MobileComm Professionals, Inc.

Your Partner for Wireless Engineering Solutions

LTE Radio Link Budget
 3

Agenda

 Cell edge throughput calculations

 Link budget for UL and DL
 Role of RRH and TMA
 UL/DL link budget exercises
 Introduction
4

 Link Budget is the basis of coverage dimensioning, aiming to calculate UL / DL maximum allowed path
loss (MAPL) for a certain type of service.

 With the MAPL and a suitable propagation model, which can be generally seen as a function about
path loss (PL) and distance between UE and eNB, average cell coverage radius can be calculated.

 With cell coverage radius, radio network planners can easily figure up the site coverage area and site
count for given area. That’s the target of coverage dimensioning
 Link budget
5

 Target of the Link Budget calculation: estimate the maximum allowed path loss on radio
path from transmit antenna to receive antenna
 The minimum SINR requirement is achieved with the maximum allowed path loss and
transmit power both in UL & DL
 The maximum allowed Path Loss can be used to calculate cell range

Lmax_UL Lmax_DL

Range
 6

Why Link Budget Analysis?

 Link budget analysis provides

•Coverage design thresholds

•EIRP needed to balance the path

•Maximum allowable pathloss

 It is important that the uplink and downlink paths be balanced, otherwise not enough
signal will survive the transmission process to achieve the required signal to noise
ratio(SNR) or the bit-error-rate(BER).

 Path imbalance results from the facts that the gains and losses in the uplink and
downlink paths are not the same.

 The calculations have to be done separately on the uplink and the downlink.
 7

Link budget Input and Output

Coverage Inputs
• Area to be covered
• Targeted service at cell edge
Coverage Outputs
• Indoor penetration level Link Budget
• Cell Range
RF Planning
Network Information •Legacy Site Reuse
• Incumbent network info •Number of Sites
• LTE Frequency
• LTE Maximum bandwidth
 8

Requirements

•UL cell range

1 Request UL cell edge throughput
•DL throughput at cell range

•DL cell range

2 Request DL cell edge throughput
•UL throughput at cell range

•UL cell range

3 Request UL and DL cell edge
throughput •DL cell range
•Limited link and cell range

4 Request fixed cell •UL cell edge throughput

radius
•DL cell edge throughput
 9

Link Budget model

Request cell
Cell range
edge throughput

Throughput at
Request cell range
cell edge
 Shannon formula 10

C=W*log10(1+S/N)

Coverage Capacity
 11

Cell Edge Rate

Some of the factors that affect the edge rate in the LTE system are as follows:

• Uplink/downlink TDD proportion

• MIMO schemes chosen

• eNodeB Power Amplifier power (affect downlink only)

• Number of RB used at the sector edge

• Modulation mode (1 of 29 coding methods)

• Repeated coding times

 12

Downlink Cell Edge Rate

The formula for calculating the downlink cell edge rate is as follows:

Cell edge rate Phy

Number of Different data stream transmitted x Number of Resource Block assigned to
= user per frame x Number of available Traffic carrying Resource Element per Resource
Block xCoding rate x Modulation model level / Duration of each frame

Where,
Number of Resource Block Assigned in Cell Edge Rate in LTE (a single RB is the basic resource assignment level)
reflects the number of resource blocks used by user at the edge of the sector. The smaller the number of
resource blocks assigned, the lower the cell edge rate. RB can be assigned down to a per TTI level (1 ms
duration)

Number of Different data stream transmitted in Cell Edge Rate in LTE is related to the number of data stream
being simultaneously transmitted. Number can be ranging from 1 (SFBC) to 2 (MCW 2×2). In case of BF, the
value should be 1 for single antenna port transmission mode 7 (port 7 or 8), and 2 streams for dual antenna
port transmission mode 8 (port 7 and 8).
 Downlink Cell Edge Rate 13

Number of available Traffic carrying Resource Element per Resource Block in Cell Edge Rate in LTE indicates the
number of RE available for each resource block.

