Cellopt DataExchange 2.4 in Forsk Atoll - Getting Started

DataExchange 2.
4
Getting Started Guide
Forsk Atoll

2

Actix Cellopt DataExchange Getting Started Guide 2.4 - Forsk Atoll

Copyright Actix 2012.
All rights reserved. All trademarks are hereby acknowledged.
Actix, the Actix logo, Cellopt and the Cellopt logo are the trademarks of Actix. Similar restrictions
to use of our company and product names may apply elsewhere.
The content of this manual is provided for information only, is subject to change without notice,
and should not be construed as a commitment by Actix. Actix assumes no responsibility or
liability for any errors or inaccuracies that appear in this documentation.
Microsoft, Excel and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft
Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

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CONTENTS
1 WELCOME TO CELLOPT DATAEXCHANGE ................................................................. 4
INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................. 5
New in version 2.4.................................................................................... 5
New in version 2.3.1 ................................................................................. 5
New in version 2.3.................................................................................... 5
New in version 2.2.................................................................................... 5
New in version 2.1.................................................................................... 6
Introduced in version 2.0 .......................................................................... 8
2 GETTING STARTED WITH CELLOPT DATAEXCHANGE .................................................. 10
INSTALLING CELLOPT DATAEXCHANGE ................................................................. 11
CONFIGURING FORSK ATOLL ............................................................................. 11
3 STARTING CELLOPT DATAEXCHANGE ................................................................... 17
STARTING FROM WITHIN FORSK ATOLL ................................................................. 18
4 EXPORTING DATA FROM ATOLL USING CELLOPT DATAEXCHANGE ................................... 20
EXPORTING DATA .......................................................................................... 21
Export data options page......................................................................... 24
Select a Demand Grid page ..................................................................... 25
Calculation resolution .......................................................................... 25
Select demand grid ............................................................................. 26
Interference List and Signal Strength Array Options page ............................ 27
Coverage level parameters .................................................................. 27
Interference list options ...................................................................... 28
Create Cellopt Neighbour list ................................................................ 29
Start Export page ................................................................................... 30
Synchronizing page ................................................................................ 31
5 IMPORTING CELLOPT DATAEXCHANGE DATA INTO ATOLL ............................................ 33
IMPORTING DATA .......................................................................................... 34
6 TROUBLESHOOTING ....................................................................................... 36
Troubleshooting: known issues ................................................................ 36
Plan import consideration .................................................................... 36
MAL length options ............................................................................. 36

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1 WELCOME TO CEL LOPT DATAEXCHANGE

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INTRODUCTION
Cellopt DataExchange is a powerful tool that allows you to interface Cellopt AFP with
major cell planning tools, in order to export the required input data for the frequency
planning process and importing plans generated by Cellopt AFP back to the cell-
planning tool.
NEW I N VERSI ON 2. 4
Cellopt Data Exchange version 2.4 includes these features:
Support for Forsk Atoll v.3.1.0 (Single- and MultiRAT
projects). Note that backward compatibility with older Atoll
versions cannot be guaranteed.
NEW I N VERSI ON 2. 3. 1
Cellopt Data Exchange version 2.3.1 includes these features:
Support for Forsk Atoll v.2.8.2
Cellopt License is no longer required
Cellopt DataExchange version 2.3 includes these features:
Unicode Support
Support for Unicode Characters in site and sector names.
Cellopt DataExchange version 2.2 includes these features:
Direct Use of Predictions
Earlier versions of DataExchange used an indirect method to calculate signal
values. Path loss and inclination were calculated separately by Atoll and

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combined at a later stage. This allowed support for products that are now
defunct.

In DataExchange 2.2, signal values are extracted directly from the
predictions. This simplification works sufficiently well for use with Cellopt AFP.

This solves the following issues:
- User-defined prediction models were not being used.
- Predictions in the user project were invalid at the end of DataExchange
runs.
Citrix Access Restrictions
Earlier versions of DataExchange set Atoll parameters by writing into the
atoll.ini file. This is no longer necessary, allowing DataExchange to run on a
Citrix server where there is no write access to this file.

