08 - RN31548EN10GLA0 - Coverage and Capacity Planning

Coverage and Capacity planning
3GRPESS Module 7
Customer confidential
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NSN Siemens Networks
RN31548EN10GLA0
Module 7 Coverage and capacity planning

Objectives
After this module the participant shall be able to: Understand different planning approaches
Understand specific HSDPA and HSUPA planning issues
Understand different ways to optimise capacity
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RN31548EN10GLA0
Content
Site selection
Coverage and interference planning
Capacity planning
Coverage and capacity improvement
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RN31548EN10GLA0
Content
Site selection
Capacity planning
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Site Selection Motivation

Sites represent expensive long term investments for the operator.
Good site selection is critical to the performance of a 3G radio network.
Neither RF optimisation nor parameter optimisation can compensate for
poor site selection.
Site acquisition teams are often under pressure to offer large numbers
of sites while radio network planning teams are often under pressure to
accept large numbers of sites.
Site selection criteria are used to evaluate whether or not a site is

suitable.
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Site selection criteria

Site selection criteria can be divided into two categories
Inclusion criteria
Whether or not a site should be considered for inclusion within the 3G radio
network plan
Sites with No should be included only unless there are no alternatives and the
benefit of introducing the site is believed to justify its cost
Prioritisation criteria
Prioritise those sites being considered for inclusion
Select first sites with highest number of Yes
These criteria should be evaluated after a site visit and not only
from the information available within a radio network planning tool
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Site Inclusion criteria Radio

1. Does the site allow the main beam of each proposed
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
antenna to have good visibility of the surrounding

terrain without any high obstacles blocking the view?
Can the main beam of each antenna be positioned
such that it does not cross the main beam of another
antenna?
Can the main beam of each antenna be positioned
such that they are not shadowed by the building or
structure upon which they are secured?
Can each antenna be mounted above the roof-tops of
the neighbouring buildings without being excessively
above them?
Typically < 10 m above the neighbouring roof-tops
Do neighbouring cells have antenna heights which are
within 15 m of the proposed antenna heights?
Are neighbouring cells of similar size?
Is the site unlikely to be very dominant and unlikely to
cause significant interference to neighbouring cells?
Is the best server area of the site unlikely to be
fragmented?
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Site Inclusion criteria Implementation

9. If the proposed site is a rooft-top site, is there
sufficient space for the appropriate antenna

mountings to ensure that there is adequate
clearance from the roof-top?
10. Is the site safe from new neighbouring buildings
which may be constructed in the future and
which may block the main beam of an antenna?
11. Are the cabling distances between the Node B
cabinet and the antennas reasonable?
12. Is there access to leased lines or microwave
links for transmission purposes?
13. Is there availability of the Node B power supply
requirements?
14. Is there space to accommodate the Node B
equipment?
15. Are rental costs acceptable?
16. Is there reasonable access to the site?
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DC feed up to 200m
multimode fiber 200m
single mode fiber 15km
Site Prioritisation criteria

1.
2.
3.
4.
Is the site an existing GSM site?

Do antenna locations allow for changes in azimuth?
Do antenna locations allow for changes in height?
Do antenna locations allow sufficient isolation from
other antennas, e.g. GSM antennas?
5. Is the site away from environmentally protected or
historic areas?
6. Is the site unlikely to require any special permits?
7. Is the site unlikely to cause public disapproval?
8. Does the site form a regular pattern with its
neighbours?
9. Is the site close to where the traffic is expected?
10. Is the site capable of accommodating potential
capacity upgrades?
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Existing site
Access
Antenna sharing Cost of site

And so on
location
Site Selection Site Information

Collect all necessary information about site details
Site coordinates, height above sea level, exact address
House owner
Type of building
Building materials (photo)
Possible antenna heights
360deg photo (clearance view)
Neighbourhood, surrounding environment
Drawing sketch of rooftop
Antenna mounting conditions
Access possibilities (truck?, road, roof)
BS location, approx. feeder lengths
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Site Selection & Site Survey Tools
A paper map of the area

A paper diagram of the building
Coverage plot from the planning tool
Best server plot from the planning tool
A GPS receiver
Binoculars and compass
A digital camera
An altimeter
A tape measure or other measuring device
Safety equipment if necessary
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Site Selection / Site Survey documentation

