GSM Radio network planning principle

ZTE University

Objectives

At the end of this course, you will be able to:

z
z
z
z
z

Describe the contents of information collection

State capacity planning
State coverage planning
Describe steps to notices of site survey
Master frequency planning and anti-interference
technology

Contents

Network planning information collection

Capacity Planning
Coverage Planning
Site layout & Survey
Coverage Emulation
Frequency Planning

Overview
Information Collection
Mobile
z

service forecast

Subscriber forecast, distribution

Network

equipment &
operation profile
z
z

MSC,BSC,BTS
Traffic statistic, quality

City
z
z
z
z

planning

City type, map

Population
Economic development plan
Road and transport condition

Analysis and survey

Radio
z
z

propagation survey

Geographic environment
Plantation

Network

traffic distribution

Industrial, commercial, residential

area
z

Coverage
z
z

and quality analysis

Coverage and quality (DT)

Statistic of A, Abis and OMCR

Interference
z
z

analysis

Frequency allocation
Frequency scanning test

Requirement analysis

Frequency

zLimited

Coverage

frequency
zAvailable

bandwidth
zFrequency

resources

Coverage

Redundancy

KPI

and other

Traffic

requirements

distributing

Coverage
size

Traffic Model

Capacity

traffic
distributing

Traffic and
system
capacity

Data traffic

Other

configuration

model
z

Voice traffic

Site

Propagation
environment

model
z

Electronic
map exists ?

Summary

Network planning information collecting

template

Microsoft Excel

1. What is necessary information?

2. What is supplementary info?

Inadequate
info

Contents

Network planning information collection

Capacity Planning
Coverage Planning
Site layout & Survey
Coverage Emulation
Frequency Planning

Basic concepts

Traffic volume
Traffic model
Erland
Call loss rate
Erlang B table

Erlang B table
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25

2%
0.020
0.223
0.602
1.092
1.657
2.276
2.935
3.627
4.345
5.084
5.842
6.615
7.402
8.200
9.010
9.828
10.656
11.491
12.333
13.182
14.036
14.896
15.761
16.631
17.505

5%
0.053
0. 3 8 1
0. 8 9 9
1. 5 2 5
2. 2 1 8
2. 9 6 0
3. 7 3 8
4. 5 4 3
5. 3 7 0
6. 2 1 6
7. 0 7 6
7. 9 5 0
8. 8 3 5
9. 7 3 0
10.633
11.544
12.461
13.335
14.315
15.249
16.189
17.132
18.080
19.030
19.985

Capacity Planning

Capacity Planning Procedures

1

Capacity information Traffic distribution

collection
analysis

Confirm subscriber
number

Traffic distribution
ratio

Site type and

number

Site numbers and

configuration

Network scale

Site layout

Site distribution and

their latitude and
longitude

Reach target of
capacity planning

Information collection

Network type: GSM900, DCS1800, dual-band network or

WLL network
System capacity requirement. No of subscriber and the
traffic?
Traffic model of the voice service?
Equipment type: V2/V3? Model? Indoor or outdoor? DPCT
applied in V3 or not?
Data service required? EDGE TRX? Data service
penetration rate? Traffic model of data service?
Frequency resource range ? Is there frequency that are
prohibited? Maximum site configuration ?
Forecast and investigation traffic density and define traffic
distribution ratio.

Traffic density distribution

Traffic distribution analysis is to categorize the planning

area into areas of different service levels based on
forecast and survey of traffic density distribution
how many phases and what is the ratio of
5
7%

subscribers in each phase

4
11%

1
41%
3
15%

what is the planning area range and the

traffic distributing ratio in DU/MU/SU/RU.
Provide existing sites and their

2
26%

configuration and performance statistics

report data

Service level by radio propagation environment

Area

Topographic features

Dense
urban

Average height of surrounding buildings is more than 30 metres (over 10 storey)

and average distance between buildings is 10-20 metres. Usually the buildings
are crowded around the site with the height of 10-20 stories and the ambient
roads are not considerably wide.

urban

Average height of surrounding buildings is about 15-30 metres (5-9 storey) and
average distance between buildings is 10-20 metres. The buildings are evenly
distributed around the site. Mostly are below 9 stories and some are over 9
stories and the ambient roads are not considerably wide.

suburb

Average height of surrounding buildings is about 10-15 metres (3-5 storey) and
average distance between buildings is 30-50 metres. The buildings are evenly
distributed around the site. Mostly are 3-4 stories and some are over 4 stories.
Roads around are wide.

rural

Average height of surrounding buildings is below 10 metres. They are dispersed

and mainly are 1-2 storey high. There are spacious space between.

