actix radioplan acp guide 3 13

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Version 3.13

Automatic Cell

Planning (ACP) User Guide

Documentation Version: ACP-v3.13, June 2010 Software Version: Actix Radioplan ACP v3.13 Actix Radioplan v3.13

The content of this manual is provided for information only, is subject to change without notice,

and should not be construed as a commitment by Actix. Actix assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors or inaccuracies that appear in this documentation. Copyright © 2001–2010 by Actix GmbH. All rights reserved.

Trademark Notice Radioplan is a registered trademark of Actix GmbH in the European Union. Actix and the Actix logo are trademarks of Actix Ltd. All other product or brand names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective

holders.

Contact: Actix GmbH Actix Ltd Altmarkt 10 200 Hammersmith Road D-01067 Dresden Hammersmith Germany London, W6 7DL tel.: +49 (0) 351 404 29 – 0 United Kingdom fax: +49 (0) 351 404 29 – 50 www.actix.com

e-mail: [email protected] www.actix.com

http://www.radioplan.com/

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Contents

1 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................... 7

1.1 OBJECTIVES OF NETWORK OPTIMIZATION ................................................................. 7 1.2 CHALLENGES IN RADIO NETWORK OPTIMIZATION ........................................................ 8 1.3 ADVANTAGES OF THE ACTIX RADIOPLAN SOLUTION ..................................................... 9

2 RADIOPLAN ACP OVERVIEW ......................................................................... 11

2.1 RADIOPLAN ACP NETWORK OPTIMIZATION PROCESS .................................................. 11 2.2 ACTIX RADIOPLAN INTEGRATION IN THE PLANNING AND OPTIMIZATION PROCESS ................. 13 2.3 OPTIMIZATION TASKS ....................................................................................... 14

2.3.1 Site Selection and Site Integration .......................................................... 14 2.3.2 Capacity and Coverage (Cell Parameter) Optimization ............................... 15 2.3.3 Overshooting Cells Detection and Handling .............................................. 16 2.3.4 Optimization Series ............................................................................... 16

2.4 MAIN ELEMENTS IN THE GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE ................................................. 17

3 OPTIMIZATION - GENERAL SETTINGS .............................................................. 20

4 OPTIMIZATION PROJECT CONFIGURATION......................................................... 24

4.1 NETWORK LAYER ............................................................................................. 24 4.2 AREAS ......................................................................................................... 25 4.3 CLUTTER CLASSES SETTINGS .............................................................................. 28 4.4 ANTENNA SETTINGS ......................................................................................... 29 4.5 SITE SETTINGS .............................................................................................. 32 4.6 CELL SETTINGS .............................................................................................. 34

4.6.1 Optimization Capabilities ....................................................................... 35 4.6.1.1 Conditions for Shared Antenna Parameters .............................................. 39

4.6.2 General Settings ................................................................................... 40 4.6.3 Resources Settings ............................................................................... 41 4.6.4 HSDPA Settings (UMTS only) .................................................................. 45 4.6.5 Transmitters Settings (GSM and iDEN only) ............................................. 48 4.6.6 Custom Parameters Settings .................................................................. 50

4.7 ADDITIONAL ANTENNA SETTINGS ......................................................................... 52 4.8 REPEATER SETTINGS ........................................................................................ 52 4.9 USER, TRAFFIC, AND REVENUE CONFIGURATION ........................................................ 54

5 OPTIMIZATION WIZARD .............................................................................. 56

5.1 ANALYSIS SETTINGS ........................................................................................ 56 5.1.1 Analysis Settings for CDMA and UMTS ..................................................... 56 5.1.2 Analysis Settings for GSM and iDEN ........................................................ 57 5.1.3 Analysis Settings for WiMAX ................................................................... 59 5.1.4 Analysis Settings for LTE ....................................................................... 59 5.1.5 Network Load Slider (CDMA and UMTS only) ............................................ 60 5.1.6 Calculation Pixel Size ............................................................................ 64 5.1.7 Advanced / Computation Effort Settings .................................................. 64 5.1.8 Best Cell Overlap Evaluation Margin ........................................................ 66 5.1.9 Best Cell Overlap Evaluation Method (GSM and iDEN) ............................... 66 5.1.10 Traffic and Area Masking ...................................................................... 66 5.1.11 Reconfigurable Cell Selection ................................................................ 69 5.1.12 Relevant Cells Plot .............................................................................. 70

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5.1.13 HSDPA (UMTS only) ............................................................................ 70 5.1.14 EVDO (CDMA only) .............................................................................. 72 5.1.15 Use GPEH Data (UMTS only) ................................................................. 72

5.2 OPTIMIZATION WIZARD ..................................................................................... 73 5.2.1 Template Selection ............................................................................... 73 5.2.2 Optimization Task Selection and Optimization Plot Settings ........................ 74

5.2.2.1 CDMA or UMTS Target Network Layer(s) ................................................. 74 5.2.2.2 GSM or iDEN Target Network Layer(s) ..................................................... 76 5.2.2.3 WiMAX Target Network Layer(s) ............................................................. 77 5.2.2.4 LTE Target Network Layer(s) .................................................................. 78

5.2.3 Sites To Be Integrated........................................................................... 79 5.2.4 Target and Constraint Network Layers for Multi-Layer Optimization ............. 80 5.2.5 Settings for Target Layers (Analysis Settings) .......................................... 81

5.2.5.1 Additional Thresholds (CDMA and UMTS only) .......................................... 82 5.2.5.2 Neighbor Cell Detection ......................................................................... 83 5.2.5.3 Method for Electrical Tilt Optimization ..................................................... 84 5.2.5.4 Overshooting Cell Compensation ............................................................ 84

5.2.6 Settings for Constraint Layers ................................................................ 85 5.2.7 Cost Control ......................................................................................... 88 5.2.8 Configuration Summary ......................................................................... 92 5.2.9 Optimization Results ............................................................................. 92

5.3 REVENUE ANALYSIS ......................................................................................... 93 5.3.1 Covered Revenue Function ..................................................................... 93

6 OPTIMIZATION ANALYSIS ............................................................................ 94

6.1 OPTIMIZATION PROGRESS .................................................................................. 96 6.1.1 Updating the Automatic Optimization Plots ............................................... 96 6.1.2 Optimization Progress Chart ................................................................... 97

6.2 ANALYSIS PLOTS ........................................................................................... 100 6.2.1 Best Pilot Received Power / Best RxPower / Best Pilot RSCP / Best Pilot

RSSI (CDMA, UMTS, WiMAX, and LTE) ........................................................... 100 6.2.2 Best RxLev_DL Power (GSM and iDEN only) ........................................... 102 6.2.3 Best Cell Areas of All, Reconfigurable, and Relevant Cells ........................ 103 6.2.4 RSSI (CDMA and UMTS only) ............................................................... 104 6.2.5 Best Pilot Ec/Io (CDMA and UMTS only) ................................................. 107 6.2.6 Best Pilot CINR / Best C/I (WiMAX only) ................................................ 108 6.2.7 Best Pilot SINR (LTE only).................................................................... 109 6.2.8 Best C/I (GSM and iDEN only) .............................................................. 110 6.2.9 Pilot RSCP Coverage (CDMA, UMTS, and LTE) ........................................ 111 6.2.10 Pilot RSSI Coverage (WiMAX only) ...................................................... 112 6.2.11 RxLev_DL Coverage (GSM and iDEN only) ............................................ 113 6.2.12 Pilot RSCP Coverage Threshold (CDMA, UMTS, and LTE) ........................ 113 6.2.13 Pilot RSSI Coverage Threshold (WiMAX only) ........................................ 114 6.2.14 RxLev_DL Coverage Threshold (GSM and iDEN only) ............................. 114 6.2.15 Pilot Ec/Io Coverage (CDMA and UMTS only) ........................................ 114 6.2.16 Pilot CINR Coverage (WiMAX only) ...................................................... 115 6.2.17 Pilot SINR Coverage (LTE only) ........................................................... 115 6.2.18 C/I Coverage (GSM and iDEN only) ..................................................... 116 6.2.19 Pilot Ec/Io Coverage Threshold (CDMA and UMTS only) ......................... 116 6.2.20 Pilot CINR Coverage Threshold (WiMAX only) ....................................... 117 6.2.21 Pilot SINR Coverage Threshold (LTE only) ............................................ 117 6.2.22 C/I Coverage Threshold (GSM and iDEN only) ...................................... 117 6.2.23 Best Cell Overlap .............................................................................. 118 6.2.24 Cell Overlap Ratio per Cell.................................................................. 119 6.2.25 Site Overlap Ratio per Site ................................................................. 119 6.2.26 Equivalent DL or UL Traffic per Pixel (CDMA and UMTS only) .................. 120

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6.2.26.1 User Activity Factor ........................................................................... 122 6.2.26.2 DL or UL Service Activity Factor .......................................................... 123 6.2.26.3 DL or UL Radio Bearer Activity Factor .................................................. 124 6.2.26.4 DL or UL Service Correction Factor ...................................................... 125 6.2.26.5 Special Case: HSDPA Users ................................................................ 126

6.2.27 Absolute Traffic ................................................................................ 126 6.2.28 Relative Traffic per Cell (CDMA and UMTS only) .................................... 127 6.2.29 Relative Load per Cell (CDMA and UMTS only) ...................................... 128 6.2.30 Users per Cell ................................................................................... 129 6.2.31 Cell Sizes ......................................................................................... 130 6.2.32 CQI (UMTS only) ............................................................................... 130 6.2.33 Total Revenue .................................................................................. 132 6.2.34 Covered Revenue .............................................................................. 133 6.2.35 Lost Revenue ................................................................................... 134 6.2.36 Total Revenue per Cell ....................................................................... 135 6.2.37 Covered Revenue per Cell .................................................................. 136 6.2.38 Lost Revenue per Cell ........................................................................ 137

6.3 GRAPHICAL ANALYSIS OF CHANGES AFTER OPTIMIZATION ........................................... 138 6.3.1 Cell Changes (Overview) ..................................................................... 138 6.3.2 Tilt, Azimuth, or Power Changes ........................................................... 139 6.3.3 Difference of the Relative Load per Cell (CDMA and UMTS only)................ 140 6.3.4 Relative Score per Cell ........................................................................ 141 6.3.5 Difference of the Covered Revenue per Cell............................................ 142 6.3.6 Difference of the Lost Revenue per Cell ................................................. 143

7 OPTIMIZATION RESULTS ........................................................................... 145

7.1 RESULTS DIALOG .......................................................................................... 145 7.1.1 Change List ........................................................................................ 149 7.1.2 Work Order ........................................................................................ 149

7.2 OPTIMIZATION SUMMARY REPORT ....................................................................... 149 7.3 SUBMIT TO DATABASE .................................................................................... 154

8 OPTIMIZATION ALGORITHMS ...................................................................... 157

8.1 OPTIMIZATION PRINCIPLES ............................................................................... 157 8.1.1 Basic Optimization Method ................................................................... 158

8.1.1.1 Focus on RF Network Characteristics ..................................................... 159 8.1.2 Search Window Defined by Max. Steps Up and Down .............................. 160 8.1.3 Required Performance Improvement (RPI) ............................................. 161 8.1.4 Coverage Constraints .......................................................................... 162

8.1.4.1 Preferred Coverage Objective ............................................................... 165 8.1.5 Optimization Performance .................................................................... 166 8.1.6 ROI and Revenue Thresholds ............................................................... 166

8.2 SITE SELECTION OPTIMIZER ............................................................................. 168 8.2.1 Project Configuration ........................................................................... 168 8.2.2 Problem Analysis ................................................................................ 169 8.2.3 Site Selection Optimization Configuration .............................................. 170 8.2.4 Objective Function and Side Constraints ................................................ 175 8.2.5 Algorithm Sequence ............................................................................ 176

8.3 CAPACITY AND COVERAGE OPTIMIZER .................................................................. 178 8.3.1 Project Configuration ........................................................................... 178 8.3.2 Problem Analysis ................................................................................ 179 8.3.3 Capacity and Coverage Optimization Configuration ................................. 180 8.3.4 Objective Function and Side Constraints for CDMA and UMTS Target

Network Layers depending on the RSCP vs. Ec/Io Slider .................................. 184

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8.3.5 Objective Function and Side Constraints for GSM and iDEN Target

Network Layers depending on the RxLev_DL vs. Overlap Slider ........................ 187 8.3.6 Additional Side Constraints by Constraint Network Layers ........................ 189 8.3.7 Algorithm Sequence ............................................................................ 190

8.4 SITE INTEGRATION OPTIMIZER .......................................................................... 191 8.4.1 Project Configuration ........................................................................... 191 8.4.2 Problem Analysis ................................................................................ 191 8.4.3 Site Integration Optimization Configuration ............................................ 191 8.4.4 Objective Function and Side Constraints ................................................ 192

8.5 OVERSHOOTING CELLS OPTIMIZER ...................................................................... 192 8.5.1 Project Configuration ........................................................................... 192 8.5.2 Problem Analysis ................................................................................ 192 8.5.3 Overshooting Cells Optimization Configuration ....................................... 192 8.5.4 Objective Function and Side Constraints ................................................ 193

9 CUSTOMIZATION .................................................................................... 195

9.1 DEFAULT AND USER-DEFINED CONFIGURATION FILES ............................................... 195 9.2 CUSTOMIZABLE CONFIGURATION PARAMETERS ........................................................ 196

10 RUNNING OPTIMIZATION SERIES ............................................................... 219

11 ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................... 222

12 REFERENCES ....................................................................................... 224

Actix Radioplan Automatic Cell Planning (ACP) Version 3.13 User Guide Introduction 7

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1 Introduction

The Actix Radioplan software comprises the Automatic Cell Planning (ACP) tool, which enables a highly efficient automated 2G and 3G network optimization that is easily

integrated into the network operator‟s planning and optimization processes. Thus, it ensures a profitable network setup for achieving the maximum coverage, capacity, and service quality at minimum costs.

1.1 Objectives of Network Optimization

Network optimization is the process of steadily improving the network setup from the planning stage up to the live optimization of the running network.

The key objectives of network optimization are thus:

Cut down operational and capital expenditures significantly

Increase data service revenues and maintain a high quality of service with a cost-

efficient network setup

Reduce the time to market for new network setups and new services significantly

Evolve the network in a controlled manner in alignment with the marketing traffic

forecast

Ensure a leading edge position regarding network quality and capacity against competing networks

Two main tasks can be distinguished where the optimal network setup has to be found:

the deployment of the required infrastructure (launch) and

the maximum utilization of the existing infrastructure (post-launch).

The launch task corresponds to the initial deployment of the network as well as to the extension of an existing network by additional sites. It is characterized by:

the selection of the base station sites and

the initial cell configurations.

The post-launch task corresponds to stabilizing and adapting the launched network best to the real-world environment. It is characterized by:

maximizing the coverage, capacity, and service quality through the reconfiguration of the existing infrastructure by means of

the optimization of the network layout, i.e. of certain cell parameters, and possibly Radio Resource Management (RRM) parameters.


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1.2 Challenges in Radio Network Optimization

So far both tasks, the network deployment and the maximum utilization of the existing infrastructure, rely on experienced planning engineers that manually select sites or reconfigure the planned network setup based on their RF and radio technology expertise thereby usually using extensive drive test data and/or a planning tool for evaluation. Such a planning tool incorporates pathloss predictions as well as terrain and clutter information

and may also include a static simulator, which incorporates the assumptions on the traffic load, traffic distribution, and service mix.

This approach is very time-consuming, tedious, and error-prone, especially for large areas. Instead, an automated process relieves the planning and/or optimization engineer from the repeating manual tasks and can thus save much engineering time. Moreover, it

enables the evaluation of many more possible network setups based on clearly defined performance measures and cost constraints, thus providing the engineer with a network

setup that is much more comprehensive and cost-effective.

Even more than in 2G TDMA radio networks, the capacity and quality of a 3G W-CDMA network strongly depends on the spatial multi-service traffic distribution. Therefore, if 3G traffic measurements or at least forecasts are already available and reliable, the network optimization needs to consider that traffic data.

However, the traffic-relevant evaluation of each configuration change during the iterative optimization process by means of reliable simulation results is very time-consuming.

Moreover, before applying the optimized network setup to the network, it may be validated by a planning tool using static simulations. Hence, the optimization and the validation method, both using simulations, would not be independent from each other.

Generally, the success of the network optimization in the planning process, whether

manual or automated, is predetermined by the accuracy of the planning data, namely by the predictions and, if available, incorporated measurements of the pathloss and the user

behavior.

Last but not least, a successful automated optimization is not only required to quickly produce its results, but also to be closely integrated into the planning process and workflows as well as to provide comprehensive analysis and reporting capabilities as well as a high usability.


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1.3 Advantages of the Actix Radioplan Solution

Actix Radioplan ACP has superior characteristics compared to competing approaches due to the following aspects:

Simple to integrate into existing 2G and 3G network planning and optimization workflows. Entire planning data configurations can be imported into Radioplan ACP in a single step without any further modification – e.g. via the Atoll Synchronization Module (ASM) or other planning-tool-specific plugins to Radioplan

ACP. Thus, the optimization process totally relies on planning data, namely the network setup, pathloss maps, DEM terrain maps, clutter maps, multi-service traffic maps (optionally), and the optimization constraints. The planning data can

also be tuned and updated with measurement data from drive tests in the real network. The Radioplan ACP optimization process and its workflow integration is described in chapter 2.

Closely supports both launch and post-launch optimization tasks by individual

optimization algorithms that match the specific planning goals. Corresponding optimization tasks of Radioplan ACP are described in section 2.3.

Highly efficient because its basic approach does not utilize an inherent network simulation in the iterative optimization process. This approach is justified by the sophisticated computation of the objective function that accounts for the network load induced by users according to the multi-service traffic distribution as well as the interference between cells due to the network load. Moreover, the Radioplan ACP approach is designed to find the maximum improvement in coverage,

capacity, and quality in the shortest time. Thereby cost constraints defined by the

network operator are incorporated. The optimization technique is described in chapter 8.

Highly reliable because already in the planning process the optimization results can be independently validated by static and dynamic simulations using the integrated Radioplan Network Simulator. This validation of the performance improvement resulting from the optimization is very reliable because the objective

functions used for capacity and coverage optimization do not apply simulations and are thus independent from the validation method. Additionally, the optimization results can easily be validated by drive-test measurements from the live network. Moreover, the user can decide to what extent the possibly uncertain traffic forecasts shall be incorporated in the optimization. The optimization process is described in section 2.1 and the optimization technique in more detail in chapter 8.

Easy and intuitive to use. The graphical user interface effectively supports the

user throughout the entire optimization process. In particular, it provides

comprehensive reporting and graphical analysis capabilities including powerful direct comparisons of the initial and the optimized network setups and the optimization progress is permanently communicated to the user including an animated presentation of the performance improvements through the reconfigurations. The usability is well illustrated by the description of the application scenarios in chapter 2.3 as well as by the overall description of the

configuration and analysis capabilities in the present documentation.

Customizable such that configuration settings can be predefined for certain optimization scenarios, which enable an instant start of the optimization. The customization is described in chapter 9.


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Actix Radioplan Automatic Cell Planning (ACP) Version 3.13 User Guide Radioplan ACP Overview 11

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2 Radioplan ACP Overview

2.1 Radioplan ACP Network Optimization Process

The Radioplan ACP network optimization process relies on planning data that is possibly tuned and updated with measurement data from the live network. In particular, the network setup, pathloss maps, DEM terrain maps, the clutter map, multi-service traffic

maps (optionally), and the optimization constraints are fed into the optimization process, Fig. 2-1.

reconfiguration

of the

network setup

DEM map clutter map

objective

function

network setup pathloss maps

pre-analysisQoS

validation

constraints

traffic maps

Simulations or

Measurements

(optional)

Simulations or

Measurements

(optional)

High-speed iterative process

reconfiguration

of the

network setup

DEM map clutter map

objective

function

network setup pathloss maps

pre-analysisQoS

validation

constraints

traffic maps

Simulations or

Measurements

(optional)

Simulations or

Measurements

(optional)

High-speed iterative process

Fig. 2-1 Network optimization process supported by Radioplan ACP

The initial network setup can be analyzed instantly by a set of analysis plots that highlight optimization-relevant performance measures and illustrate the objective functions. Thereby problem areas can be identified and the need for and required extent of

optimization can be determined.

Generally, the network setup can be reconfigured by selecting:

site locations and

antenna heights

as well as by changing:

antenna types,

electrical and mechanical antenna tilts,

antenna azimuths, and

cell powers.


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The optimization tasks that are targeted by the Radioplan ACP optimization algorithms are described in section 2.3.

Appropriate objective functions have been defined for these optimizers:

An objective function that represents the coverage probability is used to maximize the coverage.

An objective function that represents the cell load or cell overlapping is used to minimize interference and power consumption in order to maximize the capacity and service quality.

Since the optimization is often a trade-off between conflicting goals, the objective functions are additionally combined with constraints, e.g. with respect to coverage,

balanced network load, and above all costs.

The optimization algorithms employ these objective functions in different ways – as

described in chapter 8.

As also illustrated in Fig. 2-1, the optimization process is an iterative procedure where alternately the objective function is computed over the optimization region and then certain network parameters are adjusted. This means implicitly that apart from the calculation of the objective function, which is based on the available planning and measurement data, no expensive simulation of the network is performed during capacity and coverage optimization. This fact greatly contributes to the extreme efficiency of the

method applied.

Moreover, the deterministic Direction Set (“Powell‟s”) algorithm that is applied in the optimization method – combined with a partitioning into local groups of affected cells and with heuristics based on Actix‟s extensive radio network expertise – ensure that the optimum network setup can be found within the huge parameter space of the optimization

problem extremely fast.

In addition to that all available system resources can be efficiently exploited because Radioplan ACP supports parallel processing.

During the automated optimization process animated plots and charts illustrate the progress of the reconfigurations that are accepted by the evaluation heuristics as well as their impact on performance measures and objective functions.

Analysis and validation capabilities allow a direct comparison of the network setup before and after optimization as well as reporting. Moreover, exporting functions support the

feedback of the optimization results in the planning and optimization process and their application in the live network.

Optimization

capabilities

configuration in

each project

Problem

analysis

Optimizer

configuration

Optimization

results analysis

and reporting

Optimization process

- including progress

indication and

automatic

optimization plots

Fig. 2-2 Optimization sub-steps of Radioplan ACP network optimization process


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Radioplan ACP efficiently supports the following sub-steps of the network optimization process – as illustrated in Fig. 2-2:

Optimization capabilities configuration in the Radioplan project: by optimization-relevant settings that can be specific to each project – see chapter 4;

Problem analysis for an appropriate optimizer configuration: by a large variety of Analysis Plots as part of the comprehensive Radioplan data visualization and analysis capabilities – see chapter 6;

Optimizer configuration: by the Optimization Wizard – see chapter 5;

Optimization process: by a visualization of the optimization progress – see chapter 6;

Optimization results analysis and reporting: by a variety of plots and reports as part of the comprehensive Radioplan data

visualization and analysis capabilities – see chapters 7.

2.2 Actix Radioplan Integration in the Planning and Optimization Process

As a part of Actix Radioplan, the automated network optimization provided by Radioplan ACP is integrated with planning tools and measurement equipment usually applied in the

planning and optimization process as depicted in Fig. 2-3.

Planning

Tool

DEM &

Clutter

Maps

Radio Access Network

Measurement

Equipment

Drive Test Analysis

Dynamic & Static

Network Simulation

Automated

Network Optimization

Site and antenna height selection

and adaptation of:

• antenna tilt

• antenna azimuth

• antenna type/pattern

• cell power

Tuning of

Planning DataNetwork Layout &

Performance

Database

Investig.

& Focus

Areas

Pathloss

Maps

Traffic

Maps

Con-

straints

Planning Database

Network

Setup

Optimizing of

Planning Data

Planning

Tool

DEM &

Clutter

Maps

Radio Access Network

Measurement

Equipment

Drive Test Analysis

Dynamic & Static

Network Simulation

Automated

Network Optimization

Site and antenna height selection

and adaptation of:

• antenna tilt

• antenna azimuth

• antenna type/pattern

• cell power

Tuning of

Planning DataNetwork Layout &

Performance

Database

Investig.

& Focus

Areas

Pathloss

Maps

Traffic

Maps

Con-

straints

Planning Database

Network

Setup

Optimizing of

Planning Data

Fig. 2-3 Actix Radioplan ACP Tool Integration

The current network setup and further information required for planning and optimization is usually contained in the planning database of the radio network planning tool. Radioplan has interfaces to such planning tools in order to seamlessly import and export the planning

data thereby applying automated data conversion functions.

For instance, for the Atoll planning tool by FORSK the entire planning configurations can be imported via the COM-based ATOLL Synchronization Module (ASM) into Radioplan ACP in a single step without any further modification. Likewise the confirmed optimized network

setup can be exported via the ASM to the planning tool.


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Through the incorporated drive test data import and analysis, the planning data, e.g. the pathloss maps, can be tuned automatically based on measurements from the live network.

The planning database that is updated with the optimized network setup can already be used to independently validate the results of the automated network optimization against

the planning tool with respect to coverage and capacity indicators.

However, a comprehensive validation including coverage, capacity, and quality requires either live measurements or network simulations. Either approach or a combination of both is supported by Radioplan as it contains not only the drive test analysis, but also incorporates Network Simulators for Monte-Carlo snapshot simulations as well as for fully dynamic network simulations including realistic network models for true and efficient QoS validation.

Please refer to [R-UG] for more information on Radioplan and its modules.

2.3 Optimization Tasks

The optimization algorithms of Radioplan ACP have been designed primarily for the following optimization tasks.

While the example scenarios described below may refer to specific systems, the algorithms can be applied to network configurations of all radio technologies supported by Radioplan: CDMA, GSM, iDEN, UMTS, WiMAX, and LTE.

2.3.1 Site Selection and Site Integration

For the evaluation whether certain available sites should be added to the network configuration or could be removed from the network configuration, the Site Selection

Optimization can be used. As the evaluated sites may have different antenna heights, an antenna height optimization is possible as well. Moreover, through a combination with the Capacity and Coverage Optimization, the cell parameters of the selected sites can

automatically be optimized, too.

Possible scenarios include the following:

Investment Planning for 3G Network Launch or Major Expansion (possibly reusing existing 2G sites)

Upon an initial 3G network launch, the locations for the base station sites have to be selected and initial cell configurations have to be applied in order to meet initial coverage

and capacity objectives with respect to the investment goals.

Especially for an incumbent network operator with an existing 2G network infrastructure, site selection combines two objectives:

select the existing 2G sites to be reused for 3G and

select the optimal sites from additional 3G candidates.

Thereby, an existing 2G network potentially makes it easier to rollout a 3G network but can also create problems due to inter-site distances that are not ideal for 3G. Moreover, the 2G coverage objectives may not align with the 3G coverage objectives.

Also 3G operators that still need to increase their coverage footprint and/or provide more network capacity through a considerable number of new sites usually may select from a larger number of possible site locations – according to their investment goals.

Hence, the Site Selection Optimization can automatically remove those sites which are not required to meet specified coverage and capacity objectives taking the absolute traffic to be served by the remaining sites into account. Therefore, sites that must remain in the network setup may be fixed and the initial cell configurations of the remaining sites can be

optimized automatically. Approved network operator practices for initial cell configurations can be applied, of course, in order to limit the degree of freedom to a great extent.


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Radio Network Design Validation

Network operators in many cases outsource the network design, for example to the radio network equipment vendor (turn-key). Then it is still in the interest of the network operator to get the most from the investment in new sites and to maximize the coverage

and capacity of the network.

According to this need, Radioplan ACP can be used to validate the radio network design proposed by the equipment vendor. Through the combination of Site Selection and Capacity and Coverage Optimization the network operator has powerful means to independently validate the proposed sites and the site configurations and eventually identify better site configurations and even sites, which may not be required if the network design would be optimized according to the coverage and capacity requirements of the

current network rollout phase.

Fill-in Site Optimization

Moreover, given an existing network (post-launch), the network still continuously evolves and new sites have to be filled in to provide additional coverage and capacity. Thereby, a group of several alternative candidate locations for each new site may be available.

Hence, the Site Selection Optimization can automatically add sites through a selection of

the optimal site from each group of alternative candidates in order to achieve the maximum coverage and capacity including the optimization of the initial cell configurations. These candidates can also be cell sites at the same location, but with different antenna heights thus enabling Antenna Height Optimization as well.

If just a single site for a new location has to be integrated (as opposed to a selection from several alternative candidates), the Site Integration Optimization can automatically optimize the initial cell configurations of such a site in accordance with also optimized cell

configurations of the surrounding sites in a very straightforward manner.

2.3.2 Capacity and Coverage (Cell Parameter) Optimization

Given an existing network (post-launch), the maximum utilization of the existing infrastructure is decisive for the cost effectiveness of the network operation.

The objective is to maximize the coverage and minimize the interference by the optimization of the existing network, namely through the reconfiguration of the following cell parameters:

antenna type

antenna mechanical tilt, electrical tilt, and remote electrical tilt

antenna azimuth

cell transmit power of a beacon signal and of possibly other control channels.

Thereby, depending on the propagation environment, coverage and interference may be conflicting objectives because the interference can be minimized through a higher cell isolation, i.e. less cell overlapping. However, a too high cell isolation may reduce the

coverage.

In 3G CDMA networks, cell parameter optimization is vital for the capacity and service quality.

In FDMA networks like GSM, interference is basically controlled by frequency planning and the capacity mainly by the installation of the appropriate number of transceivers. However, as the GSM network evolves over time by inserting new sites, often the existing sites are

not adapted to the denser site configuration. Thus, bad interference conditions and a lack of clearly dominant cell areas may prevent new frequency plans with tighter frequency reuse that can cope with increasing capacity requirements and limited spectrum

availability.


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Moreover, in 3G networks, depending on the cell coverage areas and the traffic distribution, there may be a trade-off between interference minimization and traffic load balancing – both aimed at maximizing the capacity and service quality.

Especially in the early days of 3G networks traffic data may not be available yet and traffic

predictions may not be reliable enough to completely rely on them for network optimization.

Last but not least every cell parameter reconfiguration implies costs for its implementation in the live network. This must be taken into consideration.

Hence, the Capacity and Coverage optimization automatically optimizes the reconfigurable cell parameters and gives the user a number of choices in order to adapt it to the particular network and optimization objectives and constraints. They include for example:

A slider allows the user to set the preference for those cases where maximizing coverage and minimizing interference might require different reconfigurations.

The user has the option to consider the spatial traffic distribution, if available. Otherwise, a homogeneous traffic distribution is assumed. In case of an inhomogeneous traffic distribution the optimization of high-traffic regions is prioritized over low-traffic regions.

Cost parameters (in Radioplan ACP so-called Required Performance Improvement thresholds) allow the user to control the degree of changes to the network setup

and the associated costs.

2.3.3 Overshooting Cells Detection and Handling

Overshooting cells can impair a consistent radio network design. Nevertheless, they may

have been designed for specific reasons at a certain point of time.

Therefore, such cells (also known as “boomer” cells), which over-propagate many others and provide distant best server coverage or strong interference levels, can be identified by Radioplan ACP and, if desired, also down-tilted – both automatically – according to configurable settings.

This overshooting cells detection and handling is available in Radioplan ACP either as a separate optimization algorithm or as an integrated task at the beginning of a Site Selection, Site Integration, or Capacity and Coverage Optimization.

2.3.4 Optimization Series

Radioplan allows you to run optimization series. You can create different Optimization configuration templates and run those consecutively on individual projects. For more information see section 10.


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2.4 Main Elements in the Graphical User Interface

The main optimization functions of Radioplan ACP can be controlled by the Optimization toolbar, Fig. 2-4.

Fig. 2-4 Optimization toolbar: before, during, and after optimization

Run Optimization

Stop Optimization

Unload Optimization Module

Request Plot Update During Optimization Run

Optimization Summary Report…

Show Progress Chart

These functions can also be accessed by the Optimization menu, Fig. 2-5.

In addition to the main optimization functions, Radioplan ACP provides more options for configuration, analysis, and customization. They can also be accessed by the Optimization

menu.

Fig. 2-5 Optimization menu


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When selecting Run Optimization the Optimization Wizard is opened, which guides the user through the configuration – as described in section 5.2. After confirmation of the last wizard dialog the optimization is started.

By the Stop Optimization option the user can stop a running optimization. Then, the

intermediate result is available for analysis, like the result of an optimization.

By the Unload Optimization Module option, the memory occupied by an initialized or completed optimization is released. The information in the memory speeds up further analysis plots. An Unload is required, however, if certain Analysis Settings shall be changed (namely the Calculation Pixel Size ,the Traffic and Area Masking as well as the UMTS HSDPA settings – see also section 5.1).

Note that Unload Optimization Module is automatically called when selecting Run

Optimization.

The Analysis Settings… include all optimization settings that may affect the Analysis Plots – as described in section 5.1.

The Analysis Plots are described in section 6.2. The accessibility of the menus depends on the active network layers (refer to section 4.1).

The Revenue Analysis submenu contains some settings as well as a set of plots for revenue analysis – as described in sections 5.3 and 6.2, respectively. This functionality is only available if the Capital Planning Module is licensed.

The Optimization Summary Report… gives a tabular overview of the optimization results – as described in section 7.2.

Show Progress Chart opens an interactive chart diagram that displays the performance improvements over the steps and accumulated costs as they evolve during the

optimization – as described in section 6.1.2.

The Automatic Plot Update and the Request Plot Update During Optimization Run options are useful to control the Automatic Optimization Plots for a running optimization – as described in section 6.1.1.

Radioplan ACP can be customized using configuration files (*.ini). The menu entries Load

Configuration… and Save Configuration… support the management of such customer- and even user-specific configuration files – as described in chapter 9.

For information on Run Optimization Series, see chapter 10.

Additionally, Radioplan ACP:

considers some General Settings – as described in chapter 3 – and

takes project-specific optimization capabilities into account, which can be

configured in each Radioplan project as described in chapter 4.

Generally, all important steps and decisions during both the configuration and the execution of optimizations are logged in the Optimization tab of the Message window below the main window, Fig. 2-6.


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Fig. 2-6 Logging messages example in the Optimization tab of the Message window

Actix Radioplan Automatic Cell Planning (ACP) Version 3.13 User Guide Optimization - General Settings 20

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3 Optimization - General Settings

From the Radioplan General Settings dialog, invoked by the menu entry Tools General

Settings…, the parameters relevant for Radioplan ACP are described in Table 3-1.

Fig. 3-1 Radioplan General Settings dialog


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Table 3-1 Radioplan-ACP-relevant general settings

Parameter Unit / Value

Description

Raster Matrix Display Settings

Default Minimum Plot Pixel Size

m The minimum dimension [m] of a single pixel used for raster matrix plots.

It is the pixel size effective for the display of matrices, which influences the memory and disk space consumption as well as the displaying performance – refer also to [R-UG].

Noise in Interference Calculations

Noise Floor dBm The noise floor N, which shall represent:

- the thermal noise power Nth within the channel bandwidth

and may additionally include:

- the noise figure NF at the terminal and

- a network-wide additional loss LT at the terminal side, e.g.

for indoor users, which effectively increases the noise floor

resulting in the total configurable value:

N = Nth + NF + LT

one for each of the following supported technologies: UMTS, GSM, CDMA, iDEN, and WiMAX.

For example, the default Noise Floor for UMTS may correspond to N = Nth =-107dBm for B = 5MHz and T = 288K as well

as NF = 0 and LT = 0.

It is used for interference ratio calculations – including:

- Ec/Io calculations in CDMA, UMTS, and LTE projects, and

- C/I calculations in GSM, iDEN, and WiMAX projects.

Noise Figure LTE

dB The noise figure NF for LTE, which can have different system

bandwidths.

Based on this, the LTE noise floor NLTE is defined as follows:

NLTE [dBm] = -114.0 + 10.lg(B [MHz] ) + NF [db]

which assumes

Nth [mW] =(1.38.10-20 mWs.T [K] / K) . B [Hz]

with T = 288K and takes the Bandwidth B from the Network

Layer Settings (refer to section 4.1).

Message Logging

Log Messages to File

{true; false}

If this box is checked, the log output to the Message window is also written to a text file (LogMessages.txt). This file is automatically stored in the user‟s Application Data\Actix\Radioplan directory. It can be easily accessed by clicking the Explore Log Folder… button.

If, upon starting Radioplan, the existing log file is larger than

2 MB, a new one is created and a copy of the previous one is saved with a timestamp.


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Description

Multithreading

Number of Processors

{Auto; 1; 2; …}

In Auto mode, the computations are automatically distributed to all available processor cores.

If not all available processor cores shall be used, the number of them can be specified.

Please note:

In addition to the Radioplan general Plot Pixel Size, Radioplan ACP still defines the

Calculation Pixel Size (refer to section 5.1.6).

The parameter Total Downlink Network Load [%] applies only to the Best Ec/Io plot that is invoked using the menu entry View Configuration Data Plots

Interference Ratio. It is not used for optimization calculations.

For more information on the Radioplan General Settings, e.g. on customization of the

General Settings in the user workspace, please refer to [R-UG].


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Actix Radioplan Automatic Cell Planning (ACP) Version 3.13 User Guide Optimization Project Configuration 24

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4 Optimization Project Configuration

Radioplan ACP considers project-specific configuration data. These optimization settings are described in the following.

4.1 Network Layer

A Radioplan project consists of one or more Network Layers. A network layer is

characterized by the parameters listed in Table 4-1.

Table 4-1 Network Layer parameters

Parameter Unit / Value Description

System {CDMA; GSM; iDEN; UMTS; WiMAX; LTE}

The radio technology.

Frequency

Band

– An integer identifier for:

- the carrier frequency (band) of a CDMA or UMTS system, e.g. the UARFCN, or

- frequency band of a GSM system.

HCS – A string identifier for the Hierarchical Cellular

Structure (HCS) layer, i.e. a certain subset of cells

within a system.

It can also be used to distinguish frequency bands by strings.

Priority [0; 1; 2; …] An integer identifier for the priority of a network layer.

Higher values represent higher priority.

It is used for the best serving cell decision in

conjunction with the cell-specific Min. RxPower Threshold.

Bandwidth [MHz]

> 0

For LTE network layers only:

The LTE system bandwidth.