SARF
Site Acquisition Request Form
SIR/SAR
Site Information (Acquisition) Report
TSS report
Technical Site Survey Report
TDRS
Technical Data for Radiating System
...
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Content
Site selection
Pathloss based approach
3G Simulation based Approach
HSDPA planning
HSUPA planning
Capacity planning
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Path Loss based Approach
Relatively simple and most commonly adopted approach

Uses software tools which are relatively mature
Generates results which are easy to interpret
Makes use of maximum allowed path loss figures from link budgets
Generates plots and statistics for 3G coverage, best server areas
and C/I
Link Budget result for maximum allowed path loss
140
dB
Downlink transmit power in the planning tool
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dBm
Node B antenna gain assumed in the link budgets
18
dBi
Feeder Loss assumed in the Link Budgets
dB
Planning tool signal strength threshold
-91
dBm
Should also account for differences between the uplink and downlink path
loss (this approach uses the downlink path loss to gauge coverage)
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Pilot power planning threshold

Link budget, planning margin and planning
Antenna gain
threshold definitions are important phases

of pathloss based 3G planning
ss
o
hl
t
a
x. p
a
M
Antenna line losses
ins
g
r
ma
Pilot transmit power
CPICH EIRP
Received pilot power = Pilot transmit power Antenna line losses + Antenna gain
- (Max. pathloss Planning margins)
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Pilot power planning threshold

Pilot power planning threshold is the minimum outdoor pilot level
which is required in order to achieve the required Coverage
Probability
Pilot power planning threshold is based on power budget calculations

and planning margin definitions
Bit rate
Eb/N0
Location probability Slow fading margin
Indoor/outdoor coverage
Pilot power planning threshold have to be defined separately for each

service and area type
Select the threshold for limiting service

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Pilot power planning threshold Examples

Different services can have different coverage quality requirements and
thus also different planning margins
Indoor (BPL = 12 dB, St. Dev. = 10 dB)
90 % location probability
Indoor
Speech
-90.0 dBm
Uplink limited
Video call
-90.2 dBm
Uplink limited
PS Data 384/384
-82.4 dBm
Uplink limited
PS Data 384/HSDPA 384
-84.6 dBm
Uplink limited
HSUPA 384/HSDPA 384
-85.4 dBm
Uplink limited
HSUPA/HSDPA 1 Mbps
-80.8 dBm
Downlink limited
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Effect of planning margin on coverage area

Planning margin parameter settings have a major effect on the cell
area calculations
NRT 64/384 planning margin effect on Coverage Area

(stepped +/- 1dB)
120%
Effect in Coverage Area
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
-6
-4
-2
-20% 0
-40%
-60%
-80%
Change of param eter
Building penetration loss change (ref = 16dB)

Indoor standard deviation change (ref = 12dB)
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Example Process for Path Loss based Approach

Process should be customised for specific project requirements
Coverage and Cell Isolation analysis should include best server area
analysis
Import Site
Candidates
Compute
Service Link
Budgets
Pilot
threshold
Configure with
Default Config.
Define
Propagation Model
Apply
Propagation Model
Compute Path Loss
Coverage and Cell Isolation Analysis
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Path Loss Based Approach
Task divided into two activities

Service coverage to be maximised while managing cell isolation
Cell isolation translates to system capacity
Coverage Analysis
and Optimisation
Existing process
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Cell Isolation Analysis

and Optimisation
New process
Example Coverage Array
Same array as currently used termed Best Server array

Requirement to identify dominant clutter type and use appropriate pilot planning threshold
Pilot planning thresholds computed from dominant of uplink and downlink link budgets
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Example Coverage Report
Service coverage report for dominant clutter type

Used as a tool for quantifying gains and losses in coverage performance
Coverage specified on a per clutter type basis
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Example Cell Isolation Array
Downlink C/I array used termed Total Interference array

Used as a tool for quantifying gains and losses in coverage
performance
Requirement to include an edge zone of sites
Poor cell isolation can appear as poor C/I
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Example Cell Isolation Array
C/I report for -6 dB threshold, also generate for -3dB, +3dB and +6dB
Used as a tool for quantifying gains and losses in C/I performance
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Accounting for Soft Handover (I)
C/I analysis does not explicitly account for soft handover connections
some of the interfering connections will actually be soft handover connections
C/I less than -6dB would lead to excessive soft handover connections
an area with a C/I of -6dB is likely to have more than 3 soft handover connections
C/I greater than -6dB still leads to sufficient soft handover regions that must be
managed by the soft handover parameter set
Scenario modelled by C/I
analysis: no SHO
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Scenario with C/I greater than

