
3dB (uplink) is usually adopted.
8. Body loss
Body loss occurs when MS is so close to human body that losses are caused by
signal block and signal absorption. Body loss varies at different part of human
body: if the handset is near the waist or shoulder of the subscriber, the received
signal strength will be lowered by 4~7dB 1~2dB respectively, compared with
the value when the handset antenna is several wavelengths’ away from human
body.
3dB is usually adopted for this value in CS link budget; 0dB is adopted in the PS
link budget by using data card; as the value is very small in the PS link budget
by using mobile phones, 0dB is usually adopted for convenience.
9. Penetration loss
In general, 18~25dB is adopted for the building penetration loss in dense urban
districts, 25~20dB in mean urban districts, and 10~15dB in suburban and rural
areas; and 6~10dB for vehicle penetration loss.
10. Interference margin
In GSM system, intra-system interference consists mainly of co-frequency

interference, adjacent frequency interference, intermodulation interference,
Near-end to Far-end Interference, etc. Considering the influences from all these
interferences, an interference margin could be obtained, to which the value is
41
usually 3dB.
3.3.1.2 An Analysis of the Influences from Parameters in Downlink Budget
Formula to downlink budget:
Maximum space path loss = BTS transmission power (dBm) + BTS antenna gain (dB)
–BTS feeder loss (dB) – BTS combiner loss + MS receiving antenna gain (dBi) – body
loss (dB) –building/vehicle penetration loss (dB) —slow fading margin –fast fading
margin (dB) – interference margin (dB)–MS receiving sensitivity (dBm)
Similar to parameters in uplink budget, parameters in downlink budget also include

system parameter, MS receiver parameter, BTS transmitter parameter, and margin
reservation.
System Parameter
Except carrier frequency, downlink system parameter is almost the same as uplink
system parameter in other aspects.
BTS Transmitter
1. BTS transmitting power
Various powers could be adopted in BTS, but 40W, i.e. 46dBm, is the most
commonly adopted. BTS power should vary with speed, but actually, 46dBm
(40W) is adopted in link budget according to GMSK modulation.
2. BTS combiner loss
The combiner loss is determined by the number of TRXs. This involves mainly
two-in-one and four-in-one combiners with the loss value of 5.2dB and 8.5dB
respectively. In this design, the duplexer loss is also taken into account.
3. BTS feeder, jumper and connector loss
3dB is adopted, the same uplink value.
4. BTS antenna gain
The same as in uplink, omni-antennas with a gain of 11dBi are usually adopted
in omni-BTS; as to three-sector sites, directional antennas with a gain of
15~21dBi and a horizontal beamwidth of 60o~70o are usually adopted.
MS Receiver Parameter
1. MS antenna gain
42
Adopt 0dB, the same as in uplink.
2. C/I of MS
The same as in uplink, this value should also be adopted according to protocol.
3. Noise factor
The same as the calculation method in uplink, the value should be 10dB
according to protocol.
4. MS receiver sensitivity
The MS sensitivity could also be calculated through the formula for calculating
receiver sensitivity mentioned above. But it differs from the uplink in the value
of C/I and noise factor. To the former, the value of noise factor is 10dB. The
theoretical MS receiver sensitivity could be calculated according to the C/I value
stipulated in the protocol. The results are detailed as follows:
Table GPRS Radio Network Planning -17 MS Receiver Sensitivity in Different GPRS Coding Modes
GSM 900 and GSM 850

Type of channel Propagation conditions
static TU50 TU50 RA250 HT100
PDTCH/CS-1 dBm -102 -101 -102 -102
PDTCH/CS-2 dBm -98 -97 -98 -98
PDTCH/CS-3 dBm -96 -95 -96 -95
PDTCH/CS-4 dBm -88 -87 -87 *
DCS 1800 and PCS 1900
Type of channel Propagation conditions
static TU50 TU50 RA130 HT100
PDTCH/CS-1 dBm -102 -102 -102 -102
PDTCH/CS-2 dBm -98 -98 -98 -98
PDTCH/CS-3 dBm -96 -95 -95 -95
PDTCH/CS-4 dBm -88 -84 -84 *
Margin Reservation
The same as in uplink, 90% is adopted for edge coverage probability and 10dB
for shadow fading margin, at the edge of urban districts.
43
2. Fast fading margin (power control margin)
The same as in uplink, 3dB is adopted in all situations.
3. Body loss
The same as in uplink, 3dB is adopted for CS and 0dB for PS.
4. Penetration loss
The same as in uplink.
5. Interference margin
The same as in uplink, 3dB is adopted.
3.3.2 Concept, Selection and Requirements for Propagation Model
3.3.2.1 Concept of Propagation Model
From the formula for field strength prediction, it follows that propagation path loss is
one of the main factors that affect the accuracy of the predicted value. The formula to
calculate propagation path loss is called propagation model.
3.3.2.2 Selection of Propagation Model
Some commonly used models, e.g. Okumura-Hata model, Cost-231 model, and general
model, etc., are applicable only to certain situations.
As to how to select a suitable propagation model for certain propagation environment,

the following factors should be considered:
1. Urban environment: e.g. dense urban districts (building), urban districts,

suburban areas, and rural areas, etc.
2. Landform: e.g. hills, open lands, forests, waters, slopes, and mountains, etc.
3. Covering radius: e.g. above 20km, below 20km but over 1km; 400~500 meters
or shorter; indoor micro-cell, and etc.
3.3.2.3 Requirements for Propagation Model
Compared with tested result, the predicted result is 3dB’s lower in mean deviation,
8dB’s lower in standard deviation, and 10dB’s lower in irregular terrain. This shows
that the model could be used. The lower the standard deviation, the more accurate the
prediction will be.
44
3.3.2.4 An Introduction to Several Propagation Models Commonly Used
Propagation models could be divided into two types: statistical model and deterministic
model.
Statistical model, the propagation model obtained through a statistical analysis of the
test data, is usually small in calculated amount, and is low in requirements for digital
map data. It could be modified through test data.
Deterministic model is the propagation model obtained through using wave diffraction
and reflection, according to the geometric information of clutters and buildings on the
propagation path. It is large in calculated amount and is high in requirements for digital
maps. It needs building information and could not be modified through test data.
Statistical model performs well in the prediction when the covering radius is over 1km,
but not so well when covering radius is below 1km, as the deviation is large when
buildings and streets around the BTS antenna affect greatly the signal distribution or
the BTS antenna height is above the buildings around it. So in the latter case,
deterministic model is usually adopted. Sometimes it needs to be simplified because
there is a surprisingly large amount to be calculated as a result of high requirements for
data in deterministic model, e.g. high accuracy of digital maps (5 meters), needs for
building information (this differs in 2-D and 3-D). But too much simplification may
exert negative effects.
Okumura-Hata Model
Based on the Okumura’s predicted curve of mean signal strength, HATA proposed the
empirical formula for propagation path loss through curve fitting, i.e. Okumura-Hata
model. It is a classical statistical model, in which, the propagation path loss model in
urban districts is used as the standard, and other districts are modified through
calibration formula.
1. Applied to:
f ranges from 150 to 1500MHz; the effective BTS antenna height hb is 30~200 meters;
and MS antenna height hm is 1~10 meters; the communication distance is 1~km;
2. Propagation path loss formula
3. Explanations:
The unit of d is km, and the unit of f is MHz;
45
Lb city is the mean propagation path loss in urban districts;
Hb, hm——the effective BTS/MS antenna height; the unit is meter;
4. Correction factors
Correction factors include street, suburbs, open ground, quasi open ground, rural areas,
hilly terrain, general slope of the terrain, isolated mountains, mixed land-sea (lake)
paths, building density, and etc. There is a formula corresponding to each factor. Please
refer to the training materials for details.
COST-231 Model
The same as Okumura-Hata model, this model is applicable to 1800MHz network. By

this model, the propagation path loss model in urban districts is used as the standard,
and other districts are modified through calibration formula. It is a statistical model.
1. Applied to
GSM900/1800; effective BTS antenna height hb is 30~200 meters; MS antenna height

hm is 1~10 meters; the communication distance is 1~35km;
3. Explanations
The unit of d is km; the unit of f is MHz;
Lb city is the mean propagation path loss in urban districts;
Hb, hm——the effective BTS/MS antenna height; the unit is meter;
The same as in Okumura-Hata model, correction factors in this model include street,
suburbs, open ground, quasi open ground, rural areas, hilly terrain, general slope of the
terrain, isolated mountains, mixed land-sea (lake) paths, building density, and etc.
General Model
General model, firstly proposed by ERISSON, combines together the formulas of

