Case Study

LTE Small Cell planning using ASSET

AIRCOM International
Cassini Court, Randalls Way, Leatherhead, KT22 7TW United Kingdom www.aircominternational.com

Copyright 2012 AIRCOM International - All rights reserved. No part of this work, which is protected by copyright, may be reproduced in any form or by any means - graphic, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or storage in an information retrieval system without the written permission of the copyright owner.

Table of Contents
1 2 3 Executive Summary .................................................................................................... 3 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 4 Configuration ............................................................................................................. 4 3.1 Analysis Area ..................................................................................................... 4 3.2 Propagation Modelling ........................................................................................ 4 3.3 Macrocell Layer .................................................................................................. 5 3.4 Small Cell Layer .................................................................................................. 5 3.5 Traffic Model ...................................................................................................... 5 3.6 Traffic Raster ..................................................................................................... 5 Coverage Analysis ...................................................................................................... 6 4.1 Coverage with Building Vectors displayed ............................................................ 7 4.1.1 LTE Macrocell Best RSRP ................................................................................. 7 4.1.2 LTE Small Cell Best RSRP ................................................................................ 7 4.1.3 Combined LTE Macrocell & Small Cell Best RSRP............................................... 8 4.2 Coverage Statistics ............................................................................................. 8 Interference/Quality Analysis ...................................................................................... 9 5.1 Interference/Quality with Building Vectors displayed ............................................. 9 5.1.1 LTE Macrocell Best RSRQ ................................................................................ 9 5.1.2 LTE Small Cell Best RSRQ .............................................................................. 10 5.1.3 Combined LTE Macrocell & Small Cell Best RSRQ (Single Carrier) ..................... 10 5.1.4 Combined LTE Macrocell & Small Cell Best RSRQ (Two Carriers) ...................... 11 5.2 Interference/Quality Statistics ........................................................................... 11 Failure rate and failure reasons analysis ..................................................................... 12 6.1 Failure Rate Arrays ........................................................................................... 12 6.1.1 LTE Macrocell Failure Rate ............................................................................ 12 6.1.2 LTE Small Cell Failure Rate ............................................................................ 13 6.1.3 Combined LTE Macrocell & Small Cell Failure Rate (Single Carrier) ................... 13 6.2 Failure Reason Arrays ....................................................................................... 14 6.2.1 LTE Macrocell Failure Reason ........................................................................ 14 6.2.2 LTE Small Cell Failure Reason ........................................................................ 15 6.2.3 Combined LTE Macrocell & Small Cell Failure Reason (Single Carrier) ............... 15 6.3 Simulation Statistics.......................................................................................... 16 Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 17 Glossary .................................................................................................................. 18 Appendix A - About the Products and modules used in this application note ................. 19 9.1 ASSET 8.0 ........................................................................................................ 19 9.2 Myriad ............................................................................................................. 19

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1 Executive Summary
With wireless data already predicted to exceed wired data in the next few years and network capacity demands to increase 20-40 fold over the next 5 years, mobile operators are under pressure to dramatically increase their network capacity and maintain data throughput rates, in a cost effective manner. Embracing a Small Cell strategy seems to be the most common approach to achieve this across the Worlds operators. Small Cell technology (which includes femto, pico and micro cells) is currently in use by 67% of operators according to the Small Cell Forum and usage will increase from 4.3 million small cells to 36.8 million by 2016. Operator needs a planning strategy to ensure capacity issues are addressed and throughput rates are maintained for continued positive customer experience. Small cells can solve the data bandwidth issues and provide improved indoor coverage but careful planning is critical to ensure they do not introduce additional network interference and degrade overall network performance. A case study will be presented on how LTE Small Cells can be planned with ASSET 8.0 using a high-traffic, high-density area of central London, in the United Kingdom, which contains both Small Cells and Macro cells. We will demonstrate how to setup a Small Cell LTE layer on top of an LTE Macrocell layer in AIRCOMs ASSET Radio Network Planning tool and how the Coverage, number of served users, throughput and quality improve significantly by doing so. It will also show that the introduction of Small Cells provides the biggest benefit in terms of improving the number of successfully served terminals and that having separate carriers for the macro and small cell layers helps in reducing failures further particularly those due to capacity problems.

