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Coverage Planning

Coverage Planning

Abstract

This is a technical document detailing a typical approach to Coverage Planning Process .

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



Coverage Planning

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




Coverage Planning

Coverage Planning

(1.0) Introduction:

Radio coverage is frequently perceived to be the most important measurement for networkquality. Radio coverage planning plays a major role in GSM network planning, because itdecides extent of coverage area, speech quality, mobility and customer satisfaction. Variousforms of inputs and limitations from the customer in terms of spectrum availability, networkdimensions, frequency planning, network growth, local wireless regulations and finally the RFenvironment itself plays an important role in coverage planning. The approach for thecoverage plan needs to be well defined since, it requires to accommodate various phases of network growth across time without any compromise on service quality goal.

(2.0) Inputs for Cell Planning:

The inputs required for coverage planning are summarised as below,

(2.1) Coverage Definition:

It plays an important role in coverage planning since these are used for link budgetcalculations whose output defines the coverage and site parameters. Coverage parameter involves defining RF thresholds in terms of received levels at MS end and coverageprobabilities for various strategic locations of the coverage areas that are supplied bycustomer. These are listed below;

RF Threshold (dBm) Locality Coverage Probability≥ - 62 High priority business and commercial areas,

VIP residential areas, Prestigious hotels/Touristplaces and some Prestigious residential areas.

Indoor high probability(> 50 %)

≥ - 72 Other commercial areas, Prestigious residentialareas, High priority industrial areas, ShoppingMalls, Airport, Railway stations, Sportsstadium, Exhibition centres, Special Tunnelareas for Railway and Roads.

Indoor mediumprobability (= 50 %)

≥ - 82 All remaining suburban residential area,Pedestrian area, Parks, etc.

Indoor low probability (<50 %)

≥ - 92 Town/Village areas within the city limits, Rural

areas within city limits and Highways outsidecity limits.

Indoor low probability (<

50 %)

≥ -102 Outdoor with vehicle mount antennas. Highways outside citylimits (Car kit assembly)

The design criteria used for radio coverage of a cell is to meet coverage probability of > 90%.The signal level received at both the mobile station and the base station has to meet thethreshold specified in GSM technical specification 05.05. These thresholds referred asreference sensitivity for base station is -104 dBm while for the MS it is -102 dBm. In order toensure reliable communication the planning figures used for radio planning has to include anextra margin to account for the shadow fading. The margin is dependent on the standarddeviation of the received signal level and path loss characteristic. Details for calculating fademargin is discussed in document on Link Budget Design.




Coverage Planning

(2.2) Quality of Service:

As for coverage requirement the customer needs to define his benchmark for quality

requirements across the different clutter types. Typically he defines for 95% of time, 95% of area should have RxQual better than 4. The division of these bench marks for different area isas below,

RxQual Threshold (0 to 7) Locality Quality Probability≥ 4 (BER > 3.2%) Outdoor (Streets, roads, etc.) 95% of the area.≥ 4 Indoor priority buildings 95% of the area.≥ 4 Indoor other buildings 90% of the area.

Quality of service is an important benchmark for assuring optimum network performancesince the subscriber opinion on the network is based on speech quality he perceives. Hence

the quality requirements specified by the customer plays a key role in planning specially infrequency planning as interference is the major threat to speech quality, RxLevel, the radioenvironment follows next.

(2.3) Subscriber, Traffic and Sites Distribution:

From the Radio Network Design document information related to subscriber distributionacross the different areas, their traffic anticipation in phases and finally the number of siteswith their individual configuration are gathered. The process is discussed in the RadioNetwork Design document. It is to be noted that in the first phase of the network microcellsare not planned. Once the sites in first phase are set up then from the traffic reports one getsdetail on traffic demand in various areas. This rise in traffic will be catered either bymacrocells of later phases or a plan for microcells is to be made. As microcells are plannedfor capacity than for coverage hence the implementation of microcells entirely depends on thetraffic demand, capacity limitations by existing macrocells and customers approval.

(2.4) Spectrum Availability:

The customer needs to provide information related to spectrum (number of ARFCNs) that hasbeen allocated to him in each band in case of dual band operations and whether he expectsmore spectrum allocation in future. This is very essential from frequency planning 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 cover under his plan. It starts withdefining whether the area is Rural or Urban, because the approach of the plan varies in boththe cases. If an area has been classified to fall under Urban then it needs to be sub-classifiedas which part of the area falls under Low-Urban, Sub (Medium)-Urban and Dense-Urban.These details are normally 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 expects to be used in his network,this plays a crucial role in Link budgeting since Up-link calculations are based on MS (Mobilestation) maximum transmit power allowed. Typically the network is planned assuming Class 4

MS in GSM900 network with maximum output power of 2 Watts and Class 1 MS in DCS1800network with maximum output power of 1 Watt.




