Radio Access Network Planning Guidelines v2

RADIO NETWORK
PLANNING GUIDELINES
Document No. VEL/PLANNING/01/2009 Rev.2.0
Version
Date
Name/Dept.
1.0
13.03.2007
Access Network
2..0
05.02.2009
Access Network
Created by
Ritesh Agrawal
Murali Chitturi
Reviewed by
Approved by
Sitapathy Chavali
Naresh Gupta
Sitapathy Chavali
Naresh Gupta
Version History
INDEX
RADIO NETWORK PLANNING GUIDELINES..............................................................1
1 Introduction.................................................................................................................5
2 Spectrum & frequency planning............................................................................6
2.1 Channel allocation.................................................................................................6
2.2 Carrier separation..................................................................................................6
2.3 Carrier planning.....................................................................................................7
2.3.1 Multi-site towns...............................................................................................7
2.3.2 Single site towns............................................................................................8
2.4 Spectrum Utilization Efficiency (SUE)................................................................9
3 Carrier dimensioning..............................................................................................10
4 Coverage levels........................................................................................................14
4.1 Link Budgets.........................................................................................................14
4.1.1 900 MHz band (for reference)....................................................................15
4.1.2 1800 MHz band (for reference)..................................................................16
4.2 Roaming sensitive locations..............................................................................16
5 Antenna & Feeder cables.......................................................................................17
5.1 Antennas...............................................................................................................17
5.2 Feeder cables......................................................................................................18
6 Dual Band (900/1800) planning............................................................................19
7 BTS..............................................................................................................................22
7.1 Site types..............................................................................................................22
7.1.1 Outdoor/Indoor.............................................................................................22
7.1.2 Macro/Micro..................................................................................................22
7.1.3 Tower top BTS..............................................................................................22
7.1.4 Street pole BTS............................................................................................22
7.2 BTS Capacity Optimization................................................................................23
7.3 Handover and Power Control............................................................................24
7.3.1 Handover Types...........................................................................................24
7.3.2 Handover Criteria.........................................................................................25
7.3.3 Adjacencies...................................................................................................25
7.4 Data network configuration................................................................................26
7.4.1 Timeslot configuration.................................................................................26
7.4.2 DAP Pool capacity.......................................................................................26
7.4.3 PCU capacity................................................................................................27
7.4.4 Gb Link capacity...........................................................................................27
8 BSC..............................................................................................................................28
2
8.1 Location.................................................................................................................28
8.2 BSC Capacity.......................................................................................................29
8.2.1 Trigger points for BSC enhancement.......................................................30
8.3 BSC Capacity optimization................................................................................31
8.4 Location Area Design..........................................................................................31
8.4.1 Paging vs. Location Updating Traffic........................................................32
8.4.2 LAC size and border....................................................................................33
8.5 BSS Parameters..................................................................................................35
9 Transcoder.................................................................................................................36
9.1 Location.................................................................................................................36
9.2 Capacity................................................................................................................36
9.3 Pool configurations..............................................................................................38
9.3.1 Trigger points for enhancement.................................................................38
10
Site Planning......................................................................................................39
10.1 Radio planning.....................................................................................................39
10.2 Transmission network planning.........................................................................41
10.3 Pre - planning.......................................................................................................41
10.4 Nominal Planning................................................................................................42
10.4.1 Pre-Survey / SARF......................................................................................42
10.4.2 Site Survey....................................................................................................43
10.4.3 Site Acquisition Report................................................................................43
10.4.4 Site Pre-Validation.......................................................................................43
10.4.5 Technical Site Survey Report.....................................................................44
10.4.6 Site Validation & Deviation.........................................................................44
10.5 Detailed Network Planning.................................................................................45
10.5.1 Radio Planning.............................................................................................45
10.5.2 Transmission Planning................................................................................46
10.5.3 Co-site Planning...........................................................................................47
10.6 Site Implementation Data...................................................................................47
10.6.1 Site Implementation Report........................................................................48
10.6.2 Site Integration Data....................................................................................48
10.6.3 Site Verification.............................................................................................48
10.7 Site passive infrastructure sharing (with other operator)..............................49
11
Capacity planning.............................................................................................50
11.1 Capacity Requirements......................................................................................50
11.2 Capacity rollout tracking.....................................................................................51
12
Network enhancement features....................................................................52
12.1 Coverage enhancement solutions....................................................................52
12.1.1 ICE (Intelligent Coverage Enhancement)................................................52
12.1.2 SRC (Smart Radio Concept)......................................................................52
12.1.3 Two (2) Port Antenna Combiner By-pass.................................................54
12.1.4 Four (4) Port Antenna Combiner By-pass................................................55
12.1.5 High Gain Antenna [20dBi, 65].................................................................56
12.1.6 TMA................................................................................................................57
12.1.7 TMB................................................................................................................57
12.1.8 Tower Top BTS.............................................................................................57
3
12.1.9 Repeaters......................................................................................................57
12.2 Abis Compression solution................................................................................59
12.3 VSAT Abis connectivity.......................................................................................61
12.4 Mobile BTS station..............................................................................................62
13
Energy Saving Guidelines..............................................................................64
13.1 ULTRA EDGE BTS..............................................................................................64
13.1.1 Shiner Frisco Trx........................................................................................64
13.1.2 LTCD (Low Traffic Controlled Disconnect)...............................................66
13.1.3 Hybrid Solution (Ultra 2/2/2 to Flexi 4/4/4)...............................................68
13.1.4 Co-Siting Solution (Ultra 4/4/4 to Flexi 6/6/6)..........................................69
13.2 FLEXI EDGE BTS...............................................................................................70
14
Network Optimisation......................................................................................72
14.1 Key Performance Indicators..............................................................................72
14.2 Performance Evaluation.....................................................................................75
14.3 Interference Reduction.......................................................................................86
14.3.1 Antenna tilting /reorientation /beamwidth reduction...............................90
14.3.2 Discontinuous transmission/reception (DTX)..........................................90
14.3.3 Frequency hopping (FH).............................................................................91
14.3.4 Power control (PC)......................................................................................92
14.3.5 Adaptive antennas.......................................................................................93
14.3.6 Dynamic channel allocation algorithms....................................................94
14.3.7 Antenna Hopping.........................................................................................95
14.3.8 Bi-Sector Antennas - TenXc.......................................................................98
14.3.9 SAIC (Single Antenna Interference Cancellation).................................102
14.3.10 STIRC (Space Time Interference Rejection Combining).....................104
1 Introduction
This document lists out various radio network guidelines in planning,
performance enhancement, optimization, efficiencies (capax & opex.) to be
adhered to all VF-IN circles with NSN BSS equipment. Any deviation from
these guidelines would require specific approvals.
2 Spectrum & frequency planning

2.1
Channel allocation
Channel allocation for GSM system given in table below
BAND
GSM 900
GSM1800
Uplink
890 915
1710 1785
Downlink
935 960
1805 1880
Channel
1 - 124
512 - 885
2.2
E-GSM 900
880 - 890
925 - 935
975 - 1023
Carrier separation
Guidelines for minimum separation between carriers:
BCCH carriers
1)
2)
Separation between BCCH carriers within same site : 600 KHz

Separation in BCCH carriers between different sites in same cluster : 400
KHz
3)
4)
co-channel C/I : 12 dB
adjacent channel C/A : -9 dB
400
KHz
600
KHz
TCH carriers
1)
Synthesized Frequency Hopping (SFH) with 1/1 frequency reuse pattern to

be used to increase the network capacity. 1/1 frequency planning means that all
hopping TCH frequencies are used in all cells.
2) Frequency plan for hopping layer should be generated based on actual C/I field
measurements data captured from OSS over a period of 7 days. Frequency plan
should include new sites and/or new TRX planned over next 1 month. Appropriate
advanced frequency planning tools capable of carrying out non-uniform frequency
plans to be used.
3) MA List (Mobile Allocation List): To be allocated per cell & decided locally
depending on frequency planning tool used and & no of TCH channels available.
4) HSN (Hopping Sequence Number): To be allocated per site from the GSM
standards.
2.3
Carrier planning
2.3.1
Multi-site towns
Since BCCH (Broadcast Channel) is required to be continuously available, no
frequency hopping can be deployed on this channel. 4/12 reuse is recommended
for optimum performance. This means a cluster of 12 cells (4 sites) will have a set
of BCCH frequencies to be used within that cluster and the same plan is replicated
in all such clusters of 12 cells each.
Frequency loading
In frequency hopping, each frequency is used by a fraction of the time. This

fraction of time is dependent on number of hopping frequencies. Frequency
load indicates the fraction of time a frequency is being transmitted by a cell.
The frequency load is defined as:
FRload = Average (Erlangcell) / (8 x #Hopping Frequencies)

BCCH traffic should be excluded for calculation. BCCH is always radiating &
therefore there is 100% frequency load on BCCH.
Following table gives maximum configuration & corresponding frequency load per
cell:
Spectrum
(MHZ)
Total
carriers
No of
BCCH
carriers
No of
carriers
for guard
band
No of
carriers
left for
TCH
BTS
configuration
(max)
4.4
6.2
7.2
8.2
22
31
36
41
12
12
12
12
1
2
2
2
9
17
22
27
3/3/2
4/4/4
5/5/4
6/6/5
Total
Erlang
per site
(FR)
38.00
63.12
77.54
97.61
Designed
frequency
load (%)
10.8%
12.2%
11.8%
13.1%
9.2
10.2
11.2
12.2
13.2
14.2
15.0
46
51
56
61
66
71
75
12
12
12
12
12
12
12
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
32
36
41
46
51
56
60
7/6/6
7/7/7
8/8/8
9/9/8
10/10/9
11/10/10
11/11/11
111.48
126.36
146.10
161.24
182.15
196.49
211.83
13.1%
13.3%
14.0%
13.8%
14.3%
14.2%
14.3%
BCCH carriers for micro/Ibs can be use for macro BCCH plan if required.
Circles may have variations due to use of more carriers for micro, Ibs
and/or guard band. All such variations can be considered for frequency
planning.
All networks to make sure that loading as per the above guidelines is
achieved before new capacity only sites are planned in the network.
It is not technically feasible to load all sites in a town with max possible
configuration indicated above. Doing such will result in high interference
and hence degrade the network quality. Therefore typical traffic loading
should be 84% of maximum capacity & the frequency load for a cluster
should not more than 10% to 12%
2.3.2 Single site towns

For single site towns, there is no cluster for frequency re-use & therefore it
is possible to have higher site loading. Frequency hopping is not required.
The following figure gives the carrier planning for single site town.
Spectrum
(MHZ)
Total
ARFCN
BCCH
carriers
(Nos.)
No of
carriers
for
guard
band
3.4
17
4.0
20
4.4
22
6.2
31
7.2
TCH
carriers
(Nos.)
TRX
configuration
(max.))
Erlang
per site
(FR)
3/3/3
44.67
12
3/3/4
50.81
14
4/3/4
56.95
23
5/5/6
91.18
36
28
6/6/6
104.04
8.2
41
33
7/7/7
126.36
9.2
46
38
8/7/8
139.52
2.4
Spectrum Utilization Efficiency (SUE)

As a measure to monitor how efficiently the spectrum is used and loaded in a
network, following formula provides an objective method of calculating the
same:
SUE = Offered erlang / (Spectrum in MHz x Area in Sq. Km)
SUE is measured in terms of erlang / MHz / Sq Km
This value is to be calculated for top-5 towns of a circle under following
categories
Peak spectrum utilization efficiency
One square Km polygon of dense part of the town is to be considered.
Offered FR capacity of all cells (macro/micro/IBS etc) within that 1 sq km to
be taken.
Average spectrum utilization efficiency
Eight square Km. polygon of the town having maximum traffic is to be
considered and offered FR capacity of all cells (macro/micro/IBS etc) within
that polygon area to be considered.
Town
name
Town-1
Town-2
Parameter
Nos. of sites
Peak SUE
Average SUE
Peak SUE
Average SUE
Within 1 Sq Km
Within 8 Sq Km
Within 1 Sq Km
Within 8 Sq Km
Offered
capacity (FR)
SUE
(Erl/MHz/Sq Km)
These values will be benchmark against global standards
10
Carrier dimensioning
SDCCH dimensioning:
SDCCH capacity of every cell should be planned is such a way that maximum
SDCCH blocking should not exceed 1% GoS.
The below table comprises the recommended SDCCH configuration per cell
SDCCH
configuration
Number of
SDCCH sub
channels
SDCCH
capacity@1%GoS
[Erl.]
Combined
0.45
Non-combined
2.50
Non-combined
2.50
Non-combined
15
8.11
Non-combined
15
8.11
Non-combined
23
14.47
Non-combined
23
14.47
Non-combined
31
21.19
Non-combined
31
21.19
10
Non-combined
39
28.12
11
Non-combined
39
28.12
12
Non-combined
47
35.12
TRX per cell

(Nos.)
Number of
SDCCH
1
2
One signalling sub-channel is taken account for cell broadcast service (CBCH)
Note:
1)
For cells on LAC borders, additional SDCCH capacity may be configure on need
basis.
2)
Dynamic SDCCH allocation feature should be enabled
3)
Above indicated signalling capacity (SDCCH) is assuming a max of 20% HR traffic
carried. However, networks having > 20% HR traffic may require higher SDCCH
capacity.
11
TCH dimensioning:
The TCH capacity of every cell should planned in such a way that within the TCH
busy hour the TCH blocking does not exceed 2% GoS.
The below table comprises the recommended TCH capacity per cell at different
dedicated time slots for data:
TCH capacity@2%Gos [Erl.]
TRX per cell

(Nos.)
Number of
SDCCH
0 Data TS
1 Data TS
2 Data TSL
2.93
2.27
1.65
8.2
7.4
6.61
14.89
14.04
13.18
21.03
20.15
19.26
28.25
27.34
26.43
34.68
33.75
32.83
42.12
41.18
40.25
48.7
47.75
46.81
56.27
55.32
54.37
10
62.94
61.98
61.03
11
70.06
69.64
68.68
12
77.34
76.37
75.41
Half rate configuration

20% capacity gain due to half rate should be considered.
Total capacity = Capacity (FR) + HR gain
HR gain =
1
x HR Traffic ~20%
2
The voice capacity of a cell should plan in such a way that within the TCH busy
hour, TCH traffic should not exceed 40% half rate.
12
Example:
Consider two TRX cell with one dedicated data TS
Configuration without HR
BC
T
SD
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
DD
Offered FR capacity (excluding Data)

Offered FR + HR capacity (excluding Data)
= 7.40 Erlang
= 7.40 x 1.2 = 8.88 Erlang
TCH requirement (8.88@2%GoS) ~15

Configuration with HR (20% extra HR-capacity)
BC
T
SD
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
T
DR
T
DR
T
DD
BC: BCCH
SD: SDCCH
T : TCH FR
DD: Dedicated data
DR: TCH Dual rate
FR: Full rate
HR: Half Rate
By making 2 FR timeslots as Dual Rate in this example, it is possible to get 20% half rate
capacity gain. However HR trigger thresholds (FRU & FRL in case of Nokia) need to be
suitably optimized. In the above example, setting FRU = 80% is enough to achieve 20%
soft capacity. Similar implementation to be done for higher cell configurations
In Abis interface as a normal practice, 16 Kbps LAPD signalling is sufficient in case

of any TRX having upto 18 channels (SD + TCH). However in case any TRX
exceeds this limit of 18 channels, 32 Kbps LAPD needs to be configured.
In TCSM AMR pool to be suitably configured to support all of AMR traffic.
Recommendation:
Capacity Utilization (FR) =
Total traffic (Busy hour)x 100