-6dB: manageable SHO
Scenario with C/I less than

-6dB: excessive SHO
Accounting for Soft Handover (II)
3G simulations can be used to illustrate the correspondence
between C/I and the number of candidate soft handover connections
3G soft handover parameter set may be used to manage the

resultant soft handover overhead
C/I < -6 dB
corresponds to
excessive soft
handover
candidates
C/I > -6 dB
corresponds to
sufficient soft
handover
candidates
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Example of a Poor Cell Layout

Areas of poor dominance correspond Hexagonal Site
to inefficient use of the air interface
Weak best server signals lead to
areas susceptible to interference
Poor dominance
and weak best
server signal
Solution is to change the cell layout

rather than increase powers
Poor dominance
and strong best
server signal
Areas of poor
dominance some
with low C/I
performance
C/I < -6 dB
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C/I
Coverage
Example of a Good Cell Layout

Cloverleaf Site
Cloverleaf design
C/I patterns mesh
Dominance areas
relatively well defined
Each antenna
directed between two
others
Both coverage and

C/I performance
relatively good
C/I < -6 dB
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C/I
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Coverage
Example Network Performance (I)
An example urban area

Maximising coverage performance does not encourage antenna downtilts
Downtilt should be used with caution to prevent excessive increases in site
density
C/I > 12 dB
C/I < 12 dB
C/I < 9 dB
C/I < 6 dB
C/I < 3 dB
C/I < 0 dB
C/I < -3 dB
C/I < -6 dB
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No downtilts
Downtilts of up to 6
poor C/I
improved C/I
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Example Network Performance (II)
Corresponding plots of service coverage performance
Coverage
Dense Urban
Urban
Suburban
Rural
No downtilts
Downtilts of up to 6
non-contiguous local coverage
contiguous local coverage
Local dense urban service coverage performance improved

Downtilts have improved both the C/I and the local coverage performance
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Impact of Antenna Height
High antenna
placement
increases levels of
remote interference
Appropriate
Antenna
Heights
Extensive
dominance for
the high
antenna
Significant overlap
of coverage areas
Reduced
dominance of
neighbors
Excessively high
antennas
Degraded C/I
at remote
locations
Excessive Antenna Heights
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Content
Site selection
HSDPA planning
HSUPA planning
Capacity planning
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is more complex and time consuming
is often used for focused 3G system investigations rather than wide area radio network
planning
uses software tools which are less mature

generates results which are more difficult to interpret
makes use of 3G parameter assumptions and a 3G traffic profile
Generates plots and statistics for coverage, capacity, soft handover, intercell interference,
uplink load and downlink transmit power, HSDPA Performance
Monte Carlo Simulation
static simulation which considers snap shots in time

for each snap shot a population of mobile terminals is distributed and the radio network
behaviour evaluated
simulation results are recorded as an average over many independent snap shots
probability distributions can be generated
in contrast to a dynamic simulation which runs over time
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3G Simulation Based Approach
3G Simulation Algorithm
Start
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Distribute terminals
Calculate UE transmit
powers
Evaluate Uplink Cell
Load
Calculate cell transmit

powers per user
Evaluate total Cell
transmit powers
Record results
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Iteration
Repeat until
powers converge
uplink load is 0 % and the

total cell transmit powers
are only the CPICH and
Common Control
Channels
UEs are blocked for a
specific iteration if the
uplink load or cell
transmit power is too high
UEs are blocked for a
specific snap shot if they
are blocked for
consecutive iterations
Snap shot
Repeat until
simulation converges
On first iteration the
Example Process
Increased scope for optimisation

Allows capacity to be quantified and so capacity upgrade solutions
can be studied
Figure below represents one example
Loaded network
Upgrade
Coverage
Capacity
CPICH
Power
Soft Handover
Overhead
Add site
Increase sectorisation
Tune
Include HSDPA
Validate
Realistic traffic
profiles
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Validated Network
Incr. BTS tx power

