1

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
I would like to express my deep gratitude to Mr. Mustakim and
Mr. Aniket Singh for their patient guidance, enthusiastic
encouragement and useful critiques of this Internship. My specially
thanks to Mr. Alok Srivastava who gave me the golden
opportunity to do this wonderful project on the topic Tele-
communication, which also helped me in doing a lot of Research and i
came to know about so many new things
I am really thankful to all.

Submitted by-:

Pulkit Kumar

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 CONTENTS

Sr.NO. TOPICS PAGENO.

1. GSM ARCHITECTURE 6

1. MS (Mobile + SIM) 7

2. BSS(Base station subsystem) 8

3. NSS (Network Station Subsystem) 10

4. BSS Interface 13

5. GSM World Wide graph 14

6. Packet Data Operation 16

2. FREQUENCY ALLOCATION AND
ITS RELATION 19

1. GSM Frequency Band 19

2. Types of GSM Spectral allocation 19

3. Frequency allocation for IDEA 23

4. GSM Frame structure 24

5. TRX (transceiver ) 25

3
3. CHANNEL CONCEPTS IN
MOBILE COMMUNICATION 27

1. Physical Channel 27

2. Logical Channel 28

3. Radio Network Planning Process 30

4. GSM PLANNING
31

1. Introduction 31

2. TRX Planning 31

3. GSM Frame Structure 32

5. SITE PLANNING
33

1. Introduction 33

2. Types of Busy Hour 33

3. Deciding Factors Planning 33

4. Site Category 34

5. TRX Planning 35
6. DRIVE TEST
37

1. Introduction 37

4
 2. Data Collection During Drive Test 37

3. Optimization 38

4. Types of Drive Test 39

5. Procedure of Drive Test 40

6. Performance 41

7. Equipment Necessary for Drive Test 42

8. Network Optimization Tools 43

9. Mode of Drive Test 44

5
1.GSM ARCHITECTURE

It provides an overview of GSM network architecture.

Que. What is GSM network architecture?
Ans. GSM (Global System for mobile communication), is a cellular expertise
accessed for diffusing mobile voice and data facilities.
Now days over 90% market share with mobile communication and is
available in over 219 countries and territories.
It is replacement for 1G.
Circuit -switched network optimized for full duplex voice telephony.
Basically GSM network architecture gives the knowledge about Call
connections , mobile network , SMS connectivity , data connection etc.
GSM network architecture defines in four stages.
MS (mobile equipment + SIM operator )
BSS (base station subsystem)
NSS (network switching subsystem)

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1. MS (mobile equipment + SIM operator = Mobile Station)

(ME) + (SIM)

The MS (mobile station) is the combination of terminal equipment and

subscriber data. The terminal equipment as such is called ME (mobile
equipment).
The subscriber's data is stored in a separate module called SIM (subscriber
identity module).
Therefore ME + SIM = MS.
Every ME having their own identity named IMEI
(International mobile equipment Identity), it is only use for identify the
device and has no permanent gives the detail of subscriber.
Similarly , every SIM has their own identity.
SIM (subscriber identity module), which gives the subscriber identity.

It gives the HLR (home location register).

HLR – 1.It is database used for storage and management.

 2. It store permanent data about subscribers.

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2. BSS (BASE STATION SUBSYSTEM)

The Base Station Subsystem is composed of two parts, the Base Transceiver
Station Abis interface, allowing (as in the rest of the system) operation
between components made by different suppliers.
BSS consists of four components-
1. Abis interface
2. BTS (base transceiver station)
3. BSC (base station controller)
4. Transcoder
(1). Abis interface
The interface between the BTS and BSC . Generally carried by a DS-1, ES-1,
or E1 TDM circuit. Uses TDM sub channels for traffic (TCH), LAPD protocol for BTS
supervision and telecom signaling, and carries synchronization from the BSC to
the BTS and MS.

(2). BTS (base transceiver station)

The BTS is network element maintaining the air interface. It takes care of
air interface signaling.
In a large urban area, there will potentially be a large number of BTSs
deployed, thus the requirements for a BTS are ruggedness, reliability,
portability, and minimum cost
Some basic points of BTS-:
 Handles the radio interface to the mobile station.