The Network Layers dialog, Fig. 4-1, gives an overview of the network layers in the

project. It can be opened by clicking the icon (tooltip Manage Network Layers) from the

Surface Plots toolbar.

In that dialog as well as in the combo box right next to it, e.g. , one or more network layers can be selected.

All Network Layers that are selected together must have the same System.

For optimization, further configuration requirements may apply (see below).


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For the selected Network Layers, Radioplan core functions can be used for analysis, e.g. a

received power plot, which is created by clicking the icon (tooltip Plot Received Power) and shows for UMTS layers the Best Pilot Power.

Fig. 4-1 Example of the Network Layers dialog and the LTE-specific Network Layer Options

For the optimization, two sets of network layers can be distinguished:

The active Network Layers in the Network Layers dialog define the Target Layers for optimization.

Further Network Layers can be defined as Constraint Layers for optimization in the Optimization Wizard (refer to section 5.2).

Usually, the network layers in the Radioplan project are the result from the planning data import process. Additionally, they can be created and modified in Radioplan.

For more information, please refer to [R-UG].

4.2 Areas

For each Radioplan project a Simulation Area (brown polygon(s)) and an Analysis Area

(yellow polygon(s)) can be defined in the Areas folder Fig. 4-2.

Fig. 4-2 Areas folder in the Configuration tree tab

The areas are displayed in the main window as for example in Fig. 4-3.


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Fig. 4-3 Example Simulation Area (brown polygon) and Analysis Area (yellow polygon)

The Area Settings dialog, Fig. 4-4, can be invoked by double-clicking an element in the Areas folder of the Configuration tab tree.

Fig. 4-4 Area Settings dialog

There are several ways to define areas in Radioplan:

Areas can be imported automatically together with the planning data imported from a planning tool.

Areas can be imported based on common vector data file formats by the entry Import… in the context menu of the Areas folder or of any existing area item in the Area folder.


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Areas can be drawn and modified using the corresponding paint mode, which is

activated by clicking the Modify Simulation Area icon or the Modify Analysis

Area icon from the Paint toolbar, respectively.

Areas can be edited in the Area Settings dialog, which can be opened by double-clicking an existing area item in the Areas folder, e.g. Fig. 4-4.

Each area may be composed of several subpolygons.

The Analysis Area must be completely inside the Simulation

Area.

More than the 2 area definitions for Analysis Area and Simulation Area may be loaded into

the Areas folder. Then, any area can be selected as the Analysis Area or Simulation Area by the entry Set as Analysis Area or Set as Simulation Area, respectively, in the context menu of that area item in the list.

For more information, please refer to [R-UG].

The Simulation Area and the Analysis Area may have a different impact in conjunction with the different Optimizers of Radioplan ACP, Table 4-2.

Table 4-2 Impact of the area definitions

Analysis Area Simulation Area

General Sets the focus for optimization. Is considered by the optimization, i.e. is the computation area.

Shall define a buffer zone, which includes sites with potential

interdependencies with the sites inside the Analysis Area.

Optimization capabilities

Determines the reconfigurable cells (refer to section 5.1.11).

Only active site candidate groups inside are optimized.

Only removable sites inside may be

removed.

Optionally, only the Analysis Area may be considered for optimization.

–

Optimization objective

Shall be maximized.

(For the specific objectives of each optimization algorithm, please refer

to the respective description in chapter 8.)

Shall never be reduced.


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Optimization

run-time

Scales with the number of

evaluation steps resulting from the optimization capabilities and from the optimizer settings, i.e.:

- the number of site candidate groups,

- the number of removable sites,

and

- the number of reconfigurable cells and their reconfigurable parameters and reconfiguration

ranges.

Scales with the number of traffic-

relevant pixels inside.

Optimization results

Automatic visualization and reporting of coverage and other performance figures, e.g. in:

- Layer legend details,

- Optimization Progress Chart

- Optimization Summary Report.

4.3 Clutter Classes Settings

In order to define clutter-specific thresholds for coverage calculations, a pathloss offset as well as an Ec/Io or C/I offset can be defined for each clutter class in the Clutter Classes Settings dialog, Fig. 4-5. This dialog can be invoked by double-clicking the Clutter Classes

element in the Configuration tab tree. These optimization parameters are defined in

Table 4-3.

Fig. 4-5 Clutter Classes Settings dialog


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Table 4-3 Clutter-specific optimization parameters


Description

Pathloss Offset [dB] (Optimization)

dB A clutter-specific pathloss offset, by which additional losses for users in special environments can be taken into account, e.g. for indoor and in-car users. Moreover, it may account for a fading margin.

It is added to the area-wide default target value for beacon signal received power of the respective system.

For example. for UMTS and CDMA network layers it is added

to the area-wide default Minimum Pilot RSCP in order to determine the Pilot RSCP Coverage; and for GSM network layers it is added to the area-wide default Minimum RxLev_DL in order to determine the RxLev_DL Coverage.

For the respective area-wide default value, please refer to section 5.1.

Ec/Io Offset [dB] (Optimization)

or

C/I Offset [dB]

(Optimization)

dB A clutter-specific offset, by which different interference ratio requirements for a successful detection of the beacon signal and, consequently, for a successful network access can be defined.

It is added to the area-wide default target value for beacon signal interference ratio of the respective system.

For example. for UMTS and CDMA network layers it is added to the area-wide default Minimum Pilot Ec/Io in order to

determine the Pilot Ec/Io Coverage.

For the respective area-wide default value, please refer to section 5.1.

Then, based on the defined Clutter Matrix, these clutter-specific offsets are applied to the coverage calculations – as described for the respective (…) Coverage plots in section 6.2.

The clutter-specific thresholds that result from these offsets can be viewed using the corresponding (…) Coverage Threshold plots (refer also to section 6.2).

4.4 Antenna Settings

For supporting antenna type and electrical tilt optimization, the antenna settings given in Table 4-4 are specifically required.

Table 4-4 Antenna parameters specifically required for optimization

Optimization of: Mandatory antenna parameters

Electrical tilt Antenna Family, Electrical Tilt

Antenna type Antenna Family, Electrical Tilt; Antenna Group

All optimization-relevant antenna parameters are described in Table 4-5.


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Usually the Antenna Families are automatically defined during the data import process from the planning tool to

Radioplan.

All antenna configurations of a family are placed in a subfolder with the name of the respective Antenna Family. Moreover, all antennas without a defined Antenna Family are contained in the No Family subfolder of the Antennas folder in the Configuration tab tree,

Fig. 4-6.

Fig. 4-6 A „No Family‟ subfolder contains antennas without a defined Antenna Family

The antenna settings required for optimization can be configured in the Antenna Settings dialog, Fig. 4-7, which can be invoked by double-clicking the respective Antenna in the Configuration tab tree.

Fig. 4-7 Antenna Settings dialog

The antenna settings can also be configured for all antennas at once in the Antenna Settings Overview dialog, Fig. 4-8, which can be invoked by the entry Settings Overview… in the context menu of any Antenna or Antenna folder in the Configuration tab tree.


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Fig. 4-8 Antenna Settings Overview dialog

If the Antenna Families in the Radioplan project are not defined, the button Update Antenna Families in the Antenna Overview Settings dialog, Fig. 4-8, can be used to

instantly define the Antenna Families for all Antenna IDs that comply with the naming scheme:

<familyname>_<electrical-tilt-value-in-degree> or

<familyname>_T<electrical-tilt-value-in-degree> .

Likewise, given the same naming scheme, the Update Electrical Tilt from Antenna ID button allows to instantly update the Electrical Tilt parameter.

For example, the antenna name Sector_BW62_Var1_G17_2 results in the Antenna Family

Sector_BW62_Var1_G17 and an Electrical Tilt of 2 degrees.

Table 4-5 Optimization-relevant antenna parameters


Description

Antenna Family

string Identifies all antennas that belong to the same family. An Antenna Family is a set of antenna configurations for the

same antenna just with different electrical tilts.

During antenna tilt optimization the electrical tilt may be reconfigured by replacing the original antenna configuration with another configuration of the same family – just with a different electrical tilt.

Electrical Tilt

degree The electrical tilt inherent to the antenna diagram.

Beamwidth degree The 3dB-beamwidth inherent to the antenna diagram.

Alternative Antenna Group

string Identifies all antennas that belong to the same group. An Antenna Group is a set of antenna configurations for different antennas, e.g. different in their Beamwidth and Gain – irrespective of their inherent electrical tilt.

A cell may refer to such an Alternative Antenna Group (refer also to section 4.6). Then, during antenna type optimization,

the antenna type of that cell may be reconfigured by replacing its original antenna with antennas of that Alternative Antenna Group.


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4.5 Site Settings

Site-specific optimization capabilities and constraints can be defined in the Site Settings dialog, Fig. 4-9. It can be invoked by double-clicking the respective site in the Configuration tab tree or by the entry Settings… in the context menu of the respective site.

These optimization parameters are described in Table 4-6.

Fig. 4-9 General tab of the Site Settings dialog

Alternatively, all sites can be configured at once in the Site Settings Overview dialog, Fig. 4-10, which can be invoked by the entry Settings Overview… in the context menu of any site in the Configuration tab tree.


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Fig. 4-10 Site Settings Overview dialog

Table 4-6 Site-specific optimization parameters


Description

Relevant for Capacity and Coverage optimization (also as a task of Site Selection) or for Site Integration or Overshooting Cells optimization

Is Reconfigurable

{true; false}

If disabled, the reconfiguration of any cell and parameter of this site is blocked.

Otherwise, the reconfiguration capabilities and constraints of the cells and of the optimization algorithm apply.

Lock Angle between Cells during Azimuth Optimization

{true; false}

If enabled, the antenna azimuth of any cell at this site can only be changed for all cells together without changing the azimuth relations between the cells (antenna installation with coupled azimuths, e.g. turning the entire antenna mast).

For a site with cells of multiple network layers, this flag

makes the azimuth a shared parameter across all those layers.

Otherwise, the antenna azimuth of the cells can be changed independently for each cell, as usual.

Visit Cost Currency unit,

e.g. €

For Revenue Analysis only:

The cost of a site visit.

The currency unit depends on the Windows OS Regional

and Language Options.


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Description

Rollout Status {Existent; Planned for Acquisition; Not Existent}

If “Consider Configured Rollout Status of Sites“ is enabled in the Cost Control settings (refer to section 5.2.7):

RPI parameters as well as cost and effort limits are only applied to changes at the sites with Rollout Status “Existent”.

Relevant for Site Selection

Is Removable during Site

Selection

{true; false}

Indicates this site as removable for the “Remove Redundant Sites” task of the Site Selection Optimizers,

i.e. whether or not this site location is not necessarily required to be part of the optimized network setup.

However, if the site shall definitely remain in the

optimized network setup – e.g. because it is already in place in the live network, the flag must not be set.

This flag is only observed for sites located in the Analysis Area. Sites outside of the Analysis Area are generally considered not to be removable.

Rollout Status {Existent; Planned for

Acquisition; Not Existent}

If “Consider Configured Rollout Status of Sites“ is enabled in the Cost Control settings (refer to

section 5.2.7):

The “Rollout Status” is used as a priority for evaluation and as a criteria how to consider the cost of changes.

Site Candidate Group

{No Group; Group 01; …;

Group 10}

Defines for the “Site Candidate Groups” task of the Site Selection Optimizer to which of the 10 possible site candidate groups this site belongs to.

By definition, only one site from all candidates in each group will be required as a new fill site for additional coverage and capacity.

4.6 Cell Settings

The parameters that can be configured on a per cell basis include:

the Cell Active flag in the Configuration tab tree, which is interpreted as "the cell is existing in the network",

the Optimization Capabilities, i.e. what kind and extent of reconfiguration is feasible for each cell parameter – as defined in section 4.6.1,

the General Settings, i.e. mainly the parameters of the installed antenna – as defined in section 4.6.2, including the Transmitter (or Subcell) Active flag, which is interpreted as “the transmitter is on, so that the cell is radiating power”,

the Resources Settings, i.e. the system-technology-specific power and further cell resources parameters – as defined in section 4.6.3, and

for UMTS cells, the HSDPA Settings – as defined in section 4.6.4, and

for GSM and iDEN cells, the Transmitters Settings, which list the configured transmitters or radios – as defined in section 4.6.5.


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Generally, each active cell must have a pathloss matrix. Inactive Cells without pathloss matrix are ignored.

For more information on the Cell Settings than in the following sections, please refer to [R-UG].

4.6.1 Optimization Capabilities

The optimization capabilities, i.e. what kind and extent of reconfiguration is feasible for each cell parameter, may differ for each cell. Above all they arise from the installed equipment, but may also consider network planning and operation guidelines as well as regulatory requirements and costs of changes.

For example the following circumstances may restrict the optimization capabilities of a cell:

The mounting of the antenna equipment might only allow a certain mechanical tilt range.

The antenna model might only support a certain electrical tilt range.

The mounting of the antenna equipment and possibly obstacles on the roof might only allow a certain azimuth range.

The mounting of the antenna equipment might support remote electrical tilting (RET).

For regulatory reasons (e.g. near a hospital) the change of the antenna

orientation, neither tilt nor azimuth, might not be allowed.

The budget for a network optimization campaign may only allow a limited number of cell changes.

In contrast to that, the constraint whether the reconfiguration of a certain cell parameter shall be actually used for an optimization and to which extent, can still be defined at a later step of the optimization process in the respective Optimizer Settings according to the optimization objectives (refer to chapter 8).

Usually, these cell-specific reconfiguration capabilities should be contained in the planning database used for optimization so that it can be imported to Radioplan ACP. However, this data may not be available yet.

Therefore, cell-specific reconfiguration capabilities for optimization can be defined in the Cell Settings dialog, Fig. 4-11, with the parameters described in Table 4-7.

These reconfiguration capabilities include whether a certain cell parameter may be changed as well as the possible reconfiguration range or constraints:

The reconfiguration ranges for the antenna tilt, antenna azimuth, and the applicable power are defined by discrete reconfiguration steps with a given step size between a minimum and a maximum value.

The Shared flag can be applied as an additional constraint in case of multi-band and multi-system antennas.

The reconfiguration constraints for the antenna type can be defined by up to 5 Antenna Groups.

For Revenue Analysis: The costs associated with implementing a certain type of change at the cell.


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The cell-specific costs are only considered for optimization if Use Cell/Site Individual Cost is selected in the Cost Control settings (refer to section 5.2.7).

The originally configured value should be included in the

reconfiguration steps. If it is not included, it will be automatically added.

Fig. 4-11 Optimization tab of the Cell Settings dialog (example for a UMTS cell)

By clicking the Select Antenna Groups button in the Optimization tab of the Cell Settings dialog, Fig. 4-11, the Antenna Groups dialog is opened, Fig. 4-12. Here, the Antenna Groups, which must have been defined before in the Antenna Settings (refer to section 4.4), are available for selection.


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Fig. 4-12 Antenna Groups dialog

Table 4-7 Cell-specific optimization parameters


Description

Reconfigurable …

- Mechanical Tilt (THETA) - Electrical Tilt

(within Antenna

Family) - Azimuth (PHI) - Power - Antenna Type

{true; false}

Indicates whether the respective cell parameter can be reconfigured at all.

For more information on electrical tilt optimization within the Antenna Family, please refer to section 5.1.

The reconfigurable power parameter depends on the System:

- UMTS, CDMA, WiMAX: Pilot Power - GSM, iDEN: Output Power

Please make sure to disable e.g. a Reconfigurable Mechanical Tilt for omnidirectional cells.

Remote Electrical Tilt (RET) Installed

{true; false}

Indicates whether the electrical tilt can be changed remotely.

Since this option makes electrical tilt changes cheaper it can be associated with a specific Required Performance Improvement value for optimization (refer to section 8.1.3).

Min Max

degree

dBm

Absolute lower and upper limit for the respective cell parameter defining the possible range of:

- Mechanical Tilt (THETA) - Electrical Tilt - Azimuth (PHI)

- Power

For tilt and power, Min must be smaller than Max. For azimuth, Min = Max declares the full circle as allowed range including the step across 360°

0°.

Step Size

degree

dB

Step size for the reconfiguration of:

- both electrical and mechanical antenna tilt - antenna azimuth

- power


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Description

Shared

- Mechanical Tilt (THETA) - Electrical Tilt - Azimuth

(PHI)

{true; false}

Indicates whether the respective cell parameter can only be reconfigured together for all cells that share this antenna.

For example, a multi-band or multi-system antenna may transmit signals of multiple technologies and on multiple frequency bands. Thereby, the azimuth

and mechanical tilt could be shared for all signals, whereas the electrical tilt could be reconfigurable for each signal independently.

Please make sure to set the Shared flag at the

respective antenna parameters of all cells that share the antenna.

Refer to section 4.6.1.1 for further information.

Antenna Groups {all Alternative Antenna Groups defined in the Antenna

Settings}

Identifies up to 5 groups of antennas that may replace the installed antenna as a result from antenna type optimization.

If the defined “groups” contain only a single antenna each, this option can also be used to specify 5 individual alternative antennas.

Costs

- Mechanical

Tilt - Electrical Tilt - Remote El.

Tilt - Azimuth (PHI) - Power - Antenna Type

Currency unit,

e.g. €

For Revenue Analysis only:

The cost associated with the implementation of an

optimization change for the respective cell parameter.

The currency unit depends on the Windows OS

Regional and Language Options.

Maximum Users per Cell

– The target number of users for this cell (irrespective of their service).

Alternatively, all cells can be configured at once in the Cell Optimization Settings Overview dialog, Fig. 4-13, which can be opened by the entry Optimization Settings Overview… in the context menu of any cell in the Configuration tab tree.

The overview dialog contains all cells that belong to the same System like the cell, which it was opened from.


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Fig. 4-13 Cell Optimization Settings Overview dialog (example for UMTS network layers)

In contrast to that, a technology-independent Cell Optimization Settings Overview dialog, Fig. 4-14, can be opened by the entry File Current Project Cell Optimization Settings

in the main menu.

Fig. 4-14 Cell Optimization Settings Overview dialog (example for ALL network layers)

The grey columns in the overview tables are read-only parameters, which are defined in other tables such as the Cell Settings Overview.

4.6.1.1 Conditions for Shared Antenna Parameters

The following conditions apply to the recognition of antennas with shared parameters.

The cells with a shared antenna must be at the same site in the Radioplan project.

The cells must have the same {X; Y; Z} position.

However, in case of inaccuracies of the cells‟ coordinates in the imported planning data, a snap radius for each the X-Y Offsets and the Height over Ground can be defined in the configuration file (refer to SharedAntennaPositionThresholdXY and

SharedAntennaPositionThresholdZ in section 9.2).

At all respective cells, the shared parameter must:

▫ have the same current value

▫ be reconfigurable

▫ be shared, of course.


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If cells and antenna parameters are configured to be shared, but do not meet the aforementioned conditions, then a warning message in the Message window indicates the respective cell and parameter and shared settings are ignored during the optimization.

4.6.2 General Settings

For all cells of any network layer, a number of general parameters are considered by Radioplan ACP. They are highlighted in Fig. 4-15.

The Network Layer parameter can be used as a filter for a group of cells to be optimized together – refer also to section 4.1.

The highlighted General Settings include the parameters of the current antenna installation, which are to be optimized.

They are also the basis for all propagation calculations, e.g. like for the Pilot Received Power as described in section 6.2.1.

Fig. 4-15 General tab of the Cell Settings dialog (for a CDMA, UMTS, or WiMAX cell)

The Transmitter (or Subcell) Activated flag is interpreted as “the transmitter is on air”, whereas the Cell Active flag in the Configuration tab tree is interpreted as "the cell is existing in the network". This distinction can be used for the configuration of repeaters and additional antennas.

The Transmitter Activated flag is only for CDMA, UMTS, and WiMAX cells a parameter in the General Settings tab.

For GSM and iDEN cells, the Transmitter Activated flag is defined in the Transmitters Settings (refer to section 4.6.5).


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4.6.3 Resources Settings

The Resources Settings considered by Radioplan ACP depend on the network layer of the cell. The relevant parameters for UMTS, CDMA, GSM, iDEN, or WiMAX cells are highlighted in Fig. 4-16, Fig. 4-17, Fig. 4-18, Fig. 4-19, and Fig. 4-20, respectively, and defined in Table 4-8.

For UMTS, CDMA, or WiMAX cells, the PCPICH Power, FPICH Power, or Pilot Power, respectively, is the basis for the calculation of the Pilot Received Power – as described in section 6.2.1.

Moreover, all highlighted power parameters of UMTS, CDMA, or WiMAX cells are considered for interference calculations – as described in sections 6.2.4, 6.2.5, and 6.2.6 – as well as for the interpretation of the Network Load parameter – as described in section 5.1.5.

The Output Power of a GSM or iDEN cell is the basis for the calculation of the RxLev_DL – as described in section 6.2.2 – as well as for interference calculations – as described in section 6.2.8.

Fig. 4-16 Resources tab of the Cell Settings dialog for a UMTS cell


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Fig. 4-17 Resources tab of the Cell Settings dialog for a CDMA cell

Fig. 4-18 Resources tab of the Cell Settings dialog for a GSM cell


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Fig. 4-19 Resources tab of the Cell Settings dialog for an iDEN cell

Fig. 4-20 Resources tab of the Cell Settings dialog for a WiMAX or LTE cell


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Table 4-8 Resources parameters for cells of different network layers

Parameter Symbol Unit / Value

Description

UMTS

Maximum Power

total,maxP dBm The cell‟s maximum output power .

PCPICH Power PCPICHP dBm The cell‟s pilot transmit power.

PCCPCH / SCH Power Offset

PCCPCHP dB-PCPICH

The cell‟s PCCPCH output power defined as offset in relation to the PCPICH Power.

First SCCPCH

Power Offset HFirstSCCPCP dBm The output power of the cell‟s first SCCPCH

defined as offset in relation to the PCPICH Power.

First SCCPCH Activity

HFirstSCCPCAF dBm The activity factor of the cell‟s first SCCPCH.

AICH Power AICHP dBm The cell‟s AICH output power defined as

offset in relation to the PCPICH Power.

AICH Activity AICHAF dBm The cell‟s AICH activity factor.

PICH Power PICHP dBm The cell‟s PICH output power defined as

offset in relation to the PCPICH Power.

PICH Activity PICHAF dBm The cell‟s PICH activity factor.

CDMA

Maximum Power

total,maxP dBm The cell‟s maximum output power .

FPICH Power FPICHP dBm The cell‟s pilot transmit power.

Other CCH

Power Offset otherCCHP dBm The cell‟s output power for DL common

channels other than the FPICH defined as offset in relation to the FPICH Power.

GSM or iDEN

Output Power total,maxP dBm The cell‟s output power on the BCCH

carrier.

Min. RxPower

Threshold min,rP , dBm

default: -130 dBm

The minimum DL received power required

at a pixel to serve a pixel and the corresponding traffic by this cell.

WiMAX or LTE

Pilot Power Pilot,maxP dBm The cell‟s output power for the pilot signal.


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4.6.4 HSDPA Settings (UMTS only)

The HSDPA can be configured on a per cell basis with the parameters defined in Table 4-9.

The HSDPA parameters considered by Radioplan ACP are shown in Fig. 4-21.

Fig. 4-21 HSDPA tab of the Cell Settings dialog for a UMTS cell

Table 4-9 HSDPA parameters for UMTS cells


Description

Activate HSDPA

– {true; false}

Activates the HSDPA in this cell.

For the consideration of the HSDPA settings in the optimization, HSDPA must still be

enabled in the Analysis Settings (refer to section 5.1.13).

Power Mode – {PCPICH Offset; Residue}

Choice of the HSDPA power mode:

- PCPICH Offset: The HSDPA has a fixed power defined by the PCPICH Offset.

- Residue: The HSDPA is dynamically

allocated with the power not used for DCH connections.


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Description

PCPICH Offset

PDSCHHSP dB-PCPICH

For PCPICH Offset power mode only: HSDPA power in relation to the PCPICH power.

Power Margin

PDSCHHStmarginP , dB For Residue power mode only: The maximum cell power including the HSDPA power is set to this Power Margin

below the Maximum Power of the respective cell.

Number of

HS-SCCH SCCHHSn – The number of available HS-SCCHs.

HS-SCCH Resources: PCPICH

Power Offset

SCCHHSP dB-PCPICH

The HS-SCCH power defined as an offset in relation to the PCPICH power.

Depending on the HSDPA power mode, the cell‟s maximum HSDPA power is calculated as follows:

If PCPICH Offset is selected as HSDPA Power Mode:

The maximum HSDPA power is fixed and defined by the PCPICH Offset PDSCHHSP

[dB-PCPICH] – as defined in the Table 6-9.

Then, assuming that the HSDPA is fully loaded, the HS-PDSCH power can be calculated as:

1010dBP

PCPICHPDSCH,maxHS

PDSCHHS

mWPmWP

PDSCHHSP [dB-PCPICH] is the (HSDPA) PCPICH Offset configured for the cell.

Otherwise, if Residue is selected as HSDPA Power Mode:

The maximum HSDPA power depends on the DCH load, because it is allocated on top

of the power allocated for DCH transmissions.

The total power allocated to all common channels (except HS-PDSCH) and to all DCHs can be calculated as:

mWPmWPmWPmWP totalDCHallocatedotherCCHPCPICHallocatedwithDCHtotal ,,,,

mWP usedotherCCH , is the total power of all DL common control channels other than the

PCPICH (i.e. PCCPCH, SCCPCH, AICH, PICH, and HS-SCCH) with the contributions as defined in the Table 4-8 and Table 4-9 as well as with the HSDPA activity factor as defined in section 5.1.13.


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10

10

10

10

10,

10

10

10

10

10

dBPdBmP

SCCHHSHSDPA

dBPdBmP

PICH

dBPdBmP

AICH

dBPdBmP

HFirstSCCPC

dBPdBmP

usedotherCCH

SCCHHSPCPICH

PICHPCPICH

AICHPCPICH

HFirstSCCPCPCPICH

PCCPCHPCPICH

nAF

AF

AF

AF

mWP

1*,, :AFusedotherCCHallocatedotherCCH PP

The total power mWP totalDCH , allocated to all DCH transmissions is estimated based on

the Relative Load per Cell (as defined in section 6.2.29) as well from the configured DCH Network Load (as defined in section 5.1.5) and the Maximum Output Power of the highest loaded cell.

Then, the maximum power including HSDPA load is either the cell‟s Maximum Power

total,maxP reduced by the Residue Mode Power Margin PDSCHHSmarginP , [dB] or still the

power allocated to all common channels (except HS-PDSCH) and to all DCHs, whichever term is higher:

dBmPdBPdBmP

dBmP

allocatedDCHtotal,withPDSCHmargin,HStotal,max

maxPDSCHDCHAndHStotal,with

,

,

,

Moreover, if the left term is smaller than the right term, the maximum available

HSDPA power PDSCH,maxHSP can be calculated as:

mWPmWP allocatedwithDCHtotal

dBPdBmP

PDSCH,maxHS

PDSCHmargin,HStotal,max

,,1010

Which portion of the maximum HSDPA power is actually used can still be defined by the

HSDPA Activity Factor – as defined in section 5.1.13:

mWPAFmWP PDSCH,maxHSHSDPAusedPDSCHHS ,

The HSDPA power is considered in the calculation of the RSSI and dependent measures such as the Pilot Ec/Io and the CQI (refer to sections 6.2.4, 6.2.5, and 6.2.32, respectively).

Moreover, by its consideration in the Network Load (refer to section 5.1.5), the HSDPA

power affects the optimization result.


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4.6.5 Transmitters Settings (GSM and iDEN only)

The transmitters and their frequency plan parameters considered by Radioplan ACP can be configured on a per cell basis with the parameters shown in Fig. 4-22 and defined in Table 4-10.

Fig. 4-22 Transmitters tab of the Cell Settings dialog for a GSM cell

The channel numbers are considered by the interference calculation – as described in

section 6.2.8.


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Fig. 4-23 Transmitters tab of the Cell Settings dialog for an iDEN cell

Table 4-10 Transmitters parameters for GSM or iDEN cells

Parameter Symbol Unit / Value Description

GSM or iDEN

Tx – {“BCCH”; 1; 2; 3; …}

There is one row for each transmitter (“radio”).

There must be one BCCH transmitter, i.e. the one that transmits the BCCH. Further transmitters are TCH transmitters with

sequential numbering.

Active – {true; false} Indicates whether the transmitter is on air.

GSM

Hopping Strategy

– {“BCCH”; “TCH”}

There is one row for each transmitter.

The must be one BCCH transmitter, i.e. the one that transmits the BCCH. Further transmitters are TCH transmitters.

TCH List – Channel number

or

list of channel numbers

The number indicating the channel that is allocated to the respective transmitter.

In case of frequency hopping, it is a semi-colon separated list of the channel numbers in the mobile allocation.

HSN – [0; 63] Hopping Sequence Number.


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MAIO – – Mobile Allocation Index Offset.

GSM or iDEN

Channel – Channel number

The number indicating the channel that is allocated to the respective transmitter (“radio”).

4.6.6 Custom Parameters Settings

A cell may have parameters which are defined in addition to the standard Radioplan

parameters for the technology of this cell. They are listed in the table at the Custom

Parameters tab of the Cell Settings.

One custom parameter that may be used for optimization is the Overshooter flag, Fig. 4-24, as defined in Table 4-11.

Fig. 4-24 Custom Parameters tab of the Cell Settings dialog


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Table 4-11 Optimization-relevant custom parameter for a cell


any technology

Overshooter – {true; false} Indicates this cell as an overshooting cell.

This parameter is read by the Overshooting Cells Optimization Results dialog and displayed there in the column Original Overshooter Status.

Likewise, if Overshooting Cells optimization

results are submitted to the database, then the

values in the column New Overshooter Status are written to this custom parameter of the corresponding cell.

Refer also to Table 7-1 in section 7.1.

The Overshooter flag can also be found in the Cell Settings Overview dialog, namely in the Custom parameters columns, Fig. 4-25.

Fig. 4-25 Overshooter flag in the Cell Settings Overview dialog


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4.7 Additional Antenna Settings

The parameters that can be configured for an additional antenna are a subset of the cell settings including:

the Active flag in the Configuration tab tree, which is interpreted as "the additional antenna is existing in the network";

Note that the additional antenna can be found below the cell with the main antenna:

the Optimization Capabilities, i.e. what kind and extent of reconfiguration is feasible for each additional antenna parameter – as defined for cells in section 4.6.1,

the General Settings – as defined for cells in section 4.6.2,

including the Transmitter (or Subcell) Active flag, which is interpreted as “the transmitter is on, so that the additional antenna is radiating power”,

4.8 Repeater Settings

The parameters that can be configured for a repeater are a subset of the cell settings

including:

the Active flag in the Configuration tab tree, which is interpreted as "the repeater is existing in the network";

Note that the repeater can be found below the site where it is located:

the Optimization Capabilities, i.e. what kind and extent of reconfiguration is feasible for each repeater parameter – as defined for cells in section 4.6.1,

the General Settings – as defined for cells in section 4.6.2, including the

Transmitter (or Subcell) Active flag – for all Systems incl. GSM and iDEN, which is interpreted as “the transmitter is on, so that the repeater is radiating power”,

the Resources Settings, i.e. the system-technology-specific power and further cell resources parameters – as defined for cells in section 4.6.3.

In addition to that, the Repeater Settings include the parameters highlighted in Fig. 4-26

and defined in Table 4-12.


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Fig. 4-26 General tab of the Repeater Settings dialog

Table 4-12 Repeater parameters in addition to cell-type parameters


Donor Cell – Radioplan Cell ID

The reference to the donor cell.

Connection Type

– {“radio”; “fiber”;

“microwave”}

The connection type of the repeater.

It is not recommended to automatically optimize repeaters with Connection Type “radio”.


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4.9 User, Traffic, and Revenue Configuration

Traffic based on one or more traffic matrices can be defined in the User folder of the Configuration tab tree. A traffic matrix must be linked to a user type – called UE Profile, e.g. Fig. 4-27.

Likewise, for Revenue Analysis, revenue can be defined by revenue matrices, which can be defined in a similar way like traffic matrices (refer also to [R-UG]).

A UE Profile is a combination of references to:

an Equipment Profile

a Mobility Profile

a Service Profile

▫ with an associated Traffic Matrix and/or

▫ an associated Revenue Matrix, and

a specific Network Layer (or ALL network layers).

Fig. 4-27 Generic User definition with a Traffic Matrix and a Revenue Matrix

A generic example definition is shown in Fig. 4-28.

Fig. 4-28 UE Profile Settings (example for a Generic User definition)


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At least one active UE Profile must be defined in order to consider a traffic distribution for optimization or a revenue

distribution for revenue analysis.

Each used Service Profile must have only one associated Traffic Matrix for optimization traffic calculations and one associated Revenue Matrix for revenue analysis.

Typically, the Radioplan User configuration is automatically created from the traffic data as part of the project import from the planning tool.

Alternatively, a generic set of profiles can be created by the entry Add Generic User

Profiles in the context menu of the User folder.

The Radioplan User configuration with the traffic matrices is used to calculate the relevant traffic for optimization, and with the revenue matrices it is used to calculate the revenue and return on investment (ROI) for revenue analysis.

Please note:

Parameter settings other than the Service Portion of a UE Profile are only considered for optimization traffic calculations of UMTS network layers.

Mobility Profile parameters are not used at all for optimization traffic calculations.

Equipment Supports HSDPA is the only Equipment Profile parameter that is considered by the optimization traffic calculations and only for UMTS.

For revenue analysis, none of the parameters in the profiles is relevant.

Please refer to sections 6.2.26 and 6.2.27 for details.

Actix Radioplan Automatic Cell Planning (ACP) Version 3.13 User Guide Optimization Wizard 56

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5 Optimization Wizard

Before using any Analysis Plot, the Analysis Settings – as defined in section 5.1 – should be adequately configured.

For running an optimization, the user is always guided through the Optimization Wizard – as defined in section 5.2.

For revenue analysis, the according submenu contains the Covered Revenue Function settings – as described in section 5.3 – as well as a set of plots for revenue analysis – as described in section 6.2. Revenue analysis is only available if the Capital Planning Module

is licensed.

5.1 Analysis Settings

The Analysis Settings include all optimization settings that may affect the Analysis Plots. Therefore, they should be configured before creating any of the Analysis Plots, which are

described in chapter 6.

The Analysis Settings dialog is opened by the menu entry Optimization Analysis

Settings… . The appearance of the dialog depends on the System of the Network Layer(s) selected for optimization. Nevertheless, most of the parameters apply to any network layer.

The default value of all Analysis Settings can be customized in the configuration file

(optimization.ini – refer to chapter 9).

5.1.1 Analysis Settings for CDMA and UMTS

For UMTS and CDMA network layers, the Analysis Settings dialog is shown in Fig. 5-1 and Fig. 5-2, respectively.

Fig. 5-1 Analysis Settings dialog for a UMTS network layer


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Fig. 5-2 Analysis Settings dialog for a CDMA network layer

The Minimum Pilot RSCP [dBm] and the Minimum Pilot Ec/Io [dB] define the area-wide (default) thresholds for the Pilot RSCP Coverage and the Pilot Ec/Io Coverage, respectively. Based on these thresholds and clutter-specific Pathloss and Ec/Io offsets, the effective Pilot

RSCP Coverage thresholds and Pilot Ec/Io Coverage thresholds can be defined per clutter class (refer also to sections 6.2.9 and 6.2.15).

The (DCH) Network Load is a parameter that is specific to CDMA and UMTS network layers. The HSDPA parameters apply to UMTS network layers only. For CDMA network layers EVDO can be configured instead.

All other parameters apply to network layers of any system.

These parameters are described in the following subsections.

5.1.2 Analysis Settings for GSM and iDEN

For GSM and iDEN network layers, the Analysis Settings dialog is shown in Fig. 5-3 and Fig. 5-4, respectively.


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Fig. 5-3 Analysis Settings dialog for a GSM network layer

Fig. 5-4 Analysis Settings dialog for an iDEN network layer

The Minimum RxLev_DL [dBm] and the Minimum C/I [dB] define the area-wide (default) thresholds for the RxLev_DL Coverage and the C/I Coverage, respectively. Based on these thresholds and clutter-specific Pathloss and C/I offsets, the effective RxLev_DL Coverage

thresholds and C/I Coverage thresholds can be defined per clutter class (refer also to sections 6.2.11 and 6.2.18).

The option how to Evaluate the Best Cell Overlap is specific to GSM and iDEN network layers. The Consider Min. RxPower Threshold for Traffic Assignment checkbox applies to GSM network layers only.



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5.1.3 Analysis Settings for WiMAX

For WiMAX network layers, the Analysis Settings dialog is shown in Fig. 5-5.

Fig. 5-5 Analysis Settings dialog for a WiMAX network layer

The Minimum Pilot RSSI [dBm] and the Minimum Pilot CINR [dB] define the area-wide

(default) thresholds for the Pilot RSSI Coverage and the Pilot CINR Coverage, respectively. Based on these thresholds and clutter-specific Pathloss and C/I offsets, the effective Pilot RSSI Coverage thresholds and Pilot CINR Coverage thresholds can be defined per clutter class (refer also to sections 6.2.10 and 6.2.16).



5.1.4 Analysis Settings for LTE

For LTE network layers, the Analysis Settings dialog is shown in Fig. 5-6.


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Fig. 5-6 Analysis Settings dialog for a LTE network layer

The Minimum Pilot RSCP [dBm] and the Minimum Pilot Ec/Io [dB] define the area-wide (default) thresholds for the Pilot RSCP Coverage and the Pilot Ec/Io Coverage, respectively. They are defined similarly to the CDMA and UMTS values (refer to section 5.1.1 as well as sections 6.2.9 and 6.2.15).



5.1.5 Network Load Slider (CDMA and UMTS only)

Radioplan ACP is to a great extent independent from the network load because minimizing interference and cell overlapping will improve the performance for any service at any point in the network at almost any load level. Namely, for the optimization objective functions, the network is also not simulated in Radioplan ACP for a certain absolute traffic.

Nevertheless, the network load level is considered for aspects:

for the degree of interference calculated for RSSI and Pilot Ec/Io analysis plots and

for controlling the possible trade-off between interference minimization and traffic load balancing.

The Network Load is configurable in the Analysis Settings by the Network Load slider, Fig. 5-7. This parameter is defined in Table 5-1.