Add carrier
CPICH Optimisation
The Common Pilot Channel (CPICH) is used by UE for:

synchronisation and channel estimation
handover and cell re-selection decisions
CPICH Measurements are based upon RSCP and Ec/Io
RSCP is an absolute power measurenet
Ec/Io = RSCP/RSSI, and does not account for orthogonality
CPICH Ec/Io and RSCP coverage must be sufficient
CPICH Ec/Io affected by cell load
CPICH typically assigned 10 % of the total downlink transmit power capability
ignoring intercell interference, this results in an Ec/Io of -10 dB when cell is fully
loaded
Intercell interference will further decrease this value
Potential for limited CPICH tuning, e.g. if neighbouring cells have MHA and very
large differences in their cable losses
If CPICH are tuned then important to ensure soft handover balance is
maintained
RF optimisation should be completed prior to parameter optimisation

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Example CPICH Ec/Io Array
Similar to the C/I array generated by the path loss approach

Areas of poor CPICH Ec/Io correspond to areas of poor C/I
Live network minimum requirement for cell selection is typically -18 dB
RRC Connection establishment success rate is poor at -18 dB
Example planning minimum requirement is -15 dB when network is loaded
C/I Array
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Ec/Io Array
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Example CPICH RSCP Array
Provides a measure of link loss, i.e. link
loss = CPICH transmit power CPICH

RSCP
Live network minimum requirement for
cell selection is typically -115 dBm
UE receiver thermal noise is typically
-100 dBm and so an RSCP of -115 dB
corresponds to an Ec/Io of -15 dB when
in thermal noise limited scenarios
In RRC connected mode, inter-system

handover can be triggered at higher
CPICH RSCP and Ec/Io
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RSCP Array
Soft Handover Optimisation
Soft handover - UE is connected to multiple Node B

Softer handover - UE is connected to multiple cells belonging to same Node
B
Soft and Softer handover generates overheads
Soft handover overhead - transmit power, Node B baseband processing, Iub, RNC
Softer handover overhead - transmit power
Overhead must be sufficient to ensure reliable handover and maintain cell
edge service quality
Total Overhead should not exceed 40 %
RF optimisation should be completed prior to parameter optimisation
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Example Active Set Size Arrays (I)
Impact of addition window

Active set size (3 dB Window Add)
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Active set size (4 dB Window Add)
Example Active Set Size Arrays (II)
Slow fading standard deviation and correlation factor has impact upon
active set size
Active set size (with fading)
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Active set size (no fading)
Content
Site selection
HSDPA planning
HSUPA planning
Capacity planning
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HSDPA Radio Network Planning Process

Existing radio network planning process can be applied to HSDPA
Focus continues to be:
Coverage
Dominance (inter-cell interference)
Size of best server areas
Link budgets should be completed for HSDPA
Macrocell deployment strategy likely to continue to be based upon R99 link
budget analysis
Indoor solutions and specific traffic hotspots may be planned based upon
HSDPA link budgets
Planning tool can be used to generate an expectation of HSDPA throughput
HSDPA supported by NetAct Planner HSDPA throughput results can be
generated
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HSDPA in NetAct Planner

NetAct Planner uses a look-up table to define the relationship between Eb/No and Throughput
Bit rate determined by modulation, number of codes and coding rate, e.g. QPSK_5_64
corresponds to a bit rate of: (3.84/SF16) * 0.64 coding rate * 2 bits per symbol * 5 codes = 1.536
Mbps
Eb/No speed offsets
Bearer
Modulation
Number of Codes
Coding Rate
16QAM Eb/No difficult

to achieve with low
orthogonality
Requirement to have
higher orthogonality
close to serving cell
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Coding rate
Eb/No
0-3 km/h 50 km/h 120 km/h
QPSK_1_38
0.03
QPSK_38
0.82
5.19
0.33
QPSK_2_36
0.02
QPSK_36
0.57
5.18
0.32
QPSK_3_36
0.02
QPSK_36
0.57
5.18
0.32
QPSK_4_36
0.02
QPSK_36
0.57
5.18
0.32
QPSK_5_36
0.02
QPSK_36
0.57
5.18
0.32
QPSK_5_43
0.04
QPSK_43
1.39
5.21
0.36
QPSK_5_50
0.06
QPSK_50
2.34
5.15
0.43
QPSK_5_57
0.37
QPSK_57
3.31
4.98
0.52
QPSK_5_64
1.08
QPSK_64
4.61
4.58
0.67
QPSK_5_78
3.84
QPSK_78
7.88
3.08
1.08
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HSUPA Radio Network Planning Process