8
 Each Radio terminal represents an RF Channel

 TRX and MS communicates over Um interface

 Received data transcoding

 Signal processing functions of the radio interface

 Uplink Radio channel power measurements

(3). BSC (base station controller)

The BSC is the central network element of BSS and it controls the radio
network. This means the main responsibility of BSC is -: Connection
establishment between MS and

NSS, mobility management, statistical raw data collection as well as Air and A
interface signaling.

Some basic points of BSC are -:

 Controls one or more Base Transceiver Stations

 Radio network management (such as radio frequency control)

 BTS Handover management and call setup

 A BSC works with a mobile switching center (MSC) component that is external
to the BTS, enabling it to provide full mobile telephony and fulfill capacity
requirements.

 Base stations must communicate with the MSC and data must be managed as
information overflow, impacting MSC efficiency.

9
 A BSC eliminates MSC base station activity management requirements,
allowing the MSC to handle critical tasks, such as traffic balancing and
database management.

(4). Transcoder (TC)

The TC is a BSS element taking care of speech transcoding , it is capable of
converting of speech from one digital coding format to another and vice
versa.

3. NSS (network switching subsystem)

The Network switching subsystem (NSS), the main part of which is the
Mobile Switching Center (MSC), performs the switching of calls between
the mobile and other fixed or mobile network users, as well as the
management of mobile services such as authentication.
The Network switching subsystem (NSS), contains five components -:

(1) MSC(mobile services switching center)

(2) VLR (visitor Location Register)
(3) HLR (Home Location Register)
(4) AuC (Authentication Center)
(5) EIR (Equipment Identity register)
(6) LAI(Location Area Identity)

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(1). MSC (mobile services switching center),

The MSC is responsible for controlling calls in the mobile network. Its
identifies the origin and destination of the call as well as type of call.
An MSC acting as a bridge between a mobile network and a fixed network is
called a gateway MSC.
Some points which define the task of MSC are -:

 Delivering calls to subscribers as they arrive based on information from the

VLR.
 Connecting outgoing calls to other mobile subscribers or the PSTN.
 Delivering SMSs from subscribers to the short message service center (SMSC)
and vice versa.
 Arranging handovers from BSC to BSC.
 Carrying out handovers from this MSC to another.
 Supporting supplementary services such as conference calls or call hold.
 Generating billing information.
(2). VLR (visitor Location Register),
Database that contains Subscriber parameters and location information for
all mobile subscribers currently located in the geographical area controlled
by that VLR .

Identity of Mobile Subscriber.

Copy of subscriber data from HLR.

Generates and allocates a Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity (TMSI).

Location Area Code.

Provides necessary data when mobile originates call.

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 (3). HLR (Home Location Register),
HLR is centralized network database that stores all mobile subscription

Stores user data of all Subscribers related to the GMSC

International Mobile Subscriber Identity(IMSI)
Users telephone number (MS ISDN)
Subscription information and services
VLR address
Subscriber Authentication center for key (Ki).

Referred when call comes from public land network.

(4). AuC (Authentication Center),

Cipher produces on the radio link.

Stores Subscriber authentication data called Ki, a copy of which is also

stored in the SIM card

Generates security related parameters to authorize a subscriber

(SRES-Signed Response)

Generates unique data pattern called Cipher key (Kc) for user data
encryption

(5). EIR (Equipment Identity Register),

EIR is a database that contains a list of all valid mobile station equipment
within the network, where each mobile station is identified by its
International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI).

EIR has three databases.,

 White list - For all known, good IMEI’s

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 Black list - For all bad or stolen handsets

 Grey list - For handsets/IMEI’s that are on observation

(6).LAI (Location Area Identity) ,

LAI identifies a location area which is a group of cells..

It is transmitted in the BCCH.

When the MS moves into another LA (Detected by monitoring LAI

transmitted on the BCCH ) it must perform a LU.

LAI = MCC + MNC + LAC

 MCC= Mobile Country Code(3 digits), identifies the country

 MNC= Mobile Network Code(1-2 digits), identifies the GSM-PLMN

 LAC= Location Area Code, identifies a location area within a GSM PLMN
network. The maximum length of LAC is 16 bits, enabling 65536 different
location areas to be defined in one GSM PLMN.

