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Atoll 2.8.2 Measurements and Model Calibration Guide Release AT282_MCG_E0
Copyright 1997 - 2010 by Forsk
The software described in this document is provided under a licence agreement. The software may only be used/copied
under the terms and conditions of the licence agreement. No part of this document may be copied, reproduced or
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The product or brand names mentioned in this document are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective
registering parties.
Introduction
To find an accurate propagation model for determining path losses is a leading issue when planning a mobile radio
network. Two strategies for predicting propagation losses are in use these days. One of these strategies is to derive an
empirical propagation model from measurement data, and the other is to use a deterministic propagation model. Atolls
Standard Propagation Model is a macrocell propagation model based on empirical formulas and a set of parameters.
When Atoll is installed, the SPM and Hata model parameters are set to their default values. However, they can be adjusted
to tune the propagation model according to actual propagation conditions. This calibration process of the Standard
Propagation and Hata Models facilitates improving the reliability of path loss and, hence, coverage predictions.
This guide describes the way to import and manage the necessary measurement data. It also indicates the calibration
method and the steps to calibrating the SPM and Hata models, from planning the CW measurement surveys to obtaining
the final propagation model. The resulting tuned propagation model is directly usable in Atoll as an additional model.
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
1 Introduction ..................................................................................... 11
2 Standard Propagation Model .......................................................... 15
2.1 SPM Formula.................................................................................................................................. 15
2.2 The Correspondence Between the SPM and Hata ..................................................... 15
2.2.1 Hata Formula.................................................................................................................................... 15
2.2.2 Correspondence Between Hata and SPM Parameters.................................................................... 16
2.2.2.1 Reducing the Hata and SPM Equations ..................................................................................... 16
2.2.2.2 Equating the Coefficients............................................................................................................ 16
2.2.3 Typical SPM Parameter Values ....................................................................................................... 16
2.3 Making Calculations in Atoll .................................................................................................... 17
2.3.1 Visibility and Distance Between Transmitter and Receiver .............................................................. 17
2.3.2 Effective Transmitter Antenna Height............................................................................................... 17
2.3.2.1 Height Above Ground ................................................................................................................. 17
2.3.2.2 Height Above Average Profile..................................................................................................... 17
2.3.2.3 Slope at Receiver Between 0 and Minimum Distance................................................................ 18
2.3.2.4 Spot Ht........................................................................................................................................ 18
2.3.2.5 Absolute Spot Ht......................................................................................................................... 18
2.3.2.6 Enhanced Slope at Receiver ...................................................................................................... 18
2.3.3 Effective Receiver Antenna Height................................................................................................... 20
2.3.4 Correction for Hilly Regions in Case of LOS .................................................................................... 21
2.3.5 Diffraction ......................................................................................................................................... 21
2.3.6 Losses Due to Clutter....................................................................................................................... 21
2.3.7 Recommendations for Using Clutter with the SPM.......................................................................... 22
3 Collecting CW Measurement Data.................................................. 29
3.1 Before You Start............................................................................................................................ 29
3.1.1 Geographic Data .............................................................................................................................. 29
3.1.2 Measurement Data........................................................................................................................... 29
3.2 Guidelines for CW Measurement Surveys....................................................................... 30
3.2.1 Selecting Base Stations ................................................................................................................... 30
3.2.2 Planning the Survey Routes............................................................................................................. 30
3.2.3 Radio Criteria ................................................................................................................................... 31
3.2.4 Additional Deliverable Data.............................................................................................................. 31
4 The Model Calibration Process....................................................... 35
4.1 Setting Up Your Calibration Project..................................................................................... 35
4.1.1 Creating an Atoll Calibration Document ........................................................................................... 35
4.1.1.1 Setting Coordinates .................................................................................................................... 36
4.1.1.2 Importing Geo Data .................................................................................................................... 36
4.1.2 Importing CW Measurements........................................................................................................... 36
4.1.2.1 Importing a CW Measurement Path ........................................................................................... 37
4.1.2.2 Importing Several CW Measurement Paths ............................................................................... 38
4.1.2.3 Creating a CW Measurement Import Configuration.................................................................... 40
4.1.2.4 Defining the Display of CW Measurements................................................................................ 41
4.1.3 Verifying the Correspondence Between Geo and Measurement Data ............................................ 43
4.1.4 Filtering Measurement Data............................................................................................................. 44
4.1.4.1 Filtering on Clutter Classes......................................................................................................... 45
4.1.4.2 Signal and Distance Filtering...................................................................................................... 46
4.1.4.2.1 TypicalValues....................................................................................................................... 46
4.1.4.2.2 UsingManualFilteringonCWPoints ................................................................................... 46
4.1.4.2.3 CreatinganAdvancedFilter.................................................................................................. 47
4.1.4.2.4 UsingtheFilteringAssistantonCWMeasurementPoints.................................................... 48
4.1.4.3 Filtering by Geo Data Conditions................................................................................................ 50
4.1.4.3.1 AboutDiffraction ................................................................................................................... 50
4.1.4.3.2 AboutSpecificSections ........................................................................................................ 50
4.1.4.3.3 AboutPotentiallyInvalidMeasurementLevels ..................................................................... 51
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Atoll User Manual
4.1.4.3.4 DeletingaSelectionofMeasurementPoints.........................................................................53
4.1.4.3.5 UsingFilteringZonesonCWMeasurementPoints...............................................................54
4.1.4.3.6 FilteringbyAngle...................................................................................................................54
4.1.5 Selecting Base Stations for Calibration and for Verification..............................................................55
4.2 Calibrating the SPM.....................................................................................................................55
4.2.1 Quality Targets..................................................................................................................................55
4.2.2 Setting Initial Parameters in the SPM ...............................................................................................56
4.2.2.1 Parameters Tab...........................................................................................................................56
4.2.2.2 Clutter Tab...................................................................................................................................57
4.2.3 Running the SPM Calibration Process..............................................................................................59
4.2.3.1 The Automatic Calibration Wizard...............................................................................................60
4.2.3.2 The Assisted Calibration Wizard .................................................................................................61
4.3 Calibrating Hata Models.............................................................................................................62
4.3.1 Quality Targets..................................................................................................................................62
4.3.2 Setting Initial Parameters in the Hata Models...................................................................................63
4.3.2.1 Defining General Settings ...........................................................................................................63
4.3.2.2 Selecting an Environment Formula .............................................................................................63
4.3.2.3 Creating or Modifying Environment Formulas .............................................................................64
4.3.3 Running the Hata Calibration Process..............................................................................................64
4.4 Analysing the Calibrated Model .............................................................................................66
4.5 Finalising the Settings of the Calibrated SPM.................................................................71
4.6 Deploying the Calibrated Model .............................................................................................73
4.6.1 Copying a Calibrated Model to Another Document...........................................................................73
4.6.2 Deploying a Calibrated Model to Transmitters..................................................................................74
5 Additional CW Measurement Functions ..........................................77
5.1 Creating a CW Measurement Path ......................................................................................77
5.2 Drawing a CW Measurement Path.......................................................................................78
5.3 Merging Measurement Paths for a Same Transmitter................................................78
5.4 Smoothing Measurements to Reduce the Fading Effect ...........................................78
5.5 Calculating Best Servers Along a CW Measurement Path ......................................79
5.5.1 Adding Transmitters to a CW Measurement Path.............................................................................79
5.5.2 Selecting the Propagation Model ......................................................................................................79
5.5.3 Setting the Display to Best Server ....................................................................................................80
5.5.4 Calculating Signal Levels..................................................................................................................80
5.5.5 Displaying Statistics Over a Measurement Path...............................................................................80
5.5.6 Displaying Statistics Over Several Measurement Paths...................................................................80
6 Survey Site Form.............................................................................85
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List of Figures
List of Figures
Figure 2.1 Enhanced Slope at Receiver ..................................................................................................................... 18
Figure 2.2 Losses due to Clutter................................................................................................................................. 22
Figure 2.3 Setting losses per clutter class .................................................................................................................. 23
Figure 2.4 Tx-Rx profile .............................................................................................................................................. 23
Figure 2.5 Settings when using clutter heights set per class...................................................................................... 24
Figure 2.6 Diffraction caused by surrounding buildings when the receiver is indoors ................................................ 24
Figure 2.7 Clutter class settings when using a clutter height file ................................................................................ 25
Figure 4.1 The Setup tab of the Import of Measurement Files dialogue..................................................................... 37
Figure 4.2 Defined thresholds as they will appear in the Legend ............................................................................... 43
Figure 4.3 Distribution of the Measured Signal Strength around a station ................................................................. 44
Figure 4.4 Point distribution in the different clutter classes......................................................................................... 45
Figure 4.5 Filtering Assistant Launching..................................................................................................................... 48
Figure 4.6 Point Selection Tool in the Filtering Assistant............................................................................................ 49
Figure 4.7 Point Exclusion Tool in the Filtering Assistant ........................................................................................... 49
Figure 4.8 Point Analysis Tool window showing diffraction peaks.............................................................................. 50
Figure 4.9 Distribution of the point positions around a station.................................................................................... 51
Figure 4.10 The CW Measurement Analysis Tool window........................................................................................... 52
Figure 4.11 Simultaneous display of measurement path and table.............................................................................. 53
Figure 4.12 Angular Filter around a station................................................................................................................... 55
Figure 4.13 SPM Transmitter effective height method selection .................................................................................. 56
Figure 4.14 Calculating the total clutter loss between the transmitter and the receiver................................................ 58
Figure 4.15 Comparative behaviour of the clutter weighting functions in the SPM....................................................... 58
Figure 4.16 Calibration launching on SPM model......................................................................................................... 59
Figure 4.17 Path and Calibration method selection for SPM Calibration...................................................................... 60
Figure 4.18 Range definition for SPM parameters during calibration ........................................................................... 60
Figure 4.19 SPM Comparative Calibration Results ...................................................................................................... 61
Figure 4.20 Table listing the correlation of the SPM variables to the global error ........................................................ 62
Figure 4.21 Calibration launching on Hata models....................................................................................................... 65
Figure 4.22 Path and Calibration method selection for SPM Calibration...................................................................... 65
Figure 4.23 Range definition for SPM parameters during calibration ........................................................................... 66
Figure 4.24 Hata Models Comparative Calibration Results.......................................................................................... 66
Figure 4.25 Selecting the calibrated model for all CW measurement paths................................................................. 67
Figure 4.26 Calculating the signal levels on all CW measurement paths..................................................................... 67
Figure 4.27 Selecting on of the verification stations for the statistics ........................................................................... 68
Figure 4.28 Comparative statistics of the verification stations...................................................................................... 68
Figure 4.29 Distribution of error around a verification station ....................................................................................... 69
Figure 4.30 Opening the CW Measurement Analysis tool ............................................................................................ 70
Figure 4.31 CW Measurement Analysis ....................................................................................................................... 71
Figure 4.32 Description of the available clutter classes................................................................................................ 73
Figure 5.1 The New CW Measurement Path dialogue ............................................................................................... 77
Figure 5.2 Sliding Window Property Dialogue ............................................................................................................ 79
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Atoll User Manual
Chapter 1
Atoll
RF Planning & Optimisation Software
Introduction
10 Unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this document is prohibited
Measurements and Model Calibration Guide
Unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this document is prohibited 11
Chapter 1: Introduction
1 Introduction
The Model Calibration Guide is intended for project managers or anyone else responsible for calibrating the Standard
Propagation Model (SPM) or Hata Models (Okumura-Hata and Cost-Hata) using continuous wave (CW) measurements.