Okumura-Hata model and Cost-231 model. In this model, clutter correction factor is
added, on the basis of the urban correction factor and terrain correction factor; it
emphasizes that each parameter K could be corrected by test data. This is also a
commonly used statistical model.
46
1. Applied to

One segment：
Two segments：
3. Explanations
146.83 900MHz
K1  
156.65 1800 MHz
K 2 =44.9；
K 3 =-13.82；
K 4 =-6.55；
K 5 ——correction factor for artificial environment (the default value is 0 in urban

districts)
K d ——diffraction loss factor, ranging from 0~1 (0.9~1 in rural areas; 0.5~0.65 in
urban districts; 0.7~0.9 in suburban districts);
Ld ——diffraction loss (please refer to the calculation of isolated mountain in

Okumura model for the formula);
hb、hm——effective BTS, antenna height, to which the unit is meter, and the unit of d is
km.
d 0 is the segmentation point; the default value is 1km;
a ( hm ) ——please refer to Okumura model;
K street ——please refer to Okumura model; it is applicable only to urban districts;
K clutter ——Clutter correction factor (two selections): 1. based on the clutter around
MS; 2. weighted average of the correction factors on the way from MS to BTS antenna.
(There could be more segments, depending on propagation distance and calculation
47
accuracy; generally speaking, one or two segments will be ok)
The same as in Okumura-Hata model, correction factors in this model include street,
suburbs, open ground, quasi open ground, rural areas, hilly terrain, general slope of the
terrain, isolated mountains, mixed land-sea (lake) paths, building density, and etc.
These factors are the same as that in Okumura-Hata model.
Besides, there are also other correction factors, which could be obtained through test
data.
Lee Model (Point-to-Point Model)
This model is proposed by an expert in the field of mobile communications named

William C. Y. Lee. It consists of two parts, i.e. region-to-region model, and point-to-
point model.
According to the work and conclusion by Lee, the prediction accuracy of Lee model
has been improved greatly, to which the standard deviation is 2~3dB. It is also a
statistical model.
1. Applied to

Formula for region-to-region model

L30  L0  v lg d ( km)  F0
Formula for point-to-point model

L  L30  20 lg[ho ( m) / 30]
Formula for region-to-region model should be obtained through test. But if no test is
conducted, the following formula for suburban environment may be applicable to
point-to-point model as well:
L30  156  40 lg d  20 lg hb  10 lg hm  30 lg( f / f 0 )
3. Explanations
F0——MS adjustment factor
48
v——Path attenuation slope
L0——Mean loss at the spot 1km away from BTS
L——The value of path loss
f——Working frequency band, MHz;
f0——850MHz；
L30——Mean propagation path loss for region-to-region model based on standard test
condition;
ho——Effective BTS antenna height, detailed as in the following diagram:
M BS MS
h0
MBS
M BS
MS
h0 h0
MS
Fig. GPRS Radio Network Planning -18 Diagram of Effective Antenna Height
Obstacle diffraction loss or shadow loss: knife-edge (single edge or multiple-edge)

diffraction loss is adopted; effective antenna height is not involved;
Loss due to vegetation: if there is a forest on the propagation path, loss due to
vegetation should be taken into account.
Calculation: 20dB/dec (dec refers to 10 times of distance) is adopted to the additional

loss in each forest;
For instance, in the propagation direction, if there are two forests at the spots 2~3km’s
and 4~5km’s away respectively, the additional loss due to vegetation will be 20(lg3-
lg2)+20(lg5-lg4)=5.5dB; (if BTS is in the forests, and its antenna height is lower than
the trees, diffraction loss should be adopted; if the dense forest is close to MS, the
algorithm for knife-edge diffraction should be adopted for additional loss due to
vegetation)
49
Street correction factor: the Rx power along the propagation path is 10dB’s higher than
that on the way perpendicular to the propagation path; as to the concrete calculation,
the street correction factor in Okumura-Hata could be used as a reference;
Propagation on the water (or on the open and smooth ground): the propagation model
for free space could be adopted.
COST-231-Walfish-Ikegami Model
The basis of macro-cell model: the propagation path loss from BTS to MS is
determined by the environment around the MS; the buildings around the BTS and the
direction of streets affect greatly the propagation path loss from BTS to MS. In this
case, the macro-cell model mentioned above is not applicable to the prediction for the
propagation path loss within 1km.
COST-231-Walfish-Ikegami model, which is used to predict the path loss within

20m~5km, is applicable to both macro-cell model and micro-cell model. In micro-cell
coverage prediction, accurate data about streets and buildings is needed, approximation
should not be used.
(Recommended in GSM3.30, A Guidebook for Mobile Communication (Volume 13))
1. Applied to
GSM900/1800; applied to the loss prediction of propagation model in large cells, small
cells and micro-cells.
2. Propagation Path loss formula
LOS:
Lb  42.6  26 lg d ( km )  20 lg f ( MHz ) limited to d  20m 。
NLOS:
Lb  L0  Lrts  Lmsd
Explanations:
L0—— free space transmission loss
Lrts——roof-top-street diffraction and scatter loss

hMobile  hroof  hMobile hBase  hBase  hroof
 ——street width (m)
50
f —— frequency calculation (MHz)
hMobile ——the unit is m;
 ——the unit is degree
Lmsd——diffraction loss for multi-barriers
 16.9  10 lg   10 lg f  20 lg hMobile  Lori hroof  hMobile

Lrts  
0 if (Lrts  0)
 10  0.354 0    35o

Lori  2.5  0.075(  35) 35o    55o
4.0  0.114(  55) 55o    90o

Lbsh  K a  K d lg d  K f lg f  9 lg b
Lmsd  
0 if (Lmsd  0)
 18 lg(1  hBase ) hBase  hroof
Lbsh  
0 hBase  hroof
In the above formula, Ka refers to the propagation path loss added when the antenna is
lower than the roof of the neighbor buildings, Kd and Kf control the relation between
Lmsd and distant d and frequency f.
Please refer to training materials for the calculation for different factors.
51
Fig. GPRS Radio Network Planning -19 Diagram of Environment Factors
Terrain correction factor in Okumura-Hata model may be used.
3.3.3 GPRS Coverage Planning
3.3.3.1 Steps of Coverage Planning
1) Figure out the maximum path loss of CS and GPRS (a certain coding rate) under
a Hypothetical condition (i.e. link budget);
2) Work out the coverage area in CS cell and GPRS cell respectively, according to
the maximum path loss allowed;
3) Calculate the areas covered by BTS according to the smallest area, which is the
smaller one obtained from the calculation of CS cell and PS cell in step 2, in
order to meet the requirements for CS and GPRS simultaneously. The
assumptions for radio environment, propagation model, and etc. in coverage
planning are the same as that in CS.
3.3.3.2 Link budget
Link budget is the precondition for coverage planning. Through the calculation of the
maximum loss allowed in a service, the cell coverage radius under a certain
propagation model could be obtained, so that the scale of the BTSs with a continuous
coverage could be defined. Generally speaking, link budget should be conducted in
both uplink (from MS to BTS) and downlink (from BTS to MS) to balance uplink and
52
downlink.
Link budget could be affected by many factors, which include shadow fading margin,
building penetration loss, service throughput, besides MS transmission power, and BTS
receiving sensitivity. Therefore, link budget differs in different geographical
environments and services.
In the calculation of coverage area in CS and GPRS, the maximum path loss for uplink
and downlink CS/GPRS should be calculated respectively according to the receiving
sensitivity of BTS in different environments. Then, the coverage area of each cell
should be calculated according to the corresponding propagation model. Lastly, the
minimum number of BTSs required for a coverage area could be worked out.
Link budget for 90% edge coverage probability
Suppose the transmission power of TRX under a GSM900 base station is 40W, the
transmission power of handset is 2W, and the antenna gain is 15.5dBi. Then, the
following table shows how to calculate uplink/downlink balance in order to satisfy the
requirements of voice service and GPRS data service which the outdoor subscribers in
urban areas need.
Table GPRS Radio Network Planning -18 Link budget for voice service in urban areas (4TRX
configuration)
　 Unit Downlink Uplink Equation