Existing radio network planning process can be applied to HSUPA
Focus continues to be:
Coverage
Dominance (inter-cell interference)
Size of best server areas
Link budgets should be completed for HSUPA

Macrocell deployment strategy likely to continue to be based upon
R99 link budget analysis

Indoor solutions and specific traffic hotspots may be planned based
upon HSDPA and HSUPA link budgets
Dimensioning tools can be used to generate an expectation of
HSUPA throughput
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Content
Site selection
Capacity planning
Downlink capacity
Uplink capacity

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Capacity planning
Capacity planning is based on
Number of coverage sites

Needed features
Possible micro, indoor and hotspot site implementation
Capacity planning is commonly trade off:
Increased capacity with macro layer means lower cell ranges

Increased coverage within macro layer means lower capacity
HSDPA implementation brings some new challenges
When using shared carrier with HSPA, capacity is shared between R99 and HSPA services
In order to guarantee high HSPA service availability then dedicated HSPA carrier should be
used. Thus Capacity in the downlink is allocated for HSDPA
In uplink the capacity needs to be shared between R99 UL DCH and HSUPA also with
dedicated carrier
Capacity planning follows dimensioning results, but in detailed capacity planning the
sites can and might be needed to estimate per site method
This means that one site at the time is evaluated from the point of capacity
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Coverage versus Capacity

Coverage and capacity are noticed together
Do
wn
lin
k
Higher capacity tolerance means lower cell range

Higher cell range means lower capacity
max. path loss [dB]
?
Upl
ink
?
Load
Coverage limitation
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Capacity limitation
Capacity and coverage planning

Coverage and interference estimation
Output number
of Node Bs
Cell loading and capacity

estimation
Decrease max
system load/new sites
Add
Carrier
notices possible limiting services
R99 UL service(s)
HSDPA with selected cell edge throughput
HSUPA with selected cell edge throughput
Initially with max. load
Planning threshold can be utilised to illustrate
different service availability and coverage
Number of sites for coverage
Decrease cell
radius / new sites
2. Cell loading and throughput estimation within
Capacity
Limited
Cell load Initial load

DL power Max. power
HSPA throughput Minimum throughput
Feature selection for HSPA
Coverage
Limited
Comparison of number of
coverage sites vs. capacity
requirement
Acceptable
Coverage and capacity matching
Total number of sites
Configuration planning
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1. Coverage and interference estimation, which
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capacity evaluation
3. Coverage and capacity comparison

Service availability
Coverage availability
Capacity availability
Not sufficient coverage (coverage limited),
decrease loading or add new sites

Not enough capacity (capacity limited), add carrier
or lower cell range/new sites

Coverage limited scenario
Scenario is based on wrong estimation of either capacity or too less number of sites
Decreasing system loading can be utilised to accommodate less users in one cell
Adding more sites to overcome coverage limitation
Lower increase in generated interference floor greater cell range more users in each
cell greater actual system loading.
Capacity limited scenario

Capacity demand is higher than what can be provided by an initial number of Node Bs,
resulting to
Maximum power or loading is exceeded, no services available
HSPA throughput (UL or DL) is lower than minimum throughput
Cell capacity must be increased or the cell size decreased, or by adding additional carriers
Reduced cell range fewer users loading the cell
Cell range decreasing commonly impacts on number of sites
Note: Capacity can also be increased with features
Coverage and Capacity planning are iteratively made

together with Site selection and Configuration planning
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UMTS Network Configuration for HSDPA Support

Capacity planning can be done also with NetAct Planner
Much more complex and time consuming
Next the setup for capacity planning in NetAct Planner

Coverage planning and optimisation
Capacity planning setup and simulation
Define HSPA Bearers
HSDPA/HSUPA bearers
Define HSPA services
Create HSPA terminals
HSDPA coding rates
Packet services
Set terminal parameters
Create UMTS cells and

set HSPA parameters
Bit rates
HSDPA support
UMTS support
Assign carrier
Eb/No target
HSUPA SHO
HSDPA support
Set cell parameters
HSUPA Power control and

Soft handover parameters
QoS parameters
HSUPA support
Set power parameters for

HSDPA
Set Noise rise for HSUPA
Associate bearers with services and them with terminal types

Spread the terminals
Run static analysis or Monte Carlo simulator

View array outputs and reports
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Validate capacity planning
HSUPA simulation output
Results can show an estimation of

available cell throughput or for
example Service availability
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Downlink Capacity
Downlink is shared among R99 services and HSDPA traffic and control as well as
with common control and associated channels