4.BSS INTERFACES -:
Um
The air interface between the mobile station (MS) and the BTS. This
interface uses LAPDm protocol for signaling, to conduct call control,
measurement reporting, handover, power control, authentication,
authorization, location update and so on. Traffic and signaling are sent in
bursts of 0.577 ms at intervals of 4.615 ms, to form data blocks each 20 ms.
Abis

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 The interface between the BTS and BSC. Generally carried by a DS-1, ES-1,
or E1 TDM circuit. Uses TDM sub channels for traffic (TCH), LAPD
protocol for BTS supervision and telecom signaling, and carries
synchronization from the BSC to the BTS and MS.
A
The interface between the BSC and MSC. It is used for carrying traffic

channels and the BSSAP user part of the SS7 stack. Although there are
usually transcoding units between BSC and MSC, the signaling
communication takes place between these two ending points and the
transcoder unit doesn't touch the SS7 information, only the voice or CS
data are transcoded or rate adapted.

Ater
The interface between the BSC and transcoder. It is a proprietary interface
whose name depends on the vendor (for example Ater by Nokia), it carries
the A interface information from the BSC leaving it untouched.
GB
Connects the BSS to the SGSN in the GPRS core network.

5.GSM WORLDWIDE GRAPH

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 Development of GSM
 1982: Group Special Mobile (GSM) created

 1984: Description of GSM features

 1985: List of recommendations settled

 1987: Initial MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) aside the drafting of

technical specifications was signed by network operators of 13 countries.

 1988: Validation and Trials, of the radio interface.

 1991: First system trials are demonstrated at the telecom 91 exhibition.

 1992: Official commercial launch of GSM service in Europe. First Launch in

Finland.

 1993: The GSM MoU has 62 signatories in 39 countries worldwide.

 1995: Specification Of GSM phase 2 are frozen.

 1999: GSM MoU joins 3GPP (UMTS) GPRS Trials begins.

 2000: 480M GSM subscribers Worldwide First GPRS Networks roll out.

 End 2002: 792M GSM subscribers worldwide.

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  By 2005: GSM networks accounted for more than 75% of the worldwide
cellular network market, serving 1.5 billion subscribers. In 2005 the
first HSDPA capable network also became operational.
 The first HSUPA network was launched in 2007. High-Speed Packet Access
(HSPA) and its uplink and downlink versions are 3G technologies, not part
of GSM.
 Worldwide GSM subscribers exceeded three billion in 2008.

6. GPRS / Packet Data Separation

GPRS network elements:

GSN (GPRS Support Nodes): GGSN and SGSN

o GGSN (Gateway GSN)

interworking unit between GPRS and PDN (Packet Data

Network)

acts as an interface and a router to external networks. The

GGSN contains routing information for GPRS mobiles, which is
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 used to tunnel packets through the IP based internal backbone
to the correct Serving GPRS Support Node. The GGSN also
collects charging information connected to the use of the
external data networks and can act as a packet filter for
incoming traffic.

SGSN (Serving GSN)

responsible for authentication of GPRS mobiles, registration of mobiles in

the network, mobility management, and collecting information for charging
for the use of the air interface.
user addresses

GPRS modifications on GSM networks:

Mobile Stations: New Mobile Station is required to access GPRS services. These
new terminals will be backward compatible with GSM for voice calls.

BTS: A software upgrade is required in the existing base transceiver site

BSC: The base station controller (BSC) requires a software upgrade and the installation
of new hardware called the packet control unit (PCU). The PCU directs the data traffic to
the GPRS network and can be a separate hardware element associated with the BSC.

GPRS support nodes (GSN): The deployment of GPRS requires the installation of
new core network elements called the serving GPRS support node (SGSN) and gateway
GPRS support node (GGSN).

Databases (HLR, VLR etc.): All the databases involved in the network will
require software upgrades to handle the new call models and functions
introduced by GPRS.