Capacity(FR)
Capacity Utilization (FR+HR) =
<=84%
Total traffic (Busy hour)x 100

Capacity(FR) + HR gain
<=70%
13
BTS expansions:
Delta erlang capacity calculation for enhancement of existing BTS configurations
be taken as differential of higher and existing configuration.
Example: To calculate erlang added due to expansion of BTS from 3/3/3 to 4/4/4:
3/3/3 capacity = 44.7 erlang; 4/4/4 capacity = 63.12 erlang
Additional capacity obtained due to expansion = 18.42 erlang
Some typical expansion configurations are:
Current BTS
configuration
1/1/1
2/2/2
3/3/3
4/4/4
5/5/5
6/6/6
Erlang
capacity
(V+D)
8.82
24.60
44.70
63.12
84.75
104.04
Expanded BTS
configuratio
n
2/2/2
3/3/3
4/4/4
5/5/5
6/6/6
7/7/7
Erlang
capacity
(V+D)
24.60
44.70
63.12
84.75
104.04
126.36
Delta addition
TRX
Erlang
(V+D)
Erl/TRX
achieved
3
3
3
3
3
3
15.78
20.1
18.42
21.63
19.29
22.32
5.26
6.70
6.14
7.21
6.43
7.44
For all other expansions not listed above, similar method of delta erlang calculation
to be follow based on erlang table.
14
4 Coverage levels
Signal levels (on road) recommended for various clutters is as below:
Clutter type
Dense Urban*
Urban
Industrial
Suburban
Rural / open
On road RSSI^
900 band
1800 band
-65 dBm
-62 dBm
-70 dBm
-68 dBm
-75 dBm
-72 dBm
-75 dBm
-75 dBm
-85 dBm
-85 dBm
Probability
Voice
Data
95%
90%
95%
90%
95%
90%
95%
90%
95%
90%
* includes CBD, high-rise buildings and old city areas with narrow roads and thick
building walls.
^ Receive Signal Strength Indicator
4.1
Link Budgets
Typical radio link budgets to be used for 900 & 1800 MHz networks are as below.
Any variations from these need prior approval.
15
4.1.1
900 MHz band (for reference)
MS
CLASS
RADIO LINK POWER BUDGET

GENERAL INFO
Frequency (MHz):
System:
Frequency
RECEIVING END:
RX RF-input sensitivity (TU50, RA250, HT100) dBm
Fast fading margin + BTS power limit
dB
Cable loss + connector
dB
Body proximity loss
Rx antenna gain
dBi
Diversity gain
dB
Isotropic power
dBm
Field strength
dBV/m
TRANSMITTING END:
TX RF output peak power
(mean power over RF cycle)
Isolator + combiner + filter
RF-peak power, combiner output
Body proximity loss
TX-antenna gain
Peak EIRP
(EIRP = ERP + 2dB)
Isotropic path loss
W
dBm
dB
dBm
dB
dBi
W
dBm
dB
MS
CLAS
S
MS
CLAS
S
MS
CLAS
S
GSM
900
UltraSite +SRC
50m 1_5/8"
BS
MS
-112.5 -104.0
0.0
0.0
2.0
0.0
0.0
3.0
17.0
0.0
5.5
3.0
-133.0 -104.0
3.3
32.3
MS
CLAS
S
GSM
900
UltraSite
rooftop +pole
BS
MS
-112.5 -104.0
0.0
0.0
1.5
0.0
0.0
3.0
17.0
0.0
4.0
0.0
-132.0 -101.0
4.3 35.3
GSM
900
UltraSite 35m
comb by-pass
BS
MS
-112.5 -104.0
0.0
0.0
1.8
0.0
0.0
3.0
17.0
0.0
4.0
0.0
-131.7 -101.0
4.6
35.3
GSM
900
UltraSite 50m
1_5/8" c. byBS
MS
-112.5 -104.0
0.0
0.0
2.0
0.0
0.0
3.0
17.0
0.0
4.0
0.0
-131.5 -101.0
4.8
35.3
MS
BS
1.3 37.2
31.0 45.7
0.0
3.2
31.0 42.5
0.0
1.5
3.0
0.0
0.0 17.0
0.6 631.0
28.0 58.0
160.0 159.0
159.0
MS
BS
1.3
37.2
31.0
45.7
0.0
0.0
31.0
45.7
0.0
1.8
3.0
0.0
0.0
17.0
0.6 1230.3
28.0
60.9
159.7 161.9
159.7
MS
BS
1.3
37.2
31.0
45.7
0.0
0.0
31.0
45.7
0.0
2.0
3.0
0.0
0.0
17.0
0.6 1174.9
28.0
60.7
159.5 161.7
159.5
MS
1.3
31.0
0.0
31.0
0.0
3.0
0.0
0.6
28.0
161.0
161.0
Urban
1.5
25.0
7.0
Urban
1.5
35.0
7.0
Urban
1.5
50.0
7.0
Rural
1.5
50.0
7.0
Rural
1.5
80.0
7.0
Rural
1.5
110.0
7.0
-3.0
-3.0
-3.0
-12.0
-12.0
-12.0
OH
18.3
53.6
-82.7
85.0%
2.8
15.6
OH
18.3
53.6
-82.7
85.0%
3.5
23.6
OH
18.3
53.6
-82.7
85.0%
4.1
33.2
OH
13.3
45.6
-90.7
85.0%
11.9
274.8
OH
13.3
45.6
-90.7
85.0%
15.3
455.4
OH
13.3
45.6
-90.7
85.0%
23.1
1044.7
OH
7.4
11.6
-124.6
OH
7.4
11.9
-124.3
OH
7.4
12.1
-124.1
OH
7.4
10.6
-125.6
OH
7.4
11.3
-124.9
OH
7.4
8.6
-127.6
BS
37.2
45.7
3.2
42.5
2.0
0.0
17.0
562.3
57.5
161.5
GSM
900
UltraSite +SRC
80m 1_5/8"
BS
MS
-112.5 -104.0
0.0
0.0
2.7
0.0
0.0
3.0
17.0
0.0
5.5
3.0
-132.3 -104.0
4.0
32.3
MS
CLAS
S
MS
1.3
31.0
0.0
31.0
0.0
3.0
0.0
0.6
28.0
160.3
160.3
BS
37.2
45.7
3.2
42.5
2.7
0.0
17.0
478.6
56.8
160.8
GSM
900
UltraSite MHA
+SRC 110m
BS
MS
-112.5 -104.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
3.0
17.0
0.0
5.5
3.0
-135.0 -104.0
1.3
32.3
MS
1.3
31.0
0.0
31.0
0.0
3.0
0.0
0.6
28.0
163.0
163.0
BS
37.2
45.7
3.2
42.5
0.0
0.0
17.0
891.3
59.5
163.5
CELL SIZES
COMMON INFO
MS antenna height (m):
BS antenna height (m):
Standard Deviation (dB):
OKUMURA-HATA (OH)
Area Type Correction (dB)
INDOOR (In-car) COVERAGE
Propagation Model
Slow Fading Margin + BPL (dB):
Coverage Threshold (dBV/m):
Coverage Threshold (dBm):
Location Probability over Cell Area(L%):
Cell Range (km):
Cell Area (sqkm)
OUTDOOR COVERAGE
Propagation Model
Slow Fading Margin (dB):
Coverage Threshold (dB?V/m):
16
4.1.2
1800 MHz band (for reference)

MS
CLASS
RADIO LINK POWER BUDGET

GENERAL INFO
Frequency (MHz):
RECEIVING END:
RX RF-input sensitivity (TU50, RA250, HT100)
Fast fading margin + BTS power limit
Body proximity loss
Rx antenna gain
Diversity gain
Isotropic power
Field strength
TRANSMITTING END:
TX RF output peak power
(mean power over RF cycle)
Isolator + combiner + filter
RF-peak power, combiner output
Body proximity loss
TX-antenna gain
Peak EIRP
(EIRP = ERP + 2dB)
Isotropic path loss
System:
Frequency
dBm
dB
dB
dBi
dB
dBm
dBV/m
W
dBm
dB
dBm
dB
dBi
W
dBm
dB
GSM1800
1800
C100 rooftop
+pole
BS
MS
-112.0 -102.0
0.0
0.0
1.5
0.0
0.0
3.0
18.0
0.0
4.0
0.0
-132.5
-99.0
9.8
43.3
MS
1.0
30.0
0.0
30.0
0.0
3.0
0.0
0.5
27.0
159.5
156.9
BS
28.2
44.5
3.1
41.4
1.5
0.0
18.0
616.6
57.9
156.9
MS
CLASS
GSM1800
1800
C100 35m
comb by-pass
BS
MS
-112.0 -102.0
0.0
0.0
2.9
0.0
0.0
3.0
18.0
0.0
4.0
0.0
-131.1
-99.0
11.2
43.3
MS
1.0
30.0
0.0
30.0
0.0
3.0
0.0
0.5
27.0
158.1
158.1
BS
28.2
44.5
0.0
44.5
2.9
0.0
18.0
912.0
59.6
158.6
MS
CLASS
GSM1800
1800
C100 50m 1 5/8"
comb by-pass
BS
MS
-112.0 -102.0
0.0
0.0
2.7
0.0
0.0
3.0
18.0
0.0
4.0
0.0
-131.3
-99.0
11.0
43.3
MS
1.0
30.0
0.0
30.0
0.0
3.0
0.0
0.5
27.0
158.3
158.3
BS
28.2
44.5
0.0
44.5
2.7
0.0
18.0
955.0
59.8
158.8
MS
CLASS
GSM1800
1800
C100 MHA +SRC
50m 1 5/8"
BS
MS
-112.5
-102.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
3.0
18.0
0.0
3.0
3.0
-133.5
-102.0
8.8
40.3
MS
1.0
30.0
0.0
30.0
0.0
3.0
0.0
0.5
27.0
160.5
160.5
BS
28.2
44.5
0.0
44.5
2.6
0.0
18.0
977.2
59.9
161.9
MS
CLASS
GSM1800
1800
C100 MHA +SRC
80m 1 5/8"
BS
MS
-112.5
-102.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
3.0
18.0
0.0
3.0
3.0
-133.5
-102.0
8.8
40.3
MS
1.0
30.0
0.0
30.0
0.0
3.0
0.0
0.5
27.0
160.5
160.5
BS
28.2
44.5
0.0
44.5
3.9
0.0
18.0
724.4
58.6
160.6
MS
CLASS
GSM1800
1800
C100 MHA +SRC
110m 1 5/8"
BS
MS
-112.5
-102.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
3.0
18.0
0.0
3.0
3.0
-133.5
-102.0
8.8
40.3
MS
1.0
30.0
0.0
30.0
0.0
3.0
0.0
0.5
27.0
160.5
159.5
BS
28.2
44.5
0.0
44.5
5.0
0.0
18.0
562.3
57.5
159.5
CELL SIZES
COMMON INFO
MS antenna height (m):
BS antenna height (m):
Standard Deviation (dB):
BPL Average (dB): (and Car)
Standard Deviation indoors (dB):
OKUMURA-HATA (OH)
Area Type Correction (dB)
INDOOR (In-car) COVERAGE
Propagation Model
Slow Fading Margin + BPL (dB):
Coverage Threshold (dBV/m):
Location Probability over Cell Area(L%):
Cell Range (km):
4.2
Urban
1.5
25.0
7.0
15.0
8.0
Urban
1.5
35.0
7.0
15.0
8.0
Urban
1.5
50.0
7.0
15.0
8.0
Rural
1.5
50.0
7.0
10.0
8.0
Rural
1.5
80.0
7.0
10.0
8.0
Rural
1.5
110.0
7.0
10.0
8.0
-3.0
-3.0
-3.0
-12.0
-12.0
-12.0
OH
12.3
55.6
-86.7
65.0%
1.9
OH
12.3
55.6
-86.7
65.0%
2.5
OH
12.3
55.6
-86.7
65.0%
3.0
OH
7.3
47.6
-94.7
65.0%
8.9
OH
7.3
47.6
-94.7
65.0%
11.9
OH
7.3
47.6
-94.7
65.0%
13.7
Roaming sensitive locations

For locations like airports, railway stations, highway entry points, hotels etc, where
roaming traffic is high, following guidelines are to be adhered to:
a. Receive signal strength in idle mode must be always better than -85 dBm at all
the sensitive location.
b. Number of BCCH carriers should be equal or more than any other competitive
network in that area.
c. BSS parameter (RXP) on min signal strength of access should be set to -110
dBm.
It is required that periodic comparative network testing is carried out at all roaming
critical locations to ascertain adherence to the above norms. Some of the
techniques by which more BCCH carriers can be added into a particular area are:
17
a. Adding new sites (macro or IBS)

b. Adding additional sectors within same sites (upto 6 sectors possible)
c. By splitting a sector (which is non-serving the roaming area) to provide
coverage.
d. Changing antennas to high gain for sectors of neighbouring cells having lower
BCCH levels.
5 Antenna & Feeder cables

5.1
Antennas
Antenna is a very critical part of the overall radio network design and hence proper
selection of antennas is important to meet the planning objectives. Following
antenna models are recommended for use in various clutter / coverage conditions
described:
Note:
a. The above guidelines are indicative only for the type of application. However,
specific antenna models not listed above can be used after prior approval.
b. All antennas to be used are of Electrical down tilt (continuously variable) only.
c. Detailed antenna models and vendors are as per Hutch approval process.
18
5.2
Feeder cables
Following feeder types are recommended for various feeder lengths at sites in both
900 & 1800 bands. This calculation is based on requirement of max 3.0 dB insertion
loss of the feeder system,
GUIDELINES IN SELECTING FEEDER TYPE FOR DIFFERENT LENGTHS
Sr.
No.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Length Of the
Feeder
Up to 20 Mtr.
20 Mtr. to 35 Mtr.
35 Mtr. to 50 Mtr.
50 Mtr. to 70 Mtr.
70 Mtr. to 90 Mtr.
Beyond 90 Mtr.
Up to 15 Mtr.
15 Mtr. to 25 Mtr.
25 Mtr. to 35 Mtr.
35 Mtr.to 50 Mtr.
50 Mtr. to 70 Mr.
Beyond 70 Mtr.
* no jumpers
recommended
Cable
Loss
(dB/100
Mtr.)
Connectoriza
tion and
Jumper
losses(dB)
Feeder type
Band
11.6
7.12
4.02
2.87
2.38
2.06
16.6
10.1
5.75
4.15
3.45
3.05
0.5 dB*
0.5 dB*
1 dB
1 dB
1 dB
1 dB
0.5 dB*
0.5 dB*
1 dB
1 dB
1 dB
1 dB
1/2" Super flexible Foam Dielectric

1/2" Foam Dielectric
1 1/4" Foam Dielectric
1/2" Super flexible Foam Dielectric
900 MHz
900 MHz
900 MHz
900 MHz
900 MHz
900 MHz
1800 MHz
1800 MHz
1800 MHz
1800 MHz
1800 MHz
1800 MHz
19
6 Dual Band (900/1800) planning