Similarly other main issues which impacts downlink capacity are:
Cell max power, can be set and controlled with parameters
Power for CCCH, can be tuned also
High orthogonality , low
Macro
cell
closer
cell
interference
Orthogonality
edge, lower quality
e.g. micro, clear dominance
HS-SCCH power,
this is part of the HSDPA total power
HSDPA feature selection:
Scheduler type: shared or cell specific
Round robin or proportional fair
Number of codes HS-DPSCH
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Uplink Capacity
Uplink is shared between R99 and HSUPA, thus capacity is impacted by each
other
Main issues impacting to uplink capacity are
Little I
Power rise
Eb/Nos
Available noise rise, can be set in parameters
Configuration and number of carriers
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Issues Affecting Capacity

Mixture of services makes capacity planning more complex
Real Time Voice and Data services in Erlang
Non-Real Time Data services in kbps
Load calculation is required especially in UL to determine the UL
interference (Noise Rise)

Different Services have different Eb/No requirements
Traffic is asymmetric between DL and UL
Different kinds of interferences have to be taken into account
(orthogonality factor , little i, etc.)
Different Node B maximum Tx power should be considered
Speed of the Users differs
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Values used in the following examples

64/128/384 kbps Data
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BTS TX power
43 dBm
MS TX power
21 dBm
Ec/Io
-16.5 dB
BTS Eb/No
2/1.5/1
MS Eb/No
6/5.5/5
Other to own cell

interference ratio i
Orthogonality
0.6
Channel profile
MS speed
ITU Vehicular
A, 3 km/h
3 km/h
MS/BTS NF
8 dB / 4 dB
Antenna gain
16 dBi
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0.6
Throughput for Different Services

64/128/384 kbps Data
Maximum propagation loss (dB)
170
Macro cell, P(DL) = 43 dBm, P(UL) = 21 dBm
165
3 km/h 64.0 kbps

3 km/h 128.0 kbps
3 km/h 384.0 kbps
160
155
150
145
140
0
100
200
Max capacity
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300
400
500
600
700
DL throughput in kbps
800
900
1000
Effect of little i
Doubling of the "little i" will cause 70 % throughput decrease of the
original value
128 kbps
170
In the real environment we will

i = 0.2
i = 0.4
i = 0.6
i = 0.8
165
160
155
150
145
140
0
58
500
1000
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1500
never have separated cell.

Therefore in the load factor
calculation the other cell
interferences should be taken
into account.
This can be introduced by
means of the little i value,
which describes how much
two cells overlap (bigger
overlapping more inter-cell
interferences)
LSERV: Pathloss to serving
cell, Ln : pathloss to neigbour
n, M overlapping cells
Effect of Node B Tx Power

10, 20, 30, 40 W, 64 kbps, 3-sector
175
Macro cell, P(DL) = 40 to 46 dBm, P(UL) = 21 dBm
170
165
160
uplink
155
150
145
140
0
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100
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200
300
400
500
600
700
Capacity Planning
Summary
Air interface capacity depends on service type, radio propagation
conditions, network topology and number of active connections
UL limits cell range in coverage limited situations
DL limits cell range in capacity limited situations
Capacity planning is utilising coverage and interference planning

information
Capacity planning is also tied to configuration planning
High HSDPA throughput needs dedicated schedulers thus more CEs and HW
Poor antenna line planning, antenna selection and dominance areas will
impact both coverage and capacity
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Module Contents
Site selection
Capacity planning
Coverage vs. capacity
Coverage Improvements Alternatives
Capacity Improvements Alternatives
Antenna tilting, design and improvement
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Coverage versus Capacity
max. path loss [dB]
Do
wn
lin
k
How to improve the

coverage? Uplink
Upl
ink
How to improve the

capacity? Downlink
?
Load
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Module Contents
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Module Contents
Site selection
Capacity planning
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Coverage Improvement Alternatives
Mast Head Amplifier MHA

basic solution for optimised UL performance
compensates feeder cable loss
supported by NSN's base stations
6 sectored cell
utilizing narrow-beam antennas
~ 2 dB better antenna gain than in 3 sectored site
Extended cell feature

Enable BTS communicate with UE further away
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Impact of sensitivity (MHA)