W 40 2 A
TRX output power
dBm 46 33 B=10*log(A)
Combiner loss (two in one) dB 5 0 C
Feeder, jumper, and joint loss dB 3 0 D
Transmitting antenna gain dB 15.5 0 E
Body loss dB 0 3 F
EiRP dBm 53.5 30 G=B-C-D+E-F
Receiver sensitivity dBm -102 -105.5 H
Protection margin for fast fading dB 3 3 I
Protection margin for slow fading
dB 10 10 J
(90% edge coverage probability)
Divider loss dB 0 1 K
Feeder, jumper, and joint loss dB 0 3 L
Receiving antenna gain dB 0 15.5 M
Diversity gain dB 0 3 N
Body loss dB 3 0 O
53
Interference margin dB 3 3 P
RxLev dBm -83 -104 Q=H+I+J+K+L-M-N+O+P
The maximum path loss allowed dB 136.5 134 R=G-Q
Loss caused by the buildings dB 17 17 S
Loss allowed for indoor coverage dB 119.5 117 T=R-S
Loss allowed for outdoor
dB 136.5 134 U＝R
coverage
From the table, it can be seen that when the configuration is 4TRX and the combiner
loss is 5dB, the uplink is constrained. The maximum path loss allowed which satisfies
the outdoor coverage requirements for voice service in urban areas is 134dB. It is
possible to calculate the coverage area and the number of base stations needed to cover
the whole area on basis of the maximum path loss value and the appropriate
propagation model.
The calculation above is for voice service. However, if there is an overlay network
GPRS on GSM network and a continuous coverage is required for voice service and
CS1/CS2 GPRS service, then the calculation will be quite different. That’s because the
higher the encoding rate is, the lower the receiver sensitivity is of the base station (the
calculation is based on CS2, BTS sensitivity is -103.5dBm, receiver sensitivity of the
handset is -97, and there is no frequency-hopping under TU50 environment).
Therefore, the number of base stations is planned on basis of the highest encoding rate.
Table GPRS Radio Network Planning -19 Link budget for GPRS CS2 in urban areas (4TRX
configuration)
　 Unit Downlink Uplink Equation

W 40 2 A
TRX output power
dBm 46 33 B=10*log(A)
Combiner loss (two in one) dB 5 0 C
Feeder loss dB 3 0 D
Antenna gain dB 15.5 0 E
Body loss dB 0 0 F
EiRP dBm 53.5 33 G=B-C-D+E-F
Receiver sensitivity dBm -97 -103.5 H
Protection margin for fast fading dB 3 3 I
Protection margin for slow fading
dB 10 10 J
(90% edge coverage probability)
Divider loss dB 0 1 K
Feeder loss dB 0 3 L
54
Antenna gain dB 0 15.5 M

Diversity gain dB 0 3 N
Body loss dB 0 0 O
Interference margin dB 3 3 P
RxLev dBm -81 -102 Q=H+I+J+K+L-M-N+O+P
The maximum path loss allowed dB 134.5 135 R=G-Q
Loss caused by the buildings dB 17 17 S
Loss allowed for indoor coverage dB 117.5 118 T=R-S
Loss allowed for outdoor
dB 134.5 135 U
coverage
It can be seen from the table that uplink/downlink is basically satisfied when the
configuration is 4TRX and the combiner loss is 5dB. With 90% edge coverage
probability, the maximum path loss allowed to satisfy the CS2 service in urban areas is
134.5dB. A comparison of the voice service and the GPRS service of CS2 indicates
that the maximum path loss allowed for CS2 service is more than that of voice service,
that is, the coverage area of CS2 is larger than that of voice service, which is due to the
differences of body loss.
According to the calculation method mentioned above, the maximum path loss can be
calculated for different encoding rates under the condition of 90% edge coverage
probability.
Table GPRS Radio Network Planning -20 Path loss under different data rate
Static Static TU50 (outdoor) TU50 (indoor)

(outdoor) (indoor)
voice 136.5 119.5 134 117
CS1 139.5 122.5 138.5 121.5
CS2 135.5 118.5 134.5 117.5
CS3 133.5 116.5 132.5 115.5
CS4 125.5 108.5 121.5 104.5
Note:
1) The difference between voice service and data service lies in body loss. Specifically
speaking, the loss in voice service is 3dB, and that in data service is 0dB. Therefore,
the maximum path loss of voice service may be less than that of data service for some
encoding methods.
2) Under the static condition, the downlink of voice service is constrained. It is the
same case with GPRS CS1/CS2/CS3/CS4.
55
(3) Under the condition of TU50, the uplink of voice service is constrained, the
uplink/downlink is balanced for GPRS CS1, the downlink of CS2/CS3 is constrained,
and the uplink of CS4 is constrained.
Figure GPRS Radio Network Planning -20 Path loss of GPRS under different encoding methods
3.3.3.3 The calculation of coverage radius
The coverage radius in urban areas of high density under the condition of 90%
edge coverage probability
Suppose it is in urban areas of high density, COST 231-Walfish-Ikegami model is

adopted, the center frequency is 925MHz, the street width is 25m, the height of
buildings is 25m, the distance between the buildings is 50m, the antenna height of base
station is 30m, the handset height is 1.5 m, and the angle of incidence is 35 degrees.
Then the propagation loss can be simplified as follows:
Ploss = 130.81 + 38log(d)
With the assumption mentioned above, the coverage ranges of different services are
shown in the following table (the building penetration loss is assumed as 17dB):
Table GPRS Radio Network Planning -21 Coverage radius of GPRS under the condition of 90% edge
coverage probability
Coverage radius（km）
　 Voice CS1 CS2 CS3 CS4
Static (outdoor) 1.41 1.69 1.33 1.18 0.72
56
Static (indoor) 0.50 0.60 0.47 0.42 0.26

TU50 (outdoor) 1.21 1.59 1.25 1.11 0.57
TU50 (indoor) 0.43 0.57 0.45 0.40 0.20
Figure GPRS Radio Network Planning -21 Coverage radius of GPRS under different encoding
methods
Proportion of data service coverage radius to voice service coverage radius with
different encoding methods
Table GPRS Radio Network Planning -22. Proportion of data rate coverage radius to voice service
coverage radius
Proportion to voice coverage radius

Encoding rate TU50 Static
CS1 1.3135 1.1994
CS2 1.0308 0.9412
CS3 0.9131 0.8338
CS4 0.4689 0.5135
57
Figure GPRS Radio Network Planning -22 Proportion to voice service coverage radius with different
GPRS encoding methods
In conclusion, if it is in urban areas of high density and under the static condition, the
coverage range of GPRS CS1 exceeds that of the voice service due to body loss. The
proportion of CS1 to voice is 120%, and the coverage range of CS2/CS3/CS4 is
smaller than that of voice service. The proportion of CS4 to voice is only 51%, which
is the smallest.
Similarly, if in urban areas of high density and under the condition of TU50, the
coverage range of GPRS CS1/CS2 is larger than that of voice, while the coverage
range of CS3/CS4 is smaller than that of voice service, of which the smallest
proportion reaches only 47％ or so.
3.4 Capacity planning