This solves the following issues:
- DataExchange wrote to atoll.ini.
- Error when Atoll closes down.
Cellopt DataExchange version 2.1 included these features:
Atoll 2.4.1 support
Cellopt DataExchange 2.1 now supports interaction with version 2.4.1 of
Forsk Atoll as well as version 2.2.2 (introduced in DE version 2.0).
BSIC restrictions
BSIC restrictions per sector made in Atoll are now exported to Cellopt AFP.
The restrictions are set as forbidden BSIC in the AFP project.

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Frequency restrictions
Frequency restrictions per sector made in Atoll are now exported to Cellopt
AFP. The restrictions are set as forbidden frequencies in the AFP project.
Separate installer
Cellopt DataExchange used to be installed with Cellopt ACP, but is now
installed separately. Please uninstall Cellopt ACP to remove older versions of
Cellopt DataExchange before installing Cellopt DataExchange 2.1.

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INTRODUCED I N VERSI ON 2. 0
Cellopt DataExchange version 2.0 included these features:
Forsk Atoll integration
Cellopt DataExchange 2.0 integrates to the Forsk Atoll planning tool. It is
possible to generate a Cellopt AFP project based on the data in Atoll as well as
import plan assignments (frequencies, HSN & MAIO and BSIC) back to Atoll.
The computation zone is used to select the network parts to be exported to
Cellopt AFP.
Cellopt AFP project export
Cellopt DataExchange generates a GSM Cellopt AFP project file that is
imported into Cellopt AFP. Network properties (sites, sectors and radios),
spectrum assignments and frequency hopping settings and the Atoll-
generated neighbour list are exported.
Interference list generation
An interference list based on the planning tool predictions can be generated
and included in Cellopt AFP project export. Interference list options, e.g. the
C/I and C/A thresholds that define interference may be specified in the client.
Neighbour list generation
A neighbour list based on the planning tool predictions may be generated and
included in Cellopt AFP project export. Neighbour list options may be.
Cellopt AFP plan import
The assignments (frequencies, BSIC and HSN & MAIO) optimized in Cellopt
AFP can be imported back into Atoll.
Atoll focus and computation zones
The sites/sectors/radios part of the focus zone are exported as the selected
radios (and marked with layer Selected in the Import category) in Cellopt AFP
which may be changed by the optimizer. In addition, a special category,

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Zone, is used to mark radios belonging to the focus and computation zone, to
allow loading additional selections (which will then change the layers of the
Import category).
Atoll frozen modelling
The frozen attributes in Atoll (sectors, frequencies, BSIC and HSN) are
included in the Cellopt AFP project in a category called Frozen. The layers of
this category indicate the property that is frozen. This is important, as Cellopt
AFP cannot prevent a reassignment of a frozen element. The frozen
assignment can be maintained by simply unselecting the site/sector/radio.
Atoll channel type modelling
The channel type information is maintained in a category called Channel Type,
included in the exported Cellopt AFP project. Possible layers of this category
are: BCCH, TCH and TCH_Inner depending on what are used in Atoll.
Atoll HCS modelling
The HCS layer information in Atoll (if available) is exported to a category
called HCS.

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2 GETTI NG STARTED WI TH CELL OPT DATAEXCHANGE

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INSTALLING CELLOPT DATAEXCHANGE
1. If you have not already done so, download the Cellopt DataExchange .zip file.
2. Extract the contents of the .zip file to a temporary directory.
3. From this directory, run the setup.exe program.
The setup program may first run installers for the Microsoft .NET Framework
2.0 and/or the Visual C++ Runtime libraries, before installing Cellopt
DataExchange itself.
4. Follow the instructions given by these installers.
CONFIGURING FORSK ATOLL
1. Launch Atoll.
2. Open the project that you want to work with.
3. Define the focus and computation zones.
The focus zone contains the sectors that you want Cellopt AFP to optimize.
For Cellopt DataExchange 2.3, your computation zone should completely
encompass the region defined by the signals originating from the sectors
within the focus zone. This is useful because all statistics in Atoll are based on
the focus zone, while Cellopt bases its statistics on a regular bounding box
containing the computation zone.
4. Make sure that all the predictions are valid and current. To do this, right-click
on the "Transmitters" branch and open the "Properties" dialog. The table lists
the status of the prediction files in the project. To make sure that there are
no invalid propagation entries listed, press the Statistics button. If the
number of transmitters to be recomputed is not zero, then the prediction

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needs to be recalculated. Note that inactive sectors will have missing
predictions - this is not a problem.

