Format of CEL File (UMTS)

In the current version of the CEL file, columns from the older GSM- and
WCDMA-specific versions of the CEL format may be freely combined, with
partly different columns being filled in for GSM and WCDMA cells.

3.1.

General

The file is in ASCII format with tab-delimited data. There is no restriction on

the number of cells in the file, but very large cell files will slow the application
down noticeably. The default file extension is .cel.

3.2.

File Header

The cell file header, which takes up the first line of the file, consists of a
revision number and an identification string:
<Rev> TEMS_-_Cell_names
where <Rev> is a revision number.

3.3.

Column Headers

The second line in the cell file is the column header line. It consists of tabseparated strings, each of which identifies a category of data. The set of
column headers used appears from the table in section 3.4 below; columns
can be arranged in any order as long as their headers are valid.

3.4.

Data

The remainder of the cell file contains data. Each data line represents one cell
name entry and is stored in ASCII as:
data1<HT>data2<HT>data3<HT>...<HT>dataN<CR><NL>

Chapter 3. Format of CEL File (UMTS)

The table below describes the format of the data in each column:

3.4.1.

General Data

Column Header

Data Content and Format

Cell

Cell name. Text string.

NETWORK_
CELLID

Free text field describing the cell. Text string.

Lat, Lon

Latitude and longitude. Text string. The input format

must be one of the following, where
H is one of {N, n, S, s, W, w, E, e, +, -}, +
representing N or E,
d = degree digit, m = minute digit, s = second digit,
* = degree sign, one of {*, , o, O, ^, }:

H dddmm.mmmm (decimal minutes). Here,

minutes must be written with two and degrees with
at least two digits. Thus, when entering N 4 2.86,
the degrees and minutes must be written 0402.

H ddd* mm.mmmm (decimal minutes). This

format, unlike the previous one, does not require
padding zeroes in the ddd* mm segment.

H ddd* mm ss (degrees, minutes and seconds;

the sign for seconds must be a double quote,
ASCII 0x22 it cannot be replaced by two single
quotes).

H ddd* mm ss.ssss (degrees, minutes and

decimal seconds).

H ddd.dddd* (decimal degrees).

In all formats, the number of decimals is unlimited.

The presentation format is H dddmm.mmmm, i.e.
decimal minutes rounded off to four decimal places.
This gives a resolution of about 20 cm, so that the
error is negligible compared to other sources of error.

Chapter 3. Format of CEL File (UMTS)

Column Header

Data Content and Format

MCC

Mobile Country Code. Integer, base 10

representation.

MNC

Mobile Network Code. Integer, base 10

representation.

LAC

Location Area Code. Integer, base 10 or (with

prefix 0x) hexadecimal representation.

RA

Routing Area Code. Integer, base 10 representation.

CI

The Cell Identity reported in System Information. For

WCDMA, this is the same as UC-Id = RNC-Id + C-Id in
3GPP 25.401, section 6.1.5. Integer, base 10 or
(with prefix 0x) hexadecimal representation.

CI_N_n

Cell Identity of neighbor n of this cell. Same format as

for CI.

ANT_
DIRECTION

Antenna direction in degrees clockwise from north.

Decimal number. (Alternative name:
ANT_ORIENTATION)

ANT_BEAM_
WIDTH

Antenna beam width in degrees. Integer.

ANT_TYPE

Antenna type. Text string.

ANT_HEIGHT

Antenna height in meters. Decimal number.

ANT_TILT

Antenna tilt in degrees. Decimal number.

CELL_TYPE

Cell type (e.g. Macro, Micro, Pico). Text string.

Chapter 3. Format of CEL File (UMTS)

3.4.2.

GSM-specific Data

Column Header

Data Content and Format

ARFCN

ARFCN. Mandatory for GSM cells. Integer.

BSIC

BSIC. Integer in the range 00 ... 77 (octal).

TCH_ARFCN_n

ARFCN of TCH no. n used by this cell. Integer.

LAC_N_n

LAC for neighbor n of this cell. Same format as for

LAC.

3.4.3.

WCDMA-specific Data

Column Header

Data Content and Format

UARFCN

UARFCN. Mandatory for WCDMA cells. Integer.

SC

Scrambling code. Integer.

RNC-ID

Radio Network Controller ID. Equal to the 12-bit

RNC-Id in 3GPP 25.401, section 6.1.5. Integer,
base 10 or (with prefix 0x) hexadecimal
representation.

RNC-ID_N_n

Radio Network Controller ID of neighbor n of this cell.

Same format as for RNC-ID.

C-ID

Cell Identity. Equal to the 16-bit C-Id in 3GPP

25.401, section 6.1.5. Integer, base 10 or (with
prefix 0x) hexadecimal representation.
The 28-bit Cell Identity (UC-Id in 3GPP) is a
concatenation of RNC-ID (see above) and C-ID.

C-ID_N_n

Cell Identity of neighbor n of this cell. Same format as

for C-ID.

URA

UTRAN Registration Area. Integer.

TIME_OFFSET

Time offset of P-SCH synchronization signal in chips.

Integer.

Chapter 3. Format of CEL File (UMTS)

Column Header

Data Content and Format

CPICH_POWER

Power (in dBm) on P-CPICH control channel. Decimal

number.

MAX_TX_
POWER

Maximum transmit power (in dBm) for the cell.

Decimal number.

NODE_B

Node B identity assigned by the operator. Text string.

NODE_B_
STATUS

Node B status (e.g. Operational, Phase 3). Text

string.

3.5.

Comment Lines

A comment line starts with an exclamation mark !.

Comment lines are ignored when the cell file is imported.

3.6.

Neighbor Identification

In GSM, the following parameters are used to identify neighbors: CI, CI_N_n,
LAC, LAC_N_n.
In WCDMA, the following parameters are used to identify neighbors: either
{CI, CI_N_n} or {C-ID, C-ID_N_n, RNC-ID, RNC-ID_N_n}.

3.7.

Example

Below is a sample cell file. The data columns are split into sections here for
obvious reasons of presentation; the actual file has one single row of data
columns below the header.
Cells no. 12 are WCDMA cells, while cells no. 34 are GSM cells.

Chapter 3. Format of CEL File (UMTS)

55 TEMS_-_Cell_names
Cell
1
2
3
4

ARFCN

BSIC

617
592

MCC
147
147
147
147

sc

Lat
N 47.719283
N 47.719283
N 46.571874
N 46.571874

32
16

21
20

MNC
2
2
93
93

RNC-ID
687
687

UARFCN
10714
10714

C-ID
3756
3757

ANT_DIRECTION
156.2
228.4
73.1
147.8

LAC
201
201
76
76

Cl

LAC_N_1

CI_N_1

32500
32501

76
76

32501
32500

RNC-ID_N_1
687
687

C-ID N 1
3757
3756

ANT_BEAM_WIDTH
90
90
45
45

ANT_TYPE
Kath1
Kath1
Kath2
Kath2

ANT_TILT
0.0
7.8
4.4
14.2

CELL_TYPE
Macro
Macro
Macro
Macro

NODE_B
RBS Teleby
RBS Teleby

RA

TIME_OFFSET
9442
22156

CPICH_POWER
33
33

URA
4
4

NT13-16212 ver 10

Lon

w 27.293849
w 27.293849
w 26.979771
w 27.293849

ANT_HEIGHT
15.1
13.7
8.8
9.1

NODE_B_STATUS
Operational
Not Operational

MAX_TX_POWER
45.5
45.5

Chapter 3. Format of CEL File (UMTS)

NT13-16212 ver 10