Service level by service distribution area

Area

Distribution Features

Dense
urban

Traffic is heavy with high data service

rate, mainly for data service
development

Mean
urban
Suburb
Rural

Traffic is relatively heavy and date

rate should be comparatively high.
Data service is required
Traffic is low and only low-speed
data service
Traffic is quite low. Site is for
coverage purpose and data service
quality are not ensured.

Both radio propagation

environment and service
distribution factors should all
be taken into consideration.

Number of BTS sites-1

No. of BTS for capacity limited area

z Maximum site type by frequency reuse pattern
z Traffic per site by traffic model, Erlang-B table
z Total number of BTS: Total traffic / single site
traffic

Number of BTS sites-2

No. of BTS for coverage limited area

z Total area / single site coverage (according to service
level)
z Cell traffic = Cell coverage * traffic density
z TCH number (Erlang-B table)
z SDCCH number
z TRX number

Site type and number

Network Scale

Coverage Planning
Traffic &
distribution
Site configuration
& number

Capacity per site

Site configuration

Start
Frequency reuse
pattern

Channel planning
& data service

Capacity of each cell

Erlang B table

Frequency resources
Maximum
Site type
Traffic model

No of SDCCH

Suppose SDCCH average process time is 3sLocation updating

process is 9s,BHCA=2

The traffic of SDCCH per subscriber is:

(32 + 9) / 3600 = 0.0042 Erlang

4SDCCH call loss=2% can support 1.092Erlang

(1.092 / 0.0042 = 260sub) 0.025 Erlang = 6.5Erlang

look up in Erlang-Bcall loss=2% 6.5Erlang need 12TCH(2TRX)

8SDCCH call loss=2% can support 3.627Erlang

(3.627 / 0.0042 = 863sub) 0.025 Erlang = 21.6Erlang

Look up in Erlang-Bcall loss=2%21.6Erlang need 30

TCH(4TRX)

SDCCH configuration
TRX

Channel

SDCCH type

SDCCH

TCH

TCH traffic
(GOS=2%)

SDCCH/8

2.28

16

SDCCH/8

14

8.2

24

2*SDCCH/8

16

21

14.9

32

2*SDCCH/8

16

29

21

40

2*SDCCH/8

16

37

28.3

48

2*SDCCH/8

16

45

35.6

56

3*SDCCH/8

24

52

43.1

64

3*SDCCH/8

24

60

49.6

72

3*SDCCH/8

24

68

57.2

10

80

4*SDCCH/8

32

75

64.9

LA planning

LA border
Paging capacity in LA
Paging capacity calculation
Influence by Short message

LA border

Avoid dense city with high traffic area

Avoid area with high mobility of subscribers
Cross the road slantwise
Consider traffic expansion

Paging capacity

IMSI/TMSI
Second paginglocal pagingglobal paging
Paging group
z (BS-AG-BLK-RES)
z (BS_PA_MFRAMS)
Paging blocks/ per second =9-AGB/0.2354
Paging number / per paging block : B = 2 or 4

Paging capacity calculation

Paging numbers per secondP

P =9-AGB/0.2354 * B
Suppose
z Average time of call60sie:1/60Erl
z Traffic of LAT
z 75of MS response first paging25 of MS response
second paging
z Paging congestion when 50% of maximum paging.
T*30%/(1/60)*1.25 = P*50% = 59.47*3600*50%

Influence by short message

3/per sub/per day

30% retransmit
Convergence factor:0.12
Subscriber in LA:100000
SM number in busy hour
10000030.12(1+30%)=46800
Consider holiday case: 8 times

Summary

Capacity
Planning

Network
Scale

Coverage
Planning

Capacity planning is
just an initial plan,
Add or reduce sites
based on radio
coverage planning
and analysis.
Capacity planning is
a repeated, gradual
process helping to
decide site number
and type.