Dual Band:
Circles having licenses in two frequency bands are able to support the use of multi
band mobile stations in both bands with use of the Dual Band feature. This is
required especially when frequencies of one single band are limited.
Common BCCH Control:
The Common BCCH Control feature allows the integration of resources from
different frequency bands into one cell. TRX of different frequency bands can be
configure in the same cell by letting them share a common BCCH allocated from
one of the frequency band used in the cell and resources across all bands are colocated and synchronized.
Segmentation:
Common BCCH Control & Dual Band utilizes the segment architecture, which
introduces a segment radio network object (SEG). A segment may consist of one
or more BTS objects. A BTS in a segment is a group of similar TRX in one
frequency band only
The operator sees common BCCH segment as single cell even though
parameterization and management has been partly separated between the BTSs
of the segment. The MS also sees the segment as one BCCH frequency band cell
because it has no knowledge of the other frequency bands in a segment due to the
fact that these bands have no BCCH. The BSC allows up to 36 TRX and 32 BTS
objects in a segment.
20
The band where the BCCH carrier is in the common BCCH controlled segments
must be the same throughout the whole network. This ensures that the support for
single band mobile stations remains in at least one of the frequency bands of
operation. It is also possible that there are single band cells, in the network
simultaneously with the multi-band common BCCH segments and the service to
mobile stations is offered via these single band cells as well.
In a multi-band Common BCCH segment the Initial SDCCH channel for a call setup is always allocated in the frequency band where also the segments BCCH is.
The multi-band MS and the multi-band network shall support Frequency Hopping
within each band of operation. Frequency Hopping between the bands of operation
is not supported.
The introduction of Common BCCH Control feature has not affected the basic
structure of statistics. The measurements are still collected per BTS in the segment
environment. The possibility to have frequency band-specific statistics and
segment-specific statistics based on the BTS-specific measurements is offered by
network service and OSS system.
Introducing the segment concept and the possibility to have several BTS objects in
one cell causes changes in the data collection of some cell level activities and in
the BTS-specific counter interpretation in the segment environment. The feature
introduces some new counters for the supervision of intra-segment
TCH handover based on load, intra-segment TCH handover based on signal level,
intra-segment handover between frequency bands and for the supervision of intersegment handovers that are also handovers between separate frequency bands.
These are implemented in the handover measurement and the BSC level clear
code (PM) measurement.
21
Following are some NSN Major Parameters required to take care along with Dual
Band, Common BCCH & Segment Feature to make Dual Functionality properly.
Same parameters can be optimized to take full advantage of additional spectrum.
Parameters
NSN
Default
Range
multiBandCell (DBC)
earlySendingIndication
multiBandCellReporting
nonBcchLayerOffset
BTSLoadInSEG
MsTxPwrMaxGsm
40 to +40 dBm
0...100 (%)
For GSM 800 and
GSM 900: 5..39 dBm
For GSM 1800 0...36
dBm with 2 dBm step
MsTxPwrMaxGsm1x00
nonBCCHLayerAccessThreshold
nonBCCHLayerExitThreshold
nonBCCHLayerExitThresholdPx
nonBCCHLayerExitThresholdNx
Recommended
No
No
1
0 dBm
70%
Yes
Yes
1
33
30
90 dBm
95 dBm
2
5...39 dBm with 2

dBm step
0 - 255 (s)
intraSegSdcchGuard
33
255
Example:
Additional Capacity Gain due to availability of GSM 1800 spectrum
No. of
Channels
BCCH
Layer
Site
Max. Site
Configuration Configuration
Spectrum
Bandwidth
GSM 900
8.2 MHz
41
Yes
6/5/5
GSM 1800
2.0 MHz
10
No
1/2/2
7/7/7
Note: However to achieve better voice quality, some networks may limit number of
TRX loaded on 900 band to 5/5/5 & increase 1800 band loading.
22
7 BTS
7.1
Site types
7.1.1 Outdoor/Indoor
Following aspects should be taken into consideration before choosing indoor /
outdoor BTS models:
Availability of adequate space for shelter

Environment of use.
Shared sites
Far off / rural / highway sites
If that site is a transmission hub site OR a BSC location, shelter is required to
be set up.
Outdoor BTS on tower top for better coverage.
Capacity considerations
Indoor BTS with 1 level of combiner shall be planned in areas wherein the
capacity shall go beyond 12 TRX in any site within 1 Year or is part of DU,
Urban and SU areas.
Outdoor BTS without any Combiner shall be planned in all new towns , HW ,
Rail Routes and also sites that will be less than or equal to 12 TRX /site in 2
Years.
7.1.2 Macro/Micro
Macro BTS: In areas of high traffic. ( ~12 TRX)

Micro BTS: Used for (a) small coverage footprint to offload macro sites, (b) In
areas of low traffic (<4 TRX) & (c) In-building solutions where space is a
constraint. Micro BTS are usually used for infill sites to cover the coverage
holes & capacity requirements.
7.1.3 Tower top BTS
Tower Top BTS shall be planned in highways and peripheral sites wherein the
capacity shall be less than 4 TRX/site for 2 years.
7.1.4 Street pole BTS
Street pole BTS are pole mounted BTS & shall be planned for road coverage,
flyovers & highways.
23
7.2
BTS Capacity Optimization
TRX Addition
New TRX to be added If the Average Utilization (FR+20%HR) of any five

days of the week is more than 80%
New Capacity Site
New capacity site to be added when it is not possible to add more TRX to
the BTS due to spectrum, space and power limitation.
All necessary capacity enhancement techniques (refer to section 12)

available in market and approved by VF corporate needs to be deployed
before new capacity sites are planned.
TRX Deletion
TRX to be removed from the sites with more than two TRX and having
utilization less than 20% in consultation with Marketing department
Capacity for neighbouring sites must be optimized before planning a new capacity
site in a location. The given template should be followed for planning & tracking a
new capacity site.
Capacity site
approval form
24
7.3
Handover and Power Control

For controlling the MS in dedicated mode, two main sets of parameters have to be
carefully defined:
7.3.1
Power Control parameters, threshold definitions to trigger power control

commands, as well as the power range of the MS (UL power control) and
BTS (DL power control if enabled)
Handover Control parameters, threshold definitions to trigger handover

commands, for every type of handovers.
Handover Types
Handover is a basic functionality of cellular networks. Handovers can be
distinguished as either intra-cell, inter-cell or inter-BSC handovers. Handovers
within a single cell (i.e. changing timeslots and/or carrier frequencies) can be
handled autonomously by the controlling BSC. Handovers between cells of the
same BSC can also be handled by the BSC. Handovers between cells of different
BSC must be handled by the initiating MSC. Handovers between networks
(national or international) are mostly supported only when roaming or between two
different kinds of networks.
Intracell
Intercell
Inter-BSC
inter-MSC
inter- PLMN
same cell, other carrier or timeslot

between cells (normal case)
between BSC areas
between MSC areas
(only when roaming)
intracell
intercell
inter-BSC
Figure: Handovers
25
7.3.2
Handover Criteria
Interference, UL and DL
Bad C/I ratio
Uplink quality
Downlink quality
Uplink level
Downlink level
Distance
Rapid field drop
MS speed
Better cell, i.e. periodic check (power budget, umbrella handovers)
Good C/I ratio
PC: lower quality/level thresholds (DL/UL)
PC: upper quality/level thresholds (DL/UL)
Note:
The adjacent cell parameters must be specified in order to allow the handovers.
7.3.3
Adjacencies
A mobile cannot hand over to a cell, which has not been defined as an adjacent
cell to the serving cell. Therefore, all possible adjacencies should be defined in
order to ensure successful handovers. In the beginning, it is a good idea to define
all possible adjacencies and later on, the unnecessary ones can be removed. Note,
that handover control parameters affect all handovers from the cell, whereas
adjacent cell parameters only affect one connection.
Note:
Always remember to define the adjacencies to both directions!
26
7.4
Data network configuration

Within radio network, various data dimensioning points / nodes are indicated below.
7.4.1 Timeslot configuration

This defines the number of dedicated & dynamic timeslots to be configured per cell
(sector).
Top Ten Cities : 2 dedicated + 4 dynamic
Rest of Network
: 1 dedicated + 2 dynamic
However the above guidelines can vary based on local business requirements.
7.4.2 DAP Pool capacity

Top Ten Cities
Rest of Network
: 256 Kbps (64 x 4 TS)

: 128 Kbps (64 X 2TS)
The above DAP size depends of traffic flow and also availability of TS in access
transmission network.
27
7.4.3 PCU capacity

No of sites per PCU card (logical) in Nokia BSS:
Top Ten Cities : 6
Rest of Network
: 12
BSC (660TRX) is delivered with 6 PCU-2 cards (12 logical PCU cards); however
use of each PCU card should be in line with the above guidelines. Use of multiple
PCU cards without fully loading them with the above defined sites will result in low
throughputs to user due to high PCU reselections, in addition to more Gb
requirement.
7.4.4 Gb Link capacity

Gb Frame relay
Top Ten Cities : upto 256 Kbps per logical PCU card
Rest of Network
: upto 128Kbps per logical PCU card
However Gb link capacity to be optimized based on quarterly performance reports
and analysis on actual carried traffic and utilization levels.
Gb over IP
As per implementation guidelines of VF data core & transmission groups.
28
8 BSC
8.1
Location
Locating BSC in the BSS network is flexible. BSC can be colocated or noncolocated with the MSC and the Transcoder.
The best location depends mainly on tariff structure / availability of transmission
media. For example, if the tariff correlates strongly with the distance of the
transmission line, the best location for a BSC is normally non-colocated with the
MSC and the Transcoder. Transmission lines can be saved on the A interface by
sub-multiplexing and concentrating the traffic on fewer lines. Concentration can save
a lot of expenses because the number of lines can be dimensioned according to the
expected volume of traffic.
The start of the whole BSS design procedure relies on BSS traffic handling
requirements.
The specific information needed in planning and dimensioning the network includes
the following items:
BTS locations and sizes

BSC location
MSC location
Transcoder equipment location
Available transmission media
The design starts from the BTS information, followed by the BSC, the Transcoder
and the MSC.
For the transmission part of the network, the following input data is needed for
dimensioning:
The number of traffic channels on the A interface per BSS, full rate (FR/EFR), half
rate (HR), High Speed Circuit Switched Data (HSCSD), General Packet Radio
Service (GPRS) and the number of EDGE TRX
The number of Transcoder units, their capacities and BSC A interface connections
can be deduced from this number.
HSCSD will set special requirements for Ater capacity depending on how many
HSCSD circuits are used and how many parallel time slots are supported by the
transcoder. A given transcoder pool may support both FR/EFR/HR and multi-slot
HSCSD.
29
Each HSCSD channel occupies an entity of 64 Kbit/s (one time slot) at the A
interface. However, the data stream itself may be carried by less than 8 bits of the
time slot.
GPRS service is implemented by plug-in unit (PCU) in the BSC. The capacity of
BSC to SGSN interface (Gb) is up to 31 x 64 Kbit/s per logical PCU, which is an
entity handling the same functionality in the BSC as a physical PCU plug-in unit in
older Nokia BSC models.
The total number of TRX controlled by the BSC
If the dual band feature is in use, the TRX operate in different frequency bands.
The capability of the BSC processing can be deduced from this number.
The total number of 2 Mbit/s links on the BSC Abis interface
The number of BSC Abis 2 Mbit/s connections can be deduced from this number.
EDGE TRX can be connected using a shared Dynamic Abis pool which allows
dynamic allocation of capacity wherever it is needed.
BSC Capacity
8.2
BSC is to be dimensioned based on following limiting conditions:
Nos. of TRX
Erlang carrying capacity
BCSU Planning
Nos. of Signalling links towards Transcoder and Abis (E1 ports)
Nos. of BTS/BCF
BHCA
Following are the limits in current version of NSN BSC

BSC
model
Max
nos.
of
TRX
Max no of
BTS/BCF
Max Erl
carrying
capacity
(FR+HR)
No of SS7
signalling
links
BHCA
BSC3i
660
248
3920
16 x 64
Kbps
117K
BSC3i Hi
cap
2000
2000
11880
10 X 2 M
OR 16 X
512K
354K
Remarks
Has 6 BCSU, each
with 110 TRX
capacity
Has 10 BCSU,
each with 200 TRX
capacity
Product Specific Information.
30
High Cap BSC 3i

PD.pdf
BSC3i (660 TRX)

No. of BCSUs
TRX
Capacity
Erlang
Capacity
BHCA Capacity
6
110
53
107,500
1,3
220
07
215,000
1,9
330
60
322,500
2,6
440
13
430,000
3,2
550
67
537,500
3,9
660
20
645,000
BSC3i (2000 TRX)

No. of BCSUs
TRX
Capacity
Erlang
Capacity
BHCA Capacity
1,1
200
88
194,400
2,3
400
76
388,800
3,5
600
64
583,200
4,7
800
52
777,600
5,9
1000
40
972,000
7,1
1200
28
1,166,400
8,3
1400
16
1,360,800
9,5
1600
04
1,555,200
10,6
1800
92
1,749,600
11,8
10
8.2.1
2000
80
1,944,000
Trigger points for BSC enhancement

Trigger points for BSC enhancement to be based on following 4 limits, whichever is
reached first:
31
80% of total TRX capacity

80% of Erlang capacity
100% of BCF/BTS
100% of E1 port capacity
80% of BHCA
For example, in the case of Nokia BSC3i with 660 TRX capacity should be
dimensioned to be loaded for 528 TRX OR 3136 Erlang traffic OR 248 BCF OR
93.6K BHCA
Minimum BSC configuration of 400 TRX & to be considered in planning.