To that end, the Model Calibration Guide presents you with detailed information on the SPM and guides you through the
calibration process of both types of models.
It is not the intention of this guide to explain in detail how to use Atoll, nor to provide detailed technical information about
Atoll projects. For information on using Atoll, see the User Manual and the Administrator Manual. For detailed technical
information about Atoll projects, see the Technical Reference Guide.
The Model Calibration Guide follows the calibration process from planning the CW survey, to incorporating the CW meas-
urements into Atoll, to using the CW measurements to calibrate the SPM.
If this is the first time you are calibrating Atolls SPM, you might want to read though the entire Model Calibration Guide.
Or, you can go directly to the chapter that interests you:
The Standard Propagation Model: This chapter describes the Atoll SPM, including the SPM formula and the
Hata formula on which the SPM is based. Other aspects described include, typical SPM parameter values, making
calculations using the SPM, and recommendations for using the SPM.
CW Measurements: This chapter explains the role of CW measurements in calibrating the SPM. It also gives you
information that will help you successfully plan and carry out a CW survey.
The Model Calibration Process: This chapter explains the entire calibration process for any model type:
- Creating an Atoll document that to use to calibrate a propagation model.
- Importing the measurements from the CW survey into the new Atoll document.
- Filtering the imported CW measurements to ensure that you are using only the most relevant data.
- Calibrating the SPM or Hata Models, using either the automatic or the assisted method (SPM only).
- Finalising and deploying the calibrated model.
This guide also contains an appendix with additional information on using CW measurements in Atoll.
12 Unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this document is prohibited
Measurements and Model Calibration Guide
Chapter 2
Atoll
RF Planning & Optimisation Software
Standard Propagation Model
14 Unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this document is prohibited
Technical Reference Guide
Unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this document is prohibited 15
Chapter 2: Standard Propagation Model
2 Standard Propagation Model
The Standard Propagation Model is a propagation model based on the Hata formulas and is suited for predictions in the
150 to 3500 MHz band over long distances (from one to 20 km). It is best suited to GSM 900/1800, UMTS, CDMA2000,
WiMAX, and LTE radio technologies.
2.1 SPM Formula
The Standard Propagation Model is based on the following formula:
where:
received power (dBm)
transmitted power (EIRP) (dBm)
constant offset (dB)
multiplying factor for
distance between the receiver and the transmitter (m)
multiplying factor for
effective height of the transmitter antenna (m)
multiplying factor for diffraction calculation. must be a positive number.
losses due to diffraction over an obstructed path (dB)
multiplying factor for
multiplying factor for
multiplying factor for
effective height of the receiver antenna (i.e., mobile antenna height) (m)
multiplying factor for
average of weighted losses due to clutter
corrective factor for hilly regions (=0 in case of NLOS)
2.2 The Correspondence Between the SPM and Hata
In this section, the Hata formula on which the SPM is based is described. The correspondence between the SPM and the
Hata formula is also described.
2.2.1 Hata Formula
The SPM formula is derived from the basic Hata formula, which is:
where,
, , , , , Hata parameters
Frequency in MHz
Effective BS antenna height in metres
Distance in kilometres
Mobile antenna height correction function
Clutter correction function
Typical values for Hata model parameters are:
A
1
= 69.55 for 900 MHz, A
1
= 46.30 for 1800 MHz
P
R
P
Tx
K
1
K
2
Log d ( ) K
3
Log H
Tx
eff
( ) K
4
Di ffracti onLoss K
5
Log d ( ) Log H
Tx
ef f
( ) + + + + +
K
6
H
Rx
ef f
K
7
Log H
Rx
eff
( ) K
cl utter
f cl utter ( ) K
hi l l LOS ,
+ + +
=
P
R
P
Tx
K
1
K
2
Log d ( )
d
K
3
Log H
Tx
eff
( )
H
Tx
eff
K
4
K
4
Di ffracti onLoss
K
5
Log d ( ) Log H
Tx
ef f
( )
K
6
H
Rx
eff
K
7
Log H
Rx
eff
( )
H
Rx
eff
K
cl utter
f cl utter ( )
f cl utter ( )
K
hi l l LOS ,
Note: The distance in this equation is given in kilometres as opposed to the SPM, where the
distance is given in metres.
L A
1
A
2
f log A
3
h
BS
log B
1
B
2
h
BS
log B
3
h
BS
+ + ( ) d log a h
m
( ) C
cl utter
+ + + =
A
1
A
2
A
3
B
1
B
2
B
3
f
h
BS
d
a h
m
( )
C
cl utter
16 Unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this document is prohibited
Technical Reference Guide
A
2
= 26.16 for 900 MHz, A
2
= 33.90 for 1800 MHz
A
3
= 13.82
B
1
= 44.90
B
2
= 6.55
B
3
= 0
2.2.2 Correspondence Between Hata and SPM Parameters
In this section, the Hata and SPM parameters are compared.
2.2.2.1 Reducing the Hata and SPM Equations
Because you are only dealing with standard formulas, you can ignore the influence of diffraction and clutter correction. It
is understood that, with appropriate settings of A
1
and K
1
, and taking only one clutter class into consideration, you can set
the clutter correction factor to zero without reducing the validity of the following equations.
The correction function for mobile antenna height can also be ignored. The mobile antenna height correction factor is zero
when h
m
=1.5 m, and has negligible values for realistic mobile antenna heights. The B
3
parameter is usually not used and
can be considered to be 0.
The Hata formula can now be simplified to:
where:
, , , , , Hata parameters
Frequency in MHz
Effective BS antenna height in metres
Distance in kilometres
The SPM formula can be simplified to:
If you rewrite the Hata equation using with the distance in metres as in the SPM formula, you get:
This leads to the following equation:
2.2.2.2 Equating the Coefficients
If you compare the simplified Hata and SPM equations, you see the following correspondence between the coefficients:
2.2.3 Typical SPM Parameter Values
By referring to typical Hata parameters, typical SPM parameters can be determined as the following:
K
1
depends on the frequency, some examples are:
L A
1
A
2
f log A
3
h
BS
log B
1
B
2
h
BS
log + ( ) d log + + + =
A
1
A
2
A
3
B
1
B
2
f
h
BS
d
L K
1
K
2
d log K
3
h
BS
log K
5
d log h
BS
log K
6
h
meff
K
7
Log h
meff
( ) + + + + + =
L A
1
A
2
f log A
3
h
BS
log B
1
B
2
h
BS
log + ( )
d
1000
------------- log + + + =
L A
1
A
2
f log 3 B
1
A
3
3 B
2
( ) h
BS
log B
1
d log B
2
h
BS
log d log + + + + =
K
1
A
1
A
2
f log 3 B
1
+ =
K
2
B
1
=
K
3
A
3
3 B
2
=
K
5
B
2
=
K
6
0 =
K
7
0 =
Project type Frequency (MHz) K
1
GSM 900 935 12.5
GSM 1800 1805 22
GSM 1900 1930 23
UMTS 2110 23.8
K
2
44.90 =
K
3
5.83 =
K
5
6.55 =
Unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this document is prohibited 17
Chapter 2: Standard Propagation Model
2.3 Making Calculations in Atoll
In this section, the different aspects of making calculations using the SPM are explained in detail:
"Visibility and Distance Between Transmitter and Receiver" on page 17
"Effective Transmitter Antenna Height" on page 17
"Effective Receiver Antenna Height" on page 20
"Correction for Hilly Regions in Case of LOS" on page 21
"Diffraction" on page 21
"Losses Due to Clutter" on page 21
"Recommendations for Using Clutter with the SPM" on page 22.
2.3.1 Visibility and Distance Between Transmitter and Receiver
For each calculation pixel, Atoll determines:
The distance between the transmitter and the receiver.
- If the transmitter-receiver distance is less than the maximum user-defined distance (the break distance), the
receiver is considered to be near the transmitter. Atoll will use the set of values called Near transmitter.
- If the transmitter-receiver distance is greater than the maximum distance, the receiver is considered far from
the transmitter. Atoll will use the set of values called Far from transmitter.
Whether the receiver is in the transmitter line of sight or not.
