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Coverage Planning

Coverage Planning

Abstract

This is a technical document detailing a typical approach toCoverage Planning Process.

Version 0.1 NDC Confidential RF and Wireless Planning GroupPage 1 of 14 Oct. 2000


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CONTENTS

Coverage Planning

(1.0) Introduction Page 3

(2.0) Inputs for Cell Planning Page 3

(3.0) Phase Planning Page 5

(4.0) Data Gathering Page 6

(5.0) Cell Planning Page 6

(5.1) Preliminary Cell Plan Page 7

(5.2) Final Cell Plan Page 11

(6.0) Drive Testing and Initial Optimisation Page 14

(6.1) Initial Drive Test Report Page 14



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Coverage Planning

(1.0) Introduction:

Radio coverage is frequently perceived to be the most importantmeasurement for network quality. Radio coverage planning plays amajor role in GSM network planning, because it decides extent ofcoverage area, speech quality, mobility and customer satisfaction.Various forms of inputs and limitations from the customer in termsof spectrum availability, network dimensions, frequency planning,network growth, local wireless regulations and finally the RFenvironment itself plays an important role in coverage planning.



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The approach for the coverage plan needs to be well definedsince, it requires to accommodate various phases of networkgrowth across time without any compromise on service qualitygoal.

(2.0) Inputs for Cell Planning:

The inputs required for coverage planning are summarised asbelow,

(2.1) Coverage Definition:

It plays an important role in coverage planning since these are

used for link budget calculations whose output defines thecoverage and site parameters. Coverage parameter involvesdefining RF thresholds in terms of received levels at MS end andcoverage probabilities for various strategic locations of thecoverage areas that are supplied by customer. These are listedbelow;

RF Threshold

(dBm)

Locality Coverage

Probability - 62 High priority business and

commercial areas, VIP residentialareas, Prestigious hotels/Touristplaces and some Prestigiousresidential areas.

Indoor highprobability (> 50%)

- 72 Other commercial areas,Prestigious residential areas,High priority industrial areas,

Shopping Malls, Airport, Railwaystations, Sports stadium,Exhibition centres, Special Tunnelareas for Railway and Roads.

Indoor mediumprobability (= 50%)

- 82 All remaining suburban residentialarea, Pedestrian area, Parks, etc.

Indoor lowprobability (< 50%)

- 92 Town/Village areas within the citylimits, Rural areas within city

limits and Highways outside citylimits.

Indoor lowprobability (< 50

%)



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RF Threshold(dBm)

Locality CoverageProbability

-102 Outdoor with vehicle mountantennas.

Highwaysoutside city limits(Car kitassembly)

The design criteria used for radio coverage of a cell is to meetcoverage probability of > 90%. The signal level received at boththe mobile station and the base station has to meet the thresholdspecified in GSM technical specification 05.05. These thresholdsreferred as reference sensitivity for base station is -104 dBm while

for the MS it is -102 dBm. In order to ensure reliablecommunication the planning figures used for radio planning has toinclude an extra margin to account for the shadow fading. Themargin is dependent on the standard deviation of the receivedsignal level and path loss characteristic. Details for calculating fademargin is discussed in document on Link Budget Design.

(2.2) Quality of Service:

As for coverage requirement the customer needs to define hisbenchmark for quality requirements across the different cluttertypes. Typically he defines for 95% of time, 95% of area shouldhave RxQual better than 4. The division of these bench marks fordifferent area is as below,

RxQual Threshold(0 to 7)

Locality QualityProbability

4 (BER > 3.2%) Outdoor (Streets,roads, etc.)

95% of thearea.

4 Indoor prioritybuildings

95% of thearea.

4 Indoor other buildings 90% of thearea.



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Quality of service is an important benchmark for assuring optimumnetwork performance since the subscriber opinion on the networkis based on speech quality he perceives. Hence

the quality requirements specified by the customer plays a key rolein planning specially in frequency planning as interference is themajor threat to speech quality, RxLevel, the radio environmentfollows next.