• In FDD system, a maximum of 3 symbols (36 Res) can be consumed per frame (10ms) for control channel
signaling purposes and there is at least 6 more extra RE can be used for Downlink Reference signaling per
TTI (1ms).

• A minimum of 1 symbol (12 Res) will be required per RB for control signaling purposes.

• In TDD system, due to frequency sharing and time gap requirement for switching between uplink and
downlink, 6 symbols equivalent (72 Res) will be the minimum overhead requirement per TTI.

Coding rate indicates the volume coding rate of the channel code. For example, the volume coding rate of
QPSK1/2 is 1/2, and the volume coding rate of 16QAM3/4 is 3/4.

Modulation model level indicates the number of bits in the modulation mode. For example, the modulation
mode levels of QPSK, 16QAM, and 64QAM are 2, 4, and 6 respectively.

Duration of each frame indicates the frame size. As regulated by the protocols, the frame size in LTE networks is
10 ms.
 14

UL Link Budget Process

Request cell
edge throughput

Assign RB #

TBS & MCS

MIMO Conf. SINR

Rx receive sensitivity

Interference Other
MAPL
margin parameters

Cell range
 15

UL link Budget Methodology

MAPL= Pmax – Receive Sensitivity – Losses – Margins +Gains

 16

UL Link budget

Request cell edge Throughput

Rx receive sensitivity

Example of
512kbps and Dense
urban area
 17

Assigned RB number

20kbps 64kbps 128kbps 256kbps 384kbps 512kbps 768kbps 1024kbps

RB 1 2 3 6 8 10 15 18
MCS 1 2 2 3 3 3 3 4
TBS 24 72 144 328 440 568 872 1288
 18

Number of Resource Blocks

• For a given MCS the TBS is given different numbers of resource blocks

RB number

TBS Table
 Modulation & Coding Scheme
19

• This determines the Modulation Order which in turn determines the TBS
Index.

MCS Table
 Modulation & Coding Scheme
20

MCS Index, IMCS Modulation Order, QM TBS Index, ITBS

0 2 QPSK 0
1 2 QPSK 1
 This determines the Modulation Order which in turn 2 2 QPSK 2

determines the TBS Index. 3

4
2
2
QPSK
QPSK
3
4
5 2 QPSK 5
6 2 QPSK 6
7 2 QPSK 7
8 2 QPSK 8
9 2 QPSK 9
10 4 16 QAM 9
11 4 16 QAM 10
12 4 16 QAM 11
13 4 16 QAM 12
14 4 16 QAM 13
MCS Table 15 4 16 QAM 14
16 4 16 QAM 15
17 6 64 QAM 15
18 6 64 QAM 16
19 6 64 QAM 17
20 6 64 QAM 18
21 6 64 QAM 19
22 6 64 QAM 20
23 6 64 QAM 21
24 6 64 QAM 22
25 6 64 QAM 23
26 6 64 QAM 24
27 6 64 QAM 25
28 6 64 QAM 26
29 Implicit TBS signalling with QPSK
30 Implicit TBS signalling with 16 QAM
31 Implicit TBS signalling with 64 QAM
 TBS and MCS
21

512kbps
 For 512kbps,If BLER=10%, TBS>568bit 10 RB

MCS

25
MCS vs RB
20

15
MCS 3
10

0
512kpbs 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21

RB number
 22

Assign RB number

-100

Receive Power
-105
SINR

512kpbs -110

-115

-120

-125
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 RB number

10RB is assigned
for 512kbps
 23

SINR

 SINR Target depends on:

• eNodeB equipment performance
• Radio conditions (multipath fading profile, mobile speed)
• Receive diversity (2-way by default or optional 4-way)
• Targeted data rate and quality of service
• The Modulation and Coding Scheme
• Max allowed number of HARQ transmissions (Maximum of 4 on UL)
• HARQ BLER target (10% considered by default)

 Derived from link level simulations or better by equipment measurements (lab or on-field measurements)
 SINR
24