Coverage Planning

(2.7) Specific Coverage requirement:

There are many cases wherein the customer wants to focus on coverage and qualityrequirements for special areas, buildings, highways, etc. He lists out the special coverage

requirements and the benchmark to be met for these areas. Some special coverage andquality requirements in areas such as important commercial areas, airports, hotels,commercial establishments, etc. has been covered in the Coverage Definition and Quality of Service inputs from the customer above.

(2.8) Other Relevant Inputs:

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

(2.8.1) Preferred Site Locations:

Many times customer has a list of candidates referred as ‘ Friendly Candidates’ who areready to lend their premises for installation of Base station. These could be of importance

during the time of location of sites for coverage prediction or during candidate survey.

(2.8.2) Specific restrictions:

In certain cases there are few restrictions posed by the government authorities on the usageof a spectrum band in a particular area. Further there could also be list of structures on whicha site cannot be planned like, heritage buildings, hospitals, schools and colleges, etc. A listand address of the same is essential to ensure that a site is not located on a restrictedstructure. In many case antennas needs to be camouflaged with the surrounding such thatcoverage requirements are met without visibility of antenna such as from the entrance or theyare to be placed in such a way that it adds to the beauty of surrounding. Plans in such casesare special and do not follow the normal procedure, hence play a vital role in the network plansince frequency assignment and site parameters needs to be well planned.

Having gathered the relevant information the planner incorporates these data into thePlanning Tool and starts his work on generating coverage predictions. The process of planning the network is discussed below,

(3.0) Phased Planning:

Radio Network Design report provides with the coverage areas with number of macrocellular sites planned with their respective configuration. Using this report a coverage plan is madewith respect to final phase (final roll out plan) of the project. This allows the planner to have agood idea of the total number of sites expected in different areas in different phases of implementation. He goes about by locating dummy sites in the areas of interest as per theradio network design report and later migrates down to earlier phases by grouping the sites inphases in coordination with the customer. This makes the link budget calculation, frequencyplanning and coverage planning to change with phases of the network.

Consider a case where the customer plans to have 100 sites in its final phase and wants toimplement them across 3 phases. He recommends that in the first phase he want toimplement 50 sites, in second phase 30 sites and in final or third phase 20 sites. Here theplanner makes a plan as per 100 sites and does all the necessary calculations to achieve thedesired objective in terms of coverage and quality of service. Having done this he goes aboutplanning for second phase where he plans for 80 sites. In this case he does re-calculation of the site parameters, re-defines the link budget, frequency plan, etc. He does similar calculationfor phase one with 50 sites and re-predicts the results. It is to be noted at this point that thecustomer sets his bench marks for individual phases and the planner needs to plan thenetwork to meet this benchmark.




Coverage Planning

(4.0) Data Gathering:

Planning tool plays an important role in all the task of the network planning activities. It is acentre point where all the relevant information of the network in terms of site location,

frequency assignment, traffic data, field measured drive data, etc. are stored in phasedmanner. For using the tool one requires to gather inputs that need to be fed in to calculateand give results. For further details on Planning tools and its features, use and involvement atvarious stages of network planning refer to report on Planning Tool for Radio Network Design.The inputs required for planning tool is listed 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 site location, model selection, clutter

editing, etc. hence in absence of accurate clutter data prediction results will not be accurate.Clutter data could be 2D or 3D format where 2D formats could be made easily available andare economical, whereas 3D format which are imported from satellite images are quiteexpensive. Using 3D clutter data predictions can made with high degree of accuracy, however 2D data can be corrected on basis on clutter knowledge and drive test results to producereasonable 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 are separate files for each of these above mentionedclass that is main roads, highways, etc., which can be imported in the planning tool anddisplayed as layers over the elevation grid data. This helps in locating dummy sites accuratelyand with reliability such that the planner does not end with locating dummy sites on road or lake.

(4.4) Antenna Data:

Since antenna selection play a major role in generating coverage results, hence the desiredantenna patterns from the specific manufactures or the manufactures with whom the vendor has tied up needs to imported in the tool.

(4.5) Site parameters:

For locating sites on basis of radio network design report one needs to know the siteconfiguration in terms of number sectors, frequencies per sector, transmit power per sector,latitude and Longitude, antenna height, etc.

(4.6) Traffic data and site distribution:

As the site location and its parameters depends on the traffic distribution hence a knowledgeof 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 areavailable from Network Design Report.

