6 WEEKS INDUSTRIAL TRAINING ON GSM OVERVIEW & RADIO NETWORK PLANNING

VODAFONE ESSAR MOBILE SERVICES Ltd. NEW DELHI

SUBMITTED BY: MAYURI BAID TRADE: ELECTRONICS AND COMMUNICATION ROLL NO: 10706055

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This report has been an acknowledgement to the intensity drive and technical competence of all who have contributed to it. I am highly grateful to my Training Manager (Mr. Rajesh Rana) for being the driving force in encouraging me to be fully dedicated towards my industrial training. He truly has been a source of inspiration and has always guided me to pursue the technical and professional approach while undergoing my training experience. The company surely provides the best platform for exposure to the professional atmosphere as well as the challenges involved while working within such an esteemed organization. I am truly indebted to Mr. Rajesh Rana(Senior Manager, RF Planning), Mr. Vishal Sharma(Asst. Manager), Ajay Mr. Amit Barnawal(Senior and last Engineer), but not Mr. the Sandeep least Mr. Wadhwa(Senior Engineer), Mr. Pramod Saraswat(Senior Engineer), Mr. Kalia(Senior Engineer), K.C.Pandey(Engineer & SACFA Authorised Signatory for Delhi) for their invaluable support and guidance.

MAYURI BAID ROLL NO: 10706055 THAPAR UNIVERSITY ELECTRONICS AND COMMUNICATION

CONTEN TS
1.)

COMPANY PROFILE GSM OVERVIEW

2.)

3.) GENERAL ARCHITECTURE OF GSM 4.) CELL PLANNING 5.) R.F. PLANNING

COMPANY PROFILE About the Company

Vodafone Group Plc is the world's leading mobile telecommunications company, with a significant presence in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific and the United States through the Company's subsidiary undertakings, joint ventures, associated undertakings and investments. Vodafone was formed in 1984 as a subsidiary of Racal Electronics Plc. Then known as Racal Telecom Limited, approximately 20% of the company's capital was offered to the public in October 1988. It was fully emerged from Racal Electronics Plc and became an independent company in September 1991, at which time it changed its name to Vodafone Group Plc. Following its merger with Air Touch Communications, Inc. (Air Touch), the company changed its name to Vodafone Air Touch Plc on 29 June 1999 and, following approval by the shareholders in General Meeting, reverted to its former name, Vodafone Group Plc, on 28 July 2000. The Group's mobile subsidiaries operate under the brand name 'Vodafone'. In the United States the Group's associated undertaking operates as Verizon Wireless. During the last two financial years, the Group has also entered into arrangements with network operators in countries where the Group does not hold an equity stake. Under the terms of these Partner Network Agreements, the Group and its partner networks co-operate in the development and marketing of global services under dual brand logos. At 31 March 2009, based on the registered customers of mobile telecommunications ventures in which it had ownership interests at that date, the Group had 303 million customers, excluding paging customers, calculated on a proportionate basis in accordance with the Company's percentage interest in these ventures. The Company's ordinary shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange and the Company's American Depositary Shares ('ADSs') are listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The Company had a total market capitalization of approximately 66.9 billion at 18 May 2009. Vodafone Group Plc is a public limited company incorporated in England under registered number 1833679. Its registered office is Vodafone House, The Connection, Newbury, and Berkshire, RG14 2FN, England.

GSM TECHNOLOGY
GSM stands for Global System for Mobile Communication and is an open, digital cellular technology used for transmitting mobile voice and data services... GSM differs from first generation wireless systems in that it uses digital technology and time division multiple access transmission methods. GSM is a circuit-switched system that divides each 200 kHz channel into eight 25 kHz time-slots. GSM operates on 4 different frequencies worldwide. However, only two are which are used in India, which are GSM -900 AND GSM -1800. GSM supports data transfer speeds of up to 9.6 kbit/s, allowing the transmission of basic data services such as SMS (Short Message Service). Another major benefit is its international roaming capability, allowing users to access the same services when traveling abroad just as at home. This gives consumers seamless and same number connectivity in more than 214 countries. GSM satellite roaming has also extended service access to areas where terrestrial coverage is not available

GSM ARCHITECHTURE
General Architecture of GSM Network
A GSM network is composed of several functional entities, whose functions and interfaces are specified in previous fig. shows the layout of a generic GSM network. With the MSC, BSS and MS we can make calls, receive calls, perform billing etc, as any normal PSTN network would be able to do. The only problem for the MS is that not all the calls made or received are from other MSs. Therefore, it is also necessary to connect the GSM network to the PSTN.

A GSM network is composed of several functional entities, whose functions and interfaces are specified in previous fig. shows the layout of a generic GSM network. With the MSC, BSS and MS we can make calls, receive calls, perform billing etc, as any normal PSTN network would be able to do. The only problem for the MS is that not all the calls made or received are from other MSs. Therefore, it is also necessary to connect the GSM network to the PSTN
MS OMC HLR VLR MS C AUC Other BSCs BS C Other BTSs EIR BSS PSTN TR X BT S MS

Mobile Station (MS) o Mobile Equipment (ME) o Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) Base Station Subsystem (BSS) o Base Transceiver Station (BTS) o Base Station Controller (BSC) Network Switching Subsystem(NSS) o Mobile Switching Center (MSC) o Home Location Register (HLR) o Visitor Location Register (VLR) o Authentication Center (AUC) o Equipment Identity Register (EIR) o The Operations and Maintenance System (OMS)

Mobile Station(MS)
1. Mobile Equipment (ME):

2. Subscriber Identity Module (SIM):

Thus the SIM provides personal mobility, so that the user can have access to all subscribed services irrespective of both the location of the terminal and the use of a specific terminal. By inserting the SIM card into another GSM cellular phone, the user is able to receive calls at that phone, make calls from that phone, or receive other subscribed services. The SIM card may be protected against unauthorized use by a password or personal identity number.

The SIM contains several pieces of information:

a. International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI)

This number identifies the MS subscriber. It is only transmitted over the air during initialization

b. Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity (TMSI)

This number identifies the subscriber. It is periodically changed by the system management to protect the subscriber from being identified by someone attempting to monitor the radio interface

c. Location Area Identity (LAI)

Identifies the current location of the subscriber.

d. Subscriber Authentication Key (Ki)

This is used to authenticate the SIM card.

e. .Mobile Station International Services Digital Network (MSISDN)

This is the telephone number of the mobile subscriber. It is comprised of a country code, a network code and a subscriber number. This can be summed-up with the basic GSM architectural equation, MS = ME + SIM. Base Station Subsystem The Base Station Subsystem is responsible for managing the radio network and it is controlled by a MSC.Typically one MSC contains several BSS .BSS, which provides the radio interconnection from the MS to the land-based switching equipment. The BSS communicates with the MS over the digital air interface and with the MSC via 2 Mbps links. The BSS consists of three major hardware components. The Base Transceiver Station (BTS) The Base Station Controller (BSC) The Transcoder (XCDR)

BLOCK DIAGRAM OF BASE STATION SYSTEM

Base Transceiver System (BTS)