Contents

Network planning information collection

Capacity Planning
Coverage Planning
Site layout & Survey
Coverage Emulation
Frequency Planning

Coverage Planning flow

Network
parameter

Set parameters

Link budget

Coverage radius
estimate

Allowable max path

loss

Estimated
coverage radius of
each site

Site layout &

coverage emulation

Information of site
distribution ,
latitude & longitude
of sites

Network scale

Target of coverage

Confirm network parameters

1

Network parameter

Network category: GSM900,DCS1800, dual-band or WLL network?

Equipment type: V2 or V3? Model? Indoor or outdoor? Apply DPCT in
V3? DPCT ratio?
Carrier Transmission power is 40W60W80W? Are data service
required? EDGE carrier frequency
Antenna model: antenna gains, horizontal and vertical beam width,
antenna downtilt, polarization mode and electrical downtilt etc.
Antenna parameter: antenna available height, directional angle and
downtilt.
Apply tower top amplifier?
Feeder type: 7/8 feeder or 15/8 feeder?
Maximum site configuration is? Are there special requirements toward
configuration of combining and distribution unit?
What is KPI? What is level and area coverage rate? Which new
technology will be adopted in V3 site, DDT? IRC? or FWDR?

Link budget
2

Link Budget

Definition:
z

Link budget is the calculation of loss and gains on one

communication link.

Target:
z

Maximum power of the site, avoid invalid downlink

coverage, reduce interference and system noise.

Allowable maximum indoor & outdoor path loss of uplink

and downlink

Uplink

Downlink

Link budget

Fading margin
Antenna gain

Feeder loss

Penetration loss

Transmission
loss
Site sensitivity

PA

MS power

Body loss

Link budget

Microsoft Excel

Template

Margin reservation

Network Type & Equipment

Transmission power and reception
sensitivity of MS/BTS

Fast fading margin

CDU type

Interference margin

Slow fading margin

Link Budget

Losses
Path loss
Body loss
Vegetation
loss

Building penetration
loss
Feeder and
connector loss
Combiner and
splitter loss

Gains
Site antenna gain
MS antenna gain
TMA gain

Link budget-Equipments

MS transmission power is showed as follows

Power
class

GSM 900
Nominal
Maximum output
power

DCS 1800
Nominal
Maximum output
power

PCS 1900
Nominal
Maximum output
power

1 W (30 dBm)

1 W (30 dBm)

8 W (39 dBm)

0.25 W (24 dBm)

0.25 W (24 dBm)

5 W (37 dBm)

4 W (36 dBm)

2 W (33 dBm)

2 W (33 dBm)

0.8 W (29 dBm)

Link budget-Equipments
Series

Reception
sensibility

Biggest site

-112 dBm

S18/18/18

-112 dBm

S12/12/12

43 dBm

-110 dBm

S2/2/2 or O6

40W

46 dBm

-110 dBm

S12/12/12

GMSK

80W

49 dBm

-110 dBm

S6/6/6

8PSK

30W

44.78 dBm

-110 dBm

S12/12/12

(EDGE)

GMSK

60W

47.7 dBm

-110 dBm

S12/12/12

OB06

GMSK

40W

46 dBm

-110 dBm

S6/6/6

BS30

GMSK

40W

46 dBm

-110 dBm

S2/2/2

GMSK

40W

46 dBm

-110 dBm

S2/2/2

GMSK

80W

49 dBm

-112 dBm

S1/1/1

B8018
BTS
V3

B8112

M8202

BTS
V2

BS21

Modulation

Transmission power

GMSK

60 W

47.78 dBm

8PSK

31 W

45 dBm

GMSK

60 W

47.78 dBm

8PSK

31 W

45 dBm

GMSK

30 W

44.78 dBm

8PSK

20 W

GMSK

Link budget-Loss

Path loss
Body loss
Vehicle loss
Plantation loss
Building penetration loss
Feeder and connector
loss
Combining and
distributing unit loss

Link budget-Loss

Path loss
z

Body loss
z
z

Radio wave loss caused by the transmission distance.