Higher BSC capacities on beyond 1000 TRX to be considered in locations where
good backhaul media / capacity is available.
Considering HR traffic, at least 2 signalling links per BCSU to be dimensioned in
view of HR traffic.
Note:
Any new BSC location planned in the circle based on above guidelines require
approval from VF corporate as per attached template.
New BSC location

request form
8.3
BSC Capacity optimization

BSC capacity to be optimized with neighbouring BSC before reaching the threshold
limits as described above considering the traffic growth, TRX availability, new site
planned & transmission availability
BSC capacity can be optimized by
Re-parenting sites
BCSU reshuffling
BCSU reshuffling should be done in such a way that after reshuffling new TRX
loading of parent BSC should not exceed 65%.
8.4
Location Area Design

A location area, as defined in GSM specifications, is the smallest area, into which a
terminating call towards a mobile subscriber will be paged. Also, a location area is
the area in which a mobile needs not to update its location with its home location
register.
32
Location update is performed in idle mode when the mobile is roaming into a cell
having a different location area code (LAC). In connected mode, the mobile will
update its location with the network as soon as it becomes idle again, i.e. after call
completion.
While handover boundaries affect only mobiles that are in connected mode,
location area boundaries affect all mobiles in the network, including the (many) idle
mobiles.
Location updating causes signaling and processing load across the entire network
hierarchy up to the mobiles HLR. In case of foreign roaming mobiles (tourists), this
is often even international signaling traffic. Therefore planning of location area
boundaries should be considered with some thought, such as to avoid oscillating
location updates along a heavily frequented road.
Different MSCs cannot use the same LAC; otherwise, the BSC will not know to
which MSC the mobile belongs.
When planning a dual band or a microcellular network, LACs should be very
carefully designed. It is recommended to define the co-located GSM900 and
GSM1800 cells (the normal situation) in the same LAC and of course in the same
MSC. This can avoid additional location updates, which would cause very high
SDCCH blocking.
Some networks, which have more than one vendor, might have separate MSC for
GSM900 and GSM1800 respectively. Then, to a dual band MS; every cell is at the
LAC border. This implies that the amount of location updates is very large and
consumes a large amount of SDCCH and signaling resources. More SDCCH
needs to be assigned to the cells.
8.4.1
Paging vs. Location Updating Traffic

In a location area, there is a trade-off between paging traffic and location updating
traffic. This means that concatenating e.g. a large city into a single location area
will avoid any location updating traffic, but on the other hand causes a maximum in
paging traffic, since every single terminating call within the area is broadcast to
every single cell in the area. (Even several times per call attempt, depending on
network parameters). This can cause significant traffic loads within the network.
The task is to find the optimum compromise between paging and location updating
traffic. This is not trivial, since it is a function of call distribution, user mobility and
call arrival statistics. This problem has been studied in literature. There is in fact an
analytic minimum of signaling traffic. This minimum however is time-variant, a
function of user densities, user mobility and call arrival rates. Therefore, it is not
easily calculated. Figure 12 shows the basic dependency of paging and location
updating traffic.
33
signalling
traffic
function of user density,

cell size, call arrival rate ...
function of
user mobility
Paging
LocUp
optimum number
of cells in Loc. area
# of cells in Loc. area
Figure: Trade-off between location update and paging traffic
8.4.2
LAC size and border

Optimal LA size is a balance between PCH load and Location Updates (LU). If the
LA size is too large, paging channels and capacity will be saturated due to limited
LAPD Abis or radio interface CCCH paging capacity. On the other hand, with large
location areas there will be a smaller number of location updates (LU) performed
and vice versa. The same applies to paging coming via the Gs- and Gb-interfaces:
the MSC sends the paging message to the SGSN with the LA info and the SGSN
defines it to a more accurate area: cell, routing area (RA), LA or BSS. If within the
SGSN area there are cells that do not support GPRS services, the SGSN will group
these cells under a 'null RA'. The SGSN will perform the paging procedure described
above within both the RA(s) derived from the location information and the 'null RA'
Example
LA size for medium size cells (4+4+4 configuration)
In this example it is assumed that we have a configuration with 4 TRX per cell. If we
use 2 % blocking in the radio interface, we can see from the Erlang B-table that 21.9
Erlang will be served on cell basis. This can be converted to 876 subscribers per cell
(25mErlang/sub). If one site consists of 4+4+4 as a configuration, 23 sites together
will serve some 1511.1 Erlang or 60.444 K subscribers.
Note: The LA size for medium size cells (4+4+4) configuration with 276 TRX could
then be as follows:
Total number of subscribers
TRX in LA
60.444 (in 69 cells, each 876 subs.)

276 (in 69 cells, each 4 TRX)
34
Cell configuration
CCCH channel structure
total CCCH
typical PCH
typical AGCH
Number of Multiframes Between
Paging
Max. Pages per hour (in Air)
Pages per hour with BSC nominal call
mix
Max. Pages per hour (in Air)
Pages per hour with BSC nominal call
mix
4+4+4
NONCOMBINED (for example large cell)
9
7
2
5 (does not effect PCH capacity, but MS
battery life time
147.063 (TMSI2 60%, IMSI1 40%)
29 829
147.063 (TMSI2 60%, IMSI1 40%)
29 829
LAC size should be restricted to 50000 subs.
35
8.5
BSS Parameters
Following are recommended values for critical BSS parameters:
Recommended Value
BSS Parameters
CELL BARRED (BAR)
BTS HOPPING (HOP)
DR in use (DR)
Trunk Reservation Used (TR)
Call Reestablishment Allowed (RE)
Allow IMSI attach/detach (ATT)
DTX mode (DTX)
"No"
RF hopping (SFH) to be used in all cells with >1 TRX ; Decision for
IBS sites to be taken on case-to-case basis
"YES"
"No"
"YES"
"YES"
"SHALL"
a) -110 dBm for roaming entry cells & b) -105 dBm for all remaining
cells
RxLev Access Min (RXP)

Recommended value is 20 SACCH frames. However depending on
specific cell requirement and congestion levels in that cell, it can be
set lower upto 12 SACCH Frames. Note: T 3109 timer should be
greater than radioLinkTimeOut x 0.48 (in seconds).
Radio Link Timeout (RTL)
a) 1 AG Block for cells with Combined mode
(BCCH+3*CCCH+SDCCH/4) & b) 2 AG Blocks for cells with Non
Combined (BCCH+9*CCCH)
Number of Blocks for AGCH (AG)
MS TxPower Max GSM (PMAX1)
MS TxPower Max GSM 1800/1900 (PMAX2)
33 dBm
30 dBm
a) for 900 network : 5 dBm & b) for 1800 networks : 0 dBm
MS TxPower Min (PMIN)

5
Max Number of Repetition (NY1)
4
Max Number of Retransmission (RET)
4
Number of Multiframes (MFR)
Between 4 and 8 Hours depending on No. of LACs, size of each
LAC, Subscribers per LAC, No. of Pages per LAC & MSC Proc. Load.
Timer for Periodic MS LUP (PER)
GPRS enabled (GENA)
"YES" (depends on requirement)
Any variations from the above need to be pre-approved.
36
9 Transcoder
9.1
Location
Transcoders are usually collocated with the MSC to minimize the need for additional
transmission media cost. In cases where the transcoders are utilized to 100%, the
transmission media from the MSC can be extended to a remote Transcoder to
relieve temporary congestion across the interfaces.
This chapter does not address TCSM capacity in case it is part of R4 MGW. That is
addressed in Core network planning.
9.2
Capacity
Transcoder is to be dimensioned for the busy hour (BH) traffic on the radio interface
with following considerations:
Total carried traffic should include FR + HR calls.

90% of Transcoder resources utilization to be considered.
GoS on A interface at 0.1%.
Any variations needed to these dimensioning guidelines need to be discussed and

mutually agreed.
Following TCSM, models are available:
TCSM model
Channels
E1 towards
MSC
E1 towards
BSC
Capacity step
TCSM2i
960
32
120 Ch
BSC3i combined
with TCSM3i
11,358
384
96
960 Ch
TCSM3i
11,520
384
96
960 Ch
Product Specific Information.

High Cap TCSM
Sheet.pdf
Example of TCSM capacity calculation
No of E1 towards Abis
:8
37
No of E1 towards A
Total circuits
: 960
Total voice circuits available
: 32
: 896 excluding signalling overheads.
Transcoder to be dimensioned for 90% capacity utilization of circuits. Hence, one

TCSM is planned to support upto 806 circuits or 742 Erlang at 0.1% GoS, which
translates to 23.2 Erlangs/E1 towards MSC.
However it must be borne in mind that Transcoder can handle traffic upto 100%
capacity.
AMR circuit pool needs to utilize 100% as any overflow calls get directed to EFR/ FR
pool.
Example:
For a network requiring additional 100 BTS (2/2/2) of radio capacity, following should
be the Transcoder dimensioning:
Total radio voice capacity of the network = 22,200 Erlang

Assuming 20% additional capacity due to HR, total offered radio capacity is
equal to 26,640 Erlang.
Assuming 70% utilization of Radio capacity in BH, traffic = 18,648 Erlang
Transcoder should be catered for supporting 18,648 Erlang of traffic. Transcoder

utilization. Taking 742 Erlang/TCSM, no of TCSM required is 25 nos of 32E1
capacity
38
9.3
Pool configurations
At present following pools are being used in the network
CIRCUIT POOL NO 7
FR speech version 1
FR speech version 2
FR data (12, 6, 3.6 kbit/s)
HR speech version 1
HR data (6, 3.6 kbit/s)
CIRCUIT POOL NO 23
FR speech version 3
HR speech version 3
9.3.1 Trigger points for enhancement

When AMR pool reaches 100% utilization, additional capacity to be added into
AMR pool from EFR.
When EFR pool is 90% utilized, then additional TCU or new TCSM is to be
planned.
Note:
Transcoder are not required for NSN circles with R4 deployment. NSN circles with
core in R4 deployed, above transcoder guidelines will not be applicable
39
10Site Planning
Radio planning
10.1
Radio coverage is frequently perceived to be the most important measurement for

network quality. Radio coverage planning plays a major role in GSM network
planning, because it decides extent of coverage area, speech quality, mobility and
customer satisfaction. Various forms of inputs and limitations from the customer in
terms of spectrum availability, network dimensions, frequency planning, network
growth, local wireless regulations and finally the RF environment itself plays an
important role in coverage planning. The approach for the coverage plan needs to
be well defined since, it requires to accommodate various phases of network growth
across time without any compromise on service quality goal. Some of the major
steps involved in the cell planning are shown in figure below.
Traffic &
coverage
analysis
System
tuning
Cell
Planning
Process
Implement
ation
System
design
Nominal
cell plan
Surveys
Site Planning Consists of Three stages:

Pre - Planning
Oriented at support from Customer Account Team.

Involves BoQ finalization
40
Nominal Planning
Decide Planning Strategy & Set Criteria for Planning

Prepare Nominal Coverage Plans
Detailed Planning
Site Surveys
Finalize Site Locations & Physical Parameters
Finalize Cell Configuration & Capacity
Prepare final Coverage Plots
Prepare Frequency Plans & Set Parameters
Perform Pre-launch Optimization
Site Implementation Data
Site Implementation Report
Site Integration Data
Site Verification Report
41
10.2
Transmission network planning

Consists of Three stages:
Pre - Planning
Oriented at support Customer Account Team.
Involves BoQ finalization
Nominal Planning
Decide Planning Strategy & Set Criteria for Planning

Prepare Nominal Transmission Plans (Network Topology)
Finalize BSC Locations
Detailed Planning
Site Surveys
Finalize Site Locations & Physical Parameters
Finalize Link Configuration & Capacity
Prepare final PCM Plans
Prepare Frequency Plans & Set Parameters
Pre - planning
10.3
Contains Network Dimensioning & System Configuration

BoQ is Finalised based on the inputs from the customer
Subscriber Forecast
Total Erlang to be built in the year
Traffic / User during Busy Hour (mErl)
VLR / HLR Ratio
BBH / NBH Ratio
Utilization Factor
Half Rate Usage Guidelines
New Towns to be covered
Subscribers forecast for the new towns
GPRS Data
Traffic in Hot Spots
Coverage Requirements
Frequency Spectrum
Network Availability for designing Transmission Network
Availability of leased lines if any
42
10.4
Blocking Probabilities
Nominal Planning
Performance of existing network is analyzed

methods to rectify critical issues are identified
Nominal Coverage Plot is generated
Antenna System & Site Configurations are defined
Tentative Transmission Network Topology is drawn
MSC & BSC locations are defined
Nominal Plan is generated based on the Following Inputs
No. of BTS to be deployed
TRX Configurations
Coverage requirements as defined in Pre-planning
Frequency Planning Strategy
Network Performance Data
Inputs on use of Special Features
Inputs on Use of Ancillary Equipment (TMA, TMB, etc)
Repeaters must avoided as far as possible
Results of Nominal Planning
Nominal Coverage Plan

Nominal Co-ordinate in UTM format
Site Code
Physical Parameters of the Site (Antenna Ht, Orientation, Tilt, etc)
Transmission Network Diagram
Media Selection
Capacity Requirement
2 Mb/s Plan & TS Plan
10.4.1 Pre-Survey / SARF

Tentative site locations & search rings are given.
Planning Team & Sales agree on the Coverage requirement and sign on the
area map
Hot Spots to be covered
Area to be covered
Preliminary checks are done in the planning tool to identify possible LoS
43
SARF
10.4.2
Site Survey
Enables the planners to familiarize themselves with actual clutter / terrain

At least three preferred candidates to be identified
Obstructions to be check in all directions.
Panoramic photographs of the LoS is a must
Line of site to be check for all radio links
Preferred tower/pole locations to be identified & sketched
Make changes to proposed Nominal plan if necessary
Site Survey Report
10.4.3 Site Acquisition Report

Provided by the Site Acquisition coordinator to the Planning Team based on the
SARF & contains
Site Code
Correct Site Address
Building Height
SARF map indicating the site
Sketch of Roof area
Access to roof Photos
SAR is rejected / redone if information is incomplete
If all candidates are rejected, another option is found. This means
Changing the search ring if required
Revisiting the area
Redoing certain adjacent sites along with the revised SARF
GPS Co-ordinates, Addresses and Photos are a must for all options
SAR
10.4.4 Site Pre-Validation

Site candidates from SAR are prioritized and acceptance / rejection is given
accordingly
Can also be done based on SARF Pre-visiting of sites needs to be done
Planners are recommended to visit the site before this report is generated
44
Desktop Pre-validation is allowed only if the planner is extremely familiar

with the area
Following information is checked while selecting the candidates
Clutter type / Terrain
Coverage requirements in the area
Capacity requirements in the area
Map studies to confirm LoS
Surrounding Area
Site Location in itself
Antenna Locations
Cable Lengths
Obstructions in the main lobe of the antenna
Site Pre-validation
Report
10.4.5 Technical Site Survey Report
Run for all active candidates in descending order of priority for the given
site
Representatives from all departments should be present during this
exercise
Planners would perform all required verification / tests
Check / review LoS
Antenna Height & Orientations
Radio Propagation Measurements (if needed)
Structural stability of the candidate
Capture information about other operators details in the same site if any
Co-siting
Photographs are a must (every 30deg starting from 0deg and obstructions
if any)
TSSR
10.4.6
Site Validation & Deviation

Done together with all relevant departments
Antenna System configuration is frozen
All site drawing are prepared
In case the site falls outside the search ring of RF Planner or does not meet
the design criteria, the planners prepare a site deviation form and get it signed
by the concerned parties responsible
the deviation along with all other
members of the TSSR
45
Site Deviation form
10.5
Detailed Network Planning
Starts as and when a site is acquired

Objective is to fix various Radio & TRS related parameters with the following
- Site locations
- Type of equipment
- Configurations
- Use of special features
Final Coverage plan is generated
Final Capacity is also generated
Frequency Plan is finalized
Interference analysis are performed & Interference plots are generated
Parameters are planned
Transmission plan is frozen
2 Mb/s plan is finalized
Transmission network Capacity & Topology plans are generated
10.5.1 Radio Planning

Coverage Plan
Contracted Site Locations
Antenna Directions
Cable Losses
Antenna Types
Antenna Heights
Indoor Coverage Plan
Outdoor Coverage Plan
Special BSS Features used
Capacity Plan
Contracted Site Locations
Dynamic Hot Spots
Verified Hot Spots
Additional Fill-in sites if required
46
Frequency Plan
Allocated Spectrum
Frequency Hopping
Band for different layers
Plan for different layers
Reuse Pattern
Measurements
Location Areas
BSIC Planning
Special BSS Features used
Interference Analysis
Adjacencies
Spectrum distribution
Hopping Frequencies
Guard Bands
Parameter Planning
Default set of parameters are defined
Emphasis on creating the correct parameters given by the planner to avoid
frequent optimisation later
Includes the following parameters
BSC, BTS, Cell, TRX Identification parameters
a) LAC
b) Cell Selection / Re-selection parameters
c) Handover parameters
d) Power Control parameters
e) Adjacent Cell parameters
f) Control of advanced system failures
Traffic distribution between layers to get optimal results
Handovers to be minimised to reduce load
10.5.2
Transmission Planning
(detailed guidelines to be issued by VF corporate Transmission team)
Microwave Link Planning