The most visible part of the GSM network, the BTS houses the transceivers

that communicate with the MS .the equipment is usually housed in an air conditioned shelter on roof top of tall building. The operating voltage of the equipment is usually -48V.In case of sectored cells, the BTS houses equipment for 3 cells where each sectored cell over 120degree. The BTS corresponds to the transceivers and antennas used in each cell of the network. A BTS is usually placed in the center of a cell. Its transmitting power defines the size of a cell. Each BTS has between 1 and 16 transceivers, depending on the density of users in the cell. Each BTS serves a single cell. It also includes the following functions: o o o o Provides radio access to mobile stations Supports transmission and reception for a single cell Acts as an entry point for the mobile station into the fixed network Manages issues related to the radio access leaving remainder of network to handle call related issues

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o Consists of one or more transceivers together with common control functions o Location dependent on factors relating to radio coverage o Cell site selection critical in cellular network requiring careful invesigation in radio propagation issue

Base Station Controller (BSC)

The BSC is the central network element of the BSS and it controls the radio network. The group of BTS are connected to a particular BSC which manages radio resources for them .The primary function of BSC is a call maintenance .The mobile stations normally send a report of their received signal strength to the BSC every 480ms .With this information the BSC decides to initiate the handovers to the other cell, change the BTS transmitter power etc. . The BSC may control single or multiple BTSs. Several BTSS are connected to one BSC. Acts as contact point for Subscribers, over the radio interface BTS consists of Radio Interface & signal processing devices along with antenna Each BTS channel is usually shared by 8 users in TDMA mode Each BSC controls a group of BTS, the BSC contains in database of all he frequencies allocations, channel configuration, neighbor relations and configuration parameters of all the BTS it controls changes to any of these parameters is done from the

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BSC, the BSC commands the BTS to allocate channels and take decisions and take decisions regarding handover based on the measurement reports received from the MS and the BTS. It is a switching device that handles the radio resources. BSC contains the entire database for cell parameters of these BTSS. BSC manages channel allocation handovers and channel release. BSC communicates with MSC on ABIS interface.

Transcoder (XCDR)
The Transcoder is required to convert speech or data output from the MSC into the from specified by GSM specification for transmission over the air interface, this is b/w the BSS and MS. The Transcoder is used to compact the signals from the MS so that they are more efficiently sent over the terrestrial interfaces. Although the Transcoder is considered to be a part of the BSS, it is very often located closer to the MSC.

Basics of GSM
Frequency Spectrum The frequency spectrum is very congested, with only narrow slots of bandwidth allocated for allocated for GSM, Extended GSM 900 (EGSM), GSM 1800 (DCS1800) and PCS1900. GSM 900 EGSM 900 GSM 1800) 1800 (DCS PCS 1900 ARFC N

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Receive (uplink)

Transmit (downlink ) 935-960 MHz

Receive (uplink)

Transmit ) 925-960 MHz

Receive

Transmit (downlink ) 18051880 MHz

Receive (uplink)

Transmit (downlink ) 19301990 MHz 8 TDM BW = 200 KHz

(downlink (uplink)

B890-915 MHz

880-915 MHz

17101785 MHz

18501910 MHz

124 ARFCN

174 ARFCN

374 ARFCN

299 ARFCN

A Times lots

Cell Size The number of cells in any geographic area is determined by the number of MS subscribers who will be operating in that area, and the geographic layout of the area.
Large Cells:

The maximum cell size for GSM is approximately 70 km in diameter, but this is dependent on the terrain the cell is covering and the power class of the MS. In GSM, the MS can be transmitting anything up to 8 Watts; obviously, the higher the power output of the MS the larger the cell size. If the cell site is on top of a hill, with no obstructions for miles, then the radio waves will travel much further than if the cell site was in the middle of a city, with many high-rise buildings blocking the path of the radio waves. Generally large cells are employed in:

Remote areas, Coastal regions. Areas with few subscribers. Large areas, which need to be covered with the minimum number of cell sites.

Small Cells

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Small cells are used where there is a requirement to support a large number of MSs, in a small geographic region, or where a low transmission power may be required to reduce the effects of interference. Small cells currently cover 200 m and upwards. Typical uses of small cells: Urban areas. Low transmission power required. High number of MSs.

Cell Splitting : Unfortunately, economic considerations made the concept of creating full systems with many small areas impractical. To overcome this difficulty, system operators developed the idea of cell splitting. As a service area becomes full of users, this approach is used to split a single area into smaller ones. In this way, urban centers can be split into as many areas as necessary to provide acceptable service levels in heavy-traffic regions, while larger, less expensive cells can be used to cover remote rural regions.

. The Trade Off Large vs. Small

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There is no right answer when choosing the type of cell to use. Network providers would like to use large cells to reduce installation and maintenance cost, but realize that to provide a quality service to their customers, they have to consider many factors, such as terrain, transmission power required and number of MSs etc. This inevitably leads to a mixture of both large and small cells

Handover
Mobile stations are assigned a base station for service, hence a cell (or cluster of cells). This means that when a customer is using a mobile station it must be using a certain channel in a cell. The question that arises is what happens when the mobile station leaves that particular cell while a call is in progress? Normally this will mean that the mobile station will lose the channel of that cell and one will expect the call to terminate, but this does not happen, that is the call is not terminated. Here is what happens when a mobile station changes cells: There is always a measurement of the field strength of the received signal to ensure that a communicating mobile station is using the serving base station of that cell. When the mobile stations is around the boundary of cells, the strongest received signal is the one that the mobile station will pick, so the mobile station will be serviced by the base station providing the strongest field. The call in progress will not terminate because when the mobile station changes base stations it does not lose the connection to the previous base station channel until it has fully established a connection to its new base station channel. Cellular systems

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are therefore capable of performing a change in radio channel as well as in base station during a call in progress. This process is called HAND-OVER.

During a call, two parties are on one voice channel. When the mobile unit moves out of the coverage area of a given cell site, the reception becomes weak. At this point, the cell Site in use requests a handoff. The system switches the call to a stronger-frequency channel in a new site without interrupting the call or alerting the user. The call continues as long as the user is talking, and the user does not notice the handoff at all.

Switching and Control

Having established radio coverage through the use of cells, omni-directional and directional (sectored sites), now consider what happens when the MS is in motion (as MSs tend to be). At some point the MS will have to move from one cells coverage area to another cells coverage area. Handovers from one cell to another could be for a number of reasons (e.g. the signal strength of the serving cell is less than the signal strength of a neighbor cell, or the MS is suffering a quality problem in the serving cell) and by handing over to one of its neighbors this may stop the quality problem. Regardless of the reason for a handover it has to be controlled by some entity, and in GSM that entity is the Mobile services Switching Center (MSC).

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To perform a handover, the network must know which neighbor cell to hand the MS over to. To ensure that we handover to the best possible candidate the MS performs measurements of its surrounding neighbors cells and reports its findings to the network. These are then analyzed together with the measurements that the network performs and a decision is made on a regular basis as to the need for a handover. If a handover is required then the relevant signal protocols are established and the handover is controlled by the MSC. Handovers must be transparent to the MS subscriber. That is the subscriber should be unaware that a handover has occurred. Some networks may allow certain handovers to be performed at the BSS level. This would be dependent on the manufacturers equipment

Features of GSM
Cellular telephone systems provide the MS subscriber and network provider with many advantages over a standard telephone network, but there are still many drawbacks.