Fig. 5-7 Network Load slider


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Table 5-1 Network Load parameter

Para-meter

Unit / Value

Description

UMTS: DCH Network Load

CDMA: Network

Load

% The assumed network load level of the highest loaded cell.

It refers to the power stock available at a cell for user traffic. Thus:

- 0 % refers to a cell without user traffic. Only the pilot channel (PCPICH for UMTS or FPICH for CDMA) and the other DL common control channels (PCCPCH, First SCCPCH, AICH, and PICH or Other CCH, respectively) are transmitting with their

output powers (all configurable in the Cell Settings – refer to

section 4.6.3). In case of HSDPA the HS-SCCH power and, in PCPICH Offset power mode, also the HSDPA power – as defined in section 4.6.4 – are also included in the Network Load referenced as 0%.

- 100 % refers to a full cell, which is transmitting with its

Maximum Output Power.

The Network Load value refers to the linear power stock range in [mW].

For example, if the Maximum Output Power is 43 dBm (20 W) and the total output power of all DL common control channels is 36 dBm (4 W), then 50 % Network Load corresponds to a total cell output

power of 4 W + (20 W - 4 W) · 50% = 12 W (ca. 40.8 dBm).

For the RSSI and Pilot Ec/Io analysis plots, the Network Load value is applied equally to all cells – independent from the cell size as well as from the traffic and interference conditions in the cell. Hence, if the Network Load denotes the load in the highest loaded cell, the resulting RSSI and Pilot Ec/Io are worst-case values.

For a description of the calculation formulas, please refer to sections 6.2.4 and 6.2.5.

The possible trade-off between interference minimization and traffic load balancing shall be discussed a bit further using UMTS as example.

It is the objective of the UMTS Capacity and Coverage optimization to minimize the Relative Load per Cell (refer to section 6.2.29) averaged over all cells. Thereby, the interference is very effectively minimized. However, while minimizing the interference and at the same time changing best cell areas, it can happen that traffic is shifted between cells. That‟s why it is an additional optimization constraint to balance the traffic loads

across the cells. The traffic load is represented in Radioplan ACP by the Relative Traffic per

Cell (refer to section 6.2.28).

The possibly conflicting optimization objectives of interference minimization and traffic load balancing are further illustrated by the (extreme) example in Fig. 5-8.


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Relative Load per Cell

representing the DL power

due to traffic and interference

Hotspot

Relative Traffic per Cell

representing the traffic only

more like UL load or DL code usage

Relative Load per Cell

representing the DL power

due to traffic and interference

Hotspot

Relative Traffic per Cell

representing the traffic only

more like UL load or DL code usage

Fig. 5-8 Possible conflict of interference minimization and traffic load balancing

On top of a lower level of background traffic (not highlighted), two adjacent cells may have to serve a hotspot together (highlighted area at the cell border). Thereby the cells consume too much DL power. However, while observing the coverage constraints, the cells could be reconfigured such that they are better isolated from each other. As a result, the

hotspot is possibly covered by only one cell with minimized cell overlapping and interference (left sketch).

However, this configuration may cause a too high UL load as well as cases of DL code and channel elements blockings in the cell that serves the high number of users in the hotspot.

This could be prevented by more cooperatively serving the hotspot with as much cell isolation as possible. Then, the interference of this configuration may not be minimized to the same extent, though (right sketch).

An appropriate solution to that conflict depends on the current load status of the network.

Namely, if the network load is low, traffic load can be shifted to a greater extent without risking traffic overload. This leaves more opportunities for reconfigurations to minimize the interference. Interference minimization mainly helps to prevent cases of

insufficient Pilot Ec/Io and of

too high DL power.

However, this may diversify the number of users and amount of traffic served by the cells, i.e. cause some degree of traffic load “un-balancing”.

In contrast to that, if the network load is high, reconfigurations to minimize the interference shall rather not lead to a less balanced traffic load. Traffic load balancing mainly helps to prevent cases of:

DL code or channel element blocking and also of

too high UL noise rise.

However, this may also limit the opportunities for interference minimization.

Note that if such limited optimization opportunities would lead only to small capacity improvements or just to a shifting of the blocking to other reasons, this would be an

indication for the need to expand the network either by providing more resources (DL codes, channel elements) or on the long run by adding new sites.

Therefore, the Network Load also determines the preference of interference minimization

and traffic load balancing. Clearly, interference minimization is always the primary


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optimization objective. However, the higher the Network Load the more traffic load balancing is observed as an optimization constraint, Fig. 5-9.

Constraint:

Traffic Load Balancing

Target:

Interference Minimization

Maximum

Interference Minimization

for 0% Network Load

Maximum

Traffic Load Balancing

for 100% Network Load

Fig. 5-9 Trade-off between interference minimization and traffic load balancing across the Network Load

Consequently, the two extreme settings of the Network Load slider result in the following optimization behavior:

Maximum opportunities for interference

minimization.

Due to the low load, traffic load balancing is a

weak constraint because the cells still have much

headroom for shifted traffic.

Most limited opportunities for interference

minimization.

Due to the high load, traffic load balancing is a

strong constraint. Namely, traffic load must not be

shifted to cells that are already full.

In between, the size of the headroom above the Network Load value accounts for more or less opportunities for interference minimization while maintaining a less or more balanced

traffic load.

In order to control the trade-off between interference minimization and traffic load balancing, the configured Network Load value has an additional meaning to the one described in Table 5-1.

It is also assumed that both the highest Relative Load per Cell and the highest Relative Traffic per Cell out of all cells before optimization correspond to the configured DCH

Network Load at the respective cells. Based on that, these values are applied as constraints to the optimization. Namely, if a cell parameter change would increase either the Relative Load per Cell or the Relative Traffic per Cell beyond 100% Network Load, it is not adopted.

For example, if the Network Load is configured with 75%, the cells with the highest Relative Load per Cell and the highest Relative Traffic per Cell are identified before the optimization. Both performance measures are scaled to 100% and applied as the side

constraints for the reconfiguration of all cells. If then a cell parameter change would increase at any cell the Relative Load per Cell or the Relative Traffic per Cell beyond 100% / 75% = 133% of the maxima identified before the optimization, the change is not adopted.

The default value of the Network Load can be customized in the configuration file (optimization.ini – refer to chapter 9).


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5.1.6 Calculation Pixel Size

The Calculation Pixel Size defines the spatial resolution of all calculations in Radioplan ACP. Thus, it determines the computational performance of an optimization as well as the reliability of the optimization result.

Therefore, the Calculation Pixel Size is configurable in the Analysis Settings. This parameter is defined in Table 5-2.

The Calculation Pixel Size has a significant impact on the

optimization run-time.

If the Calculation Pixel Size shall be redefined in the Analysis Settings dialog, which was opened by the menu entry Optimization Analysis Settings… , but this configuration

option is not active, select Unload Optimization Module from the Optimization toolbar or menu in order to reactivate it.

Table 5-2 Pixel size parameter


Description

Calculation Pixel Size

m

[5; 500]

The dimension [m] of a single pixel of all raster matrices used for calculations of the optimization algorithms.

Hence, it is the pixel size effective for optimization calculations,.

The Calculation Pixel Size should not be smaller than the

pixel size of the input data for optimization, of course.

However, it is also a valid approach to select a bigger pixel size than the resolution of the input data, as long as the smallest cell areas are still resolved by a reasonable number of pixels.

A pixel size of 50 m is recommended for the efficient optimization of large network setups.

Note that, in addition to the Calculation Pixel Size, Radioplan ACP still considers the Radioplan general Plot Pixel Size (refer to chapter 3).

5.1.7 Advanced / Computation Effort Settings

The Computation Effort dialog allows the advanced user to configure parameters that

determine the computational effort of the optimization. It can be opened by clicking the Advanced Settings… button in the Analysis Settings dialog, Fig. 5-10.

The Advanced / Computation Effort Settings for the

Limitation of Considered Cells should not be changed without consulting your Actix Radioplan support in order to make sure that the settings do not sacrifice the reliability of the optimization result.

The parameters of the Advanced / Computation Effort Settings are defined in Table 5-3.


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Fig. 5-10 Computation Effort dialog (called from the Analysis Settings)

Table 5-3 Advanced Settings parameters


Description

Enable

Matrix Cache

{true;

false}

If enabled, the optimization is accelerated by caching the

original status of some matrices, which can then quickly be restored if none of the evaluated reconfiguration steps were accepted as a change.

Otherwise, less disk space is needed for caching on the expense of more computation time.

Cell Outbound

Interfering Area

%

default:

95

If set to less than 100%, the optimization may be accelerated in certain cases, especially with hilly terrain, by a reduction of

the area to be considered for the optimization calculations.

A cell may have very distant, but few points where it still contributes a recognizable interference level. In order to exclude an insignificant amount of such distant pixels, the Cell Outbound Interfering Area can be set to a percentage lower than 100%.

Limitation of Considered Cells

Beside the Calculation Pixel Size the depth of the 3-dimensional matrix of cell interdependencies for each pixel has a significant impact on the computational effort of the optimization. Therefore, a smaller number of cells and/or a smaller margin can save a considerable amount of optimization run-time. However, it must be assured that the

reliability of the optimization result is not sacrificed.

Max. Number of Cells

–

default: 20

It defines the maximum number of the strongest cells that are considered at each pixel, if the cells‟ received power is still within the Margin Below Best Cell Rx Power.

Margin Below [ Best Pilot RSCP |

Best RxLev_DL | Best Pilot RSSI ]

[dB]

default: 30

It defines the margin below the power received from the strongest cell until which cells are considered, if they are not more than Max. Number of Cells.


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5.1.8 Best Cell Overlap Evaluation Margin

Coverage by too many cells causes high interference. Therefore, for interference minimization it is at the same time an optimization objective to reduce the cell overlap.

Therefore, Radioplan ACP observes the cell overlap based on the Best Cell Overlap Evaluation Margin parameter as defined in Table 5-4.

The number of overlapping cells can be analyzed using the Best Cell Overlap plot (refer to section 6.2.23).

Table 5-4 Best Cell Overlap Evaluation parameter

Parameter Unit /

Value

Description

Overlap Margin

dB A margin below the received power of the best serving cell. When evaluating overlapping cells, all cells within this margin (incl. the best cell) are counted as overlapping at the

respective pixel.

Nevertheless, more cells are considered for interference calculations, but just not counted as “overlapping within the margin”.

5.1.9 Best Cell Overlap Evaluation Method (GSM and iDEN)

For more than one GSM or iDEN network layer, the Best Cell Overlap can be evaluated in two different ways using the parameter described in Table 5-5.

Table 5-5 Best Cell Overlap Evaluation parameter – for GSM and iDEN network layers


Description

Overlap Margin

- Best Cell Overlap is calculated by the following method:

- over all Frequency Bands: All cells received within the Overlap Margin are counted as overlapping – irrespective of their frequency band, which is defined in the network layer, which they belong to.

This method should be applied if frequency planning cannot only change the frequency at a cell within a band, but also across bands (e.g. GSM900 and GSM1800).

- per Frequency Band:

Only cells of network layers with the same frequency band are counted as overlapping.

This method should be used if frequency planning can only

change the frequency at a cell within a band (e.g. GSM900).

5.1.10 Traffic and Area Masking

Traffic consideration and area masking options can be configured using the parameters described in Table 5-6.

Traffic predictions may not be available or may not be reliable enough. In this case, it can make sense, to not make the network optimization dependent on such forecasts or

estimates, but to perform the optimization without consideration of a specific traffic


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distribution. Then, a homogeneous traffic distribution is always assumed. In other words, the entire area is equally significant for the optimization.

On the other hand, if reliable traffic data is available, Radioplan ACP can incorporate the spatial traffic distribution in the optimization.

Moreover, traffic areas with a traffic value of zero can be used to mask parts of the Simulation Area that shall not be considered by the optimization. Further regions can be masked out depending on the initial received signal level coverage and on the Analysis Area. In all these cases, only the considered areas are calculated, optimized, and displayed in all optimization analysis plots. Masked areas are not filled and remain transparent in the plots.

The impact of the traffic in the pixels on the optimization is illustrated in Fig. 5-11. The

higher the traffic in the pixels of an area the more significant is that area for optimization.

Significance for

optimization

low

not relevant

Traffic

per

Pixel

high

relevant

zero

optional:

less more important

Fig. 5-11 Impact of traffic on the area prioritization in an optimization

To this extent, only relative information from the traffic distribution is used for optimization. However, if either of the following options is applied, then the absolute traffic values become relevant:

Check Maximum Users per Cell (refer to sections 8.2.3, 8.3.3, and 8.4.3)

Check Cell Load (Site Selection only; refer to section 8.2.3)

Consider Min. RxPower Threshold for Traffic Assignment (GSM and iDEN; see below)

Table 5-6 Traffic parameters


Description

Consider Traffic Distribution

{true; false}

If enabled, the spatial traffic distribution is taken into consideration by the optimization. As the result, regions in the Simulation Area with higher traffic density have higher priority than regions with lower traffic density.

For CDMA and UMTS network layers, the effective traffic can be shown by the Equivalent Traffic per Pixel plot and for GSM network layers by the Absolute Traffic plot, refer to section 6.2.26.

Otherwise, a homogeneous traffic distribution is assumed, i.e. all parts of the area would be equally important.


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Description

Mask Regions With Zero Traffic

{true; false}

If enabled, all regions in the Simulation Area with a traffic value of zero are masked for the Optimizer objective function. Hence, they are not considered by the optimization.

Consider Min.

RxPower Threshold for Traffic Assignment

{true; false}

For GSM and iDEN network layers:

If enabled and Consider Traffic Distribution is enabled, best

serving cells are determined based on their Min. RxPower Thresholds and traffic is assigned to the cells accordingly.

Namely, traffic is only assigned to a cell, if the cell‟s

RxLev_DL at the traffic pixel exceeds that cell‟s Min. RxPower Threshold (refer to section 4.6.3).

Moreover, in case of multiple cells with a RxLev_DL high enough, the traffic is assigned to the cell with the highest Min.

RxPower Threshold – even if that cell provides a lower RxLev_DL than other cells.

The considered traffic is shown in the Absolute Traffic plot (refer to section 6.2.27).

Consider Only Area with Initial

[RSCP | RxLev_DL | Pilot RSSI]

Coverage

{true; false}

If enabled, the optimization target and constraint functions are considered only on the area that had received signal level coverage (as defined in section 6.2.9) already before

optimization.

Nevertheless, all active network elements of the selected network layers in the Simulation Area, also outside of the

considered area, contribute to the calculation of those functions.

The received signal level measure depends on the System of

the network layer.

Consider Analysis Area Only

{true; false}

If enabled, the optimization target and constraint functions are considered only on the Analysis Area.

Nevertheless, all active network elements of the selected network layers in the Simulation Area, also outside of the Analysis Area, contribute to the calculation of those functions.

However, clearly, in contrast to not using this option, a

degradation of the area outside of the Analysis Area in terms of the optimization target and constraint functions is not prevented.

Target Grade of Service

[0.0; 1.0] The target Erlang B blocking probability that is used for the calculation of the number of logical traffic channels (TCH) required to serve the traffic assigned to the cell (refer to section 7.1).

Only applicable if Consider Traffic Distribution is enabled.

The spatial traffic distribution effective for the optimization is shown in the Equivalent (DL) Traffic per Pixel plot (refer to section 6.2.26) or the Absolute Traffic plot (refer to section 6.2.27).

Note that if Consider Traffic Distribution is disabled, the Relative Traffic per Cell (refer to sections 6.2.28) is proportional to the best cell area sizes.


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5.1.11 Reconfigurable Cell Selection

The Reconfigurable Cell Selection allows the user to define a specified set of cells to be reconfigurable in the Capacity and Coverage optimization. It is not relevant for Site Integration optimization.

One out of 3 options can be selected in the Reconfigurable Cell Selection dialog, Fig. 5-12. It can be opened by clicking the Reconfigurable Cell Selection Settings… button in the Analysis Settings dialog.

The 3 options are defined as follows:

Cells Located in Analysis Area: all active cells within the Analysis Area.

This option is suitable for the optimization of a precise group of reconfigurable cells

surrounded by the Analysis Area.

Best Cells in Analysis Area: all “Cells Located in Analysis Area” plus all active cells that are the best server at least at one pixel in the Analysis Area.

This option is suitable for the approach that the Analysis Area defines a region to be optimized by all relevant actions – namely including the reconfiguration of cells in the surrounding that still have a major impact on this region.

Cells Within Margin in Analysis Area: all “Best Cells in Analysis Area” plus all active cells that are received within a Margin below the best server at least at one pixel in the Analysis Area.

The Margin [dB] is configurable below.

This option is suitable if still more cells than just the best servers shall be

reconfigurable in order to optimize the Analysis Area region.

All options are still subject to the cell-specific parameter optimization capabilities (refer to

section 4.6).

Fig. 5-12 Reconfigurable Cell Selection dialog (called from the Analysis Settings)


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5.1.12 Relevant Cells Plot

The cells that should be considered in the surrounding of a given Analysis Area to be optimized can be easily identified by the Relevant Cells Plot – as defined in section 6.2.3.

The margin for that plot is a parameter of the Analysis Settings, Table 5-7.

Table 5-7 Relevant Cells Plot parameter


Description

Margin for Relevant

Cells Plot

dB

default:

15

A margin below the received power of the best serving cell. When evaluating relevant cells, all cells that are received

within this margin at any pixel inside of the Analysis Area are displayed.

This parameter has no impact on the optimization. However, it is recommended to use the Relevant Cells plot for the definition of a reasonable size of the Simulation Area, i.e. the buffer zone around the Analysis Area.

5.1.13 HSDPA (UMTS only)

For UMTS network layers, the Capacity and Coverage Optimizer can also optimize the HSDPA by taking the CQI and the HSDPA coverage into consideration. Moreover, the UMTS Site Selection can also consider HSDPA.

Therefore, specific parameters are configurable in the HSDPA Optimization Settings, Fig. 5-13, as defined in Table 5-8. This dialog can be opened by clicking the HSDPA

Settings… button in the Analysis Settings dialog for UMTS network layers, if HSDPA is enabled there (refer to Fig. 5-1).

More HSDPA parameters are configurable per cell (refer to section 4.6.4).

Fig. 5-13 HSDPA Optimization Settings


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Table 5-8 HSDPA Optimization Settings


Enable HSDPA {true; false} Enables the HSDPA optimization.

If enabled, the HSDPA optimization can be configured by means of the parameters defined below.

Activity Factor [0.0; 1.0] The HSDPA activity factor HSDPAAF defines the level of

average usage of the maximum allocated HSDPA power – as defined in section 4.6.4.

Min. PCPICH

SIR for CQI 1

dB

default: 8.5

The minimum PCPICH signal-to-interference ratio

(SIR) required for a Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) of

1.

Based on this parameter, the definition of all other CQI values of 2, 3, …, 30 is fixed: 1 dB more PCPICH SIR corresponds to the next CQI step.

For example, with the default value of 8.5 dB, the PCPICH SIR for CQI 2 is 9.5 dB, and for (the highest) CQI 30 it is 37.5 dB.

Min. CQI for HSDPA Coverage

-

default: 6

The minimum CQI that is required for considering the pixel as covered by HSDPA.

Intracell Interference Factor

[0.0; 1.0]

0 = full

orthogonality,

1 = no orthogonality

default: 0.4

The degree of the intracell interference.

All DL signals transmitted by a cell with the same

scrambling code could be fully orthogonal so that the

intracell interference vanishes. Due to multipath propagation, however, these signals are usually not completely orthogonal. Therefore, this factor describes to what degree intracell received power effectively contributes to the

total received power: intercellrintracellrctotalr PPP ,,, .

It is used for the PCPICH SIR calculation.

Min. HSDPA

- Covered Area

-

Covered Traffic

% The minimum required percentage of:

- the area to be covered with respect to the Min. CQI for HSDPA Coverage, and

- the traffic to be covered with respect to the Min. CQI for HSDPA Coverage.


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5.1.14 EVDO (CDMA only)

For CDMA network layers, the Capacity and Coverage Optimization can also take EVDO into consideration.

Therefore, a specific parameter is configurable in the EVDO Optimization Settings, Fig. 5-14, as defined in Table 5-9. This dialog can be opened by clicking the EVDO Settings… button in the Analysis Settings dialog for CDMA network layers, if EVDO is enabled there (refer to Fig. 5-1).

Fig. 5-14 EVDO Optimization Settings

Table 5-9 EVDO Optimization Settings

Parameter Unit /

Value

Description

Activity Factor

[0.0; 1.0] The EVDO activity factor defines the level of average usage of the available power for EVDO.

0 corresponds to the case that the cells are transmitting only the FPICH Power and the Other CCH Power.

1 corresponds to the case that the cells are transmitting only the Maximum Power (as defined for CDMA cells in section 4.6.3).

The Activity Factor refers to the linear power stock range in-between in [mW].

5.1.15 Use GPEH Data (UMTS only)

The option to Use GPEH Data is supported for UMTS network layers.

If enabled, then Ericsson General Performance Event Handler (GPEH) data can be used to

tune the project data to enhance network statistics and optimization results.

For more information, please contact [email protected] on GPEH support in Radioplan ACP.

mailto:[email protected]


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5.2 Optimization Wizard

The Optimization Wizard guides the user through the complete configuration steps required for running an optimization.

It is opened by clicking the icon of the Optimization toolbar (tooltip Run Optimization) or, alternatively, by choosing the menu entry Optimization Run Optimization.

Depending on the user rights level, the Optimization Wizard allows a different scope and, accordingly, shows a different number of pages:

With low user rights level, the Optimization Wizard just allows the selection of an optimization template from the list of available templates at the first page and lists

the optimization settings of the selected template at the second and last page.

With high user rights level, the Optimization Wizard allows the configuration of all optimization settings as well as of new optimization templates.

Then the Optimization Wizard consists of 6 main pages. If in a multi-layer project one

or more constraint layers are selected, then an additional page is available.

All wizard pages are described in the following.

If the Wizard is canceled at any page the user is prompted by a message box whether or not changes made so far to the optimization settings shall be saved in the project.

5.2.1 Template Selection

The first page of the Optimization Wizard is shown in Fig. 5-15.

Fig. 5-15 First page of the Optimization Wizard (example with 2 optimization templates)


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With low user rights level, only predefined templates are available for selection and the Next button opens the last page of the Optimization Wizard with the Configuration Summary (refer to section 5.2.8) or, in case of Site Integration, the Site Integration page.

If a selected template does not contain all optimization settings, the missing settings are

taken from the current Radioplan project.

5.2.2 Optimization Task Selection and Optimization Plot Settings

The appearance of the Task Selection page of the Optimization Wizard depends on the System of the target network layers, which are selected in the Network Layer combo box,

e.g. , in the Surface Plots toolbar (refer to section 4.1).

5.2.2.1 CDMA or UMTS Target Network Layer(s)

For UMTS target network layers, the Task Selection page of the Optimization Wizard is shown in Fig. 5-16. For CDMA target network layers it is similar. This page is opened by clicking the Next button at the first page of the Optimization Wizard, if the Show Optimization Wizard box was checked.

One of the possible optimization tasks must be selected, which can then be configured by

clicking the Configure Optimizer button.

For detailed information on the optimizers and their configuration, please refer to chapter 8.

Moreover, the Automatic Plots can be selected. These plots are automatically generated during the optimization process. For each selected plot, a pair of optimization plots, … (Begin Opt.) and … (Running Opt.), is automatically generated at the beginning of the

optimization:

The … (Begin Opt.) plot shows the initial status before optimization.

The … (Running Opt.) plot shows the progress during optimization (if Automatic Plot Update is enabled).

At the end of the optimization each … (Running Opt.) plot is changed into:

an … (End Opt.) plot, which shows the final status after optimization.

Note that not each optimization task supports all plots. Moreover, the Revenue-related plots are only available if the Capital Planning Module is licensed.

If memory and hard disk space is scarce the number of

selected Automatic Plots should be reduced.


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Fig. 5-16 Task Selection page of the Optimization Wizard for UMTS target network layer(s) (if the Capital Planning Module is licensed as well)

The other Plot Options work as follows:

If Remove Present Plots is enabled, all unlocked optimization plots (symbol ) in the Layer tab are removed before generating new automatic plots.

If Automatic Plot Update is enabled, the … (Running Opt.) plots are continuously updated during the optimization. Disabling this option further speeds up the optimization as no calculation time is

consumed by the plot update functions.

For more information on the optimization plots, please refer to chapter 6.


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5.2.2.2 GSM or iDEN Target Network Layer(s)

For GSM target network layers, the Task Selection page of the Optimization Wizard is shown in Fig. 5-17. For iDEN network layers it is similar. This page is opened by clicking

the Next button at the first page of the Optimization Wizard, if the Show Optimization Wizard box was checked.

One of the possible optimization tasks must be selected, which can then be configured by clicking the Configure Optimizer button.


Moreover, the Automatic Plots and the Plot Options work as described in section 5.2.2.1 for

CDMA or UMTS target network layer(s).

Fig. 5-17 Task Selection page of the Optimization Wizard for GSM target network layer(s) (if the Capital Planning Module is licensed as well)


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5.2.2.3 WiMAX Target Network Layer(s)

For WiMAX target network layer(s), the Task Selection page of the Optimization Wizard is shown in Fig. 5-18. This page is opened by clicking the Next button at the first page of the

Optimization Wizard, if the Show Optimization Wizard box was checked.



Moreover, the Automatic Plots and the Plot Options work as described in section 5.2.2.1 for CDMA or UMTS target network layer(s).

Fig. 5-18 Task Selection page of the Optimization Wizard for WiMAX target network layer(s) (if the Capital Planning Module is licensed as well)


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5.2.2.4 LTE Target Network Layer(s)

For LTE target network layer(s), the Task Selection page of the Optimization Wizard is shown in Fig. 5-19. This page is opened by clicking the Next button at the first page of the

Optimization Wizard, if the Show Optimization Wizard box was checked.



Moreover, the Automatic Plots and the Plot Options work as described in section 5.2.2.1 for CDMA or UMTS target network layer(s).

Fig. 5-19 Task Selection page of the Optimization Wizard for LTE target network layer(s) (if the Capital Planning Module is licensed as well)


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5.2.3 Sites To Be Integrated

In the Site Integration page of the Optimization Wizard – for Site Integration optimization – the sites to be integrated can be defined.

This page is opened by clicking the Next button at the Task Selection page of the Optimization Wizard, if Site Integration was selected as Optimization Task. It is independent of the System of the target network layer(s).

It is also opened by clicking the Next button at the first page of the Optimization Wizard, if an optimization template for Site Integration has been selected.

This page of the Optimization Wizard is shown in Fig. 5-20.

Fig. 5-20 Site Integration page of the Optimization Wizard

Here the sites have to be selected that shall be integrated in the existing network setup.

The sites are automatically sorted according to their Rollout Status: first Planned, then Not Existent, and finally Existent.

Site with Rollout Status Planned are automatically pre-selected as To be integrated. Nevertheless, the user can make an own selection.

The displayed Rollout Status has an impact on the consideration of cost for changes at the sites of the existing network setup during the optimization:

Only for the Existent sites, which are not selected as To be integrated, the configured RPI thresholds are applied (refer to section 8.4.3).


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For the Planned and Not Existent sites, which are not selected as To be integrated, the configured RPI thresholds are ignored, i.e. the effective RPI is zero. Thereby it is assumed that the cost for changes at these sites are minimal as they are not built yet.

For the sites selected as To be integrated the Rollout Status is not relevant. For all

these sites, the effective RPI is also zero as these sites are not built yet.

5.2.4 Target and Constraint Network Layers for Multi-Layer Optimization

The Multi-Layer page of the Optimization Wizard is shown in Fig. 5-21. This page is opened by clicking the Next button at the Task Selection page of the Optimization Wizard, if Site

Selection or Capacity and Coverage optimization were selected. If Site Integration was

selected, then this page is opened by clicking the Next button at the Site Integration page of the Optimization Wizard.

The upper box in this page lists – for illustrative purposes only – the target network layer(s) that were selected for optimization in the Network Layers dialog or combo box (refer to section 4.1) before opening the Optimization Wizard.

If the project does not contain further network layers or those do not need to be

considered in the optimization, just click Next to continue with the next page (refer to section 5.2.5).

However, if the project contains multiple network layers, then dependencies of the optimization parameters in the target network layers with cells and sites in the other layers can be considered as additional constraints in a multi-layer optimization.

Multi-layer dependencies can be:

Shared flags for reconfigurable antenna parameters of cells (as defined in

section 4.6.1) as well as

“Lock Angle between Cells during Azimuth Optimization” flags for sites (as defined in section 4.5).

If such dependencies shall be considered during a multi-layer optimization, the Consider Constraints by Shared Antenna Parameters option must be enabled.

Then, all layers that could be selected as constraint network layers are available for selection in the lower box.

The following requirements apply to a valid selection of constraint layers:

All selected network layers must have the same System.

All selected CDMA or UMTS network layers must have the same Frequency Band.

A selected network layer must not have the same Frequency Band like a target network layer, unless they have a different System.


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Fig. 5-21 Second page of the Optimization Wizard (example for a multi-layer project)

The Next button is only enabled, if the constraint network layer selection meets these requirements.

5.2.5 Settings for Target Layers (Analysis Settings)

The Target Layers page of the Optimization Wizard – for Site Selection or Capacity and Coverage optimization – contains for the target network layer(s) those Analysis Settings (refer to section 5.1), which may also affect the optimization result.

In addition to those, more settings can be defined here – as described in the following

sections.

For Site Integration optimization, the Reconfigurable Cell Selection is not relevant and, therefore, disabled.

This page is opened by clicking the Next button at the Multi-Layer page of the Optimization Wizard. Again, the appearance of this page depends on the System of the selected target network layers, e.g. for UMTS network layers and for GSM network layers, as in Fig. 5-22.


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Fig. 5-22 Target Layers page of the Optimization Wizard (example for GSM target network layer(s))

5.2.5.1 Additional Thresholds (CDMA and UMTS only)

Through the Additional Thresholds… button at the Target Layers page of the Optimization Wizard the Additional Thresholds dialog can be opened, Fig. 5-23.

Fig. 5-23 Additional Thresholds dialog


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The additional thresholds can be used for automatic reporting of the performance statistics in the Optimization Summary Report. There, the following performance measures are always reported with respect to the Analysis Area, the Simulation Area, and optionally clutter-specific areas for both the effective optimization thresholds and additional

thresholds:

the Pilot RSCP Coverage – based on the Minimum Pilot RSCP (see also section 6.2.9),

the Pilot Ec/Io Coverage – based on the Minimum Pilot Ec/Io (see also section 6.2.15), and

the Cell Overlapping – based on the Cell Overlap Margin (see also section 6.2.23),.

While the effective thresholds defined in the Analysis Settings may be used by the optimization algorithms, the additional thresholds do not have any impact on the optimization. Instead, they are useful to automatically report the performance with respect

to other thresholds than applied by the optimization algorithm.

For more information on the Optimization Summary Report, please refer to section 7.2.

5.2.5.2 Neighbor Cell Detection

Site Integration is an optimization case where an existing network is extended with a single new site. That site is optimized, but to improve the network further, some surrounding sites may be changed as well. See section 8.4 for more information on the

Site Integration Optimizer.

Neighbor Cell Detection is the process of identifying cells that might be changed if the optimizer chooses to do so. This is necessary to avoid optimizing the entire network.

Fig. 5-24 Neighbor Cell Detection dialog

The settings are:

Rx Power Cutoff [dBm]

Overlap Margin [dB]

Minimum Overlap Area [%]

Rx Power Cutoff sets a threshold for the newly integrated site's Rx power, as an initial limitation of the considered area. Now other surrounding cells are considered that have an Rx power within the Overlap Margin off of the new site's Rx power. An area where this is fulfilled is called an overlap area between the surrounding cell and the new site. If this area is above the Minimum Overlap Area ratio relative to the new site's best server area,

then the surrounding cell is "detected as a neighbor" and will be considered by the site

integration optimizer.


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5.2.5.3 Method for Electrical Tilt Optimization

Usually, the electrical tilt is optimized in Radioplan ACP based on “antenna families”, i.e. a set of antenna diagrams for the same antenna just with different electrical tilts (refer to

section 4.4).

However, if antenna families are not available, the Additional Electrical Downtilt (AEDT) approximation can be applied instead for electrical tilt optimization by checking the Use AEDT Approximation box at the third page of the Optimization Wizard.

If it is enabled, both the foreside and the back side of the antenna diagram are tilted down for a higher electrical tilt value and up for a lower value. In contrast to that, a higher mechanical value would tilt down the foreside of the antenna, but lift up the backside.

5.2.5.4 Overshooting Cell Compensation

The compensation of overshooting cells (a.k.a. boomer cells) can be enabled by the Tilt Down checkbox at the third page of the Optimization Wizard. Through the Settings… button next to it, the Overshooting Cell Settings dialog can be opened, Fig. 5-25.

Fig. 5-25 Overshooting Cell Settings dialog

If the Overshooting Cell Compensation is enabled, overshooting cells are automatically identified and tilted down before starting the actual optimization process. The related parameters are described in Table 5-10.

In addition to the tilt constraints defined in the Overshooting Cell Settings, still the cell-specific optimization capabilities (refer to section 4.6.1) apply.

Table 5-10 Overshooting Cell Settings


Maximum Total Tilt deg The maximum total (i.e. mechanical + electrical) tilt that is allowed at any overshooting cell as a result of the compensation.

Maximum Tilt Change

deg The maximum relative change of the tilt (downwards) that is allowed at any overshooting

cell as a result of the compensation.

Overlap Margin dB At any pixel a cell is considered as interfering if it is received within this Overlap Margin below power received from the best serving cell.

Minimum Interference to Serving Area Ratio

(must be ≥ 1)

A cell, which exceeds the defined ratio of its interference area in relation to its best serving area, is considered as an overshooting cell.


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This feature is also available as a separate optimization algorithm – as described in section 8.5.

5.2.6 Settings for Constraint Layers

This Optimization Wizard page contains – for Site Selection or Capacity and Coverage optimization – all settings that may be defined for the selected constraint network layers different from the selected target network layers. They have the same meaning as described for the target network layers in the following scopes:

refer to the Analysis Settings (section 5.1) for the parameters:

▫ CDMA, UMTS, LTE: Minimum Pilot RSCP

GSM, iDEN: Minimum RxLev_DL

WiMAX: Minimum Pilot RSSI

▫ CDMA, UMTS: Minimum Pilot Ec/Io GSM, iDEN: Minimum C/I WiMAX: Minimum Pilot CINR LTE: Minimum Pilot SINR

▫ any system: Cell Overlap Margin

▫ GSM: Evaluate (Best Cell Overlap)

▫ CDMA, UMTS: [DCH] Network Load

▫ any system: Traffic and Area Masking

▫ GSM: Consider Min. RxPower Threshold for Traffic Assignment

▫ UMTS, CDMA Enable HSDPA, Enable EVDO

▫ GSM, iDEN: Target Grade of Service

refer to the Settings for Target Layers (section 5.2.5) for the parameters:

▫ CDMA, UMTS: Additional Thresholds

refer to the optimizer configuration settings (chapter 8) for the parameters:

▫ CDMA, UMTS, LTE: Minimum Pilot RSCP Coverage GSM, iDEN: Minimum RxLev_DL Coverage WiMAX: Minimum Pilot RSSI Coverage

▫ CDMA, UMTS: Minimum Pilot Ec/Io Coverage

GSM, iDEN: Minimum C/I Coverage WiMAX: Minimum Pilot CINR Coverage LTE: Minimum Pilot SINR Coverage

▫ any system: Use Clutter Dependent Coverage Constraints

▫ any system: Merge Clutter Classes with Equal Offsets

▫ any system: Preferred Coverage Objective

▫ any system: Check Maximum User per Cell

▫ UMTS: Check Maximum Cell Load

It is opened by clicking the Next button at the Target Layers page of the Optimization Wizard, if constraint layers were selected at the Multi-Layer page of the Optimization Wizard.

Again, the appearance of this page depends on the System of the selected constraint network layers, e.g. for UMTS network layers as in Fig. 5-26 and for GSM network layers

as in Fig. 5-27.


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Fig. 5-26 Constraint Layers page of the Optimization Wizard (example for UMTS)


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Fig. 5-27 Constraint Layers page of the Optimization Wizard (example for GSM)


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5.2.7 Cost Control

In the Cost Control page of the Optimization Wizard, the Cost Control Settings can be defined.

This page is opened by clicking the Next button at the Target Layers page of the Optimization Wizard, if no constraint layers were selected, or at the additional Constraint Layers page, if one or more constraint layers were selected.

This Cost Control page of the Optimization Wizard is shown in Fig. 5-28 (e.g. for CDMA or UMTS network layers).

The Cost Control Settings slightly differ for different systems of the network layers due to the power definitions.

The Cost Control parameters are described in Table 5-11.

Table 5-11 Cost Control parameters


Description

Cost Settings

Consider Configured Rollout Status of Sites

{true; false}

If enabled, the optimization algorithms are affected as follows:

- Remove Redundant Sites or Cells tasks of a Site Selection optimization:

The priority for the evaluation of site or cell removals

is defined by the sites‟ Rollout Status (configurable in the Site

Settings – refer to section 4.5).

Namely, Not Existent sites are evaluated first, followed by the sites Planned for Acquisition, and finally the Existent sites are evaluated.

- Capacity and Coverage optimization:

Cost and effort are only accumulated for Existent

sites. Any reconfiguration of a Not Existent site or a site Planned for Acquisition is assumed to imply no cost or effort at all.

- Site Integration optimization:

The configured RPI values (refer to section 8.1.3) are only considered for Existent sites, which are not declared To

be integrated. (Otherwise, the RPI values would be considered

for all sites, as usual.)

Cost Definition Mode

If Use Cell/Site Individual Cost is selected:

- The cost values are taken from the site and cell settings (refer to sections 4.5 and 4.6.1, respectively).

Otherwise, if Use Default Settings for all Cells/Sites is selected:

- The cost values are taken only from this Cost Control page of the Optimization Wizard and then apply to all sites and cells.

(The effort cannot be defined per site or cell.)


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Description

Site Visit

Cost

Effort

Currency unit, e.g. €

Hour

The cost and effort associated with a site visit for the implementation of optimization changes in the live network.