MIMO Conf.1T2R MIMO Conf.1T4R

MCS 3
SINR:-1.79dB
 25

Assign RB number

RB number

64kbps 128kbps 256kbps 384kbps 512kbps 1024kbps

RB 2 4 7 8 10 17
MCS 2 1 2 3 3 4
SNR target(1*2)dB -0.3 -2.28 -2.38 -1.63 -1.79 -1.19
SNR target(1*4)dB -4.6 -6.1 -6.18 -5.46 -5.6 -4.96
 26

Rx Receive Sensitivity

Own cell Request

signal SNR
NF

Noise Power

Reference Sensitivity＝Noise Power+ Noise Figure +SNR

Dense Urban
 27

Thermal Noise

 Thermal noise power spectrum density

Noise power spectrum density=k*T
Where
K：Boltzmann constant——1.381×10-23（J/K)

T：Kelvin temperature （K）

Assume T=290K（17 ℃） Noise power spectrum density)=-174dBm/Hz

Noise power= Noise power spectrum density *Bandwidth

 Thermal noise power

Assume bandwidth=20MHz ，Effective bandwidth =18MHz
Noise power (dB)=-174dBm/Hz+10log(18×106)
=-174+72.6=-101.4dBm
 28

Receiver Sensitivity

Reference Sensitivity＝NF +10log(No) +10log(Bandwidth) +SNR

Dense
Urban Suburban Rural Highway
Morph Urban
Cell Edge User Throughput kbps 512 512 384 128 256
Assign # Resource Blocks # 10 10 6 3 4
Used Bandwidth KHz 1800 1800 1080 540 720
eNode-B Noise Figure dB 3 3 3 3 3
No dBm/Hz -174.0 -174.0 -174.0 -174.0 -174.0
SINR Request dB -4.0 -3.8 -2.5 -2 -1.8
eNode-B Sensitivity dBm -112.4 -112.2 -113.2 -115.7 -114.2
 UL interference margin 29

UL interference margin
 30

UL interference margin

UL interference margin
 31

UL Interference Margin

• The Interference Margin is the interference rise over that of thermal noise due to other cell interference
• Typical IM target considered in LTE link budgets is 3dB

Required Received Signal

Own cell
Request SINR
signal
Interference level

Other cell Interference

interference Margin

Noise
 32

UL Interference Margin
 33

eNodeB Antenna Gain

eNode B antenna gain

 34

eNodeB Antenna Gain

eNode B antenna gain

 eNodeB Antenna Gain
35

• General antenna selection recommend for 2 way receive

 Antenna Gain is about 18dBi

 Horizontal Half-power Beam Width is about 65°
 Vertical Half-power Beam Width is about 7°
 Adjust Electrical Down tilt is by hand or by optional RCU (Remote Control Unit)
 For the Polarization in dense urban, urban and suburban is X pol, rural areas can use vertical pol.

Some case to cover highway or railway, it can select higher

gain and narrower beam width antenna, (for example 21dBi
and beam width is about 33°)
 36

Four Antenna configuration way

Case1

Case2 Case3
 37

Four Antenna configuration way

Case2
 38

Four Antenna configuration way

Case3
 39

Four Antenna configuration way

● ● ●

Link level
simulaiton
 40

Four Antenna configuration way

Dense Urban Urban Suburban Rural Highway

Cell Edge User Throughput kbps 512 512 384 128 256
Num. of Tx antenna # 1 1 1 1 1
Num. of Rx antenna # 4 4 4 4 4
Assign # Resource Blocks # 10 10 6 3 4
MCS # 3 3 4 2 4
TBS bit 568 568 408 144 256
Case1 SINR Request dB -7.2 -7.0 -6.8 -6.5 -5.6
Case2 SINR Request dB -5.4 -4.5 -3.3 -4.4 -3.8
Case3 SINR Request dB -4.0 -3.8 -2.5 -2 -1.8

SINR Request
 41

Four Antenna Configuration Way

Dense Coverage
Urban Suburban Rural Highway
Morph Urban

Case1 km 0.50 0.71 2.32 9.77 12.30

Case2 km 0.44 0.61 1.83 8.45 10.86
Case3 km 0.40 0.58 1.74 7.17 9.47

 Dense urban, Urban and Suburban use Case3

 Rural and Highway can use Case2 if the situation permitted
 Cable & connector losses
42