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5. Make sure that there is at least one unlocked prediction (for example, a
strongest server prediction) in the "Predictions" folder. If there are no
unlocked entries in the "Predictions" branch, Atoll will not generate any data
when it is instructed to do so by Cellopt.

6. Check that Atoll correctly generates the prediction when you click the
"Calculate" toolbar icon or press <F7>.
7. Cellopt can only import raster traffic based on environments. If you want to
use raster traffic data with Cellopt, you need to export the traffic using the
BIL format. This is done by going to the traffic data and right-clicking on the
environment maps you are interested in. If you export the traffic data to a
BIL file, you will need to re-save the configuration file as explained in the next
section.
Unlocked prediction

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8. Export the configuration to a file. This file will be used by Cellopt to read the
configuration data. The configuration file must use the same name as the
Atoll project, and be in the same directory as that project.
For example, for project file "C:\Atoll Projects\Demo.atl", export the
configuration to the file "C:\Atoll Projects\Demo.cfg". This allows Cellopt to
pick up information about the traffic grids that is not available through the
API supplied by Forsk. To save the file, from Atoll, select Tools > User
configuration > Export and then select the information you want to export:

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After saving the traffic and configuration data to a file, the Atoll project folder
could look as follows:

Configuration
Traffic

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9. Save the Atoll project.
10. Make sure that your coordinate system is correctly set.

This value must not
be Undefined.

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3 STARTI NG CEL LOPT DATAEXCHANGE

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STARTING FROM WITHIN FORSK ATOLL
1. To start Cellopt DataExchange from within Forsk Atoll, either:
Click on the Start Cellopt DataExchange toolbar button:

Or, from the Tools menu, select the option Cellopt: Start Cellopt
DataExchange.

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2. You are now prompted as to whether you want to Export data from Atoll to
Cellopt AFP, or Import data from Cellopt AFP into Atoll.

Each option is described in a following chapter:
Exporting data on page 21.
Importing data on page 34.

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4 EXPORTI NG DATA FROM ATOLL USI NG CELLOPT
DATAEXCHANGE

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EXPORTING DATA
At this point, you should already have started DataExchange and have configured the
Atoll project as described in the previous chapters.
1. To export data from Atoll into Cellopt AFP, click the Export button:

The Welcome page now opens:

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2. Click Next to proceed.
3. You may now choose whether you want to accept the default settings or use
settings that were saved from a previous DataExchange session (see the Start
Export page section on page 29).

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This page is displayed while Cellopt DataExchange loads data from your
project:

This may take several minutes for large projects. When the data has been
loaded, you will automatically be moved to the next page in the dialog
sequence.
The progress bar in the control pane indicates the current state of this
process.
When the loading process is complete, the Export Data Options page opens.
NB: Please note repeaters and remote antennas would not be exported. This
would not affect frequency planning process as these network elements would
be assigned frequency same as that of its respective parent network
elements.

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EXPORT DATA OPTI ONS P AGE
The information at the top of the Export Data Options page shows the name of the
project to be exported, and the planning tool containing the project.
Note: Hold the mouse over each field for tips giving further information about its
purpose.

1. Select the type of data that you want to export:
Cellopt AFP 3 project Only Cellopt AFP 3 Projects can be exported.
2. Select a location to export the data to. This is the location on your disk where
the exported data will be written. This is an intermediate location used to
store the data before it is imported into Cellopt AFP.

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3. When you are satisfied with these settings, click Next to continue to the
Select a Demand Grid page.
SELECT A DEMAND GRI D PAGE
This page allows you to load optional data for Cellopt DataExchange. When you click
Next, Cellopt DataExchange will start to load this project in the background while you
continue through the dialog sequence.

Cal cul at i on resol ut i on
Select a Working resolution. The native resolution is shown as a
comparison.
By default, Cellopt DataExchange will not alter the calculation resolution.
DataExchange allows the calculation resolution to be changed to the values
shown by the drop-down menu.

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Reducing the calculation resolution can improve the performance of the
export process (the greater the reduction, the greater the improvement) at
the expense of accuracy. To reduce the resolution, select the required
resolution using the drop-down menu.
Sel ect demand gri d
1. Select a Demand grid. Select a demand grid to load from a drop-down list
box that displays a list of all available demand grids created in Atoll.
2. If the available demand grids are not required, you can check the Create
demand grid box.
3. Specify the Blocking probability and Random traffic per sector for an
Erlang-B demand grid.
4. Click Create to create the specified demand grid.
5. Once you are finished with this page, click Next to proceed to the
Interference List and Signal Strength Array Options page.