Performance calculations are made
Path Profile analysis is done
Frequency planning
Required Repeater locations are identified
LoS surveys are performed both on maps & on actual links
Results of this would include
a) Antenna heights and sizes
b) Antenna directions
47
c)
d)
e)
Power levels (Tx / Rx)

Hop lengths
Performance calculations
2 Mb/s Planning
Traffic Routing across various nodes is done
Defines the traffic route through base stations / access network on a 2

Mb/s level
a) Transmission Network diagram on a 2 Mb/s level
b) Time slot & Cross-connect Planning
c) Time Slot usage is defined at the transport link
d) Needed branching and Cross-connections are planned
e) Time Slot allocation of transmission links
f) Branching & Cross-connection tables for the equipment with crossconnect functionality
Synchronisation Network Planning
Synchronisation plan is prepared based on the following inputs
Network infrastructure
Network architecture
National Clock distribution information
Timing sources & hierarchy level definitions

Network timing distribution definitions
Management Network Planning

Knowledge on management regions, existing infrastructure & detailed
transmission network
implementation plan are the input. Results would
include network management diagram including
Information on management buses

Addressing of Managed Equipment
10.5.3 Co-site Planning

Extra care to be taken by the planner in this situation
Possible interference from other carriers to be analysed
Antenna heights & locations should be proposed in such a way that they
do not obstruct each other
Site visit along with Radio Planner is a must
48
10.6
Site Implementation Data
Upon completion of detailed planning, planning team provides the implementation data
to the following personnel
Logistics coordinator
Implementation Engineer
BSC Engineer
Planning team should ensure that data on the same site is being given to the various
departments
10.6.1 Site Implementation Report

Submitted to the planning team by the implementation teams so that they can verify if
the site has been implemented in accordance with the plan
Care should be taken to implement the site in strict accordance with the
plan to avoid frequent optimisation and network degradation
Drive test teams are deputed based on this form
If changes are made to the original plan between the time implementation
data was released and actual implementation, latest information to be
shared with all the teams
10.6.2 Site Integration Data

During Site Implementation phase or immediately afterwards, Planning & BSC
teams will create the site in the BSC database correctly
Planning team provides the Site Integration Data to the BSC / OSS team. It
contains of
RF parameters
Neighbour relations
Necessary PCM information
10.6.3 Site Verification

After site integration, drive test teams perform drive tests and check the following
Coverage of the planned site
Call set-up & Call hold
HO Performance
Interference in the neighbourhood
Drive test teams should carry a coverage plot of the area and it is mandatory that a
rigger must accompany the team.
Physical optimisation if any should be done before the site is put on air
49
Physical optimisation of neighbouring cells should also necessarily be performed

before the site is put on air
The Planner also checks the dump from the BSC / OSS to ensure that the site has
been created with the correct parameter settings
Any anomalies found should be immediately reported by the planner and he gets it
rectified
50
10.7
Site passive infrastructure sharing (with other operator)
GSM Antenna: 900 MHz and 1800 MHz antenna shall be placed at least 0.3m
distance.
GSM Antenna and CDMA Antenna: Vertical Antenna Separation of 3m is
recommended.
BTS Equipments inside the Shelter can be placed next to each other.
Feeder Cable laying shall be done in such a way that no Sharp bends are observed.
No compromise on this aspect is allowed.
Future Capacity Enhancement requirement shall be considered while sharing the sites.
Space for at least one additional cabinet for our Own BTS be available after sharing.
Sharing Partners Future expansion plan shall be considering before accepting
Technical Feasibility.
51
11 Capacity planning
11.1
Capacity Requirements
mErl/sub Calculations
Offered radio erlang capacity per subscriber to be calculated taking into
consideration following parameters.
BBH / NBH Ratio

VLR (Active) / Marketing subscribers
NBH Erlang traffic / VLR (Active)
% NBH Radio capacity utilisation
% Half Rate traffic in NBH
Data network capacity (dedicated only)
Following formula to be used for offered Erlang capacity calculations
NBH Traffic
VLR (Active)
BBH Traffic
Offered mErl/Sub = ----------------- x ----------------- x --------------VLR (Active)
Reported subs
NBH Traffic
_________________________________________ x (1 + % Data config)
(% Radio NBH utilization)
Definitions of various parameters used in the formula:
NBH Traffic: Maximum value of radio traffic in 1 hour across 24 Hrs a day. The
hour to be considered will be same across all BSCs in that network.
In each hour of the day, radio traffic recorded from each BSC will be aggregated
across the network. The hour (out of 24 Hrs) in which this aggregated radio traffic
value is highest will be the NBH traffic value.
BBH Traffic: This is the aggregation of maximum radio traffic carried by each cell
in the network in its busy 1 hour of the day.
VLR (Active): It is equal to VLR (Attached- own) + In roamers into the network. It
is to be taken at the NBH time period of the day.
52
Reported Subs: It is the number of subscribers reported by marketing.
Data Configuration: It is percentage dedicated data capacity defined across the

network. Recommended value for this parameter is 8%.
Radio NBH Utilization %: It is the radio capacity utilization (FR) calculated in the
NBH time of the date. It varies from 50% - 75% across circles. Recommended
value is 70%.
Example:
Assumptions:
NBH Traffic
BBH Traffic
VLR (Active)
Reported Subs
Data config %
Radio NBH Util %
: 40,000 Erlang
: 51,000 Erlang
: 1,400,100 subs
: 1,800,500 subs
: 6%
: 70%
Ratios calculated are:

BBH/NBH Ratio
NBH/VLR (Active)
VLR (Active)/Mktg Subs
: 1.275
: 28.57 mEr/sub
: 0.78
mErl/sub (offered) = 28.57 x 0.78 x 1.275 x 1.08

----------------------------------------------- = 43.83 mErl/sub
0.7
11.2
Capacity rollout tracking

Monthly tracking of capacity forecasted / budgeted & actual rolled out is to be
followed. Attached is the template for the same.
Capacity tracker
53
12Network enhancement features

12.1 Coverage enhancement solutions
With a view to get the maximum coverage out of current sites before a new site is
planned, especially in suburban/rural areas, following are some of the main features
to be considered for capex savings into budget as per their applicability:
12.1.1 ICE (Intelligent Coverage Enhancement)

This feature helps in maintaining same coverage footprint even when BTS site
capacity is enhanced from 2/2/2 upto 4/4/4. Useful for rural areas where coverage
shrinks due to 3rd TRX addition.
12.1.2 SRC (Smart Radio Concept)

This uses 2 TRX units in single density mode and provides coverage extension on
highways/rural areas by upto 3 Kms depending on terrain. Hence a 4/4/4 site can be
configured as a 2/2/2 site with higher coverage levels with a TMA in the uplink. But
this solution should be restricted to areas where capacity requirements are less than
2/2/2 for at least 6 months. For capacities more than 2/2/2, this solution is not
commercially viable.
54
55
12.1.3 Two (2) Port Antenna Combiner By-pass

Description
2 Port regular antennas can be used in combiner by-pass mode to gain 3dB power in the
Link Budget. Coverage footprint increased with this implementation. Solution can be used in
rural area, towns with single site and up to 2 TRXs per sector.
Implementation
By-pass the combiner of 2 TRXs & provide direct Tx/Rx inputs to Antenna
Port
Dependencies
Regular 2 Port antenna required
Advantages
Gain of 3dB in Link Budget

Enhanced coverage footprint for Rural Single site towns
Recommendations
Use of 2 Port Regular Antennas for Sector up to 2 Trx in Combiner Bypass
mode.
Use 4 Port Antenna for More than 2 Trx Sector to keep the Trx in Uncombined
mode
2 Port Antenna (Combiner Bypass)
Tx1
Tx2
56
12.1.4 Four (4) Port Antenna Combiner By-pass

Description
4 Port antennas can be used in combiner by-pass mode to gain 3dB power in the Link
Budget. Coverage footprint increased with this implementation. Solution can be used in
rural area, sites with 3 and 4 TRXs per sector.
Implmentation
By-pass the combiner of 3-4 TRXs & provide direct Tx/Rx inputs to
Antenna Port
Dependencies
4 Port antenna required
Advantages
Gain of 3dB in Link Budget

Enhanced Coverage footprint for Rural single Site towns
Savings on pole mount with use of 4 Port Antenna
No loss of coverage moving from uncombined 2/2/2 configuration to
Higher configuration of 4/4/4
Recommendations
Use of 4 Port Antenna for sector having more than 2 Trx up to 4 Trx in
Combiner Bypass mode
4 Port Antenna (Combiner Bypass)
Tx1
Tx2
Tx3
Tx4
57
12.1.5 High Gain Antenna [20dBi, 65]

Description
20dBi, 65 High Gain antennas can be used to increase coverage footprint in rural and
Highway/Railway sites. High Gain antennas can provide up to 6dB gain in link budget
with combiner by-pass mode.
Implmentation
Implement 20dBi High Gain antenna in either Combine mode or
Combiner By-pass Mode
Dependencies
20dBi High Gain Antenna Required
Advantages
Up to 6dB Gain in Link Budget

Enhanced coverage footprint for Rural Single site towns
Recommendations
Use of 20dBi High Gain Antenna
with combiner bypass for <2 TRX sector
with combiner for >2 TRX sector
20dBi High Gain Antenna
Tx1
Tx2
58
12.1.6
TMA
TMA to be used on for sites in suburban/rural areas where BTS downlink power
is enhanced using special techniques as discussed in section 7 above. Typically
link budget is balanced within 5 dB with default configuration deployment. Dual
Duplexed TMA units only to be used.
12.1.7 TMB
TMB provides Gain I both directions (uplink & downlink) and hence is to be used
only when there is a requirement to increase coverage footprint while
maintaining the link budget balance. It is mostly used in in- building solutions
where micro BTS is used for coverage.
It is not recommended for macrosites in view of higher cost involved.
12.1.8 Tower Top BTS

In a macrosite link budget, typically a 3dB feeder loss is considered. However in
locations where coverage enhancement is critical like in highway locations, BTS
equipment can be installed on top of tower to avoid 3 dB feeder loss. This will
result in coverage enhancement and also capex saving on account of feeder.
However due to higher tower loading involved, such solutions are recommended
to use micro BTS solutions like Metrosite & mini-Ultra models.
12.1.9 Repeaters
GSM Repeater systems are typically used in following
To extend coverage beyond BTS footprint
To improve in-building coverage in urban areas.
To create a dominant channel in an area to improve C/I and hence quality
Repeater types (based on power)
Low power repeaters (upto + 16 dBm output)
Medium power repeaters ( upto + 27 dBm output)
High power repeaters ( more than +27 dBm output)
Repeater types (based on application)
59
Pico repeaters (for home applications)

Multi band repeaters
Frequency shift repeaters
Channel selective repeaters (do not support freq hopping)
Band selective repeaters
OFC fed repeaters (with separate central & remote heads)
Recommended vendors for various repeater models are as per Hutch

recommendations. However Frequency shift repeaters are not recommended in view
of disadvantaged cost model w.r.t micro BTS solutions.
60
12.2
Abis Compression solution
Detailed
field
evaluation of Abis
compression solutions
offered by various
vendors is carried out.
Salient features of the
solution are:
Maximum
2:1
compression
is
obtained (in view
of
Abis
links
already
compressed
by
4:1)
Upto 100 Erlangs
traffic
per
compressed link
possible. 24 TRXs
or more can be
mapped onto 1
E1, depending on total carried traffic.

Data calls supported (GPRS & EDGE)
AMR & HR supported.
No perceivable MOS deterioration observed at peak traffic on the compressed
link.
Solution is BSS vendor specific, in view of proprietary Abis configuration. Testing
completed on Nokia and Ericsson Abis only.
NMS available
Considering the current TRAI guidelines on leased bandwidth charges and also
prevailing discounts offered by various NLD providers, use of this solution is
recommended for following cases:
Where additional E1 capacity for either new sites or existing capacity

enhancements is not available from any BW vendor.
Where minimum of 2E1 links are required / used currently.
61
Where chargeable distance is at least 100 Kms.
However this solution is not to be used for links with 6 or more E1s currently used or
required within 1 year in view of lower bandwidth charges for higher E1 links.
62
12.3
VSAT Abis connectivity
This solution for Abis connectivity is recommended only if all of the following
conditions are met:
BTS configuration shall not exceed 4/4/4 (including all chained sites to parent
VSAT site)
At least two or more microwave repeater stations needed to connect BTS from
the nearest Hutch site.
No leased bandwidth available from any vendor at least for next 1 year.
Data traffic not required. (VSAT cannot support data calls in current software
version). However, SMS is supported.
Space for installation of 2.4 Mts diameter VSAT antenna with clear sky visibility
at site.
Remote
Site
ABIS
Central
Office
MS
C
E1
s
BS
C
E
1
SAT
Modem
Optimization box
E
1
BT
S
SAT
Modems
Remote
Site
SAT
Modem
1:2 Abis optimisation

equipment
Optimization box
E
1
BT
S
Recommendation:
Based on the current cost structure of VSAT system for GSM Abis, at least 15 VSAT
remote sites per central Hub in a circle network are required to make this system
cost effective, both in terms of Capex & Opex.
In current regulatory environment for VSAT approvals, a lead time of at least 6
months to be considered for commercial launch from the date of PO.
63
12.4
Mobile BTS station
Following pros and cons of this system are to be considered:

Pros:
Provide short term coverage and capacity in hot spots like convention
centers, exhibition grounds and sports complexes where a permanent
site is not required / possible due to various reasons.
Provide short term capacity & coverage in areas where new site
implementations are delayed due to various reasons.
To study subscriber response in a suburban/rural area before
committing a new BTS site. << good for circle operations >>
Can be used as testing Lab for new BTS products or features before
implementing network wide.
Cons:
Need sufficient parking space to install the system and also require
advance coordination with local agencies.
They are prone to accidents if not properly handled and installed.
Require LOS to nearest cell site. Difficult in CBD areas with high rise
buildings.
64
GSM Frequency plan changes required at short notice in neighboring

sites to bring up the mobile BTS.
Require to arrange a vehicle to pull the trolley to the parking slot.
Sufficient planning required on route taken to move the trolley. Narrow
and temporary roads with low height over bridges cannot be used.
SACFA approval for temporary siting and height clearance required.
Site may add localized microwave interference due to short term
addition of new hop into the network.
Need sufficient training for BSS team to install the tower
May not be used throughout the year, leading to a non-performing asset
in the network.
Recommendation:
To take a decision based on above considerations.
65
13 Energy Saving Guidelines

13.1
ULTRA EDGE BTS
13.1.1 Shiner Frisco Trx

Description
Re arrange Shiner TRX as BCCH and Frisco TRX as non BCCH e.g. TRX 1,5,9 in
4/4/4 Ultra can be Shiners and rest all can be Frisco. These TRX can be configured
as "preferred BCCH TRX" in the BSC. BCCH TRX always radiates at full power. The
reduction in power consumption comes from Frisco TRX in which the PA is shut
down in idle time
Implementation
Simple implementation with re-arranging the Shiner & Frisco Trxs.