Flexibility and Increased Capacity

Use of Standardized Open Interfaces

Improved Security and Confidentiality

Flexible Handover Processes

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 Enhanced range of services provided by GSM

GSM has the potential to offer a greatly enhanced range of services compared to existing Analogue cellular systems. As well as a full range of data transmission options and fax, there will be a wide range of supplementary services. The basic call services which are already provided within analogue systems such as Call Forwarding, Voice Message Services etc, are already available in some operational systems. Whether these services and others are provided as part of the basic service or at additional cost to the subscriber will depend on the network provider. When services were specified on GSM, the current land PSTN and ISDN system had to be taken into consideration; after all it is these systems we are most likely to be communicating with. The services available to a subscriber will be determined by three factors: The level of service provided by the network provider. The level of service purchased by the subscriber. The capabilities of the subscribers mobile equipment.

Services provided by GSM:

Teleservices
A telecoms service which is completely defined - including the terminal equipment functions Three types in GSM: Telephony Services Short Message Services Fax Services

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B Tele Bearer Supplementary

Call forwarding GSM network

T B

Telephony Services
Regular telephony, emergency calls, and voice messaging are within TS. Telephony, the old bidirectional speech calls, is certainly the most popular of all services Two basic types: Speech Telephony The basic service used whenever you make or receive a speech call Emergency calls A special service for making emergency calls

Short Message Services

SMS is a bidirectional service for sending short alphanumeric (up to 160 bytes) messages in a store and forward fashion. For point to point SMS, a message can be sent to another subscriber to the service, and an acknowledgement of receipt is provided to the sender. SMS can also be used in a cell broadcast mode, for sending messages such as traffic updates or news updates. Messages can be stored in the SIM card for later retrieval. In this case, a message center is necessary. The broadcast mode (to all subscribers) in a given geographic area may also be used for short messages of up to 93 alphanumeric characters. Some local features of the mobile terminal may be used. These may include, for example, abbreviated dialing, edition of short messages, repetition of failed calls, and others.

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 Fax Services
GSM provides two types of FAX teleservice: Speech and FAX: This service permits the user to switch between speech and FAX services during a call Automatic FAX: Supports a Group3 FAX

Secretary Service

Call Joh n! We got a big order!

Company

SMSService Center

ss PC
Call John!
B S C B S C

ss

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Supplementary Services
The supplementary services basically consist of call forwarding and call barring. Call Forwarding: Call Barring:

GSM devised some flexible services that enable the subscriber to conditionally bar calls. Calling Line ID :

Calling Line ID must be supported by the GSM network and the telephone .The GSM telephone displays the originating telephone number of incoming call .This features require the callers network to deliver the calling ID (telephone no.) to the GSM network. Call Waiting- Notification of an incoming call while on the handset Call Hold- Put a caller on hold to take another call Multi Party

This service is similar to a conference type service, in that several calls may be connected with all parties talking to each other. However, there are enough differences, caused by its application in the mobile environment, for it to be known by a different name. Number Identification : Receiving party requests calling number to be displayed

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CELL PLANNING
Introduction
Every cellular network needs cell planning, in order to ensure coverage and avoid interference. The cell planning process consists of many different tasks, all together making it possible to achieve a well working network. Cell planning is a basic important task in the design of cellular networks. Such a design problem includes planning a network of base stations providing full coverage of the service area with respect to current and future traffic requirements, available capabilities, and the desired QoS. Under these constraints, the objective is, in general, to minimize the operator's total system cost. The input for this problem consists of a list of all base station potential locations; each associated with an opening cost, technology dependent parameters such as the possible antenna characteristics (including the corresponding propagation model and propagation matrices), possible interferences, and the traffic demands. The planning and interaction between different vendors equipment is important to be successful in order to optimize the network performance. The cell planning is to establish the proper radio network considering the cost, capacity, service coverage, call quality, frequency planning, channels, antennas etc. The activities for cell planning include data collection, data base establishment, site survey, cw test etc.

Cell planning Aspects:

There are several aspects that have to be considered when implementing and running a multiband network. The coverage performance between the two bands will be different even if only co-sited 900/1800 cells are implemented The reason is the difference in frequency. Also, system configuration will be different from a purely single band network (e.g. 900 MHz network), especially if several vendors are present in the network. The system planning in terms of hardware and different system parameters, (e.g. BSC/MSC configuration) has to be planned and implemented with special care.

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The most important aspect for a multiband network is the potential capacity increase. By getting multiband mobiles into the market the 1800 cells can be used as capacity booster for existing 900 cells.

Capacity Coverage Performance System Configuration

CELLULAR ARCHITECTURE
Cellular architecture by its very nature calls for a contiguous arrangement where signals are transmitted from one site to another like a chain handoff of signals from one site to the next contiguous site while the subscriber moves. No voids (blank pockets) can exist as it will result in call disruption since calls will drop due to poor reception of signals in the handsets. Cell radius typically 500 m 1 km: anything closer would lead to interference and result in poor quality of service. As the number of users increase and their need for mobile communications results in higher traffic, which calls for increase in no. of cell sites.

The key ways in which a cellular system can meets its objectives are through: The architecture of the cellular system Providing call handover capabilities Roaming capabilities Frequency reuse

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To PSTN via MSC

Multiple Cell Sites Controlled by MSC Coverage Area of Cell Depends of Traffic Demand National Coverage Achieved with Mobile Location Continually Monitored Handover Across Cell Boundaries Small Cells and Lower Transmit Powers High Network Capacity - Frequency Re-use Radio channels are trunked Well Suited to Public Telephony

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 Frequency Range GSM 900

Receive (uplink) 890-915 MHz

Transmit (Downlink) 935-960 MHz 124 Absolute Radio Frequency Channels (ARFCN)

EGSM 900
Receive (Uplink) 880-915 MHz Transmit (Downlink) 925-960 MHz 174 Absolute Radio Frequency Channels (ARFCN)

GSM 1800 (DCS 1800)

Receive (Uplink) 1710-1785 MHz Transmit (Downlink) 1805-1880 MHz 374 Absolute Radio Frequency Channels (ARFCN)

PCS 1900
Receive (Uplink) 1850-1910 MHz Transmit (Downlink) 1930-1990 MHz 299 Absolute Radio Frequency Channels (ARFCN)

ARFCN
Bandwidth = 200 kHz

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8 TDMA Slots

FREQUENCY ALLOCATION
General

A limiting factor in todays cellular system is the no. of available frequencies. To meet the demand for capacity, frequencies have to be re-used several times, often with a short re-use distance. This is a real challenge for many operators today. The re-use of frequencies will often raise problems such as co- channel and adjacent channel interference, especially in a tight frequency re-use. If a large re-use distance is applied, interference levels would be decreased but unfortunately also the capacity. A short frequency re-use is beneficial for the system capacity but interference will increase. The trade-off between capacity and speech quality is resolved in the frequency planning. A better frequency plan will offer higher capacity at maintained quality.