- If the receiver is in the transmitter line of sight, Atoll will take into account the set of values (K
1
, K
2
)LOS. The
LOS is defined by no obstruction along the direct ray between the transmitter and the receiver.
- If the receiver is not in the transmitter line of sight, Atoll will use the set of values (K
1
, K
2
)NLOS.
2.3.2 Effective Transmitter Antenna Height
The effective transmitter antenna height (H
Txeff
) can be calculated using one of six different methods:
"Height Above Ground" on page 17
"Height Above Average Profile" on page 17
"Slope at Receiver Between 0 and Minimum Distance" on page 18
"Spot Ht" on page 18
"Absolute Spot Ht" on page 18
"Enhanced Slope at Receiver" on page 18.
2.3.2.1 Height Above Ground
The transmitter antenna height is its height above the ground (H
Tx
in metres).
2.3.2.2 Height Above Average Profile
The transmitter antenna height is determined relative to an average ground height calculated along the profile between a
transmitter and a receiver. The profile length depends on the minimum distance and maximum distance values and is
limited by the transmitter and receiver locations. Distance min. and Distance max are minimum and maximum distances
from the transmitter respectively.
where,
is the ground height (ground elevation) above sea level at transmitter (m).
is the average ground height above sea level along the profile (m).
1xRTT 1900 23
WiMAX
2300 24.7
2500 25.4
2700 26.1
3300 27.8
3500 28.3
H
Txeff
H
Tx
=
Note: If the profile is not located between the transmitter and the receiver, H
Txeff
equals H
Tx
only.
H
Txeff
H
Tx
H
0Tx
H
0
( ) + =
H
0Tx
H
0
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Technical Reference Guide
2.3.2.3 Slope at Receiver Between 0 and Minimum Distance
The transmitter antenna height is calculated using the ground slope at the receiver.
where,
is the ground height (ground elevation) above sea level at the receiver (m).
is the ground slope calculated over a user-defined distance (Distance min.). In this case, Distance min. is the
distance from the receiver.
2.3.2.4 Spot H
t
If then,
If then,
2.3.2.5 Absolute Spot H
t
These values are only used in the last two methods and have different meanings for each method.
2.3.2.6 Enhanced Slope at Receiver
Atoll offers a new method called Enhanced slope at receiver to evaluate the effective transmitter antenna height.
The X-axis and Y-axis represent positions and heights respectively. It is assumed that the X-axis is oriented from the trans-
mitter (origin) towards the receiver.
This calculation is made in several steps:
1. Atoll determines line of sight between the transmitter and the receiver.
The LOS line equation is:
where,
Notes:
If , Atoll uses 20 m in calculations.
If , Atoll takes 200 m.
H
Txeff
H
Tx
H
0Tx
+ ( ) H
0Rx
K d + =
H
0Rx
K
H
Txeff
20m <
H
Txeff
200m >
H
0Tx
H
0Rx
> H
Txeff
H
Tx
H
0Tx
H
0Rx
( ) + =
H
0Tx
H
0Rx
H
Txeff
H
Tx
=
Note: Distance min. and distance max are set to 3000 and 15000 m following ITU
recommendations (low frequency broadcast f < 500 Mhz) and to 0 and 15000 m
following Okumura recommendations (high frequency mobile telephony).
H
Txeff
H
Tx
H
0Tx
H
0Rx
+ =
Figure 2.1Enhanced Slope at Receiver
Los i ( ) H
0Tx
H
Tx
+ ( )
H
0Tx
H
Tx
+ ( ) H
0Rx
H
Rx
+ ( ) ( )
d
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------Res i ( ) =
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Chapter 2: Standard Propagation Model
- is the receiver antenna height above the ground (m).
- i is the point index.
- Res is the profile resolution (distance between two points).
2. Atoll extracts the transmitter-receiver terrain profile.
3. Hills and mountains are already taken into account in diffraction calculations. Therefore, in order for them not to
negatively influence the regression line calculation, Atoll filters the terrain profile.
Atoll calculates two filtered terrain profiles; one established from the transmitter and another from the receiver. It
determines the filtered height of every profile point. Profile points are evenly spaced on the basis of the profile reso-
lution. To determine the filtered terrain height at a point, Atoll evaluates the ground slope between two points and
compares it with a threshold set to 0.05; where three cases are possible.
Some notations defined hereafter are used in next part.
- is the filtered height.
- is the original height. The original terrain height is determined from extracted ground profile.
When filtering starts from the transmitter:
Let us assume that
For each point, there are three different possibilities:
a. If and ,
Then,
b. If and
Then,
c. If
Then,
If, as well,
Then,
When filtering starts from the receiver:
Let us assume that
For each point, there are three different possibilities:
a. If and ,
Then,
b. If and
Then,
c. If
Then,
If, as well,
Then,
Then, for every point of profile, Atoll compares the two filtered heights and chooses the higher one.
4. Atoll determines the influence area, R. It corresponds to the distance from receiver at which the original terrain
profile plus 30 metres intersects the LOS for the first time (when beginning from transmitter).
The influence area must satisfy additional conditions:
- ,
- ,
H
Rx
H
fi l t
H
ori g
H
fi l t Tx
Tx ( ) H
ori g
Tx ( ) =
H
ori g
i ( ) H
ori g
i 1 ( ) >
H
ori g
i ( ) H
ori g
i 1 ( )
Res
------------------------------------------------------ 0.05
H
fi l t Tx
i ( ) H
fi l t Tx
i 1 ( ) H
ori g
i ( ) H
ori g
i 1 ( ) ( ) + =
H
ori g
i ( ) H
ori g
i 1 ( ) >
H
ori g
i ( ) H
ori g
i 1 ( )
Res
------------------------------------------------------ 0.05 >
H
fi l t Tx
i ( ) H
fi l t Tx
i 1 ( ) =
H
ori g
i ( ) H
ori g
i 1 ( )
H
fi l t Tx
i ( ) H
fi l t Tx
i 1 ( ) =
H
fi l t
i ( ) H
ori g
i ( ) >
H
fi l t Tx
i ( ) H
ori g
i ( ) =
H
fi l t
Rx ( ) H
ori g
Rx ( ) =
H
ori g
i ( ) H
ori g
i 1 + ( ) >
H
ori g
i ( ) H
ori g
i 1 + ( )
Res
------------------------------------------------------- 0.05
H
fi l t Rx
i ( ) H
fi l t Rx
i 1 + ( ) H
ori g
i ( ) H
ori g
i 1 + ( ) ( ) + =
H
ori g
i ( ) H
ori g
i 1 + ( ) >
H
ori g
i ( ) H
ori g
i 1 + ( )
Res
------------------------------------------------------- 0.05 >
H
fi l t Rx
i ( ) H
fi l t Rx
i 1 + ( ) =
H
ori g
i ( ) H
ori g
i 1 + ( )
H
fi l t Rx
i ( ) H
fi l t Rx
i 1 + ( ) =
H
fi l t
i ( ) H
ori g
i ( ) >
H
fi l t Rx
i ( ) H
ori g
i ( ) =
H
fi l t
i ( ) max H
fi l t Tx
i ( ) H
fi l t Rx
i ( ) , ( ) =
R 3000m
R 0.01 d
20 Unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this document is prohibited
Technical Reference Guide
- R must contain at least three pixels.
5. Atoll performs a linear regression on the filtered profile within R in order to determine a regression line.
The regression line equation is:
and
where,
i is the point index. Only points within R are taken into account.
d(i) is the distance between i and the transmitter (m).
Then, Atoll extends the regression line to the transmitter location. Its equation is:
6. Then, Atoll calculates the effective transmitter antenna height, (m).
If H
Txeff
is less than 20 m, Atoll recalculates it with a new influence area, which begins at the transmitter.
7. If is less than 20 m (or negative), Atoll evaluates the path loss using and applies a cor-
rection factor.
Therefore, if ,
where,
2.3.3 Effective Receiver Antenna Height
where,
is the height of the receiver antenna above the ground (m).
is the ground height (ground elevation) above sea level at the receiver (m).
Notes:
When several influence areas are possible, Atoll chooses the highest one.
If d < 3000m, R = d.
Notes:
If , 1000m will be used in calculations.
If is less than 20 m, an additional correction is taken into account (step 7).
y ax b + =
a
d i ( ) d
m
( ) H
fi l t
i ( ) H
m
( )
i
d i ( ) d
m
( )
2
i
------------------------------------------------------------------------ =
b H
m
ad
m
=
H
m
1
n
--- H
fi l t
i ( )
i
=
d
m
d
R
2
---- =
regr i ( ) a i Res ( ) b + =
H
Txeff
H
Txeff
H
0Tx
H
Tx
b +
1 a
2
+
-------------------------------------- =
H
Txeff
1000m >
H
Txeff
H
Txeff
H
Txeff
20m =
H
Txeff
20m <
L
model
L
model
H
Txeff
20m = ( ) d f , , ( ) K
l owant
+ =
K
l owant
d
10
5
--------- 0.3 H
Txeff
20 ( ) ( )
20 1 H
Txeff
20 ( ) ( )
9.63
d
1000
------------- +
6.93
d
1000
------------- +
------------------------------------------------------------------------------ =
H
Rxeff
H
Rx
H
0Rx
+ ( ) H
0Tx
=
H
Rx
H
0Rx
Unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this document is prohibited 21
Chapter 2: Standard Propagation Model
is the ground height (ground elevation) above sea level at the transmitter (m).
2.3.4 Correction for Hilly Regions in Case of LOS
An optional corrective term enables Atoll to correct path loss for hilly regions when the transmitter and the receiver are in
line of sight.
Therefore, if the receiver is in the transmitter line of sight and the hilly terrain correction option has been selected:
When the transmitter and the receiver are not in line of sight, the path loss formula is:
is determined in three steps. Influence area, R, and regression line are assumed to be available.
1. For every profile point within the influence area, Atoll calculates height deviation between the original terrain
profile and regression line. Then, it sorts points according to the deviation and draws two lines (parallel to the
regression line), one which is exceeded by 10% of the profile points and the other one by 90%.