Cable & connector losses

 43

Cable and connector loss

Each Connector
Insertion Loss typical 0.05dB

Connector

1/2 in
Jumper
The loss depend on
The loss less the length of cable
than 0.5dB

7/8in
cable
optical
fiber Assume:
7/8in cable 50m
1/2in cable 6m+4 connecter

700MHz:2dB
2.6GHz:4dB
 TMA Gain
44

TMA gain
 TMA Gain
45

Antenna

 TMA also called Mast Head Amplifier (MHA)

Jumper
 Impact on link budget Dual TMA Cable

 Reduces global Noise Figure

Duplexer Duplexer
 Compensate cable losses
LNA LNA
 The gain on link budget related to: Feeder
Duplexer Duplexer

• Cable loss
Jumper
• eNode NF Cable
TX / RX TXdiv / RXdiv
• TMA amplifier gain
• TMA NF
 0.5 dB additional insertion loss on DL eNode-B
 Shadowing Margin 46

Shadowing margin
 Shadowing Margin
47

Shadowing Standard
10 dB 8 dB 7 dB 6 dB
Deviation
Cell Area Coverage
95% 90% 95% 90% 95% 90% 95% 90%
Probability
Cell Edge Coverage
87.7% 77.7% 86.2% 75.1% 84.9% 73.3% 83.9% 70.9%
Probability
11.7 8.7
Shadowing Margin 7.7 dB 5.4 dB 7.2 dB 4.3 dB 5.9 dB 3.3 dB
dB dB

 Dense urban, Urban and Suburban Shadowing Standard Deviation is 8dB

 Rural and Highway Shadowing Standard Deviation is 6dB
 48

Handoff Gain

Handoff gain
 49

Hard Handover Gain

 The hard handover gain is the value to reduce the shadowing margin
 The hard handover gain is related to handoff hysteresis thresholds, connection delays, coverage probability
targets and shadowing standard deviations
 The simulation result shows that the hard handover gain is about 2~4dB
 50

Penetration and Body Loss

Penetration and body loss

 51

Penetration Loss

Penetration Margin
Environment
(dB)
Dense Urban – Deep Indoor 20
Urban - Indoor 17
Suburban - Indoor 14
Rural – In car 8

Related with
Operator’s strategy
 52

Body Loss

• VoIP service：3dB
• Data service：0dB

Related with
service
 53

UE gain and Tx power

UE Antenna gain and Tx power

 54

UL Link Budget

MAPL= Pmax – Receive Sensitivity – Losses – Margins +Gains

1
2
3
4
5

6
7
8
9
10
MAPL=12-1-2+3-4+5-6+7-8-9-10+11
11
Propagation model 12
 55

Inter Site Distance and Coverage Area

Inter site distance and coverage area

 56

UL Link Budget
 57

Different of UL & DL Link Budget

DL can not use

Own cell Required Received Signal
signal Request SINR same LB method
Adjacent cell With UL
interference

UL Noise

DL
 58

DL Link Budget Methodology

 59

DL Link Budget Character

115.4833E 115.5000E 115.5167E

38.8167N

38.8167N

cell edge (dB)

Noise rise at
38.8000N

38.8000N

115.4833E 115.5000E 115.5167E

38.7833N

38.7833N

Assume: Dense urban cell range (km)

Adjacent site power load: 50%
Geometry factor at cell edge :3dB
 60

DL link budget Approach

Cell range

Other parameters MAPL G factor

MIMO Conf. SINR Assign RB #

MCS&TBS

Cell edge
throughput

Throughput at
Request cell range
cell edge
 61

DL link budget approach

 Base on the UL link budget result decide the cell range.