Frequency Re-use

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Standard GSM has a total of 124 frequencies available for use in a network. Most network providers are unlikely to be able to use all of these frequencies and are generally allocated a small subset of the 124. Example: A network provider has been allocated 48 frequencies to provide coverage over a large area. As we have already seen, the maximum cell size is approximately 70 km in diameter, thus our 48 frequencies would not be able to cover the whole large area. To overcome this limitation the network provider must re-use the same frequencies over and over again, in what is termed a frequency re-use pattern. When planning the frequency re-use pattern the network planner must take into account how often to use the same frequencies and determine how close together the cells are, otherwise co-channel and/or adjacent channel interference may occur. The network provider will also take into account the nature of the area to be covered. This may range from a densely populated city (high frequency re-use, small cells, and high capacity) to a sparsely populated rural expanse (large omni cells, low re-use and low capacity).

The problems in the frequency re-use are:

1) Co-channel Interference: This occurs when RF carriers of the same frequency are transmitting in close proximity to each other; the transmission from one RF carrier interferes with the other RF carrier. 2) Adjacent Channel Interference: This occurs when an RF source of a nearby frequency interferes with the RF carrier.

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A cell can be defined as the area covered by one sector, i.e. one antenna system. The hexagonal nature of the cell is an artificial shape. This is the shape that is closest to being circular, which represents the ideal coverage of the power transmitted by the base station antenna. The circular shapes are themselves inconvenient as they have overlapping areas of coverage; but, in reality, their shapes look like the one shown in the Practical view in Figure 2.2. A practical network will have cells of non geometric shapes, with some areas not having the required signal strength for various reasons.

Cell

OMNI/SECTORED BASE STATIONS

Omni-directional Cells:

These hexagonal shaped cells have a coverage area of 360 degree. They perform at a low network capacity and are cost effect.

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Sectored Cells:

These cells cover an area of 120 degree and increase the network capacity. They have a smaller coverage and hence improved frequency reuse. They have 3 times as much equipment used in them and have improved antenna gain.

We use sector cell because of the following reason: Effectively creates a number of smaller cells, increasing capacity without needing extra sites Can also increase range Gain limited by antenna leakage and handover problems Typical GSM deployment has some omni-cells and some 3-sectored cells

Sectorization
The cells we have looked at up to now are called omni-directional cells. That is each site has a single cell and that cell has a single transmit antenna which radiates the radio waves to 360 degrees.

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The problem with employing omni-directional cells is that as the number of MS increases in the same geographical region, we have to increase the number of cells to meet the demand. To do this, as we have seen, we have to decrease the size of the cell and fit more cells into this geographical area. Using omni-directional cells we can only go so far before we start introducing co-channel and adjacent channel interference, both of which degrade the cellular networks performance To gain a further increase in capacity within the geographic area we can employ a technique called sectorization. Sectorization splits a single site into a number of cells, each cell has transmit and receive antennas and behaves as an independent cell. Each cell uses special directional antennas to ensure that the radio propagation from one cell is concentrated in a particular direction. This has a number of advantages: firstly, as we are now concentrating all the energy from the cell in a smaller area 60, 120, 180 degrees instead of 360 degrees, we get a much stronger signal, which is beneficial in locations such as in-building coverage. Secondly, we can now use the same frequencies in a much closer re-use pattern, thus allowing more cells in our geographic region which allows us to support more MSs.

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CELL PLANNING PROCESS

Cell planning can briefly be described as all the activities involved in determining which sites should be used for the radio equipment, which equipment should be used, and how the equipment should be configured. To ensure coverage and to avoid interference, each cellular network needs planning. The major activities involved in the cell planning process are represented:

Diagram of Cell Planning Process

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 TRAFFIC AND COVERAGE ANALYSIS

The cell planning process is started by a traffic and coverage analysis. The analysis should produce information about the geographical area and the expected capacity need. The different types of data collected are:

Cost Capacity Coverage Grade of Service (GoS) Available frequencies Speech Quality Index

The traffic demand (that is, how many subscribers access the system and how much traffic is generated) provides the basis of cellular network engineering. The geographical distribution of the traffic demand can be calculated using demographic data, such as:

Population distribution Car usage distribution Income level distribution Land usage data Telephone usage statistics

Traffic calculations The input for the traffic calculations is mentioned above. The output should be information about how many sites and cells are needed. In order to be able to decide this, the available numbers of frequencies per cell, as well as the Grade of Service (GOS), have to be known. Available number of frequencies per cell can only be decided when knowing which cell pattern should be used; (see Figure 104 and Figure 105). Then, the total numbers of

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available frequencies are evenly divided into frequency groups. Which cell pattern to choose depends on the type of system, as it is based upon frequency reuse distance. Frequency reuse A fundamental principle in the design of cellular systems is the frequency reuse patterns. Frequency reuse is defined as the use of radio channels on the same carrier frequency, covering geographically different areas. These areas must be separated from one another by a sufficient distance, in order to avoid cochannel interference. Based on the traffic calculations, the cell pattern and frequency plan are worked out. GOS is defined as allowed percentage of unsuccessful call setups due to congestion. Normally, a value between 2% and 5% is applicable in mobile telephone systems

Interference C/I The carriertointerference ratio (C/I) is defined as the ratio of the level of the received desired signal to the level of the received undesired signal.

This C/I ratio is dependent on the instantaneous position of the mobile and is due to irregular terrain and various shapes, types and numbers of local scatterers. Other factors such as antenna type, directionality and height, site elevations and positions, and the number of local sources of interference also affect the distribution of the C/I ratio in a system.

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GSM states C/I > 9dB, with frequency hopping implemented, and recommends C/I > 12dB when frequency hopping is not employed.

C/A

The carriertoadjacent ratio (C/A) is defined as the relation in dB in signal strength between the serving and an adjacent frequency. In GSM, a multiple of 200 kHz away. GSM specifies C/A > -9dB.

Cell patterns The distribution of the C/I ratio desired in a system determines the number of frequency groups, F, which may be used. If the total allocation of N channels is partitioned into F groups, then each group will contain N/F channels. Since the total number of channels (N) is fixed, a smaller number of frequency groups (F) would result in more channels per set and per cell. Therefore, a reduction in the number of frequency groups would allow each site to carry more traffic, reducing the total number of sites needed for a given traffic load. However, decreasing the number of frequency groups and reducing the frequency reuse distance will result in a lower average C/I distribution in the system. There are three types of frequency reuse patterns: 7/21, 4/12 and 3/9. Only 4/12 and 3/9 are interesting for CME 20. In all three cases the site geometry has the following features: 35

 Three cells (sectors) at each site. The antenna pointing azimuths of the cells are separated by 120 degrees and the cells are arranged with antennas pointing at one of the nearest site locations thus forming cells in a cloverleaf fashion. Each cell uses one 60 degree transmitting antenna and two 60degree diversity receiving antennas with the same pointing azimuths. Each cell approximates the shape of a hexagon. We assume that the traffic is homogeneously distributed within the cells. The cell size is normally given in terms of the distance between two neighbouring sites. The cell radius R (= the side of the hexagon) is always onethird of the sitetosite distance when 3sector sites are used. A group of neighbouring cells using all the channels in the system, but not reusing those, according to the patterns described below is called a cluster.