Types of MSC’s:

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The Gateway MSC (G-MSC) is the MSC that determines which visited MSC the
subscriber who is being called is currently located at. It also interfaces with the
PSTN. All mobile to mobile calls and PSTN to mobile calls are routed through a
G-MSC. The term is only valid in the context of one call since any MSC may
provide both the gateway function and the Visited MSC function, however, some
manufacturers design dedicated high capacity MSCs which do not have any BSS’s
connected to them. These MSCs will then be the Gateway MSC for many of the ca

The visited MSC (V-MSC) is the MSC where a customer is currently located.
The VLR associated with this MSC will have the subscriber's data in it.
The anchor MSC is the MSC from which a handover has been initiated. The target
MSC is the MSC toward which a Handover should take place. A mobile switching
center server is a part of the redesigned MSC concept starting from 3GPP Release
4.

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2. FREQUENCY
ALLOCATION AND ITS
RELATION
GSM frequency bands or frequency ranges are the cellular frequencies
designated by the ITU for the operation of GSM mobile phones.

In India Spectral Allocation is GSM 900 and GSM 1800.

GSM Spectral allocation are four type :-

a) P-GSM Spectral (Primary GSM)

b) E-GSM Spectral (Extended GSM)
c) DCS-1800 Spectral
d) PCS-1900 Spectral

 a) P-GSM Spectral (Primary GSM)

The initial allocation of spectrum for GSM provided 124 carriers with
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 Frequency Division Duplex for uplink and downlink:
 Duplex sub bands of width 25 MHz - duplex spacing 45 MHz
 Uplink sub band: 890 MHz to 915 MHz
 Downlink sub band: 935 MHz to 960 MHz
 Frequency spacing between carriers is 200 kHz (0.2 MHz)

 One carrier is used for guard bands.

 Total number of carriers (ARFCNs) = (25 – 0.2) / 0.2 = 124

ARFCNs = Absolute radio frequency channel number.

b) E-GSM Spectral (Extended GSM)

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  E-GSM allocated extra carriers at the low end of the spectrum. The ARFCN
numbers of P-GSM were retained (with 0 now included) and new ARFCNs
introduced for the lower end, numbered 975 – 1023.
 Duplex sub bands of width 35 MHz - duplex spacing 45 MHz.
 Uplink sub band: 880 MHz to 915 MHz
 Downlink sub band: 925 MHz to 960 MHz.

 One carrier used to provide guard bands

c) DCS-1800 Spectral

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  Digital Communication System – 1800 MHz introduced a further
spectrum range for GSM, typically used for smaller microcells overlaid over
existing macrocells.

 Duplex sub bands of width 75 MHz - duplex spacing 95 MHz

 Uplink sub band: 1710 MHz to 1785 MHz
 Downlink sub band: 1805 MHz to 1880 MHz

 Frequency spacing of 200 kHz

 One carrier used to provide guard bands

d)PCS-1900 Spectrum

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  Personal Communication System – 1900 MHz is used in USA and Central
America to provide a service similar to GSM.
 Duplex sub bands of width 60 MHz - duplex spacing 80 MHz
 Uplink sub band: 1850 MHz to 1910 MHz
 Downlink sub band: 1930 MHz to 1990 MHz
 Frequency spacing of 200 kHz
 One carrier used to provide guard bands.

FOR IDEA
IDEA uses 1800 MHz band. It has duplex sub bands of width 4.4 MHz- duplex
spacing 95 MHz. Uplink sub band is from 1740-1744.4 MHz and downlink sub

23
band is from 1835- 1839.4 MHz. Frequency spacing is of 200 kHz. So total number
of carriers= 4.4 MHz/ 200 kHz

= 22 carriers.

Range of ARFCN is 707-719 (13 carriers; BCCH ARFCN), 777-785 (9 carriers; TCH
ARFCN). An absolute radio-frequency channel number (ARFCN) is a code that
specifies a pair of physical radio carriers used for transmission and reception in a
land mobile radio system, one for the uplink signal and one for the downlink
signal. There are also other variants of the ARFCN numbering scheme that are in
use for other systems that are not GSM. One such example is the TETRA systems
that have 25 kHz channel spacing and use different base frequencies for

Numbring.