The cost value is only relevant, if Use Default Settings for all Cells/Sites is selected.

The currency unit depends on the Windows OS Regional and Language Options.

During the optimization process, the adoption of the first optimization change at any site increases the accumulated cost and effort by the amount defined here.

Cost and Effort Constraints

Use Cost Limit

Use Effort Limit

{true; false}

The consideration of cost and effort can be activated or deactivated separately.

If activated, the cost control is applied in the Capacity and Coverage, the Site Integration, and the Overshooting Cells Optimizers as an additional constraint to the adoption of an optimization change during optimization.

Cost Limit

Effort Limit


Hour

The limit for the cost and for the effort as accumulated over all adopted optimization changes.

The currency unit depends on the Windows OS Regional and

Language Options.

Default Costs and Effort for Parameter

Cost

Effort


Hour

The amount of the cost (financial expenses indicated in the local currency) and effort (labor time indicated in hours), which is associated with the implementation of certain

optimization changes in the live network – depending on the type of cell parameter:

- Antenna Type

- Antenna Tilt (mechanical), Electrical Tilt, and Remote Electrical Tilt

- Antenna Azimuth

- Power

The currency unit depends on the Windows OS Regional and Language Options.

During the optimization process, the adoption of each

reconfiguration that changes the original cell parameter value increases the accumulated cost and effort by the amount

defined here.

If during the iterative optimization process a cell parameter is eventually reconfigured back to its original value, the accumulated cost and effort is reduced again by the amount defined here.

The Cost Control Settings have the following impact on the optimization:

The accumulated values for cost and effort are always reported during the optimization in the Optimization tab of the Message window and after optimization in the Optimization Summary Report (see also section 7.2).


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Moreover, the Optimization Progress chart can display the changed network performance over the accumulated cost and effort (see also section 6.1.2).

If the limits are enabled, the Cost Control Settings are used as an additional constraint to the optimization. Clearly, if the reconfiguration of a cell parameter would increase the accumulated value for cost or effort such that either value

exceeds the respective limit, the reconfiguration is not adopted.

This means that at the cost or effort limit, further reconfigurations are only adopted if they do not further increase the accumulated value, for example, a further reconfiguration of a cell that has been changed already in a previous optimization run.

Fig. 5-28 Cost Control page of the Optimization Wizard (example for CDMA or UMTS)

Apart from these Cost Control settings, a very efficient way

of cost control is already inherent to Radioplan ACP: the Required Performance Improvement thresholds (refer to section 8.1.3).

An overview of both options for cost control in Radioplan ACP is given in Table 5-12.


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Table 5-12 Cost Control options in Radioplan ACP

Required Performance Improvement

Cost Control Settings

Definition Threshold for the performance improvement that is required to accept the change of a certain parameter during optimization, i.e.

required benefit

Cost and effort associated with the implementation of a certain parameter change in the live network, i.e.

cost and effort of the

implementation

Effect on the

cost of the optimization result

A high required benefit makes

the respective parameter change less probable. High required benefits result in lower implementation costs.

ultimate optimization result

for given benefit settings

Cost and effort limits are additional

constraints to the optimization. When the limit is reached no more changes are allowed irrespective of their potential benefit.

hard limitation by suppressing

further changes

Necessity, Applicability

mandatory, always considered

optional, always monitored, but only considered if enabled and only in addition to the required benefit

Point of

configuration

respective Optimizer settings

dialog

Cost Control settings page of the

Optimization Wizard


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5.2.8 Configuration Summary

The last page of the Optimization Wizard is shown in Fig. 5-29.

Fig. 5-29 Last page of the Optimization Wizard with an example Configuration Summary

With low user rights level, only the optimization can be started by clicking the Run button.

With high user rights level, the current optimization settings in the Optimization Wizard can also be saved as a new template. Then, next time, any template saved in the automatically selected folder is available for selection in the first page of the Optimization Wizard with the name given to the file.

For more information on the storage folder, please refer to [R-Admin].

5.2.9 Optimization Results


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5.3 Revenue Analysis

The Revenue Analysis submenu contains a set of plots for revenue analysis, which are described in section 6.2, as well as the configuration settings for the underlying Covered Revenue Function – as described in section 5.3.1.

This functionality is only available if the Capital Planning Module is licensed.

5.3.1 Covered Revenue Function

The Covered Revenue function maps for each RAN technology the beacon signal received power level, RxPower [dBm], to a ratio of Covered Revenue [0; 1].

Therefore, based on a ramp function, the Covered Revenue ratio is defined as:

0 (zero), if RxPowerMinRxPower _

1, if RxPowerMaxRxPower _

][_][_

][_][

dBmRxPowerMindBmRxPowerMax

dBmRxPowerMindBmRxPower , otherwise

This ramp function is illustrated in the Covered Revenue Function dialog, where also the Min and Max values can be configured. This dialog is opened by the menu entry Optimization Revenue Analysis Covered Revenue Function… , Fig. 5-30.

Fig. 5-30 Covered Revenue Function dialog

Actix Radioplan Automatic Cell Planning (ACP) Version 3.13 User Guide Optimization Analysis 94

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6 Optimization Analysis

Radioplan ACP provides a number of performance measures and corresponding surface plots for a profound analysis of the radio network setup before, during, and after

optimization.

The analysis is based on and all measures are displayed for the relevant area only, which can be configured by the Traffic and Area Masking options in the Analysis Settings (refer to section 5.1.10).

They can be invoked either through:

the Optimization menu of the main Radioplan application window, Fig. 6-1, or

the buttons for the Graphical Analysis of Changes in the … Optimization Results dialog, Fig. 6-2.

Fig. 6-1 Analysis Plots available in the Optimization menu


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Fig. 6-2 Buttons for the Graphical Analysis of Changes in the optimization … Results dialog (example for CDMA, UMTS, and WiMAX network layers (left) and GSM and iDEN network layers

(right))

Fig. 6-3 Buttons for the Graphical Analysis of Changes in Revenue in the … Results dialog

All resulting plots are common Radioplan Surface Plot layers, which appear in the Layer tab of the Tree window and can be further manipulated and analyzed using a comprehensive

variety of functions – as described in [R-UG] – including:

Tooltips for the Pixel values

Scale and Color Customization – including Legend and Layer templates

Alpha Blending

Coinciding with other Layers, e.g. difference, masking etc.

Deriving a Histogram from a Surface Plot

Listing a Data Table from a Surface Plot

Deriving Cell Statistics from a Surface Plot

Deriving Clutter Statistics from a Surface Plot

Layer Slide Show

Normally the lastly plotted layer (corresponding to the top

layer symbol in the list of the Layer tab) of the same plot type (e.g. Pilot RSCP Coverage) is reused, if a new plot of that type is created. However, if the Shift key is being

pressed when a plot is invoked, the plot is created in a new layer and the existing plot of the same type is kept.

Another way to save an existing layer from overwriting is

to lock it.

This way network setups before and after optimization can directly be compared easily.

Additionally, the progress of a running optimization can be analyzed as follows.


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6.1 Optimization Progress

The optimization progress can be observed:

by the log statements in the Optimization tab of the Message window (refer also to message logging as described in chapter 3),

in the Automatic Optimization Plots, which can be updated automatically or on user request – as described in section 6.1.1, and

in the Optimization Progress chart – as described in section 6.1.2.

6.1.1 Updating the Automatic Optimization Plots

Radioplan ACP automatically creates a number of plots of the key performance measures for the comparison of the status before optimization with the progress during the optimization and with the status at the end of the optimization – based on the Automatic Plots selected in the Optimization Wizard (refer to section 5.2).

During the optimization, these plots are automatically updated after each network reconfiguration, if the Automatic Plot Update option is enabled in the Optimization menu, Fig. 6-4 or in the Optimization Wizard (refer to chapter 5).

Fig. 6-4 Automatic Plot Update option in the Optimization menu

Disabling the Automatic Plot Update option further speeds up the optimization as no calculation time is consumed by

the plot update functions.


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For convenience, this option can be enabled and disabled at any time during the optimization in order to view the optimization progress. Upon enabling this option, the plot is updated after the next change to the network setup. This may not be immediate.

For the case that the Automatic Plot Update option is disabled the plots can also be

updated on user request at any time by clicking the Request Plot Update During

Optimization Run icon of the Optimization toolbar.

6.1.2 Optimization Progress Chart

The Optimization Progress Chart displays:

the coverage percentages – for the Covered Area and the Covered Traffic in the Analysis Area (AA) and

for a Site Selection optimization also the ratio [%] of the number of active sites vs. the number of total sites in the Analysis Area (AA)

as those measures evolve over the optimization. They can be plotted against:

the steps of the optimization algorithm, where each step refers to an evaluated object – e.g. a cell to be reconfigured or a site to be removed;

there is one step for each reconfigurable parameter and each reconfigurable cell in

each optimization run;

the accumulated costs, or

the accumulated efforts – both based on the Cost Control settings as defined in the

Optimization Wizard (refer to section 5.2.7).

The coverage criteria depend on the System of the target network layer(s):

For CDMA and UMTS network layers the Pilot RSCP Coverage and Pilot Ec/Io Coverage are displayed.

For GSM and iDEN network layers the RxLev_DL Coverage and the C/I Coverage are displayed.

For WiMAX network layers the Pilot RSSI Coverage and the Pilot CINR Coverage are displayed.

For LTE network layers the Pilot RSCP Coverage and the Pilot SINR Coverage are displayed.

For the definition of these coverage percentages please refer to the description of the respective analysis plots in chapter 6.

The Optimization Progress Chart can be opened by clicking the Show Progress Chart icon

of the Optimization toolbar. This icon is only active during and after an optimization. An example for a UMTS Capacity and Coverage optimization is shown in Fig. 6-5 and for a

UMTS Site Selection optimization in Fig. 6-6.


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Fig. 6-5 Optimization Progress chart (example for a UMTS Capacity and Coverage optimization)

Fig. 6-6 Optimization Progress chart (example for a UMTS Site Selection optimization)


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Several functions are available to manipulate the chart:

Zoom:

Zoom in is possible by drawing a rectangle target zoom area with the mouse.

Zoom out is possible by right mouse click while pressing the <Ctrl> key or by the menu entries Graph Zoom Out and Graph Fit to Window.

Scale:

Set the lower and upper limits of the chart in the boxes to the left of the chart.

Select displayed criteria

The display of all 4 criteria can be enabled individually in the View menu.

Copy to the clipboard: is available in the Edit menu.

Convert to a table: is available in the Graph menu.

Tooltips are available for every point in the chart, if the mouse cursor is held over the point, Fig. 6-7.

Additionally, the intermediate optimization results for every point can be shown in the Optimization Results dialog by a right mouse click on the point and selecting Show in Results Dialog…, Fig. 6-7. This function is only available as long as that dialog has not yet been closed after the end of an optimization.

By this function, intermediate optimization results can be selected and further analyzed for

any user-defined coverage vs. cost or effort trade-off by means of the same functionality like the final optimization results. Clearly, also an intermediate result can be picked for submission to the Radioplan database.

Fig. 6-7 Tooltip in the Optimization Progress Chart and link to the Optimization Results dialog

For the Optimization Results dialog and its related functionality, please refer to section 7.1.


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6.2 Analysis Plots

The accessibility of the Analysis Plots in the Optimization menu depends on the selected active network layer(s) (refer to section 4.1), called target network layer(s).

For each System. i.e. RAN technology, there is a corresponding set of Analysis Plots.

Moreover, if the Capital Planning Module is licensed, there is a set of plots for Revenue Analysis.

6.2.1 Best Pilot Received Power / Best RxPower / Best Pilot RSCP / Best Pilot RSSI (CDMA, UMTS, WiMAX, and LTE)

For CDMA, UMTS, WiMAX and LTE target network layers, the Best Pilot Received Power plot shows for each pixel the received power [dBm] of the strongest pilot. The Best Pilot Received Power may also be referred to as Best RxPower, Best Pilot RSCP or for WiMAX also Best Pilot RSSI.

For CDMA, UMTS, and LTE target network layers, this received power is also known as the Received Signal Code Power (RSCP), which is used as the numerator of the Ec/Io ratio. It

can be calculated according to the following formula with the parameters described in Table 6-1:

RSCPPilot = PPilot – LDL – LAnt – PL

For WiMAX network layers, the typical terminology is the Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI), which is here used as a synonym for the received WiMAX pilot power. Clearly, it is not the total received power in the band as defined for CDMA and UMTS in section 6.2.4).

RSCPPilot,WiMAX = PPilot,WiMAX – LDL – LAnt – PL

Table 6-1 Parameters for the received pilot power calculation


Description

Radioplan Project

Pilot Power PPilot dBm The pilot power of the cell – configurable in the Cell Settings, i.e. for CDMA cells the FPICH Power and for UMTS cells the PCPICH Power (refer to section 4.6 and [R-UG]).

Cable Loss

DL

LDL dB The downlink cable loss of the cell – configurable

in the Cell Settings (refer to section 4.6 and [R-UG]).

Pathloss PL dB The pathloss between the antenna location of the cell and a pixel position – according to the cell‟s Pathloss matrix (refer to [R-UG]).

Antenna Attenuation

LAnt dB The directed antenna attenuation of the cell towards the pixel – based on the cell‟s antenna

type and orientation (refer to section 4.6 and [R-UG]).

The DEM matrix, if available, is used to determine the vertical angle with respect to the terrain heights at the cell site location and any pixel of the area.


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Note that this Pilot Received Power does not include any attenuation at the terminal side. However, a network-wide value for such an attenuation can be considered in the interference calculations (refer to sections 6.2.4, 6.2.6, 6.2.8, and 6.2.7).

Moreover, clutter-specific attenuations at the user side can be considered for the Pilot RSCP Coverage threshold by the Pathloss Offset in the Clutter Classes settings (refer to sections 6.2.9 and 4.3).

The Best Pilot Received Power plot may look similar as in Fig. 6-8.

Fig. 6-8 Example for the Best Pilot Received Power plot

This Best Pilot Received Power plot is also a standard Radioplan plot (refer to [R-UG]).

There, it can be invoked by clicking the icon of the Views toolbar (tooltip Plot Received Power) or, alternatively, by choosing the menu entry View Configuration Data Plots

Plot Received Power.


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6.2.2 Best RxLev_DL Power (GSM and iDEN only)

Similarly to the Best Pilot Received Power for CDMA and UMTS, the Best RxLev_DL Power plot shows for GSM and iDEN target network layers for each pixel the received power [dBm] of the strongest BCCH. This received power is also known as the RxLev on downlink.

In Radioplan ACP, the RxLev_DL is calculated according to the following formula with the parameters described in Table 6-2:

RxLevDL = PBCCH – LDL – LAnt – PL

Note that this Best RxLev_DL Power does not include any attenuation at the terminal side. However, a network-wide value for such an attenuation can be considered in the C/I (refer

to section 6.2.8).

Moreover, clutter-specific attenuations at the user side can be considered for the RxLev_DL Coverage threshold by the Pathloss Offset in the Clutter Classes settings (refer to sections 6.2.11 and 4.3).

The Best RxLev_DL Power plot may look similar as the CDMA or UMTS Best Pilot Received Power plot (refer to Fig. 6-8 in section 6.2.1).

Table 6-2 Parameters for the RxLev_DL calculation in the Best RxLev_DL Power plot of Radioplan ACP


Description

Radioplan Project

(configurable in the Cell Settings – refer to section 4.6 an [R-UG])

Output Power

PBCCH dBm The output power of the cell‟s Broadcast Control Channel (BCCH).

Cable Loss DL

LDL dB The downlink cable loss of the cell.

Pathloss PL dB The pathloss between the antenna location of the cell and a pixel position – according to the cell‟s Pathloss matrix (refer to [R-UG]).

Antenna Attenuation

LAnt dB The directed antenna attenuation of the cell towards the pixel – based on the cell‟s antenna type and orientation.

The DEM matrix, if available, is used to determine

the vertical angle with respect to the terrain heights at the cell site location and any pixel of the area.


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6.2.3 Best Cell Areas of All, Reconfigurable, and Relevant Cells

The Best Cell Areas plot (for all cells) shows for each pixel the best cell by the cell ID of the best server and a cell-specific color.

The definition of the best server depends on the System of the target network layers:

for CDMA, UMTS, WiMAX, and LTE:

▫ The best server is measured by the Best Pilot Received Power (refer to section 6.2.1).

for GSM and iDEN:

▫ The best server is measured by the Best BCCH carrier RxLev_DL (refer to

section 6.2.2).

In all cases the associated colors are automatically defined. However, if a specific color other than black is defined in the Cell Settings (refer to section 4.6.2), then that cell-specific color is applied.

The additional legend that contains the Cell IDs can be shown or hidden by clicking the icon of the Components toolbar (tooltip Draw Additional Legend).

The Best Cell Areas plot may look similar as in Fig. 6-9.

Fig. 6-9 Example for the Best Cell Areas plot with activated Additional Legend

The Best Cell Areas plot can be created for different sets of cells – using the respective entries in the Optimization (…) Analysis Plots Best Cell Areas submenu, Fig. 6-10. The

Best Cells and the Reconfigurable Cells plots are also available as Automatic Optimization Plots in the Optimization Wizard.

All Cells: Best Cell Areas for all cells

Reconfigurable Cells: Best Cell Areas only for the cells that are reconfigurable:


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▫ for Capacity and Coverage optimization as well as for Site Selection: according to the Reconfigurable Cell Selection in the Analysis Settings (refer to section 5.1.11);

▫ for Site Integration:

The automatic plot from the Optimization Wizard shows the internally determined reconfigurable cells, which are independent of the Reconfigurable Cell Selection that may be in the Analysis Settings.

Relevant Cells: Best Cell Areas only for the cells that are received at any pixel inside of the Analysis Area within a defined margin below the best serving cell.

▫ The applicable margin is a parameter of the Analysis Settings – as defined in section 5.1.12). The default value is 15 dB.

▫ This plot is especially is useful for the definition of the size of the Simulation Area. In order to consider all relevant cells in the surrounding of a given Analysis Area to be optimized, the Relevant Cells plot can be used to determine the sites and cells that may have a relevant impact in the Analysis Area and, therefore, should be included in the Simulation Area.

Fig. 6-10 Best Cell Areas menu in the Optimization (…) Analysis Plots submenu

The Best Cell Areas plot (for all cells) is the basis for all surface plots of cell-specific performance measures, called Mapped Surface Plots, because the cell-specific value is mapped to the best cell area of the corresponding cell.

The Best Cell Areas plot (for all cells) is also a standard Radioplan plot (refer to [R-UG]).

There, it can be invoked by clicking the icon of the Views toolbar (tooltip Plot Best Serving Cell) or, alternatively, by choosing the menu entry View Configuration Data

Plots Best Serving Cell.

6.2.4 RSSI (CDMA and UMTS only)

For CDMA and UMTS target network layers, the RSSI plot shows for each pixel the total

received downlink power [dBm] – in UMTS or CDMA also known as the Received Signal

Strength Indicator (RSSI), which is used as the denominator of the Ec/Io ratio.

In Radioplan ACP, it is calculated for a configurable network-wide load as well as a configurable network-wide effective noise threshold according to the following formula with the parameters described in Table 6-3:

RSSI = 10.lg{10N/10 + all_cells10^[(Pi – LDL,i – LAnt,i – PLi)/10)] }

Thereby, the output power Pi of cell i includes the output power of the pilot PPilot and of all

other DL common control channels PotherCCH as well as the DCH Network Load and

depends for cells with activated HSDPA on the HSDPA Power Mode of that cell (refer also to section 4.6.4) as follows:

if HSDPA is not activated at cell i or in case of the power mode PCPICH Offset:


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Pi [mW] = Pcommon [mW] + . PDCH,total,max [mW]

with Pcommon,used [mW] = PPilot [mW] + PotherCCH,used [mW] + AFHSDPA . PHS-PDSCH [mW]

and PDCH,total,max [mW] = Ptotal,max [mW] – Pcommon,allocated [mW]

The following cell parameters (refer to section 4.6.4) are used:

For UMTS:

PPilot PPCPICH and

PotherCCH,used [mW] 10a + AFFirstSCCPCH . 10b + AFAICH . 10c + AFPICH . 10d + AFHSDPA . nHS-SCCH . 10e

where

a = (PPCPICH [dBm] + PPCCPCH [dB] ) / 10

b = (PPCPICH [dBm] + PFirstSCCPCH [dB] ) / 10

c = (PPCPICH [dBm] + PAICH [dB] ) / 10

d = (PPCPICH [dBm] + PPICH [dB] ) / 10

e = (PPCPICH [dBm] + PHS-SCCH [dB] ) / 10

where the last term for the HS-SCCH is always zero, if HSDPA is not activated.

The HSDPA activity factor AFHSDPA is defined in section 5.1.13.

For the allocated transmit powers, the activity factors are not used:

Pcommon,allocated := Pcommon,used |AF*=1

For CDMA:

PPilot PFPICH and PotherCCH PotherCCH

otherwise, in case of the power mode Residue:

Pi Ptotal,withDCHAndHS-PDSCH,max

With Ptotal,withDCHAndHS-PDSCH,max as defined in section 4.6.4.

Table 6-3 Parameters for the RSSI calculation in the RSSI plot (and consequently in the Best Pilot Ec/Io plot)

Parameter Symbol Unit

/ Value

Description

Radioplan General Settings

Configurable in the General Settings dialog (refer also to chapter 3), which can be invoked using the menu entry Tools General Settings.

Noise Floor N dBm The noise floor N (refer to chapter 3).

Radioplan Project

(configurable in the Cell Settings – refer to section 4.6 and [R-UG])

Cable Loss DL

LDL,i dB The downlink cable loss of cell i .


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Description

Pathloss PLi dB The pathloss between the antenna location of cell i

and a pixel position – according to the cell‟s Pathloss matrix (refer to [R-UG]).

Antenna

Attenuation

LAnt,i dB The directed antenna attenuation of cell i towards the

pixel – according to the cell‟s antenna type and orientation.

Radioplan ACP: Network Load slider

The Network Load slider is configurable in the Analysis Settings – refer to section 5.1.5.

[DCH] Network Load

% The relative DCH network load of the highest loaded cell, which is applied to all cells. It refers to the power stock that is available for user traffic, i.e. the range between the total power of all DL common control channels and the Maximum Output Power of each cell – refer to section 5.1.5 for details.

For power Prep,i considered from repeaters is derived from the donor cell power Pi by a gain

factor as follows:

Prep,i [mW] = Pi [mW]. PPilot,rep,i [mW] / PPilot,i [mW]

The RSSI plot may look similar as in Fig. 6-11.

Fig. 6-11 Example for the RSSI plot

An RSSI plot is also a standard Radioplan plot. There, it can be invoked by choosing the menu entry View Configuration Data Plots RSSI. However, the calculation principle

and the network load assumed for that plot may be different from the definitions above (refer to [R-UG]).


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6.2.5 Best Pilot Ec/Io (CDMA and UMTS only)

For CDMA and UMTS target network layers, the Best Pilot Ec/Io plot shows for each pixel the Ec/Io [dB] of the strongest pilot. It is calculated from the Best Pilot Received Power (“Ec”) and the RSSI (“Io”):

Ec/I0 [dB] = RSCP [dBm] – RSSI [dBm]

Please refer to sections 6.2.1 and 6.2.4, respectively, for the underlying calculations and considered parameters.

Due to the RSSI calculation principle in Radioplan ACP, where the configured Network Load of the highest loaded cell is applied to all cells, this Ec/Io is a worst-case value.

A Best Pilot Ec/Io plot can be invoked at two places in

Radioplan. The second option is a standard Radioplan plot.

When choosing the menu entry Optimization CDMA &

UMTS Analysis Plots Best Pilot Ec/Io, the DCH Network

Load [%] of Radioplan ACP is applied (refer to section 5.1.5).

By clicking the icon of the Views toolbar (tooltip (W)CDMA: Plot Ec/Io, GSM: Plot C/I) or when choosing the menu entry View Configuration Data Plots (W)CDMA:

Plot Ec/Io, GSM: Plot C/I, one of the configurable Radioplan options for the network load calculation is applied. Please note, that the calculation principle and the network load assumed for that plot may be different from the definitions

above (refer to [R-UG]).

The Best Pilot Ec/Io plot of Radioplan ACP may look similar as in Fig. 6-12.

Fig. 6-12 Example for the Best Pilot Ec/Io plot


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6.2.6 Best Pilot CINR / Best C/I (WiMAX only)

For WiMAX target network layers, the Best Pilot CINR plot shows for each pixel the channel-to-interference and noise ratio of the strongest pilot. The Best Pilot CINR may also be referred to as Best C/I.

In Radioplan ACP, it is calculated as the difference of the WiMAX Best Pilot RSSI (C) and the interference (I):

CINR [dB] = RSSIPilot,WiMAX [dBm] – I [dBm]

For the WiMAX Pilot RSSI calculation and considered parameters please refer to section 6.2.1.

The interference is calculated for a configurable network-wide effective noise floor

according to the following formula with the parameters described in Table 6-6:

I = 10.lg{ 10a + all_other_cells_in_all_WiMax_network_layers 10b }

where

a = NWiMAX/10

b = ( PPilot,i – LDL,i – LAnt,i – PLi ) / 10

Table 6-4 Parameters for the co-channel interference calculation in the Best C/I plot


Description


Configurable in the General Settings dialog (refer also to chapter 3), which can be

invoked using the menu entry Tools General Settings.

Noise Floor NWiMAX dBm The noise floor N for WiMAX (refer to chapter 3).

Radioplan Project


Pilot Power PPilot,i dBm The cell‟s WiMAX pilot power.

Cable Loss DL

LDL,i dB The downlink cable loss of the cell i.



Antenna

Attenuation



The Best Pilot CINR plot may look similar as the GSM or iDEN Best C/I plot (refer to in Fig. 6-13 in section 6.2.8).


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6.2.7 Best Pilot SINR (LTE only)

For LTE target network layers, the Best Pilot SINR plot shows for each pixel the signal-to-interference and noise ratio of the strongest pilot.

In Radioplan ACP, it is calculated as the difference of the LTE Best Pilot RSCP (S) and the interference (I):

SINR [dB] = RSCPPilot [dBm] – I [dBm]

For the LTE Pilot Received Power calculation and considered parameters please refer to

section 6.2.1.

The interference is calculated for a configurable network-wide effective noise floor according to the following formula with the parameters described in Table 6-6:

I = 10.lg{ 10a + all_other_cells_in_all_LTE_network_layers 10b }

where

a = NLTE/10

b = ( PPilot,i – LDL,i – LAnt,i – PLi ) / 10



Description



Noise Floor NLTE dBm The noise floor NLTE for LTE, which is defined by the configured LTE Noise Figure NFLTE (refer to

chapter 3).

Radioplan Project


Pilot Power PPilot,i dBm The cell‟s LTE pilot power.

Cable Loss DL




Antenna Attenuation



The Best Pilot SINR plot may look similar as the GSM or iDEN Best C/I plot (refer to in Fig. 6-13 in section 6.2.8).


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6.2.8 Best C/I (GSM and iDEN only)

For GSM and iDEN target network layers, the Best C/I plot shows for each pixel the co-channel DL C/I [dB] of the strongest BCCH.

In Radioplan ACP, it is calculated as the difference of the Best RxLev_DL (C) and the co-channel interference (I):

C/I [dB] = RxLevDL [dBm] – I [dBm]

For the RxLev_DL calculation and considered parameters please refer to section 6.2.2.

The co-channel interference is calculated for a configurable network-wide effective noise floor according to the following formula with the parameters described in Table 6-6:

I = 10.lg{ 10a + all_co-channel_transmitters_whether BCCH_or_TCH 10b }

where

a = N/10

b = ( PTx,i – LDL,i – LAnt,i – PLi ) / 10



Description



Noise Floor NGSM or NiDEN

dBm The noise floor N for the respective system (refer to

chapter 3).

Radioplan Project


Output Power

PBCCH dBm The output power of the cell‟s Broadcast Control Channel (BCCH).

Cable Loss DL




Antenna

Attenuation



Channel

Numbers

– – Channel numbers of the BCCH and the TCHs.

The Best C/I plot may look similar as in Fig. 6-13.


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Fig. 6-13 Example for the Best C/I plot

Note that adjacent cells may have considerably different Best C/I values depending on the frequency plan.

6.2.9 Pilot RSCP Coverage (CDMA, UMTS, and LTE)

For CDMA, UMTS, and LTE target network layers, the Pilot RSCP Coverage plot shows for each pixel whether the coverage condition with respect to the Best Pilot Received Power (as defined in section 6.2.1) is fulfilled (value: 1.0) or not (value: 0.0).

A pixel is assumed to be covered if the best pilot received power Pr,BestPilot exceeds the

applicable Pilot RSCP Coverage Threshold RSCPmin(clutter):

RSCP_Coverage = 1 if Pr,BestPilot ≥ RSCPmin(clutter), otherwise 0

The applicable Pilot RSCP Coverage Threshold may depend on the clutter class (refer to section 4.3 and 6.2.12):

RSCPmin(clutter) = Pr,Pilot,min + PL(clutter)

The area-wide coverage constraint Minimum Pilot RSCP Pr,Pilot,min can be configured in the

Analysis Settings (refer to section 5.1).

The Pilot RSCP Coverage plot may look similar as in Fig. 6-14.


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Fig. 6-14 Example for the Pilot RSCP Coverage plot (using alpha blending)

The picture is independent of the Preferred Coverage Objective (as defined in section 8.1.4.1). Clearly, it always displays the Covered Area.

However, note that not only the Covered Area, but also the Covered Traffic is reported for

each the Analysis Area (AA) and the Simulation Area (SA) in the lower part of the plot legend.

6.2.10 Pilot RSSI Coverage (WiMAX only)

For WiMAX target network layers, the Pilot RSSI Coverage plot shows for each pixel whether the coverage condition with respect to the Best Pilot Received Power (as defined in section 6.2.1) is fulfilled (value: 1.0) or not (value: 0.0).

A pixel is assumed to be covered if the best pilot received power Pr,BestPilot exceeds the

applicable Pilot RSSI Coverage Threshold RSSImin(clutter):

RSSI_Coverage = 1 if Pr,BestPilot ≥ RSSImin(clutter), otherwise 0

The applicable Pilot RSSI Coverage Threshold may depend on the clutter class (refer to

section 4.3 and 6.2.13):

RSSImin(clutter) = RSSIPilot,min + PL(clutter)

The area-wide coverage constraint Minimum Pilot RSSI RSSIPilot,min can be configured in the


The Pilot RSSI Coverage plot may look similar as the CDMA or UMTS Pilot Power Coverage plot (refer to Fig. 6-14 in section 6.2.9).


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6.2.11 RxLev_DL Coverage (GSM and iDEN only)

For GSM and iDEN target network layers, the RxLev_DL Coverage plot shows for each pixel whether the coverage condition with respect to the Best RxLev_DL (as defined in section 6.2.2) is fulfilled or not.

A pixel is assumed to be covered if the Best RxLev_DL RxLevDL,BestBCCH exceeds the applicable

RxLev_DL Coverage Threshold RxLevDL,min(clutter):

RxLev_DL_Coverage = 1 if RxLevDL,BestBCCH ≥ RxLevDL,min(clutter), otherwise 0

The applicable RxLev_DL Coverage Threshold may depend on the clutter type (refer to sections 4.3 and 6.2.14):

RxLevDL,min(clutter) = RxLevDL,min + PL(clutter)

The area-wide coverage constraint Minimum RxLev_DL RxLevDL,min can be configured in the


The RxLev_DL Coverage plot may look similar as the CDMA or UMTS Pilot Power Coverage plot (refer to Fig. 6-14 in section 6.2.9).

6.2.12 Pilot RSCP Coverage Threshold (CDMA, UMTS, and LTE)

For CDMA, UMTS, and LTE target network layers, the Pilot RSCP Coverage Threshold plot shows for each pixel the applicable coverage threshold.

Radioplan supports the definition of clutter-specific offsets to the Minimum Pilot RSCP,

which determines the RSCP Coverage (refer to sections 8.1.4 and 6.2.9). Each clutter class can be assigned with a specific Pathloss Offset for Optimization – configurable in the Clutter Classes Settings (as described in section 4.3).

The Pilot RSCP Coverage Threshold plot may look similar as in Fig. 6-15.

Fig. 6-15 Example for the RSCP Coverage Threshold plot


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In this example, the general coverage threshold is -100 dBm and specific clutter classes are assigned with an offset of 10 dB or 15 dB, which increase the effectively required coverage threshold accordingly.

6.2.13 Pilot RSSI Coverage Threshold (WiMAX only)

For WiMAX target network layers, the Pilot RSSI Coverage Threshold plot shows for each pixel the applicable coverage threshold.

Radioplan supports the definition of clutter-specific offsets to the Minimum Pilot RSSI, which determines the RSSI Coverage (refer to sections 8.1.4 and 6.2.10). Each clutter

class can be assigned with a specific Pathloss Offset for Optimization – configurable in the Clutter Classes Settings (as described in section 4.3).

The Pilot RSSI Coverage Threshold plot may look similar as the CDMA or UMTS Pilot RSCP Coverage Threshold plot (refer to Fig. 6-15 in section 6.2.12).

6.2.14 RxLev_DL Coverage Threshold (GSM and iDEN only)

For GSM and iDEN target network layers, the RxLev_DL Coverage Threshold plot shows for each pixel the applicable coverage threshold.

Radioplan supports the definition of clutter-specific offsets to the Minimum RxLev_DL, which determines the RxLev_DL Coverage (refer to section 6.2.11). Each clutter class can be assigned with a specific Pathloss Offset for Optimization – configurable in the Clutter Classes Settings (as described in section 4.3).

The RxLev_DL Coverage Threshold plot may look similar as the CDMA or UMTS Pilot RSCP Coverage Threshold plot (refer to Fig. 6-15 in section 6.2.12).

6.2.15 Pilot Ec/Io Coverage (CDMA and UMTS only)

For CDMA and UMTS target network layers, the Pilot Ec/Io Coverage plot shows for each

pixel whether the coverage condition with respect to the Best Pilot Ec/Io (as defined in section 6.2.5) is fulfilled or not.

A pixel is assumed to be covered if the best pilot Ec/Io BestPilotc IE 0 exceeds the applicable

Pilot Ec/Io Coverage Threshold clutterIEminc 0 :

otherwise

clutterIEIEifCoverageEcIo mincBestPilotc

0

1_

00 .

The applicable Pilot Ec/Io Coverage Threshold may depend on the clutter class (refer to section 4.3 and 6.2.19):

clutterIEIEclutterIE cmincminc 000 :

The area-wide coverage constraint Minimum Pilot Ec/Io minc IE 0 can be configured in the


The Pilot Ec/Io Coverage plot may look similar as in Fig. 6-16.

Note that the assumed DCH Network Load is included in the layer caption.

The picture is independent of the Preferred Coverage Objective (as defined in section 8.1.4.1). Clearly, it always displays the Covered Area.

However, note that not only the Covered Area, but also the Covered Traffic is reported for each the Analysis Area (AA) and the Simulation Area (SA) in the lower part of the plot legend.


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Fig. 6-16 Example for the Pilot Ec/Io Coverage plot (using alpha blending)

6.2.16 Pilot CINR Coverage (WiMAX only)

For WiMAX target network layers, the Pilot CINR Coverage plot shows for each pixel whether the coverage condition with respect to the Best Pilot CINR (as defined in

section 6.2.6) is fulfilled or not.

A pixel is assumed to be covered if the best pilot CINR BestPilotCINR exceeds the applicable

Pilot CINR Coverage Threshold clutterCINRmin :

otherwise

clutterCINRCINRifCoverageCINR

minBestPilot

0

1_ .

The applicable Pilot CINR Coverage Threshold may depend on the clutter class (refer to section 4.3 and 6.2.19):

clutterICCINRclutterCINR minmin :

The area-wide coverage constraint Minimum Pilot CINR minCINR can be configured in the


The Pilot CINR Coverage plot may look similar as the CDMA or UMTS Pilot Ec/Io Coverage

plot (refer to Fig. 6-16 in section 6.2.15).

6.2.17 Pilot SINR Coverage (LTE only)

For LTE target network layers, the Pilot SINR Coverage plot shows for each pixel whether the coverage condition with respect to the Best Pilot SINR (as defined in section 6.2.7) is

fulfilled or not.

A pixel is assumed to be covered if the best pilot SINR BestPilotSINR exceeds the applicable

Pilot SINR Coverage Threshold clutterSINRmin :

otherwise

clutterSINRSINRifCoverageSINR

minBestPilot

0

1_ .


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The applicable Pilot SINR Coverage Threshold may depend on the clutter class (refer to section 4.3 and 6.2.21):

clutterICSINRclutterSINR minmin:

The area-wide coverage constraint Minimum Pilot SINR minSINR can be configured in the


The Pilot SINR Coverage plot may look similar as the CDMA or UMTS Pilot Ec/Io Coverage

plot (refer to Fig. 6-16 in section 6.2.15).

6.2.18 C/I Coverage (GSM and iDEN only)

For GSM and iDEN target network layers, the C/I Coverage plot shows for each pixel

whether the coverage condition with respect to the Best C/I (as defined in section 6.2.8) is

fulfilled or not.

A pixel is assumed to be covered if the Best C/I BestBCCHDL

IC,

exceeds the applicable C/I

Coverage Threshold clutterICDL,min

:

otherwise

clutterICICifCoverageIC minDLBestBCCHDL

0

1_/ ,,

.

The applicable C/I Coverage Threshold may depend on the clutter type (refer to sections 4.3 and 6.2.22):

clutterICICclutterICminDLminDL ,,

:

The area-wide coverage constraint Minimum C/I DL,min

IC can be configured in the Analysis

Settings (refer to section 5.1).

The C/I Coverage plot may look similar as the CDMA or UMTS Pilot Ec/Io Coverage plot (refer to Fig. 6-16 in section 6.2.15).

6.2.19 Pilot Ec/Io Coverage Threshold (CDMA and UMTS only)

For CDMA and UMTS target network layers, the Pilot Ec/Io Coverage Threshold plot shows for each pixel the applicable coverage threshold.

Radioplan supports the definition of clutter-specific offsets to the Minimum Pilot Ec/Io, which determines the Ec/Io Coverage (refer to section 6.2.15). Each clutter class can be assigned with a specific Ec/Io Offset for Optimization – configurable in the Clutter Classes Settings (as described in section 4.3).