SURVEYS (AND RADIO MEASUREMENTS)

The nominal cell plan has been produced and the coverage and interference predictions have been roughly verified. Now, it is time to visit the sites where the radio equipment is to be placed and perform radio measurements. The former is important because it is necessary to assess the real environment to determine whether it is a suitable site location for a cellular network. The latter is even more important because better predictions can be obtained using field measurements of the signal strengths in the actual terrain where the mobile station is to be located. Site surveys Site surveys are performed for all proposed site locations. Many issues have to be checked and verified, such as: Exact location Space for equipment, including antennas

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 Cable runs Power facilities Contract with owner Also, the radio environment has to be checked, so that there is no other radio equipment on the site that will cause intermodulation problems, or too high buildings surrounding the possible site. Radio measurements Radio measurements are performed to be able to adjust the parameters used in the planning tool to reality, to the specific climate and terrain in the area of interest. Parameters used in Sweden, would be different to the ones to be used in a tropical country, for example. A test transmitter is mounted, and then the signal strength is measured while driving around in the area. Back in the office, the results from the measurements can be compared with the values the planning tool produces when simulating the same type of transmitter, and the parameters for the planning are adjusted to match reality.

SYSTEM DESIGN
After optimization and when the predictions generated by the planning tool can be considered reliable, a dimensioning of the RBS equipment, BSC, and MSC is performed. The final cell plan is produced. As the name implies, this plan is later used at system installation. In addition, a document called Cell Design Data (CDD) containing all cell parameters for each cell is completed.

IMPLEMENTATION
System installation, commissioning, and testing are performed following the final cell planning and system design.

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Installation Engineering

Main steps of the implementation of a new radio site.

The output from the system design step in the cell planning process results in a hardware order (for example, BSC, RBS) to the factory. Installation engineering personnel perform site investigations, which mean taking a closer look at the actual location where the site is to be built. The installation documentation contains all information needed to build the site, for example, floor plan, cable drawings, antenna arrangement drawing, grounding plan, site material list, etc. The material needed to build the site is then ordered according to the installation documents.

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When all equipment has arrived the installation can begin. After installing the equipment, it is time to check its functionality. Firstly, the nodes are tested for full functionality on their own this is called installation test. Secondly, the interworking function is tested this is called integration test. The two tests together are called the network element test, which is further explained below. Network Element Tests

The picture below shows the main process steps of the Network element test of the BSC and RBS.

SYSTEM TUNING
Once the system has been installed, it is continually evaluated to determine how well it meets the demands. This is called system tuning and it involves: check that the final cell plan has been implemented successfully An evaluation of customer complaints check that the network performance is acceptable Changing parameters and undertaking other measures (if needed)

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The system needs constant re-tuning, due to the fact that the traffic and number of subscribers continuously increase. Eventually, the system reaches a point where it must be expanded so that it can manage the increasing load and new traffic. At this point, a coverage analysis is performed and the cell planning process cycle starts all over again

RADIO NETWORK PLANNING

GSM system network planning has undergone extensive modification so as to fulfill the ever-increasing demand from operators and mobile users with issues related to capacity and coverage. Radio network planning is perhaps the most important part of the whole design process owing to its proximity to mobile users. Before going into details of the process, we first look at some fundamental issues. The ultimate objective of the radio engineering process is to deliver to the operating company a network that meets the companys business and marketing plans in terms of coverage service area, traffic handling capacity and quality of service, in a timely and cost effective manner. The strategy for any operator will need to remain flexible in order to react to rapid changes (regulatory, technological and competitive) within the marketplace and the same degree of flexibility must be inherent in the planning process

BASICS OF RADIO NETWORK PLANNING

The Scope of Radio Network Planning

The radio network is the part of the network that includes the base station (BTS) and the mobile station (MS) and the interface between them, as shown in Figure 2.1. As this is the part of the network that is directly connected to the mobile user, it assumes considerable importance. The base station has a radio connection with the mobile, and this base station should be capable of communicating with the mobile station within a certain coverage area, and of maintaining call quality standards. The radio network should be able to offer sufficient capacity and coverage.

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DESIGN CRITERIA

Cloverleaf VS Hexagon
Nominal cell planning based on Cloverleaf structure
H3G will base its cell planning on cloverleaf structured nominal cells. The reason is that with the narrow beam-width antennas employed for CDMA the cloverleaf structure is a much better representation of reality than the classical hexagonal plan. The Cloverleaf nominal cell will be used for all trisector and omni sites. The orientation of the cells is described elsewhere but needs to be kept constant except when there is strong reason to do otherwise. In the past cell planning has normally been performed using a hexagonal pattern for both omni and tri-sectored sites. However, whilst optimum for true omni sites the classic hexagonal plan does not fit well with the narrow beam-width antennas used for trisectored sites by H3G. The majority of omni sites will also be implemented using three combined antennas (to give room for expansion) and thus will also use the cloverleaf design. It should be noted that these different cell plans are only an idealized representation of reality and do not affect the actual performance achieved for a given set of sites.

Regular Hexagonal Design:

The classical hexagonal design is shown below. The cell sites are represented by the small circles and the cell radius is R. The dotted lines show the assumed sectorisation.

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Each site is represented as a hexagon. However in the tri-sector case the sectors are each represented as a parallelogram. Each site is surrounded by a regular hexagon of other sites.

Cloverleaf Design:
The cloverleaf design is shown below. The cell sites are the dark circles and each sector is a hexagon. Again it can be seen that each cell site is surrounded by a regular hexagon of other sites (i.e. the plan is actually very similar to the regular plan). The distance R on the plot below is very similar to the cell radius (R) of the classic design above although slightly modified to give the correct Grade of Service. As can be seen the hexagons are approximately half the size of those in the classic design (but note the drawings are not to scale). Since there are three hexagons per cell site in the cloverleaf pattern or a single double size (four times the area) in the classic pattern it is clear that the cloverleaf cell for the same R has coverage of of the classic coverage. (However in practice R will be slightly greater for the cloverleaf to give the same GoS).

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 Elements in a Radio Network

Mobile Station (MS) : The mobile station is made up of two parts, as shown. The handset and the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM). The SIM is personalized and is unique to the subscriber. The handset or the terminal equipment should have qualities similar to those of fixed phones in terms of quality, apart from being user friendly. The equipment also has functionalities like GMSK modulation and demodulation up to channel coding/decoding.

Channel Configuration in GSM

There are two types of channels in the air interface: Physical channels Logical channels.

The physical channel is all the time slots (TS) of the BTS. There are again two types in this: Half-rate (HR) Full-rate (FR).