2. Atoll evaluates the terrain roughness, h; it is the distance between the two lines.
3. Atoll calculates .
If ,
Else
If ,
Else
i
Rx
is the point index at receiver.
2.3.5 Diffraction
Four methods are available to calculate diffraction loss over the transmitter-receiver profile. These methods are explained
in the Technical Reference Guide.
Deygout
Epstein-Peterson
Deygout with correction
Millington
Along the transmitter-receiver profile, you can take one of the following into consideration:
Ground altitude and clutter height (Consider heights in diffraction option). In this case, Atoll uses clutter height
information from the clutter heights file if it is available in the ATL document. Otherwise, Atoll considers average
clutter height specified for each clutter class in the clutter classes file description.
Only ground altitude.
2.3.6 Losses Due to Clutter
Atoll calculates f(clutter) over a maximum distance from the receiver.
where,
L: loss due to clutter defined in the Clutter tab by the user (in dB).
w: weight determined through the weighting function.
n: number of points taken into account over the profile. Points are evenly spaced depending on the profile resolu-
tion.
Four weighting functions are available:
Note: The calculation of effective antenna heights ( and ) is based on extracted
DTM profiles. They are not performed properly if you have not imported heights (DTM
file) beforehand.
H
0Tx
H
Rxeff
H
Txeff
L
model
K
1 LOS ,
K
2 LOS ,
d ( ) log K
3
H
Txeff
( ) log K
5
H
Txeff
( ) d ( ) log log K
6
H
Rx
K
cl utter
f cl utter ( ) K
hi l l LOS ,
+ + + + + + =
L
model
K
1 NLOS ,
K
2 NLOS ,
d ( ) log K
3
H
Txeff
( ) log K
4
Di ffracti on K
5
H
Txeff
( ) d ( ) log log K
6
H
Rx
K
cl utter
f cl utter ( ) + + + + + + =
K
hi l l LOS ,
K
hi l l LOS ,
K
hi l l LOS ,
K
h
K
hf
+ =
0 h < 20m K
h
0 =
K
h
7.73 h ( ) log ( )
2
15.29 h ( ) log 6.746 + =
0 h < 10m K
hf
2 0.1924 H
0Rx
H
Rx
regr i
Rx
( ) + ( ) =
K
hf
2 1.616 h ( ) log ( )
2
14.75 h ( ) log 11.21 + ( )
H
0Rx
H
Rx
regr i
Rx
( ) +
h
------------------------------------------------------------ =
f cl utter ( ) L
i
w
i
i 1 =
n
=
22 Unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this document is prohibited
Technical Reference Guide
uniform weighting function:
triangular weighting function:
, where d
i
is the distance between the receiver and the ith point and D is the maximum distance
defined.
logarithmic weighting function:
exponential weighting function:
The following chart shows the weight variation with the distance for each weighting function.
2.3.7 Recommendations for Using Clutter with the SPM
The decision of what clutter information you should use with the SPM depends on the type and quality of the available
information. Normally you want to use the most detailed and most accurate information. This section gives a few recom-
mendations on using the information available to you efficiently with the SPM. The following scenarios are possible:
No clutter height information is available: You do not have a clutter height file and the height per clutter class
is either not defined, or is too roughly defined. In this case, you should define a loss per clutter class and not use
the height per clutter class. For more information, see "Losses per Clutter Class" on page 22.
No clutter height file is available: You do not have a clutter height file. However, the clutter classes file has rel-
atively good data defining the height per clutter class and has a high enough resolution. In this case, you can use
the height per clutter class, but, if you use the height per clutter class, you must not define a loss per clutter class.
For more information, see "Clutter Height per Class" on page 23.
Clutter height file is available: You have a clutter height file available that has accurate data over a resolution
that is fine enough for your network. In this case, you should use the clutter height file. But, if you use the clutter
height file, you must not use a loss per clutter class. For more information, see "Clutter Height File" on page 24.
More information is given on each option in the following sections.
Losses per Clutter Class
If you specify losses per clutter class, as illustrated in Figure 2.3, you must not consider clutter altitudes in diffraction loss
over the transmitter-receiver profile. This approach is recommended if the clutter height information is statistical (i.e.,
where the clutter is roughly defined and without a defined altitude).
Figure 2.2Losses due to Clutter
w
i
1
n
--- =
w
i
d
i
d
j
j 1 =
n
-------------- =
d
i
D d'
i
=
w
i
d
i
D
---- 1 +
log
d
j
D
---- 1 +
log
j 1 =
n
-------------------------------------- =
w
i
e
d
i
D
----
1
e
d
j
D
----
1
j 1 =
n
-------------------------- =
Unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this document is prohibited 23
Chapter 2: Standard Propagation Model
Clutter Height per Class
If you consider clutter height per class, as illustrated in Figure 2.5, you must not define any loss per clutter class. In this
case, f(clutter) will be "0;" losses due to clutter will only be taken into account in calculated diffraction. This approach is
recommended if the clutter height information is semi-deterministic (i.e., where the clutter is roughly defined with an aver-
age altitude per clutter class).
When the clutter height information is an average height defined for each clutter class, you must specify a receiver clear-
ance per clutter class. Both ground and clutter height are considered along the entire transmitter-receiver profile except
over a specific distance around the receiver (clearance), in which Atoll bases its calculations only on the DTM. The clear-
ance information is used to model streets because it is assumed that the receiver is in the street.
In Figure 2.4, the ground altitude and clutter height (in this case, average height specified for each clutter class in the clut-
ter classes map description) are taken into account along the profile.
Note: Because the Standard Propagation Model is a statistical propagation model, using this
approach is recommended.
Figure 2.3Setting losses per clutter class
Figure 2.4Tx-Rx profile
24 Unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this document is prohibited
Technical Reference Guide
Clutter Height File
If you use a clutter height file, do not define any loss per clutter class, as illustrated in Figure 2.7. In this case, f(clutter) will
be "0;" losses due to clutter will only be taken into account in calculated diffraction. This approach is recommended if the
clutter height information is deterministic (in this case, where there is a clutter height file).
It is not necessary to define receiver clearance if the height information is from a clutter height file; the clutter height infor-
mation is accurate enough to be used without additional information such as clearance. Atoll calculates the path loss if
the receiver is in the street (i.e., if the receiver height is higher than the clutter height). If the receiver height is lower than
the clutter height, the receiver is assumed to be inside a building. In this case, Atoll does not consider any diffraction for
the building (or any clearance) but takes into account the clutter class indoor loss as an additional penetration loss. Never-
theless, Atoll does consider diffraction caused by surrounding buildings. In Figure 2.6 on page 24 this diffraction is
displayed with a green line.
Figure 2.5Settings when using clutter heights set per class
Important: In order to consider indoor losses inside a building when only using a deterministic clutter
map (i.e., a clutter height map), you must clear the Indoor Coverage check box when
creating a prediction or indoor losses will be added twice (once for the entire reception
clutter class and once as indoor losses).
Figure 2.6Diffraction caused by surrounding buildings when the receiver is indoors
Unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this document is prohibited 25
Chapter 2: Standard Propagation Model
Figure 2.7Clutter class settings when using a clutter height file
26 Unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this document is prohibited
Technical Reference Guide
Chapter 3
Atoll
RF Planning & Optimisation Software
Collecting CW Measurement Data
28 Unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this document is prohibited
Technical Reference Guide
Unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this document is prohibited 29
Chapter 3: Collecting CW Measurement Data
3 Collecting CW Measurement Data
CW measurements, i.e., measurements made in the field for a single transmitter at a given frequency (continuous wave),
are used to calibrate propagation models. Creating CW measurements in Atoll can be made either by importing meas-
urements or general data samples (including Planet data) or by pasting measurement results directly in the document.
When you import measurements, you can save the settings used during the import procedure in a configuration which you
can used the next time you import similar measurements.
Atoll enables very complete management of CW measurements and provides several features allowing you to update
geographical data, define additional fields, or define how the path will be displayed.
This chapter presents the points to be considered when planning a CW survey in order to get the most accurate and useful
measurements. Once you have made a CW survey and have collected the CW measurements, importing them into Atoll
and using them to calibrate a propagation model (SPM or Hata models) is explained in "Setting Up Your Calibration
Project" on page 35.
Atoll offers other possibilities for working with CW measurements. For more information, see "Additional CW Measure-
ment Functions" on page 77.
3.1 Before You Start
Before you make a CW survey, it is essential to properly prepare for it. This section describes the data you must have
before you start your CW survey:
"Geographic Data" on page 29
"Measurement Data" on page 29.
3.1.1 Geographic Data
You must have up-to-date geographic data when you are planning your CW survey. If you perform a CW survey on an
area for which you do not have up-to-date geographic data of sufficient quality, you will not be able to use the CW meas-
urements you have collected to calibrate the propagation model. In any case, up-to-date geographic data will be later
required to produce realistic results in coverage predictions.
The types of geographic data you will need are the following:
Raster geographic data: The SPM or Hata Models can use raster geographic data as input. It can obtain the
ground elevation information from the DTM (Digital Terrain Model) files and clutter information from either clutter
classes files or clutter heights files.
Clutter classes files describe the land cover (dense urban areas, buildings, residential areas, forests, open areas,
villages etc.). In these files, the ground is represented by a grid where each pixel corresponds to a code allocated
to a main type of cover, in other words, to a clutter class. Clutter height maps describe the altitude of clutter over
the DTM with one altitude defined for each pixel. Clutter height maps can offer more precise information than defin-
ing an altitude per clutter class because, in a clutter height file, it is possible to have different heights within a single
clutter class.
DTM and clutter class files must be of a sufficiently high resolution to obtain a high-quality and accurate results in
a calibration project. The resolution of geographic data should typically be:
- 25 m or less for urban areas
- 50 m or less for rural areas.