The capacity planning of (E)GPRS is based on the network topoloty and traffic
requirements. The capacity planning of (E)GPRS consists of the following two aspects:
Calculation of BSC capacity configuration and calculation of BTS capacity
configuration.
58
IP layer rate of subscirbers
Assumptions
Effective speed of RLC/MAC layer Effective speed of GB interface
Coding ratio GB link
Number of PDCH
Abis link
BSC relevant boards
Figure GPRS Radio Network Planning -23 A flow chart of BSS capacity
planning
3.4.1 PDCH capacity planning
The normal PDCH capacity planning is based on global flow of the system, but this
method has some disadvantages. That is, if two subscribers occupy the same radio
resources for the the same duration, they may probably generate totally different flow
(e.g., a CS4 subscriber and an MCS9 subscriber; a subscriber who browsed the Internet
and a subscriber who uses FTP download). It is quite likely that a subscriber who
generates a low flow may occupy the same system resources as a subscriber who
generates a high flow. In other words, the flow can not completely reflect the
subscribers’ demand for the broadband of the system.
Besides, when the total flow is calculated, the different coding ratio should be taken
into account. The pre-estimation of the coding ratio depend on a series of factors, for
example, parameters (the original coding setteings), capacity (whether there are enough
59
Abis links to support the highest encoding rate), service model (the penetration rate of
EDGE handsets, the distribution of data subscribers). Therefore, this pre-estimation is
not so accurate. Besides, it varies greately with different areas, so its universal property
is poor.
Therefore, in this document, another calculation method is introduced here: A planning

method based on PDCH multiplexing (that is, the average number of subscribers per
PDCH channel). Compared to the previous method, the advantages of this method are
listed in the following table:
Table GPRS Radio Network Planning -23 A comparison of PDCH planning methods
Differences The old method The new method

It is a flow-based algorithm, It is a bandwidth-based
Different basic
and it is not closely related to algorithm, and it is closely
algorithms
subscriber experience. related to subscriber experience.
It is based on a comprehensive
consideration of both low-end The final standard is oriented to
Different key
users and high-end users. It is the high-end users, and the
points of the
calculated on basis of the computing result is relatively a
plannings
summation of flow generated large number.
by all subscribers.
The calculation of subscriber
number and flow is based on
The calculation of subscriber the service types. Besides, it
number and flow is based on takes into consideration the
Different service
the coding ratio. Therefore, it is service duration and the
models
not so accurate, and its bandwidth requirements of the
universal property is poor. services. Therefore, both the
accuracy and the universal
property are improved.
Since there is no mature reference value for the establishment of the service model
which is based on the new method, and it is difficult to obtain the service model
parameters, it is suggested that the old method should be adopted in capacity planning
and the new method should be for your reference only.
ZTE supports 3 types of PDCH: priority given to GPRS, priority given to EDGE, and
dedicated to EDGE. At present, the first two methods are frequently-used, that is,
PDCH can be occupied both by GPRS subscribers and EDGE subscribers. The
algorithm in this document is specific to the first two methods.
60
3.4.1.1 PDCH capacity planning based on the flow
(E)GPRS involves with 13 kinds of different encoding methods, that is, CS1~CS4 and
MCS1~MCS9. In the transmission of subscriber data, it needs to involve some protocol
overhead and signaling overhead. Therefore, the actual data transmission involves with
these headovers. Besides, the feature of internet mobile is as follows: The downlink
flow (the network －>MS) is much larger than the uplink flow (MS －> the network),
so the throughput of (E)GPRS system is mainly concerned with the downlink flow.
Assumptions
1. A radio block is transmitted every 20ms (For CS1~CS4 and MCS1~MCS6, one
radio block is corresponding to one RLC packet. However, for MCS7~MCS9,
one radio block is corresponding to two RLC packets).
2. If there is no SNDCP compression and decompression, and segmentation and

regrouping, for one IP packet of this kind, it is transmitted at LLC layer through
one LLC PDU.
3. The number of LLC PDU bytes transmitted by RLC packets which are encoded
in different ways is shown as follows:
Table GPRS Radio Network Planning -24 GPRS code table
Number of LLC
Encoding Rate 4-time-slot rate
bytes included
method (kbit/s) (kbit/s)
(byte)
CS1 20 8 32
CS2 30 12 48
CS3 36 14.4 57.6
CS4 50 20 80
Table GPRS Radio Network Planning -25 EDGE code table
Number of
Encoding LLC bytes Encoding Adjustment Rate 4-time-slot
method included family method (kbit/s) rate (kbit/s)
(byte)
MCS1 22 C GMSK 8.8 35.2
MCS2 28 B GMSK 11.2 44.8
MCS3 37 A GMSK 14.8 59.2
MCS4 44 C GMSK 17.6 70.4
MCS5 56 B 8PSK 22.4 89.6
61
MCS6 74 A 8PSK 29.6 118.4

MCS7 2×56 B 8PSK 44.8 179.2
MCS8 2×68 A 8PSK 54.4 217.6
MCS9 2×74 A 8PSK 59.2 236.8
1) Suppose the average length of IP packet is 480 bytes.
2) Suppose 10 IP packets have continuous IP data flow on average.
3) RLC on UM interface adopts the acknowledged mode. The retransmission rate

of CS1~CS4 and MCS1~MCS4 is assumed as 10%, and the retransmission rate
of MCS5~MCS9 is assumed as 20%.
4) For the transmission with RLC on UM interface which is under the

acknowledged mode, normally, each time a continuous IP packet flow means a
process of the establishment and release of TBF. If each time the establishment
of the downlink TBF comes after the establishment and release of the uplink
TBF, the overhead of the downlink RLC/MAC control block is about 5% each
time in the process of the establishment and release of the downlink TBF.
Note: If the holding off time function of uplink/downlink TBF is enabled, the overhead
of the control block can be ignored. However, it is not suggested for a newly
established network at its initial stage.
(1) Suppose the LLC frame format is as follows: LLC head (9 bytes) + SDNCP head
(4 bytes) + IP data + FCS (3 bytes), each packet occupies the length of status bytes of
one RLC.
Note: In the assumption mentioned above, the factors which are most likely to change
are the following ones: The length of the IP packet, the number of continuous IP
packets of IP data flow, and the retransmission rate, all of which will be parameterized
in the following parts of this document.
Effective rate conversion of IP layer on UM interface
With different encoding methods:
Rate of RLC layer = The number of bytes of each group of continous IP packets /
(The number of radio blocks which are needed to send each group of continuous
IP packets * (1 + retransmission rate) * (1 + overhead of the control block) * 0.02)
The number of bytes of each group of continous IP packets = 480*10 = 4800bytes;
As to the retransmission rate, please refer to the 6 item in 3.4.1.1.1;
62
The overhead of control block refers to the radio block which needs to be consumed
in order to reestablish TBF between two continous IP packets, that is, 5%. Please refer
to the 7th item in 3.4.1.1.1;
0.02 means the period of sending the radio block is 20ms. Please refer to the first item
in 3.4.1.1.1.
The number of radio blocks which are needed to send each group of continuous IP
packets
= (The number of bytes of each IP packet + The number of bytes as signaling overhead
on LLC layer) * The number of IP packets which are sent continuously each time / The
maximum number of LLC bytes which can be carried by each radio block
According to the assumptions:
The number of bytes of each IP packet = 480bytes;
The number of bytes as signaling overhead on LLC layer = 9+4+3+1=17bytes;
The number of IP packets which are sent continuously each time = 10;
For the maximum number of LLC bytes which can be carried by each radio block,
please refer to table 3-11 and table 3-12.
Based on the formulas mentioned above, the following table shows the final computing
results which are calculated according to the method of ceiling (n):
Table GPRS Radio Network Planning -26 The effective rate on IP layer
The total size

when the The number Bearer rate of
Size of The overhead The overhead of The
signaling Included of radio IP layer on
Encoding continuous IP of control retransmission theoretical
overhead on LLC bytes blocks which the air
method packets block is block is bearer rate
LLC layer is (byte) are needed interface
(byte) included. included. (kbit/s)
included (number) (kbit/s)
(byte)
CS1 4800 4970 20 249 262 289 6.64 8
CS2 30 166 175 193 9.95 12
CS3 36 139 146 161 11.93 14.4
CS4 50 100 105 116 16.55 20
MCS1 22 226 238 262 7.33 8.8
MCS2 28 178 187 206 9.32 11.2
MCS3 37 135 142 157 12.23 14.8
63
MCS4 44 113 119 131 14.66 17.6