The use of MHAs brings
UL coverage gain (important for early phase of a network)
capacity gain for low-loaded networks (keeping the cell size constant)
Path loss
160
155
DL Path loss
NRT Data 384k UL Path loss
NRT Data 384k UL Path loss, 1dB improvement
NRT Data 384k UL Path loss, 2dB improvement
150
145
0
10
66
15
20
25
UL
Load
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30
35
40
45
Extended cell feature

Extended cell feature reserves higher amount of BTS base band
processing resources for RACH processing
Default 20 km cell range can be extended in 20 km steps to 60 km

High cell ranges requires exceptional propagation conditions
Coastal regions
Mountain regions
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Module Contents
Site selection
Capacity planning
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Capacity Improvement Alternatives

6 sectored site
~ 60-80% capacity gain compared to 3
sectors (not 100% due to inter-sector
interference)
More carriers (frequencies) per sector

doubling the amount of carriers with
power splitting gives roughly 60% more

capacity
downlink can be dedicated for HSDPA
Advanced scheduling and receiver

structures
better resource usage

improved orthogonality
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6 sectored site
More sectors increase the capacity of the WCDMA network
Sectorisation gain in capacity is more efficient than in GSM where
it is limited by the number of frequencies available and frequency

planning (WCDMA freq reuse=1)
Going from 3 to 6 sectors, the capacity gain is not 100% due to the
increased interference.
To achieve a higher capacity gain, it is crucial to control the amount
of interference and the soft handover overhead. If the overlapping

is to big, to much interference and a higher soft handover overhead
occurs.
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Capacity Upgrade with carrier addition

No changes to antennas or antenna cables
No HW changes in Flexi BTS
Speech Erlang per site
350
300
250
200
Cost/Erlang is
decreasing
with capacity
upgrade
take 2nd
frequency into
use
150
100
50
0
20W
71
2x10W + 2x10W
DL power per sector

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Capacity Upgrade with carrier addition

Dedicated HSPA carrier allows efficient utilisation of DL power
In additonal carrier case downlink can be dedicated for HSDPA
HSDPA traffic is not power controlled No power control headroom
HSDPA power can be tuned by PtxMaxHSDPA
20 W total 20 W total
e.g. 8 - 16
W
HSDSCH
HSDSCH
2W
+ 0-16W
2W
CPICH
CPICH
2W
2W
Not only # of carrier impacts on

HSDPA capacity, also features
= HSDPA data + HS-SCCH

= Other common channels + DCHs
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Advanced scheduling and receiver structures

Proportional fair scheduling in HSDPA improves cell throughput by
allocating more resources to users when in good RF conditions
Equaliser in receiver cancels own cell interference
Dual antenna diversity improves fading conditions
+100 %
+60 %
+20 %
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Module Contents

Capacity planning
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Effect of tilting on coverage and capacity

Tilting can be used to improve both coverage and capacity
Coverage improvement due to higher signal level on the cell dominance area
Capacity improvement due to decreased level of interference outside cell
dominance area Lower little i
Antenna tilting means adjustment of antenna radiation pattern in

vertical direction on the plane of main beam
Antenna radiation pattern can be tilted by mechanical installation

change or by adjustment of electrical phasing of the antenna
elements
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Effect of tilting on the signal level

RECEIVED SIGNAL LEVEL
-40.00
RX level
RX level ant
RX level ant tilt
-50.00
Coverage threshold out

Coverage threshold in
R X _ le ve l
-60.00
-70.00
-80.00
-90.00
-100.00
Distance
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Effect of electrical tilting to antenna radiation pattern
5 degrees
10 degrees
Horisontal
Horisontal
90
90
120
120
60
150
150
30
180
210
330
240
60
30
180
210
330
240
300
300
270
270
Vertical
Vertical
90
90
120
150
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120
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30
150
60
30
Effect of tilting on the coverage
Mechanical
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Electrical
Pilot level without and with tilt

Without tilt
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8 electrical
Tilting angle from geometry

Geometrical angle to the cell edge
Antenna 3 dB point to the cell edge
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Tilting angle from geometry

Example tilt angle
6 degree vertical beamwidth
Cell range 200 m 600 m
16
.
14
geo( h 200 6)
12
geo( h 300 6)
geo( h 400 6)
geo( h 600 6)
10
8
6
4
81
15
20
25
30
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40
Antenna tilting Optimisation Example