Vector data: Vector maps, representing at least major roads, are useful for planning and verifying measurement
survey routes.
Scanned maps: Scanned maps are useful for planning and verifying measurement survey routes in urban areas.
3.1.2 Measurement Data
It is strongly recommended to use CW (continuous wave) measurements to calibrate the SPM or Hata models. Although
it is possible to calibrate the SPM or Hata models using drive test data, it is not the recommended approach:
Since drive test data are made on a real network, part of the measured signal is actually due to interference.
Using directional antennas implies that the propagation calculation strongly depends on the accuracy of antenna
patterns, and only the measurement points in the direction of the main beam are relevant.
Several frequencies are measured for drive test data, although the SPM or hata models are calibrated only for a
base frequency.
The sampling rate of each measured station is low because a lot of stations are scanned at the same time. There-
fore, the Lee criterion cannot be fulfilled (see "Guidelines for CW Measurement Surveys" on page 30).
Only the signal from the best server is scanned and, therefore, the signal level is measured over only a short dis-
tance from each transmitter. Therefore, the model will only be calibrated for coverage predictions and not for the
evaluation of interference.
30 Unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this document is prohibited
Technical Reference Guide
Therefore, you should plan CW measurement surveys if you need measurements to calibrate the SPM or Hata models.
However, before planning and performing CW a measurement survey:
Determine the number of required propagation models depending on representative area types (urban, suburban,
flat_rural, hilly_rural, etc.), and on the number of frequency bands (GSM 900, GSM 1800, UMTS, etc.). One prop-
agation model for each "area typefrequency band" pair must be calibrated.
Select a representative area of each area type, where the measurement survey campaigns will be performed.
For each area type, select at least 8 sites (6 for calibration and 2 for verification), which respect the conditions
described in "Guidelines for CW Measurement Surveys" on page 30.
For each selected site, define a survey route, which respects the conditions described in "Guidelines for CW Meas-
urement Surveys" on page 30.
Ensure that it will be possible to respect all other criteria described in "Guidelines for CW Measurement Surveys"
on page 30 when performing the measurement survey.
3.2 Guidelines for CW Measurement Surveys
The quality of the calibrated propagation model depends strongly on the quality of the CW measurements. Therefore, you
can only meet the quality targets if the CW measurements, on which the calibration will be based, are of good quality, the
provided radio data are correct, and the calibration procedure described in "The Model Calibration Process" on page 35
is followed.
This section gives some information for planning a CW measurement survey. Keeping this information in mind when you
are planning the survey route will help guarantee high-quality measurements that can serve as input for the SPM (or Hata
models) calibration project.
In this section, the following are described:
"Selecting Base Stations" on page 30
"Planning the Survey Routes" on page 30
"Radio Criteria" on page 31
"Additional Deliverable Data" on page 31.
3.2.1 Selecting Base Stations
When selecting stations to be used in the CW measurement survey, the following guidelines should be respected:
A minimum of about eight stations should be measured for each propagation model to be calibrated. The exact
number of stations depends on the terrain.
Selected stations should fulfil the following conditions:
- The stations should have good RF clearance, in other words, the stations selected should not be obstructed
in any direction.
- An omnidirectional antenna should be used.
- The antennas on the measured stations should represent the full variation of antenna heights (typically from
20 m. to 50 m.) in the area covered by the survey. A histogram displaying the antenna heights can be a useful
tool in determining what antenna heights should be represented.
- The terrain within a relevant radius around each selected station should be representative of the entire area
covered by the survey. For example, in a relatively flat region, all rural stations selected should be surrounded
by relatively flat terrain within a radius of 10 km; a station surrounded with hilly terrain would not give meas-
urements representative of the entire area.
- If there is a variety of different types of clutter in the survey area (open, urban, suburban, dense urban, etc.),
there should be as equal a distribution as possible of the major clutter categories within a relevant radius of
each station.
- There should be sufficient roads available to enable easy access with transmission equipment on all sides of
each station.
3.2.2 Planning the Survey Routes
When selecting survey routes to be used in the CW measurement survey, the following guidelines should be respected:
Measurement surveys should be performed over a long enough distance to allow the noise floor of the receiver to
be reached. Typical distances are:
- Rural areas: approximately 10 km
- Suburban areas: approximately 2 km
- Urban areas: approximately 1 km
The measurement routes must be laid out so that they have equal numbers of samples near as well as far from
the station in all directions.
Note: To avoid problems if the measurements of one or more stations must be rejected, a
minimum of 10 stations for each propagation model to be calibrated is recommended.
Unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this document is prohibited 31
Chapter 3: Collecting CW Measurement Data
The survey routes should not cross forests or rivers; such clutter types should be avoided. Even profiles between
the transmitter and the receiver should not cross such kinds of clutter, if these types of clutter are not especially
representative of the area. These points will have to be filtered out during the calibration process.
When planning the survey routes, any proposed routes should be presented for approval to the project manager
in the form of vector maps in a format that can be imported in Atoll.
The maps used to plan the survey routes should use the same projection system as the scanned maps in the Atoll
calibration project. This will allow you to validate the survey routes beforehand.
The GPS of the CW measurement equipment should be configured to match that of the mapping data.
If possible, before actually making the survey, you should try to ensure consistency between the coordinates given
by the GPS on the survey route with those used in Atoll by making a test drive without taking measurements.
3.2.3 Radio Criteria
When planning a CW measurement survey, the following radio guidelines should be followed:
The area to be covered by the CW measurement survey must be scanned before performing the drive test to
ensure that there is no interference.
Only one frequency must be measured during a single survey.
The frequency measured must be clean:
- For GSM, there must be 3 contiguous unused channels (i.e., a clearance of 200 kHz on either side of the
measured signal).
- For UMTS and CDMA2000, there must be one unused carrier. This can be verified by checking whether the
reception level is at zero when the transmitter is off.
The Lee criterion must be satisfied in terms of sampling rate to overcome the effects of fast fading.
At least 36 samples must be collected over a distance of 40. But, because the required rate depends on the high-
est speed the vehicle would travel during the survey, the vehicle speed must be adapted accordingly. The following
table provides a list of required rates corresponding to different vehicle speeds in order to respect the Lee criterion
for a frequency 900 MHz.
The measured signals over the distance of 40 should be averaged, with the mean signal level (50th percentile)
being the one stored.
The maximum distance between 2 stored measurement points should be equal to one half the resolution of the
clutter file used. This is necessary to obtain a good representative sample of each clutter class.
At least 5,000 points per station must remain after averaging. A typical number of points per measured station is
between 10,000 and 20,000 points.
3.2.4 Additional Deliverable Data
During the survey, certain types of information should be collected in addition to measurements. This additional informa-
tion will aid in interpreting the collected CW measurement data and will increase the overall quality of not only the CW
survey but of the subsequent calibration.
The following data should be collected during the survey:
Measurement data: The radio data collected should meet the following criteria:
- The measurements to be imported should correspond to the average of the measured signals over the dis-
tance of 40.
- The maximum distance between 2 stored measurement points should be equal to one half the resolution of
the clutter class file used. This is necessary to obtain a good representative sample of each clutter class.
- The survey should have at least 5,000 points per station. A typical number of points per measured station is
between 10,000 and 20,000 points.
A rooftop sketch: A rooftop sketch must be provided indicating the locations of:
- The transmitting antenna
- Any rooftop obstacles (including their relative location, distance from transmitter, and height)
- Any nearby obstacles (for example, other buildings) within 400 m. of the transmitter (including their relative
location, distance from transmitter, height, and width)
Panoramic photographs: Panoramic photographs should be taken from each rooftop of each station starting
from north and turning clockwise. These photographs should show the surroundings in all directions. The azimuth
and station number should be recorded for each photograph.
Highest Speed (Km/h) Sampling Rate (samples per sec)
60 45
90 68
120 90
150 113
32 Unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this document is prohibited
Technical Reference Guide
Transmission data: The following data should be recorded for all stations:
- Precise coordinates of each station measured during the CW survey
- Antenna patterns, downtilt, azimuth (if the antenna is not perfectly omnidirectional), and antenna height
- Transmission power, and transmission gain and losses
Reception data: The following data should be recorded for all stations:
- Receiver height, receiver sensitivity, and reception gain and losses
- The voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) (should be < 1.5).
Vector maps: Vector maps of each survey route should be collected to be imported into the Atoll calibration
project prior to the measurement survey.
Each CW measurement file should be accompanied by a "Survey Site Form" indicating:
Details describing the station
The locations of any spurious measurements where the physical clutter data does not coincide with the mapping
data
Any useful information about incidents that may have occurred.
You can find an example of a survey site form in "Survey Site Form" on page 85.
Chapter 4
Atoll
RF Planning & Optimisation Software
The Model Calibration Process
34 Unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this document is prohibited
Technical Reference Guide
Unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this document is prohibited 35
Chapter 4: The Model Calibration Process
4 The Model Calibration Process
This chapter explains the propagation model calibration process, from creating or selecting the project you will use to cali-
brate the model, to calibrating the model, to deploying the calibrated propagation model. Two types of models can be cali-
brated: SPM and Hata Models (Hokumura and Cost-Hata).
Before you can begin the calibration process, you must ensure that you have properly prepared for the process. First, the
necessary CW measurements must be available. For information on planning the CW measurement survey, see "Collect-
ing CW Measurement Data" on page 29.
When the CW measurement data is available, you can begin the SPM calibration process:
1. Setting up the calibration project: The first step consists of creating an Atoll document with all of the network
and geographical data necessary to recreate the CW measurement survey area. When the Atoll document has
been created with all the necessary data, you can import the CW measurement data and filter them in order to
ensure that only meaningful data is used for calibration.
- "Setting Up Your Calibration Project" on page 35.