 GSM FRAME STRUCTURE:-

The method chosen by GSM is a combination of Time- and Frequency-Division Multiple
Access (TDMA/FDMA). The FDMA part involves the division by frequency of the
(maximum) 25 MHz bandwidth into 124 carrier frequencies spaced 200 kHz apart (for
P-GSM). One or more carrier frequencies are assigned to each base station. Each of
these carrier frequencies is then divided in time, using a TDMA scheme. The fundamental
unit of time in this TDMA scheme is called a burst period and it lasts 15/26 ms (or approx.
0.577 ms). Eight burst periods are grouped into a TDMA frame (120/26 ms, or approx.
4.615 ms), which forms the basic unit for the definition of logical channels. One physical
channel is one burst period per TDMA frame. 8 full-rate or 16 half-rate speech channels
per 200kHz channel. There are eight radio timeslots within a radio frame. Half rate
channels use alternate frames in the same timeslot. The channel data rate is 270.833
Kbit/s, and the frame duration is 4.615 ms TDMA/FDMA scheme. On top of this frame
structure there is multiframe,
superframe and hyperframe structures.

24
Time division multiple access (TDMA) is a channel access method for shared medium
(usually radio) networks. It allows several users to share the same frequency channel by
dividing the signal into different timeslots. The users transmit in rapid succession, one
after the other, each using his own timeslot. This allows multiple stations to share the
same transmission medium (e.g. radio frequency channel) while using only the part of its
bandwidth they require. TDMA is a type of Time-division multiplexing, with the special
point that instead of having one transmitter connected to one receiver, there are multiple
transmitters.

 TRX:-

A transmission/reception facility is called as a transceiver (TRX).Typically, a cell has

several TRXs, and one frequency is allocated to each TRX. The capacity of a cell can
25
therefore be measured in the number of TRXs. A time slot that carries user traffic is also
called as Traffic Channel (TCH). For user speech service 1 time slot/radio frame is
reserved in TCH/F and 1 time slot in alternating radio frames in TCH/H. For administrative
purposes, e.g. providing mobile terminals with control information, there is also one
BCCH in each cell. This channel consumes one time slot (slot #0), and is operated by one
TRX in each cell.

A TRX has 8 time slots. Out of which TS0 and TS1 is used for BCCH and signaling data
respectively. We suppose there is a sectorised antenna with 3 sectors. The person
planning a sector has to observe few rules while doing so, for example, same or adjacent
frequencies cannot be given to the next sector as it may cause interference of nearby
frequencies. Since there are only 9 carriers for TCH traffic so the number of TRX’s for
TCH in each sector (there are total 3 sectors) can be (2 2 1). TCH frequencies used at
each sector are given below:-

 Sector 1
(777, 783)

 Sector 2
(779, 785)

 Sector 3
(781)

Taking into account the TRX’s for BCCH and signaling data also, each sector can have (3
3 2) TRX. BCCH TRX can have any frequency in the ARFCN range 709-719. Now let us
calculate the total number of calls that a sector can handle:

3 TRX= 24 time slots.

Time slots available for TCH traffic= 24-2 ( 2 used for BCCH and signaling data)
= 22 time slots.
Each time slot can handle 2 calls ( half-rate).
Total no of calls that can be handled by 3 TRX = 22x2= 44 calls.

Similarly, for 2 TRX, time slots for TCH= 16-2= 14 time slots.
Total no of calls that can be handled by 2 TRX = 14x2= 28 calls.

Thus a sector with TRX ( 3 3 2) can engage (44+44+28=) 116 calls at a single time.

As the number of subscribers increases, the call traffic increases and the existing sectors
may not be well equipped for taking huge number of calls due to unavailability of

26
frequency associated with each TRX. In such a situation we normally come across what is
known as frequency crunch. To overcome this, the network must buy more spectrum.

For instance, when IDEA faced a similar situation, that is, frequency/ capacity crunch it
bought 1.25 MHz additional spectrum. Thus the new capacity of each sector became (4 4
3) including TCH TRX and BCCH TRX.

Number of calls that can be handled by 4 TRX’s= 32-2

= 30 timeslots x 2calls/ timeslot

=
60 calls

Total number of calls that a (4 4 3) sector can engage at a time= (60+60+44)

=164 calls.

3. CHANNEL CONCEPT
IN MOBILE
COMMUNICATION
There are two types of channel define for mobile communication:-
a) Physical Channel
b) Logical Channel
a.PHYSICAL CHANNEL

27
TDMA (Time division multiple access ) divides one radio frequency channel into
consecutive periods of time, each one a called a TDMA Frame.
Each TDMA frame contain eight shorter periods of time known as time slots. And
the TDMA time slots are called Physical Channel.