The Pilot Ec/Io Coverage Threshold plot may look similar as in Fig. 6-17.


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Fig. 6-17 Example for the Ec/Io Coverage Threshold plot

In this example, the general Ec/Io coverage threshold is -12 dB and specific clutter classes are assigned with an offset of 1 dB or 2 dB, which increase the effectively required Ec/Io coverage threshold accordingly.

6.2.20 Pilot CINR Coverage Threshold (WiMAX only)

For WiMAX target network layers, the Pilot CINR Coverage Threshold plot shows for each pixel the applicable coverage threshold.

Radioplan supports the definition of clutter-specific offsets to the Minimum Pilot CINR, which determines the CINR Coverage (refer to section 6.2.16). Each clutter class can be assigned with a specific C/I Offset for Optimization – configurable in the Clutter Classes Settings (as described in section 4.3).

The Pilot Ec/Io Coverage Threshold plot may look similar as the CDMA or UMTS Pilot Ec/Io

Coverage Threshold plot (refer to Fig. 6-17 in section 6.2.19).

6.2.21 Pilot SINR Coverage Threshold (LTE only)

For LTE target network layers, the Pilot SINR Coverage Threshold plot shows for each pixel the applicable coverage threshold.

Radioplan supports the definition of clutter-specific offsets to the Minimum Pilot SINR, which determines the Pilot SINR Coverage (refer to section 6.2.17). Each clutter class can be assigned with a specific C/I Offset for Optimization – configurable in the Clutter Classes Settings (as described in section 4.3).

The Pilot Ec/Io Coverage Threshold plot may look similar as the CDMA or UMTS Pilot Ec/Io Coverage Threshold plot (refer to Fig. 6-17 in section 6.2.19).

6.2.22 C/I Coverage Threshold (GSM and iDEN only)

For GSM and iDEN target network layers, the C/I Coverage Threshold plot shows for each pixel the applicable coverage threshold.


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Radioplan supports the definition of clutter-specific offsets to the Minimum C/I, which determines the C/I Coverage (refer to section 6.2.18). Each clutter class can be assigned with a specific Pathloss Offset for Optimization – configurable in the Clutter Classes Settings (as described in section 4.3).

The C/I Coverage Threshold plot may look similar as the CDMA or UMTS Pilot Ec/Io Coverage Threshold plot (refer to Fig. 6-17 in section 6.2.19).

6.2.23 Best Cell Overlap

The Best Cell Overlap plot shows for each pixel the number of cells – including the best cell

– which are received within a configurable margin below the signal of the best cell.

The best cell is defined according to section 6.2.3 – depending on the System of the target

network layers.

The applicable margin is the Best Cell Overlap Evaluation Margin, which is a parameter of the Analysis Settings – as defined in section 5.1.8.

This plot indicates areas with high interference (for GSM and iDEN network layers only disregarding the frequency plan). Moreover, for UMTS and CDMA network layers, it

illustrates soft handover zones and, if the maximum active set size is subtracted from the number of overlapping cells, it results in a usual definition for the pilot pollution zones.

Clearly, for GSM and iDEN network layers, the BCCH and TCH channel numbers as well as BSICs of the cells, i.e. the frequency plan, are not taken into account. Hence, a high number of overlapping cells indicates areas with high potential interference, if the frequency plan is changed towards tighter frequency reuse.

The Best Cell Overlap plot may look similar as in Fig. 6-18.

Fig. 6-18 Example for the Best Cell Overlap plot

Note that the applied Best Cell Overlap Evaluation Margin is included in the layer caption.

It is an objective of the GSM, iDEN, WiMAX, and LTE optimization to minimize the Best Cell Overlap averaged over all cells (refer to section 8.3.5).


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A Cell Overlapping plot is also a standard Radioplan plot. There, it can be invoked by

clicking the icon of the Views toolbar (tooltip Plot Cell Overlapping) or when choosing the menu entry View Configuration Data Plots Cell Overlapping. However, a different

margin parameter is applied. It is defined in the General Settings dialog as the Cell Overlap Window [dB] (refer to [R-UG]).

6.2.24 Cell Overlap Ratio per Cell

The Cell Overlap Ratio per Cell plot shows the cell-specific overlap ratios mapped to the

best cell areas.

The cell overlap ratio is defined by the number of pixels in the cell‟s best cell area where the respective cell is overlapping with other cells divided by the total number of pixels in the cell‟s best cell area.

A high cell overlap ratio corresponds to a small dominant best server area of the respective cell. If a cell with high overlap ratio is removed during a site selection optimization (refer to section 8.2), it is likely that other cells can still provide sufficient coverage.

Cell overlapping is defined as in section 6.2.23.

The Cell Overlap Ratio per Cell plot may look similar as in Fig. 6-19.

Fig. 6-19 Example for the Cell Overlap Ratio per Cell plot

6.2.25 Site Overlap Ratio per Site

The Site Overlap Ratio per Site plot shows the site-specific overlap ratios mapped to the best cell areas.

The site overlap ratio is defined by the number of pixels in the best cell area of all cells of the site where the respective cells are overlapping with cells of other sites divided by the total number of pixels in the best cell area of all cells of the site.

A high site overlap ratio corresponds to a small dominant best server area of the respective site‟s cells. If a site with high overlap ratio is removed during a site selection optimization (refer to section 8.2), it is likely that other sites‟ cells can still provide

sufficient coverage.


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Overlapping is defined as in section 6.2.23.

The Site Overlap Ratio per Site plot may look similar as in Fig. 6-20.

Fig. 6-20 Example for the Site Overlap Ratio per Site plot

6.2.26 Equivalent DL or UL Traffic per Pixel (CDMA and UMTS only)

For CDMA and UMTS target network layers, the Equivalent DL or UL Traffic per Pixel plot shows for each pixel the relative Equivalent Traffic for the respective link direction, downlink or uplink. It is displayed in relation to the highest Equivalent Traffic value of all pixels, which is scaled to 100%.

For this plot the Consider Traffic Distribution option must

be enabled in the Analysis Settings (refer to section 5.1.10). Otherwise, a homogeneous traffic distribution is assumed, which results in a plot with a value of 100% at all pixels.

The pixel-based Equivalent Traffic is a specific measure of Radioplan ACP. It represents for the DL part or for the UL part of a multi-service UMTS traffic mix the spatial distribution of the equivalent number of fully active speech users.

In other words: How many fully and continuously active

speech users (with a given target Eb/N0) would create the same offered traffic like the service mix at each pixel to respective link direction of the air interface?

Thus, the Equivalent Traffic takes into account that identical traffic values may result in

different air interface loads depending on the services and the used radio bearers.

For example, the Speech service requires a comparatively low transmit power due to its low transmission data rate and high spreading factor, whereas a WWW session requires a

comparatively high transmit power due to its high transmission data rate and low


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spreading factor. Moreover, user data has actually to be transmitted in case of the Speech service only during the “active voice” periods and in case of the WWW session mainly during the download phases.

The DL or UL Equivalent Traffic is determined from the following contributions:

Traffic Matrix, which is always associated to a Service Profile:

▫ The interpretation of the Traffic Matrix values (Erl / km2 or users / km2 etc.) may depend on the Service Profile – see section 6.2.26.1.

▫ However, in any case the Traffic Matrix values denote at each pixel the spatial density per square kilometer: [1 / km2] .

User definition – including UE Profile, Equipment Profile, and Service Profile with

the Traffic Model as well as Network Layer.

Based on that information, a DL or UL Service Correction Factor is calculated, which

considers the following Activity Factors (AF):

▫ User AF – as defined in section 6.2.26.1,

▫ DL or UL Service AF – as defined in section 6.2.26.2, and

▫ DL or UL Radio Bearer AF – as defined in section 6.2.26.3.

Additionally, the DL or UL Service Correction Factor takes the DL or UL target Eb/N0 , the Service Portion as well as reference “equivalent speech user” characteristics into account – as defined in section 6.2.26.4.

HSDPA users are considered as a special case – with the assumptions defined in section 6.2.26.5.

Finally, the traffic values are weighted with the uniform pixel area, the Service Portion configured for the respective UE Profile, and the Service Correction Factor calculated for the respective UE Profile. Then, these weighted values are accumulated for each pixel over all active UE Profiles, which refer to the active network layer(s) – thus yielding the

Equivalent DL or UL Traffic (ET) of the configured service mix:

ersNetworkLayactive

thetoreferring

UEProfilesactiveUEProfile kmueTrafficValSCFtionServicePorkmPixelAreaET

_

__

_

2

**

2

** 1

with ** = {“DL”, “UL”}.

Note that by multiplying with the pixel area [km2] the value resulting for each pixel is not a traffic density [1/km2] anymore, but an absolute traffic value [“equivalent user”].

The traffic values are taken from the Traffic Matrix, which is part of a UE Profile:

either directly, if the UE Profile refers to an active target network layer

or proportionately, if the UE Profile refers to „ALL‟ network layers.

In the latter case, the traffic values are multiplied by a factor k / n, where n is the total number of network layers in the project and k is the number of active target network

layers.

UE Profiles that refer to a Service Profile without a Traffic Matrix are ignored.

The Equivalent Traffic per Pixel plot may look similar as in Fig. 6-21.

Note that the absolute maximum of all pixel-based Equivalent Traffic values is shown in the lower part of the plot legend. Although the unit “Erl” has been kept it does not represent an absolute traffic value in the traditional sense but the number of speech user

equivalents, which represent the offered traffic of the configured service mix.


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This Equivalent Traffic can be used to prioritize the optimization calculations across the area (see also section 5.1.10).

Fig. 6-21 Example for the Equivalent Traffic per Pixel plot

6.2.26.1 User Activity Factor

The User Activity Factor (AF) denotes the probability that a user is temporarily using the

service. It applies to both UL and DL.

The User AF depends on how the Traffic Matrix values are interpreted. There are two different interpretations – depending on the Traffic Model configured in the Service Profile:

The default assumption for all traffic models is that the traffic matrix values denote the number of simultaneously active users per km2.

Hence, the User Activity Factor (AF) is always 0.1UserAF for Service Profiles with the

following traffic models:

▫ Speech / Video (incl. Semi-Dynamic)

▫ VoIP

▫ File and WWW

▫ Streaming (Constant Bit Rate, VBR/OnOff, VBR/Gauss)

Thus, the traffic matrix values of circuit-switched Service Profiles are interpreted as [Erlang / km2].

In contrast to that, for the reason of compatibility with the simulation approach of the Atoll network planning tool (refer to [A-TR][R-Atoll]), the traffic matrix values of Service Profiles with the AtollCS or AtollPS traffic models denote the potential

number of users per km2, which are not necessarily all simultaneously active.

For the probability that such users are actually active at a moment, Atoll takes for simulations further activity parameters into account.


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Hence, this concept is also applied in Radioplan ACP for the Equivalent Traffic calculations of Service Profiles with Atoll-Compatible traffic models, because it is assumed that they are associated with Atoll-originating traffic matrices.

Accordingly, the User Activity Factor (AF) is calculated as follows:

▫ Atoll-Compatible Circuit-Switched:

3600

ACallDurationOfTM.AveragellsPerHourNumberOfCaTM.AverageAFUser

▫ Atoll-Compatible Packet-Switched:

0.1UserAF , because the calculated Service Activity Factors already include the

user activity (see section 6.2.26.2).

Thus, the traffic matrix values of circuit-switched Service Profiles with Atoll-Compatible

traffic models are interpreted as [user / km2].

6.2.26.2 DL or UL Service Activity Factor

The DL or UL Service Activity Factor (AF) denotes the ratio of time during the service, for which there is actually data to be transmitted on the respective link direction.

For each traffic model, a Service Activity Factor (AF) – in case of asymmetric service, separately for each UL and DL – is calculated as follows:

Speech / Video (incl. Semi-Dynamic):

MeanSilentTimeTMMeanActiveTimeTM

MeanActiveTimeTMAFAF ULServiceDLService

..

.,,

if 0.. MeanSilentTimeTMMeanActiveTimeTM ; otherwise 0.1,DLServiceAF .

File:

ationServiceDur

ActivityAFService

**

*,* with ** = {“DL”, “UL”}

if 0ationServiceDur , otherwise 0.1*,*ServiceAF .

with DLUL ActivityonseTimeServerRespTMActivityationServiceDur .

and MaxDataRate

MeanFileSizeTMActivity

**

**.8**

with ** = {“DL”, “UL”}

if 0** MaxDataRate , otherwise 0.0**Activity .

WWW:

ationServiceDur

ActivityAFService

**

*,* with ** = {“DL”, “UL”}

if 0ationServiceDur , otherwise 0.1*,*ServiceAF .

with

TimeMeanTM.ReadinganallCountMeTM.PacketC

TMeanDatagramIATMuntMeanDatagramCoTMonseTimeServerRespTM

anallCountMeTM.PacketC

ActivityActivityationServiceDur DLUL

1

.1..


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and MaxDataRateUL

MeanstributionDatagramDiTM.Request8anallCountMeTM.PacketCActivityUL

40

and

MaxDataRateDL

mSizeMeanTM.Datagra8mCountMeanTM.DatagraanallCountMeTM.PacketCActivityDL

if

0** MaxDataRate , respectively, otherwise 0.0**Activity .

Atoll-Compatible Circuit-Switched:

VAFDLTMAF DLService .,

VAFULTMAF ULService .,

Atoll-Compatible Packet-Switched:

3600****.

**.10248min*,*

MaxDataRateFactorEfficiencyTM

essionVolumePerSTMourssionsPerHNumberOfSeTM.Average1.0;AFService

with ** = {“DL”, “UL”}

if 0**. FactorEfficiencyTM and 0** MaxDataRate , otherwise 0.1*,*ServiceAF .

Streaming (Constant Bit Rate):

otherwise

PacketSizeTMifAFService

0.0

0**.0.1*,* with ** = {“DL”, “UL”}

Streaming (VBR/OnOff, VBR/Gauss):

MaxDataRate

eAvgDataRatTMAFService

**

**.*,*

with ** = {“DL”, “UL”}

if 0** MaxDataRate , otherwise 0.1*,*ServiceAF .

6.2.26.3 DL or UL Radio Bearer Activity Factor

The radio bearer may even be active when no user data needs to be transmitted, i.e.

during (short) periods of service inactivity. Hence, the DL or UL Radio Bearer Activity Factor (AF) denotes the additional probability and degree of the radio bearer still being active during periods of service inactivity.

For UMTS, specifically UTRA/FDD, the DPCCH is continuously transmitted even if no user

data is to be transmitted. Hence, the Radio Bearer AF can be derived from the power ratio of the DPCCH in relation to the DPCH, which depends on the Spreading Factor (SF).

That is why the DL and UL service data rates (“nominal data rates of the radio bearers”)

are mapped to a SF. Then, each SF corresponds to a certain DPCCH/DPCH power ratio – as defined for DL and UL in Table 6-7 and Table 6-8, respectively.

For the radio bearer definitions as well as more information on the DPCCH/DPCH power ratio, please refer to [34.108] and [R-TR].

For Atoll-compatible services, the parameter DPCCH/DPCH

power ratio can be explicitely configured in the service profile Atoll Service tab.


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Table 6-7 DL mapping of radio bearer data rate, SF, and DPCCH/DPCH power ratio

DL Nominal Radio Bearer Data Rate

[bps]

DL SF DL DPCCH vs. DPCH Power Ratio

[linear scale]

>…384,000 4 0.025

>…256,000 8 0.05

>=…128,000 16 0.1

>…32,000 32 0.125

>…16,000 64 0.25

>=…8,000 128 0.34

otherwise 256 0.34

Table 6-8 UL mapping of radio bearer data rate, SF, and DPCCH/DPCH power ratio

UL Nominal Radio Bearer Data

Rate

[bps]

UL SF UL DPCCH vs. DPCH Power Ratio

[linear scale]

>…144,000 4 0.038

>…64,000 8 0.1

>…32,000 16 0.179

>=…16,000 32 0.265

>=…8,000 64 0.350

>…3,400 128 0.429

otherwise 256 0.5

6.2.26.4 DL or UL Service Correction Factor

The Service Correction Factor combines the User, Service, and Radio Bearer Activity Factors and puts that together with the DL or UL target Eb/N0 values in relation to a reference “equivalent speech user”.

The “equivalent speech user” used as a reference shall have the following characteristics:

on DL:

▫ dBNErefDLtargetb 0.7

,,0 and

▫ 128,refDLSF like the typical speech radio bearer as well as

on UL:

▫ dBNErefULtargetb 0.4

,,0 and

▫ 64,refULSF like the typical speech radio bearer.

Based on that, the Service Correction Factor (SCF) is calculated as follows:


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**

*,*10

*,****,***

,**,0,**0

10

1__

SF

SF

AFRatioDPCHDPCCHAFAFSCF

refNENE

ServiceServiceUser

reftargetbtargetb with ** = {“DL”, “UL”}.

6.2.26.5 Special Case: HSDPA Users

For HSDPA users, only their A-DPCH is considered in the DL Equivalent Traffic matrix.

Hence, if HSDPA is enabled in the Equipment Profile and in the Optimization Analysis Settings, the DL ET is determined with the following special settings:

user activity: 0.1UserAF

DL service activity: 0.1,DLServiceAF

DL Spreading Factor (SF) = 256

DL nominal (radio bearer) data rate: bpsR DLRB 3400,

DL target Eb/N0: as configured for the service

6.2.27 Absolute Traffic

The Absolute Traffic (Density) plot shows for each pixel the total sum of the traffic values [1/km2] over all traffic matrices of the active UE Profiles. Thus, it can be a measure for the total user density (with any service).

If the option Consider Min. RxPower Threshold for Traffic Assignment is enabled, then the Absolute Traffic (Density) plot shows only the traffic that meets the serving cells‟ Min. RxPower Threshold (refer to section 5.1.10).

For this plot the Consider Traffic Distribution option should

be enabled in the Analysis Settings (refer to section 5.1.10). Otherwise, the result is a plot with a value of 1 at all pixels.

For the Absolute Traffic (Density), the traffic values are weighted with the Service Portion configured for the respective UE Profile. Then, these weighted values are accumulated for each traffic matrix pixel over all active UE Profiles yielding the Absolute Traffic (Density) of the configured service mix:

ersNetworkLayactive

thetoreferring

UEProfilesactive

kmueTrafficValtionServicePorkmafficAbsoluteTr

_

__

_

22 11 .

The traffic values are taken from the Traffic Matrix, which is part of a UE Profile:



In the latter case, the traffic values are multiplied by a factor k / n, where n is the total

number of network layers in the project and k is the number of active target network layers.

UE Profiles that refer to a Service Profile without a Traffic Matrix are ignored.

The Absolute Traffic plot may look similar as the Equivalent Traffic per Pixel plot (refer to Fig. 6-21 in section 6.2.26).


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6.2.28 Relative Traffic per Cell (CDMA and UMTS only)

For CDMA and UMTS target network layers, the Relative Traffic per Cell plot shows the distribution of the amount of traffic offered to each cell. The cell-specific traffic values are mapped to the best cell coverage areas (“Mapped Surface Plot”). The Relative Traffic per Cell is displayed in relation to the highest value of all cells, which is scaled to 100%.

The Consider Traffic Distribution option should be enabled

for this plot in the Analysis Settings (refer to section 5.1.10). Otherwise, the assumed homogeneous traffic distribution results in a plot, where the Relative Traffic per Cell values are simply proportional to the cell area sizes.

The Relative Traffic per Cell results from the accumulation of the Equivalent Traffic per Pixel (refer to section 6.2.26) for each cell over its best cell coverage area and, due to soft handover, including an area overlapping with adjacent cells. Since all cells received in such an overlapping area are considered to provide coequal coverage the respective Equivalent Traffic per Pixel is shared between the overlapping cells.

Cell overlapping is determined in the same way as applied in the Best Cell Overlap plot

(refer to section 6.2.23), however, with a 1 dB margin.

The Relative Traffic per Cell indicates the amount of traffic to be carried by each cell with respect to the number of users and the service-specific air interface resource requirements. Therefore, cells with high Relative Traffic per Cell indicate trouble spots where the capacity may not be sufficient. Moreover, if the cell resources (mainly DL codes and channel elements) of a network setup are configured homogeneously, strong deviations of the Relative Traffic per Cell over the cells indicate potential capacity reserves,

which may be opened up by traffic load balancing.

The capacity optimization considers the Relative Traffic per Cell to a configurable extent, when minimizing the Relative Load per Cell averaged over all cells (refer to section 6.2.29).

The Relative Traffic per Cell plot may look similar to Fig. 6-22.

Fig. 6-22 Example for the Relative Traffic per Cell plot


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6.2.29 Relative Load per Cell (CDMA and UMTS only)

For CDMA and UMTS target network layers, the Relative Load per Cell plot shows the distribution of the load caused in each cell mapped to the best cell areas. It is displayed in relation to the highest value of all cells, which is scaled to 100%.

The Consider Traffic Distribution option should be enabled for this plot in the Analysis Settings (refer to

section 5.1.10). Otherwise, a homogeneous traffic distribution results in a plot, where the Relative Load per Cell depends to a great extent simply on the cell area sizes.

Relative Load per Cell represents the cell‟s DL power consumption with respect to both:

the propagation environment and interference situation and

the traffic load per cell measured by the Relative Traffic per Cell – as defined in section 6.2.28.

Thus, the Relative Load per Cell indicates the cell load in terms of transmit power including, by a configurable degree, the number of users and their amount of traffic. Therefore, cells with high Relative Load indicate trouble spots where the capacity may not be sufficient. Moreover, provided that the cell resources (mainly transmit powers) of a

network setup are configured homogeneously, strong deviations of the Relative Load over the cells indicate potential capacity reserves, which may be opened up by interference minimization.

The capacity optimization aims to minimize the Relative Load per Cell averaged over all cells (refer to section 8.3).

The Relative Load per Cell plot may look similar to Fig. 6-23.

Fig. 6-23 Example for the Relative Load per Cell plot


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6.2.30 Users per Cell

The Users per Cell plot shows total number of users within each cell‟s serving area based on the Absolute Traffic as defined in section 6.2.27.

The Users per Cell value represents the total amount of traffic offered to the cell‟s best server area. The value is a multiple of the type of value in the traffic matrix. For example, if the traffic matrices represent speech users, then the plot shows the speech users per cell. Note that the total user density per pixel is shown by the Absolute Traffic plot (refer to section 6.2.27).

The Consider Traffic Distribution option should be enabled for this plot in the Analysis Settings (refer to section 5.1.10). Otherwise, the assumed homogeneous

traffic distribution results in a plot, where the Users per

Cell values are simply proportional to the cell area sizes.

The maximum number of users per cell may be a constraint to the optimization. A Users per Cell plot is shown in Fig. 6-24.

Fig. 6-24 Example for the Users per Cell plot


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6.2.31 Cell Sizes

The Cell Sizes plot shows the area [km2] of each cell mapped to the best cell areas. The Cell Sizes plot may look similar to Fig. 6-25.

Fig. 6-25 Example for the Cell Sizes plot

6.2.32 CQI (UMTS only)

If HSDPA is enabled for UMTS target network layers in the Analysis Settings (refer to section 5.1.13), the CQI plot shows for each pixel the Channel Quality Indicator [0; 1; …; 30] based on the strongest pilot.

According to [25.214], the Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) is a value for UE reporting to the network. Thereby, the UE indicates that, for the current radio conditions, the UE is able

to receive data with a transport format corresponding to the reported CQI.

Primarily the CQI is a quantized representation of the signal-to-interference ratio (SIR) of

the PCPICH. Starting at the Min. PCPICH SIR for CQI 1 1,CQIPCPICHSIR – as defined in the

Table 6-9 – the PCPICH SIR is mapped in steps of 1 dB to CQI values of 1 to 30:

otherwisedBSIRdBSIR

SIRSIRifCQI

CQIPCPICHPCPICH

CQIPCPICHPCPICH

30;1min

0

1,

1,

In Radioplan ACP, the PCPICH SIR PCPICHSIR [linear ratio] is calculated as:

BestPilotrintracellrintercellrUMTS

BestPilotr

PDSCHHSPPPN

PSIR

,,,

, 256

BestPilotrP , [mW] is the Best Pilot Received Power as defined in section 6.2.1. It is multiplied

by the PCPICH spreading factor of 256. UMTSN is the Noise Floor for UMTS as defined in

section 6.2.4.

The total power received from all cells is calculated as defined for the RSSI plot in

section 6.2.4. However, here it is split into an intercell part intercellrP , [mW] and an intracell


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part intracellrP , [mW] of the cell with the best pilot. The intracell part excluding the received

power of the useful signal is weighted by the Intracell Interference Factor – as defined in the Table 6-9.

is the power offset of the HS-PDSCH power PDSCHHSP [mW] in relation to the PCPICH

power PCPICHP [mW] of the best cell:

PCPICH

PDSCHHS

P

P .

Table 6-9 Parameters for the HSDPA CQI calculation


Description

Min. PCPICH SIR for CQI

1

1,CQIPCPICHSIR dB

default:

8.5

The minimum PCPICH signal-to-interference ratio (SIR) required for a Channel Quality

Indicator (CQI) of 1.

Based on this parameter, the definition of all other CQI values of 2, 3, …, 30 is fixed: 1 dB more PCPICH SIR corresponds to the next CQI step.

For example, with the default value of 8.5 dB, the PCPICH SIR for CQI 2 is 9.5 dB, and for

(the highest) CQI 30 it is 37.5 dB.

Intracell

Interference Factor

[0.0;

1.0]

The degree of the intracell interference.

(0 = full orthogonality, 1 = no orthogonality)

The CQI plot may look similar to Fig. 6-26.

Note that in the lower part of the legend the following performance indicators are reported:

HSDPA Coverage, which is here defined as the percentage of the Analysis Area (AA) or the Simulation Area (SA) with a CQI greater than a threshold, and

Mean CQI, i.e. the CQI averaged over the Analysis Area (AA) and the Simulation Area (SA), respectively.

The HSDPA Coverage is a side constraint to the UMTS Capacity and Coverage Optimizer, if

HSDPA is enabled in the Analysis Settings (refer to section 5.1.1).


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Fig. 6-26 Example for the CQI plot

6.2.33 Total Revenue

The Total Revenue (Density) plot shows for each pixel the total sum of the revenue values

[Currency unit / km2] over all revenue matrices of the active UE Profiles:

ersNetworkLayactive

thetoreferring

UEProfilesactive

kmitCurrencyUnueRevenueValkmitCurrencyUnueTotalReven

_

__

_

22 // .

The revenue values are taken from the Revenue Matrix, which is part of a UE Profile:



In the latter case, the traffic values are multiplied by a factor k / n, where n is the total number of network layers in the project and k is the number of active target network layers.

UE Profiles that refer to a Service Profile without a Revenue Matrix are ignored.

The Total Revenue plot may look similar to Fig. 6-27.

This plot is only available if the Capital Planning Module is licensed.

Note that in the lower part of the legend the following information is reported:

Total Revenue [Currency unit] accumulated over all pixels of the Analysis Area (AA) as well as over all pixels of the Simulation Area (SA).


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Fig. 6-27 Example for the Total Revenue plot

6.2.34 Covered Revenue

The Covered Revenue (Density) plot shows for each pixel the ratio of the Total Revenue [Currency unit / km2], which is covered according to the Covered Revenue Function:

ueTotalRevendBmRxPoweronenueFunctiCoveredRevenueCoveredRev ])[( .

The Covered Revenue Function is described in section 5.3.1, the Total Revenue in section 6.2.33, and RxPower is the beacon signal received power as defined in sections 6.2.1 and 6.2.2 for the respective system.

The Covered Revenue plot may look similar to Fig. 6-28. This plot is only available if the Capital Planning Module is licensed.


ratio of the Covered Revenue against the Total Revenue accumulated over all pixels of the Analysis Area (AA) as well as over all pixels of the Simulation Area (SA).

The Covered Revenue is a side constraint to the cell parameter optimization, if ROI

consideration is enabled in the Optimizer Settings (refer to section 8.1.6).


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Fig. 6-28 Example for the Covered Revenue plot

6.2.35 Lost Revenue

The Lost Revenue (Density) plot shows for each pixel the ratio of the Total Revenue [Currency unit / km2], which is considered as not covered according to the Covered

Revenue Function:

enueCoveredRevueTotalReveneLostRevenu .

See section 6.2.34 for more information.

Fig. 6-29 Example for the Lost Revenue plot


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The Total Revenue plot may look similar to Fig. 6-29. This plot is only available if the Capital Planning Module is licensed.


ratio of the Lost Revenue against the Total Revenue accumulated over all pixels of the Analysis Area (AA) as well as over all pixels of the Simulation Area (SA).

6.2.36 Total Revenue per Cell

The Total Revenue per Cell plot shows the Total Revenue [Currency unit] accumulated over each cell‟s best serving area mapped to the best cell areas.

The Total Revenue is defined in section 6.2.33.

The Total Revenue per Cell plot may look similar to Fig. 6-27.


Fig. 6-30 Example for the Total Revenue per Cell plot


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6.2.37 Covered Revenue per Cell

The Covered Revenue per Cell plot shows the Covered Revenue [Currency unit] accumulated over each cell‟s best serving area mapped to the best cell areas.

The Covered Revenue is defined in section 6.2.34.

The Covered Revenue per Cell plot may look similar to Fig. 6-27.


Fig. 6-31 Example for the Covered Revenue per Cell plot


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6.2.38 Lost Revenue per Cell

The Lost Revenue per Cell plot shows the Lost Revenue [Currency unit] accumulated over each cell‟s best serving area mapped to the best cell areas.

The Lost Revenue is defined in section 6.2.35.

The Lost Revenue per Cell plot may look similar to Fig. 6-27.


Fig. 6-32 Example for the Lost Revenue per Cell plot


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6.3 Graphical Analysis of Changes after Optimization

Graphical Analysis of Changes plots can be created from a number of buttons in the … Optimization Results dialog at the end of a Radioplan ACP optimization.

The Graphical Analysis of Changes for Revenue Analysis plots are only available if the Capital Planning Module is licensed.

6.3.1 Cell Changes (Overview)

The Cell Changes plot shows the final best cell areas of the cells that were reconfigured by the optimization. Different colors for the cells indicate which cell parameters and parameter combinations have been reconfigured. They are referenced in the additional

legend of the plot.

The additional legend, which contains the cell parameters and parameter combinations,

can be shown or hidden by clicking the icon of the Components toolbar (tooltip Draw Additional Legend).

The Cell Changes plot can directly be invoked through the Overview button for the Graphical Analysis of Changes in the … Optimization Results dialog. The plot may look similar as in Fig. 6-33.

Fig. 6-33 Example for the Cell Changes plot


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6.3.2 Tilt, Azimuth, or Power Changes

The Tilt, Azimuth, or Power Changes plot shows for each cell the change of the respective parameter as resulting from the optimization mapped to the best cell areas.

The Tilt Changes [°] and Azimuth Changes [°] plots can directly be invoked through the Tilt and Azimuth buttons, respectively, for the Graphical Analysis of Changes in the … Optimization Results dialog.

The Pilot Power Changes [dB] plot can be invoked through the Pilot Power button in the … Optimization Results dialog at the end of a CDMA, UMTS, WiMAX, or LTE optimization.

And the Output Power Changes [dB] plot can be invoked through the Output Power button in the … Optimization Results dialog at the end of a GSM or iDEN optimization.

For example, the Tilt Changes plot may look similar as in Fig. 6-34.

Fig. 6-34 Example for the Tilt Changes plot


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6.3.3 Difference of the Relative Load per Cell (CDMA and UMTS only)

The Difference of the Relative Load per Cell plot shows for UMTS Capacity and Coverage optimizations the Relative Load per Cell after optimization in relation to the original status before optimization over the final best cell areas.

Note that the values [%] result for each cell from the difference of its Relative Load per Cell after optimization and the original Relative Load per Cell before.

The plot illustrates how load has been reduced and partially shifted between the cells so that some cells may have a higher Relative Load per Cell than before and many cells have

less than before.

The plot also displays the new and old maximum values of the Relative Load per Cell over all cells to be considered by the optimizer. Their difference is already an indicator for the

capacity reserves that have been opened up through optimization.

The Difference of the Relative Load per Cell plot can directly be invoked through the Load button for the Graphical Analysis of Changes in the Capacity and Coverage Optimization Results dialog at the end of a CDMA or UMTS optimization. The plot may look similar as in

Fig. 6-35.

Fig. 6-35 Example for the Difference of the Relative Load per Cell plot


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6.3.4 Relative Score per Cell

The Relative Score per Cell plot shows over the best cell areas the Relative Score as resulting from a Capacity and Coverage optimization.

It is a “scoring” number that indicates the significance of the cell changes in relation to each other.

Thus, the value is a comparative indicator for the benefit of the changes of the different cells. Namely, the changed cells with the highest values contribute the most to the targeted improvements.

The value is actually the sum of two relative scores: one (scaled up to 50) for the cell‟s accumulated contribution to coverage improvements and another one (scaled up to 50) for the cell‟s accumulated contribution to capacity/interference improvements.

A “scoring” value of 100 means that the respective cell has the biggest accumulated coverage improvement and the biggest accumulated capacity improvement (each contribution with a maximum score of 50).

The Relative Score value is also reported for each reconfigured cell in the Capacity and

Coverage Optimization Results dialog (refer to section 7.1).

The Relative Score per Cell plot can directly be invoked through the Improvement button for the Graphical Analysis of Changes in. The plot may look similar as in Fig. 6-36.

Fig. 6-36 Example for the Relative Score per Cell plot


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6.3.5 Difference of the Covered Revenue per Cell

The Difference of the Covered Revenue per Cell plot shows for Capacity and Coverage as well as Site Integration optimizations the Covered Revenue per Cell after optimization in relation to the original status before optimization over the final best cell areas.

Note that the values [%] result for each cell from the difference of its Covered Revenue per Cell after optimization and the original Covered Revenue per Cell before.

The plot illustrates how Covered Revenue has been increased and partially shifted between the cells so that some cells may have a lower Covered Revenue per Cell than before and

many cells have more than before.

The Difference of the Covered Revenue per Cell plot can directly be invoked through the

Covered Revenue button for the Graphical Analysis of Changes for Revenue Analysis in the Capacity and Coverage Optimization Results dialog. The plot may look similar as in Fig. 6-37.


Fig. 6-37 Example for the Difference of the Covered Revenue per Cell plot


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6.3.6 Difference of the Lost Revenue per Cell

The Difference of the Lost Revenue per Cell plot shows for Capacity and Coverage as well as Site Integration optimizations the Lost Revenue per Cell after optimization in relation to the original status before optimization over the final best cell areas.

Note that the values [%] result for each cell from the difference of its Lost Revenue per Cell after optimization and the original Lost Revenue per Cell before.

The plot illustrates how Lost Revenue has been reduced and partially shifted between the cells so that some cells may have a higher Lost Revenue per Cell than before and many

cells have less than before.

The Difference of the Lost Revenue per Cell plot can directly be invoked through the Lost

Revenue button for the Graphical Analysis of Changes for Revenue Analysis in the Capacity and Coverage Optimization Results dialog. The plot may look similar as in Fig. 6-38.


Fig. 6-38 Example for the Difference of the Lost Revenue per Cell plot


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Actix Radioplan Automatic Cell Planning (ACP) Version 3.13 User Guide Optimization Results 145

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7 Optimization Results

7.1 Results Dialog

Depending on the optimization algorithm a specific results dialog is automatically opened at the end of the optimization:

The Site Selection Results dialog is opened at the end of a site selection optimization (refer to section 8.2).

The Capacity and Coverage Optimization Results dialog is opened at the end of a Capacity and Coverage optimization (refer to section 8.3), a Site Integration optimization (refer to section 8.4), or an Overshooting Cells optimization (refer to section 8.5).

An example for a Capacity and Coverage Optimization Results dialog is shown in Fig. 7-1.

Fig. 7-1 Optimization Results dialog (example for a Capacity and Coverage optimization with enabled ROI consideration)

Each dialog contains a grid with the highlighted List of Changes. The contents of that grid can be copied via the clipboard to other applications.

More specifically, the grid contains the columns defined in Table 7-1.

All changes of the editable elements in the in the Optimization Results dialog affect the functions that are accessible through the buttons at the bottom of the dialog.

Through the buttons below the grid, the following functions are provided. All of them are

based on the current settings in the grid – including the editable elements.

specific result plots for the Graphical Analysis of Changes (refer to section 6.3)

the Change List – as described in section 7.1.1

the Work Order – as described in section 7.1.2

the Optimization Summary Report – as described in section 7.2

the Submit to Database buttons – as described in section 7.3 as well as


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Pick Intermediate Results from History Dialog, which opens the Optimization Progress Chart – as described in section 6.1.2;

Based on the improved performance versus the accumulated change steps, costs, and efforts, which is shown in the Progress Chart, an intermediate result can be selected for display in the present Optimization Results dialog. Then such an intermediate result

can be further analyzed and eventually submitted to the Radioplan database as mentioned above.

Table 7-1 Columns of the grid in the Optimization Results dialog

Name Column Properties

Description

Site read-only The ID of all sites of the active cells in the target network layer(s).

Original, New Site Active State

read-only Only in the Site Selection Results dialog:

The site “active” state before and after optimization – per network layer.

A site is considered inactive for a network layer, if the Transmitter Activated state of all this sites‟ cells

in that network layer are inactive.

Site Candidate

read-only Only in the Site Integration Results dialog:

true, if the site was configured To be integrated in the Site Integration optimizer settings. Otherwise, false.

Cell read-only The ID of all active cells in all optimized network

layers.

Antenna Height [m]

read-only It is the sum of he cell‟s antenna height and the corresponding site‟s Altitude.

Confirm editable The Confirm flag is enabled for each cell with any optimization change.

Only the optimization changes of the cells with enabled Confirm flag are submitted to the database

(refer to section 7.3).

However, there is one exception: The New Overshooter Status flag is submitted for all cells, even if the Confirm flag is not set. This allows to easily tag overshooting cells in the Radioplan project

without the need to apply at the same time the proposed optimization changes.

Original, New Active State

Original: read-only

New: editable (in Capacity and Coverage Opt. Results)

The cell‟s Transmitter Activated state before and after optimization.