2. Calibrate the SPM: When the CW measurement data has been selected and filtered, you can begin calibrating
the model. You must first set a few initial parameters in the propagation model and then you can begin the cali-
bration process, using either the automated or the assisted method. After calibration, Atoll offers several different
ways for you to analyse the calibrated propagation model.
- "Calibrating the SPM" on page 55.
3. Finalising the calibrated propagation model: When you have calibrated the propagation model and are satis-
fied with the results, you must make a few final adjustments to compensate for values that could not be calibrated
due to missing or incomplete data. The missing values can be extrapolated from existing data or from standard
values.
- "Finalising the Settings of the Calibrated SPM" on page 71.
4. Deploying the calibrated propagation model: The final propagation model can now be deployed to the trans-
mitters for which it was calibrated.
- "Deploying the Calibrated Model" on page 73.
4.1 Setting Up Your Calibration Project
When you set up the calibration project, you must first create or select an Atoll document with the network and geograph-
ical data necessary to recreate the CW measurement data survey area. Creating the Atoll document is explained in
"Creating an Atoll Calibration Document" on page 35. If you already have an Atoll document that you will use to calibrate
the propagation model, you can continue directly with "Importing CW Measurements" on page 36.
When you have imported the CW measurements, your next step is to verify that the CW measurement data you have just
imported correspond to the geographical data of the Atoll document you will be using for calibration. This step is very
important because Atoll will use the geographical data of the document to evaluate the CW measurement points. If the
points are not properly situated on the map, Atoll will not be able to apply the correct geographical data, especially clutter
to each point. This is explained in "Verifying the Correspondence Between Geo and Measurement Data" on page 43.
In theory, the imported measurement values are supposed to be smoothed by the measurement equipment so that they
are not subject to any fading effect. In the case the fading effects occur on the measured samples, and in order to improve
the input data for calibration, you can average them by defining a smoothing sliding window as explained in "Smoothing
Measurements to Reduce the Fading Effect" on page 78.
Once you are satisfied that the positions of the CW measurement points correspond properly to the geographical data in
the Atoll document, you can filter out the CW measurement data that, for various reasons, can not be used in the calibra-
tion process. This is explained in "Filtering Measurement Data" on page 44.
After preparing the CW measurement data, the final step before proceeding to the calibration step is selecting the base
stations that will be used for calibration and those that will be used to verify the calibration process, as explained in "Select-
ing Base Stations for Calibration and for Verification" on page 55.
4.1.1 Creating an Atoll Calibration Document
You can create the Atoll calibration document in one of two ways:
From a template: You can create a new Atoll document from a template. Atoll is delivered with a template for
each technology you will be planning for. For information on creating a document from a template, see the User
Manual.
From an existing document: If you already have an existing document covering the CW measurement survey
area, you can make a copy of it to use in the calibration process so that you can calibrate the propagation model
without making changes to the original document. For information on making a copy of an existing document, see
the User Manual.
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Once you have created the calibration document, you must set a few necessary parameters and import or create the
preliminary data. These steps are explained in the following sections:
"Setting Coordinates" on page 36
"Importing Geo Data" on page 36.
4.1.1.1 Setting Coordinates
In Atoll, you define the two coordinate systems for each Atoll document: the projection coordinate system and the display
coordinate system. By default, the same coordinate system is used for both.
The maps displayed in the workspace are referenced with the same projection system as the imported geographic data
files; thus, the projection system depends on the imported geographic file.
For more information on the projection and display coordinate systems in Atoll, see the User Manual.
4.1.1.2 Importing Geo Data
The geographic data is an important part of an Atoll document when the document is going to be used for a calibration
project. Several different geographic data types are used in a calibration project:
Digital Terrain Model: The DTM describes the elevation of the ground over sea level and is indispensable in a
calibration project.
Clutter Classes: The clutter class geo data file describes land cover or land use. Either clutter classes or clutter
heights must be present in a calibration project.
Clutter Heights: Clutter height maps describe the altitude of clutter over the DTM with one altitude defined per
pixel. Clutter height maps can offer more precise information than defining an altitude per clutter class because,
in a clutter height file, it is possible to have different heights within a single clutter class.
Vector Maps: Maps with possible survey routes defined as vectors can be imported to verify the planned survey
routes against other maps.
Scanned Images: Scanned images are geographic data files which represent the actual physical surroundings,
for example, road maps or satellite images. They are used to provide a precise background for other objects.
Although they are not used in calculations, they can be used to verify the accuracy of proposed survey routes.
WMS Raster-format Geo Data Files: Raster images from a Web Map Service (WMS) server. The image must
be in TIF format and be referenced in the document; it can not be embedded. You can use a WMS image to add
a precise background for other objects, or to add place names, or a map of roadways. WMS images are not used
in calculations.
For more information on any of the geographic data formats that can be used in Atoll, see the User Manual, and the Tech-
nical Reference Guide. For information on importing geographic data, see the User Manual.
4.1.2 Importing CW Measurements
In Atoll, you can import CW measurement files in the form of ASCII text files (with tabs, semi-colons, or spaces as sepa-
rator), with DAT, TXT, and CSV extensions. For Atoll to be able to use the data in imported files, the imported files must
contain the following information:
The position of the CW measurement points. When you import the data, you must indicate which columns give the
abscissa and ordinate (XY coordinates) of each point.
The measured signal level at each point.
The imported files can also contain other information, such as point names and field characteristics, that can be used to
define the display of measurement points, for example, to filter points.
You can import a single CW measurement file or several CW measurement files at the same time. If you regularly import
CW measurement files of the same format, you can create an import configuration. The import configuration contains infor-
mation that defines the structure of the data in the CW measurement file. By using the import configuration, you will not
need to define the data structure each time you import a new CW measurement file.
In this section, the following are described:
"Importing a CW Measurement Path" on page 37
"Importing Several CW Measurement Paths" on page 38
"Creating a CW Measurement Import Configuration" on page 40
"Defining the Display of CW Measurements" on page 41.
Note: All imported raster geographic files must be use the same cartographic system. If not, you
must convert them to a single cartographic system.
Note: The only propagation models that can take clutter heights into account in calculations are
the Standard Propagation Model and WLL model.
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Chapter 4: The Model Calibration Process
4.1.2.1 Importing a CW Measurement Path
To import a CW measurement file:
1. Click the Data tab in the Explorer window.
2. Right-click the CW Measurements folder. The context menu appears.
3. Select Import from the context menu. The Open dialogue appears.
4. Select the file or files you want to open.
5. Click Open. The Import of Measurement Files dialogue appears.
6. On the General tab:
a. Enter a Name for the CW measurement. By default, the CW measurement is given the name of the file being
imported.
b. Under Reference Transmitter, select the Transmitter with which the CW measurements were made and se-
lect the Frequency.
c. Under Receiver, enter the Height of the receiver, the Gain, and the Losses.
d. Under Measurements, define the Unit used for the CW measurements.
e. If the Coordinates used for the CW measurement data are different than the one displayed, click the Browse
button ( ) and select the coordinate system used.
7. Click the Setup tab (see Figure 4.1). If you already have an import configuration defining the data structure of the
imported file or files, you can select it from the Configuration list on the Setup tab of the Import of Measurement
Files dialogue. If you do not have an import configuration, continue with step 8.
a. Under Configuration, select an import configuration from the Configuration list.
b. Continue with step 9.
Important: CW measurements are usually made using WGS84. By default the coordinate system
displayed in the coordinates field is the display system used in the document. If the CW
measurements were made using WGS84, be sure to select WGS84, a geographic
system as indicated by the globe symbol ( ).
Figure 4.1The Setup tab of the Import of Measurement Files dialogue
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8. Under File, on the Setup tab:
a. Enter the number of the 1st Measurement Row, select the data Separator, and select the Decimal Symbol
used in the file.
b. Click Setup to link file columns and internal Atoll fields. The CW Measurement Setup dialogue appears.
c. Select the columns in the imported file that give the X-Coordinates and the Y-Coordinates of each point in
the CW measurement path file.
d. In the Measurements box, select the field that contains the value of the measured signal for each defined
point.
e. Click OK to close the CW Measurement Setup dialogue.
f. If there is other data available in the file, in the table under File, define the Type for each additional column of
data.
9. Once you have defined the import parameters, click Import. The CW measurement data are imported into the cur-
rent Atoll document.
4.1.2.2 Importing Several CW Measurement Paths
To import several CW measurement files:
1. Click the Data tab in the Explorer window.
2. Right-click the CW Measurements folder. The context menu appears.
3. Select Import from the context menu. The Open dialogue appears.
4. Select the file or files you want to open.
5. Click Open. The Import of Measurement Files dialogue appears.
6. On the General tab:
a. Enter a Name for the CW measurement. By default, the CW measurement is given the name of the file being
imported.
b. Under Reference Transmitter, select the Transmitter with which the CW measurements were made and se-
lect the Frequency.
c. Under Receiver, enter the Height of the receiver, the Gain, and the Losses.
d. Under Measurements, define the Unit used for the CW measurements.
e. If the Coordinates used for the CW measurement data are different than the one displayed, click the Browse
button ( ) and select the coordinate system used.
Notes:
When importing a CW measurement path file, existing configurations are available in the Files
of type list of the Open dialogue, sorted according to their date of creation. After you have
selected a file and clicked Open, Atoll automatically proposes a configuration, if it recognises
the extension. In case several configurations are associated with an extension, Atoll chooses
the first configuration in the list.
The defined configurations are stored, by default, in the file "MeasImport.ini", located in the
directory where Atoll is installed. For more information on the MeasImport.ini file, see the
Administrator Manual.
Note: You can also identify the columns containing the XY coordinates of each point in the CW
measurement path by selecting them from the Field row of the table on the Setup tab.
Note: You can select contiguous files by clicking the first file you want to import, pressing
SHIFT and clicking the last file you want to import. You can select non-contiguous files
by pressing CTRL and clicking each file you want to import.