 Base on the decided cell range, get DL path loss at cell edge
 Base on DL path loss and considered DL Tx power and total other gain & loss to get DL signal power at cell edge.
 According Geometry factor at cell edge to get other cell interference
 Base on DL signal power and other cell interference and noise to get DL SINR at cell edge.
 Base on DL SINR at cell edge and the DL bandwidth and available RB number to decide the MCS and TBS, and
then, get the DL throughput at cell edge.
 62

DL Link budget

Request cell range

 63

DL Link Budget

MIMO configuration

eNode B Tx Power

Same with UL
 64

DL Shadowing Margin

• Shadowing Margin on signal

Shadowing Standard Deviation 8 dB 6 dB

Cell Area Coverage Probability 95% 90% 95% 90%
Cell Edge Coverage Probability 86.2% 75.1% 83.9% 70.9%
Shadowing Margin 8.7 dB 5.4 dB 5.9 dB 3.3 dB

Shadowing Standard 95% signal

Deviation 8dB margin 8.7dB
 65

DL Link Budget

Adjacent cell power loading

 66

Adjacent Tx Power load

Assume:
Cell range : 500m
Geometry factor at cell edge :3dB

SINR at cell
edge (dB)

Adjacent cell Rx Power load(%)

Adjacent cell Rx Power load(%) 0 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

SINR @cell edge(dB) 7.24 4.11 2.31 1.04 0.06 -0.74 -1.42 -2.00 -2.52 -2.98 -3.39
 DL Link Budget
67

Geometry at cell edge

 68

Geometry Factor

Not related to
ISD

Rx Power Serving Site

Geometry 
 Rx Power
All
Adjacent Site

System level
simulation 8
19 9
18 2 10
7 3
17 11
1 4
6
16 5 12
15 13 5%CDF is cell edge
14 G factor is -3dB
 69

DL Link Budget

SINR at cell edge

 70

SINR

SINR at cell
edge (dB)
Assume:
Adjacent site power load: 50%
Geometry factor at cell edge :3dB Dense urban cell range (km)
 71

DL Link budget

DL throughput at cell edge

 72

DL Link Budget

2T2R
0
SFBC RB20 CFI1 SCME UrbanMicro 3km/hr Pol 3.3GHz
10

MCS0
MCS1
-1 MCS3
10
BLER >=7% MCS5
MCS7
MCS9
MCS12
BLER

-2
10 MCS14
MCS16
MCS18
MCS20
-3 MCS22
10
MCS25
MCS27
MCS28

-4
10
-10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25
SNR(dB)
SINR >=-0.22dB
 73

DL Link Budget

100 RB

MCS 5

Throughput= TBS/TTI*(1-BLER)
DL Link Budget
74
 75

DL Link budget approach

Request cell
edge throughput

Assign RB #

TBS& MCS

MIMO Conf. SINR

MAPL Other
parameters

Cell range

Request cell
Cell range
edge throughput
 DL Link Budget
76

How to get Assign # RB?

TxPowerEIRP  1  SINRT arg et G AtCellEdge 

Pathloss AtCellEdge 
SINRT arg et  NoisePower
 77

Limited Link

UL cell radius DL cell radius

Cell radius Cell radius

based on coverage based on capacity

Final cell radius

 78

Cell Range and Inter Site Distance

S3Sector=1.95*R2
SOmin=2.60*R2

R
 79

Remote radio head

 In wireless system technologies such as GSM, CDMA, UMTS, LTE , this Radio equipment is remote to
the BTS/NodeB/eNodeB, and is also called Remote Radio Head.
 The equipment will be used to extend the coverage of a BTS/NodeB/eNodeB like rural areas or tunnels. They are
generally connected to the BTS/ NodeB/ eNodeB via a fiber optic cable using Common Public Radio Interface
protocols.
 Remote radio head 80

 Distributed base stations with remote radio head (RRH) capability greatly help mobile operators to
resolve cost, performance, and efficiency challenges when deploying new base stations on the road to fully
developed 4G networks
 The remote radio head contains the base station's RF circuitry plus analog-to-digital/digital-to-analog converters
and up/down converters. RRHs also have operation and management processing capabilities and a standardized
optical interface to connect to the rest of the base station
 Remote radio heads make MIMO operation easier; they increase a base station's efficiency and facilitate easier
physical location for gap coverage problems.