(2.3) Subscriber, Traffic and Sites Distribution:

From the Radio Network Design document information related tosubscriber distribution across the different areas, their traffic

anticipation in phases and finally the number of sites with theirindividual configuration are gathered. The process is discussed inthe Radio Network Design document. It is to be noted that in thefirst phase of the network microcells are not planned. Once thesites in first phase are set up then from the traffic reports one getsdetail on traffic demand in various areas. This rise in traffic will becatered either by macrocells of later phases or a plan formicrocellsis to be made. As microcells are planned for capacity than forcoverage hence the implementation of microcells entirely depends

on the traffic demand, capacity limitations by existing macrocellsand customers approval.

(2.4) Spectrum Availability:

The customer needs to provide information related to spectrum(number of ARFCNs) that has been allocated to him in each bandin case of dual band operations and whether he expects more

spectrum allocation in future. This is very essential from frequencyplanning point of view which, reflects on network quality goals.

(2.5) Area Definition:

A planner needs to know the area type he is expected to coverunder his plan. It starts with defining whether the area is Rural orUrban, because the approach of the plan varies in both the cases.If an area has been classified to fall under Urban then it needs tobe sub-classified as which part of the area falls under Low-Urban,



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Sub (Medium)-Urban and Dense-Urban. These details arenormally marked on the maps that are supplied by the customer.

(2.6) Mobile Types expected:

The customer has to define which all classes of mobile he expectsto be used in his network, this plays a crucial role in Link budgetingsince Up-link calculations are based on MS (Mobile station)maximum transmit power allowed. Typically the network is plannedassuming Class 4 MS in GSM900 network with maximum outputpower of 2 Watts and Class 1 MS in DCS1800 network withmaximum output power of 1 Watt.

(2.7) Specific Coverage requirement:

There are many cases wherein the customer wants to focus oncoverage and quality requirements for special areas, buildings,highways, etc. He lists out the special coverage requirements andthe benchmark to be met for these areas. Some special coverageand quality requirements in areas such as important commercialareas, airports, hotels, commercial establishments, etc. has been

covered in the Coverage Definition and Quality of Service inputsfrom the customer above.

(2.8) Other Relevant Inputs:

Besides the above mentioned inputs there are few other inputswhich could be of help are;

(2.8.1) Preferred Site Locations:

Many times customer has a list of candidates referred as FriendlyCandidates who are ready to lend their premises for installation ofBase station. These could be of importance during the time oflocation of sites for coverage prediction or during candidate survey.

(2.8.2) Specific restrictions:

In certain cases there are few restrictions posed by thegovernment authorities on the usage of a spectrum band in aparticular area. Further there could also be list of structures on



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which a site cannot be planned like, heritage buildings, hospitals,schools and colleges, etc. A list and address of the same isessential to ensure that a site is not located on a restrictedstructure. In many case antennas needs to be camouflaged withthe surrounding such that coverage requirements are met withoutvisibility of antenna such as from the entrance or they are to beplaced in such a way that it adds to the beauty of surrounding.Plans in such cases are special and do not follow the normalprocedure, hence play a vital role in the network plan sincefrequency assignment and site parameters needs to be wellplanned.Having gathered the relevant information the planner incorporatesthese data into the Planning Tool and starts his work on generating

coverage predictions. The process of planning the network isdiscussed below,

(3.0) Phased Planning:

Radio Network Design report provides with the coverage areas withnumber of macrocellular sites planned with their respectiveconfiguration. Using this report a coverage plan is made with

respect to final phase (final roll out plan) of the project. This allowsthe planner to have a good idea of the total number of sitesexpected in different areas in different phases of implementation.He goes about by locating dummy sites in the areas of interest asper the radio network design report and later migrates down toearlier phases by grouping the sites in phases in coordination withthe customer. This makes the link budget calculation, frequencyplanning and coverage planning to change with phases of thenetwork.