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2 Introduction
This document demonstrates how LTE Small Cells can be planned with ASSET v8.0. For this case study we are using a high-traffic, high-density area of central London, in the United Kingdom, which contains both Small Cells and Macro cells. The Macrocell sites locations are real ones obtained from the UKs regulators published data. We will show the configuration in ASSET, the Coverage (RSRP) and Interference (RSRQ) analysis, as well as the number of Served Terminals Macrocell layer alone, for the Small Cells alone and for the combined Macro + Small cell layers using a single carrier and then using separate carriers. Details of the configuration and of the reports run can be obtained by contacting your local AIRCOM representative. We will demonstrate how to setup a Small Cell LTE layer on top of an LTE Macrocell layer in AIRCOMs ASSET Radio Network Planning tool and how the Coverage, number of served users, throughput and quality improve significantly by doing so. It will also show that the introduction of Small Cells provides the biggest benefit in terms of improving the number of successfully served terminals, but that having separate carriers for the macro and small cell layers helps in reducing failures further particularly those due to capacity problems.

3 Configuration
3.1 Analysis Area
The Analysis Area covers a dense urban area of central London that includes Covent Garden and Holborn and is bounded by Soho, Leicester Square and Tottenham Court Road.

3.2 Propagation Modelling

A MYRIAD propagation model was configured using Height data to create Facets, Clutter data to create Morphologies and Building Vectors to create Graphs along the streets. For the configuration of the Myriad model, please contact your AIRCOM local representative.

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Predictions for both Macrocells and Small Cells were calculated using the MYRIAD Model with a Prediction Resolution of 5m (even though the highest Map Data resolution was 50m) and Prediction Radius of 3km.

3.3 Macrocell Layer

The LTE Macrocells of UK Operators, for the central London area, have been created and used to generate Macrocell Coverage. They have been configured to use a single 10MHz Carrier with a Max TX Power of 10W (40dBm). From the report below containing the antenna configuration of the Macrocells in and surrounding the Use Case Area it can be seen that they are all three sector sites with antenna heights ranging from 19-100m with an average height of 32.5m, total downtilts range from 314o with an average downtilt of 7.2 o.

3.4 Small Cell Layer

Twenty LTE Small Cells were manually added using a Template in an area of poor Macrocell Coverage, as per the initial results from analysing the Macrocell layer. The Small Cell Template was designed to model a deployment utilizing street furniture i.e. lamp posts, traffic lights, etc. so the configuration included the following: Three Sector Sites with Antenna Azimuths of 0, 120 & 240 o and Azimuths separation fixed at 120o Antenna Height of 4m Fixed Total Downtilt of 0o Single 10MHz Carrier Max TX Power of 1W (30dBm)

The majority of Small Cell Sites have been positioned on street corners or junctions, although there are a few in squares. If necessary the antenna azimuths have been adjusted from the default (0, 120 & 240o) but the azimuth separation has been fixed at 120 o to model the use of a fixed antenna housing.

3.5 Traffic Model

An LTE real time data terminal was used for the simulation. This used the default StreamingQCI-4 Service available in ASSET v8.0 that is configured to provide an UL GBR of 500kbps and DL GBR of 1000kbps. The terminals RF Parameters were configured as follows: Parameter
Max Tx Power (dBm) Tx Dynamic range (dB) Req. RSRP (dBm) Req. RSRQ (dBm) Req. BCH/SCH SINR (dB) RC combining gain (dB)

Value
23 70 -122 -18 -15 0

Parameter
Antenna gain (dBi) Horiz. Beamwidth (deg) Body Loss (dB) Noise figure (dB) Background Noise (dBm/Hz)

Value
0 360 1 7 -167

3.6 Traffic Raster

A traffic raster was created for the Test Area by specifying 200 Terminals to be distributed within the Small Cell Area polygon. As the majority of the area consisted of urban, dense

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urban and high-rise building clutter all cutter types were equally weighted to provide a uniform traffic weighting of 1. This produced a traffic density of 349.34 Terminals per km2. As the highest resolution of Clutter Data was 50m the Traffic Raster was created at 50m Resolution, however this traffic was used to run the simulator at 5m resolution.