Voice service, body loss 3 dB
Data service, 0dB.

Vehicle loss
z

Usually it is 8~10dB.

Link budget-Loss

Plantation loss
z

z
z

Inside the forest, the loss of 900MHz is 0.2dB/m; the

loss of 1800MHz is 0.3dB/m
Through forest or diffraction, the loss is 20dB/dec
Forest around the antenna and the antenna is lower
than the forest, around 10dB

Building penetration loss

z

Averagely its 10 20 dBrelying on building material

and thickness.

Link budget-Loss

Feeder cable loss

Type

lossdB/100m
900M

1800/1900M

1/2 soft jumper

7.22

11.3

7/8 feeder

3.89

6.15

15/8 feeder

2.34

3.84

Link budget-Loss

Combiner & Splitter loss

Unit (900M)

Insertion loss

CDUG

4.4dB

CEUG

3.5dB

CENG

5.3dB

CENG/2

5.3dB

ECDU

0.9-1.0dB

Unit(1800M)

Insertion loss

CDUD

4.6dB

CEUD

3.6dB

CEND

5.5dB

CEND/2

5.5dB

ECDU

0.9-1.0dB

Link budget-Gain

BTS Antenna gain

MS antenna gain
usually is 0

remarkspecial attention

Area

Antenna gain
dBi

urban

15.5

suburb

15.5~17

rural

17~18

Antenna may be indoor,

Express way or
long & narrow
valley

18~21

outside door or on the roof.

Hills and
highland

17~18

should be paid to antenna gain

in MS in GSM WLL network

So antenna gain and height

should be checked, which
will affect coverage greatly.

TMA gain

Link budget-Margin

Fast fading & deterioration storage

z
z
z

walking2.0--5.0dB
fast moving0dB
In GSM system, fast fading for voice and data service is
supposed to be 3dB.

Interference margin
z

The interference margin is generally supposed to be

3dB.

Link budget-Margin

Slow fading (shadow fading) margin

z

shadow fading is based on

standard deviation

margin coverage probability.

slow fading standard deviation is related to propagation

condition. In cities, its about 8~10 dB, while in suburbs
or rural areas68dB.

Marginal coverage
probability(%)

70

75

80

85

90

95

98

Slow fading margin/dB

0.53

0.68

0.85

1.04

1.29

1.65

2.06

Link budget
Parameter

Symbol

MS transmitting power

Body loss

Building loss

MS reception sensibility

MS antenna gain

Path loss difference

TMA gain

Diversity gain

between uplink and

Feeder loss

Combiner/divider unit
loss

Fast fading margin

Slow fading margin

Noise margin

Path loss indoor

M=A-B-C-D+E+F+G-H-I-JK-L

Path loss outdoor

N=M+C

downlink is 3-5dB

Estimate coverage radius

3

Coverage
radius estimate

Max allowable loss

Maximum allowable path loss

Propagation model
z

Okumura-Hata model

Cost231-Hata model

Universal model

Cost231-Walfish-Ikegami model

Estimate
coverage
radius

Propagation model selection

Site layout & emulation

4

Site layout &

coverage emulation

Electronic map
Planning area size
Planning site number
Link budget
radius estimate

Input

****

Output

Site
distribution

Distribution map
Distribution info
Latitude & longitude

Site layout &

coverage emulation
Electronic map
Planning map
latitude & longitude
Antenna height/direction angle
Antenna selection
Propagation model
Link budget
Existing network data

Input

****

Output

Coverage &
emulation

Site distribution map

Site coverage effect map
Height info map
Existing network coverage map
Coverage probability statistics table

Summary
5

Network scale

Capacity
planning

Network
scale

Coverage
planning

Contents

Network planning information collection

Capacity Planning
Coverage Planning
Site layout & Survey
Coverage Emulation
Frequency Planning

Site layout & survey procedure

coverage planning
+ capacity planning
=>
network scale

Distribute site on Mapinfo

Based on theoretic location of

or PLANET/EET E-map,

sites, make sites survey.

decide site theoretic

Confirm site location, site type &

location, latitude &

location, antenna type, height,

longitude and other para of

direction angle, downtilt, CDU,

sites

TTA and feeder etc.