Identification of Shiner & Frisco TRX
Log into the BTS Manager
Pickup HW version data for the BTS as Shown in Text A
Seek the Version numbers of the Trx in Use
FRISCO TRX : Version 209 and above
SHINER TRX: Version up to 208
66
Dependencies
Shiner/Frisco TRXs required
Advantages
Frisco consumes less power than shiner TRXs
Utilizes Idle time PA shutdown in Frisco Trx
Lowers power consumption of the BTS
Savings of up to 30 w per Trx
Recommendation
Rearrange Shiner TRX as BCCH & Frisco in TCH in Ultra Site to lower
the power consumption of BTS.
67
13.1.2 LTCD (Low Traffic Controlled Disconnect)

Description
In large installations where more than 1 cabinet is used to form a cell it is
often the case that at times of low traffic a single cabinet offers sufficient capacity.
The 2nd cabinet is hence surplus to requirements and can be turned off in order to
save power from the mains supply. A solution has been devised which utilizes a
modified LVLD switch which is placed in the 48V supply line to the BTS cabinet
and the Calendar SW tool in the BSC to switch of a 2 nd auxiliary or slave cabinet
under the control of the Master cabinet.
LTCD Hardware Specification
Dimension (HxWxD in mm)
Weight (Kgs)
Volume (Ltr)
300x230x110 mm
2 Kgs
7.6 Ltr
Implementation
LTCD box to be installed between power system and the two Ultra Site
cabinets
Dependencies
The solution can only be used when more than 1 cabinet is used, the
cabinet which is turned off to save power will not usable and should not carry any
traffic which cannot be turned off. It is expected that all BCCHs and traffic while
moved onto the Master cabinet before the 2nd cabinet is turned off.
It is important to note that the cabinet which has been turned off will have none of
its environmental control systems running during the period it has no power
applied to it. In outdoor applications particularly in areas of high humidity there is a
risk that the inside of the cabinet may go past the dew point as it cools and water
droplets may form inside the cabinet. If this is likely to be the case then the
extreme conditions gasket kit (469996A - D-CONNECTOR ENHANCEMENT KIT)
should be added to the cabinet.
The BSC command calendar executes events based on the system time. If the
BTS is not operational when the calendar is due to either turn on or turn off the 2 nd
cabinet then the event will not occur until 24 hours later. It is important that if the
master cabinet is being reset or is off line when the event is due (particularly the
turn on command) that the command is manually activated by the engineer who
has been working on the master cabinet.
Advantages
68
Power savings based on the expansion cabinet Trx Loading

For a 8/8/8 site with LTCD, 50% savings in power consumption during
Traffic Lean Hrs
Recommendation
Identify Low Traffic Periods at Night
Implement an External Switch connecting Expansion Cabinet to Main
Cabinet
Run a Script for the BTS to switch off in the Lean Traffic Window set in the
Script.
Ensure The Cabinet switches on at the end of the Time Window specified
69
13.1.3 Hybrid Solution (Ultra 2/2/2 to Flexi 4/4/4)

Description
Expand existing 2/2/2 Ultra BTS to 4/4/4 with 2/2/2 Flexi in the lower half of
the same cabinet. The Flexi dTRXs can be shut down in low traffic hours.
Existing Ultra site Cabinet
Expand existing 2/2/2 Ultra site with

2/2/2 Flexi
FMUB to be installed along with the new
RF cables
Possibility to power down the Flexi
DTRXs in low traffic hours gives around
120 W saving per site
Feasibility study ongoing by using Ultra
Multi couplers (without Flexi DDUs)
Implementation
Trained BTS engineer needed on site insert the expansion kit and rearrange
the TRXs
Dependencies
The configuration needs to be standardized and tested in all future releases
Complex Cabling & O&M activity
Hardware Kit Required to install flexi BTS
Advantages
120 w Savings in power consumption with respect to 4/4/4 Ultra Site
consumption
Ease of Implementation within the same cabinet
Recommendation
Use of up to 2/2/2 Flexi for Expansion of 2/2/2 Ultra Site
Flexi Expansion Module placement within unused space in the Ultra Site
Itself
Most Suitable for Expansion from 2/2/2 to up to 4/4/4 saving both Space
and power.
70
13.1.4 Co-Siting Solution (Ultra 4/4/4 to Flexi 6/6/6)

Description
Flexi EDGE can serve as an extension for Ultra Site cabinet. TRXs from both the
BCFs can be combined in same sector or the TRXs can be re arranged so that all Flexi
EDGE TRXs are in the same sector.
2 x UltraSite EDGE BTS
UltraSite EDGE BTS +

Flexi EDGE BTS
GSM/EDGE 6+6+6
GSM/ EDGE 4+4+4
GSM / EDGE 2+2+2
GSM/ EDGE 6+6
GSM / EDGE 6
Implementation
It would be just like Multi BCF with 2 Ultra Site cabinets.
Dependencies
Enables modernization with the latest product. All latest Flexi EDGE features can
be used in the Flexi BCF.
Advantages
120W Savings in power consumption with respect to 4/4/4 Ultra Site
Use of single Synchronization cable between cabinets
Recommendation
Use of up to 2/2/2 Flexi for Expansion of 4/4/4 Ultra Site
Flexi Expansion Module(2/2/2) co-sited with Ultra site(4/4/4)
Most Suitable for Expansion from 4/4/4 to up to 6/6/6 saving power.
.
71
13.2
FLEXI EDGE BTS
1. Script Based TRX Shutdown

Description
Flexi EDGE dTRU cab be switched off during low traffic period. The Time window
should be identified for low traffic hours and script needs to be activated in OSS to
shutdown the dTRU. Approx 295 to 335 W power saving observed per dTRU
shutdown.
Implementation
Time Window needs to identify based on traffic pattern and Script should be
activated in OSS.
Dependencies
Script based TRX Shutdown and Antenna Hopping feature can work
together after following modification only.
Configuration at BSC
BTS-1: TX1 and TX2 on separate antennas

BTS-2: TX3 and TX 4 on separate antennas
SEG-1
BCCH
BTS-1
BTS-2
TRX1
TRX2
TRX3
TRX4
DTRX 1
DTRX 2
TRX 1 is the BCCH TRX

BTS 2 is locked prior to locking DTRX 2 (TRX 3 and 4) using a script *due of antenna
hopping in use*
TRX 1 and TRX 2 continue to be working on separate antennas with antenna hopping
see next slide
Reconfiguration for TX cabling on site

TX 1 and TX 3 on Antenna 1
TX 2 and TX 4 on antenna 2
DTRX 2 (TRX 3 and 4) to be powered off during low traffic hours
DTRX 1 will supply power to DDU
TRX 1 will be on Antenna 1 and TRX 2 will be on antenna 2 -> antenna hopping can
still be used
72
DTRX 2(TRX 3 &

4)
TX 3
TX 1
Antenna 2
TX 4
TX 2
DTRX 1(TRX 1 &

2)
Advantages
Approx 10% Savings in power consumption with script based Trx shutdown.
Recommendation
Use of Script to force calls onto BCCH Trx from TCH Trx
On TCH getting freed, switches off P.A of TCH Trx
Identify Lean traffic period for Flexi BTS
Activate script for the BTS in BSS with time window set.
Switch off & switch on of dTRU based on timings set in Time window.
73
14Network Optimisation
The network optimization process consists of the network performance evaluation and
the subsequent actions to improve them. The main tools used for network
optimization belong to three classes:
planning tools
radio measurements tools (drive test and propagation)
OMC data analysis
14.1
Key Performance Indicators
To evaluate the performance of a network it is necessary to define some reference

values, the so-called KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). KPIs are calculated after a
post processing of NMS data or drive test measurement data. Usually one short-term
target and one long-term target are defined for each KPI.
Every network produces periodically a report with the KPIs status to check the
network evolution and which targets are achieved and which not, this leads to the
definition of new action points to improve the poorest indicators. KPIs calculated with
NMS data, represent the network performance from the system side. KPIs from drive
test figure out the performance on the subscribers side. Usually network quality is
evaluated according to some predefined KPIs figures like drop call rate and average
downlink quality.
The most reliable KPIs to evaluate the network performance with NMS are:
Drop call rate [%], which is the percentage of call ended without a subscriber request
SDCCH and TCH congestion time, which is the sum of the partial time when all the
resources of a cell are busy in the reference period (1 hour usually).
Call set-up success rate, which is the percentage of call attempts that leads to a TCH
seizure.
Handover failure and/or success rate [%], which is the percentage of handover failure or
handover success in the reference period.
Average quality DL and UL, which is the mean value of all the quality samples uplink
and downlink.
Blocking percentage [%], which is the percentage of call attempts failure due to lack of
capacity resource
All these figures can be collected on different network element basis (TRX, Cell, BTS,
BSC, PLMN).
74
Drive Test Measurements

Drive test measurements and their analysis is a powerful means to evaluate
network performance from the subscriber point of view. It is possible to collect
some KPIs information like DL quality, call success rate, handover success
rate, DL signal level from the drive test results, but the results are not
statistically as reliable as NMS information. The real adding value of drive test
measurement compared to NMS data analysis is the following information:
find out the geographical position of problems like bad DL quality to look for a
possible interference source in the area
compare the performance of different networks
display the signal level on the digital maps to individuate areas with lack of
coverage and eventually improve the propagation model
verify the neighbour list parameter plan.
There are no strict processes for optimization because the activity is driven by the
network evolution.
Optimization Targets
In a new town launch area, the primary target is normally the coverage. In this phase,
usually there is a massive use of drive test measurement both to check the signal and
the performance of the network
In a capacity driven network the primary targets are quality indicators like drop call
rate, average quality, handover failures. In this phase, it is very important use the
information from NMS because they give a general view of the network performance.
Drive test measurements are still used but not in a massive way, they are performed
in areas where new sites are on air, or where interference and similar problems are
pointed out by NMS data analysis.
75
The targets value, measurement time and measurement period for our network is
shown below:
KPI
Top Cities
Rest of NW
Measurement
Time
Target
Measureme
nt Period
Top
Cities
Rest of NW
Switch KPI
Successful Call Rate (NBH)
Paging Success Rate per MSC (NBH)
Network Availability (Switch)
Network Availability (IN)
SS7 Signaling Load (NBH)
Network Busy Hour

Network Busy Hour
24 Hours
24 Hours
Network Busy Hour
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
>=99%
>=92%
>=99.99%
>=99.99%
<=40%
Network level KPI

SDCCH Completion Rate (NBH)
TCH Completion Rate (NBH)
Handover Success Rate (NBH)
SDCCH Assignment Success (NBH)
TCH Assignment Success (NBH)
RX Quality DL (0-5) (NBH)
Radio Network Availability
Network Busy
Network Busy
Network Busy
Network Busy
Network Busy
Network Busy
24 Hours
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
>=98.8%
>=98.5%
>=97%
>=99.5%
>=98%
>=97%
>=99.95%
>=99.5%
Hour
Hour
Hour
Hour
Hour
Hour
Cell Level KPI (% of cells meeting KPI)

SDCCH Completion Rate
(BBH) >98%
TCH Completion Rate
(BBH) >=98%
Handover Success Rate
(BBH) >= 95%
SDCCH Assignment
Success (BBH) >=99%
TCH Assignment
Success (BBH) >= 97%
RX Quality DL (0-5)
(BBH) >=96%
Random Access Success
Rate (BBH) >=95%
SDCCH Completion Rate

(BBH) >98%
TCH Completion Rate
(BBH) >=97.5%
Handover Success Rate
(BBH) >= 95%
SDCCH Assignment
Success (BBH) >=99%
TCH Assignment Success
(BBH) >= 97%
RX Quality DL (0-5)
(BBH) >=94%
Random Access Success
Rate (BBH) >=95%
Bouncing
hour
Bouncing
hour
Bouncing
hour
Bouncing
hour
Bouncing
hour
Bouncing
hour
Bouncing
hour
Busy
Busy
Busy
Busy
Busy
Busy
Busy
Daily
>=95%
>=90%
Daily
>=95%
>=90%
Daily
>=95%
>=90%
Daily
>=95%
>=90%
Daily
>=95%
>=90%
Daily
>=95%
>=90%
Daily
>=95%
>=90%
EDHE / GPRS KPI
76
EDGE DL Average Throughput per TBF (DBH)
Data Busy Hour
Daily
GPRS DL Average Throughput per TBF (DBH)

TBF Success Rate (DBH)
Data Busy Hour

Data Busy Hour
Daily
Daily
>=90
>=45
Kbps
Kbps
>=27 Kbps
>=93%
DL Multislot Assignment Success (DBH)
Data Busy Hour
Daily
>=95%
77
14.2
Performance Evaluation
Network Quality test for new coverage site / new town launch
Drive test is conducted before launching the network commercially for new towns. At
this stage, the default parameter set should be used for all sites. In addition to that,
the network planner gives the neighbor definitions for the site. The frequencies,
BSIC, LACs and BCC are also defined.
The purpose of the measurements is to verify that the basic parameters have been
given correctly and everything is functioning properly. This means that the
frequencies and handovers to all neighbors need to be checked. For this, radial
measurement routes into the neighbor cell areas have to be defined. In addition to
that the coverage range of the cell should be checked and compared with the
predicted one.
Performance / Drive Test

Performance tests represent the subscriber's view of the network. These
measurements are conducted in a live network on regular basis. During the
measurements, calls are generated e.g. every 2 minutes. The number of calls
should be high enough to be statistically reliable. A random route should be defined
once and used repeatedly for the measurements. This enables the comparison of
the measurement data and hence the development of the network can be traced.
The handover success rate, call set-up success rate and call completion success
rate can be obtained as a result from these measurements. This information is
secondary to the OMC information for the KPIs. However, performance
measurements give geographical information about the problem areas and hence
give additional information to the OMC data.
Optimization Process
An optimization process should not start without a previous Network Audit, in order
to state the starting point, that is, how is performing now the network that must be
optimized.
The Network Optimization itself could be divided in many ways, depending on the
criteria used. One extended criteria separates three main tasks: these are the
Parameters and Configurations Consistency Checks, the Performance Monitoring
and Reporting and the Performance Analysis and Troubleshooting. In a first phase,
this must be also the order or the three steps, but after a first iteration, all of them
must run in parallel and in a recurrent way.
78
As the output result of each round, the solutions found for the identified problems
and the improvements suggested must be put in form of Change Request for its
implementation in the network.
Network Audit
Change Request
Parameters &
Configurations
Network
Optimization
Performance
Monitoring
Performance
Analysis and
Troubleshooting
79
Parameters & Configurations Checks

The consistency of the network must be checked initially, before any monitoring or
analysis, and periodically during the whole duration of the project, so that it matches
the planned hardware configuration and parameter set. The checking list follows in
the paragraphs below. Obviously, some points have no sense in a project other than
a replacement; it is the case of the first one.
o
Hardware configuration vs plan:

Sector configuration: number of TRXs and output power. The OMC engineer
should check this
Antenna configuration: azimuth and tilt. To check by drive tests.
Software configuration vs. plan, and consistency of values:

Frequency plan. To check by drive tests and by consistency checks running in
Network Doctor
Adjacency plan. To check in the same way.
Parameter set. To check in the same way.
Alarm status: check that there are no critical and performance-affecting alarms in
any network element. The OMC engineer should check this using Network
Doctor (menu 1 Fault Management).
Parameter correctness, not in relation to the plan, but according to the different
strategies, using for example Network Doctor
Handover control and adjacencies strategy.
Power control strategy.
Dimensioning strategy (regarding signaling or GPRS capacity).
Active features correct implementation.
Traffic management strategy (between different layers, bands or cell types).
Performance Monitoring
o
Statistics monitoring, using any of the reporting tools mentioned before:

Collecting the selected target KPIs at region level, in order to identify the
generic problems, and to follow up the project objectives and for reporting
purposes.
Making worst cells lists, in order to detect the ones to focus the optimization in.
Collecting a wider range of performance reports and Performance Indicators at
cell level, for troubleshooting purposes.
80
Performance Analysis & Troubleshooting

Searching for specific problems and for ways to fix them is a continuous must,
both at area level and at specific cell level. The other permanent issue is trying to
find ways to improve crucial aspects of the network performance, namely the
overall Drop Call Rate or Blocking Rate, by means of, for example, activating
some feature or optimizing some parameter or dimensioning rule. A list of
mandatory steps follows below:
o Finding generic area problems, by means of statistical analysis. For example:
Wrong setting in handover thresholds.
Feature not working due to wrong parameter set.
Analysis of worst cells in the most critical indicators: using the Network Doctor
reports can identify them.
Dropped Call Rate.
Handover Failure Rate.
TCH/SDCCH Blocking Rate.
Identifying coverage problems, meaning both areas with bad coverage and
cells covering less or more than wanted: to check from drive tests.
Finding interference and bad quality: to check from drive tests for geographical
approach and from Network Doctor reports for cell specific approach.
Detecting adjacency problems: to check from detailed analysis of drive tests

and running Consistency Checks.
Missing neighbors.
Unnecessary or unwanted neighbors.
Incorrectly defined adjacencies.
Finding hardware problems: the effects can be detected from statistics, and
some from drive test analysis. Further checking on-site by the implementation
engineers is necessary.
Crossed sectors.
Mixed antenna lines.
Faulty units (TRXs, BBUs, etc).
Imbalance problems (e.g., due to ROE in cables or jumpers).
The last step of the performance analysis, and only in case it is included in the
scope of the project, is the traffic analysis and balance. The objective is to avoid
blocking situations and to get a homogeneous distribution of the traffic among
cells, or a traffic distribution according to the pre-defined traffic strategy between
layers or/and between frequency bands.
o
Analysis of worst cells:
81
o
o
TCH/SDCCH Congestion Time.