4 Coverage Analysis
The following Best RSRP Arrays are for outdoor coverage i.e. no Indoor Losses defined in the LTE Clutter Parameters have been considered, but indoor losses have been calculated for areas inside the Building Vectors using the MYRIAD Building Calculation options. Coverage Arrays are displayed for the Macrocells only, Small Cells only and Combined Macrocells/Small Cells both with Building Vectors to highlight outdoor street level coverage and without Building Vectors show areas of indoor coverage. The Best RSRP Schema is as follows:

Coverage Statistics were also calculated for the Small Cell Area polygon for Macrocells only, Small Cells only and Combined Macrocells/Small Cells.

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4.1 Coverage with Building Vectors displayed

4.1.1 LTE Macrocell Best RSRP

From this picture, it can be seen that the areas in orange and red are areas with poor coverage. 4.1.2 LTE Small Cell Best RSRP

From this picture, it can be seen that the small cells coverage is very focused on the vicinity of the cells themselves.

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4.1.3 Combined LTE Macrocell & Small Cell Best RSRP

When combining the coverage from the two layers, it can be seen that the orange and red areas previously seen on the Macrocell-only coverage have turned to Green, or good coverage, by adding the Small Cells layer.

4.2 Coverage Statistics

The Best RSRP Array Statistics, obtained from ASSET, can be compared in the table and reports below.

RSRP Thresholds -120.00 <= x < -115.00 dBm -115.00 <= x < -110.00 dBm -110.00 <= x < -105.00 dBm -105.00 <= x < -100.00 dBm -100.00 <= x < -95.00 dBm -95.00 <= x < -90.00 dBm -90.00 <= x < -85.00 dBm -85.00 <= x < -80.00 dBm -80.00 <= x < -75.00 dBm -75.00 <= x < -70.00 dBm -70.00 <= x < -65.00 dBm -65.00 <= x < -60.00 dBm -60.00 <= x < 0.00 dBm

Macrocells Only Small Cells Only 92.041% 84.319% 73.934% 63.434% 54.844% 44.771% 31.126% 18.779% 11.233% 6.618% 3.984% 2.055% 0.974% 96.837% 93.938% 89.699% 84.073% 76.884% 68.239% 57.043% 45.754% 36.125% 28.839% 23.431% 17.991% 9.986%

Combined Macrocell & Small Cells 99.912% 99.420% 97.672% 94.045% 88.693% 81.392% 71.717% 58.253% 45.290% 34.873% 27.327% 20.045% 10.960%

From these statistics, it is clear that the coverage statistics are much better for the combined Macro and Small cells network than for the Macro network alone.

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5 Interference/Quality Analysis
The following Best RSRQ Arrays are for outdoor interference/quality and were generated from a simulation using the Traffic Raster and snapshots. RSRQ Arrays are displayed for the Macrocells only, Small Cells only, Combined Macrocells/Small Cells (with a single Carrier assigned to Macro and Small Cells) and Combined Macrocells/Small Cells (with two Carriers, one assigned to Macrocells and another assigned to Small Cells). Arrays are available with Building Vectors and without Building Vectors. The Best RSRQ Schema is as follows:

Best RSRQ Array Statistics were also calculated for the Small Cell Area polygon for Macrocells only, Small Cells only, Combined Macrocells/Small Cells (with a single Carrier) and Combined Macrocells/Small Cells (with two Carriers).

5.1 Interference/Quality with Building Vectors displayed

5.1.1 LTE Macrocell Best RSRQ

From this picture, it can be seen that the areas in orange represent poor quality (mostly indoors), whilst yellow is acceptable.

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5.1.2 LTE Small Cell Best RSRQ

From this picture, it can be seen that the small cells quality is very good (green) on the vicinity of the cells themselves. 5.1.3 Combined LTE Macrocell & Small Cell Best RSRQ (Single Carrier)

When combining the coverage from the two layers, it can be seen that the orange areas previously seen on the Macrocell-only plot have turned to Green, or good quality, by adding the Small Cells layer.

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5.1.4 Combined LTE Macrocell & Small Cell Best RSRQ (Two Carriers)

Having separate carriers has a positive effect on quality, although hard to visualise. A clearer picture in terms of statistics is presented further on this document.