Important: CW measurements are usually made using WGS84. By default the coordinate system
displayed in the coordinates field is the display system used in the document. If the CW
measurements were made using WGS84, be sure to select WGS84, a geographic
system as indicated by the globe symbol ( ).
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Chapter 4: The Model Calibration Process
7. Click the Setup tab (see Figure 4.1). If you already have an import configuration defining the data structure of the
imported file or files, you can select it from the Configuration list on the Setup tab of the Import of Measurement
Files dialogue. If you do not have an import configuration, continue with step 8.
a. Under Configuration, select an import configuration from the Configuration list.
b. Continue with step 9.
8. Under File, on the Setup tab:
a. Enter the number of the 1st Measurement Row, select the data Separator, and select the Decimal Symbol
used in the file.
b. Click Setup to link file columns and internal Atoll fields. The CW Measurement Setup dialogue appears.
c. Select the columns in the imported file that give the X-Coordinates and the Y-Coordinates of each point in
the CW measurement path file.
d. In the Measurements box, select the field that contains the value of the measured signal for each defined
point.
e. Click OK to close the CW Measurement Setup dialogue.
f. If there is other data available in the file, in the table under File, define the Type for each additional column of
data.
9. If you wish to save the definition of the data structure so that you can use it again, you can save it as an import
configuration:
a. On the Setup tab, under Configuration, click Save. The Configuration dialogue appears.
b. By default, Atoll saves the configuration in a special file called "MeasImport.ini" found in Atolls installation
folder. In case you cannot write into that folder, you can click Browse to choose a different location.
c. Enter a Configuration Name and an Extension of the files that this import configuration will describe (for ex-
ample, "*.csv").
d. Click OK.
Atoll will now select this import configuration automatically every time you import a drive test data path file
with the selected extension. If you import a file with the same structure but a different extension, you will be
able to select this import configuration from the Configuration list.
10. Once you have defined the import parameters, you can import the selected files:
- When importing several files for the same transmitter: Click Import All. The CW measurement data are
imported into the current Atoll document.
Notes:
When importing a CW measurement path file, existing configurations are available in the Files
of type list of the Open dialogue, sorted according to their date of creation. After you have
selected a file and clicked Open, Atoll automatically proposes a configuration, if it recognises
the extension. In case several configurations are associated with an extension, Atoll chooses
the first configuration in the list.
The defined configurations are stored, by default, in the file "MeasImport.ini", located in the
directory where Atoll is installed. For more information on the MeasImport.ini file, see the
Administrator Manual.
Note: You can also identify the columns containing the XY coordinates of each point in the CW
measurement path by selecting them from the Field row of the table on the Setup tab.
Notes:
You do not have to complete the import procedure to save the import configuration and have
it available for future use.
When importing a CW measurement file, you can expand the MeasImport.ini file by clicking the
button ( ) in front of the file in the Setup part to display all the available import configurations.
When selecting the appropriate configuration, the associations are automatically made in the
table at the bottom of the dialogue.
You can delete an existing import configuration by selecting the import configuration under
Setup and clicking the Delete button.
Note: When you click the Import All button, Atoll does not import files that do match the
currently selected import configuration. It displays an error message and continues with
the next file.
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- When importing several files for different transmitters:
i. Click Import. The CW measurement data are imported into the current Atoll document.
ii. Click the General tab to ensure that the information on the General tab, especially the Reference Trans-
mitter selected, reflect the current file being imported.
iii. If necessary, click the Setup tab and redefine the import configuration for the current file being imported.
iv. Click Import to import the current file.
v. Repeat these steps for each file being imported.
4.1.2.3 Creating a CW Measurement Import Configuration
If you regularly import CW measurement files of the same format, you can create an import configuration the first time you
import the CW measurement files. The import configuration contains information that defines the structure of the data in
the CW measurement file. By using the import configuration, you will not need to define the data structure each time you
import a new CW measurement file.
To create a CW measurement import configuration:
1. Click the Data tab in the Explorer window.
2. Right-click the CW Measurements folder. The context menu appears.
3. Select Import from the context menu. The Open dialogue appears.
4. Select the file or files you want to open.
5. Click Open. The Import of Measurement Files dialogue appears.
6. Click the Setup tab (see Figure 4.1).
7. Under File, on the Setup tab, define the data structure of the file or files you have selected:
a. Enter the number of the 1st Measurement Row, select the data Separator, and select the Decimal Symbol
used in the file.
b. Click Setup to link file columns and internal Atoll fields. The CW Measurement Setup dialogue appears.
c. Select the columns in the imported file that give the X-Coordinates and the Y-Coordinates of each point in
the CW measurement path file.
d. In the Measurements box, select the field that contains the value of the measured signal for each defined
point.
e. Click OK to close the CW Measurement Setup dialogue.
f. If there is other data available in the file, in the table under File, define the Type for each additional column of
data.
8. On the Setup tab, under Configuration, click Save. The Configuration dialogue appears.
a. By default, Atoll saves the configuration in a special file called "MeasImport.ini" found in Atolls installation
folder. In case you cannot write into that folder, you can click Browse to choose a different location.
b. Enter a Configuration Name and an Extension of the files that this import configuration will describe (for ex-
ample, "*.csv").
c. Click OK.
Atoll will now select this import configuration automatically every time you import a drive test data path file
with the selected extension. If you import a file with the same structure but a different extension, you will be
able to select this import configuration from the Configuration list.
Note: You can also identify the columns containing the XY coordinates of each point in the CW
measurement path by selecting them from the Field row of the table on the Setup tab.
Notes:
You do not have to complete the import procedure to save the import configuration and have
it available for future use.
When importing a CW measurement file, you can expand the MeasImport.ini file by clicking the
button ( ) in front of the file in the Setup part to display all the available import configurations.
When selecting the appropriate configuration, the associations are automatically made in the
table at the bottom of the dialogue.
You can delete an existing import configuration by selecting the import configuration under
Setup and clicking the Delete button.
The defined configurations are stored, by default, in the file "MeasImport.ini", located in the
directory where Atoll is installed. For more information on the MeasImport.ini file, see the
Administrator Manual.
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Chapter 4: The Model Calibration Process
4.1.2.4 Defining the Display of CW Measurements
You can define how CW measurements are displayed in Atolls map window. CW measurements are organised in folders
according to their reference transmitter on the Data tab of the Explorer window.
You can define the display of individual CW measurements but also set the same display parameters for all CW measure-
ments or for all CW measurements for the same reference transmitter.
To define the display of a CW measurement path:
1. Click the Data tab in the Explorer window.
2. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the CW Measurements folder.
3. Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the folder of the reference transmitter.
4. Right-click the CW measurement whose display you want to define. The context menu appears.
5. Select Properties from the context menu. The Properties dialogue appears.
6. Select the Display tab. The following options are available:
- "Defining the Display Type" on page 41
- "Using the Actions Button" on page 42
- "Defining the Visibility Scale" on page 42
- "Defining the Tip Text" on page 42
- "Adding CW Measurement Points to the Legend" on page 43.
7. Set the display parameters.
8. Click OK.
Defining the Display Type
Depending on the object selected, you can choose from the following display types: unique, discrete values, value inter-
vals, or advanced.
To change the display type:
1. Open the Display tab of the Properties dialogue as explained in "Defining the Display of CW Measurements" on
page 41.
To modify the appearance of the symbol:
a. Click the symbol in the table below. The Symbol Style dialogue appears.
b. Modify the symbol as desired.
c. Click OK to close the Symbol Style dialogue.
2. Select the display type from the Display Type list:
- Unique: defines the same symbol for all CW measurement points.
- Discrete values: defines the display of each CW measurement point according to the value of a selected field.
This display type can be used to distinguish CW measurement points by one characteristic. For example, you
could use this display type to distinguish CW measurement points by the clutter type they are on, or by their
reference transmitter.
i. Select the name of the Field by which you want to display the objects.
ii. You can click the Actions button to access the Actions menu. For information on the commands availa-
ble, see "Using the Actions Button" on page 42.
- Value intervals: defines the display of each object according to set ranges of the value of a selected field.
This display type can be used, for example, to distinguish population density, signal strength, or the altitude
of sites.
i. Select the name of the Field by which you want to display the objects.
ii. Define the ranges directly in the table.
iii. You can click the Actions button to access the Actions menu. For information on the commands availa-
ble, see "Using the Actions Button" on page 42.
- Advanced: allows you to display measurement points by more than one criterion at a time.
- only available for transmitters; Atoll automatically assigns a colour to each transmitter, ensuring that each
transmitter has a different colour than the transmitters surrounding it.
i. Click the symbol in the table below. The Symbol Style dialogue appears.
ii. Modify the symbol as desired.
iii. Click OK to close the Symbol Style dialogue.
iv. You can click the Actions button to access the Actions menu. For information on the commands availa-
ble, see "Using the Actions Button" on page 42.
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Using the Actions Button
The Actions button on the Display tab of the Properties dialogue allows you to modify the display type as defined in
"Defining the Display Type" on page 41.
To access the Actions menu:
1. Open the Display tab of the Properties dialogue as explained in "Defining the Display of CW Measurements" on
page 41.
2. Click the Actions button. The Actions menu gives you access to the following commands:
- Select all: Atoll selects all the values in the table.
- Delete: Atoll removes selected value from the table.
- Insert before: When the selected display type is value intervals, Atoll inserts a new threshold in the table
before the threshold selected in the table.
- Insert after: When the selected display type is value intervals, Atoll inserts a new threshold in the table after
the threshold selected in the table.
- Shading: Atoll opens the Shading dialogue. When "Value Intervals" is the selected display type, you select
Shading to define the number of value intervals and configure their colour. Enter the upper and lower limits
of the value in the First Break and Last Break boxes respectively, and enter a value in the Interval box.
Define the colour shading by choosing a Start Colour and an End Colour. The value intervals will be deter-
mined by the set values and coloured by a shade going from the set start colour to the set end colour.