Consider a case where the customer plans to have 100 sites in itsfinal phase and wants to implement them across 3 phases. Herecommends that in the first phase he want to implement 50 sites,in second phase 30 sites and in final or third phase 20 sites. Herethe planner makes a plan as per 100 sites and does all thenecessary calculations to achieve the desired objective in terms ofcoverage and quality of service. Having done this he goes aboutplanning for second phase where he plans for 80 sites. In this casehe does re-calculation of the site parameters, re-defines the linkbudget, frequency plan, etc. He does similar calculation for phase



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one with 50 sites and re-predicts the results. It is to be noted at thispoint that the customer sets his bench marks for individual phasesand the planner needs to plan the network to meet this benchmark.

(4.0) Data Gathering:

Planning tool plays an important role in all the task of the networkplanning activities. It is a centre point where all the relevantinformation of the network in terms of site location, frequencyassignment, traffic data, field measured drive data, etc. are storedin phased manner. For using the tool one requires to gather inputs

that need to be fed in to calculate and give results. For furtherdetails on Planning tools and its features, use and involvement atvarious stages of network planning refer to report on Planning Toolfor Radio Network Design. The inputs required for planning tool islisted below,

(4.1) Digital Terrain Elevation Data:

The grid files on which the sites are located and coverage results

are predicted.

(4.2) Digital Clutter Data:

Also referred to as land usage data, plays a major role in sitelocation, model selection, clutter editing, etc. hence in absence ofaccurate clutter data prediction results will not be accurate. Clutterdata could be 2D or 3D format where 2D formats could be madeeasily available and are economical, whereas 3D format which are

imported from satellite images are quite expensive. Using 3Dclutter data predictions can made with high degree of accuracy,however 2D data can be corrected on basis on clutter knowledgeand drive test results to produce reasonable level of accuracy.

(4.3) Vector Data:

These are data having details of main roads, streets, by-lanes,highways, rail-routes, landmarks, lakes, rivers, etc. There areseparate files for each of these above mentioned class that is mainroads, highways, etc., which can be imported in the planning tool



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and displayed as layers over the elevation grid data. This helps inlocating dummy sites accurately and with reliability such that theplanner does not end with locating dummy sites on road or lake.

(4.4) Antenna Data:

Since antenna selection play a major role in generating coverageresults, hence the desired antenna patterns from the specificmanufactures or the manufactures with whom the vendor has tiedup needs to imported in the tool.

(4.5) Site parameters:

For locating sites on basis of radio network design report oneneeds to know the site configuration in terms of number sectors,frequencies per sector, transmit power per sector, latitude andLongitude, antenna height, etc.

(4.6) Traffic data and site distribution:

As the site location and its parameters depends on the trafficdistribution hence a knowledge of traffic expectation area wise is

necessary, number of sites required in an particular area isessential for site distribution and tentative location of dummy sites.These informations are available from Network Design Report.

(5.0) Cell Planning:

Once the inputs for have been gathered followed by compilation ofdata for the planning tool, the planner divides further activities intwo stages Preliminary Cell Plan and Final Cell Plan. They are

discussed below,

(i) Preliminary Cell Plan:

The activities involved in this stage includes locating dummy sitesin the planning tool, defining their parameters to the bestknowledge of cell planner, choosing appropriate model andpredicting the coverage. The planner fine tunes his predictions andgenerates a preliminary prediction report as per the final roll outplan and results predicted for each phase of the network. This



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report is taken for internal review upon corrections of which ishanded over to the customer for his approval. The customerreviews the report and gives his feedbacks that are to be studiedand implemented. The changes that are suggested involvereviewing the site locations, re-predicting coverage results and re-defining site configuration. On final approval from the customer thedetails are handed over to field survey team who go aboutidentifying candidates, carrying out propagation test, the details ofwhich are discussed Final Cell Planning.

(ii) Final Cell Plan: This involves carrying out field survey ofcandidate for sites, propagation (CW) test for candidates as listedby the planner, model tunning, re-calculating link budget and re-

predicting coverage with actual coordinates, height, tunned modeland more realistic link calculations. A final report is prepared whichafter internal review is handed over to the customer with final sitelist. Customer arranges for site acquisition upon which is handedover to operation for base station implementation andcommissioning after which the initial network optimisation follows.