Cells with less traffic.
Detection of strong imbalances between sectors of same site and between
neighbor cells.
Unsatisfactory behavior of the different strategies of traffic distribution:
Macro layer micro layer umbrella layer.
Overlay layer underlay layer (if IUO is used).
GSM band DCS band.
Slow moving / fast moving MSs distribution.
Optimization Process Outputs

The whole optimization process must produce continuous and/or periodic results,
with a double objective: a number of Change Requests, for operational purposes,
and a periodic Performance Report, for follow-up purposes.
Change Requests
Right after producing a solution for a found problem a Performance engineer must
produce a Change Request for every change he wants to introduce in the network
in order to fix the mentioned problem. The possible changes requested can be:
o
Software changes:
Changing a frequency.
Changing a parameter.
Adding/deleting/correcting an adjacency definition.
Activating/deactivating a feature.
Hardware changes:
Modifying an antenna direction or tilt.
Checking and fixing a detected hardware problem.
CRF Format
CRF_CRF no_Circle
name_VEL_date
The full process from the CR form is produced until the changed is implemented
must be perfectly clear, as mentioned before. An example of procedure is shown
in the figure below.
82
Perf Eng
.
.
produces &
sends
Change Request
Operator NwP
Responsible
approvesCR
SW
Is ita SW
Or
HW
change?
OMC
Engineer
executesCR
and tracks change
HW
Implementation
Eng.executesCR
and tracks change
After making any major changes the network elements are to be kept
under observation for some time for any deteriorate in the network KPI.
Performance Reports
Performance Engineer has to produce a periodic Performance Report, in addition
to the final Performance Report. The periodic report, focused in the follow up and
the work in progress, could be weekly and should include most of the following
items:
o
o
o
o
o
o
Resume of the main KPIs, at circle Network level, for the reported period and
evolution from the beginning of the project.
List of worst cells for few critical KPIs, usually Drop Ratios and Block Ratios.
Graphs from the Drive Tests done (RxLev, RxQual, events), if agreed.
Resume of status of most critical active alarms.
Detected problems during the period.
Solutions: troubleshooting made.
The Final Performance Report will be more focused in summarizing the
Network
achievements of the established
Network
target KPI values. It could also include a resume
of the main troubleshooting works, grouped by type.
Extraction
Report
Performance MoEOSFLX
nitoring
EOSFLX andAnalysis
TMisc
ARGET
KPIs values
DTs plots
Solution Deployment
Interf.
& qual
Interferenc
e
Uplink
Downlink
Misc
el. e
Coverag
Coverage
Network
ha
nge
ss
NetworkCC
ha
nge
Capacity
Faults
Adjacencies Traf.distr. Redimensioning
Opera
tor Proc
ess
Orange
Process
83
ND reports
In the Nokia OSS ND reports can be generated to get the specific information
about network health. It provides ready-made textual reports for analyzing the
performance of the network. Reports are based on the collected from different
areas, such as configuration, performance and fault management with a special
focus on the needs of network planning and O&M. Reports support the network
operations scope from BSS level down to cell level The list of major ND reports
and its description is given Below
Report
Report 020
Report 023
Report 024
Report 025
Report 027
Report 030
Report 034
Report 035
Report 036
Report 041
Report 042
Report 043
Report 044
Report 045
Report 046
Report 047
Report 050
Report 051
Report 053
Report 054
Report 055
Report 060
Report 061
Report 062
Report 063
Report 065
Report 066
Report 067
Description
Report 020: Alarm statistics 221
Report 023: Alarm-specific statistics for each BTS 222
Report 024: Active BCCH missing alarms 223
Report 025: BTS alarm sum time by cells 224
Report 027: BTS outage breakdown over 10 days 159
Report 030: BSC alarm breakdown 158
Report 034: Alarm types and counts 218
Report 035: Alarm types and counts for BSC 219
Report 036: Number of alarms per object 221
Report 041: All base station sites per maintenance region 225
Report 042: All radio network sorted out by BSC, BCF, BTS 70
Report 043: All cells with LAC and CI 226
Report 044: Find BS sites having the given character string in the name 227
Report 045: Find cells having the given CI and LAC 227
Report 046: Find cells having an adjacent cell with the given CI and LAC 227
Report 047: Find cells having the given frequency 215
Report 050: Find locked BCFs, BTSs, TRXs and channels 103
Report 051: Find cells having GPRS enabled TRXs 266
Report 053: AMR parameters 288
Report 054: Segment configuration 210
Report 055: EGPRS parameters 270
Report 060: Adjacency discrepancies 76
Report 061: Non-symmetrical adjacencies 78
Report 062: Frequency check of adjacent cells 78
Report 063: BTS audit 93
Report 065: Adjacencies to non-existing or foreign cells 74
Report 066: Non-unique CI and LAC 82
Report 067: Handover synchronization 80
84
Report 068
Report 069
Report 070
Report 071
Report 072
Report 073
Report 074
Report 075
Report 076
Report 077
Report 078
Report
Report 068: BTS parameter survey 85

Report 069: Adjacent cell double frequencies 81
Report 070: BTSs with maximum number of adjacencies 94
Report 071: Cells with minimum number of adjacencies 94
Report 072: Defined, undefined and used adjacencies of a cell 98
Report 073: Undefined adjacent cells 99
Report 074: Adjacencies of cells 94
Report 075: BTSs with maximum number of adjacencies between LAs 100
Report 076: Adjacent cells having the same NCC, BCC and BCCH frequency 82
Report 077: BSC parameter survey 91
Report 078: BTS state conflict between BSC and MSC 104
Description
Report 080
Report 080: Number of named parameter sets 229
Report 081
Report 081: Named sets used 230
Report 082
Report 082: Allocation of a named set 231
Report 089
Report 089: BSC option statistics 207
Report 090
Report 090: Network configuration summary 68
Report 090
Report 090: Network configuration summary 205
Report 091
Report 091: Maintenance regions 207
Report 092
Report 092: BSCs 208
Report 093
Report 093: MSCs 208
Report 094
Report 094: HLRs 208
Report 095
Report 095: Base station sites of a maintenance region 209
Report 096
Report 096: Location areas 209
Report 097
Report 097: PLMNs 210
Report 099
Report 099: BCF software and hardware type statistics 212
Report 103
Report 103: Routing areas 266
Report 110
Report 110: Occurrence of frequencies 213
Report 111
Report 111: Frequency plan 101
Report 121
Report 121: First and last measurement record times for each BSC 56
Report 122
Report 122: Records for a measurement type, over BTS area 62
Report 124
Report 124: TCH and SDCCH observation records 63
Report 126
Report 126: Records for a measurement type, over BSC 55
Report 127
Report 127: Last BSS measurement record times 54
Report 130
Report 130: Cells having SDCCH congestion 133
Report 131
Report 131: Unavailability classification per BSC 177
Report 132
Report 132: Cells having SMS establishment failures 327
Report 134
Report 134: Cells having RACH rejections 326
Report 135
Report 135: Cells having TCH congestion 136
Report 138
Report 138: Cells having high TCH raw blocking 138
Report 139
Report 139: Cells having unavailable radio time slots 179
Report 150
Report 150: Cells having high HO failure ratio 122
Report 151
Report 151: Common BCCH, Multi-BCF HO 313
Report 153
Report 153: Adjacencies having high HO failure ratio 123
Report 154
Report 154: HO attempt cause distribution by cells 318
Report 155
Report 155: TRHO handovers (AMH) 124
85
Report 155
Report 155: TRHO handovers 307
Report 156
Report 156: DADLB handovers 125
Report 157
Report 157: Cells having high HO attempts/call ratio 326
Report 158
Report 158:Intra BSS HO observation statistics 309
Report 159
Report 159: WCDMA adjacencies having high HO failure ratio 310
Report 160
Report 160: TCH drop call statistics by days across area 111
Report 162
Report 162: TCH drop call statistics per day in each BSC 112
Report 163
Report 163: Cells having high TCH drop call ratio 114
Report 164
Report 164: Transcoder failures 324
Report
Description
Report 166
Report 166: SDCCH drop ratio per cell 108
Report 167
Report 167: Cells having high drop call count in handovers 327
Report 180
Report 180: TCH traffic ( Erlang) per hour for each BSC or MR 141
Report 181
Report 181: Daily TCH traffic profile for a BTS 147
Report 182
Report 182: Busy hour traffic for all cells 139
Report 183
Report 183: Low traffic cell check-up 324
Report 184
Report 184: BSC unit load for each BSC 148
Report 185
Report 185: Cells having maximum TCH traffic 144
Report 186
Report 186: Cells having maximum paging traffic 149
Report 187
Report 187: Cell location updates 149
Report 188
Report 188: Cells having peak RACH load 150
Report 189
Report 189: Cells sorted out by SDCCH or TCH holding time 150
Report 190
Report 190: Cells having UL interference, 24-hour/10-day breakdowns 187
Report 191
Report 191: Cells having bad link balance 302
Report 196
Report 196: UL and DL quality and UL interference per TRX, 24-hour/10- day breakdowns 295
Report 197
Report 197: UL and DL quality per TRX 296
Report 198
Report 198: Cells by dominant link balance range 305
Report 199
Report 199: Link balance of an area 301
Report 200
Report 200: Daily sums of traffic in report 200, Performance statistics (benchmark) 141
Report 202
Report 202: Cells having most delete indications and PImm. Ass.NACK 151
Report 203
Report 203: Location update success ratio per BSC 129
Report 205
Report 205: BTS GSM KPI/PI table, dynamic object and time aggregation 340
Report 206
Report 206: TRX level GSM KPI/PI table, dynamic time aggregation 341
Report 208
Report 208: Link balance per cell 304
Report 213
Report 213: Performance statistics 268
Report 215
Report 215: Availability per BSC unit 181
Report 217
Report 217: SDCCH, TCH and BSC out HO observation statistics 116
Report 220
Report 220: Clear code statistics 322
Report 221
Report 221: Base station site check 345
Report 222
Report 222: Call distribution per LA 142
Report 225
Report 225: Drop call trace 118
Report 226
Report 226: (E)GPRS KPIs 245
Report 228
Report 228: Cells by multislot requests and allocations 250
Report 229
Report 229: GPRS KPIs 241
Report 231
Report 231: Cells by dominant distance range 314
Report 232
Report 232: Distance range distribution per cell 315
Report 233
Report 233: Cells by M 306
Report 235
Report 235: GPRS counters 262
86
Report 236
Report
Report 236: Cells having max. HTCH traffic 233
Description
Report 237
Report 237: UL PS traffic 246
Report 238
Report 238: DL PS Traffic 247
Report 239
Report 239: Territory upgrade, downgrade 248
Report 240
Report 240: Frame relay, detailed 254
Report 241
Report 241: HSCSD counters 330
Report 242
Report 242: HSCSD KPIS 331
Report 243
Report 243: Frame relay, short 256
Report 244
Report 244: Distribution of call samples by codecs and quality classes, S10 (BER) 278
Report 245
Report 245: Distribution of call samples by codecs and quality classes, S10 (FER) 281
Report 246
Report 246: AMR call time and quality, dynamic time and object aggregation 282
Report 247
Report 247: Transcoder failure ratio 283
Report 248
Report 248: Codec set modification failure ratio 284
Report 249
Report 249: AMR counters summary 287
Report 250
Report 250: Cells by call success ratio 155
Report 251
Report 251: Call success profiles of a cell 156
Report 254
Report 254: TBF PI 252
Report 255
Report 255: PBCCH availability 272
Report 257
Report 257: Sleeping GPRS BTSs 276
Report 260
Report 260: Position Based Services (PBS) 290
Report 270
Report 270: Quality of service 273
Report 275
Report 275: EGPRS RLC statistics 267
Report 278
Report 278: WPS PI 333
Report 280
Report 280: Dynamic Abis 269
Report 400
Report 400: IUO counters of a cell 200
Report 401
Report 401: Cells by average traffic absorption to super TRXs 191
Report 402
Report 402: Cells by busy hour traffic absorption to super TRXs 192
Report 403
Report 403: KPI statistics for IUO cells 201
Report 404
Report 404: IUO measurement data per BTS 201
Report 405
Report 405: Adjacent cells with the same or adjacent frequency, IUO super TRX excluded 202
Report 407
Report 407: C/I statistics 202
Report 512
Report 512: Log statistics 39
Report 513
Report 513: Network Doctor use statistics 40
Report 515
Report 515: DMR profile 164
Report 516
Report 516: DN2 profile 164
Report 517
Report 517: TRU profile 165
Report 518
Report 518: Transmission statistics 163
Report 522
Report 522: BSC ET profile 171
Report 523
Report 523: BSC TCSM profile 174
Report 525
Report 525: TRE profile 175
Report 526
Report 526: TRE-SEL profile 175
Report 700
Report 700: Cell related SGSN counters 264
Report 800
Report 800: Quality survey 292
87
14.3 Interference Reduction