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The FR channel is a 13 kbps coded speech or data channel with a raw data rate of 9.6, 4.8 or 2.6 kbps, while the HR supports 7, 4.8 or 2.4 kbps. Logical channel refers to the specific type of information that is carried by the physical channel. Logical channels can also be divided into two types: Traffic channels (TCH) Control channels (CCH).

Traffic channels are used to carry user data (speech/data) while the control Channels carry the signaling and control information. The logical control channels are of two types: Common Channels Dedicated Channels.

Table 2.1 summarizes the control channel types:

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RADIO NETWORK PLANNING PROCESS

The main aim of radio network planning is to provide a cost-effective solution for the radio network in terms of coverage, capacity and quality. The network planning process and design criteria vary from region to region depending upon the dominating factor, which could be capacity or coverage. The design process itself is not the only process in the whole network design, and has to work in close coordination with the planning processes of the core and especially the transmission network. But for ease of explanation, a simplified process just for radio network planning is shown in Figure 2.5.

The radio network planning process

Radio Cell and Wave Propagation

The whole land area is divided into three major classes suburban and rural based on human-made structures and terrains. The cells (sites) that are constructed in these areas classified as outdoor and indoor cells. Outdoor cells can be classified as: Antennas for the following cell types are required: urban, natural can be further

Macro cell hex sectored, quad sectored, trisectored and Omni directional. Micro cell Pico cell

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Macro cells are categorised as follows:

Dense urban 0.34km Urban 0.56km Suburban 1.5km Rural 5km

Macro cells are the large installations found on the top of hydro towers, buildings, and monopoles. Their power output level is high; therefore they cover a lot of area. Macro cells work well in locations where there is minimal interference from buildings and irregular geographic features. These are by far the most common.

Microcell:

Radius <0.15km and > 0.05km Micro cells generally serve two purposes: first they are often used to fill holes in the macro cell network either due to poor spacing of the macro cells or high network traffic in an area. Second they often are installed in locations where a provider expects a lot of localized traffic, such as a stadium or large food court in a shopping mall. Micro cells may appear as short rods less than 1 m high or cone shaped objects.
Picocell:

Range <0.05km Pico-cells are defined as the same layer as micro-cells and are usually used for indoor coverage. Pico cells are very small cells covering a very limited area where a micro cell would be overkill.

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Wave Propagation Effects and Parameters

The signal that is transmitted from the transmitting antenna (BTS/MS) and received by the receiving antenna (MS/BTS) travels a small and complex path. This signal is exposed to a variety of man-made structures, passes through different types of terrain, and is affected by the combination of propagation environments. All these factors contribute to variation in the signal level, so varying the signal coverage and quality in the network.

Free-space Loss
Any signal that is transmitted by an antenna will suffer attenuation during its journey in free space. The amount of power received at any given point in space will be inversely proportional to the distance covered by the signal. This can be understood by using the concept of an isotropic antenna. An isotropic antenna is an imaginary antenna that radiates power equally in all directions.

Reflections and Multipath

Diffraction or Shadowing Building and Vehicle Penetration Fading of the Signal

multipath Fading and Frequency-selective fading.

Interference
However, the major cause of interference in a cellular network is the radio resources in the network. There are many radio channels in use in a network that use common shared bandwidth. The solution to the problem is accurate frequency planning,

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RADIO COVERAGE LEVELS

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BEST SERVING CELL AREAS

TRAFFIC DENSITY MAP (DARKER COLOURS = HIGHER DENSITY)

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 RADIO NETWORK PRE-PLANNING

Capacity and Quality
The major target of the radio planner is to increase the coverage area of a cell and decrease the amount of equipment needed in the network, so obtaining the maximum coverage at minimum cost. Maximum coverage means that the mobile is connected to a given cell at a maximum possible distance. This is possible if there is a minimum signal to noise ratio at both the BTS and MS. Another factor attributing to the path length between the two antennas (BTS and MS) is the propagation loss due to environmental conditions. Capacity can be understood in simplest terms as the number of mobile subscribers a BTS can cater for at a given time. The greater the capacity, the more mobile subscribers can be connected to the BTS at a given time, thereby reducing the amount of base stations in a given network leading to an increase in the operation efficiency and thereby profits for the network operator. As GSM is constant therefore frequency reuse is important. (125 in GSM 900).

Site Survey and Site Selection

A place that does not have high obstacles around it and has a clear view for the main beam can be considered a good radio site. Radio planners should avoid selecting sites at high locations as this may cause problems with uncontrolled interference, apart from giving handover failures.

Result of the Site Survey Process

There are two types of report that are generated in the site survey process. One is at the beginning of the search and the other at the end, which is a report on the site selected. The report made after site selection should have more detailed information. This may contain the height of the building/green-field, coordinates, antenna configuration (location, tilt, azimuth, etc.), maps, and a top view of the site with

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exact location of the base station and the antennas (both radio and transmission).

Azimuth Beam width:

This is chosen for optimum sector coverage without excessive handoff. The latter drives the beamwidth lower compared to GSM. A trisectored beam width of around 60o - 65o is a best estimate for which the relative gain at the sector edges is between 8 and 10dB. A generalization would therefore be to use an antenna with a 3dB beam width approximately half that of the sector angle. The 3dB beam width is generally about half that of the 10dB beam width, and therefore this specification would result in antenna crossovers (at sector edges) of -10dB. Therefore for a six-sector site with sector angles of 60o, the antenna beam width should be approximately 30o. Azimuth pointing accuracy for trisectors should be +/- 1o. The rationale here is that a dual polar antenna provides a gain at the sector edges within 1dB for the two beams. Alignment error should be small in relation to this for it not to add a significant contribution to coverage errors from adjacent sectors. That is the sector boundaries should be as near as possible to where they are required to be. A pointing error of 1 o alters the gain by dB. Alignment for hexasectors may need to be more accurate than this. Elevation Pattern: The following procedure has been used to evaluate the effect of the antenna elevation pattern on the coverage of the cell for some of the above cell categories. The antenna is given a height above ground and tilt angle, and the angle to ground over the radius of the cell is calculated at intervals which become more closely spaced as R increases. The latter is to account for the increase in area of the cell associated with the given radius. It has been assumed that the antenna azimuth pattern conforms to the shape of the cell as would be expected for a clover leaf approach. A propagation loss model with a R-2 to R-4 breakpoint is used to find the received power level at each point. The received power level for a given QoS can be estimated and recorded together with the received level at one, two and three cell radii for an indication of interference into neighboring cells. The simulation can be run for a range of different assumptions regarding tilt angle, antenna pattern, and propagation breakpoint and antenna height above ground.

Tilt:

Tilts given are typical values over flat ground with UEs at ground level but may need some adjustment where the ground is not flat or UEs are located above ground level. Tolerances assume that the antenna is supplied with a beam tilt tolerance of +/- 0.5o. In general if the antenna itself is better than this then the coverage limited tolerance can be relaxed accordingly but ideally not the capacity limited tolerance. There are two cases:

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Where the antennas have fixed electrical tilts, a tilt value as close as possible to the desired value should be used with mechanical tilting used to fine tune to the precise values required. Where the antennas have adjustable electrical tilt this can be used to achieve the fine tuning. For antennas 30m above ground, a suitable breakpoint between where to use 1.3m and 1.7m antennas is 450m. 20m antennas should not be used for dense urban cells, or for urban cells for antennas 30m above ground.