(5.1) Preliminary Cell Plan:

The activities involved in the Preliminary cell plan stage areexplained below. Flow chart (1.1) shows Preliminary Cell PlanningProcess.

(5.1.1) Site Location and Parameters Definition:

On basis of the inputs gathered the planner locates dummy siteson the digital terrain map ensuring proper site location anddistribution on the basis of clutter map and vector data

incorporated over the digital terrain map. After completion of sitelocation he defines the parameters for each site. The mostimportant parameters are listed below,

a. Number of sectorsb. Azimuth per sector.c. Antenna type per sector.d. Transmit power per sector.e. Antenna height per sector.f. Model selection.



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The number of sites and sectors per site depends on theinformation extracted from Radio Network Design Report. Antennaselection and its height definition depend on how the plannerwants the area to be covered and traffic to be distributed.Document on Antennas for Mobile Communications talks about theparameters to be understood before final antenna selection andwhat are the pros and cons of different antenna types. From theLink Budget Design document one calculates the transmit power interms of EIRP depending on the mobile class he is expecting. Thetype of propagation model to be selected is a task in itself which, isdiscussed as below,

(5.1.2) Model Selection:

The selection of appropriate propagation model entirely dependson which clutter class the sites are located. RF environment differsfor different clutters hence proper model selection is a must forgetting accurate and reliable results. Documentation on RadiowavePropagation and Models discusses on the radio environment,standard


Initial Radio NetworkDesign

Initial Radio Network Planning Procedure

Flow Chart (1.1) Preliminary Cell Planning Process

Data Required

Digital Terrain MapsClutter dataVector data

Available Spectrum

Restrictions in using thespectrum

Coverage PredictionSearch Areas for SiteLocation


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propagation models for different clutter types and model selection.This document gives planner a fair idea on the model he should



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select which, could be same for sectors in the site or may differ foreach sector as it depends on the clutter area covered by eachsector.

As an illustration following clutter types are considered which talksabout site objective, their parameters and models in these areatypes as discussed below,(i) Large cell in Quasi Open or Low -Urban:

Under this environment the slope of received signal is low typicallybetween 25 to 30 dB/decade, visibility of surrounding area is highand hence RF signals can propagate to long distances hence,

large cells can be planned in this area. The general site objectiveis to cover wider areas where capacity is not a constraint and thesites are located at far away distances. Antennas are plannedabove the maximum height of the surrounding clutter and the cellradius normally exceeds 3 Kms. Wide beamwidth antennas are

chosen for coverage in this area typically 90 to 120. Orientationsof the sectors are generally kept as standard to 0/120/240 or30/150/270 or 60/180/300 degrees. Hata model with extension upto 2 GHz (COST 231 Hata Model) can be used to calculate path

loss in such cells.

(ii) Small cell in Sub -Urban or Urban:

Under this environment the slope of received signal is high ascompared to open area typically between 30 to 35 dB/decade.Expected area to be covered is limited to couple of kilometressince in these areas capacity requirements are high besidesallowing wider coverage area. Small cell can be planned in this

area, where the antenna is sited above the median but below themaximum height of the surrounding clutter and path loss can bedetermined as for large cells. When the size of the cell is less than1 Km the Hata model cannot be used whereas since the cell is inurban area and with cell size less than 5 Kms COST 231 Walfisch- Ikegami model is used. Link budget calculations restraints fromusing high power (typically allowed is 8 Watts) and using antennas

with beamwidth typically between 60 to 65. Again here standardorientation is preferred since the antennas are above the average

clutter hence interference could pose a problem, standardorientation allows easy re-use of frequencies.