Original,

New Antenna

Original: read-only

New: editable

The cell‟s antenna ID before and after optimization.

Original, New Mech. Tilt

[°]

read-only The cell‟s mechanical (down-) tilt before and after optimization.

In order to change the mechanical tilt, the New El. +

Mech. Tilt column must be edited accordingly.


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Description

Original, New El. Tilt [°]

read-only The cell‟s electrical (down-) tilt before and after optimization.

In order to change the electrical tilt, the New Antenna column must be edited and the New El. + Mech. Tilt column must be adjusted accordingly.

Original,

New El. + Mech. Tilt [°]

Original: read-only

New: editable

The cell‟s total tilt before and after optimization.

Original, New Azimuth [°]

Original: read-only New: editable

The cell‟s azimuth before and after optimization.

Original, New Power [dBm]


The cell power before and after optimization.

A change of the New Power affects the functions that are accessible through the buttons in the Optimization Results dialog.

Relative Score

read-only An indication for the significance of the cell changes in relation to each other.

It is actually the sum of two relative scores: one (up

to 50) for the cells contribution to coverage improvements and another one (up to 50) for the

cells contribution to capacity/interference improvements.

See also the respective analysis plot in section 6.3.4.

Original,

New Required Number Logical Channels

read-only Only in the GSM or iDEN Optimization Results dialog,

if the Consider Traffic Distribution flag was enabled:

The number of logical channels required to serve the traffic assigned to the cell.

It is calculated using the Erlang B formula with the Users per Cell as offered traffic and the Target Grade of Service as the blocking probability (refer also to section 5.1.10).

Site Ranking

[%]

read-only Only in the Site Selection Results dialog:

A score for the exclusive received signal level

coverage of all cells of a site – before optimization.

It is scaled between 0% for the site with the highest exclusive coverage and 100% for the site with the lowest exclusive coverage.

Exclusive coverage means that below the signal level

received from the site‟s cells there is no other signal received within the margin for the Limitation of Considered Cells as defined in the Advanced Settings (refer to section 5.1.7). Thereby, the Min. RxPower Threshold defined in the cell must be exceeded.

The site ranking is a criterion for the Remove

Redundant Sites/Cells task of the Site Selection Optimizer (refer to section 8.2).


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Description

Site Group Ranking [%]

read-only Only in the Site Selection Results dialog for an included Site Candidate Groups task:

A score for the coverage or, if coverage cannot be improved, for the capacity of all sites within each site candidate group – from their evaluation during the last optimization run.

It is scaled to 100% for the site candidate with the highest coverage (or capacity).

The site group ranking is for illustration only. It is not a criterion during optimization.

ROI read-only Only in the Capacity and Coverage Optimization or Site Integration Results dialog:

The Return on Investment (ROI) per cell as

combined for all optimization changes of this cell.

Depending on the ROI and Revenue Thresholds settings (refer to section 8.1.6), it represents an absolute ROI [Currency unit] or a relative ROI [Ratio] per cell.

Original, New Over-

shooter Status


Only for Overshooting Cells Results dialog or any other, if Overshooting Cell Compensation was

enabled:

The Original Overshooter Status is read from the Overshooter flag of the respective cell in the

Radioplan project. If not defined yet, it is false.

The New Overshooter Status is determined during the optimization according to the Overshooting Cell

optimization settings (refer to sections 5.2.5.4 and 8.5.3).

By Submit to Database, the New Overshooter Status is saved as Overshooter flag in the Radioplan project (refer to section 4.6.6).

Original, New Inter-

ference to Serving Area Ratio

read-only Only for Overshooting Cells Results dialog or any other, if Overshooting Cell Compensation was

enabled:

The cell‟s ratio of its interference area in relation to its best serving area (as defined in section 5.2.5.4).

It is a criterion for the detection of an overshooting cell.

Original, New

Serving Cell Pixel [Num]

read-only Only for Overshooting Cells Results dialog or any other, if Overshooting Cell Compensation was

enabled:

The number of pixels of the cell‟s serving area.

This may be an indicator for the (absolute) severity of the Interference to Serving Area Ratio.


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7.1.1 Change List

The Change List is a tab-delimited ASCII file, which can be exported through the Save Changelist… button in the results dialog.

The Change List contains:

a header including the title and description of the Radioplan project

a list of all cells and their parameter settings before and after optimization (similar to the list of changes in the grid of the results dialog).

This file can easily be imported to other, especially spread-sheet, applications for further processing.

7.1.2 Work Order

The Work Order is a tab-delimited ASCII file, which can be exported through the Save Work Order… button in the results dialog only.

The Work Order contains a complete list of all cell parameters for all sites and cells, which indicates:

whether a change needs to be carried out for a parameter at a cell

if any, what the required change is.

This file can easily be imported to other, especially spread-sheet, applications for further processing.

7.2 Optimization Summary Report

The Optimization Summary Report gives an overview of the main optimization results as well as of a number of further, configurable statistics – together with the applied optimization settings.

After an optimization, the Summary Report can be opened into the main window of the

Radioplan application by clicking the Summary Report button of the results dialog.

If the Shift key is pressed when clicking the Summary Report button, the Optimization Summary Report is opened in a separate window on top of the other windows.

The Optimization Summary Report contains a header and several tables with the key

results and corresponding performance measures.

The Optimization Summary Report may look similar as shown in Fig. 7-2 and Fig. 7-3.

The Header contains the following information:

Project title and comment

Date and time of creation

General settings

Optimizer settings

Optimization run-time


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In the Costs and Effort table, the total costs and effort accumulated during the optimization over all network changes are displayed. Based on the Cost Control Settings (refer to section 5.2.7) these figures indicate the costs and effort required for the implementation of this optimization result in the live network. These values are always

reported whatever the cost or effort limitation setting in the Cost Control Settings.

The following tables are available for the overall optimization result and for the analysis of multi-layer optimization results also separately for the Target Network Layer Set as well as for the Constraint Network Layer Set:

The Sites table gives an overview of the total number of sites, and the number of reconfigurable and eventually modified sites.

The Sites and Parameters table additionally distinguishes how many sites were

reconfigurable and eventually modified in a certain cell parameter.

Similar to the Sites table, the Cells table shows the total number of cells as well as the number of reconfigurable and finally modified cells.

Similar to the Sites and Parameters table, the Cells and Parameters table additionally distinguishes how many cells were reconfigurable and eventually modified in a certain cell parameter.

The Limitation by Cell Optimization Capabilities table indicates in how many cells the optimization reached the allowed limit of the reconfiguration range of either cell parameter. Namely, those cells are counted for each cell parameter where the respective parameter value is at the lower or upper limit of the reconfigurable

range based on the cell optimization capabilities (refer to section 4.6; antenna families are thereby not considered, though).

The following tables contain the key performance measures, which are always reported for the Simulation Area and the Analysis Area for each the Original and the Optimized network setup. For the analysis of multi-layer optimization results they are available separately for the Target Network Layer Set and the Constraint Network Layer Set:

Pilot RSCP Covered Area (for CDMA, UMTS, and LTE), Pilot RSSI Covered Area (for WiMAX), or RxLev_DL Covered Area (for GSM and iDEN)

Pilot RSCP Covered Traffic (for CDMA, UMTS, and LTE), Pilot RSSI Covered Traffic (for WiMAX), or RxLev_DL Covered Traffic (for GSM and iDEN)

Pilot Ec/Io Covered Area (for CDMA and UMTS), Pilot CINR Covered Area (for WiMAX), Pilot SINR Covered Area (for LTE), or C/I Covered Area (for GSM and iDEN)

Pilot Ec/Io Covered Traffic (for CDMA and UMTS), Pilot CINR Covered Traffic (for WiMAX), Pilot SINR Covered Traffic (for LTE), or C/I Covered Traffic (for GSM and iDEN)

Overlapping Cells

The CDMA and UMTS performance measures are not only reported for the threshold applied by the optimization, but also for the Additional Thresholds (refer to section 5.2.5.1).

Like the optimization calculations also the result reporting

depends on the applied Traffic and Area Masking (refer to section 5.1.10). Clearly, only the respective relevant areas in the Simulation Area and the Analysis Area are

considered.


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Fig. 7-2 Example for the Optimization Summary Report (composed figure; after a UMTS Capacity and Coverage optimization)


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Fig. 7-3 Example for the Optimization Summary Report (continued) (composed figure; after a UMTS Capacity and Coverage optimization)

For a site integration optimization result, the Site Candidates table additionally lists:

all sites that were configured as To be integrated.

If any cell parameter optimization was conducted on a project with at least one Revenue Matrix with non-zero revenue, then a further table report the Revenue statistics:

Total Revenue in [Currency unit],

Covered and Lost Revenue in [Currency unit] and also as the percentage of the Total Revenue.

Moreover, if ROI consideration was enabled, then a further table report the ROI statistics:

Revenue Increment [Currency unit]

Absolute and Relative ROI

For a site selection optimization result, the Site Selection Summary table additionally gives

an overview of the following numbers:


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Modified Site Candidate Groups: for the Site Candidate Groups task, the number of groups, where the initially active site candidate was not the optimal candidate.

Removed Site Candidate Groups: for the Site Candidate Groups task in conjunction with the Remove Redundant Sites task, the number of groups, where the selected site candidate was deactivated by the subsequent site removal task.

Removed Sites: for the Remove Redundant Sites task, the number of sites that were deactivated.

Removed Cells: for the Remove Redundant Cells task, the number of cells that were deactivated.

After a Site Selection optimization, further tables list the Removed Sites and the Removed Cells.

Moreover, if HSDPA is enabled for a UMTS capacity and coverage optimization, the following additional tables are available:

CQI Mean and Coverage (HSDPA)

CQI Distribution (HSDPA)

And if Extended Summary Statistics is enabled for a UMTS Capacity and Coverage optimization, the following additional tables are available:

Extended Network Statistics (Load)

▫ Mean DL Load: each cell‟s total DL transmit power in relation to its Maximum Power [mW]

averaged over all cells in the respective area

▫ Mean UL Load

each cell‟s UL received power excluding noise in relation to its total UL received power including noise [mW] averaged over all cells in the respective area

Extended Network Statistics (User)

▫ Mean Offered Users per Cell – distinguished for the cells that have the cell as Best Cell or as further cell in the Active Set

▫ Mean Served Users per Cell – distinguished for the cells that have the cell as Best Cell or as further cell in the Active Set

▫ DL and UL Rejections, which may occur due to:

▫ DL or UL load blocking or

▫ DL code blocking (It is assumed that each equivalent user needs SF 128.)

Finally, if the option Use Clutter Dependent RSCP Coverage Constraints was enabled in the Optimizer Settings (refer to section 8.1.4), then the key performance measures on the

Covered Area and the Covered Traffic are additionally reported for each defined Clutter Class Area.

After closing the Optimization Results dialog, the latest Summary Report can still be opened using the menu entry Optimization Optimization Summary Report... or,

alternatively, by clicking the icon (tooltip Optimization Summary Report…) from the Optimization toolbar.


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7.3 Submit to Database

At the end of the optimization, when the … Optimization Results dialog is opened, the original project in the Radioplan database is still unchanged. The optimization result is still held in the memory.

New Overshooter Status

Only by the Submit to Database buttons in that dialog, the original project in the Radioplan

database is eventually modified:

Submit New Values: By clicking this button the optimization result is applied to the Radioplan project.

More specifically, all confirmed changes in the grid of the Optimization Results dialog are also changed in the project in the Radioplan database.

Moreover, the New Overshooter Status flags is saved for all cells as Overshooter flag in the Radioplan project, even if the Confirm flag is not set for the respective cell.

Restore Original Values:

By clicking this button the Radioplan project is reset to its original status before optimization.

Because of their impact on the project in the Radioplan database, either action still has to be confirmed by the user in the appearing message box, Fig. 7-4.

Fig. 7-4 Message box to confirm the update of the Radioplan database

The submission of the new values to the database also updates the displayed site and cell symbols.

A changed active state affects the display of the respective cell symbols. Removed sites or cells are stored as inactive transmitters and, therefore, indicated by

dashed-line symbols, e.g. or .

A changed azimuth affects the orientation of the respective cell symbol.

The Submit to Database buttons are also useful to use KPI Analysis functions, which can be accessed by entries in the Tools menu, e.g. the Radioplan KPI Analysis or customer-

specific plugins. These KPI Analysis functions are always based on the project status in the Radioplan database. For more information on KPI Analysis plugins, please refer to [R-UG].


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Finally, the … Optimization Results dialog must be closed by clicking the Close Dialog button. In the opened dialog, Fig. 7-5, the user is still prompted which status shall finally be saved in the Radioplan project:

Submit New Values to Database: closes the dialog and thereby changes the Radioplan project like the Submit New

Values button in the Results dialog.

Restore Original Values in Database: closes the dialog and thereby changes the Radioplan project like the Restore Original Values button in the Results dialog.

Close (Retain Last Submitted Values):

closes the dialog without change to the Radioplan project. However, any previous changes through the Submit to Database buttons in the Results dialog are retained.

Return: goes back to the does … Optimization Results dialog.

Fig. 7-5 Dismiss Optimization Results dialog


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Actix Radioplan Automatic Cell Planning (ACP) Version 3.13 User Guide Optimization Algorithms 157

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8 Optimization Algorithms

Radioplan ACP provides 4 main optimization algorithms (“optimizers”) with specific optimization objectives:

Site Selection (optionally including cell parameter optimization),

Capacity and Coverage (i.e. cell parameter optimization),

Site Integration (a special case of cell parameter optimization), and

Overshooting Cells (a special case of cell parameter optimization).

All optimizers can be applied to UMTS, CDMA, GSM, iDEN, WiMAX, and LTE network layers.

And all optimizers follow the optimization principles described in section 8.1.

Moreover, the 4 optimizers – including their system-specific aspects – are described in sections 8.2, 8.3, 8.4, and 8.5, respectively.

Any cell parameter optimization is also supported for multi-layer projects with

dependencies between the layers (e.g. shared antennas for the transmission of signals of more than one system). Thereby, a set of target optimization layers can be optimized while taking a set of constraint layers into consideration.

Hence, cross-layer dependencies can be considered in the Capacity and Coverage optimizer, in the Site Integration optimizer, in the Overshooting Cells optimizer, and in the

cell parameter optimization tasks of the Site Selection optimizer.

8.1 Optimization Principles

The optimization of a radio network setup is a very complex problem. For example, already for 100 cells with 3 cell properties that can be reconfigured each just by 2 steps around

the original value, the overall parameter space contains 53^100 or 10209 possible reconfiguration settings.

Therefore, Radioplan ACP applies an extremely efficient optimization method that meets the following requirements:

Reach significant performance improvements very quickly and targetedly. Evaluating all possible combinations in such an immense parameter space is simply

impossible. Moreover, the last few percents (e.g. 5%) of gradual improvement can usually cost as much as the major improvement before (e.g. 95%). Therefore, the Direction Set (Powell‟s) algorithm has been adopted as the basic optimization method – as described in section 8.1.1.

Take problem-oriented heuristic information regarding the coverage, interference, capacity, and quality of a radio network into account. The applied Direction Set algorithm has been combined with heuristics based on Actix‟s radio network expertise – as described in section 8.1.1. For the example mentioned above, it drastically reduces the number of reconfigurations to be evaluated to 5 . 3 . 100 = 1500 for each of a small number of iterations (“optimization runs”).

The optimization performance is discussed in section 8.1.5.


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Avoid time-consuming simulations for the evaluation of each cell parameter reconfiguration step. Instead, a heuristic objective function is calculated. Depending on the applicable optimization objective, it represents for example the cell-specific capacity or coverage with respect to:

▫ the radio network setup,

▫ (optionally) the multi-service traffic distribution,

▫ the propagation environment and interference situation.

Finally the optimization results can independently be validated by simulations or measurements within the Radioplan application.

Enable the user to control the extent of changes, because the optimization is a trade-off between the resulting performance improvement as well as the available

parameter space and the associated cost and effort to achieve the performance improvement. Above all, the user-defined settings include:

▫ the optimization capabilities defining the generally possible parameter space, e.g. for cell optimization capabilities and the removable sites (refer to section 4),

▫ the parameters and ranges actually evaluated during optimization (refer to the search window in section 8.1.2),

▫ the Required Performance Improvements (refer to section 8.1.3),

▫ the number of optimization runs (refer to section 8.1.5), and

▫ the Cost Control Settings (refer to section 5.2.7).

Tailor the optimization to the problems arising from different stages in 2G and 3G network planning, rollout, and operation. Several optimization algorithms (“optimizers”) and tasks tailored to site selection, site integration, and capacity and coverage optimization are available for selection.

8.1.1 Basic Optimization Method

A deterministic optimization method, namely the Direction Set (or: Powell‟s) algorithm [Pow64] [Pres92], has been adopted as the basic optimization method of Radioplan ACP.

Although finding the optimum solution in the mathematical sense cannot be guaranteed by

that, stochastic methods as an alternative would be too time-consuming for the required parameter space – and, not to forget, for the transient state of the network to be optimized.

Instead the main advantage of the Direction Set algorithm is that it is a very fast and targeted method, which can achieve significant improvements in the shortest time. This advantage is even more enforced by its combination with problem-oriented heuristics as in the case of Radioplan ACP.

Radioplan ACP works in a similar way to an engineer. It automatically prioritizes the most troublesome cells, evaluates alternative network configurations more or less close to the current configuration, and selects reasonably better configurations very quickly and targetedly.

In contrast to the engineer, of course, the automatic solution is much more efficient, because it can evaluate many more alternatives even in a shorter time – thereby still

taking the complex interdependencies of the cell reconfigurations into account.


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In order to achieve that, the plain Direction Set algorithm is incorporated in Radioplan ACP with the following principles:

The algorithm steps for one reconfigurable parameter after the other through the configured parameter range and evaluates in each step the objective function.

Based on the evaluation of a parameter over its reconfiguration range this

parameter is only reconfigured if this reconfiguration improves the objective function and thereby also meets the side constraints, for example:

▫ cost in terms of a minimum improvement of the objective function, called the Required Performance Improvement (refer to section 8.1.3),

▫ coverage (refer to section 8.1.4),

▫ cost and effort limits (refer to section 5.2.7).

The algorithm is applied iteratively.

The objective functions applied by Radioplan ACP are always deterministic and do not

include simulations. Snapshot simulations are applied only for some specific constraint calculations. This approach is further explained in section 8.1.1.1.

The particular objective function and applicable side constraints are specific to each optimizer – as described in sections 8.2.4, 8.3.4, 8.3.5, and 8.4.4, respectively.

8.1.1.1 Focus on RF Network Characteristics

Radioplan ACP is focused on optimizing directly the RF network characteristics and, thus,

creating the optimal RF network conditions for optimal service characteristics, Fig. 8-1.

Fig. 8-1 RF network characteristics vs. service characteristics

Through the Radioplan Network Simulator Modules (Static Monte-Carlo as well as Fully Dynamic), Actix is very well aware of the methodologies of simulations for a service- and user-level network performance analysis and, therefore, also aware of their limitations.

Namely, many assumptions including, but not even limited to Radio Resource Management (RRM) algorithms and service parameters, user characteristics, and spatial traffic distribution determine the service- and user-level network performance - even non-radio network aspects (access network, core network).

Due to these many-faceted inputs, where every assumption on a parameter introduces

may naturally also introduce some inaccuracy, plus, due to the highly non-linear relation


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between antenna parameter changes and service performance events (e.g. blocking, dropping), Radioplan ACP is designed in its core to directly optimize the physical conditions of the radio network, namely beacon signal received signal level and signal quality (e.g. Pilot RSCP and Ec/Io), coverage, cell areas, cell dominance, cell overlap, pilot pollution etc.

These physical measures can be predicted with much higher reliability and reliably tuned by live network measurements. Moreover, optimized physical network conditions also allow for more capacity and service quality in the network.

Of course, Radioplan ACP also makes use of traffic density maps and, if available, multiple service definitions in order to consider the mixed services traffic demand across the area as well as for each cell and to drive and prioritize the optimization accordingly.

This optimization methodology has been proven in many trials and projects to be highly

reliable because already in the planning process the optimization results can be

independently validated by static and dynamic simulations. This validation of the performance improvement resulting from the optimization is very reliable because the applied optimization objective functions do not apply simulations and are thus independent from the validation method. Additionally, the optimization results can easily be validated by drive-test measurements from the live network.

In any case, Radioplan ACP is designed to not only optimize a network plan on paper and against simulation assumptions, but to effectively and reliably optimize the live network against live network measurements.

8.1.2 Search Window Defined by Max. Steps Up and Down

The parameter space that is available during an optimization is defined by a combination of “hard” and “soft” limits.

Generally, no parameter can be changed beyond the reconfiguration range (i.e. “hard”

limits) defined for each cell in the Radioplan project – refer to section 4.6.1.

However, that maximally possible reconfiguration range is not necessarily completely evaluated during an optimization. Instead, the parameters Max. Steps Up and Max. Steps Down in the Optimizer Settings, Fig. 8-2, define a search window around the current

parameter value.

Fig. 8-2 Max. Steps Up and Max. Steps Down in the Optimizer Settings dialog

For a pure mechanical tilt optimization as an example, the application of that search window is illustrated in Fig. 8-3.


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Fig. 8-3 Search Window per Optimization Run

In this example, a cell‟s mechanical tilt before optimization is 2°. The maximally possible reconfiguration range for this cell is set to [0°; 15°] in steps of 1°. Due to the iterative principle of the applied optimization method, each cell is evaluated once per optimization run, i.e. here 3 times. In each optimization run the evaluated parameter range may be narrowed down by the search window, here 5 steps up and 5 steps down (based on the

step size defined in the cell).

Now the search window for the first optimization run includes 5 steps from the current value up to 7°. Down to lower values, 5 steps are not possible due to the hard limit at 0°. Thus, the range for evaluation is [0°; 7°]. If we assume that the optimization changes this tilt from 2° to 6°, then the search window for the second optimization run is defined 5 steps up and 5 steps down from 6° - and so on.

The rule of thumb for well exploiting the entire optimization range is: # opt. runs * Max Steps Up (or Down) hard limited

range, e.g. in Fig. 8-3: 3 * 5 = 15 .

The search window has a significant impact on the optimization run-time.

8.1.3 Required Performance Improvement (RPI)

The Required Performance Improvement (RPI) settings allow the user to define how useful

a change should be in order to be adopted (“required benefit” for any change). They are configurable in the respective Optimizer Settings.

Especially, the different cell parameters can be weighted against each other by that, for example, such that more expensive azimuth changes get a higher RPI than less expensive remote electrical tilt changes.

Generally, the Radioplan ACP optimization algorithms observe the performance improvement in terms of the applicable objective function that can be achieved by the

reconfiguration of a certain cell parameter. And the reconfiguration away from the original state of the parameter at a cell is only adopted, if the improvement exceeds the configured Required Performance Improvement (RPI) value. Thus, parameter changes, which would not have a reasonable benefit and would not justify the cost for the change, are not accepted.

Clearly, the RPI thresholds are only considered upon each cell's and respective parameter's first change away from its original setting. Accordingly, the RPI threshold is also

considered again, if by chance a cell's parameter had been changed back to its original setting and is changed away from that again.


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The RPI settings effectively control the sensitivity of the optimization. Lower thresholds result in a higher number of

changes and higher thresholds result in a lower number of only very significant changes.

Consequently, expensive parameter changes should be associated with a higher RPI value than cheap parameter changes. Then, the change of the expensive parameters is harder

and less probable. But if such an expensive parameter is eventually changed, the resulting performance improvement can then justify the high costs.

Of course, while a limited number of changes is good to reduce the costs for the implementation of the optimization result in the live network, the performance improvement is usually higher for more allowed changes. This trade-off is illustrated in Fig.

8-4. It depends on both the RPI values and the possible parameter space defined by the cell optimization capabilities (refer to section 4.6).

lowest

Costs for

Implementation

Parameter

space:

number of

parameters

& their ranges

RPI values

medium

medium

maximum

Performance

Improvement

low high

large

small

Fig. 8-4 Trade-off of performance improvements vs. costs for implementation

8.1.4 Coverage Constraints

Coverage constraints can be defined in Radioplan ACP with respect to both a useful beacon received signal level and a beacon signal-to-interference ratio. The applicable measures depend on the system of the optimized network layers – as defined in Table 8-1:

Moreover, the coverage can be weighted with traffic at the covered pixel – as defined in section 8.1.4.1.

Table 8-1 Coverage constraints parameters


Description

Coverage Thresholds

configurable in the Analysis Settings (refer to section 5.1)

Minimum Pilot

RSCP or Minimum Pilot RSSI or Minimum RxLev_DL

dBm The area-wide threshold for signal level coverage, i.e. with

respect to the minimum received power of a system-dependent beacon signal, which is:

- for UMTS, CDMA, WiMAX, and LTE: the pilot received power (called pilot RSCP for CDMA, UMTS, and LTE and pilot RSSI for WiMAX) as defined in section 6.2.1;

- for GSM and iDEN: the BCCH carrier received power (called RxLev_DL) as defined in section 6.2.2.


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Description

Minimum Pilot Ec/Io or Minimum Pilot CINR or

Minimum Pilot SINR or Minimum C/I

dB The area-wide threshold for signal quality coverage, i.e. with respect to the minimum signal-to-interference ratio of a system-dependent beacon signal, which is:

- for UMTS and CDMA: the pilot Ec/Io as defined in section 6.2.5;

- for WiMAX: the pilot CINR as defined in

section 6.2.6;

- for LTE: the pilot SINR as defined in section 6.2.7;

- for GSM and iDEN: the BCCH carrier-to-co-channel C/I as defined in section 6.2.8.

Clutter-Specific Offsets

configurable in the Clutter Classes Settings (refer to section 4.3)

Pathloss Offset dB Clutter-specific offset to the signal level coverage threshold.

Ec/Io Offset or C/I Offset

dB Clutter-specific offset to the signal quality coverage threshold.

Coverage Percentages

configurable in the respective Optimizer Settings (refer to sections 8.2.3, 8.3.3, and 8.4.3)

Min. Pilot RSCP

or Min. Pilot RSSI or

Min. RxLev_DL

- Covered Area

- Covered Traffic


- the area to be covered with respect to the signal level coverage threshold, and

- the traffic to be covered with respect to the signal

level coverage threshold.

Their consideration depends on the configured Preferred Coverage Objective (refer to section 8.1.5).

Min. Pilot Ec/Io or

Min. Pilot CINR or Min. Pilot SINR or

Minimum C/I

- Covered

Area

- Covered Traffic


- the area to be covered with respect to the signal

quality coverage threshold, and

- the traffic to be covered with respect to the signal quality coverage threshold.



configurable in the HSDPA Optimization Settings (refer to section 5.1.13)

Minimum HSDPA

- Covered Area

- Covered Traffic

% The minimum required percentage of the area and the

traffic to be covered with respect to the HSDPA CQI threshold.



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Description


configurable in the ROI and Revenue Thresholds (refer to section 8.1.6)

Min. Covered Revenue

% The minimum required percentage of the revenue to be covered with respect to the Covered Revenue Function.

The coverage percentages can be observed with respect to several areas:

Analysis Area

Simulation Area

Clutter-type-specific areas, i.e. all pixels with a certain clutter class: This option can be enabled/disabled in the respective optimizer settings (refer to sections 8.3.3).

Local area around each site: Through the application of the business rule “Avoid Large Coverage Gaps” of the Site Selection Optimizer the coverage constraints are also observed within the surrounding of each site (refer to section 8.2).

The specific optimization algorithms may consider these coverage constraints in different, configurable ways.

The coverage percentages with respect to (the pixels in) the Analysis Area, the Simulation Area, and, optionally, clutter-type-specific areas, are reported as “Covered Area” in the

Optimization Summary Report – refer to section 7.2.

Additionally, the coverage percentages for both the Simulation Area (SA) and the Analysis

Area (AA) are displayed in the legend of the coverage plots – as for example shown in Fig. 8-5 for the Pilot RSCP Coverage and Pilot Ec/Io Coverage plot.


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Fig. 8-5 Coverage Percentages displayed in the legend of Pilot RSCP Coverage and Pilot Ec/Io Coverage plots

8.1.4.1 Preferred Coverage Objective

Coverage as an objective function itself or as a constraint to another objective function can be defined based on the covered area and/or based on the covered traffic by means of the

Preferred Coverage Objective slider, Fig. 8-6. It is part of all optimizer settings.

Fig. 8-6 Preferred Coverage Objective slider in the optimizer settings

Three different settings are possible – as defined in Table 8-2.

Table 8-2 Preferred Coverage Objective slider settings


Preferred

Coverage Objective

Area only Only the covered area is considered,

i.e. the number of pixels where the applicable coverage threshold is fulfilled in relation to the total number of pixels in the applicable area.

Area and Traffic

Both the covered area and the covered traffic are considered.

Traffic Only Only the covered traffic is considered,

i.e. the traffic in the pixels where the applicable coverage threshold is fulfilled in relation to the total traffic of the traffic matrices inside the applicable area.


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8.1.5 Optimization Performance

The optimization performance is mainly determined by:

The size of the Simulation Area, which represents the area to be considered by the optimization (refer to section 4.2). However, all pixels in the Simulation Area, which are dis-considered due to Traffic and Area Masking (refer to section 5.1.10), reduce the calculation effort accordingly.

The Calculation Pixel Size, which defines the resolution of all calculations during the optimization (refer to section 5.1.6).

Moreover, for large areas, the automatic optimization plots may for a small Plot Pixel Size consume much memory and extra computation power. Therefore, the

Plot Pixel Size can be configured separately and the automatic plots can be disabled by the user (refer to chapter 3 and section 6.1.1).

The extent of the optimization capabilities (refer to chapter 4) and the optimizer settings. More reconfigurable cells and parameters as well as wider reconfiguration ranges (search window – refer to section 8.1.2) require more evaluation steps of the Direction Set algorithm.

The number of optimization runs. Due to the built-in heuristics very few runs are sufficient for optimization. The major improvement in terms of the objective function is typically achieved already after the default number of optimization runs.

8.1.6 ROI and Revenue Thresholds

Any cell parameter optimization can also take the covered revenue and the resulting Return on Investment (ROI) into consideration.

Therefore, specific parameters are configurable in the ROI and Revenue Thresholds dialog, Fig. 8-7, as defined in Table 8-3. This dialog can be opened by clicking the Configure ROI and Revenue Thresholds… button in the respective Optimizer Settings dialog of a Capacity and Coverage or a Site Integration optimization.

This feature is only available if the Capital Planning Module is licensed.

Moreover, for the underlying revenue calculations, at least one non-zero Revenue Matrix is required in the Radioplan project to be optimized.

If ROI consideration is enabled, then the following functionality is added to decisions on cell parameter changes during a Capacity and Coverage or a Site Integration optimization.

For each cell parameter change, the following two measures are determined:

the Revenue Increase [Currency unit], i.e. the difference of the Covered Revenue in the Analysis Area with that change versus without that change and

the Cost [Currency unit] of the change based on all applicable Cost Control Settings (refer to sections 5.2.7 and 4.6.1).


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Fig. 8-7 ROI and Revenue Thresholds dialog

Table 8-3 ROI and Revenue Thresholds settings


ROI Conside-

ration

{Don‟t Consider ROI; Use Absolute ROI;

Use Relative ROI}

Enables the Return on Investment (ROI) consideration in any cell parameter optimization

and selects the method of ROI calculation (see below this table).

Absolute ROI Threshold

[Currency unit] The Absolute ROI that is required to accept a parameter change.

0 (zero) is the self-financing case.

Relative

ROI Threshold

% The Relative ROI that is required to accept a

parameter change.

100% is the self-financing case.

Min. Covered Revenue

% Target value for the Covered Revenue in the Analysis Area.

(Refer also to section 8.1.4).

The ROI is calculated according to the selected calculation method:

Absolute ROI [Currency unit] = Revenue Increase – Cost

Relative ROI [Ratio] = Revenue Increase / Cost

Then, as an additional constraint to the optimization, any parameter change is only accepted if:

calculated ROI ≥ configured ROI Thresholds for the configured ROI calculation method, absolute or relative.

However, if the Covered Revenue in the Analysis Area still exceeds the configured Min. Covered Revenue, then the previous condition is not required.


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8.2 Site Selection Optimizer

The Site Selection Optimizer combines several tasks into a single optimization algorithm:

Site Candidate Groups

Alternative Antenna Heights Only

Optimize Site Candidates (i.e. their cell parameters)

Remove Redundant Sites

Remove Redundant Cells

Capacity and Coverage (i.e. cell parameter optimization of all remaining sites)

8.2.1 Project Configuration

Basically, all cells, repeaters, and additional antennas that shall be considered by the optimization must be active. In order to set a cell, repeater, or additional antenna active, the box in front of the respective element in the

Configuration tab tree must be checked. Moreover, only the transmit powers of cells and repeaters with active transmitter flag are considered.

In each group of alternative site candidates, all cells must be active and, at least at one site, all transmitters must be active in order to be considered for the site candidate

groups task of the optimization.

The new site candidates are usually contained in an extended planning database and their pathloss predictions are calculated in a planning tool. Consequently, the new site candidates including their initial cell and antenna configurations as well as pathloss predictions are not created in Radioplan, but instead must be imported into

Radioplan from the planning tool as well.

For site selection, the following optimization capabilities are configurable in each Radioplan project:

Site candidate groups – as defined in the Site Settings (refer to section 4.5)

Site candidates are displayed with special colors:

▫ While the usual color for a cell with active transmitter is black (or red if the radiation pattern display style is selected) and

▫ a cell with inactive transmitter is dashed,

▫ a site candidate‟s active cells with active transmitters are highlighted in green.

Removable sites and their „rollout status‟, i.e. different priorities – as defined in the Site Settings (refer to section 4.5)


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Site and cell reconfiguration capabilities – including antenna families and alternative antenna groups – for the capacity and coverage optimization, which shall be combined with the site selection – as defined in the Antenna, Site, and Cell Settings (refer to sections 4.4, 4.5, and 4.6, respectively)

Target and optional Constraint Network Layers (refer to sections 4.1 and 5.2.4).

Simulation Area and Analysis Area (refer to section 4.2)

Clutter-specific offsets to the area-wide coverage thresholds (refer to section 4.3)

8.2.2 Problem Analysis

The problem analysis should be aimed at:

an appropriate area definition for site selection optimization and

the coverage and interference situation in the initial network setup with the all site candidate groups and/or all removable sites;

thereby, in each site candidate group, only one site, the “favorite”, should have active transmitter flags.

The impact of the area definitions on the site selection is summarized in Table 8-4.

Table 8-4 Impact of the area definitions on the site selection


General Sets the focus for optimization Is considered by the optimization,

i.e. is the computation area.

Shall include sites with potential interdependencies with the sites inside the Analysis Area.


Only site candidate groups inside are optimized.

Only removable sites inside may be removed.


–


The applicable objective function shall be optimized.

The objective function measure shall not be reduced below the lesser of its initial and its target

value.


Scales with the number of evaluation steps resulting from the optimization capabilities and from the optimizer settings, i.e.:

- the number of site candidate groups,

- the number of removable sites, and

- the number of reconfigurable cells and their reconfigurable parameters and reconfiguration ranges.

Scales with the number of traffic-relevant pixels.


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Optimization

results

Automatic visualization and reporting of coverage and other performance

figures, e.g. in:


- Optimization Progress Chart,


Note that by removing sites or cells in the site selection optimization, the Pilot RSCP, Pilot RSSI, or RxLev_DL Covered Area can never be increased.

8.2.3 Site Selection Optimization Configuration

The Site Selection optimizer can be configured in the Site Selection Settings dialog. The appearance of this dialog depends on the System of the selected target network layers, e.g. for UMTS as in Fig. 8-8 and for GSM as in Fig. 8-9.

If the Site Selection optimizer is selected at the first page of the Optimization Wizard (refer to section 5.2.2), this dialog can be opened by clicking the Configure Optimizer button.

The specific parameters of the Site Selection optimizer are described in Table 8-5.

Fig. 8-8 Site Selection Settings dialog (example for UMTS target network layer(s))


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Fig. 8-9 Site Selection Settings dialog (example for GSM target network layer(s))

By clicking the Configure Business Rules button, the Business Rules dialog of the Site Selection Optimizer is opened, Fig. 8-10 and Table 8-5.

All settings can be customized in the configuration file (*.ini) – refer to chapter 9.

Fig. 8-10 Business Rules dialog of the Site Selection optimizer (left: for UMTS; right: for CDMA, GSM, iDEN, and WiMAX)


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Table 8-5 Specific Site Selection optimizer configuration settings


Description

Min. Required {Pilot RSCP, Pilot RSSI, or RxLev_DL} Covered Area or

Covered Traffic

% The target values for the coverage percentages – as defined in section 8.1.4.

Pilot RSCP and Pilot Ec/Io are the underlying measures for UMTS and CDMA network layers. Pilot RSSI and Pilot CINR are the underlying measures for WiMAX network layers.

RxLev_DL and C/I are the corresponding measures for GSM and iDEN network layers.

Their consideration depends on the selected Preferred Coverage Objective.

The Coverage Percentages refer to the Simulation Area, the Analysis Area, and local areas around each site.

Min. Required {Pilot Ec/Io, Pilot CINR, Pilot SINR, or C/I} Covered Area

or Covered Traffic

%

Preferred Coverage Objective

– Defines which coverage shall be considered.

Refer to section 8.1.4.1 for details.

Use Clutter

Dependent {Pilot RSCP,

Pilot RSSI, or RxLev_DL} Coverage Constraints

{true;

false}

If enabled, the configured Min. Required Pilot RSCP, Pilot

RSSI, or RxLev_DL Coverage is also applied to each clutter area.

Merge Clutter

Classes with Equal PL and {Ec/Io or C/I} Offsets

{true;

false}

If enabled, the clutter areas with equal Pathloss and Ec/Io or

C/I Offsets (refer to section 4.3) are merged in order to apply the configured Min. Required Pilot RSCP, Pilot RSSI, or RxLev_DL Coverage to each merged clutter area.

Enabling this option is recommended if there is a large number of clutter classes and the clutter types are very much fragmented. Then only the Use Clutter Dependent {…} Coverage Constraints option could create a too hard

constraint for a useful capacity and coverage optimization.

Max. Number

of Optimization Runs

– Each task is repeatedly performed for the number of

optimization runs.