Frequency Hopping

Frequency hopping (FH) is a technique that basically improves the channel to interference (C/I) ratio by utilizing many frequency channels. Before we go into the concept and process of frequency hopping, let us understand the frequency assignment criteria in the GSM network. In GSM 900, the frequency bands used are 890915MHz in the uplink direction and 935960MHz in the downlink direction, which means a bandwidth of 25MHz in each direction. The whole or some fraction of this band is available to the network operator. The central frequencies start at 200 kHz from the edge of the band and are spread evenly in it. There are 125 frequency slots in this band. Frequency hopping is a technique by which the frequency of the signal is changed with every burst in such a way that there is minimum interference in the network, and at the same time allocated channels are used effectively. This process in GSM is also known as slow frequency hopping (SFH). By using SFH, improvement takes place by virtue of frequency diversity and interference diversity. Frequency diversity:

Since every burst has a different frequency, it will fade in a different way and time. Thus the decorrelation between each burst increases, thereby increasing the efficiency of the coding signal. The assignment of the frequency can be done by two ways: sequentially or randomly. In the former, the system follows a strict pattern of frequency assignment to each burst; in the latter, it assigns frequencies randomly. Interference diversity:

If each mobile has one constant frequency, some mobiles may be affected by interference more than others. With the use of frequency hopping, the interference spreads within the system because the interfering signals effect gets reduced.

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As the interference becomes less, the frequency spectrum can be utilised better, and hence the capacity of the system increases.

Equipment Enhancements
-to improve the reception power of the receiving antenna. Major diversity techniques are space diversity, frequency diversity, and polarization diversity. Frequency diversity is also known as frequency hopping. -by installing another antenna at the base station. Depending on the environmental conditions, the distance between the main and the diversity antenna can vary from 1 to 15 wavelengths.

Receiver Diversity

-used to boost the link budget results, a LNA has a low noise value and can amplify a signal. The LNA is placed at the receiving end. When space diversity is being used, the LNAs should be used on both the main and the diversity antennas, thereby improving the diversity reception.

Low-noise Amplifiers (LNA)

Power Boosters
Power in the downlink direction can be increased by the use of power amplifiers and power boosters. If the losses are reduced before the transmission by the use of amplifiers, which in turn increases the power, then the configuration is called a power amplifier. However, when the transmission power is increased, then it is done by using the booster. Power amplifiers are located near the transmission antennas while the boosters are located near the base station as shown in Figure

Planned Coverage Area

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Based on propagation models, drive tests and correction factors, prediction of coverage areas is done. The sites are located according to the requirements of the network, and the coverage predictions are done as shown in Figure Usually some radio network planning tools are used for such an exercise.

Planned coverage area

Capacity Planning
Capacity planning is a very important process in the network rollout as it defines the number of base stations required and their respective capacities. Capacity plans are made in the preplanning phase for initial estimations, as well as later in a detailed manner. The number of base stations required in an area comes from the coverage planning, and the number of transceivers required is derived from capacity planning as it is directly associated with the frequency re-use factor. The frequency re-use factor is defined as the number of base stations that can be implemented before the frequency can be re-

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used. An example of frequency re-use is shown in Figure 2.12. The maximum number of frequencies in a GSM 900 system is 125 in both the uplink and downlink directions. Each of these frequencies is called a channel. This means that there are 125 channels available in both directions. The minimum frequency re-use factor calculation is based on the C/I ratio. As soon as the C/I ratio decreases, the signal strength starts deteriorating, thereby reducing the frequency re-use factor.

Example of frequency re-use

Another factor to keep in mind is the antenna height at the base station. If the antenna height is too high then the signal has to travel a greater distance, so the probability that the signal causes interference becomes greater. The average antenna height should be such that the number of base stations (fully utilized in terms of their individual capacities) is enough for the needed capacity of the network. Of course, as seen above, this depends heavily on the frequency re-use factor.

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There are three essential parameters required for capacity planning: estimated traffic, average antenna height, and frequency usage.

Traffic Estimates
Traffic estimation or modeling is based on theoretical estimates or assumptions, and on studies of existing networks (i.e. experience). Traffic in the network is dependent on the user communication rate and user movement in the network. The user communication rate means how much traffic is generated by the subscriber and for how long. The user movement is an estimate of the users use of the network in static mode and dynamic mode. Traffic estimation in the network is given in terms of erlangs. One erlang (1 Erl) is defined as the amount of traffic generated by the user when he or she uses one traffic channel for one hour (this one hour is usually the busy hour of the network). Another term that is frequently used in network planning is blocking. Blocking describes the situation when a user is trying to make a call and is not able to reach a dialed subscriber owing to lack of resources. Generally, it is assumed that a user will generate about 25 mErl of traffic during the busy hour, and that the average speaking (network usage) will be about 120 seconds. These figures may vary from network to network; some networks use average figures of 35 mErl and 90 s. Another factor is the users behavior in terms of mobility. In the initial years of the GSM, the ratio of static users to dynamic users was almost 0.7, but with rapid changes in technology this ratio may soon become 1.0! User mobility affects handover rates, which in turn affects network capacity planning. The actual traffic flowing in the network can be calculated by using tables that use the maximum traffic at a base station and the blocking rate. Commonly used Erlang tables are Erlang B and Erlang C. Erlang B assumes that if calls cannot go through then they get dropped (i.e. no queuing possible). Erlang C considers that if a call does not get through then it will wait in a queue. These Erlang tables are good enough for circuit-switched traffic but not for packet switching.

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It is important for the radio planner to know the capacity that can be offered by the base station equipment, which means that the traffic handling capability of the transceivers takes precedence for capacity planning. Due to modulation, the modulated stream of bits is sent in bursts having a finite duration. These bursts are generally called time slots (TS) in GSM; they have a relatively fixed place in the stream and occur after 0.577 ms. The slots have a width of about 200 kHz. In the GSM system this is known as one time slot. Due to the modulation schemes (i.e. TDMA), there are eight TS at each frequency in each direction.

Frequency usage is an important concept related to both coverage and capacity usage. Frequency re-use basically means how often a frequency can be reused in the network. If the average number of the transceivers and the total number of frequencies are known, the frequency re-use factor can be calculated.

Frequency Usage and Re-use

If there are 3 TRX that are used per base station and the total number of frequencies available is 27, then the total number of frequencies available for re-use is 27/3 = 9.

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Power Control

The power that is transmitted both from the mobile equipment and from the base station has a far-reaching effect on efficient usage of the spectrum. Power control is an essential feature in mobile networks, in both the uplink and downlink directions. When a mobile transmits high power, there is enough fade margin in the critical uplink direction, but it can cause interference to other subscriber connections. The power should be kept to a level that the signal is received by the base station antenna above the required threshold without causing interference to other mobiles. Mobile stations thus have a feature such that their power of transmission can be controlled. This feature is generally controlled by the BSS. This control is based on an algorithm that computes the power received by the base station and, based on its assessment, it increases or decreases the power transmitted by the mobile station.