(5.0) Cell Planning:

Once the inputs for have been gathered followed by compilation of data for the planning tool,

the planner divides further activities in two stages Preliminary Cell Plan and Final Cell Plan.They are discussed below,




Coverage Planning

(i) Preliminary Cell Plan:

The activities involved in this stage includes locating dummy sites in the planning tool,

defining their parameters to the best knowledge of cell planner, choosing appropriate modeland predicting the coverage. The planner fine tunes his predictions and generates apreliminary prediction report as per the final roll out plan and results predicted for each phaseof the network. This report is taken for internal review upon corrections of which is handedover to the customer for his approval. The customer reviews the report and gives hisfeedbacks that are to be studied and 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 the details are handed over to field survey team who goabout identifying candidates, carrying out propagation test, the details of which are discussedFinal Cell Planning.

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

and re-predicting coverage with actual coordinates, height, tunned model and more realisticlink calculations. A final report is prepared which after internal review is handed over to thecustomer with final site list. Customer arranges for site acquisition upon which is handed over to operation for base station implementation and commissioning after which the initial networkoptimisation follows.

(5.1) Preliminary Cell Plan:

The activities involved in the Preliminary cell plan stage are explained below. Flow chart (1.1)shows Preliminary Cell Planning Process.

(5.1.1) Site Location and Parameters Definition:

On basis of the inputs gathered the planner locates dummy sites on the digital terrain mapensuring proper site location and distribution on the basis of clutter map and vector dataincorporated over the digital terrain map. After completion of site location he defines theparameters for each site. The most important 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.

The number of sites and sectors per site depends on the information extracted from RadioNetwork Design Report. Antenna selection and its height definition depend on how theplanner wants the area to be covered and traffic to be distributed. Document on Antennas for Mobile Communications talks about the parameters to be understood before final antennaselection and what are the pros and cons of different antenna types. From the Link BudgetDesign document one calculates the transmit power in terms of EIRP depending on themobile class he is expecting. The type of propagation model to be selected is a task in itself which, is discussed as below,

(5.1.2) Model Selection:

The selection of appropriate propagation model entirely depends on which clutter class thesites are located. RF environment differs for different clutters hence proper model selection isa must for getting accurate and reliable results. Documentation on Radiowave Propagationand Models discusses on the radio environment, standard




Coverage Planning


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



Coverage Planning

propagation models for different clutter types and model selection. This document givesplanner a fair idea on the model he should select which, could be same for sectors in the siteor may differ for each sector as it depends on the clutter area covered by each sector.

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

Under this environment the slope of received signal is low typically between 25 to 30dB/decade, visibility of surrounding area is high and hence RF signals can propagate to longdistances hence, large cells can be planned in this area. The general site objective is to cover wider areas where capacity is not a constraint and the sites are located at far away distances.Antennas are planned above the maximum height of the surrounding clutter and the cellradius normally exceeds 3 Kms. Wide beamwidth antennas are chosen for coverage in thisarea typically 90 ° to 120 °. Orientations of the sectors are generally kept as standard to

0/120/240 or 30/150/270 or 60/180/300 degrees. Hata model with extension up to 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 as compared to open areatypically between 30 to 35 dB/decade. Expected area to be covered is limited to couple of kilometres since in these areas capacity requirements are high besides allowing wider coverage area. Small cell can be planned in this area, where the antenna is sited above themedian but below the maximum height of the surrounding clutter and path loss can bedetermined as for large cells. When the size of the cell is less than 1 Km the Hata modelcannot be used whereas since the cell is in urban area and with cell size less than 5 KmsCOST 231 Walfisch - Ikegami model is used. Link budget calculations restraints from using

high power (typically allowed is 8 Watts) and using antennas with beamwidth typicallybetween 60 ° to 65 °. Again here standard orientation is preferred since the antennas are abovethe average clutter hence interference could pose a problem, standard orientation allows easyre-use of frequencies.

(iii) Micro cell in Dense -Urban:

Under this environment the slope of received signal is substantially high typically between 35to 40 dB/decade and expected area to be covered is small. As high traffic density is requiredalong with low level of interference, antennas are located below the average terrain height,ensuring target areas are visible from the lower heights. Here the focus is more on in buildingcoverage plus few roads and by-lanes. Normally areas of these types include smallMacrocellular and Microcellular sites, where Microcells sites target specific pockets andpotential buildings and Macrocells besides providing umbrella coverage over the Microcells ittargets traffic on road and in buildings. Narrow beam antennas are selected to reduceinterference and compensate for penetration loss of 15 to 20 dB. Here interference plays acrucial role since a compromise is required between high traffic demand per square kilometreand interference due to extensive frequency re-use. Normally wall mount antennas with non-standard orientations are planned in such area since the clutter does not follow a definedpattern that will allow standard orientation. Microcell model can be used for calculating pathloss but for the cells other than microcells Walfisch – Ikegami model can be used for radiusless than 5 Kms. (5.1.3) Special Coverage:

Customer many times has special coverage requirements and wants to focus on themindividually. These special coverage requirement includes important roads, highways,buildings, underground roadway tunnels, etc. The solutions could be either using repeater or




Coverage Planning

using an independent base station. In these cases the coverage area is very confined hencetheir coverage prediction can differ. As an instance let us consider the following specialcases,

(i) Highways:

A highway could be located within a dense vegetation area or in an open area. Thesubscriber could be either using car kit mobile with high power transmission antenna mountedon the vehicle or normal handheld unit. The objective of these sites is to provide coverage towider length of the highway but confined width wise. Normally two sectored sites

with narrow beamwidth antenna typically 36 ° placed above all the obstructions (around 60 mtsplus) are planned. This allows coverage with high gain antennas along the highway stretch,with less room for horizontal spreading. It is to be noted that in such cases capacity is not thecriteria for site location but coverage and connectivity is the issue, in the sense that it shouldhave sufficient overlapping with neighbouring cells so that proper hand-over is justified. Thehighways can be in open areas or in dense vegetation, in former case antenna height limited

to the visibility of the section of the road where hand-over is to be initiated. Whereas in thelatter case antenna height needs clear the vegetation and also ensure visibility to the sectionof the road where hand-over is to be initiated.

(ii) Roadway Tunnel Areas:

Coverage planning for tunnel roadways depends on the traffic density and length of thetunnel. We have various ways to cover the section of the tunnel such as using independentbase station or repeaters. Using a independent base station is applicable in the case whereboth coverage and capacity needs to be provided whereas in case of repeaters which, isextension of coverage of an existing 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 cablethat are provide uniform coverage at all the points are best for non-dividing tunnels. However if the tunnel gets divided into two paths then coaxial cable with distributed antennas could bea better solution. In case the major part of the tunnel is straight then using a single narrowbeamwidth antenna could be effective.

Whatever coverage solution the planner chooses he has to ensure proper hand-over withinthe tunnel (in case it is planned to cover it with two cells) and with external base station at theexit ends of the tunnel.

(5.1.4) Indoor Coverage:

Providing indoor coverage to important commercial buildings is a common requirementdemanded by the customer. The solution in such cases either lie in covering the building withhigh gain directional antennas externally or using indoor panel antennas. The penetration losssuffered by signals from external antennas is between 15 to 20 dB. Further as signal travelsdown to lower floors it suffers an additional loss of 2 to 3 dB. That means at higher floor levelsthe signal is strong compared to lower floors but at higher floors signal from multiple serverscan reach (better LOS condition) hence higher interference.

Due to such limitations the planner goes for better options wherein he plans to cover theindoor of the building using specially designed indoor antennas. These indoor antennas havewide V beamwidth and narrow H beamwidth and can be easily mounted on the ceiling.Typically indoor plans are made for buildings where coverage needs to be provided across 2




Coverage Planning

to 3 walls. Either repeater or Microcells can be used in such cases, wherein the choicebetween the two depends on whether the requirement is only coverage or capacity cumcoverage. Appropriate antenna location is to be chosen such that the coverage objective ismet and hand-over between incoming and outgoing traffic is well maintained.

The next task of the cell planner is to run prediction for each site and analyse its results. Thisactivity is described under Preliminary Coverage Analysis below,

(5.1.5) Preliminary Coverage Analysis:

Here the planner runs the prediction and analyses the coverage results. Analysis of theresults is to ensure that all the sites are contributing to cover their respective objective areasthereby ensuring proper capacity distribution between sites. He measures his result on basisof best server display and overlapping coverage display. In case he finds the coverageobjective of the site not accomplished or that the site is overlapping with its neighbour cellmore than planned for then he re-tunes the site parameters in terms of location, height,antenna changes, etc. With this re-tuning and running coverage

predictions in parallel he approaches to best coverage results. Being satisfied with the resulthe carries out similar prediction for all individual phases and comes out with Preliminary CellPlan Report which is taken for an internal review.

Based on the suggestions made by the internal review he makes the necessary changes andhands over the report to customer for his approval. If the customer wants some modificationsor changes in the report he reverts back to the planner, who then make the changes to satisfycustomers demand.

(5.2) Final Cell Plan:

Having finally accepted the report the planner goes about making Final Cell Plan Reportwhich includes task that are described in detail as below. Flow Chart- (1.4) shows Final CellPlanning Process.