MCS5 56 89 94 113 16.99 22.4
MCS6 74 68 72 87 22.07 29.6
MCS7 112 45 48 58 33.10 44.8
MCS8 136 37 39 47 40.85 54.4
MCS9 148 34 36 44 43.64 59.2
Computational formulas
If the GPRS traffic model is used for the input parameters, the configuration of PDCH
can be worked out according to some computational formulas.
Table GPRS Radio Network Planning -27 PDCH capacity planning parameters 1
Parameter
Meaning Value Unit
name
L The average length of subscribers’ IP packets 480 BYTE
N The number of continous IP packets of IP data flow 10 -
BLER Retransmission rate 10/30 %
US The number of speech service subscribers - Number
AR The percentage of attached subscribers - Number
PAR The percentage of activated PDP %
ER The percentage of EDGE service - %
The average rate per subscriber when GPRS is busy (not
F1 - kbit/s
including the overhead)
The average rate per subscriber when EGPRS is busy (not
F2 - kbit/s
including the overhead)
EU1 The application percentage of CS1 encoding method - %
EU5 The application percentage of MCS1 encoding method - %
BS The number of cells covered by PCU 100 -
64
The minimum packet channel number of each cell which can

P 4
guarantee the rate
Among these parameters, some parameters are changeable, and they vary with the
traffic model which is decided at the network planning stage. These parameters include
US, AR, PAR, ER, F1, F2.
As to the value of retransmission rate, please refer to the descriptions of the

assumptions mentioned above.
The following table can be used as a reference for determing different encoding
percentages:
Table GPRS Radio Network Planning -28 Encoding percentages
The The The The

percentage percentage percentage percentage
Encoding rate of the of the of the rapid of the
introductory development development mature
phase phase phase phase
CS1 20% 20% 20% 20%
CS2 80% 30% 20% 5%
CS3 0% 30% 30% 30%
CS4 0% 20% 30% 45%
MCS1 30% 15% 5% 5%
Family C
MCS4 20% 5% 5% 5%
MCS2 15% 15% 5% 5%
Family B MCS5 10% 10% 20% 10%
MCS7 5% 5% 5% 10%
MCS3 5% 5% 5% 5%
MCS6 5% 10% 20% 10%
Family A
MCS8 5% 15% 15% 20%
MCS9 5% 20% 20% 30%
Based on the parameters mentioned above, the relevant data can calculated according
to the following formulas.
· The bearer rate of IP layer on Um interface of each PDCH of CS1
UV1 = ( L * N * 8 ) / ( CEILING( ( CEILING ( ( L + 9 + 4 + 3 + 1 ) * N / 20,

1 ) * (1+5%) ) * 1.1, 1 ) * 20 )
65
Note: Please refer to the previous parts of this document to see how the formula
comes to be like this.
Unit: Kbps
Note: CEILING function is an EXCEL function. The meaning of this function is

to map a real parameter number to the next largest integer. That is, the result is
the least common multiple of the next largest integer or significance. For
example, if you do not want to buy an item which is at the price of ￥4.42 by
using some small change like “fen”. Then, you can transform the price into
“jiao” by using the following formula: =CEILING (4.42, 0.1).
Syntax format CEILING (number, significance)
Here, Number represents the input value; and Significance represents the base
number.

1 ) * (1+5%) ) * 1.1, 1 ) * 20 )
Note:
Please refer to the previous parts of this document to see how the formula comes to be
like this.
Unit: Kbps
UV3 = ( L * N * 8 ) / ( CEILING( ( CEILING ( ( L + 9 + 4 + 3 + 1 ) * N / 36, 1 ) *

(1+5%) ) * 1.1, 1 ) * 20 )
Note: Please refer to the previous parts of this document to see how the formula comes
to be like this.
Unit: Kbps

1 ) * ( 1 + 5% ) ) * 1.1, 1 ) * 20 )
Note:
66
like this.
Unit: Kbps
· The bearer rate of IP layer on Um interface of each PDCH of MCS1

1 ) * ( 1 + 5% ) ) * 1.1, 1 ) * 20 )
Note:
like this.
Unit: Kbps

1 ) * ( 1 + 5% ) ) * 1.1, 1 ) * 20 )
Note:
like this.
Unit: Kbps

1 ) * ( 1 + 5% ) ) * 1.1, 1 ) * 20 )
Note:
like this.
Unit: Kbps

1 ) * ( 1 + 5% ) ) * 1.1, 1 ) * 20 )
Note:
67
like this.
Unit: Kbps

1 ) * ( 1 + 5% ) ) * 1.2, 1 ) * 20 )
Note:
like this.
Unit: Kbps
UV10 = ( L * N * 8 ) / ( CEILING( ( CEILING ( ( L + 9 + 4 + 3 + 1 ) * N / 74, 1

) * ( 1 + 5% ) ) * 1.2, 1 ) * 20 )
Note:
like this.
Unit: Kbps
UV11 = ( L * N * 8 ) / ( CEILING( ( CEILING ( ( L + 9 + 4 + 3 + 1 ) * N / 112, 1 ) *

( 1 + 5% ) ) * 1.2, 1 ) * 20 )
Note:
like this.
Unit: Kbps

1 ) * ( 1 + 5% ) ) * 1.2, 1 ) * 20 )
Note:
68
like this.
Unit: Kbps

1 ) * ( 1 + 5% ) ) * 1.2, 1 ) * 20 )
Note:
like this.
Unit: Kbps
· The average bearer rate of IP layer on Um interface of each GPRS PDCH
AUV1 = ( UV1 * EU1 + UV2 * EU2 + UV3 * EU3 + UV4 * EU4 ) / 100+ UV5
* EU5 + UV6 * EU6 + UV7 * EU7 + UV8 * EU8 + UV9 * EU9 + UV10 *
EU10 + UV11 * EU11 + UV12 * EU12 + UV13 * EU13 ) / 100
Note:
The average bearer rate is calculated according to the usage ratio of different kinds of
encoding methods in the (E) GPRS capacity planning parameter table.
Unit: Kbps
· The average bearer rate of IP layer on Um interface of each EDGE PDCH
AUV2 = (UV5 * EU5 + UV6 * EU6 + UV7 * EU7 + UV8 * EU8 + UV9 * EU9
+ UV10 * EU10 + UV11 * EU11 + UV12 * EU12 + UV13 * EU13 ) / 100
Note:
The average bearer rate is calculated according to the usage ratio of different kinds of
encoding methods in the (E) GPRS capacity planning parameter table.
Unit: Kbps
· The total number of GPRS subscribers
US1 = US * AR * PAR * ( 1 – ER )
Note:
69
The value represents the number of subscribers at the time when GPRS is at the busiest
state.
Unit: Kbps
· The total number of EDGE subscribers
US2 = US * AR * PAR * ER
Note:
The value represents the number of subscribers at the time when EDGE is at the busiest
state.
Unit: Kbps
· GPRS subscriber data rate (IP layer) at busy hours
USV1 = US1 * F1 / 1000
Note:
The value represents the average GPRS subscriber rate in total at busy hours.
Unit: Kbps
· EDGE subscriber data rate (IP layer) at busy hours
USV2 = US2 * F2 / 1000
Note:
The value represents the average EDGE subscriber rate in total at busy hours.
Unit: Kbps
· The number of PDCH channels which need to be configured on Um interface
PDCH = MAX( CEILING( USV1 / AUV1, 1 ) + CEILING( USV2 / AUV2, 1 ),