By that, interdependencies between the site candidate groups can be considered and also the cell parameters of surrounding sites can be optimized for the selected

alternative site candidate.

Moreover, after the Remove Redundant Sites or Cells task has been finished in a run, the Capacity and Coverage optimization usually maximizes the coverage of the remaining network setup such that further sites can be removed in subsequent runs.

Optimization Tasks

Site Candidate Groups

{true; false}

From each group of alternative site candidates for a new fill site, the optimal candidate is automatically selected.


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Description

Alternative Antenna Heights Only

{true; false}

If Site Candidate Groups is enabled: Enables an automatic detection of the site candidate groups. Thereby, all site candidate groups configured for the sites are ignored. Instead, the groups of alternative candidates are automatically determined based on identical site positions (within 1 m).

This option should be enabled only for exclusive antenna height optimization, i.e. no other site candidate groups to be considered.

Optimize Site

Candidates

{true;

false}

If Site Candidate Groups is enabled:

Enables an automatic Capacity and Coverage optimization of the initial cell configurations of the site candidates.

Remove

Redundant Sites

{true;

false}

From the initial network setup, those removable sites, which

are not required to meet the specified coverage and capacity objectives, are deactivated – taking the Business Rules into consideration.

Note that site removals can never improve the Pilot RSCP or RxLev_DL Covered Area. Therefore, if the initial Pilot RSCP or RxLev_DL Covered Area does not exceed the respective target, an initial coverage optimization is aimed at reaching

that target. However, if then the target is still not met, at least site removals are allowed that do not reduce the Pilot RSCP or RxLev_DL Covered Area.

Remove Redundant Cells

{true; false}

From the initial network setup, those cells of removable sites, which are not required to meet the specified coverage and capacity objectives, are deactivated – taking the

Business Rules into consideration – similar to the Remove Redundant Sites task.

Capacity and Coverage

{true; false}

If enabled, the previous site selection tasks are interactively combined with a Capacity and Coverage optimization.

The cell configurations of the network setup with selected site candidates and the sites remaining after site removal are automatically optimized using the Capacity and

Coverage optimizer.

This cell parameter optimization can reconfigure the reduced network setup such that further sites can be removed in the following optimization run without violating the coverage

constraints. Moreover, it maximizes the coverage and minimizes the interference of the final network setup.

Configure

Capacity and Coverage Optimizer

– If the Optimize Capacity and Coverage option is enabled,

this button opens a restricted Capacity and Coverage Optimizer Settings dialog – as shown for example in Fig. 8-11.

Business Rules

Avoid Large

Coverage Gaps

{true;

false}

Applicable to the Remove Redundant Sites or Cells tasks:

If enabled, the coverage constraints are also observed in a local area around each site. This ensures that potential coverage gaps are kept small and evenly distributed across the entire area.


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Description

Check Maximum Users per Cell

{true; false}

If enabled and, if Consider Traffic Distribution is enabled, the Maximum Users per Cell – as defined for the respective cell (refer to section 4.6.1) – is an additional constraint to the applicable optimization objective function.

Then, no reconfiguration of the original network setup is accepted, that would increase the number of users at any

cell above its Max. Users value (refer to section 4.6.1).

For the “number of users” refer to section 6.2.30.

Moreover, if the Maximum Users per Cell was already exceeded at a cell before the reconfiguration, the constraint

means that it must not be increased further.

Minimum Site Count

–

default:

0

Applicable to the Remove Redundant Sites task:

The minimum target number of sites that shall remain after

a Remove Redundant Sites optimization.

Sites will only be removed until the Minimum Site Count is reached.

Limit Capacity Optimization to Surrounding Cells

{true; false}

Applicable to the Remove Redundant Sites or Cells tasks in conjunction with Capacity and Coverage optimization:

If enabled, the reconfigurable cells in the Capacity and Coverage optimization are further confined to an impact area

around the removed sites and cells.

Thus, it can be prevented that the tool proposes changes of

cells far away from removed sites or cells.

Check Cell Load

{true; false}

Applicable to the Remove Redundant Sites or Cells tasks (only for UMTS network layers):

If enabled, the built-in Performance Predictor calculates the

absolute DL cell transmit powers based on Monte-Carlo simulations using the Equivalent Traffic per Pixel (refer to section 6.2.26). They are then used as an additional constraint. Namely, if any DL cell transmit power would exceed the a cell‟s Maximum Output Power, a site or cell is not removed.

Show

Extended Summary Statistics

{true;

false}

If enabled, the built-in Performance Predictor calculates

certain UMTS network performance statistics based on Monte-Carlo simulations for the status before and after optimization.

These statistics are then additionally reported in the Extended Network Statistics tables of the Optimization Summary (refer to section 7.2).

This option does not affect the optimization.

The Capacity and Coverage optimization can be configured by a restricted set of the Capacity and Coverage Optimizer Settings – as shown for UMTS target network layer(s) in Fig. 8-11.

The Parameter Selection, RPI settings, and Business Rules can be defined as described in

section 8.3.3.

The other Capacity and Coverage optimizer parameters are either inherited from the Site Selection Optimizer Settings or defined internally, namely:


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The RSCP <--> Ec/Io slider is set to RSCP Preference (for CDMA and UMTS). The RxLev_DL <--> Overlap slider is set to RxLev_DL Preference (for GSM and iDEN) – and for the other technologies in the same manner.

The Max. Number of Optimization Runs is 1.

Fig. 8-11 Restricted Capacity and Coverage Optimizer Settings dialog as called from the Site Selection Settings dialog (example for UMTS)

8.2.4 Objective Function and Side Constraints

There are different objective functions for the different tasks:

In the Site Candidate Groups task for UMTS or CDMA network layers, the capacity objective function of the UMTS or CDMA Capacity and Coverage optimizer is

applied (refer to section 8.3.4). Through minimizing the Relative Load per Cell averaged over all cells the candidate is selected that maximizes the capacity. Accordingly, in the Site Candidate Groups task for GSM, iDEN, and WiMAX network layers, the overlap objective function of the Capacity and Coverage optimizer is applied (refer to section 8.3.5). Through minimizing the average cell overlap the candidate is selected that minimizes the interference.

At the same time, the coverage is a side constraint: the Coverage Percentages must not fall below their initial values.

In the Remove Redundant Sites task and the Remove Redundant Cells task, the beacon signal level Coverage and the beacon signal interference ratio Coverage for the respective systems are the objective functions. No site or cell removal must reduce the Coverage Percentages below their initial values. Only if the Coverage Percentages exceed the configured targets they may be reduced down to the target.

If HSDPA is enabled, this also applies to the HSDPA coverage percentages.

Moreover, sites can only be removed as long as the Minimum Site Count is still exceeded in the Analysis Area and if further selected Business Rules are not violated.


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The Capacity and Coverage task applies the objective function and side constraints as described in section 8.3.7. Thereby, the RSCP vs. Ec/Io slider for CDMA or UMTS network layers is implicitly set to RSCP Preferred, the RSSI vs. Overlap slider for WiMAX network layers is implicitly set to RSSI Preferred, and the RxLev_DL vs. Overlap slider for GSM and

iDEN network layers is implicitly set to RxLev_DL Preferred. The further restricted and tailored configuration settings are described in section 8.2.3.

Taking the Preferred Coverage Objective into consideration, the Coverage Percentages are observed with respect to:

a target area, which is the Analysis Area as well as

constraint areas, which are:

the Simulation Area, and

if the Use Clutter Dependent Coverage Constraints option is enabled:

each clutter class area inside of the Analysis Area and

each clutter class area inside of the Simulation Area;

if the business rule “Avoid Large Coverage Gaps” is enabled: a local area around each site. This constraint ensures that potential coverage gaps are kept small and evenly distributed across the entire area.

The coverage in the target area shall be maximized while the coverage in the constraint areas must not be reduced.

For all objective functions and side constraints, the Traffic and Area Masking applies – as

defined in the Analysis Settings (refer to section 5.1.10).

8.2.5 Algorithm Sequence

The sequence of this optimization algorithm is outlined in Fig. 8-12.

Here, the Direction Set algorithm is applied:

to each selected task,

in the Site Candidate Groups task to each site candidate group and to the site candidates of each group,

in the Remove Redundant Sites task to the removable sites,

in the Remove Redundant Cells task to the cells of the removable sites, and

in the Capacity and Coverage task to the reconfigurable cell parameters of the reconfigurable cells.


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while Max. Number of Optimization Runs not reached

and the network configuration was changed in the previous run:

for each removable site - in a defined order:

evaluate beacon signal level Coverage and signal interference ratio Coverage

in the applicable areas for the case that the site would be switched off

if the coverage objectives and business rules are not violated:

switch the site off

for each site candidate group:

find the alternative site candidate that improves the objective function the most

while observing the side constraints

thereby, if Optimize Site Candidates is enabled:

for each alternative site candidate:

perform a capacity and coverage optimization

with the alternative site candidate as the only reconfigurable site

if Optimize Capacity and Coverage is enabled

and the network configuration was previously changed:


if beacon signal level Coverage < corresponding Minimum Percentage:




for each cell of the removable sites - in a defined order:

evaluate beacon signal level Coverage and signal interference ratio Coverage

in the applicable areas for the case that the cell would be switched off

if the coverage objectives and business rules are not violated:

switch the cell off

if Optimize Capacity and Coverage is enabled

and the network configuration was previously changed:


Fig. 8-12 Site Selection optimization algorithm


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8.3 Capacity and Coverage Optimizer

The Capacity and Coverage Optimizer automatically maximizes the coverage and minimizes the interference of an existing network setup by the reconfiguration of the following cell parameters:

antenna type,

mechanical and electrical antenna tilt,

antenna azimuth, and

beacon signal transmit power, which is

for CDMA, UMTS, and WiMAX network layers: pilot power,

for GSM and iDEN network layers: BCCH carrier output power.

The cell parameter changes are aimed at optimizing the pathloss conditions, the best serving cell areas, and the cell overlapping by:

reducing the pathloss to the best serving cell and

minimizing the interference through increasing the pathloss to interfering cells (higher cell isolation).

Thereby, maximizing coverage and minimizing interference may sometimes be conflicting objectives. Therefore, the user can set its preference by:

the RSCP vs. Ec/Io slider – as described for CDMA and UMTS target network layers in section 8.3.4,

the RxLev_DL vs. Overlap slider – as described for GSM and iDEN target network layers in section 8.3.5, or

the RSSI vs. Overlap slider for WiMAX target network layers, the RSCP vs. Overlap slider for LTE target network layers, which is similar to the description on GSM and iDEN.

Moreover, for CDMA and UMTS target network layers, there may be a trade-off between interference minimization and traffic load balancing both aimed at maximizing the capacity

and service quality. Therefore, the user can set its preference by the Network Load slider – as described in section 5.1.5.

The Capacity and Coverage optimization can be part of the Site Selection optimization (refer also to section 8.2).


Basically, all cells, repeaters, and additional antennas that shall be considered by the optimization must be active. In order to set a cell, repeater, or additional antenna active, the box in front of the respective element in the

Configuration tab tree must be checked.

Moreover, only the transmit powers of cells and repeaters with active transmitter flag are considered.

For a Capacity and Coverage optimization the following optimization capabilities are

configurable in each Radioplan project:


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Antenna families and groups – as defined in the Antenna Settings (refer to section 4.4)

Site and cell reconfiguration capabilities – as defined in the Site and Cell Settings (refer to sections 4.5 and 4.6, respectively)

Simulation Area and Analysis Area (refer to section 4.2)

Clutter-specific offsets to the area-wide coverage thresholds (refer to section 4.3)


The problem analysis should be aimed at:

an appropriate area definition for Capacity and Coverage optimization and

the interference and load situation in the initial network setup.

The impact of these area definitions on the Capacity and Coverage optimization is summarized in Table 8-6.

Table 8-6 Impact of the area definitions on the Capacity and Coverage optimization


General Sets the focus for optimization Is considered by the optimization, i.e. is the computation area.

Shall include sites with potential

interdependencies with the sites

inside the Analysis Area.



–


The applicable objective function shall be optimized.

The objective function measure shall not be reduced below the lesser of its initial and its target

value.


Scales with the number of evaluation steps resulting from the optimization capabilities and from the optimizer settings, i.e.:

- the number of

reconfigurable cells and their

reconfigurable parameters and reconfiguration ranges.

Scales with the number of traffic-relevant pixels.

Optimization results

Automatic visualization and reporting of coverage and other performance figures, e.g. in:


- Optimization Progress Chart,



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8.3.3 Capacity and Coverage Optimization Configuration

The Capacity and Coverage Optimizer can be configured in the Capacity and Coverage Optimizer Settings dialog. The appearance of this dialog depends on the System of the selected target network layers, e.g. for UMTS as in Fig. 8-13 and for GSM as in Fig. 8-14.

If the Capacity and Coverage Optimizer is selected at the first page of the Optimization Wizard (refer to section 5.2.2), this dialog can be opened by clicking the Configure Optimizer button.

The specific parameters of the Capacity and Coverage Optimizer are described in

Table 8-7.

Fig. 8-13 Capacity and Coverage Optimizer Settings dialog (example for UMTS)


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Fig. 8-14 Capacity and Coverage Optimizer Settings dialog (example for GSM)

By clicking the Configure Business Rules button, the Business Rules dialog of the Capacity and Coverage Optimizer is opened, Fig. 8-10 and Table 8-5.

Fig. 8-15 Business Rules dialog of the Capacity and Coverage Optimizer (left: for UMTS; right: for CDMA, GSM, iDEN, and WiMAX)

All settings can be customized in the configuration file (*.ini) – refer to chapter 9.

Parameter Selection in the Optimizer Settings vs. Optimization Capabilities

The cell parameters and their relative reconfiguration ranges applied in the optimization cannot exceed the optimization capabilities defined in the cell settings of the

Radioplan project. For example, if antenna type reconfiguration is not enabled in any cell but enabled in the Optimizer Settings the antenna type can finally not be reconfigured.


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Table 8-7 Specific Capacity and Coverage Optimizer configuration settings


Description

Parameter Selection

Apart from the Optimization Capabilities (refer to section 4) it can be useful to further narrow the reconfiguration options down for an optimization run for strategic reasons. For example, a user may want to select only one parameter to be reconfigured or to limit the degree of change by the optimization.

Therefore, the reconfiguration constraints to be applied in the optimization can be

defined. The effective status is an AND combination of both the Optimization Capabilities

and these settings. Refer also to section 8.1.2.

Moreover, each allowed cell parameter change is associated with a Required Performance Improvement (RPI) value, which represents the minimum required benefit through a cell parameter change in order to be adopted. It is always defined in relation to the value of the applicable objective function before optimization. Refer also to section 8.1.3.

Optimize:

- Antenna Type - Mech. Tilt (Theta) - Electrical Tilt

- Remote Electrical Tilt

- Azimuth (Phi) - [Pilot] Power

{true; false}

Defines – in addition to the Optimization Capabilities – whether the reconfiguration of the respective property shall be used in the optimization.

Remote Electrical Tilt refers to the cells , where the Remote Electrical Tilt (RET) Installed option is activated (refer to section 4.6).

RPI % The Required Performance Improvement for each cell parameter change.

RPI values of 1% and below are appropriate for less expensive changes and RPI values higher than 1%, typically until 10% are appropriate for more expensive changes.

Max. Increase Steps

Max. Decrease

Steps

number of steps

The maximum number of increase or decrease steps per optimization run for the reconfiguration around the cell-specific original value for the respective cell parameter, i.e.

they define a search window per optimization run.

The step size is defined in the Cell Settings (refer to section 4.6). The default tilt step size is 1° and the default azimuth step size is 10°.

These steps are effective for the optimization and cannot exceed the Optimization Capabilities that are defined for

each cell (refer to section 4.6.1).

The antenna type reconfiguration cannot be restricted here further. Thus, if enabled, always the entire applicable antenna group is evaluated in the optimization.

Business Rules

Check Minimum

Azimuth Separation

{true;

false}

If enabled, the optimizer does not accept azimuth changes

that would violate the configured value.


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Description

Minimum Azimuth Separation

degree

Check Maximum Users per Cell

{true; false}

If enabled and, if Consider Traffic Distribution is enabled, the Maximum Users per Cell – as defined for the respective cell (refer to section 4.6.1) – is an additional constraint to

the applicable optimization objective function.

Then, no reconfiguration of the original network setup is accepted, that would increase the number of users at any cell above this threshold.

Moreover, if the Maximum Users per Cell was already exceeded at a cell before the reconfiguration, the constraint means that it must not be increased further.

Show Extended Summary Statistics

{true; false}

If enabled, the built-in Performance Predictor calculates certain UMTS network performance statistics based on Monte-Carlo simulations for the status before and after optimization.

These statistics are then additionally reported in the Extended Network Statistics tables of the Optimization Summary (refer to section 7.2).

This option does not affect the optimization.

Coverage

Min. Required {Pilot RSCP, Pilot RSSI, or

RxLev_DL} Covered Area or Covered Traffic

% The target values for the coverage percentages – as defined in section 8.1.4.

Pilot RSCP and Pilot Ec/Io are the underlying measures for

UMTS and CDMA network layers. Pilot RSSI and Pilot CINR are the underlying measures for WiMAX network layers. RxLev_DL and C/I are the corresponding measures for GSM and iDEN network layers.

Their consideration depends on the selected Preferred Coverage Objective.

The Coverage Percentages refer to the Simulation Area and the Analysis Area as well as optionally to the Clutter Class Areas – refer to section 8.1.4 for details.

Use Clutter

Dependent {Pilot RSCP, Pilot RSSI, or

RxLev_DL} Coverage Constraints

{true;

false}

If enabled, the configured Min. Required Pilot RSCP, Pilot

RSSI, or RxLev_DL Coverage is also applied to each clutter area.

Merge Clutter Classes with Equal PL and

{Ec/Io or C/I} Offsets

{true; false}

If enabled, the clutter areas with equal Pathloss and Ec/Io or C/I Offsets (refer to section 4.3) are merged in order to apply the configured Min. Required Pilot RSCP, Pilot RSSI,

or RxLev_DL Coverage to each merged clutter area.

Enabling this option is recommended if there is a large number of clutter classes and the clutter types are very much fragmented. Then only the Use Clutter Dependent {…} Coverage Constraints option could create a too hard

constraint for a useful Capacity and Coverage optimization.


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Description

General

Preferred Objective

– Also denoted as the RSCP vs. Ec/Io slider, RSSI vs. Overlap slider, or RxLev_DL vs. Overlap slider.

Defines the degree to which either optimization objective, maximum coverage or minimum interference, shall be exclusive or be preferred in case of a conflict. Refer to

sections 8.3.4 and 8.3.5, respectively, for details.

Preferred Coverage

Objective

– Defines which coverage shall be considered.

Refer to section 8.1.4.1 for details.

Max. Number of Optimization Runs

– Within each optimization run, all reconfigurable cells and cell parameters are evaluated in a defined order. This process is repeated until the maximum number of runs has

been completed.

The optimization algorithm is designed such that the major improvement is typically achieved already in the first run and consequent runs contribute further, but less significant improvements.

8.3.4 Objective Function and Side Constraints for CDMA and UMTS Target Network Layers depending on the RSCP vs. Ec/Io Slider

Maximum coverage on the one hand and minimum interference / maximum capacity on the other hand may be conflicting network optimization objectives. Namely, the reduction of the pathloss to a spot that shall be covered by a cell can increase the intercell interference at other cells such that the overall Ec/Io and the related capacity is decreased.

Therefore, the Capacity and Coverage optimization for CDMA and UMTS defines two objective functions:

The objective function for the coverage is the Pilot RSCP Covered Area and/or Covered Traffic – depending on the Preferred Coverage Objective.

The coverage is generally observed with respect to:

▫ a target area, which is the Analysis Area as well as

▫ constraint areas, which are:

▫ the Simulation Area, and

▫ if the Use Clutter Dependent Coverage Constraints option is enabled:

▫ each clutter class area inside of the Analysis Area and

▫ each clutter class area inside of the Simulation Area.

The coverage in the target area shall be maximized while the coverage in the constraint areas must not be reduced below the lesser of its initial and its target value.

The objective function for the capacity is the Relative Load per Cell averaged over all cells. This function shall be minimized in the Analysis Area without deterioration in the Simulation Area until the required Pilot Ec/Io Covered Area and/or Covered

Traffic Threshold is fulfilled.


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The Relative Load per Cell represents the DL transmit power consumption and through the weighting with the Relative Traffic per Cell, it also represents the number of equivalent users (refer to section 6.2.29).

By the RSCP vs. Ec/Io slider, Fig. 8-16, the user must define to what degree either

objective (coverage or capacity) shall be exclusive or preferred – in case of a possible conflict during optimization. Four different settings are possible – as defined in Table 8-8. These settings differ in their combination of the two objective functions and the side constraints and, thus, put different emphasis on coverage (RSCP) and capacity (Ec/Io) as optimization objectives.

Fig. 8-16 RSCP vs. Ec/Io slider of the Capacity and Coverage Optimizer Settings dialog

Table 8-8 RSCP vs. Ec/Io Slider settings


Description

RSCP vs. Ec/Io

RSCP only (or: 0%)

The coverage objective function is applied – without capacity constraints.

RSCP preferred (or: 33.3%)

The coverage objective function is applied with the capacity objective function as constraint and alternative.

If cell parameter changes improve the coverage objective function and fulfill all associated side constraints including no capacity degradation, the change with the highest Pilot RSCP Coverage improvement is adopted.

Otherwise, if no coverage improvement is possible, but cell

parameter changes improve the capacity objective function and fulfill all associated side constraints, the change with the highest capacity improvement is adopted.

Ec/Io preferred (or: 66.6%)

The capacity objective function is applied with the coverage objective function as constraint and alternative.

If cell parameter changes improve the capacity objective function and fulfill all associated side constraints including no

coverage degradation, the change with the highest capacity improvement is adopted.

Otherwise, if no capacity improvement is possible, but cell parameter changes improve the coverage objective function and fulfill all associated side constraints, the change with the highest Pilot RSCP Coverage improvement is adopted.

Ec/Io only (or: 100%)

The capacity objective function is applied – without coverage constraints.

In addition to the RSCP vs. Ec/Io Slider settings the following side constraints are

observed.


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For the coverage objective function, additional side constraints are observed with respect to costs. Namely, the conditions to adopt a cell parameter change are the following:

The objective function must be improved at least by the Required Performance Improvement configured for the respective cell parameter (refer to sections 8.3.3 and 8.1.3).

The resulting cost and effort must not exceed the configured limits (refer to section 5.2.7).

The resulting ROI must exceed the configured threshold, if ROI consideration is enabled (refer to section 8.1.6).

For the capacity objective function, additional side constraints are observed with respect to

load balancing and costs. Namely, the conditions to adopt a cell parameter change are the following:

The objective function must be improved at least by the Required Performance

Improvement configured for the respective cell parameter (refer to sections 8.3.3 and 8.1.3).

The Relative Load per Cell at any cell must not exceed the value that corresponds to 100% of the Network Load of the worst cell before optimization as configured by the Network Load slider (refer to section 5.1.5).

The Relative Traffic per Cell at any cell must not exceed the value that corresponds to 100% of the Network Load of the worst cell before optimization as configured by the Network Load slider (refer to section 5.1.5).

If Check Maximum Users per Cell is enabled, then no reconfiguration step is

accepted, that would increase the number of users at any cell above this threshold. Moreover, if the Maximum Users per Cell was already exceeded at a cell before the reconfiguration step, the constraint means that is must not be increased further.

If HSDPA is enabled, the HSDPA Coverage in the Analysis Area must not be reduced at any reconfiguration step as long as its target value is not reached yet. The HSDPA Coverage is here defined as the percentage of the area with a CQI greater than zero (refer to section 6.2.32).

The cost and effort must not exceed the configured limits (refer to section 5.2.7).


For all objective functions and side constraints, the Traffic and Area Masking applies – as defined in the Analysis Settings (refer to section 5.1.10).

With different emphasis depending on the user-defined setting of the RSCP vs. Ec/Io slider these essential principles lead effectively to:

the maximum Pilot RSCP Coverage,

the maximum Pilot Ec/Io Coverage and overall SIR,

the maximum HSDPA Coverage,

the minimum cell overlapping and pilot pollution,

the minimum transmit power, and

the maximum CQI resulting in


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the maximum accessibility and utilization of the existing network infrastructure, minimum blocking and maximum HSDPA throughput

thereby taking configured cost, effort, and ROI constraints into consideration.

8.3.5 Objective Function and Side Constraints for GSM and iDEN Target

Network Layers depending on the RxLev_DL vs. Overlap Slider

The GSM or iDEN network setup is considered like a single-frequency network with the worst-case frequency reuse factor of 1.

Maximum coverage on the one hand and minimum interference and overlap on the other hand may be conflicting network optimization objectives. Namely, the reduction of the

pathloss to a spot that shall be covered by a cell can increase the cell overlap such that the potential capacity in case of tighter frequency reuse is decreased.

Therefore, the Capacity and Coverage optimization for GSM and iDEN defines two objective functions:

The objective function for the coverage is the RxLev_DL Covered Area and/or

Covered Traffic – depending on the Preferred Coverage Objective.

The coverage is observed with respect to:

▫ a target area, which is the Analysis Area as well as

▫ constraint areas, which are:

▫ the Simulation Area, and

▫ if the Use Clutter Dependent Coverage Constraints option is enabled:

▫ each clutter class area inside of the Analysis Area and

▫ each clutter class area inside of the Simulation Area.

The coverage in the target area shall be maximized while the coverage in the constraint areas must not be reduced below the lesser of its initial and its target value.

The objective function for the overlap (“capacity”) is the average cell overlap. This function shall be minimized in the Analysis Area without deterioration in the Simulation Area.

This cell overlap is independent from the channel numbers. Clearly, it ignores the frequency plan and includes all cells, not only co-channel cells.

By the RxLev_DL vs. Overlap slider, Fig. 8-17, the user must define to what degree either

objective (coverage or overlap) shall be exclusive or preferred – in case of a possible conflict during optimization. Four different settings are possible – as defined in Table 8-9. These settings differ in their combination of the two objective functions and the side constraints and, thus, put different emphasis on coverage (RxLev_DL) and overlap as

optimization objectives.

Fig. 8-17 RxLev_DL vs. Overlap slider of the GSM Optimizer Settings dialog


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Table 8-9 RxLev_DL vs. Overlap Slider settings


Description

RxLev_DL vs. Overlap

RxLev_DL only (or: 0%)

The coverage objective function is applied – without capacity constraints.

RxLev_DL preferred (or:

33.3%)

The coverage objective function is applied with the overlap objective function as constraint and alternative.

If cell parameter changes improve the coverage objective

function and fulfill all associated side constraints including no

overlap degradation, the change with the highest RxLev_DL Coverage improvement is adopted.

Otherwise, if no coverage improvement is possible, but cell parameter changes improve the overlap objective function and fulfill all associated side constraints, the change with the highest overlap improvement is adopted.

Overlap preferred (or: 66.6%)

The overlap objective function is applied with the coverage objective function as constraint and alternative.

If cell parameter changes improve the overlap objective function and fulfill all associated side constraints including no coverage degradation, the change with the highest overlap improvement is adopted.

Otherwise, if no overlap improvement is possible, but cell parameter changes improve the coverage objective function

and fulfill all associated side constraints, the change with the highest RxLev_DL Coverage improvement is adopted.

Overlap only (or:

100%)

The overlap objective function is applied – without coverage constraints.

In addition to the RxLev_DL vs. Overlap slider settings, the following side constraints are observed.

For the coverage objective function, additional side constraints are observed with respect to costs. Namely, the conditions to adopt a cell parameter change are the following:

The objective function must be improved at least by the Required Performance

Improvement configured for the respective cell parameter (refer to sections 8.3.3 and 8.1.3).



For the overlap (“capacity”) objective function, additional side constraints are observed with respect to costs. Namely, the conditions to adopt a cell parameter change are the

following:

The objective function must be improved at least by the Required Performance Improvement configured for the respective cell parameter (refer to sections 8.3.3

and 8.1.3).


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If Check Maximum Users per Cell is enabled, then no reconfiguration step is accepted, that would increase the number of users at any cell above this threshold. Moreover, if the Maximum Users per Cell was already exceeded at a cell before the reconfiguration step, the constraint means that is must not be increased further.

The cost and effort must not exceed the configured limits (refer to section 5.2.7).


For all objective functions and side constraints, the Traffic and Area Masking applies – as defined in the Analysis Settings (refer to section 5.1.10).

With different emphasis depending on the user-defined setting of the RxLev_DL vs.

Overlap slider these essential principles lead effectively to:

the maximum RxLev_DL Coverage,

the maximum C/I, and

the minimum cell overlapping resulting in

opportunities to re-plan the frequencies, e.g. with tighter reuse or such that frequencies can be released

thereby taking configured cost, effort, and ROI constraints into consideration.

8.3.6 Additional Side Constraints by Constraint Network Layers

Upon consideration of multi-layer dependencies (as defined in section 5.2.4), the following additional constraints are applied when a reconfiguration in a target network layer also

requires a change in a dependent constraint network layer:

The beacon signal level Covered Area and/or Covered Traffic must not be reduced for any constraint network layer below the lesser of its initial and its target value.

The beacon signal interference ratio Covered Area and/or Covered Traffic must not be reduced for any constraint network layer below the lesser of its initial and its target value.

For CDMA or UMTS constraint network layers: No cell must get a higher Relative Load per Cell or Relative Traffic per Cell than the initial maximum values.

If Check Maximum Users per Cell is enabled: The Maximum Users per Cell – as defined for the respective constraint network layer cell (refer to section 4.6.1) – is an additional constraint.

Then, no reconfiguration of the original network setup is accepted, that would increase the number of users at any cell above this threshold. Moreover, if the Maximum Users per Cell was already exceeded at a cell before the reconfiguration, the constraint means that it must not be increased further.

For UMTS constraint network layer:

▫ If HSDPA is enabled: The HSDPA Coverage in the Analysis Area must not be reduced below the lesser of its initial and its target value.

▫ If Check Cell Load is enabled:

Then, no reconfiguration of the original network setup is accepted, that


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would increase any DL cell transmit power beyond the cell‟s Maximum Output Power. The absolute DL cell transmit powers are determined by a snapshot simulation based on the Equivalent Traffic per Pixel (refer to

section 6.2.26).

8.3.7 Algorithm Sequence

The sequence of this optimization algorithm is outlined in Fig. 8-18. Here, the Direction Set algorithm applied to the reconfigurable cell parameters of the reconfigurable cells.



calculate the objective functions (on the initial network setup)

for one cell parameter after the other: 1. antenna type, 2. tilt, 3. azimuth, 4. pilot power

for each reconfigurable cell – in a defined order:

find the value that improves the objective function the most

(objective depends on the RSCP vs. Ec/Io or RxLev_DL vs. Overlap slider setting)

if the side constraints are fulfilled:

change the cell parameter

and continue with this improved configuration

for each cell parameter value in the allowed reconfiguration range:

calculate the objective functions

Fig. 8-18 Capacity and Coverage optimization algorithm


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8.4 Site Integration Optimizer

The Site Integration Optimizer is a Capacity and Coverage Optimizer that is tailored to the straightforward optimization of an existing network where new sites are to be integrated.

In contrast to the Capacity and Coverage optimization, the Site Integration optimization:

addresses a typical small-scale optimization use case,

internally determines the reconfigurable cells in the surrounding of each site to be integrated and

does not assume cost for cell parameter changes at the sites to be integrated

(if Consider Configured Rollout Status of Sites is enabled in the Cost Control Settings – refer to section 5.2.7).

Hence, the following sections describe just the specifics of the Site Integration optimization, where it differs from the Capacity and Coverage optimization (refer to section 8.3).

In contrast to the Site Candidate Groups task of the Site Selection optimization, there must be always only one new candidate for each new site location.


The Analysis Area must include all sites to be integrated and may also include some surrounding sites. Moreover, the Simulation Area shall include a reasonable buffer zone around the sites to be integrated.

The reconfigurable cells determined internally may also be outside of the Analysis Area.

In accordance with the internal method for reconfigurable cell selection, the sites to be integrated preferably should not have a strong downtilt already in the beginning.

It can make sense to completely disable some types of parameter changes for the existing sites. For example, the Reconfigurable Mechanical Tilt and the Reconfigurable Azimuth flags could be disabled in all such cells – using the Cell Optimization Settings Overview dialog (refer to section 4.6.1).

Furthermore, the same configuration capabilities apply as for the Capacity and Coverage optimization (refer to section 8.3.1).


The Analysis Area will still determine the starting point of the objective function and the

potential of performance improvement. Therefore, it is recommendable to analyze the

initial status of the targeted performance criteria based on the defined Analysis Area.

Moreover, in contrast to the Capacity and Coverage optimization (refer to section 8.3.2), the Site Integration algorithm automatically determines the cells that should be changed around the sites to be integrated. Consequently, not all cells according to the Analysis-Area-based Reconfigurable Cell Selection option may also be changed.

8.4.3 Site Integration Optimization Configuration

The Site Integration Optimizer can be configured in the Site Integration Settings dialog, which is similar to the Capacity and Coverage Optimizer Settings dialog (as shown in Fig. 8-13 in section 8.3.3 – please refer there for more information).

Notwithstanding, the sites to be integrated are specified at one page of the Optimization

Wizard (refer to section 5.2.3).


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The Site Integration optimizer applies the same objective functions and side constraints like the Capacity and Coverage optimizer (refer to section 8.3.4).

The only difference is that, the RPI is only applied to sites with Site Status “Existent”, which are not declared a “To be integrated” at the Site Integration page of the Optimization Wizard (refer to section 5.2.3).

8.5 Overshooting Cells Optimizer

The Overshooting Cells Optimizer is tailored to specifically detect and eventually modify overshooting cells (also known as “boomer” cells).

Overshooting cells can impair a consistent radio network design. Nevertheless, they may

have been designed for specific reasons at a certain point of time.

Therefore, such cells, which over-propagate many others and provide distant best server coverage or strong interference levels, can be identified by Radioplan ACP and, if desired, also down-tilted according to configurable settings.

This overshooting cells detection and handling is also available as an integrated task, called Overshooting Cell Compensation, at the beginning of a Site Selection, Site Integration, or Capacity and Coverage Optimization (refer to section 5.2.5.4).


The Analysis Area must include all sites to be considered by the Overshooting Cells optimizer.

The same site and cell configuration capabilities apply as for the Capacity and Coverage

optimization (refer to section 8.3.1).

If the custom parameter Overshooter is defined for cells to be optimized (refer to section 4.6.6), then the value of this flag will be displayed in the Results dialog at the end of the Overshooting Cells optimization.


No specific problem analysis is required.

8.5.3 Overshooting Cells Optimization Configuration

The Overshooting Cells Optimizer can be configured in the Overshooting Cells Settings

dialog, Fig. 8-19.

If the Overshooting Cells Optimizer is selected at the first page of the Optimization Wizard (refer to section 5.2.2), this dialog can be opened by clicking the Configure Optimizer button.

The specific parameters of the Overshooting Cells Optimizer are identical with those described for the Overshooting Cell Compensation in section 5.2.5.4.

Additionally, it can be selected which type of tilt shall be changed:

mechanical tilt,

electrical tilt, or

remote electrical tilt

as well as any combination of the three options.


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Fig. 8-19 Overshooting Cells Optimizer Settings dialog (example for UMTS)


The Overshooting Cells optimizer is very simple. It just determines the overshooting cells and then changes their tilts according to the configured optimizer settings and the cell

optimization capabilities, Fig. 8-20.

Clearly, coverage or capacity objective functions are not considered for the decision on the changes.

Beside the tilt change constraints, only the following side constraint is considered:


Fig. 8-20 Overshooting Cells optimization algorithm

As an example for the tilt change constraints, let us assume a cell has a current total

(down-)tilt of 2°, which is composed of 0° mechanical and 2° electrical tilt, and an antenna that allows electrical tilting between 0° and 6° . Moreover, the allowed mechanical tilt range is [0°; 10°].

If this cell is detected as overshooting, then the default Overshooting Cell Settings, as shown in Fig. 8-19, would result in the following optimization change: The Maximum Total Tilt must be 8°. That‟s why the allowed Maximum Tilt Change is not possible, only from 2°

to 8°. The new total tilt is then composed of the maximum possible electrical tilt of 6° plus

2° mechanical tilt. The mechanical tilt is still within the range allowed at this cell.


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Actix Radioplan Automatic Cell Planning (ACP) Version 3.13 User Guide Customization 195

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9 Customization

Radioplan ACP can be customized using configuration files (*.ini) – as described in

section 9.1. All configuration parameters described in section 9.2 can be customized in such an *.ini file.

9.1 Default and User-Defined Configuration Files

The default optimization settings of an Radioplan project

can be customized in the optimization.ini file.

The optimization.ini file used by the Radioplan application is located in the Radioplan

configuration folder, which is (for Radioplan version 3.8) by default:

c:\documents and settings\all users\application data\actix\radioplan\3.8\

configuration .

For more information on configuration and customization of the Radioplan application, please refer to [R-Admin].

This default configuration file is automatically loaded into every project that is newly created – typically by importing the project data from a radio network planning tool.

Note that existing projects include their own copy of the optimization settings and are not

automatically affected by a change of the default configuration file.

Additionally, the entire optimization configuration data can be saved to and reloaded from user-specific configuration files using the entries Save Configuration… and Load Configuration… functions of the Optimization menu, respectively, Fig. 9-1.

Fig. 9-1 Customization functions in the Optimization menu

Thus, user-defined configuration files cannot only be created by directly editing an *.ini

file, but also by defining the desired options in the configuration dialogs of Radioplan ACP and then saving this configuration to a user-defined file.


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When editing a configuration file, comment lines, which start with a semicolon, may be added at any place.

9.2 Customizable Configuration Parameters

The following tables list for each section of the configuration file the customizable parameters. A section is identified by the respective starting tag in square brackets […].

Note that the File_Version parameter (current value: 8) is not for customization.

Table 9-1 General customizable parameters

Parameter Description

[Matrix]

PixelSize_m Calculation Pixel Size [m] (refer to section 5.1.6).

MaxCellsPerPixel Max. Number of Cells for the Limitation of Considered Cells (refer to section 5.1.7).

MaxPilotDifference Margin Below Best Cell Rx Power for the Limitation

of Considered Cells (refer to section 5.1.7).