(5.2.1) Candidate Survey and CW Measurements:

The planner hands over the list of site locations with coordinates to the field survey teamresponsible for site surveys. He clearly defines the search area with maximum 100 mts spatialdeviation from the reference location. He prepares report for each site indicating their locationover the GUI map like Mapinfo, it’s coordinates and the objective of the site. Site Selectiondocument talks in detail about points to be considered while doing site survey such that itmeets the RF objective without much of spatial diversion from the given coordinates. Thesurvey team comes up with at least 3 best candidates for each site and hands over the detailssuch as coordinates, height, visibility and obstruction details to the planner. From this sitesurvey report the planner choose to carry out CW measurement for few sites most probablythe best candidates located in different clutter types. This is the most effective way of gettingaccurate results from field and tunning the predictions so as to get more realistic coverage.

The final outcome is that the planner has a list of actual coordinates for the sites, their physical parameters and CW results for few candidates. He uses this data to tune hisprediction model, re-calculate the link budget and re-predict the results so as to make fieldresults near to predicted results. Model tunning and final analysis is discussed as below.

(5.2.2) Model Tunning:

The CW measurement data is imported in the planning tool and the propagation model of thesite for which the measurement was made is tuned to get the least standard deviation




Coverage Planning


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



Coverage Planning

typically between 6 to 9 dB and the mean error of zero dB. Details on tunning the model isdescribed in Model Tunning documentation, from which the planner arrives at optimum valuesof ‘K’ constants. These ‘K’ constant values for the sites that fall under different clutter types

are used for tunning the models of the site falling in similar clutter areas.

Having completed the process of tunning the model the planner makes a final analysis of thecoverage results, prepares a frequency plan, analysis the C/I results thereby arrives tooptimum frequency plan. The details are discussed below,

(5.2.3) Final Analysis and Frequency Plan:

Having tuned the model the planner analyses his new coverage results by comparing it withinitial preliminary coverage results. He prepares a frequency plan for the network and test’shis plan by carrying out C/I analysis for Co and Adjacent channel interference. Themethodology for planning frequency is discussed in Frequency Planning document which,also describes in brief on the Automatic Frequency Planning module in the planing tool. This

is an iterative process wherein he has to set a balance between desired coverage, allowedinterference, capacity requirements and spectrum limitations thus arriving to the mostoptimum coverage result and the frequency plan.

Having completed the task of assigning the frequencies the planner next needs to define thedatabase parameters for appropriate functioning of the network in terms of hand-over, cellselection and re-selection, traffic and control channel configuration, etc. Parameter planningdocument describes in detail all the relevant radio parameters of importance to the planner. Itincludes the GSM standard parameters with allowed range of values. For proper mobility andradio management definition of these parameters are most important.

Finally on reaching to the best optimum coverage plan and defining the site databaseparameters, the planner prepares a Final Cell Plan Report to the effect for internal review. On

basis of the feedback he makes the required changes and the report is handed over to thecustomer 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 of sectors, height, antennatypes, 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 site report for implementationteam defining the physical parameters of the site that includes,

a. Number of sectors: Final Cell Plan report includes details on it.b. Antenna location, on the roof top or wall mount, candidate survey report has

details on it.c. Antenna structure, whether split or delta structure candidate survey report

includes the details on the same.d. Antenna height and Azimuth of each sector, candidate survey report includes

the same.e. Antenna diversity, whether space or polarisation diversity to be used, Final

Cell Plan report includes details on it.




Coverage Planning

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 report has the same.

In parallel to this he hands over the database parameters defined per site to the operationsteam to configure the site in the BSS system 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 it operational, a thorough drive test for the network is made to cross verify the field results and locate problems. This activity fallsunder initial 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 actual data implemented, in termsof frequencies assigned, traffic and control channel configuration, coverage area, neighbour list, hand-over points, etc. Network Optimisation document covers details on the drive testmeasurement and its output data for evaluation and optimisation of the BSS network acrossUm interface. In case it is reported that the planned settings and the one implemented aredifferent then the necessary changes are made. If the drive data reflects certain problemssuch as improper hand-over or poor quality in some areas then in such cases re-tuningparameters of the site can help to improve the performance.

In the initial phase of the network where number of sites are less coverage, 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 theproblem 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 the frequency plan, physical siteparameters and database settings. Network Optimisation is an iterative process which, is anon going activity at all the stages of the network.

(6.1) Initial Drive Test Report:

Having convinced with performance of the network in terms of drive test results, an initialdrive test report with suggestions on improving the performance is prepared and handed over to the customer for approval.


coverage planning 0.1

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