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(iii) Micro cell in Dense -Urban:

Under this environment the slope of received signal is substantiallyhigh typically between 35 to 40 dB/decade and expected area tobe covered is small. As high traffic density is required along withlow level of interference, antennas are located below the averageterrain height, ensuring target areas are visible from the lowerheights. Here the focus is more on in building coverage plus fewroads and by-lanes. Normally areas of these types include smallMacrocellular and Microcellular sites, where Microcells sites targetspecific pockets and potential buildings and Macrocells besidesproviding umbrella coverage over the Microcells it targets traffic on

road and in buildings. Narrow beam antennas are selected toreduce interference and compensate for penetration loss of 15 to20 dB. Here interference plays a crucial role since a compromise isrequired between high traffic demand per square kilometre andinterference due to extensive frequency re-use. Normally wallmount antennas with non-standard orientations are planned insuch area since the clutter does not follow a defined pattern thatwill allow standard orientation. Microcell model can be used forcalculating path loss but for the cells other than microcells Walfisch

Ikegami model can be used for radius less than 5 Kms.(5.1.3) Special Coverage:

Customer many times has special coverage requirements andwants to focus on them individually. These special coveragerequirement includes important roads, highways, buildings,underground roadway tunnels, etc. The solutions could be eitherusing repeater or

using an independent base station. In these cases the coveragearea is very confined hence their coverage prediction can differ. Asan instance let us consider the following special cases,

(i) Highways:

A highway could be located within a dense vegetation area or in anopen area. The subscriber could be either using car kit mobile withhigh power transmission antenna mounted on the vehicle ornormal handheld unit. The objective of these sites is to provide



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coverage to wider length of the highway but confined width wise.Normally two sectored sites

with narrow beamwidth antenna typically 36 placed above all theobstructions (around 60 mts plus) are planned. This allowscoverage with high gain antennas along the highway stretch, withless room for horizontal spreading. It is to be noted that in suchcases capacity is not the criteria for site location but coverage andconnectivity is the issue, in the sense that it should have sufficientoverlapping with neighbouring cells so that proper hand-over is

justified. The highways can be in open areas or in densevegetation, in former case antenna height limited to the visibility ofthe section of the road where hand-over is to be initiated. Whereas

in the latter case antenna height needs clear the vegetation andalso ensure visibility to the section of the road where hand-over isto be initiated.

(ii) Roadway Tunnel Areas:

Coverage planning for tunnel roadways depends on the trafficdensity and length of the tunnel. We have various ways to coverthe section of the tunnel such as using independent base station or

repeaters. Using a independent base station is applicable in thecase where both coverage and capacity needs to be providedwhereas in case of repeaters which, is extension of coverage of anexisting site caters to coverage requirements. Coverage can beprovided in one of the following ways,

a. Using Leaky cable or radiating cable.b. Coaxial cable with distributed antennas.c. Using narrow beamwidth antennas.

The use of above options entirely depends on the tunnel structure.For instance leaky cable that are provide uniform coverage at allthe points are best for non-dividing tunnels. However if the tunnelgets divided into two paths then coaxial cable with distributedantennas could be a better solution. In case the major part of thetunnel is straight then using a single narrow beamwidth antennacould be effective.

Whatever coverage solution the planner chooses he has to ensureproper hand-over within the tunnel (in case it is planned to cover it



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with two cells) and with external base station at the exit ends of thetunnel.

(5.1.4) Indoor Coverage:

Providing indoor coverage to important commercial buildings is acommon requirement demanded by the customer. The solution insuch cases either lie in covering the building with high gaindirectional antennas externally or using indoor panel antennas.The penetration loss suffered by signals from external antennas isbetween 15 to 20 dB. Further as signal travels down to lower floorsit suffers an additional loss of 2 to 3 dB. That means at higher floorlevels the signal is strong compared to lower floors but at higher

floors signal from multiple servers can reach (better LOS condition)hence higher interference.

Due to such limitations the planner goes for better options whereinhe plans to cover the indoor of the building using speciallydesigned indoor antennas. These indoor antennas have wide Vbeamwidth and narrow H beamwidth and can be easily mountedon the ceiling. Typically indoor plans are made for buildings wherecoverage needs to be provided across 2

to 3 walls. Either repeater or Microcells can be used in such cases,wherein the choice between the two depends on whether therequirement is only coverage or capacity cum coverage.Appropriate antenna location is to be chosen such that thecoverage objective is met and hand-over between incoming andoutgoing traffic is well maintained.