5.2 Interference/Quality Statistics

The Best RSRQ Array Statistics, obtained from ASSET, can be compared in the table and reports below.
Macrocells Only 100.000% 100.000% 99.981% 99.814% 99.045% 93.651% 50.851% 1.359% 0.000% 0.000% 0.000% Small Cells Only 100.000% 99.995% 99.963% 99.879% 99.541% 98.646% 88.646% 38.152% 2.240% 0.000% 0.000% Combined Macrocell & Small Cells (Single Carrier) 100.000% 100.000% 100.000% 100.000% 100.000% 99.977% 94.351% 65.113% 15.769% 0.320% 0.000% Combined Macrocell & Small Cells (Two Carriers) 100.000% 100.000% 100.000% 100.000% 100.000% 100.000% 99.606% 84.579% 32.253% 1.373% 0.000%

RSRQ Thresholds -30.00 <= x < -27.00 dB -27.00 <= x < -24.00 dB -24.00 <= x < -21.00 dB -21.00 <= x < -18.00 dB -18.00 <= x < -15.00 dB -15.00 <= x < -12.00 dB -12.00 <= x < -9.00 dB -9.00 <= x < -6.00 dB -6.00 <= x < -3.00 dB -3.00 <= x < 0.00 dB 0.00 <= x < 3.00 dB

From these statistics, it is clear that the quality statistics are much better for the combined Macro and Small cells network than for the Macro network alone.

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6 Failure rate and failure reasons analysis

Monte Carlo simulations were run in ASSET to assess the Failure Rate and the Failure Reasons using the Traffic Raster and multiple simulation snapshots. The Failure Rate and Failure Reason Arrays are displayed for the Macrocells only, Small Cells only and Combined Macrocells/Small Cells (with a single Carrier assigned to Macro and Small Cells). Simulation Composite Report Statistics were also calculated for Macrocells only, Small Cells only, Combined Macrocells/Small Cells (with a single Carrier) and Combined Macrocells/Small Cells (with two Carriers).

6.1 Failure Rate Arrays

The Failure Rate Schema is as follows:

6.1.1 LTE Macrocell Failure Rate

From this picture, it can be seen that the orange and red dots signal high failure rates.

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6.1.2 LTE Small Cell Failure Rate

From this picture, it can be seen that the small cells result in very low failure rates on the vicinity of the cells themselves. 6.1.3 Combined LTE Macrocell & Small Cell Failure Rate (Single Carrier)

When combining the two layers, the orange and red dots disappear, leaving an all-green area with very low failure rates.

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6.2 Failure Reason Arrays

The Failure Reason Schema is as follows:

6.2.1 LTE Macrocell Failure Reason

From this picture, it can be seen that the non-green signal a number of failure reasons, which translate to high failure rates in the areas further away from the macro cells.

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6.2.2 LTE Small Cell Failure Reason

From this picture, it can be seen that the small cells result in very low failure rates on the vicinity of the cells themselves. 6.2.3 Combined LTE Macrocell & Small Cell Failure Reason (Single Carrier)

When combining the two layers, the multi-coloured dots disappear, leaving an all-green area with very low failure rates.

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6.3 Simulation Statistics

The Simulation Composite Report Statistics, obtained from ASSET, can be compared in the table and reports below.
Macrocells Only 200.090 145.340 54.750 72.64% 27.36% 25.70% 5.92% 0.55% 14.74% 2.23% 0.00% 41.11% 22.76% 0.00% 0.00% Small Cells Only 198.960 188.420 10.540 94.70% 5.30% 81.78% 24.67% 5.60% 3.32% 1.90% 0.00% 10.72% 2.28% 0.00% 0.00% Combined Macrocell & Small Cells (Single Carrier) 198.280 196.790 1.490 99.25% 0.75% 55.03% 2.68% 0.67% 4.70% 7.38% 0.00% 32.89% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% Combined Macrocell & Small Cells (Two Carriers) 199.040 197.890 1.150 99.42% 0.58% 86.09% 7.83% 0.87% 4.35% 0.00% 0.00% 7.83% 2.61% 0.00% 0.00%

Simulation Statistic Mean Attempted Mean Served Mean Failed Mean Served (%) Mean Failed (%) DL RSRP RSRQ DL BCH/SCH SINR UL SINR DL SINR UL Capacity DL Capacity User Limit No valid connection scenarios No pathloss data

From these statistics, it is clear that the success rate (Mean Served terminals) statistics are much better for the combined Macro and Small cells network than for the Macro network alone. It is also clear that the areas on which having separate carriers help, are in helping reduce failures due to poor coverage, poor quality, poor SINR and low capacity.