CEILING( BS * P , 1 ) )
Note:
The former part represents the number of PDCH when PCU is at the ideal state; the
latter part represents the minimum number of PDCH channels of those cells which
must provide (E) GPRS service. Of these two numbers, the larger one will be used.
Unit: The number of PDCH
70
Note: Since GPRS subscribers does not account for a large percentage and the rate
per subscriber at busy hours is low, it is quite likely that the number of PDCH channels
simply depends on the number of cells covered by PCU and the number of minimum
channels of each cell which must provide GPRS service.
3.4.1.2 PDCH capacity planning based on PDCH multiplexing
Planning thoughts
· The maximum cell bandwidth >= The bandwidth which the subscribers expect
Note:
According to the PDCH allocation algorithm of ZTE, the bandwidth of a channel is

equally allocated to every subscriber when it is shared by several subscribers.
· The maximum bandwidth of the cell
= PDCH number * the effective throughput per PDCH
= PDCH number * the effective throughput per PDCH / (1 + the retransmission

rate)
Note:
The theoretical throughput supported by each PDCH equals to the theoretical

throughput of the highest encoding method supported by the PDCH. For GPRS
subscribers, the theoretical throughput is CS4; for EDGE subscribers, the theoretical
throughput is MCS9.
· The expected bandwidth by subscribers = MAX (service type 1 the expected

bandwidth, service type 2 the expected bandwidth, …, service type N the
expected bandwidth)
Note:
Different services expect different bandwidths, and in this formula it is oriented to the
service which has the highest expectation of bandwidth. Though different subscribers
have different bandwidth requirements, the resources (that is, the bandwidth) allocated
to each subscriber in one cell is the same, which is relevant to the mechanisim of
PDCH allocation. However, the subscribers differ with each other in aspects of service
duration and the number of uses of the service.
· The average number of subscribers in one cell
71
= (Service type 1 the average duration * service type 1 the number of

subscribers * service type 1 the average number of uses at busy hours + …+ the
average duration of service type n * the number of subscribers of service type n
* the average number of uses of service type n at busy hours) / length of
duration statistics.
Note:
Usually, the statistics mentioned above are obtained at busy hours, so length of
duration statistics actually reflects the duration at busy hours. If the exceptional cases
are not excluded, it is possible that the service duration may exceed length of duration
statistics. For example, the service duration of FTP downloading may exceed the length
of duration statistics. If the service duration > the length of duration statistics, the
service duration = the length of duration statistics.
· The number of PDCH channels of each cell
= The bandwidth which the subscribers expect * the average number of

subscribers in one cell / (the threoretical throughput supported by each PDCH /
(1 + the retransmission rate))
Assumptions
1. All handset users can occupy 4 downlink channels at the same time.
2. The retransmission rate of GPRS subscribers is 10%, and the retransmission rate
of EDGE subscribers is 20%.
Computational formulas
Table GPRS Radio Network Planning -29 PDCH capacity planning parameters 2
Parameter
Meaning Value Unit
name
US1 The total number of GPRS subscribers - Number
US2 The total number of EDGE subscribers - Number
UV1 The bandwidth which GPRS subscribers expect 60 kbit/s
UV2 The bandwidth which EDGE subscribers expect 120 kbit/s
GPRS
subscribers：10
RR The retransmission rate on RLC layer %
EDGE
subscribers：20
Tn The average duration of service type n - S
72
Un The number of subscribers of service type n - Number

The average number of uses of service type n at busy
Nn - Time
hours
AU The average number of subscribers in one cell - Number
The configuration of some parameters is determined when the service model is

established, e.g., US1, US2, Tn, Un, Nn. As to the parameter UV1 and the parameter
UV2, their configuration depends on a comprehensive consideration of the service
model and the carrier’s capacity. The relevant values listed in the table are for China
Mobile.
For the calculation of US1 and US2, please refer to 3.4.1.1.1.
Here take CDMA service model of China Unicom in 2.3.2 as an example. According to
the service model, the categories of Tn, Un, and Nn are as follows:
Table GPRS Radio Network Planning -30 PDCH multiplexing parameters
Service type Tn Un Nn
E-MAIL 11.25 10%*(US1+US2) 0.18
WWW/WAP 30 31%*(US1+US2) 0.228
FTP 24 24%*(US1+US2) 0.21
VOD/AOD 240 17%*(US1+US2) 0.01
Information on
12 12%*(US1+US2) 0.21
demand
E-commerce 12 4%*(US1+US2) 0.07
Others 6 2%*(US1+US2) 0.078
Nn = The average number of uses related to the high-end subscribers * the percentage
of high-end subscribers + The average number of uses related to the low-end
subscribers * the percentage of low-end subscribers
Tn = The average duration occupied by the high-end subscribers * the percentage of

high-end subscribers + the average duration occupied by the low-end subscribers * the
percentage of low-end subscribers
The computational formula is as follows:
· The average number of subscribers in one cell
AU = ( Tm * Um * Nm + Tw * Uw * Nw + Tf * Uf * Nf + Tv * Uv * Nv + Tx *
Ux * Nx + Te * Ue * Ne + To * Uo * No ) / 900
73
The following table shows the corresponding relationships between the

parameters and the service types.
Parameter Service type

Tm 、 Um 、 Nm E-MAIL
Tw 、 Uw 、 Nw WWW/WAP
Tf 、 Uf 、 Nf FTP
Tv 、 Uv 、 Nv VOD/AOD
Tx 、 Ux 、 Nx Information on
demand
Te 、 Ue 、 Ne E-commerce
To 、 Uo 、 No Others
Table GPRS Radio Network Planning -31 AN the meaning of parameters
Suppose the length of time statistics is 15 minutes, that is, 900 seconds. It can be
adjusted according to the actual conditions.
Note:
The value represents the average number of subscribers in one cell.
Unit: Number
·The number of PDCH channels in one cell (GPRS subscribers)
Pg = UV1 * AU / 20 / ( 1 + 10% )
If the cell supports the CS4 encoding method, it can be adjusted according Table
3-12 if necessary.
Note:
The value represents the number of GPRS PDCH which is needed by each cell.
Unit: Number
· The number of PDCH channels in one cell (EDGE subscribers)
Pe = UV2 * AU / 59.2 / ( 1 + 20% )
If the cell supports the MCS9 encoding method, it can be adjusted according
Table 3-13 if necessary.
Note:
The value represents the number of EDGE PDCH which is needed by each cell.
74
Unit: Number
· The number of PDCH channels in one cell (the final result)
Pn = MAX ( Pg, Pe )
Note:
The value represents the number of PDCH channels which is needed by each cell.
Unit: Number
The decision whether more emphasis should be placed on GPRS subscribers or EDGE
subscribers depends on the actual conditions.
3.4.1.3 The principle of active PDCH configuration
First, calculate how many data traffic channels and voice traffic channels are needed by
the cell. If the number of channels which are available in the cell < (the number of data
traffic channels + the number of voice traffic channels), it must be decided whether to
give up some data traffic channels or to give up some voice traffic channels. The
decision depends on the requirements of the carrier. Generally speaking, in
consideration of the principle that priority is given to the voice service, the decision
will be made on basis of the following principles:
The number of static PDCH channels = the number of traffic channels available in the
cell – the number of needed voice traffic channels;
The number of dynamic PDCH channels = the number of data traffic channels needed
by the cell (the final planning results) – the number of static PDCH channels;
Note:
> According to 3GPP specifications, the cell is supposed to release the dynamic PDCH
channels compulsorily to be used for the voice traffic if new voice service requirements
arrive and no idle channels which are dedicated to the voice service are available at that
time.
> Each cell should be configured with at least one static PDCH channel. It is not
allowed to configure the cell with all dynamic PDCH channels.
3.4.2 Abis link planning
3.4.2.1 V2BSC
For V2BSC, Abis links can be either dynamic or static. The calculation methods of
75
Abis links are as follows:
The static Abis
If static Abis is adopted, each Abis link will be binded to a corresponding PDCH
channel. Their binding relationships are listed in the following table:
Table GPRS Radio Network Planning -32 The number of Abis time slots in correspondence to
PDCH under different encoding methods
The highest encoding The maximum The number of The number of

method supported by throughput in theory Abis time slots extra Abis time
the channel (kbit/s) needed slots needed
CS1 8 1 0
CS2 12 1 0
CS3 14.4 2 1
CS4 20 2 1
MCS1 8.8 1 0
MCS2 11.2 1 0
MCS3 14.8 2 1
MCS4 17.6 2 1
MCS5 22.4 2 1
MCS6 29.6 3 2
MCS7 44.8 3 2
MCS8 54.4 5 4
MCS9 59.2 5 4
Note:
> The bandwidth of each Abis time slot is 16kbit/s;