Site survey

Optical measurement
z Construction environment and natural
environment
Frequency spectrum measurement
z Electromagnetism environment
Site investigate
z Installation condition of antenna and equipment
z Power and transmission supply

Preparation

Try to collect materials relating to the project

include
z

Engineering files, background information,

existing network situation, map and
configuration list

Get tools ready

z

Digital cameral, GPS satellite receiver,

compass, ruler and PC.

Site layout & survey

When select site location, take the following aspects into

consideration
z Previous Network condition
z Population distribution and habits
z City layout and distribution
z Main streets and traffic volume
z Natural environment such as Hills, lakes, rivers and coastline
z Growing trend

Principles of site selection

population
Traffic distribution

Select high traffic area and

dense population area

Customer mobility trend

Surrounding environment
Signaling transmission
quality

Careful select high hills, radar,

radio station, gas station, forest
and power plant

Main principles to select sites

Site should be at the best place of regular mesh with deviation less than a
quarter of the site radius.
Select existing facilities for cost saving and period reduction purpose on the
premise that it doesnt affect site distribution.
City edge or High-altitude hills(100 m or 300 m higher than city construction) in
suburbs are not supposed to be sites, as first to control coverage scope,
second to make construction and maintenance easier.
Newly-constructed sites should better be at place where transportation is
convenient, commercial power supply available, safe environment and take
less farmland.
Avoid construct sites near high power radio transmitter, radar station or other
interference sources.
Better far from forest to avoid fast fading of received signaling.
Pay attention to the effect of signaling reflection and dispersion when in hills,
steep slopes, dense lake area, mountainous region and high metallic buildings.
When in cities, utilize the height of the building to realize division of network
hiberarchy
There are less sites in the initial stage of network construction, so good
coverage of key areas should be guaranteed.

Antenna and feeder

TMA

Feeder

To increase
receiving sensitivity of
BTS
z

Antenna
CDU

Height, direction
z Frequency range,
gain
z Polarization
z 3dB beam width
z Down tilt
z

Feeder design

Antenna selection

Site in city

Select directional antenna with horizontal 3dB bandwidth of 60

65
City site
z Select medium gain antenna of about 15dBi
z Best to select antenna with electrical tiltdown of 36
z Recommend dual-polarized antenna
z

Site in suburb
z Select
Suburb
site 90
z
z
z

direction antenna with horizontal 3dB bandwidth of 65or

Generally select medium or high gain antenna 15~18dBi

Preset downtilt or not based on actual condition
Select dual polarized or vertical polarized antenna

Antenna selection

Site in rural area

Select directional antenna of 90120or omni antenna

z High gain of directional antenna 1618dBi
City site
z Generally dont select downtilt antenna. For high sites, zero filling
antenna is the best choice.
z Vertical polarized antenna is recommended
z

Road site
z Select narrow-beam, high
Suburb
site antenna, omni antenna or

gain directional antenna. 8-shape

deformation omni antenna based on

actual condition
Generally dont select downtilt antenna because road site has
higher requirements to coverage distance.
Vertical polarized antenna is recommended.

Principle for antenna height

Antenna of different cell of the same site can be different

due to installation conveniences or cell planning
requirements.
For flat urban area, height of antenna is around 25m.
For suburbs, antenna height can be elevated to 40m.
Antenna can not be too high
z

Reduce coverage level near the antenna especially for omni

antenna
Easy cause problems affecting network quality like over coverage,
co-channel interference or adjacent-channel interference.

