Finding Interferers Using Handheld Spectrum Analyzers

Steve Thomas Senior Product Manager

Feb 2009 Company Confidential

Slide 1

Who Needs to Find Interference?

Anyone who transmits signals over the air
Cell phone companies First responders (police, fire, etc.) Wi-Fi providers Commercial Land mobile (taxi, delivery companies, truckers) Broadcast stations doing remotes or using microwave links Users of wireless microphones, especially when multiple microphones are in use simultaneously.

January 2011

Slide 2

Technology Fundamentals

Feb 2009 Company Confidential

Slide 3

Why Hunt Interference?

Capacity
Removing interference can increase capacity i.e. do more with less

Data Rate
Removing interference can increase data rates keeping the customers happy

Return On Investment
Removing interference can make your return on investment happen earlier

Poor Signal Quality on analog systems

January 2011

Slide 4

Crowded Frequency Bands

Over 3,703 licensed radio transmitters in Santa Clara County alone
According to the FCC Licensing Data Base Does not include
Cell phones, Wi-Fi, Government users, FRS radios, other unlicensed transmitters such as baby monitors & microwave ovens Individual police, fire, mobile and handheld radios

Its growing daily

January 2011

Slide 5

Interference will happen

New carriers Changes in band plans Equipment failures Self-interference Deliberate Interference

January 2011

Slide 6

Carrier to Interference Ratio (C/I)

For voice systems
Less receive sensitivity
Dead areas
Land Mobile

Dropped calls

For data systems

Low data rate
Adaptive modulations respond to C/I
HSDPA EVDO WiMAX WCDMA for data CDMA for data Cellular data-centric transmission methods set data rate by signal quality
[1] HSDPA for Improved Data Transfer, Qualcomm, October 2004
[1]

Low capacity
January 2011 Slide 7

What is Interference?

To fix interference, we must first understand interference.

Feb 2009 Company Confidential

Slide 8

Its a Receiver Issue

Signals passed by the receive filter (pre-selector) affect the receivers front end causing
A reduction in sensitivity Apparent lower C/I

Its called Receiver De-Sense, or De-Sensitization Interfering signals do not need to be on your receive channel!
They only need to make it through the Rx filter Sometimes huge signals that are at wildly different frequencies can cause fundamental overload

January 2011

Slide 9

Co-Channel Interference
Your own system creates overlap
Land Mobile or Cellular
Antenna tilt Valleys Higher than expected antennas Better propagation over water Errors in frequency settings
How many transmitters in a typical metro area GSM system?

7 6

2 1 5 3 4 7 6

7 6 2 1 5

2 1 5 3 4 3 4 7 6 2 1 5 3 4

Multi-path for CDMA type systems

Other radio services on your frequency

With larger than expected coverage

January 2011

Slide 10

In-Band Interference
Carriers from other services Distortion products from other signals, or combinations of signals
Impulse Noise Harmonics Intermodulation Near-far problem Intentional Interference

Signals do not need to be on your channel

Only need to make it through the pre-selector/pre-filter

January 2011

Slide 11

Impulse Noise
Impulse Noise comes from
BTS Lighting Suppression Electrical Motors
Elevators (and elevator controllers) Floor Buffers FAX machines

Bakery ovens Welders Tower lighting Electric fences Power Lines

Arcing and sparking

Light Dimmers
January 2011 Slide 12

What is Impulse Noise?

A sudden step in power
Arcing, sparking, signal switching

Looks like a rise in the spectrum noise floor over a wide frequency range
If you are in a narrow span, it will look like the entire noise floor takes a vertical jump of 10 - 20 dB

Use Max-Hold and a wide span to see the full envelope Lighting Arrestor Spark Gaps are a common culprit
Breakdown voltage lowers over time Eventually, peak power will cause arcing
This generates harmonics and broadband junk
January 2011 Slide 13

Harmonic Interference
Harmonics of powerful broadcast transmitters may interfere with other radio services
Whats 60 dB down from 1,000,000 Watts ERP?
1 Watt

Whats a receiver looking for?

~ 0.000,001 Watt

Broken transmitters can produce strong harmonics

If a transmitter loses one output transistor the output can become distorted.

January 2011

Slide 14

Intermodulation Distortion
Intermodulation Distortion requires
Two or more strong signals
At least +7 dBm or higher

A non-linear device
Transistor Diode Corrosion
especially with dissimilar metals

IM caused by corrosion is called

The Rusty Bolt effect
Environmental Diodes are created

January 2011

Slide 15

Transmitter Back-feed Intermodulation

IM can be generated by:
Transmitter to transmitter interference
Back-feed from closely located transmitters
Transmitter 1s signal in Transmitter 2s output stage The output transistors provide the non-linear device Antennas work in both directions!

TX1

TX2

January 2011

Slide 16

Multiple Signals in One Amplifier

IM can be generated by:
A Multi Carrier Power Amplifier (MCPA)
MCPAs must be very linear IM and Spectral Regrowth can both be caused by a less-thanideal amplifier Two or more carriers, 1 amp 1 antenna.

January 2011

Slide 17

Multiple Signals in One Antenna: Passive Intermodulation (PIM) PIM can be generated by:
A environmental diode in the antenna system when
Two transmitters share one antenna
GSM and WCDMA, for example

- Or there is One wideband carrier such as WCDMA

Corroded connectors or antennas are likely causes Problems may be created by micro-arcing if power levels are high enough.
Adding additional signals in a system that is working OK may reach a threshold where micro-arcing occurs
levels >1 kW.

PIM often is created outside the antenna system by environmental diodes

January 2011

Slide 18

External Corrosion and PIM

Environmental diodes
Rust on tower Rusty fence around cell site Corroded metal roof
Can come and go with the wind!