Discontinuous Transmission
Discontinuous transmission (DTX) is a feature that controls the power of the transmission when the mobile is in silent mode. When the subscriber is not speaking on the mobile, a voice detector in the equipment detects this and sends a burst of transmission bits to BSS, indicating this inactivity. This function of the mobile is called voiceactivity detection (VAD). On receiving this stream of bits indicating DTX, the BSS asks the mobile to reduce its power for that period of time, thereby reducing interference in the network and improving the efficiency of the network

Frequency Hopping
Before we go into the concept and process of frequency hopping, let us understand the frequency assignment criteria in the GSM network. In GSM 900, the frequency bands used are 890915MHz in the uplink direction and 935960MHz in the downlink direction, which means a bandwidth of 25MHz in each direction. The whole or some fraction of this band is available to the network operator. The central frequencies start at 200 kHz from the edge of the band and are spread evenly in 58

it. There are 125 frequency slots in this band. The major interference problem is between the adjacent bands because of frequency overlapping at the borders of the individual channels. For this simple reason, the adjacent (and same-frequency) channels) are not used on the cells belonging to the same site. Frequency hopping is a technique by which the frequency of the signal is changed with every burst in such a way that there is minimum interference in the network, and at the same time allocated channels are used effectively. This process in GSM is also known as slow frequency hopping (SFH). By using SFH, improvement takes place by virtue of frequency diversity and interference diversity. _ Frequency diversity: Since every burst has a different frequency, it will fade in a different way and time. Thus the decorrelation between each burst increases, thereby increasing the efficiency of the coding signal. The assignment of the frequency can be done by two ways: sequentially or randomly. In the former, the system follows a strict pattern of frequency assignment to each burst; in the latter, it assigns frequencies randomly. _ Interference diversity: If each mobile has one constant frequency, some mobiles may be affected by interference more than others. With the use of frequency hopping, the interference spreads within the system because the interfering signals effect gets reduced. As the interference becomes less, the frequency spectrum can be utilized better, and hence the capacity of the system increases. Frequency hopping is of two types: base-band FH and RF FH. In baseband FH, the calls are hopped between different TRXs. The number of frequencies used for hopping is correlated to the number of TRXs and is thus constant. In RF FH, the call stays on one TRX but a frequency change takes place with every frame. These frequencies are not included in the hopping sequence, thus effectively creating two layers in each cell, one FH and one non-FH. As RF FH is not correlated to the number of TRXs, it is considered to be more robust and hence used in network deployment frequency planning.

Coverage Strategy

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 Geographic Coverage The geographic extent of the planned coverage for subscribers needs to be carefully specified. Commercial and logistical factors mean that the network will be built in phases with the initial focus on areas of high population density, or regions of strategic importance.

Coverage Quality
The quality of signal coverage required within the different regions inside the service area needs to be carefully specified, after consideration of the market requirements. Typically, a region would be split up into areas of differing importance to the operator. A specification would then be then drawn up requiring a minimum signal level over a minimum percentage of that area. Some sample specifications are shown below in fig.1.

Urban area Suburban area Roads Outdoors

Required Signal Level -72dBm -78dBm -85dBm -93dBm

Percentage of Area 95% 90% 90% 90%

Site Selection

General

Once the nominal cell plan has been finalised, the next step is to start the site acquisition process by issuing the site co-ordinates to specialist site acquisition companies. This stage of the network is of crucial importance to new operator, as achieving a rapid network roll-out is one of the keys to success in a competitive marketplace. The site acquisition company will produce a number of option sites which must then be surveyed for suitability against a range of criteria. Such criteria will include a check of the actual site location against the planned position, the radio propagation suitability, space for antennas/towers/masts and radio equipment, the availability of power supplies, availability of transmission links, the results of radio tests and legal/contractual/planning issues. On completion of the survey a report is produced and submitted to the cell

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planning engineer who with the aid of the cell planning tool will selected a preferred option.

Site Position
The cell planning process produces an idealised pattern of regular hexagonal cells. The plan may have to be adjusted to make use of existing sites already owned by the network, or suitable friendly sites owned by a third party. Financial, legal, planning or safety issues may all require alternatives to be considered.

Equipment Space RF Considerations

For a macro cell, the first Fresnel zone should ideally be kept clear for the first 100m. This may in practice place the antennas far higher than than required for the nominal plan. In this case, predictions will have to be repeated to see the exact effect. Placing the antennas too high could also cause interference, although down tilting of the antennas could be employed to combat this. in many cases, a compromise will have to be reached between clearance from obstacles and interference issues

Antenna
General
An antenna acts as the interface between the feeder and the air. A signal from the feeder will be radiated in a direction defined by the antenna. The antenna will at the same time receive all radio signals from the same direction and feed them through the feeder towards the BTS. The increasing number of sites within a mobile network is forcing the number of antennas per cell down to a minimum.

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 Antenna types
omni-directional antennas sector antennas panel antennas

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Omni Antenna
95mm X 205mm

Omni Directional antennas are used for point to multipoint configurations .The main drawback of this antenna is that its energy is greatly diffused in broadcasting 360 degrees .Omni directional antennas are good for situations where there are a lot of subscribers located very close to the base station. A sector antenna, by focusing the beam in amore focused area, offers greater range and throughput with less energy .Many operator will use this type of antenna to cover the 360 degree area rather than use an omni directional antenna due to the superior performance of the sector antenna over the omni directional antenna.

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Sector antenna
A panel antenna basically consists of a metal patch suspended over a ground plane. The assembly is usually contained in a plastic which protects the structure from damage (as well as concealing its essential simplicity). Patch antennas are simple to fabricate and easy to modify and customize. They are closely related to micro strip antennas, which are just patch antennas constructed on a dielectric substrate, usually employing the same sort of lithographic patterning used to fabricate printed circuit boards

P a n e l A n te n n a
100m m X 180m m

Panel Antenna

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PLANNING TOOLS & TECHNIQUES

MapInfo Map
MapInfo Map turns your applications such as word processors and spreadsheets into miniMapInfo programs where you can create, display and edit a map for presentation, reporting or publishing. through a process called Object Linking and Embedding (OLE), whereby a server application (such as MapInfo) provides information that is stored in a client application that can accept OLE information (such as a word processor). MapInfo Map allows you to embed a Map window in any application that accepts OLE objects and to use some of MapInfos features to create, display and edit the map directly.

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Use MapInfo Map

MapInfo Map provides a variety of map display, viewing and editing capabilities, including; o Opening multiple tables at once o controlling individual layer properties like display and labeling o creating and modifying thematic maps o manipulating the Map window view o finding information associated with a map layer o controlling map projection and units Because MapInfo Map provides a subset of MapInfo features, using them in MapInfo Map is the same as using them in MapInfo. So, Layer Control and Thematic Mapping work the same whether you are creating a map in MapInfo or in your word processor. With the click of a button or by choosing a menu command, you have MapInfo functionality in your application where you need it.

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