WCDMA 1900 Network
Identified places for optimisation
Urban area: high other-cell interference
Rural area: a few sites collecting a lot of interference
Optimisation approaches
Antenna down tilting
Antenna lowering
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Rural Area
27 sites, 49 cells
Omni, 2-sector and 3-sector sites
Varying antenna heights
Area 15 km x 15 km
On average 8 km2 per site
Terrain: hilly with waters
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Urban Area
16 sites, 48 cells
All 3-sector sites
similar height
Area 10 km x 12 km
On average 7 km2 per site
Terrain: flat without waters
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Down tilting everywhere improved capacity in urban area by 13%, but reduced
slightly capacity in the rural area
The urban area benefited from down tilting because of high overlapping of the
cells before optimisation (=high i)
Optimization Effect
Before Optim
After Optim
Number of Users
2000
1500
1000
500
0
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Rural
Urban

2 branch Rx diversity
Optimisation
Outdoor coverage
Indoor coverage
(+20 dB loss)
Rural
before
after
before
after
Speech 12.2 kbps
95%
89%
40%
37%
Data 64 kbps
85%
77%
22%
22%
Data 144 kbps
78%
68%
15%
16%
Urban
before
after
before
after
99.9%
74%
61%
Speech 12.2 kbps 99.9%

Data 64 kbps
99.8%
98.6%
46%
38%
Data 144 kbps
99.1%
96.2%
33%
29%
Coverage probability got lower after downtilting

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Little i in Urban Area
No highest
values
After optimisation the little i is more uniform in all cells, i.e. the
performance of the worst cells has clearly improved
Average little i 1.3 0.78
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Number of Users in Urban Area
Worst cells
clearly
improved
After optimisation the number of users per cell is more uniform in all cells, i.e. the
performance of the worst cells has clearly improved
Average number of users 36 41 (i.e. capacity increase ~13%)
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Module 7 Coverage and capacity planning

Summary
There are two main approaches for planning
Pathloss based
Simulation based
Usage of MHA can be considered as the main coverage
improvement method
Usage of multiple carriers is the most cost efficient way to
increase capacity
Tilting should be used in appropriate level to optimise
coverage and capacity
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08 - RN31548EN10GLA0 - Coverage and Capacity Planning

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Coverage and Capacity planning

Module 7 Coverage and capacity planning

Site Selection Motivation

Site selection criteria are used to evaluate whether or not a site is

Site selection criteria

from the information available within a radio network planning tool

Site Inclusion criteria Radio

antenna to have good visibility of the surrounding

Site Inclusion criteria Implementation

sufficient space for the appropriate antenna

Site Prioritisation criteria

Is the site an existing GSM site?

Antenna sharing Cost of site

Site Selection Site Information

Site Selection & Site Survey Tools

A paper map of the area

Site Selection / Site Survey documentation

Path Loss based Approach

Relatively simple and most commonly adopted approach

Node B antenna gain assumed in the link budgets

Feeder Loss assumed in the Link Budgets

Planning tool signal strength threshold

Pilot power planning threshold

threshold definitions are important phases

Antenna line losses

Pilot transmit power

Pilot power planning threshold

Pilot power planning threshold is based on power budget calculations

Pilot power planning threshold have to be defined separately for each

Select the threshold for limiting service

Pilot power planning threshold Examples

PS Data 384/HSDPA 384

HSUPA 384/HSDPA 384

Effect of planning margin on coverage area

NRT 64/384 planning margin effect on Coverage Area

Effect in Coverage Area

Building penetration loss change (ref = 16dB)

Example Process for Path Loss based Approach

Compute Path Loss

Coverage and Cell Isolation Analysis

Coverage and Cell Isolation Analysis

Path Loss Based Approach

Task divided into two activities

Coverage and Cell Isolation Analysis

Cell Isolation Analysis

Example Coverage Array

Path Loss Based Approach

Same array as currently used termed Best Server array

Example Coverage Report

Path Loss Based Approach

Service coverage report for dominant clutter type

Example Cell Isolation Array

Path Loss Based Approach

Downlink C/I array used termed Total Interference array

Example Cell Isolation Array

Path Loss Based Approach

Accounting for Soft Handover (I)

Path Loss Based Approach

Scenario with C/I greater than

Scenario with C/I less than

Accounting for Soft Handover (II)

Path Loss Based Approach

3G simulations can be used to illustrate the correspondence