Principle for Antenna direction

Try to keep the direction of three-sector site same in urban

area.
Antenna main lobe should direct at dense traffic area
Main lobe deviate from co-frequency cell to control
interference effectively.
Overlapping depth of urban adjacent sectors should not
exceed 10%.
Overlapping area for suburb and country adjacent cells
shouldnt be too deep and the antenna angle between two
adjacent sector of the same site should not less than 90
degree
Antenna main lobe of dense city area should avoid
pointing straight to the street in case over coverage
because of wave guide effect.

Principles of antenna tiltdown

Antenna tiltdown is the basic method to enhance

frequency reuse ability.
Control coverage and reduce interference
Electrical or mechanical tiltdown.
Mechanical tiltdown angle < 15

Space diversity distance

Distance between two receiving antenna is 1218when

antenna is diversified by space.
Generally distance between diversity antenna is 0.11 times
of the antenna height.
To achieve the same effect, distance of vertical diversity
must be 5 to 6 times of horizontal diversity.
To reduce the interaction of the two antennas, horizontal
distance of diversity antenna should be over 3 m

Contents

Network planning information collection

Capacity Planning
Coverage Planning
Site layout & Survey
Coverage Emulation
Frequency Planning

Coverage emulation

Electronic map
Planning area
Latitude & longitude of sites
Antenna height & direction angel Coverage
Antenna model
emulation
Link budget
Existing network data

Input

****

Output

Sites distribution map

Site coverage effect map

Height information map

Existing network
coverage map

Coverage rate statistics

table

Contents

Network planning information collection

Capacity Planning
Coverage Planning
Site layout & Survey
Coverage Emulation
Frequency Planning

GSM working frequency band

GSM900
Uplink890 915 MHz
Downlink 935 960 MHz
duplex separation is 45MHz
carrier frequency separation is
200KHz
EGSM
Uplink880 890 MHz
Downlink 935 935 MHz
duplex separation is 45MHz
carrier frequency separation is
200KHz
DCS1800
Uplink1710 1785 MHz
Downlink 1805 1880 MHz
duplex separation is 95MHz
carrier frequency separation is
200KHz

ARFCN

P-GSM900
Fl (n) = 890 + 0.2n MHz
Fu (n) = Fl(n) + 45 MHz 1 n
124
n stands for ARFCN
E-GSM900
Fl (n) = 890 + 0.2(n-1024) 975
n 1023
Fu (n) = Fl(n) + 45 MHz 0 n
124
DCS1800
Fl (n) = 1710.2 + 0.2(n-512) MHz
Fu (n) = Fl(n) + 95 MHz 512 n
885

Basic Concept

Frequency Reuse Cluster

Frequency Reuse Factor
Frequency Reuse Distance
C/I and C/A

Frequency reuse distance

The following equation is used to estimate frequency reuse

distance:
D= 3N * R
D frequency reuse distance
R cell radius
N - frequency reuse factor.

Definition of C/I and C/A

Co-channel Interference C/I

C/I refers to the interference of another cell using the
same frequency to the current cell. The ratio of carrier
to interference is called C/I.
GSM specification regulates that C/I >9dB. In
implementing, it requires C/I>12dB.

Adjacent channel interference C/A

C/A refers to interference of adjacent channel to the
current channel. The ratio is called C/A. The GSM
specification regulates that C/A>-9dB.

Calculation of C/I

Where, Pown_cell is the signal strength of current

cell; Pi_BCCH is BCCH signal strength of interfering
cell i measured by MS.

Frequency reuse pattern

Ordinary (group) frequency reuse: 43, 33 and

more close 26 and 13.
MRP: different layers adopt different frequency reuse
patterns.
Concentric: the Underlay and Overlay adopt different
frequency reuse patterns respectively.