The next task of the cell planner is to run prediction for each site

and analyse its results. This activity is described under PreliminaryCoverage Analysis below,

(5.1.5) Preliminary Coverage Analysis:

Here the planner runs the prediction and analyses the coverageresults. Analysis of the results is to ensure that all the sites arecontributing to cover their respective objective areas therebyensuring proper capacity distribution between sites. He measureshis result on basis of best server display and overlapping coveragedisplay. In case he finds the coverage objective of the site not



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accomplished or that the site is overlapping with its neighbour cellmore than planned for then he re-tunes the site parameters interms of location, height, antenna changes, etc. With this re-tuningand running coverage

predictions in parallel he approaches to best coverage results.Being satisfied with the result he carries out similar prediction forall individual phases and comes out with Preliminary Cell PlanReport which is taken for an internal review.

Based on the suggestions made by the internal review he makesthe necessary changes and hands over the report to customer forhis approval. If the customer wants some modifications or changes

in the report he reverts back to the planner, who then make thechanges to satisfy customers demand.

(5.2) Final Cell Plan:

Having finally accepted the report the planner goes about makingFinal Cell Plan Report which includes task that are described indetail as below. Flow Chart- (1.4) shows Final Cell PlanningProcess.

(5.2.1) Candidate Survey and CW Measurements:

The planner hands over the list of site locations with coordinates tothe field survey team responsible for site surveys. He clearlydefines the search area with maximum 100 mts spatial deviationfrom the reference location. He prepares report for each siteindicating their location over the GUI map like Mapinfo, itscoordinates and the objective of the site. Site Selection document

talks in detail about points to be considered while doing site surveysuch that it meets the RF objective without much of spatialdiversion from the given coordinates. The survey team comes upwith at least 3 best candidates for each site and hands over thedetails such as coordinates, height, visibility and obstruction detailsto the planner. From this site survey report the planner choose tocarry out CW measurement for few sites most probably the bestcandidates located in different clutter types. This is the mosteffective way of getting accurate results from field and tunning thepredictions so as to get more realistic coverage.



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The final outcome is that the planner has a list of actualcoordinates for the sites, their physical parameters and CW resultsfor few candidates. He uses this data to tune his prediction model,re-calculate the link budget and re-predict the results so as tomake field results near to predicted results. Model tunning and finalanalysis is discussed as below.

(5.2.2) Model Tunning:

The CW measurement data is imported in the planning tool andthe propagation model of the site for which the measurement wasmade is tuned to get the least standard deviation



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Initial Radio NetworkDesign

Final Radio Network Planning Procedure

Antenna Selection

Neighbour list Definition

Outage ProbabilityComputation

Interference ProbabilityComputationFinal Site Locations

Coverage Prediction

Frequency PlanInitial System ParametersDefinition

Flow Chart (1.2) Final Cell Planning Process

Data Required

Digital Terrain MapsClutter dataVector Data

Available ARFCHs

Specific instructions inusing the spectrum.

RF Data

CW FieldMeasurementsRF SurveyLink Budget CalculationModel Tuning


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typically between 6 to 9 dB and the mean error of zero dB. Detailson tunning the model is described in Model Tunningdocumentation, from which the planner arrives at optimum values

of K constants. These K constant values for the sites that fallunder different clutter types are used for tunning the models of thesite falling in similar clutter areas.

Having completed the process of tunning the model the plannermakes a final analysis of the coverage results, prepares afrequency plan, analysis the C/I results thereby arrives to optimumfrequency plan. The details are discussed below,

(5.2.3) Final Analysis and Frequency Plan:

Having tuned the model the planner analyses his new coverageresults by comparing it with initial preliminary coverage results. Heprepares a frequency plan for the network and tests his plan bycarrying out C/I analysis for Co and Adjacent channel interference.The methodology for planning frequency is discussed in FrequencyPlanning document which, also describes in brief on the AutomaticFrequency Planning module in the planing tool. This is an iterativeprocess wherein he has to set a balance between desiredcoverage, allowed interference, capacity requirements and



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spectrum limitations thus arriving to the most optimum coverageresult and the frequency plan.