Logical channel:

A great variety of information must be transmitted between BTS and the MS, for
e.g. user data and control signaling. Depending on the kind of information
transmitted we refer to different logical channels. These logical channels are
mapped on physical channel.

28
29
Traffic channel (TCH):
It is used to carry speech and data traffic.
• Two blocks of 57 bits contain voice data in the normal burst.
• One TCH is allocated for every active call.
• Full rate traffic channel occupies one physical channel(one TS on a carrier)
and carries voice data at 13kbps
• Two half rate (6.5kbps) TCHs can share one physical channel.
• A timeslot has a duration of .577 m seconds (148 Bits)
• 8 timeslots(8 x 0.577 = 4.62 ms) form a TDMA frame
• If a mobile is assigned one TS it transmits only in this time slot.

RADIO NETWORK PLANNING PROCESS..

30
4. GSM planning
INTRODUCTION
In GSM, the network is divided into a lot of cells, and usually a base station is
planted in the center of each cell. For the sake of easy analysis, the cells are
represented as neighboring hexagons, while in reality they can be of any kind of
forms and overlap with each other. The size of each cell, when fixed, will usually
stay stable.
There is one important feature in GSM network planning: the coverage planning
and capacity planning are independent. The coverage planning depends on the
received signal strength, that is to say, the covered area is nearly only limited by

31
the minimum signal strength at the cell range, while the later capacity planning
depends mainly on the frequency allocation.
The link budget is the table recording the power loss in the uplink or downlink of
the network.

TRX pre – planning:

Me/Subscriber= 30
Projected subscriber= 90 lakh (assuming current subscriber= 70 lakh)
Total NBH traffic=30 * 90 = 2.7 lakh erlang
BBH= 1.1 * NBH
Hence BBH Traffic= 2.7 * 1.1= 2.97 lakh erlang
Dividing traffic into metro and non-metro generated traffic-
BBH Traffic= 2.97*0.2 @HR 20% + 2.97*0.8 @HR 30%
= 2.32 lakh erlang

1 TRX is equivalent to 3.6 erlang, hence no. of TRX=2.32 lakh/3.6

= 63890 TRX
Assuming 7.5 TRX per BTS, 63890/7.5 = 8518 BTS requirement
If presently 6800 BTS are operating, additional BTS required= 8518-6500 = 2018
BTS

If no. of BTS allotted is 1000 BTS, @6 TRX= 6000 TRX

Remaining 7890 TRX is used for capacity addition and quality management.

32
GSM Frame structure

Time Division Multiplexing (TDMA) is used 8 full-rate or 16 half-rate speech

channels per 200kHz channel. There are eight radio timeslots within a radio
frame.
Half rate channels use alternate frames in the same timeslot. The channel data
rate is 270.833 kbit/s, and the frame duration is 4.615 ms TDMA/FDMA scheme
On top of this frame structure there is multiframe, superframe and hyperframe
structures.

5. SITE PLANNING

33
Introduction Achieving maximum capacity while maintaining an
acceptable grade of service and good speech quality is the main issue for the
network planning. Planning an immature network with a limited number of
subscribers is not the real problem. The difficulty is to plan a network that allows
future growth and expansion. Wise re-use of site location in the future network
structure will save money for the operator. Types of Busy Hours
a) Network busy hour- The sliding 60- minutes period during which occurs the
maximum total traffic load in a given 24 hour period.
b) Bouncing busy hour-It is the traffic load on a switching system during the
peak (busiest)hour of the day.

Deciding factors-planning

34
a)Traffic criterion- The site should generate significant amount of traffic which the
telecom company can tap in to get maximum ROI.

a) Average distance-The distance from the neighboring towers should be such

that their coverage areas do not overlap.
b) Population density-The population density near the site should be high with
good financial status of people.
c) Surveying the site for vegetation levels, clutter heights, obstructions etc.
d) Preparing power budget.