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7 Conclusion
This Use Case has shown that LTE Small Cells can be effectively planned and analysed in ASSET. As the majority of Small Cells will be deployed in dense urban and urban environments it is highly recommended that Building Vector data and a semi-deterministic, such as MYRIAD, or a deterministic propagation model is used. Considering the low antenna height of 4m and low TX Power of 1W (30dBm) the Small Cells provide impressive improvements in both outdoor (street level) and indoor coverage in the vicinity of each Small Cell location. Because of the low antenna height which is well below the building height in dense urban and urban environments the interference is controlled for the Small Cells when compared with the higher Macrocells which tend to be at or above building height. The number of Terminals Served, in this case for a guaranteed UL Throughput of 500kbps and DL Throughput of 1000kbps, is significantly better for the Combined Macrocell and Small Cell scenario than for the Macrocell only scenario. This is primarily due to improved indoor coverage and the capacity provided by the addition of the Small Cells. Having separate carriers for the Macro and the Small cells networks provides additional benefits; mainly in terms of reduce failures due to poor coverage, poor quality, poor SINR and low capacity. Geolocated traffic and Network optimization tools, such as Symena Capesso, could be used to select the best Small Cell locations and to optimise the antenna azimuths whilst maintaining the azimuth separation of 120o.

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8 Glossary
LTE - Long Term Evolution, a technology from the 3GPP industry group RSRP - Reference Signal Received Power RSRQ - Reference Signal Received Quality Streaming-QCI-4 - A type of data streaming service which complies with 3GPPs QCI (Quality Control Indicator) category 4 UL - Uplink, referring to the direction from the User Equipment to the Base transmitting station, or eNodeB for LTE GBR - Guaranteed Bit Rate RF - Radio Frequency SINR - Signal to Interference Noise Ratio

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9 Appendix A - About the Products and modules used in this application note
9.1 ASSET 8.0
ASSET is the worlds most popular Radio Network Planning tool. It is used by over 250 customers and it allows you to: Plan and Optimise the Radio Network Configuration Perform Coverage and Interference Planning Perform Traffic and Capacity Analysis Perform financial analysis on your radio network

ASSETs capability can be summarised as follows: Master Site Database Keep an accurate list of all RAN elements Maintain key planning parameters Act as the focal point of network management applications

Coverage Planning Predict radio propagation Analyse outdoor and indoor network coverage & quality Create coverage maps by Service, UE and technology type

Neighbour & Resource Planning Plan relations between cells Plan IRAT handovers Plan frequencies, scrambling codes, etc.

Traffic & Capacity Model the performance of new Services prior to implementation Perform traffic forecasting and capacity impact Plan network expansion and run What if scenarios

ASSET is a product with excellent security, data integrity and open interfaces. A product that can work in very large corporate environments, but can also be very user-friendly at an individual level.

9.2 Myriad
The Myriad propagation model is a Productivity Pack of the ASSET Radio Network Planning tool. Myriad is a universal propagation model which can be used for: All main technologies: o DVB, GSM, EDGE, GPRS, UMTS, WIMAX and LTE Micro-Cells, Mini-cells, Smalls-cells and Macro-cells. Any kind of cell type: o Any kind of environment:

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Dense Urban, Urban, Suburban, Rural, Open, Seaside, Mountainous, etc.

Frequency range: 200 MHz to 5 GHz. Use different geographical data: o o o Height, Clutter and Building raster. Building Vectors (VBF and MapInfo TAB format). Line Vectors (MapInfo TAB format for the train option).

The Myriad model features a realistic channel modelling, which accounts for vertical diffraction, horizontal guided propagation and mountainous area reflection.

Figure: Myriads channel modelling

Other key features of Myriad include: Pre-processing of specific geographical data, such as Morphologies (from Clutter Data), Facets (from Height Data) and Graphs (from Building Vectors) in order to save on overall processing time Penetration component both automatic and manual Railway component Antenna location correction Speed Accuracy

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