> The Abis time slots in correspondence to PDCH channesl fall into two categories:
The basic time slots and the extra Abis time slots. When a radio Time Slot is
configured as PDCH, the TS will obtain a basic Abis time slot automatically. The
number of extra Abis time slots need to be configured independently. The number of
Abis time slots listed in the table is the total number of both the basic time slots and the
extra Abis time slots.
The input parameters are as follows:
Table GPRS Radio Network Planning -33 Abis link planning parameters
Parameter Meaning Value Unit
76
name
P1 The maximum channel number of CS2 supported by the cell - Number
P2 The maximum channel number of CS4 supported by the cell - Number
P3 The maximum channel number of MCS2 supported by the cell - Number
Note:
All the parameter values are imported from the results of PDCH planning. The
algorithm related to the dynamic PDCH is the same as that related to the static PDCH.
· The number of Abis links which GPRS PDCH of a cell needs
ABg = P1 * 1 + P2 * 2
Note:
The value represents the number of Abis links which GPRS PDCH of each cell needs.
Unit: Number
· The number of Abis links which EDGE PDCH of a cell needs
ABe = P3 * 1 + P4 * 2 + P5 * 3 + P6 * 5
Note:
The value represents the number of Abis links which each EDGE cell needs.
Unit: Number
· The number of Abis links which a cell needs
ABs = ABg + ABe
Note:
The value represents the total number of Abis links which both GPRS channels and
EDGE channels of a cell need, under the dynamic Abis model.
Unit: Number
The dynamic Abis
The cells under the same BTS can share the extra Abis time slots of the data service
when the dynamic Abis is adopted. Since the busy hours are not always the same for
77
each cell, the utilization ratio of Abis time slots can be largely improved through this
method which is like a resource pool.
The traffic at the time when BTS is at its busiest state <= (the traffic at the time when
BTS CELL1 is at its busiest state + the traffic at the time when BTS CELL2 is at its
busiest state + the traffic at the time when BTS CELL3 is at its busiest state)
Theoretically speaking, when the dynamic Abis time slot is adopted:
The number of extra Abis time slots of BTS = the maximum number of PDCH
channels which are activated at the same time when BTS is at its busiest state * the
number of extra Abis time slots in correspondence to each PDCH
When the service model is being established, it is difficult to define the busiest hours of
BTS. Therefore, at present, the calculation of the dynamic Abis time slots is based on
the estimation of empirical value.
The input parameters are as follows:
Parameter
Meaning Value Unit
name
P1 The maximum channel number of CS2 supported by BTS - Number
P2 The maximum channel number of CS4 supported by BTS - Number
P3 The maximum channel number of MCS2 supported by BTS - Number
Table GPRS Radio Network Planning -34 The dynamic Abis planning parameters of a V2BSC
Note: The number of channels under a BTS is the total number of channels of all cells
under the BTS.
· The number of basic Abis time slots
ABb = P1 + P2 + P3 + P4 + P5 + P6
Note: The value represents the number of basic Abis time slots which a BTS needs
when a V2BSC adopts the dynamic Abis time slots.
Unit: Number
· The number of extra Abis time slots
The number of The number of the dynamic extra Abis time slots needed
78
cells under a
BTS
1 ABx = P2 * 1 + P4 * 1 + P5 *2 + P6 * 4
2 ABx = CEILING ( ( P2 * 1 + P4 * 1 + P5 *2 + P6 * 4 ) * 0.8, 1 )
3 ABx = CEILING ( ( P2 * 1 + P4 * 1 + P5 *2 + P6 * 4 ) * 0.7, 1 )
Table GPRS Radio Network Planning -35 The configuration of the dynamic extra Abis time slots of a
V2BSC
Note: The value represents the number of extra Abis time slots which a BTS needs
when a V2BSC adopts the dynamic Abis time slots.
Unit: Number
· The number of Abis time slots
ABd = ABb + ABx
Note: The value represents the total number of Abis time slots which the data service of
a BTS needs when V2BSC adopts the dynamic Abis time slots.
Unit: Number
3.4.2.2 IBSC
When IBSC adopts the dynamic allocation of Abis time slots, all the Abis links of the
radio time slots are put in one resource pool to be allocated. Besides, PDCH time slots
are no longer divided into the basic time slots and the extra Abis time slots. In this way,
the utilization ratio of Abis link resource is further improved on basis of the adoption of
dynamic extra Abis time slots of V2BSC.
In consideration of the fact that it is difficult to make an accurate planning of the traffic
at the time when BTS is at its busiest state, the calculation method of extra Abis time
slots is similar to the algorithm of dynamic extra Abis time slots of V2BSC.
The number of
cells under one The number of Abis time slots needed
BTS
1 CS * 1 + P1 * 1 + P2 * 2 + P3 * 1 + P4 * 2 + P5 *3 + P6 * 5
2 CEILING ( ( P2 * 1 + P4 * 1 + P5 *2 + P6 * 4 ) * 0.8, 1 )
3 CEILING ( ( P2 * 1 + P4 * 1 + P5 *2 + P6 * 4 ) * 0.7, 1 )
79
3.4.3 GB link planning
3.4.3.1 Assumptions
1 Suppose there is no SNDCP compression and decompression, and segmentation

and regrouping (In this case, for one IP packet, it is transmitted through one LLC
PDU on LLC layer);
2 Suppose the average length of one IP packet is 480 bytes;
3 Suppose IP data is continuous for every 10 IP packets on average;
4 The protocol headers of FR, NS, BSSGP, LLC, SNDCP per PDU on Gb access
altogether are 53 bytes.
3.4.3.2 The effective bandwidth of GB access
The effective bandwidth per time slot on GB access

= The bandwidth per time slot on GB access * (IP packet bytes / (IP packet bytes +
overhead of CTRL )) * the utilization ratio of circuit
= The bandwidth per time slot on GB access * (480 / (480 + 53)) * 70%
The bandwidth per time slot on GB access is fixed, that is, 64kbit/s;
For the overhead of CTRL, please refer to the fourth item in 3.4.1.2.1.
It is suggested that the circuit usage should be 70%, of which one part is used as
redundancy, and the other part is used as the extra overhead of BSSGP layer.
Note: Compared to LLC layer, the capacity of each single packet on BSSGP layer is
larger. Therefore, sometimes BSSGP packets can not be fully used, which will generate
the extra overhead.
3.4.3.3 The computation formulas
Table GPRS Radio Network Planning -36 Capacity planning parameters on GB access
Parameter
Meaning Value Unit
name
L The average length of IP packets of subscribers 480 BYTE
US The number of (E)GPRS subscribers - Number
The average rate per subscriber at busy hours (not including
F 121 kbit/s
the overheads)
CU The circuit usage on Gb access 70 %
Note:
80
For the parameter US1 and US2 of the formula US=US1+US2, please refer to
3.4.1.1.1.
The number of GB links can be calculated according to the parameters listed in