Dissimilar metals

January 2011

Slide 19

Intentional Interference
Some interference is intentional
Sad, but true
Employers keeping employees off the phone Drivers wanting other drivers to stay off their phones Some military applications Some churches & theaters have installed jammers Mobile GPS jammers
Plug into cigarette lighter Designed to disable GPS trackers
The Pocket Jammer TheSignalJammer.com

January 2011

Slide 20

Where is Interference Found? Monitoring Interference

Feb 2009 Company Confidential

Slide 21

Signs of Interference
First indicators
Noisy analog links Low throughput in specific sectors High dropped call rate

Second indicator

Receive Noise Floor is high on a specific sector

This is enough to warrant an interference hunt

January 2011

Slide 22

Spotting Interference in the Field

Check for interference at the base station
Measure noise floor from a receive antenna
Same receive pattern as the base station Receive Channel Power measurement should match the switch Noise Floor number

Get a visual ID on the interfering signal

Characterize signal so you will know it later
Bandwidth General appearance Modulation type Audio, if you can demodulate it

January 2011

Slide 23

Characterizing Interference
Which signals belong? Which signals do not belong? Use the receive pre-filter to eliminate signals that the receiver cannot see.
If not possible, ignore signals that you know the filter will eliminate

January 2011

Slide 24

Characterizing Interference
Spot the strong signals on the up-link
Dual trace spectrum for the consistent signals
Max-Hold and Normal

Spectrogram for the intermittent ones Auto-Mask for save on event waveform capture

Strong signals that are not from a systems transmitters may be the problem
January 2011 Slide 25

Identifying Signals
Quickest way to locate is to identify the type of signal
AM/FM demod for traditional signals
Can give station ID Pagers and land mobile systems have a Morse Code ID

Next step
FCC Licensing Data Base
Gives GPS coordinates of tower and contact phone number

January 2011

Slide 26

Signal Monitoring for Odd Signals

Use the spectrogram
To look for signals that change over time For long term monitoring
Days of monitoring time
Useful for later analysis on computer

User can set time resolution

To further characterize the signal

You will need to recognize the signal during the hunt

This signal is unstable in frequency From a cellular repeater with insufficient input to output isolation

January 2011

Slide 27

Extended Signal Monitoring Envelope Creation

To look for intermittent signals near or on a legitimate signal
Save-on-Event can save signals when either mask is violated
Allows for quick analysis of captured data

Upper and lower masks created automatically

Easy to do Can be sloped or square User sets number of points (up to 41)

Capture unusual events within the channel or band

January 2011

Slide 28

Save-on-Event Results on the PC

Create a spectrogram of auto-saved results
Only view mask violations
Eliminate unnecessary data Dont worry about the good signal!

Colors can be customized to highlight desired data

Can create a pass/fail spectrogram

3D Spectrogram
View from any angle to better understand the signal

Min/Max/Peak markers Zoom capability

January 2011 Slide 29

How to Find Interference

Hunting Interference

Feb 2009 Company Confidential

Slide 30

Spotting the Signal at Ground Level

Signals that are strong at tower level can be weak at ground level
Hills, buildings and ground clutter may between you and the source

Ways to find that elusive ground level signal:

For cellular systems check other BTS sectors for interfering signal strength
This gives you a general idea of direction

Drive around and look for the signal at ground level

An Omni-directional rooftop antenna is useful for this task A Max-Hold and normal dual trace setup will also help

Find a building top or open area for direction finding

January 2011

Slide 31

Direction Finding in Urban Areas

You may receive only multipath signals Use urban canyons to help you
At an intersection measure signal strength down all the roads Go in the direction of the strongest signal.

Eventually you will reach a place where the direction of arrival changes dramatically
That means you are close Use traditional DFing to find the source

January 2011

Slide 32

Locating the Source

Directional Antenna Techniques
Find direction to signal Record direction on a map or in the instrument Take multiple measurements
Multiple measurements help resolve multi-path issues

Move closer to the source and repeat the process Shield antenna to get help nail down direction to emitter
Step behind a structure between you and the suspected arrival direction If amplitude goes down, that means your suspicions are right

Spectrum Analyzer Tools

Dual trace mode
Normal & max-hold traces

Use Signal Strength meter

Tone and visual display

Interference Mapping
January 2011 Slide 33

In-Instrument Interference Mapping

January 2011

Slide 34

Locating the Source

Signal Strength Meter
Use when taking directional measurements
Tone makes swinging the directional antenna quick Also allows users to sight along the antenna while swinging

When very close and multi-path is an issue

Use an Omni-directional antenna Hunt for the strongest signal This is similar to the childs game of Hot and Cold
It works fast if close

You can record measurements with GPS coordinates

For display on a map later For evidence

January 2011

Slide 35

Locating the Source

Once you are close
Look around for potential sources
Older shared antennas Other radio transmitters Rust near transmitters Homes or business Cell phone jammers

Use your directional antenna or Omni to locate the emitter

January 2011

Slide 36

Summary
Why Hunt Interference?
Capacity, Data Rate, ROI Eliminate dead areas

How does Interference Happen?

Receiver De-Sense Impulse Noise Harmonics Intermodulation Near-Far problem Intentional interferer
Power

Rx Band
Interference Rx Channel

Freq.

January 2011

Slide 37

Questions
Please submit questions using the Questions function on your gotowebinar control panel. You can also send questions to steve.thomas@anritsu.com to be answered after the Webinar A PDF version of these slides will be made available through RCR wireless. The archived Webinar will be available a few days after the Webinar.

January 2011

Slide 38