When "Discrete Values" is the selected display type, you select Shading to choose a Start Colour and an
End Colour.
Defining the Visibility Scale
You can define a visibility range for CW measurement points. A measurement point is visible only if the scale, as displayed
on the zoom toolbar, is within this range. This can be used to, for example, prevent the map from being cluttered with
symbols when you are at a certain scale.
Visibility ranges are taken into account for screen display, and for printing and previewing printing. They do not affect which
measurement points are considered during calculations.
To define the visibility range:
1. Access the Display tab of the Properties dialogue as explained in "Defining the Display of CW Measurements"
on page 41.
2. Enter a Visibility Scale minimum in the between 1: text box.
3. Enter a Visibility Scale maximum in the and 1: text box.
Defining the Tip Text
For most object types, such as sites and transmitters, you can display information about each object in the form of a tool
tip that is only visible when you move the pointer over the object. You can display information from every field in that object
types data table, including from fields that you add.
To define tip text for an object type:
1. Access the Display tab of the Properties dialogue as explained in "Defining the Display of CW Measurements"
on page 41.
2. Click the Browse button ( ) beside the Tip Text box. The Field Selection dialogue appears.
3. Select the fields which you want to display in the label:
a. To select a field to be displayed in the label for the object type, select the field in the Available Fields list and
click to move it to the Selected Fields list.
b. To remove a field from the list of Group these fields in this order, select the field in the Selected Fields list
and click to remove it.
Note: Predictions and CW measurements are shaded differently. Nevertheless, you can obtain
a similar colouring by excluding the last break of the CW path display. To do this, select
the Filter up to Last Break check box.
Note: For most object types, you can also display object information in the form of a tool tip that
is only visible when you move the pointer over the object. This option has the advantage
of not filling the map window with text. For more information on tool tips, see "Defining the
Tip Text" on page 42.
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Chapter 4: The Model Calibration Process
Once you have defined the tool tips, you must activate the tool tip function before they appear.
To activate the tool tip function:
Click the Display Tips button ( ) on the toolbar. Tool tips will now appear when the pointer is over the object.
Adding CW Measurement Points to the Legend
You can display the information defined by the display type (see "Defining the Display Type" on page 41) in your Atoll
documents legend. Only visible objects appear in the Legend window. For information on displaying or hiding objects,
see the User Manual.
In Figure 4.2, on the Display tab of a signal level prediction, the intervals defined are:
Signal level >= -65red
-65 > Signal level >= -105shading from red to blue (9 intervals)
Signal level < -105not shown in the coverage.
The entries in the Legend column will appear in the Legend window.
With value intervals, you can enter information in the Legend column to be displayed on the legend. If there is no infor-
mation entered in this column, the maximum and minimum values are displayed instead.
1. Open the Display tab of the Properties dialogue as explained in "Defining the Display of CW Measurements" on
page 41.
2. Check the Add to legend box. The defined display will appear on the legend.
4.1.3 Verifying the Correspondence Between Geo and Measure-
ment Data
You can quickly verify the correspondence between the CW measurements and the Atoll geo data by importing the CW
measurements and a set of vector files representing roads or a scanned map of the area and checking that the CW meas-
urement survey routes correspond with the geo data. You can also check whether the measurement path starts or ends
at approximately the location of the base station used for the CW measurements.
It is also important to check that the CW measurement survey routes used correspond to the planned survey routes to
ensure that the CW measurement points are evenly distributed around the station. In case measurement paths do not
exactly match the vector roads (due most of the time to inconsistencies between several coordinate systems), you can
move a set of points to the appropriate location.
To move measurement points to another location:
1. On the map, click any point to select it. To select more than one point, press CTRL as you click the other points.
To select a entire segment of points, press SHIFT as you click the other extremity of the segment.
2. Click and drag the set of points to the desired position. If you want to exactly put points on a vector line, drag them
to it until it is highlighted.
3. Release the points where you would like to place them. In the case of a vector which has to be matched, the shape
of the paths might be modified accordingly after the points have been released.
If the IDs of the CW measurement points do not reflect the order in which the measurements were collected, you can check
whether the station location is consistent with its relative measurement path by displaying measurement points according
to measurement levels, as shown in Figure 4.3. For information on setting the display according to measurement levels,
see "About Potentially Invalid Measurement Levels" on page 51.
Note: You can also display information about data objects in the form of a label that is displayed
with the object. Given the large number of CW measurement points in a CW survey,
defining labels that are always visible is not recommended.
Figure 4.2Defined thresholds as they will appear in the Legend
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If panoramic photographs of the area surrounding the base station are available, you should verify that there are no nearby
obstacles disturbing propagation. If there is an obstacle close to the base station, you can filter out the obstructed CW
measurement data using an angle filter or remove the station from the set of CW measurement data if the obstruction is
too wide. For information on defining an angle filter, see "Filtering by Angle" on page 54.
4.1.4 Filtering Measurement Data
One of the most important steps in preparing CW measurement data for use in a calibration project is filtering the meas-
urement points. When you are filtering CW measurement data, the goal is to eliminate the points that are the least repre-
sentative of the survey area while retaining a number of points that is both representative and large enough to provide
statistically valid results.
The filtering process is often, therefore, a series of trade-offs. Although you would normally consider filtering out certain
data if, for example, their values appear high or low, if filtering them all out leaves you with too small a sample, you might
consider leaving some of them in. By the same token, if filtering out the points on a clutter class means that that clutter
class will no longer be represented at all, you might consider leaving those points on the CW survey path where they are
best represented.
There are several reasons why you would not want to take certain measurement points into consideration:
The measurement points might appear potentially invalid, they might be in clutter classes that are of no signifi-
cance in terms of the propagation model to be calibrated, they may show extreme signal levels, they might be too
close to the transmitter, or they might suffer from too much diffraction.
The zones where the measurement points are located might be in an area where the results can not be considered
accurate (for example, any points coming from behind a directional antenna should not be used in a calibration
project).
If you wish, you can permanently delete the points you filter out. You can always re-import the original measurement data
if you want to add those points again. Or you can filter them out for the current calibration, but leave them in the measure-
ment data.
Filtering CW measurement data is made in several steps. Depending on the CW measurement data available and the indi-
vidual calibration project, it is possible that not all steps will be necessary, however, the basic steps are:
1. Filtering by clutter class: The first step in filtering CW measurement data is to filter out points by clutter class.
Typically you will want to remove all points on clutter classes that are represented by less than 5% of the total
measurement points in the CW survey. For information on filtering by clutter class, see "Filtering on Clutter
Classes" on page 45.
2. Filtering by signal strength and distance: The next step is to filter out points that lay outside of a defined range
of signals and that are either too close to or too far from the reference transmitter. For information on filtering by
distance and signal strength, see "Signal and Distance Filtering" on page 46.
3. Removing sections that are not representative: The final step in filtering CW measurement data consists of
examining the CW measurement data to remove points that are affected by obstruction or that are potentially
invalid, i.e., measurement points affected by diffraction or measurement points that are too high or too low. For
information on filtering by distance and signal strength, see "Filtering by Geo Data Conditions" on page 50.
Figure 4.3Distribution of the Measured Signal Strength around a station
Important: If you set filters on the CW Measurements folder, any filters set on individual CW
measurement paths will be erased.
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Chapter 4: The Model Calibration Process
4.1.4.1 Filtering on Clutter Classes
The first step in filtering measurement points is to filter out the points by clutter class. If only a few measurement paths
have points on a given clutter class or only a few points are located on this class, then the clutter class should be filtered
out. There are not enough points to give a statistically good sampling of the conditions for that clutter class. In other words,
keeping these points will likely cause the clutter class to be incorrectly calibrated, leading to incorrect coverage prediction
results when the calibrated propagation model is used. Therefore, it is highly recommended not to take irrelevant clutter
classes into account during the calibration process, and to deduce the clutter losses afterwards using similar clutter
classes and typical values.
The rule of thumb is 5%: if only 5% of the points on a measurement plan are on a given clutter class, the points for that
clutter class should be removed. However, this should just be used as a guideline. Under certain circumstances, for exam-
ple, if that clutter class is not well represented in any survey path, you might want to keep them. You can always try cali-
brating the propagation model once with the clutter class and once without and comparing the results.
You should also remove the measurement points located on clutter classes that are not at all representative of the survey
area. For example, there may be a park along the survey route that is classified as "Forest" in terms of clutter class. If the
area itself is mostly dense urban, keeping the points in the forest clutter class will lead to inaccurate results.
You can view the point distribution statistics for all CW measurements, or all CW measurements for a single reference
transmitter, or for a single CW measurement path. Figure 4.4 shows the distribution of statistics for all CW measurements.
To display the point distribution statistics for CW measurements:
1. On the Data tab of the Explorer window, right-click the CW measurements whose statistics you wish to display:
- All CW measurements: Right-click the CW Measurements folder.
- All CW measurements for a single reference transmitter: Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the CW
Measurements folder and right-click the folder of the reference transmitter.
- A single CW measurement path: Click the Expand button ( ) to expand the CW Measurements folder and
click the Expand button ( ) to expand the folder of the reference transmitter. Then, right-click the CW meas-
urement path.
The context menu appears.
2. Select Display Statistics from the context menu.
If more than one CW measurement path is selected, a dialogue appears where you can choose the statistics of
which CW measurement paths you want to display. Select or clear the check boxes to choose the CW measure-
ment paths and click OK.
The statistics dialogue appears, with the distribution of the selected CW measurements (see Figure 4.4).
3. Take note of the clutter classes that have few measurement points (with only 5% or lower of the total number of
points).
4. Click Close to close the dialogue.
Important: Before the point distribution statistics can be displayed, you must calculate signal levels
on the CW measurement points. You can calculate signal levels by right-clicking the CW
Measurements folder and selecting Calculations > Calculate Signal Levels from the
context menu.