ECC

CEPT

Electronic Communications Committee

SEAMCAT Technical Group (STG)

Send to : seamcat@eco.cept.org

Date issued: 15 February 2017

Source: ECO
Subject: SEAMCAT Handbook - Cell radius definition

Type of report
Enhancement
SEAMCAT version
-
SEAMCAT component involved
SEAMCAT Handbook. Section 7.5.1
Background information, reference documents and related tickets

http://confluence.seamcat.org/display/SH/7.5.1+System

http://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/archive/36_series/36.942/36942-d00.zip

https://www.itu.int/dms_pub/itu-r/opb/rep/R-REP-M.2292-2014-PDF-E.pdf
Description of the issue
In the SEAMCAT handbook, we define cell radius in section 7.5.1 as follows:

Figure 181: 3GPP illustration of the Cell Radius, Cell Range and BS to BS distance.
where: Cell Radius = R1
Cell Range = 2R1

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 BS to BS distance = 3R1

Figure 182 (a) and (b) illustrate the 3GPP2 approach for tri-sector and omni-sector respectively

Figure 182: 3GPP2 illustration of the Cell Radius, Cell Range and BS to BS distance for (a) tri-
sector case and (b) omni-sector case

where: Cell Radius = R (Eq. 31)

Cell Range = h = sqrt(R2-R2/4)
BS to BS distance = 2h

What is important is that the BS to BS station distance be the same between the 3GPP and the
3GPP2 approach, i.e. where 3R1= 2h which is equivalent to R = sqrt(3) R1.
From there it is possible to extract the cell radius in SEAMCAT.
Table 21: Example of the distances relationship between 3GPP and SEAMCAT

Urban Case Rural Case

SEAMCAT cell radius (R)= 433 m 4330 m

SEAMCAT cell range (h)= 375 m 3750 m

Distance BS to BS (2h = 3 R1) = 750 m 7500 m

3GPP cell range (2R1) = 500 m 5000 m

3GPP cell radius (R1) = 250 m 2500 m

In 3GPP TR 36.942, section 4.4.1.1, Figure 4.2, the cell layout is defined as follows:

Base stations with 3 sectors per site are placed on a hexagonal grid with distance of 3*R, where

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R is the cell radius (see Figure 4.2), with wrap around. The number of sites shall be equal to or
higher than 19. [2] [4].

Figure 4.2: Single operator cell layout

In ITU-R report M.2292, cell radius is defined as follows in section 5.1.1:

5.1.1 Cell size and base station density

FIGURE 1
Macro cell geometry

Figure 1 illustrates the geometry for a 3-sector deployment, and defines the parameters cell
radius (A) and inter-site distance (B). Each cell (also referred to as a sector) is shown as a
hexagon, and in this figure there are three cells/sectors per base station site. Cell sizes in IMT
networks can vary considerably depending on the environment the network is deployed in.
Tables 2, 3, and 4 indicate typical cell sizes for different types of networks. Sharing studies using
cell radii corresponding to urban and suburban deployment should take into account that those
are only deployed in limited areas, central areas of large cities and suburban areas.
Furthermore, rural deployments often do not cover all areas in a country/region, as coverage

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may be provided by other frequency bands, therefore assuming that rural cells which have
complete coverage will overestimate interference in most of the cases.
Indoor urban cell sizes will also vary depending on frequency band and the configuration of the
building interior.

The definition in ITU-R report M.2292 reference 3GPP specifications (ref [4]: TR 36.942
v.11.0.0) but the definitions in M.2292 don’t correspond to the definitions in TR 36.942, even
for the latest release (v 13.0.0). This means that the definition in the SEAMCAT handbook is
aligned with TR 36.042, but ITU-R report M.2292 isn’t.
Proposal
1. To contribute to ITU proposing a modification of ITU-R Report M.2292 to correct the
definition of the cell layout to be in line with TR 36.942 (release 13 which is the most
recent) , or alternatively
2. To mention in the SEAMCAT Handbook the difference of the definition for the 3GPP
layout in ITU-R Report M.2292 in order to avoid any confusion.
Suggested Priority
Medium

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