EnableBackupRestore Enables/disables the Matrix Cache (refer to section 5.1.7).

CellOutboundInterferingArea _Percent

Cell Outbound Interfering Area [%](refer to section 5.1.7).

[Traffic]

ConsiderTrafficDistribution Enables/disables the Consider Traffic Distribution option (refer to section 5.1.10).

MaskZeroTrafficRegions Enables/disables the Mask Regions With Zero Traffic option (refer to section 5.1.10).

MaskRegionsWithCoverageArea Enables/disables the Consider Initial RSCP Coverage Only option (refer to section 5.1.10).

MaskRegionsWithAnalysisArea Enables/disables the Consider Analysis Area Only option (refer to section 5.1.10).

GradeOfService Target Grade of Service (refer to section 5.1.10).

[Plots]

BestCellOverlapMaxLegend_Num The upper limit [number of cells] in the legend of

the Best Cell Overlap plot (refer to section 6.2.23).

AutomaticPlotUpdate Enables/disables the Automatic Plot Update option (refer to sections 5.2.2 and 6.1.1).

RemovePresentPlotsBefore NewOptimizationRun

Enables/disables the Remove Present Plots option (refer to section 5.2.2).

[AutomaticPlotsDuringOptimizationRun]

Relative_Traffic_per_Cell

Users_per_Cell

Each flag enables/disables the respective Automatic Optimization Plot (refer to section 5.2.2).

Not each optimizer supports all plots, however. Moreover, the revenue plots are only available if the Capital Planning Module is licensed.

All plots are described in section 6.

Relative_Load_per_Cell

Best_Cell_Overlap

Pilot_RSCP_Coverage


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Pilot_Ec/Io_Coverage

Best_Pilot_Ec/Io

Cell_Overlap_Ratio_per_Cell

Best_Pilot_Received_Power

RSSI

Best_Cell

Reconfigurable_Cells

CQI

Plot_Covered_Revenue_per_Pixel

Plot_Covered_Revenue_per_Cell

Plot_Lost_Revenue_per_Pixel

Plot_Lost_Revenue_per_Cell

[General]

CheckMinimumAzimuthSeparation Enables/disables the respective Business Rule of the Capacity and Coverage Optimizer (refer to section 8.3.3).

MinimumAzimuthSeparation_ Degree

Defines the minimum azimuth separation, which is applied as constraint to azimuth reconfigurations, if the above Business Rule is enabled.

UseAEDTApproximation

ForElectricalTiltOptimization

Enables/disables the Additional Electrical Downtilt

approximation as the method for electrical tilt optimization (refer to section 5.2.5.3).

ShowExtendedSummaryStatistics Enables/disables the Show Extended Summary Statistics option (refer to sections 8.2.3 and 8.3.3).

SharedAntennaPositionThreshold XY

SharedAntennaPositionThresholdZ

Snap radius [m] for the conditions on the recognition of antennas with shared parameters

(refer to section 4.6.1.1).

[CellOverlapStatistics]

BestCellOverlapMargin_dB Best Cell Overlap Evaluation Margin [dB] – as defined in section 6.2.23.

SecondBestCellOverlapMargin_dB

ThirdBestCellOverlapMargin_dB

Additional Thresholds for Cell Overlapping (refer to section 5.2.5.1).

[CellSelection]

ReconfigurableCellSelectionMode Reconfigurable Cell Selection option (refer to section 5.1.11):

0: Cells Located in Analysis Area 1: Best Cells in Analysis Area

2: Cells Within Margin in Analysis Area

MarginForReconfigurableCell Selection_dB

The Margin [dB] for the Reconfigurable Cell Selection option Cells Within Margin in Analysis Area (refer to section 5.1.11).

MarginForRelevantCellPlot_dB The Margin for the Relevant Cells plot [dB] (refer to sections 6.2.3 and 5.1.12).


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; === GENERAL SETTINGS ========================================================

[Version]

File_Version = 8

[Matrix]

MaxCellsPerPixel = 20

MaxBestPilotDifference = 30.0

EnableBackupRestore = true

PixelSize_m = 50

CellOutboundInterferingArea_Percent = 95.0

[Traffic]

ConsiderTrafficDistribution = false

MaskZeroTrafficRegions = false

MaskRegionsWithCoverageArea = false

MaskRegionsWithAnalysisArea = false

GradeOfService = 0.05

[Plots]

BestCellOverlapMaxLegend_num = 5

AutomaticPlotUpdate = false

RemovePresentPlotsBeforeNewOptimizationRun = false

[AutomaticPlotsDuringOptimizationRun]

Relative_Traffic_per_Cell = false

Users_per_Cell = false

Relative_Load_per_Cell = false

Best_Cell_Overlap = true

Pilot_RSCP_Coverage = true

Pilot_Ec/Io_Coverage = true

Best_Pilot_Ec/Io = true

Cell_Overlap_Ratio_per_Cell = false

Best_Pilot_Received_Power = true

RSSI = false

Best_Cell = false

Reconfigurable_Cells = false

CQI = false

Plot_Covered_Revenue_per_Pixel = false

Plot_Covered_Revenue_per_Cell = false

Plot_Lost_Revenue_per_Pixel = false

Plot_Lost_Revenue_per_Cell = false

[General]

CheckMinimumAzimuthSeparation = false

MinimumAzimuthSeparation_Degree = 40

UseAEDTApproximationForElectricalTiltOptimization = false

ShowMemoryWarning = false

ShowExtendedSummaryStatistics = false

SharedAntennaPositionThresholdXY = 0.0

SharedAntennaPositionThresholdZ = 0.0

[CellOverlapStatistics]

BestCellOverlapMargin_dB = 5.0

SecondBestCellOverlapMargin_dB = 8.0

ThirdBestCellOverlapMargin_dB = 10.0

; =============================================================================

[CellSelection]

ReconfigurableCellSelectionMode = 1

MarginForRelevantCellPlot_dB = 15

MarginForReconfigurableCellSelection_dB = 5.0


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Table 9-2 Customizable Objective Function and Side Constraints parameters


[ObjectiveFunction]

PilotRxPowerMin_dBm The Pilot RSCP Coverage Threshold (refer to section 8.1.4).

SecondPilotRxPowerMin_dBm Additional Thresholds for Pilot RSCP Coverage (refer to section 5.2.5.1).

ThirdPilotRxPowerMin_dBm

PilotEcToIoMin_dB The Pilot Ec/Io Threshold (refer to section 8.1.4).

SecondPilotEcToIoMin_dB Additional Thresholds for Pilot Ec/Io Coverage (refer to

section 5.2.5.1). ThirdPilotEcToIoMin_dB

CurrentNetworkLoad_% Assumed Network Load (refer to section 5.1.5).

RxLevMin_dBm The RxLev_DL Coverage Threshold (refer to section 8.1.4).

CToIMin_dB The C/I Coverage Threshold (refer to section 8.1.4).

ConsiderAllFrequencyBands ForCellOverlap

The Best Cell Overlap Evaluation Method (refer to section 5.1.9). If false, the Best Cell Overlap is

calculated per Frequency Band.

ConsiderCellAccessConstraints Enables/disables the Consider Min. RxPower Threshold for Traffic Assignment option (refer to section 5.1.10).

; === OBJECTIVE FUNCTIONS =====================================================

[ObjectiveFunction]

PilotRxPowerMin_dBm = -100.0

SecondPilotRxPowerMin_dBm = -90.0

ThirdPilotRxPowerMin_dBm = -75.0

PilotEcToIoMin_dB = -15.0

SecondPilotEcToIoMin_dB = -10.0

ThirdPilotEcToIoMin_dB = -20.0

CurrentNetworkLoad_% = 75

; GSM

CToIMin_dB = 10.0

RxLevMin_dBm = -100.0

ConsiderAllFrequencyBandsForCellOverlap = true

ConsiderCellAccessConstraints = false

Table 9-3 Customizable HSDPA and EVDO parameters


[HSDPA]

EnableHSDPA Enables/disables HSDPA optimization (refer to section 5.1.13).

Default_Code_Orthogonality_Factor Intracell Interference Factor (refer to section 5.1.13).

CQI_1_dB Min. PCPICH SIR for CQI 1 (refer to

section 5.1.13).


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MinHSDPACoveredArea

Probability_Percent

MinHSDPACoveredTraffic Probability_Percent

Min. HSDPA Covered Area and Min. HSDPA

Covered Traffic, respectively (refer to section 5.1.13).

MinimumCQIforHSDPACoverage Min. CQI for HSDPA Coverage (refer to section 5.1.13).

HSDPAActivityFactor HSDPA Activity Factor (refer to section 5.1.13).

[EVDO]

EnableEVDO Enables/disables EVDO optimization (refer to

section 5.1.14).

EVDOActivityFactor EVDO Activity Factor (refer to section 5.1.14).

; =============================================================================

[HSDPA]

EnableHSDPA = false

Default_Code_Orthogonality_Factor = 0.4

CQI_1_dB = 8.5

MinHSDPACoveredAreaProbability_Percent = 95.0

MinHSDPACoveredTrafficProbability_Percent = 95.0

MinimumCQIforHSDPACoverage = 6

HSDPAActivityFactor = 1.0

; =============================================================================

[EVDO]

EnableEVDO = false

EVDOActivityFactor = 1.0

Table 9-4 Customizable Optimizer Selection parameters


[OvershootingCells]

TiltDown Enables the Overshooting Cell Compensation at the third

page of the Optimization Wizard (refer to section 5.2.5).

MaximumTotalTilt_deg Maximum Total Tilt [deg] (refer to section 5.2.5.4).

MaximumTiltChange_deg Maximum Tilt Change [deg] (refer to section 5.2.5.4).

OverlapMargin_dB Overlap Margin [dB] (refer to section 5.2.5.4).

MinimumInterference ToServingArea_Ratio

Minimum Interference to Serving Area Ratio (refer to section 5.2.5.4).

[OvershootingCellOptimizer]

THETA_Active_flag

THETA_Active_flag_ElecTilt

THETA_Active_flag_Remote ElecTilt

Type of tilt change (refer to section 8.5.3).


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[OvershootingCells]

TiltDown = false

MaximumTiltChange_deg = 8.0

MaximumTotalTilt_deg = 8.0

OverlapMargin_dB = 5.0

MinimumInterferenceToServingArea_Ratio = 5.0

; ==============================================================================

[OvershootingCellOptimizer]

THETA_Active_flag = true

THETA_Active_flag_ElecTilt = true

THETA_Active_flag_RemoteElecTilt = true

Table 9-5 Customizable GPEH parameters


[GPEH]

UseGPEHData Enables the GPEH project data tuning (refer to section 5.1.15).

[GPEH]

UseGPEHData = false

Table 9-6 Customizable Optimizer Selection parameters


[OptimizerSelection]

The default selection of the optimization algorithm (as defined at the first page of the Optimization Wizard – refer to section 5.2.2.1) for the respective system:

Optimizer_UMTS for UMTS: either CapacityOptimizer or SiteSelectionOptimizer

or SiteIntegrationOptimizer or OvershootingCellOptimizer.

Optimizer_GSM for GSM: either GSMOptimizer or GSMSiteSelectionOptimizer or

GSMSiteIntegrationOptimizer or OvershootingCellOptimizer.

Optimizer_CDMA for CDMA: either CDMAOptimizer or CDMASiteSelectionOptimizer

or CDMASiteIntegrationOptimizer or

OvershootingCellOptimizer.

Optimizer_IDEN for iDEN: either IDENOptimizer or IDENSiteSelectionOptimizer

or IDENSiteIntegrationOptimizer or

OvershootingCellOptimizer.

Optimizer_WIMAX for WiMAX: either WIMAXOptimizer or

WIMAXSiteSelectionOptimizer or

WIMAXSiteIntegrationOptimizer or OvershootingCellOptimizer.

Optimizer_LTE for LTE: either LTEOptimizer or LTESiteSelectionOptimizer or

LTESiteIntegrationOptimizer or OvershootingCellOptimizer.

; =============================================================================

[OptimizerSelection]

Optimizer_UMTS = CapacityOptimizer

Optimizer_GSM = GSMOptimizer


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Optimizer_CDMA = CDMAOptimizer

Optimizer_IDEN = IDENOptimizer

Optimizer_WIMAX = WIMAXOptimizer

Optimizer_LTE = LTEOptimizer

Table 9-7 Customizable Optimizer parameters


Each of the following sections in the configuration file refers for each system to one of the optimization algorithms that are defined in chapter 8:

- [CapacityOptimizer] refers to the UMTS Capacity and Coverage Optimizer

- [*Optimizer] refers to the „Capacity and Coverage‟ Optimizer for the respective system

(CDMA, GSM, IDEN, WiMAX, or LTE).

The [CapacityOptimizer] parameters also apply to [SiteIntegrationOptimizer] and the [*Optimizer] parameters also apply to [*SiteIntegrationOptimizer].

- [SiteSelectionOptimizer] refers to the UMTS Site Selection Optimizer

- [*SiteSelectionOptimizer] refers to the Site Selection Optimizer for the respective system

(CDMA, GSM, IDEN, WiMAX, or LTE).

All optimization algorithms

CoverageWeighting Preferred Coverage Objective (refer to section 8.1.4.1):

0: Area only 1: Area and Traffic

2: Traffic only

CheckMaximumTrafficPerCell Enables/disables the Check Maximum Users per Cell option (refer to sections 8.2.3 and 8.3.3).

OptimizationRuns_num Maximum Number of Optimization Runs (refer to section 8.1.5).

[CapacityOptimizer], [CDMAOptimizer], [GSMOptimizer], [IDENOptimizer], [WIMAXOptimizer]

The optimizer settings – as defined in section 8.3.3. Parameters of the GSM or iDEN optimizer referring to Pilot Power are applied to the cell output power.

{THETA | PHI | ANTENNA | PILOTPOWER} _Active_flag

{ | _ElecTilt | _RemoteElecTilt}

Optimize checkboxes

{THETA | PHI | PILOTPOWER} _MaxStepsUp_num

Max. Increase Steps

{THETA | PHI | PILOTPOWER} _MaxStepsDown_num

Max. Decrease Steps

{THETA | PHI | ANTENNA | PILOTPOWER}

_MinChangeMargin_%

Required Performance Improvement for the respective parameter

THETA_MinChangeMargin ElectricalTilt_%

Required Performance Improvement for electrical tilt changes only


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THETA_MinChangeMargin

RemoteElectricalTilt_%

Required Performance Improvement for remote

electrical tilt changes only

UseMorphologyDependent CoverageConstraints

Defines whether the coverage constraints are also observed with respect to each Clutter Class Area.

MergeClutterClassesWithEqual PathLossandEcToIoOffsets

Defines whether the clutter class areas with equal Pathloss and Ec/Io (or C/I) Offset values are merged for observing the coverage constraints.

[CapacityOptimizer], [CDMAOptimizer], [SiteSelectionOptimizer], and [CDMASiteSelectionOptimizer]

MinPilotRSCPCoveredArea Probability_%

The required Pilot RSCP Covered Area percentage (refer to Min. Required Pilot RSCP Coverage in section 8.1.4).

MinPilotRSCPCoveredTraffic

Probability_%

The required Pilot RSCP Covered Traffic percentage

(refer to Min. Required Pilot RSCP Coverage in section 8.1.4).

MinPilotCToI CoveredAreaProbability_%

The required Pilot Ec/Io Coverage percentage (refer to Min. Required Pilot Ec/Io Coverage in section 8.1.4).

MinPilotCToI CoveredTrafficProbability_%

The required Pilot Ec/Io Coverage Traffic percentage (refer to Min. Required Pilot Ec/Io Coverage in section 8.1.4).

[CapacityOptimizer] and [CDMAOptimizer]

RSCP_vs_EcToIo_Balance_% Defines the setting of the RSCP vs. Ec/Io slider (refer to section 8.3.4). The 4 steps correspond to 0%, 33.3%, 66.6%, and 100%. Values in between are mapped to the closest of

these steps.

[GSMOptimizer], [IDENOptimizer], [WIMAXOptimizer], [LTEOptimizer] and [GSMSiteSelectionOptimizer], [IDENSiteSelectionOptimizer], [WIMAXSiteSelectionOptimizer], [LTESiteSelectionOptimizer]

MinRxLev_DL CoveredAreaProbability_%

The required RxLev_DL Covered Area percentage (refer to Min. Required RxLev_DL Coverage in

section 8.1.4); for WiMAX the required Pilot RSSI Covered Area percentage.

MinRxLev_DL CoveredTrafficProbability_%

The required RxLev_DL Covered Traffic percentage (refer to Min. Required RxLev_DL Coverage in

section 8.1.4); for WiMAX the required Pilot RSSI Covered Traffic percentage.

MinCToI CoveredAreaProbability_%

The required C/I Covered Area percentage (refer to Min. Required C/I Coverage in section 8.1.4); for WiMAX the required Pilot CINR Covered Area percentage.

MinCToI CoveredTrafficProbability_%

The required C/I Covered Traffic percentage (refer to Min. Required C/I Coverage in section 8.1.4); for WiMAX the required Pilot CINT Covered Traffic

percentage.


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[GSMOptimizer], [IDENOptimizer], [WIMAXOptimizer], [LTEOptimizer]

RxLev_vs_Overlap_Balance_% Defines the setting of the RxLev_DL vs. Overlap slider (refer to section 8.3.5); for WiMAX the settings of the RSSI vs. Overlap slider. The 4 steps correspond to 0%, 33.3%, 66.6%, and 100%. Values in between are mapped to the closest of these steps.

[SiteSelectionOptimizer], [CDMASiteSelectionOptimizer], [GSMSiteSelectionOptimizer], [IDENSiteSelectionOptimizer],

[WIMAXSiteSelectionOptimizer], and [LTESiteSelectionOptimizer]

The optimizer settings – as defined in section 8.2.3.

Perform_Site_Selection Perform the task Remove Redundant Sites

Perform_Group_Optimization Perform the task Site Candidate Groups

Perform_Group_Capacity_ Optimization

Perform the task Optimize Site Candidates

Perform_Capacity_Optimization Perform the task Capacity and Coverage

Perform_Antenna_Height_ Optimization

Perform the task Site Candidate Groups as antenna height optimization only

Enable_Cell_Selection Perform the task Remove Redundant Cells

Avoid_Large_Coverage_Gaps Defines whether the Business Rules are applied,

respectively (refer to section 8.2.3):

- Avoid Large Coverage Gaps

- Check Cell Load (UMTS and CDMA only)

- Limit Capacity Optimization to Surrounding Cells

Consider_ Traffic_Dependent_Load

LimitCapacityOptimization ToSurroundingCells

Minimum_Site_Count The minimum target number of sites that shall remain after a Remove Redundant Sites optimization.

; === OPTIMIZER CONFIGURATIONS ================================================

[CapacityOptimizer]

RSCP_vs_EcToIo_Balance_% = 66.6

CoverageWeighting = 0

CheckMaximumTrafficPerCell = false

MinPilotRSCPCoveredAreaProbability_% = 95.0

MinPilotRSCPCoveredTrafficProbability_% = 95.0

MinPilotCToICoveredAreaProbability_% = 95.0

MinPilotCToICoveredTrafficProbability_% = 95.0

UseMorphologyDependentCoverageConstraints = false

MergeClutterClassesWithEqualPLAndEcToIoOffsets = false

OptimizationRuns_num = 2

; Reconfiguration of the antenna tilt:




THETA_MaxStepsUp_num = 2

THETA_MaxStepsDown_num = 2

THETA_MinChangeMargin_% = 2.0

THETA_MinChangeMarginElectricalTilt_% = 1.0


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THETA_MinChangeMarginRemoteElectricalTilt_% = 0.2

; Reconfiguration of the antenna azimuth:

PHI_Active_flag = false

PHI_MaxStepsUp_num = 2

PHI_MaxStepsDown_num = 2

PHI_MinChangeMargin_% = 2.0

; Reconfiguration of the antenna type:

ANTENNA_Active_flag = false

ANTENNA_MinChangeMargin_% = 2.0

; Reconfiguration of the pilot transmit power:

PILOTPOWER_Active_flag = false

PILOTPOWER_MaxStepsUp_num = 2

PILOTPOWER_MaxStepsDown_num = 2

PILOTPOWER_MinChangeMargin_% = 2.0

; =============================================================================

[GSMOptimizer]

RxLev_vs_Overlap_Balance_% = 66.6



MinRxLev_DL_CoveredAreaProbability_% = 95.0

MinRxLev_DL_CoveredTrafficProbability_% = 95.0

MinCToICoveredAreaProbability_% = 95.0

MinCToICoveredTrafficProbability_% = 95.0


















; Reconfiguration of the outpu power:








; =============================================================================

[CDMAOptimizer]









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; =============================================================================

[IDENOptimizer]





























; =============================================================================


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[WIMAXOptimizer]





























; ==============================================================================

[LTEOptimizer]



























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; =============================================================================

[SiteSelectionOptimizer]








Perform_Site_Selection = true

Perform_Group_Optimization = false

Perform_Group_Capacity_Optimization = true

Perform_Capacity_Optimization = true

Perform_Antenna_Height_Optimization = false

Enable_Cell_Selection = false

Avoid_Large_Coverage_Gaps = true

Consider_Traffic_Dependent_Load = false



; =============================================================================

[GSMSiteSelectionOptimizer]

















; =============================================================================

[CDMASiteSelectionOptimizer]












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; =============================================================================

[IDENSiteSelectionOptimizer]

















; =============================================================================

[WIMAXSiteSelectionOptimizer]

















; ==============================================================================

[LTESiteSelectionOptimizer]








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Minimum_Site_Count = 0



LimitCapacityOptimizationToSurroundingCells = false

; ==============================================================================

[SiteIntegrationOptimizer]

































; ==============================================================================

[GSMSiteIntegrationOptimizer]









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; Reconfiguration of the outpu power:








; ==============================================================================

[CDMASiteIntegrationOptimizer]

































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; ==============================================================================

[IDENSiteIntegrationOptimizer]





























; ==============================================================================

[WIMAXSiteIntegrationOptimizer]
























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; ==============================================================================

[LTESiteIntegrationOptimizer]





























Table 9-8 Customizable Cost Control parameters


[CostControl]

The Cost Control Settings – as defined in section 5.2.7.

In case of GSM optimization, parameters referring to Pilot Power are applied to the cell output power.

UseCostLimit Defines whether the cost limit shall be observed as additional side constraint.

MaximumCosts_Currency The limit for the costs [local currency].

The local currency is taken from the regional Windows settings.

UseEffortLimit Defines whether the effort limit shall be observed as additional side constraint.

MaximumEffort_Hour The limit for the effort [Hour].


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ConsiderRolloutStatus Enables/disables the Consider Configured Rollout

Status of Sites option.

UseCellOrSiteIndividualCosts Cost Definition Mode:

true = Use Cell/Site Individual Costs; false = Use Default Settings for all Cells/Sites.

{SITEVISIT | ANTENNA | THETA | PHI | PILOTPOWER}

_CostValueDefault_Currency

The cost [local currency] associated with a site visit or with the reconfiguration of either cell parameter:

Antenna Type, Tilt, Azimuth, and Pilot Power, respectively.

THETA_CostValueElectricalTilt

_Currency

THETA_CostValueRemote ElectricalTilt_Currency

The cost [local currency] associated with the

reconfiguration of an electrical tilt or remote electrical, respectively.

{ SITEVISIT | ANTENNA |

THETA | PHI | PILOTPOWER} _EffortValueDefault_Hour

The effort [hour] associated with a site visit or with the

reconfiguration of either cell parameter: Antenna Type, Tilt, Azimuth, and Pilot Power, respectively.

THETA_EffortValueElectricalTilt _Hour

THETA_EffortValueRemote ElectricalTilt_Hour

The effort [hour] associated with the reconfiguration of an electrical tilt or remote electrical, respectively.

The ROI and Revenue Thresholds – as defined in section 8.1.6.

ROIMode Enables the ROI consideration and selects the method:

0 = Don‟t Consider ROI; 1 = Use Absolute ROI; 2 = Use Relative ROI.

ROIThresholdAbsolute The Absolute ROI [Currency unit] that is required to

accept a parameter change.

ROIThresholdRelative_% The Relative ROI [%] that is required to accept a parameter change.

MinCoveredRevenueProbability _%

The target value for the Covered Revenue in the Analysis Area.

; =============================================================================

[CostControl]

UseCostLimit = false

UseEffortLimit = false

MaximumCosts_Currency = 100000

MaximumEffort_Hour = 100000

SITEVISIT_CostValueDefault_Currency = 1.0

SITEVISIT_EffortValueDefault_Hour = 1.0

THETA_CostValueDefault_Currency = 1.0

THETA_EffortValueDefault_Hour = 1.0

THETA_CostValueElectricalTilt_Currency = 0.1

THETA_EffortValueElectricalTilt_Hour = 0.1

THETA_CostValueRemoteElectricalTilt_Currency = 0.01

THETA_EffortValueRemoteElectricalTilt_Hour = 0.01

PHI_CostValueDefault_Currency = 1.0

PHI_EffortValueDefault_Hour = 1.0

ANTENNA_CostValueDefault_Currency = 1.0

ANTENNA_EffortValueDefault_Hour = 1.0

PILOTPOWER_CostValueDefault_Currency = 1.0

PILOTPOWER_EffortValueDefault_Hour = 1.0

ConsiderRolloutStatus = false

UseCellOrSiteIndividualCosts = true


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ROIMode = 0

ROIThresholdAbsolute = 0.0

ROIThresholdRelative_% = 0.0

MinCoveredRevenueProbability_% = 95.0

Table 9-9 Customizable Cost Control parameters


[RevenueCoverageFunction]

The Covered Revenue Function Settings – as defined in section 5.3.1.

MinRxPower_RampFunctionMode_ {UMTS | CDMA | GSM | IDEN | WIMAX | LTE }

MaxRxPower_RampFunctionMode_ {UMTS | CDMA | GSM | IDEN | WIMAX | LTE }

The minimum and the maximum RxPower value [dBm] for the ramp of the Covered Revenue Function for each technology, respectively.

[RevenueCoverageFunction]

MinRxPower_RampFunctionMode_UMTS = -97.0

MaxRxPower_RampFunctionMode_UMTS = -70.0

MinRxPower_RampFunctionMode_CDMA = -97.0

MaxRxPower_RampFunctionMode_CDMA = -70.0

MinRxPower_RampFunctionMode_GSM = -97.0

MaxRxPower_RampFunctionMode_GSM = -70.0

MinRxPower_RampFunctionMode_IDEN = -97.0

MaxRxPower_RampFunctionMode_IDEN = -70.0

MinRxPower_RampFunctionMode_WIMAX = -97.0

MaxRxPower_RampFunctionMode_WIMAX = -70.0

MinRxPower_RampFunctionMode_LTE = -97.0

MaxRxPower_RampFunctionMode_LTE = -70.0

Table 9-10 Customizable Optimizer parameters for constraint network layers


ConsiderConstraintNetworkLayer Enables/disables the consideration of multi-layer

constraints by shared antenna parameters (refer to section 5.2.4).

ConsiderTrafficDistribution Enables/disables the Consider Traffic Distribution option (refer to section 5.2.6).

MaskZeroTrafficRegions Enables/disables the Mask Regions With Zero Traffic option (refer to section 5.2.6).

MaskRegionsWithCoverageArea Enables/disables the Consider Initial RSCP Coverage Only option (refer to section 5.2.6).

MaskRegionsWithAnalysisArea Enables/disables the Consider Analysis Area Only

option (refer to section 5.2.6).

BestCellOverlapMargin_dB Best Cell Overlap Evaluation Margin [dB] – as defined in section 6.2.23.


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CheckMaximumTrafficPerCell Enables/disables the Check Maximum Users per Cell

option (refer to sections 8.2.3 and 8.3.3).

CoverageWeighting Preferred Coverage Objective (refer to section 8.1.4.1). The 3 steps (Area only, Area and Traffic, Traffic only) correspond to 0, 1, and 2.

UseMorphologyDependent

CoverageConstraints

Defines whether the coverage constraints are also

observed with respect to each Clutter Class Area (refer to section 8.3.3).

MergeClutterClassesWithEqual

PathLossandCToIOffsets

Defines whether the clutter class areas with equal

Pathloss and Ec/Io (or C/I) Offset values are merged for observing the coverage constraints (refer to section 8.3.3).

For UMTS and CDMA network layers only

CurrentNetworkLoad_% Assumed Network Load (refer to section 5.1.5).

SecondBestCellOverlapMargin_dB

ThirdBestCellOverlapMargin_dB

Additional Thresholds for Cell Overlapping (refer to section 5.2.5.1).

PilotRxPowerMin_dBm The Pilot RSCP Coverage Threshold (refer to section 8.1.4).

SecondPilotRxPowerMin_dBm

ThirdPilotRxPowerMin_dBm

Additional Thresholds for Pilot RSCP Coverage (refer

to section 5.2.5.1).

PilotEcToIoMin_dB The Pilot Ec/Io Threshold (refer to section 8.1.4).

SecondPilotEcToIoMin_dB

ThirdPilotEcToIoMin_dB

Additional Thresholds for Pilot Ec/Io Coverage (refer to section 5.2.5.1).

MinPilotRSCPCoveredArea Probability_%

The required Pilot RSCP Covered Area percentage (refer to Min. Required Pilot RSCP Coverage in

section 8.1.4).

MinPilotRSCPCoveredTraffic Probability_%

The required Pilot RSCP Covered Traffic percentage (refer to Min. Required Pilot RSCP Coverage in section 8.1.4).

MinPilotCToI CoveredAreaProbability_%

The required Pilot Ec/Io Covered Area percentage (refer to Min. Required Pilot Ec/Io Coverage in section 8.1.4).

MinPilotCToI CoveredTrafficProbability_%

The required Pilot Ec/Io Covered Traffic percentage (refer to Min. Required Pilot Ec/Io Coverage in section 8.1.4).

For UMTS network layers only

EnableHSDPA Enables/disables HSDPA optimization (refer to

section 5.1.13).

Consider_ Traffic_Dependent_Load

Enables/disables Check Maximum Cell Load (refer to section 8.3.4).

HSDPAActivityFactor HSDPA Activity Factor (refer to section 5.1.13).


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MinHSDPACoveredArea

Probability_Percent

MinHSDPACoveredTraffic Probability_Percent

Min. HSDPA Covered Area and Min. HSDPA Covered

Traffic, respectively (refer to section 5.1.13).

For CDMA network layers only

EnableEVDO Enables/disables EVDO optimization (refer to

section 5.1.14).

EVDOActivityFactor EVDO Activity Factor (refer to section 5.1.14).

For GSM network layers only

RxLevMin_dBm The RxLev_DL Coverage Threshold (refer to section 8.1.4).

CtoIMin_dB The C/I Coverage Threshold (refer to section 8.1.4).

ConsiderAllFrequencyBands ForCellOverlap

The Best Cell Overlap Evaluation Method (refer to section 5.1.9). If false, the Best Cell Overlap is calculated per Frequency Band.

MinRxLev_DL CoveredAreaProbability_%

The required RxLev_DL Covered Area percentage (refer to Min. Required RxLev_DL Coverage in section 8.1.4).

MinRxLev_DL CoveredTrafficProbability_%

The required RxLev_DL Covered Traffic percentage (refer to Min. Required RxLev_DL Coverage in section 8.1.4).

MinCToI CoveredAreaProbability_%

The required C/I Covered Area percentage (refer to Min. Required C/I Coverage in section 8.1.4).

MinCToI CoveredTrafficProbability_%

The required C/I Covered Traffic percentage (refer to Min. Required C/I Coverage in section 8.1.4).

ConsiderCellAccessConstraints Consider Min. RxPower Threshold for Traffic Assignment (refer to section 5.2.6).

For GSM and iDEN network layers only

GradeOfService Target Grade of Service (refer to section 5.2.6).

; =============================================================================

[ConstraintLayerSettings]

ConsiderConstraintNetworkLayer = false

ConsiderTrafficDistribution = false

MaskZeroTrafficRegions = false

MaskRegionsWithCoverageArea = false

MaskRegionsWithAnalysisArea = false

GradeOfService = 0.05

BestCellOverlapMargin_dB = 5.0



UseClutterDependentCoverageConstraints = false

MergeClutterClassesWithEqualPLAndCToIOffsets = false

; UMTS & CDMA

CurrentNetworkLoad_% = 75.0


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SecondBestCellOverlapMargin_dB = 8.0

ThirdBestCellOverlapMargin_dB = 10.0

PilotRxPowerMin_dBm = -100.0

SecondPilotRxPowerMin_dBm = -90.0

ThirdPilotRxPowerMin_dBm = -75.0

PilotEcToIoMin_dB = -15.0

SecondPilotEcToIoMin_dB = -10.0

ThirdPilotEcToIoMin_dB = -20.0





; UMTS

EnableHSDPA = false


HSDPAActivityFactor = 1.0

MinHSDPACoveredAreaProbability_Percent = 95.0

MinHSDPACoveredTrafficProbability_Percent = 95.0

; CDMA

EnableEVDO = false

EVDOActivityFactor = 1.0

; GSM

RxLevMin_dBm = -100.0

CToIMin_dB = 10.0

ConsiderAllFrequencyBandsForCellOverlap = false

ConsiderCellAccessConstraints = false





Actix Radioplan Automatic Cell Planning (ACP) Version 3.13 User Guide Running Optimization Series 219

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10 Running Optimization Series

Radioplan allows you to run optimization series. You can create different Optimization configuration templates and run those consecutively on individual projects.

To start the feature, from the Optimization menu, select Run Optimization Series…

This opens a dialog that lists available ACP configuration templates.

Fig. 10-1 The Run Optimization Series dialog

Note that this dialog does not currently filter the templates in any way, so it is possible to select templates configured for UMTS even when in a GSM project. Therefore, ensure that the selected templates apply to the current project and optimization task. For more information on how to define templates, see section 5.2.

The dialog also shows the target network layers and allows selecting constraint layers. For

details on target and constraint layers, see sections 5.2.4 to 5.2.6. Note that the chosen templates must have the correct constraint layer settings if they are being used. The layer settings apply to all optimization runs/all selected templates. The Settings button allows you to enter an override value for the Calculation Pixel Size.


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Fig. 10-2 The Automatic Settings dialog

To start the optimization, click Run. An indicator shows optimization progress.

The optimization creates an Algorithm Results set for each ACP configuration template, which includes:

Settings

Config changes

Statistics

Plots

After the optimization finishes, you can close the dialog.

In the project's Results tab, Radioplan now shows a list of Algorithm Results set, which you can:

Open

Delete

Apply to a database


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Fig. 10-3 The Algorithm Results set

If you Open an Algorithm Results set, Radioplan displays a dialog that presents the included information in tabular form and lets you select the included plots to display them on the map. You can also select and copy the Algorithm Results to the clipboard.

Fig. 10-4 The Algorithm Results Viewer dialog

Actix Radioplan Automatic Cell Planning (ACP) Version 3.13 User Guide Abbreviations 222

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11 Abbreviations

ACP Automatic Cell Planning

AEDT Additional Electrical DownTilt

AF Activity Factor

AICH Acquisition Indicator Channel

ASM ATOLL Synchronization Module

BCCH Broadcast Control Channel

BSIC Base Station Identity Code

CQI Channel Quality Indicator

DL Downlink

DPCH Dedicated Physical Channel

EIRP Effective Isotropic Radiated Power

FDD Frequency Division Duplexing

GPEH General Performance Event Handler

GUI Graphical User Interface

HCS Hierarchical Cellular Structure

HSDPA High-Speed Downlink Packet Access

HS-SCCH High-Speed Shared Control Channel

HSN Hopping Sequence Number

iDEN Integrated Digital Enhanced Network

LTE Long-Term Evolution

MAIO Mobile Allocation Index Offset

OS Operating System

PCCPCH Primary Common Control Physical Channel

PCPICH Primary Common Pilot Channel

QoS Quality of Service

PICH Paging Indicator Channel

RAN Radio Access Network

RB Radio Bearer

RET Remote Electrical Tilt(ing)

RNC Radio Network Controller

ROI Return On Investment

RPI Required Performance Improvement

Rx Receive(d)

RRM Radio Resource Management

RSCP Received Signal Code Power

Actix Radioplan Automatic Cell Planning (ACP) Version 3.13 User Guide Abbreviations 223

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RSSI Received Signal Strength Indicator

SCCPCH Secondary Common Control Physical Channel

SCF Service Correction Factor

SF Spreading Factor

SIR Signal-to-Interference Ratio

TCH Traffic Channel

UARFCN UTRA Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Number

UE User Equipment

UL Uplink

UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunications System

UTRA UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access

UTRAN UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network

VBR Variable Bit Rate

VoIP Voice over IP

WiMAX Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access

WWW World Wide Web

Actix Radioplan Automatic Cell Planning (ACP) Version 3.13 User Guide References 224

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12 References

[25.214] Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); Physical

layer procedures (FDD) (3GPP TS 25.214 version 5.9.0 Release 5)

– ETSI TS 125 214, version 5.9.0. ETSI, Sophia Antipolis, France,

June 2004.

[34.108] Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); Common

test environments for User Equipment (UE) conformance testing

(3GPP TS 34.108 version 4.5.0 Release 4) – ETSI TS 134 108,

version 4.5.0. ETSI, Sophia Antipolis, France, December 2002.

[A-TR] Atoll. Global RF Planning Solution. Technical Reference Guide.

Forsk, France.

[Pow64] M. J. D. Powell: An efficient method for finding the minimum of a

function of several variables without calculating derivatives. Comp.

J., Vol. 7, 1964.

[Pres92] W. H. Press, S. A. Teukolsky, W. T. Vetterling, B.P. Flannery:

Numerical Recipes in C. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge,

1992.

[R1-02-0675] TSG-RAN-WG1 HSDPA: Revised CQI Proposal. R1-02-0675,

Paris, France, April 9-12, 2002.

[R-Admin] Actix Radioplan. Administration Guide. Version 3.13. Actix, 2010.

[R-Atoll] Actix Radioplan. Atoll™ Synchronization Module (ASM). Version

3.13. Actix, 2010.

[R-TR] Actix Radioplan. WiNeS Dynamic Network Simulator Module:

Technical Reference. Version 3.12. Actix, 2009.

[R-UG] Actix Radioplan. User Guide. Version 3.13. Actix, 2010.


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