Site Category

Types Minimum distance Average distance

criterion criterion

Fill-in 400 m 400-1200 m

35
Me 1000 m 1.5-4 km

NT/580 2000 m 2.5-4 km

NT-C 4000 m 4-7 km

TRX- Preplanning (example)

In Network busy hour (NBH),

Total traffic generated by users=200000 erlang

Total subscribers=70 lakhs

In 24 hour= 21 lakh erlang generated

mErlang/Subscriber= Traffic generated by all subscribers/total no. of subscribers

=28.57 mE/sub

So, how many TRX should be bought to cover all subscribers maintaining overall
quality of service?

Let,

mE/sub= 30mE/sub
………..(a)

36
 Projected Subscribers = 90 lakhs ….…….(b)

Total Network busy hour traffic = (a)X(b)

= 30 mE/subX 90,000Sub =270000 Er

In Bouncing busy hour which is approximately 10% of network busy hour traffic,

BBH traffic = 2.7 X 1.1 =2.97 lakh Erlang

If metro areas generate 20% of traffic and rural areas generate 80% of traffic
then,

Traffic generated by metro areas at 20% half rate= 2.97X0.2/1.2 =0.49 lakh
erlang

And, traffic generated by rural at 30% half rate =2.97X0.8/1.3 =1.83 lakh
erlang

To plan both metro and rural areas, we should have the capacity of
total=0.49+1.83= 2.32 lac erlang

Since capacity of 1 TRX =3.6 Erlang at full rate with blocking of 2%

So, no. of TRX = 2.32 lac X 3.6 =63890 TRXs

Let TRX per BTS be 7.5

Then, No. of BTS = 63890/7.5 = 8518

TRX required to cover 2.32 lac erlang = 63890

TRX available = 50000

Additional TRX =13890

If we allot 1000BTS @ 6TRX=6000 TRXs for new BTS

37
Δ = 13890-6000 = 7890 TRXs available for additional capacity.

6. DRIVE TEST
INTRODUCTION
Drive Testing is a method of measuring and assessing the coverage, capacity
and Quality of Service (QoS) of a mobile radio network.

The technique consists of using a motor vehicle containing mobile radio

network air interface measurement equipment that can detect and record a wide
variety of the physical and virtual parameters of mobile cellular service in a given
geographical area.
By measuring what a wireless network subscriber would experience in any specific
area, wireless carriers can make directed changes to their networks that provide
better coverage and service to their customers.
Drive testing requires a mobile vehicle outfitted with drive testing measurement
equipment. These equipments are usually highly specialized electronic devices
that interface to OEM mobile handsets. This ensures measurements are realistic
and comparable to actual user experiences.

Data Collected during Drive Testing

Drive test equipment typically collects data relating to the network itself, services
running on the network such as voice or data services, radio frequency scanner
information and GPS information to provide location logging.

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The data set collected during drive testing field measurements can include
information such as:

 Signal intensity
 Signal quality
 Interference

 Blocked calls
 Anomalous events
 Call statistics
 Call drop
 Service level statistics
 Quality of Service information
 Handover information
 Neighboring cell information
 GPS location co-ordinates

DRIVE TEST- A PART OF OPTIMIZATION

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The Drive Test is conducted with a goal of collecting measurement data of GSM
network as a function of location.The RF data collected in the drive test is

compared with the corresponding planned data by way of Post Processing.The

next step is the Data Analysis,which results in the recommendation of changes or
Action Step.

Types of Drive Testing

Drive testing can broadly be categorized into three distinct topics:

 Network Benchmarking
 Optimization & Troubleshooting
 Service Quality Monitoring

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The result produced by drive testing for each of these purposes is different.

Network Benchmarking
For network benchmarking, sophisticated multi-channel tools such as Focus
Infocom's DMTS and XGMA, DingLi Communications' Pilot Fleet, Ascom's
Symphony or SwissQual's Diversity Benchmarker are used to measure several
network technologies and service types simultaneously to very high accuracy, to
provide directly comparable information regarding competitive strengths and
weaknesses. Results from benchmarking activities,such a comparative coverage
analysis or comparative data network speed analysis, are frequently used in
marketing campaigns. Drive testing to gather networking benchmarking data is
the only way mobile network operators can collect accurate competitive data on
the true level of their own and their competitors technical performance and
quality levels.