the table above.
· (E)GPRS subscriber data rate (IP layer) at busy hours
USV = US * F / 1000
Note:
The value represents the average subscriber rate in total at busy hours.
Unit: Kbps
· The subscriber data rate (IP layer) which each 64K time slot bears on Gb access
TSV = 64 * CU / 100 * L / ( L + 53 )
Note:
The calculation is based on the circuit utilization rate, and the overheads of data
packets on Gb access (the overhead of each IP packet is 53 bytes).
Unit: Kbps
· The number of 64K time slots which Gb access needs
TS64 = CEILING( USV / TSV, 1 )
Unit: Number of time slots
· E1 line quantity which Gb access needs
E1 = CEILING( TS64 / 31, 1 )
Note:
According to the system capacity, here it is supposed that E1 can provide 31 64K time
slots at most to transmit data for subscribers.
Unit: Number of E1
Note: E1 line backup is not taken into consideration.
81
3.4.4 BSC relevant board planning
3.4.4.1 V2BSC
Input parameters
Parameter
Meaning Value Unit
name
E1 E1 line quantity of Abis links - Number
Abis The number of 16kbit/s Abis links of a cell - Number
· The number of BRP boards
BRP = CEILING ( Abis / 56, 1 )
Note:
According to the BRP standard of BSC V2, each board can process 80 16kbit/s Abis
time slots at most, and the utilization ratio is 70%. In practice, it is usually calculated
on basis of 56 16kbit/s Abis time slots.
Unit: Number
· The number of EBRP boards
EBRP = BRP / 2
Note:
According to the EBRP sta16kbit/s ndard of BSC V2, each board can process 160
16kbit/s Abis time slots at most, and the utilization ratio is 70%. In practive, it is
calculated on basis of 112 16kbit/s Abis time slots.
Unit: Number
· The number of FRP boards
FRP = CEILING( E1 / 2, 1 ) + CEILING( CEILING( E1 / 2, 1 ) / 2, 1 )
Note:
According to the FRP standard of BSC 2, each board can process 2 E1 at most.
Besides, the calculation is based on the premise that each layer must be configured
with one spare FRP board.
Unit: Number of boards
· The number of SPCU units
82
SPCU = MAX ( CEILING( BRP / 7, 1 ), CEILING( FRP / 3, 1 ) )
Note:
The former part represents the number of SPCU units calculated on basis of the need of
BRP boards (each unit has 7 BRP boards (including one spare board)); the latter part
represents the number of SPCU units calculated on basis of the need of BRP boards
(each unit has 3 FRP boards (including one spare board)). Of these two numbers, the
larger one will be used.
Unit: Number
Note:
At present, in the actual application, it is quite likely that the proportion of the number
of BRP boards to the number of FRP boards largely exceeds 7：3.
· The number of SPCU backplanes
BSPCU = CEILING ( SPCU / 2, 1 )
Note:
One SPCU backplane can be configured with 2 SPCU units
Unit: Number
· The number of PUC boards
PUC = SPCU * 2
Note:
It is always the hot backup mode.
Unit: Number
· The number of TIC boards
TIC = CEILING ( E1 / 4, 1 )
Note:
Each TIC board can be connected with 4 E1 lines.
Unit: Number
· The number of GIU backplanes
83
GIU = CEILING ( TIC / 8, 1 )
Note:
One GIU backplane can be configured with 8 TIC boards.
Unit: Number
· The number of GIPP boards
GIPP = GIU * 2
Note:
It is always the hot backup mode.
Unit: Number
3.4.4.2 IBSC
In IBSC, the major boards relevant to the data service are as follows:
Table GPRS Radio Network Planning -37 The major modules of IBSC which are relevant to the data
service
Board name Board type The maximum capacity

GUP VTCD 160M / per board
UPPB VTCD 160*14*16k / per board
CMP MPX86/2 100M/ per board
OMP MPX86/2 100M/ per board
SPB SPB 100M/ per board
Other boards are not listed here, which are relevant to the data switching inside BSC.
From the table above, it can be seen that at presen the bottle neck of IBSC lies in
UPPB. Therefore, the purpose of IBSC capacity planning is mainly about UPPB
capacity planning.
Input parameters
Parmeter
Meaning Value Unit
name
Abis The number of 16kbit/s Abis links of a cell - Number
· The number of UPPB boards
UPPB = CEILING (Abis / 1568, 1 )
84
Note:
The calculation is based on 70% utilization ratio of each UPPB.
Unit: Number
For the configuration of other boards, please refer to the suggestions in the
following part of the document.
Figure GPRS Radio Network Planning -24 A schematic diagram of the configuration of
an IBSC rack
85
Figure GPRS Radio Network Planning -25 A schematic diagram of the configuration of rack 1 of
IBSC double racks
86
Figure GPRS Radio Network Planning -26 A schematic diagram of the configuration of rack 2 of
IBSC double racks
87

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(E)GPRS Radio Network Planning

1.1 V3 BSS (Base Station Subsystem)......................................................................................................1

1.1.1 ZXG10-IBSC（V3） hardware structure................................................................................1

1.1.2 ZXG10-IBSC packet service signal flow.................................................................................9

2 Early Preparations for (E)GPRS Radio Network Planning...................................................................11

2.1 Classification of planning areas.........................................................................................................11

2.1.1 Outdoor scenarios...................................................................................................................11

2.1.2 Indoor scenarios......................................................................................................................12

2.2 Prediction of subscriber number........................................................................................................14

2.2.1 Prediction rules.......................................................................................................................14

2.2.2 Classification of subscriber groups........................................................................................16

2.2.3 Prediction methods.................................................................................................................17

2.2.4 Prediction of (E)GPRS services.............................................................................................17

2.2.5 Classification of (E)GPRS services........................................................................................18

2.2.6 Prediction methods.................................................................................................................19

2.3 An Analysis of (E)GPRS Service Model...........................................................................................22

2.3.1 Methods to Analyze Service Model (take GPRS as an example)..........................................23

2.4 Preparing Digital Map.......................................................................................................................27

2.4.1 The Functions of Digital Map................................................................................................27

2.4.2 Data Format of Digital Maps..................................................................................................27

2.4.3 Requirements for Digital Map Accuracy...............................................................................28

3 GPRS Radio Network Planning................................................................................................................29

3.2 Site Survey, Electrical Test, and Initial Site Deployment.................................................................29

3.3 Coverage Prediction and Planning....................................................................................................30

3.3.1 An Analysis of the Factors Influencing Coverage..................................................................30

3.3.2 Concept, Selection and Requirements for Propagation Model..............................................42

3.3.3 GPRS Coverage Planning.......................................................................................................50

3.4 Capacity planning..............................................................................................................................56

3.4.1 PDCH capacity planning........................................................................................................57

3.4.2 Abis link planning...................................................................................................................74

3.4.3 GB link planning....................................................................................................................78

3.4.4 BSC relevant board planning.................................................................................................80

1.1.1 ZXG10-IBSC（V3） hardware structure

1.1.1.1 Integral structure & functions

Figure Introduciton to ZXG10-BSS-GPRS-1 Illustrative diagram of IBSC hardware system

Introduction to the structure:

1. Backplane of Control Center（BCTC）

2. Backplane of Universal Service Network（BUSN）

BUSN deals with system access unit and user plane.

3. Backplane of Packet Switch Network（BPSN）

Figure Introduciton to ZXG10-BSS-GPRS-2 Diagram of IBSC frame

KPIs of IBSC are listed bellow:

Table Introduciton to ZXG10-BSS-GPRS-1 IBSC performance parameters

Gb flow /Mbps 32 96M/

Abis interface E1 208 624

A interface E1/STM- 224 672/

Figure Introduciton to ZXG10-BSS-GPRS-3 Illutrative diagram of BCTC

1. CMP (Control Main Processor)

CLKG fulfills clock supply in the system and external synchronization. It

We can choose the source of benchmark through OMCR or manual operation.

It adopts loose coupling phase-lock system, featuring in four working modes:

It exports clock of the third level.

It supports exchange between the master and the standby.

It provides interfaces for keyboard, mouse, VGA and USB.

It provides FE interface and 2 SAS hot replaceable hard disk.

SVR and OMP constitute OMPU of the system.

Figure Introduciton to ZXG10-BSS-GPRS-4 Illustrative diagram of BUSN

UIMU mainly completes Ethernet secondary switch in BUSN, timeslot

clock for BUSN boards.

UIMU manages BUSN and provides RS485 management interface in BUSN;

UIMU and UIMC use the same physical boards UIM/2.

SPB provides 16 external E1/T1 interfaces;

SPB fulfills the process of MTP2 and X.25. It supports extraction of 8K