Having completed the task of assigning the frequencies theplanner next needs to define the database parameters forappropriate functioning of the network in terms of hand-over, cellselection and re-selection, traffic and control channel configuration,etc. Parameter planning document describes in detail all therelevant radio parameters of importance to the planner. It includesthe GSM standard parameters with allowed range of values. Forproper mobility and radio management definition of theseparameters are most important.

Finally on reaching to the best optimum coverage plan anddefining the site database parameters, the planner prepares aFinal Cell Plan Report to the effect for internal review. On basis ofthe feedback he makes the required changes and the report ishanded over to the customer for his approval. The report includes,

a. Best server coverage plot for the network.b. Cell boundaries coverage plot.c. Worst C/I (for co-channel and adjacent channel)

analysis result.d. Frequency plan and assignment details.

e. Site configuration (site ID, coordinates, number ofsectors, height, antenna types, azimuth, etc.)

f. BCCH, BSIC and LAC plan details.g. CW measurement data.h. Candidate survey report.i. Site database settings.

j. Neighbour cell definition.

k. Special features to be enabled.

On acceptance of this report the planner prepares individual sitereport for implementation team defining the physical parameters ofthe site that includes,

a. Number of sectors: Final Cell Plan report includesdetails on it.

b.Antenna location, on the roof top or wall mount,candidate survey report has details on it.



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c. Antenna structure, whether split or delta structurecandidate survey report includes the details on thesame.

d. Antenna height and Azimuth of each sector, candidatesurvey report includes the same.

e. Antenna diversity, whether space or polarisationdiversity to be used, Final Cell Plan report includesdetails on it.

f. Antenna type, Final Cell Plan report has details on it.g. Base Station Power ERP (W), Final Cell Plan report

has the same.

h. Number of Carriers per sector, Final Cell Plan reporthas the same.

In parallel to this he hands over the database parameters definedper site to the operations team to configure the site in the BSSsystem through the OMC-R. The includes,

a. Cell Ids (Cell Identification code)b. Frequency Plan.

c. Neighbour List.d. BSIC Plan.e. LAC Plan.f. Channel configuration (SDCCH requirements).g. Handover settings (Handover margin, handover

thresholds, etc.).h. Power settings (at radio transmitter level).i. Features to be enabled (such as DTX, Power Control,

SFH.

With the implementation of base stations and making itoperational, a thorough drive test for the network is made to crossverify the field results and locate problems. This activity falls underinitial optimisation procedure which, is discussed in length below,

(6.0) Drive Testing and Initial Optimisation:

This test helps for cross-verification of the planned data v/s actualdata implemented, in terms of frequencies assigned, traffic andcontrol channel configuration, coverage area, neighbour list, hand-



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over points, etc. Network Optimisation document covers details onthe drive test measurement and its output data for evaluation andoptimisation of the BSS network across Um interface. In case it isreported that the planned settings and the one implemented aredifferent then the necessary changes are made. If the drive datareflects certain problems such as improper hand-over or poorquality in some areas then in such cases re-tuning parameters ofthe site can help to improve the performance.

In the initial phase of the network where number of sites are lesscoverage, quality and hand-over could be major problem.Sometimes the solution to such problems lies in theimplementation of next phase sites. Hence the planner has to

distinguish between the problem he needs to solve now by re-tunning the network or wait until site of next phase areimplemented. Drive testing is very important for validation of thefrequency plan, physical site parameters and database settings.Network Optimisation is an iterative process which, is an on goingactivity at all the stages of the network.

(6.1) Initial Drive Test Report:

Having convinced with performance of the network in terms ofdrive test results, an initial drive test report with suggestions onimproving the performance is prepared and handed over to thecustomer for approval.

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