Optimization & Troubleshooting

Optimization and troubleshooting information is more typically used to aid in

finding specific problems during the rollout phases of new networks or to observe
specific problems reported by consumers during the operational phase of the
network lifecycle. In this mode drive testing data is used to diagnose the root
cause of specific, typically localized, network issues such as dropped calls or
missing neighbour cell assignments.

Service Quality Monitoring

Service quality monitoring typically involves making test calls across the network
to a fixed test unit to assess the relative quality of various services using Mean
opinion score(MOS). Quality monitoring focuses on the end user experience of
the service, and allows mobile network operators to react to what effectively
subjective quality degradations by investigating the technical cause of the

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problem in time-correlated data collected during the drive test. Service quality
monitoring is typically carried out in an automated fashion, using devices that run
largely without human intervention carried in vehicles that regularly ply typical
drive testing routes such as garbage collection vehicles, taxis or buses.
Drive Testing can be conducted at any time on a live network and very rarely will
there be any network intrusion.

Procedure of Drive Testing

Drive Test is conducted for checking coverage criteria of a cell site with RF drive
test tool. The data collected by drive test tool as Log files is analyzed to evaluate
various RF parameters of the network.

 Drive Route and Site Data for the sites to be driven is taken from customer

 Drive Test LOG File of the specified Drive Route / Site is saved and the same
will be handed over to customer at the end of the day

 Drive Test Resource identify routine field optimization issues like cable
swapping, missing neighbors etc., and rectify the same with the help of the
customer.

This way mobile phone companies can decide how to improve their network
coverage in a certain geographical area.

Normally it is conducted in a car, with one driver and one or two drive testing
engineers checking the data and navigating the driver to the right direction if
necessary. These drive testing engineers first reach to the tower location and
make physical optimization by inspecting
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issues like cable swapping, improper hardware, alarms, antenna tilting
(machenical and
electrical), antenna orientation.After field or physical optimization he starts drive
testing by his
vehicle. Drive testing engineer collects network data by making a lot of calls (short
and long). The data collected includes data for serving cell as well as the
neighbours.This data collected helps us to find and analyze the problems in the
network.

Drive Test performance measurements are carried out for

the following reasons:

 Test the network from the subscribers point of view

 Test the complete system, end to end
 Benchmark performance against competitor networks
 Test specific important routes and areas.

 Test in-building coverage for specific buildings(Metro, Airport, office etc.)

called walk test.

Equiment Necessary for Drive testing :

 Vehicle
 Drive test mobile phone (e.g Ericsson TEMS)
 Dongle (network inspection USB)
 External vehicle mounted GPS

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 Laptop with drive test software and GPS connection capability and data
cables, multi-connector port etc.


Network Optimization Tools Used are as following:

 TEMS Investigation
 Agilent E6474A
 Neptune
 CDMA Air Interface Tester (CAIT)
 TEMS DeskCat
 ActixAnalyze

Modes of Drive Test

IDLE MODE
Idle mode implies that the test mobile is kept in standby.In other words,no call or
SMS is sent.The mode of drive test is usually done in order to determine the
coverage of a particular site or network.The most important parameter to be
monitored in Idle mode is RxLevel.The unit displayed for this parameter is dBm.

Given below are the accepted values of RxLevel

-10 to -70 dBm Good

-71 to -90 dBm Average

-91 and lower Extremely poor

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Idle mode drive test also allows us to monitor the C/I values on the BCCH.When a
new cell becomes the serving cell,the event is termed as a “Cell Resolution”.

Dedicated Mode

Ddeicated mode implies that a cell has been established by the test mobile.This

may either been incoming call or outgoing call.The most frequently used number
is a test number.The test number allows us to imitate an actual call as
experienced by a subscriber.

A dedicated mode drive test is done in order to verify a number of things.The

most important being call quality and call callcontinuity(handover success).The
most important parameters to be monitored in dedicated mode are:

1.RxQual

0 to4 GOOD

5 to 6 ACCEPTABLE

7 AND ABOVE EXTREMELY POOR

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2.SQI

-20 to 10 POOR

11 to 20 AVERAGE

21 to 30 GOOD

Other parameters such as hopping C/I,MAIO,TA etc. can also be monitored in

dedicated mode

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