43multiplex

A1
A2
A1
A2

B1
A3

B1
B2

D1
D2

B3
A1

A2

B2
D3

C2

D2

D3

C2

B1

A1

A2

D2

B2

= 10 log
B3

A2
C3

C
( dB )
I
(8 ) 4

24
+ 2 ( 7 .2 ) 4

= 18 dB

A1

D3
C1

C2

A3
B1

C3
D1

B3

A1

D3
C1

A3

B2

D1

D2

A1

C3

D1

B3

A2

C1

A3
B1

A3

A3
B1

18dB>12dB

33multiplex

A1
A2

A1
A3

B1
B2

A1
2

A3
B1

C2
B3

C1
C2

B3

B1

A3
B1

B2

B3

C2

C3

2(7 ) 4
= 13 . 3 dB

B1
B2

A3

C
( dB )
I
= 10 log

A1
A2

A1
A2

C1
C2

C1

B3
C1

A3

B2

A1

C3

A3

A2
C3

A2

A1
A2

C1

B
C1

13.3dB>12dB

24
+ 2 ( 5 . 57 ) 4

Multiple reuse patternMRP

BCCH can use 43 or higher reuse coefficient to

ensure the BCCH quality, while the TCH will use
relatively dense reuse mode.
The division of BCCH and TCH layer frequency
bands reduces the planning workload and
facilitate the layered planning.
Reserve some frequency for the micro cell.
Simplify the configuration of BA tables
The relative independence of the BCCH and TCH
layers facilitates the maintenance and expansion
of each layer.

MRP

Bandwidth=6 MHz
BCCH FRF=12
TCH1 FRF=9
TCH2
FRF=6 For Microcell
FRF: Frequency reuse factor

MRP

BCCH

TCH1

TCH2

TCH3

43

33

23

13

Application of MRP

China mobile: MRP

Frequency bandwidth: 7.2MHz
AFN:6095
Divide 36 carrier frequencies into 4 group as per
12/9/8/7

Channel
type

Logic channel

TCH1 service
channel

TCH2 service
channel

TC3 service
channel

Channel
number

60 61 62 63 64 65
66 67 68 69 70 71

72 73 74 75 76 77
78 79 80

81 82 83 84 85
86 87 88

89 90 91 92
93 94 95

Application of MRP
66

76

62
64

70

60
68

73
67
63

65

71

61

75
72
78

74

69

92

94

89

91

93

78

80

1) BCCH 4 3

2) TCH1 3 3

90
91

79
72
77

75

90

82

92

83

86

85

83

81

94

89
93

84

81

85

4) TCH3 2 3

84
82
86

3) TCH2 2 3

Concentric

2 2
2
2 2 2 2
2
2

2 2
2
2 2
2

Concentric

The coverage of Underlay is the same as that of ordinary

cell, while the Overlay use small transmitting power and
thus has smaller coverage.
The frequency reuse factor of overlay differs from that of
underlay.
The BCCH and SDCCH are used by Underlay, in which
the call will be set up.
The absorbing of traffic by overlay is limited by traffic layout and coverage. It will increase the capacity by 10-30%
A brand new switching algorithm should be added.

Intelligent Concentric IUO

2 2 2 2
2
2 2 2 2
2
2
2
2 2 2 2
2 2 2 2
2
2
2
2

IUO

IUO has the same network structure as ordinary

concentric, consisting of Overlay and Underlay.
Underlay and Overlay of IUO both use the same
transmitting power.
IUO adopts a handover algorithm based on C/I
Its very suitable for absorbing traffic inside building.

Comparison

Concentric
z

z
z

Overlay smaller
transmitting power
Handover based on
power or TA
Overlay coverage is
fixed but not reasonable
Absorb limited traffic
Handover algorithm is
easy

IUO
z

z
z

U/O same transmitting

power
Handover algorithm
based on C/I
Overlay coverage is
fixed and reasonable
Absorb more traffic
Handover algorithm is
complicated

TCH frequency plan

The frequency in same site can not be reused

In same cell, the frequency distance between BCCH and
TCH is at least 400khz
Frequency can not be reused in its directly adjacent sites if
it is not 1*3 pattern
Opposite cells should not be co-channel and avoid
adjacent channel.
High hill in the middle shall not be considered as
neighboring sites while broad water in the middle shall be
considered as neighboring sites.
Avoid to set same BSIC to BCCH with same frequency

Neighboring cell configuration

Centered on the cell, at most two-circle cells

can be neighbor cells
Neighboring cells shall not be more than 32.
Modify unreasonable neighboring cells
according to drive test.
Handover cells shall not be co-channel.
Avoid one way neighboring relationships
Avoid two neighboring cells with the same
BCCH and the same BSIC.