“Smart Deployment with “Smart” Antennas and the Open Radio Equipment Interface(ORI)
 81

Why Remote Radio Head Deployments?

RRH-based system implementation is driven by the need to reduce both CAPEX and OPEX consistently, which
allows a more optimized, energy-efficient, and greener base deployment.
 82

Why Remote Radio Head Deployments?

 83

Three-Sector Wireless Call using RRH

Either CPRI or OBSAI may be used to carry RF data to the RRH to cover a three-sector cell.
 Tower Mounted Amplifier
84

 A Tower Mounted Amplifier or Mast Head Amplifier is a Low-noise amplifier(LNA) mounted as close as
practical to the antenna in mobile masts or base transceiver stations.
 A TMA reduces the base transceiver station noise figure(NF) and therefore improves its overall sensitivity;
in other words the mobile mast is able to receive weaker signals.
 The use of Tower Mounted Amplifiers (TMAs) has offered significant improvements to carriers to
minimize call drops, loss of communication, and provide a more reliable service to customers in both
outdoor and indoor coverage.
 85

Tower Mounted Amplifier-(Increased Coverage)

 Applications of Tower Mounted Amplifiers
86

Manufacturers of Tower Mounted Amplifiers have accommodated the Base Station equipment providers with
different types of TMAs to meet system requirements. Three types commonly used are shown below

 The TMA-S is a Rx-receive only tower mounted amplifier

that connects between the Rx-receive antenna and
the radio.
 Its purpose is to boost weak signals from the subscriber.
 This configuration is specific to systems that use separate
antennas for Tx-transmit and Rx-receive.

Tower Mounted Amplifier-Single

(TMA-S)
 Tower Mounted Amplifier-Duplex
87

(TMA-D)

 The TMA-D is a duplex tower mounted amplifier that is

used for the Base Station with a single antenna port
connection for Tx-transmit and Rx-receive.
 These systems are commonly called transceivers

Tower Mounted Amplifier-Single

(TMA-D)
 Tower Mounted Amplifier-Duplex
88

(TMA-DD)

 The TMA-DD is a dual duplex tower mounted amplifier that

combines Tx-transmit and Rx-receive ports from the Base
Station with a single transmission line.
 This configuration is specific to systems that can utilize a
single antenna configuration.

Tower Mounted Amplifier-Single

(TMA-DD)
 89

Types of Tower Mounted Amplifiers

 90

Tower Mounted Amplifier

Tower Mounted Amplifier (TMA) also called Mast Head Amplifier (MHA).

 Impact on link budget

• Slightly Reduce the global Noise Figure
• Compensate the cable losses
• 0.4dB DL insertion losses Usage

Usage recommended for UL coverage-limited scenarios

Tower Mounted Amplifier 92

Impact Of TMA
 93

Benefits in mobile communications

 In two way communications systems, there are occasions when one way, one link, is weaker than the other,
normally referenced as unbalanced links. This can be fixed by making the transmitter on that link stronger or
the receiver more sensitive to weaker signals.

 TMAs are used in mobile networks to improve the sensitivity of the uplink in mobile phone masts.

 Since the transmitter is a mobile phone it cannot be easily modified to transmit stronger signals. Improving
the uplink translates into a combination of better coverage and mobile transmitting at less power, which in
turn implies a lower drain from its batteries, thus a longer battery charge.[1]

There are occasions when the cable between the antenna and the receiver is so lossy (too thin or too long) that
the signal weakens from the antenna before reaching the receiver; therefore it may be decided to install TMAs
from the start to make the system viable. In other words, the TMA can only partially correct, or palliate, the link
imbalance.
 Summary •94

 Cell edge throughput calculations

 Link budget for UL and DL
 Role of RRH and TMA
 UL/DL link budget exercises
 •95

“HAPPY LEARNING”

MobileComm Professionals, Inc.

www.mcpsinc.com
www.mmentor.com