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INTERFERENCE LI ST AND SI GNAL STRENGTH ARRAY OPTI ONS PAGE
This page allows you to specify information that controls how Cellopt DataExchange
evaluates coverage.

Cover age l evel paramet ers
Specify a signal strength Cover threshold value in dBm. Cellopt
DataExchange includes a geographic bin in the calculations if the signal is
greater than the sensitivity value.

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I nt er f erence l i st opt i ons
1. Include adjacent channel statistics between sectors. Check this to
calculate adjacent channel statistics (only shown for iDEN networks).

2. Specify a C/I target value in dB.
3. Specify an Adjacent channel offset (in dB) this is a difference between
adjacent channel frequencies.
4. Specify a Standard deviation (in dB). This is used to provide a smoothing
function to the probability of interference, which is useful in modelling
variations in signal strength around the mean predicted for any area inside a
geographic bin, as well as to account for any inaccuracies in the prediction
model. Cellopt DataExchange uses the standard deviation to create a range of
interference probabilities around the target C/I. As a guideline, the standard
deviation of your prediction model is a reasonable value to use for this
purpose.
For example, given a target C/I of 12 dB and a standard deviation of 8 dB,
DataExchange would assign a small probability of interference at a C/I of
20 dB, which increases to 100% at a C/I of 4 dB.

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By contrast, a standard deviation of 0 dB would result in a 100% probability
of interference at 12 dB or lower, and a 0% probability of interference at a
C/I of 13 dB or higher.
5. Specify a Noise value (in dBm) this is the amount of thermal and external
interference present within the network.
6. Specify a Global bias value (in dB) - this is the amount that a second signal
must be in order to be classified as a second server.
Cr eat e Cel l opt Nei ghbour l i st
1. Create Cellopt neighbour list check this box to export a Cellopt-
generated neighbour list. Note that this list will be in addition to the Atoll-
generated neighbour list, if available.

2. Handover hysteresis start this is the minimum signal margin (in dB) that
a sector can have, and be considered as a neighbour sector rather than an
interferer.
3. Handover hysteresis end this is the maximum signal margin (in dB) that
a sector can have, and be considered as a neighbour sector.
For example, if you set the handover hysteresis start to 3 dB and the
hysteresis end to 12 dB, then all signals in the 3 to -12 dB range are
considered as neighbours. In this example, signals between 0 and 3 dB are
assumed to be interferers. Signals greater than -12 dB are not neighbours.
4. Once you are satisfied with the settings on this page, click Next to proceed to
the Start Export page.

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START EXPORT PAGE
To allow you to reuse these settings, you can save them under a specified name:

Click Start to begin the export. The next page to be displayed is the Synchronizing
page.

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SYNCHRONI ZI NG PAGE
Before the export of data can take place, Cellopt DataExchange must analyze your
network. This process can take a long time if you are working with a large project.

The progress bar in the control pane at the bottom of the screen indicates the
current state of this process.

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Once the process is complete, the Project Overview screen for Cellopt AFP will be
displayed:

You can now proceed to use Cellopt AFP as described in the relevant user
documentation.
Occasionally you will see this dialog:

Always click Yes; this will return you to the Atoll screen.

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5 IMPORTI NG CEL LOPT DATAEXCHANGE DATA I NTO ATOLL

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IMPORTING DATA
1. Start Cellopt DataExchange.
2. Select the Import option.

3. Select an appropriate afp3 or XML data file using the Files of Type drop
down dialog box:

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4. Select the frequency plan that you want to use and the desired Import
Option:

5. Select OK.
You have now updated your Atoll frequency plan data.

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6 TROUBLESHOOTI NG

TROUBLESHOOTI NG: KNOWN I SSUES
Pl an i mport consi der at i on
The state of the network should remain unchanged from the moment the network is
exported to Cellopt AFP to the time the frequency plan, etc. are imported back into
Atoll. For example, sites/sectors/radios should not be added or removed in Cellopt
AFP.
MAL l engt h opt i ons
Individual MAL length options are not exported to Cellopt AFP. A global setting is
specified in Cellopt AFP.

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