Attention
Reserve frequencies for
z Test in propagation,
z Replacement frequency in the interference test,
z Micro cell frequency in hot spot area.
Generally BCCH should use higher continuous frequencies.
Allocate frequency based on different areas.
z Allocate frequency for sites in different areas such as urban,
suburb and rural.
z Focus should be put on cities to avoid interference.
z Make planning in urban areas before suburbs and rural areas.
z Divide urban area into small areas if there are many sites.
Check manually after frequency assignment via automatic frequency
planning.

Anti-interference technique

Dynamic power control (DPC)

Discontinuous transmit (DTX)
Diversity receiving
FH technique

Discontinuous transmit (DTX)

DTX encodes the voice at 13kbit/s during the

voice active period, it encodes the comfort
noise at 500bit/s during the quiet period.

DTX

DTX contributes very little to the interference

during the quiet period, its power can be
regarded as 0 (inactive state).
Suppose the DTX active factor is , then the

gain

C / I (dB) = 10 log CI 10 log CI = 10 log

Dynamic power control (DPC)

From the figure we

can see that, in the
dynamic power
control situation,
when the interfering
MS is only at the
cell borders, the
BTS can work with
the maximum
transmitting power.

A1
A1
A2

A2
A3

A1
A2

A1
A2

A3
A2
A3
A1

A3
A2

A1

A1
A2

A3

A3

A3

DPC

Obviously, the interfering MS location is a

probability. This case is especially apparent in
the frequency hopping situation.
Suppose the DPC factor is p:

C / I (dB) = 10 log

C
pI

10 log CI = 10 log p

FH

Frequency hopping is to avoid external

interference. In other words, it is to prevent or
greatly reduce co-channel interference and
frequency selective fading effect by
converting frequencies to an extent that
interference cannot catch up with.
Baseband and synthesized FH
Parameters
z
z

HSNhopping sequence number

MAIOmobile assignment index offset

Function

The advantage of the frequency hopping is the so-called

effect of Frequency Diversity and Interference Diversity.
The former actually expands the network coverage scope,
and the latter improves the network capacity.

Frequency diversity gain

For static or slow moving MS. about 6.5dB gain can

be provided.
For fast moving MS, the difference of two connected
bursts of a channel in time and place is enough to
make them uncorrelated to Rayleigh change, that is,
they are almost not subject to the influence of the
same fading, at this time, the slow hopping can
provide very little frequency diversity gain.
Gain=1.5-6.5dB

Interference diversity gain

In te r fe r in g c e ll

H o p p in g s e t M A

{ f1 , f

, f 3 ,...,

fn}

T R X nu m b er m (m n)

In consideration of the above figure, suppose the MS talks by

using fk at the time t, in this case, the probability of the
interfered cell fk is

1*3FHDPCDTX
Most densely reuse pattern
BCCH (4*3)
Combined with antiinterference technology
Generallyonly use 50%
of the whole available
frequency

A1
A1
A2

A2

A2

A1
A2

A1

A3

A2

C/I= 9.43 dB

A2
A3

A1

A3

A1

A3

A1
A2

A3

A3

A3

1*3FHDPCDTX

Compared to 43 multiplex, the 13 multiplex brings about the

interference degradation:
CIR 43- CIR 13 =18 - 9.43 8.57 dB

13hopping, 50% frequency load brings about the interference

diversity gain:
10log10(2/1) = 3dB

Suppose the frequency hopping length is 12 frequency points, then

the frequency diversity gain is about 2dB

Suppose the DTX active factor is 0.5, then the gain is:
-10log10(0.5) = 3dB

Suppose the DPC factor is 0.9, then the gain is: -10log10(0.9)
=0.5dB

The total gain is: 3+2+3+0.5=8.5dB

Summary

GSM Network Planning

Info
collection

Radio
network
Capacity
planning

Coverage
planning

Site layout
& survey

Frequency
planning