Interference is the sum of all signal contributions that are neither noise nor the
wanted signal.
Carrier-to-Interference Concept: Signal quality is largely determined by the ratio of
carrier-to-interference (C/I). GSM specifies a minimum C/I of 9 dB to ensure
nominal bit error rates under static propagation conditions.
Signal quality =
sum of all wanted signals
sum of all unwanted signal
wanted signal
carrier
interference
atmospheric
noise
other signals
Figure 1.
Carrier to interference
Interference causes degradation of signal quality. This introduces bit errors in the
received signal. Bit errors are partly recoverable by means of channel coding and
error correction mechanisms. There are also irreducible bit errors caused by phase
distortions of the radio signal (random FM noise).
The interference situation is as opposed to field strength not reciprocal in uplink
and downlink direction. Mobile station and base station are exposed to very
different interference situations. The ratio of Carrier-to-Interference (C/I) is a key
figure for assessing the quality of a radio signal.
Signal quality classification in GSM is based on detected bit error rates before all
channel coding and error correction takes place. GSM-specified parameter
RXQUAL ranges from 0 (excellent) to 7 (bad) in logarithmic steps.
88
good
usable signal
acceptable
unusable
signal
RXQUAL
class
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Figure 2.
Mean BER
(%)
0,14
0,28
0,57
1,13
2,26
4,53
9,05
18,1
BER range
from... to
< 0,2%
0,2 ... 0,4 %
0,4 ... 0,8 %
0,8 ... 1,6 %
1,6 ... 3,2 %
3,2 ... 6,4 %
6,4 ... 12,8 %
> 12,8 %
DOCUMENTTYPE
GSM quality classes
TypeUnitOrDepartmentHere
TypeYourNameHere
TypeDateHere
Sources of Interference
The main source of interference is the re-use of own frequencies. Other

contributions to interference come from multipath components of the very same
signal, i.e. long delayed echoes that are outside the equaliser window of 16
microseconds. External interference is caused by spurious emissions from other
frequency bands.
A network will practically always be limited in its performance by interference rather
than by coverage. Interference is unavoidable due to re-use of frequencies.
However, the radio planners goal will always be to push the interference limits as
far out as possible.
Co-Channel Interference
Co-channel interference comes from the re-use of own (limited) frequency
resources. It is therefore unavoidable in a network and the major contribution to
total interference. Dense re-use of frequencies provides high capacity and also
high interference levels. Scarce frequency re-use provides excellent interferencefree networks but with very low capacity. So, once again, it is the planners task to
find the compromise.
The optimum layout of cell patterns, providing the best compromise between
introduced interference and achieved capacity, has been studied in depth in
literature. For illustration reasons often regular hexagonal cell patterns are used as
a simplified case. Applicability of a model that greatly simplified is, however,
doubtful.
f2
f6
f3
f3
f5
C R
I 6* D
Ancient concept !
for demonstration only
Figure 3.
f7
f4
f2
f7
f4
f2
f4
f3
R
f5
f7
f4
f2
f7
f3
f5
f4
f2
f6
f6
f3
f3
f5
f2
f6
f6
f3
f5
f5
f5
f4
f4
Co-channel interference
89
where the carrier is R- and the interferers 6*(D- ).

There is a trade-off between C/I, frequency efficiency and network capacity. While
analogue systems feature a rather graceful degradation of signal quality and
intelligibility with decreasing C/I; digital systems such as GSM will maintain a good
signal quality by means of error correction codes down to rather low values of C/I.
From a certain threshold, when error correction capabilities are exhausted signal
quality will deteriorate rapidly and become unbearable ("cliff effect"). This is
noticeably the case under severe interference conditions.
Adjacent Channel Interference

It is possible that an adjacent channel causes interference problems. It is specified
in recommendations that certain bit error performance requirements have to be
met in conditions of static adjacent channel interference ratio of 9 dB (adjacent
channel 9 dB stronger than serving one). This is therefore typically considered as
required C/IA ratio and normally adjacent channel interference is not a problem.
After all, handover to this interfering channel is likely to be made before it begins to
interfere severely. However, in certain conditions adjacent channel interference
may be a real problem and it should be taken into account.
digital systems
quality
analog systems
C/ I ratio (dB)
6
Figure 4.
12
15
18
Relation of signal quality and C/I ratio
Long Delayed Echoes

A contribution to interference is caused by excessive multipath delays. Partial
waves taking long detours (e.g. by reflecting off a distant mountain) will arrive at
the receiver with a delay of more than the 16 sec equaliser window specified by
GSM. These long delays act as interferers even in otherwise reuse-interferencefree environment, since they will cause inter-symbol interference with the next
transmitted symbol.
Whether these effects cause noticeable interference also depends on the
implementation of the channel equaliser in the BTS and in the mobile station,
respectively. (Equalisers may also be designed to cope with longer delays than
specified in GSM)
90
equaliser window 16 s
amplitude
long echos, out of equaliser window:
==> interference contributions
delay time (sec)

direct
path
nearby scatterers
1 sec delay = 300m

16 sec delay = 4800m max. excess distance
Figure 5.
Multipath echoes
Noise
Noise is the unavoidable companion and the natural enemy of the wanted signal.
Main contributions to noise are:
Physics:
N=k*T*B
k = Boltzmann's constant = 1.38x10-23 J/K, T= temperature (Kelvin) and B is
signal bandwidth. Noise floor for a GSM radio channel (at 25C) is ~ -120.8
dBm.
Technology: Amplifiers, filters, oscillators, mixers etc. add their noise figures
to the wanted signal
Interference Reduction Methods

The simplest method of interference control is proper location of base station sites.
Sites on hilltops should be avoided in very most cases, since radio waves will
propagate unhindered across very large distances. Placing base stations in
valleys, surrounding hills can be positively used as natural barriers for limiting both,
coverage range and interfered area.
91
bad location
good location
Figure 6.
Number one method to reduce interference is to select
proper site locations
In a network capacity shall always be limited by interference rather than by

coverage. This limitation shall also appear at the latest possible point in the
networks life cycle.
Some "add-on" methods for interference reduction are:
14.3.1 Antenna tilting /reorientation /beamwidth reduction

The first method greatly reduces interference probability and slightly improves spot
coverage. The second method is not so recommended because it may have
unwanted side effects (unpredictable interference towards other sites). The third
method is a good one and it should be a common practice in designing cellular
networks even from scratch (e.g. using 65 horizontal beamwidth instead of 120).
14.3.2 Discontinuous transmission/reception (DTX)

It is a method for battery lifetime improvement and interference reduction. DTX is a
transcoder function. When speech pauses, the transmitters in base station and
mobile is switched off, as there is no useful information to transmit. Every 480 ms
some silence descriptors are transmitted, informing the remote transcoder
function about the characteristics of the background noise ("comfort noise") to be
produced towards the other caller.
92
Switch transmitter off in speech pauses and silence

periods
both sides transmit only silence updates (SID
frames)
comfort noise generated by transcoder
VAD: Voice Activity Detection
transcoder function
Transcoder is informed on use of DTX/ VAD
(in call set-up)
Battery saving
interference reduction
Figure 7.
14.3.3
Discontinuous transmission
Frequency hopping (FH)

Frequency hopping is mainly a diversity technique against fast fading effects, by
which some interference reduction can be expected as a (useful) side-effect. This
is most effective for static or slow moving mobiles, which may be hovering in a
local fading dip for some seconds. Local fading dips are caused by destructive
interference of two partial waves (multipath propagation!) of same amplitudes, but
with opposite phases. These fading dips can lead to practical elimination of the
signal in an area of the order of half a wavelength (10... 15 cm for GSM900). This
local fading dip is very frequency dependent, i.e. it would not exist for a different
frequency at the same location. And that is the basic idea behind frequency
hopping. The diversity effect caused by frequency hopping rapidly decreases with
higher mobile speeds, as the mobiles pass through the local fading dips quickly
enough due to their own velocity. As a side-effect frequency hopping produces an
interference averaging, since the interference patterns will be changing with the
hopping sequence: therefore interference conditions, if they exist, will be only for
very short time periods (ratio 1:N, where N is number of frequencies used in
Hopping Sequence).
93
Diversity technique
frequency diversity against fast fading
effectsuseful
for static or slow-moving mobiles
Base Band Hopping
signal hops between TRXs, (min. 2 TRX)
not on BCCH timeslot
Radio Frequency (Synthesised) Hopping
timeslots hop between different frequencies
not on 1st TRX (BCCH) needs a wideband
combiner
Frequency diversity for static mobiles
side-effect: interference averaging
Figure 8.
14.3.4
Frequency hopping
Power control (PC)

It is a method for battery lifetime improvement and interference reduction. Power
control is controlled by the BSC and performed in both base station and mobile
station. It can be applied in uplink and downlink direction. When in connected
mode, the mobile reports on a regular basis (every 480 msec) received signal
power of the serving cell to he base station. BS commands the mobile to reduce/
increase its transmit power in incremental steps of 2 dB. The aim is to maintain a
good link quality at lowest possible transmit powers. This reduces network
interference and increases battery lifetime in the mobile. Power control can be
level-based, quality based or both. Level-based power control means the BS aims
for a target RX level (parameter is set from OMC) of e.g. -88 dBm. Transmit power
of mobiles and BS is regulated such, that the received signal is always near the
target level. Note that Power control may not be used on the entire BCCH carrier,
since the mobiles for detecting a BCCH carrier in the power-up procedure need a
constant carrier signal. Quality-based power control means, that signal level is
regulated such, that signal quality is just about to deteriorate (due to low level or
interference). This may be even at levels far lower than the simply level-based
algorithm. There is no effect of power control on the link balance, since both ends
of the link regulate powers symmetrically. The link always remains balanced. In
case of power control the maximum allowable path loss is not exploited to full
extent.
94
GSM : 15 power steps 2 dB each

BSC in command
level or quality-driven
Use power control in both uplink &
downlink
no affect in Link Balance
Minimise interference in network
Save battery life-time
signal
level
target level
e.g. -85 dm
PC not allowed
on BCCH carrier
time
Figure 9.
Power control
14.3.5 Adaptive antennas

It is a catchword describing actively steered antenna array constellations. Also
known as Intelligent or smart antennas or phased array antennas. Virtually any
kind of radiation pattern can be achieved by phase-shifting the input signals fed to
the individual dipole elements of an array antenna. Antenna beams are formed to
concentrate their main lobe energy towards the direction of the user. The direction
of the user is extracted from the uplink signal by means of direction-of-arrival
algorithms. These are very heavy in computational load and involve analysing the
complex uplink signal as received by 10s of elementary dipole elements of the
antenna array. The critical ratio defining link quality is the C/I of the received signal.
Instead of concentrating the main lobe towards the desired user (i.e. increasing the
C part of the term), C/I can also be improved by reducing the I, that is the
interference. The nulls of the antenna pattern are directed towards the main
interferers, thereby significantly reducing the received energy from that direction.
While main lobes are in the order of 20..30 in angle, the antenna pattern Nulls are
very distinct, reducing signals by some 20 dB within a few angular degrees only.
Intelligent antenna algorithms involve very high computational power, several
parallel workstations are still needed to perform calculations in real-time. Antenna
patterns can be switched within microseconds, i.e. a different antenna pattern can
be applied on a per-timeslot basis, if the controlling computers can keep up with
the speed. Several prototype antennas have been demonstrated also under live
conditions in GSM networks. However, only a single timeslot (1 out of 8) was
actively steered, the other 7 used the antennas static radiation pattern.
95
14.3.6 Dynamic channel allocation algorithms

Dynamic channel (frequency) allocation schemes are presently an area of great
scientific interest and research. The basic idea is as follows: every base station
constantly measures the interference situation in the entire allocated band. Radio
channels are assigned to call requests on a per-call basis. The best suitable
channel permitting to maintain the minimum quality requirements is assigned to the
mobile. Best channel can also be interpreted as the best suitable channel. This
means that a mobile arriving with a strong signal may be assigned to a channel
with a rather high interference level, as long as the C/I minimum criterion is met.
Thereby channels with less interference levels can be kept in stock for mobiles
arriving with weak signals, where an interference-free channel is crucial for call
success. The pattern of interfering channels is constantly under change, depending
on the mobile distributions, call arrival statistics and user mobility. Dynamic
frequency allocation eliminates the need for a fixed allocation. In principle every
frequency may be used in every cell without restriction (hardware permitting;
combiners ...). This allows for maximum network capacity. Ultimately this becomes
a spread spectrum situation, where every channel is re-used in every cell, i.e. the
frequency re-use rate converges towards unity. (re-use rate of 1)
96
14.3.7 Antenna Hopping

Description
Antenna Hopping is a downlink performance enhancement feature designed
to improve link performance where frequency hopping is not in use or not
effective due to high correlation between frequencies. In a typical sector
where you have the BCCH and hopping layer, the BCCH layer has no
downlink diversity since it is only one frequency transmitting over a single
antenna. This makes it more susceptible to noise, interference and fading.
The hopping layer however has the advantage that it is hopping from one
frequency to creating phase diversity where it combats long term fading and
frequency related interference.
This feature enables the TRXs in an RF hopping BTS to transmit with all the
TX antennas in the BTS using the existing BB (Baseband) hopping
functionality in the BTS. With AH the improvement is more substantial on
the non-hopping layer because we bring it to almost equal link performance
with the hopping layer (Fig.1 and Fig 2). This translates to gain on the nonhopping layer that will improve existing coverage and RSSI levels. This
feature would also be very beneficial in interference-limited areas.
BCCH TRX Coverage
Hopping TRX Coverage
Implementation
Set parameter Antenna Hopping (AHOP) to Y

AHOP is BTS level
Modification:
Range:
MML default:
Description:
Related
BTS must be locked.

Y/N
N
With this parameter you define whether antenna hopping is used in
the BTS.
EQE, EQO
97
command(s):
Note:
OPTIONAL (ANTENNA_HOPPING_USAGE
Activating Antenna Hopping for UltraSite BTS

Lock the BTSs so that the Antenna Hopping for UltraSite BTS parameter
can be modified (EQS)
ZEQS:BTS=1:L;
Take the Antenna Hopping in use in the BTS (EQE)

ZEQE:BTS=1:AHOP=Y;
Unlock the BTS (EQS)

ZEQS:BTS=1:U;
Dependencias
Prerequisites
BSS S11, OSS 3.1 & UltraSite CX4.0-3
ULTRASITE EDGE HW
EDGE TRX (non-EDGE TRX can be used in the same cabinet if it is in a
non-hopping or RF Hopping mode)
Minimum of 2 TRXs per BTS (or cell) where both are used for antenna
hopping
Antenna Hopping groups can include the BCCH
Restrictions
The following features cannot be used together with Antenna Hopping:
Cannot be used with Remote Tune Combiner (RTC)
Cannot be used with Baseband Hopping (BB) in the same BTS
Cannot be used with IDD in the same BTS (IDD uses the same BB
hopping module for AH)
The feature is OFF in the BTS if:
TRX(s) are down
The number of working TRXs fall below 2 TRXs/BTS
The following tests are not possible when Antenna Hopping is in use
TRX test for Nokia Ultra Site
TRX loop test
KNOWN ISSUES WITH ANTENNA HOPPING

Transmission outage causes some TRXs in a BTS to trigger TRX faulty alarm
incorrectly causing the TRXs to become blocked out of service until a BTS
reset was performed. This issue has been brought up with Nokia Product Line
for resolution.
98
Advantages
Marginal increase in Traffic

Good improvement in KPIs except DL Quality
Improvement in signal penetration, Improved coverage
footprint
Recommendations
Use antenna hopping in close coordination with optimization

team and with monitoring of basic KPIs wherever required.
99
14.3.8 Bi-Sector Antennas - TenXc
TenXc
Bi-Sector
Array
Description
4 Port Antenna
Small adjacent sector overlap reducing handovers
Better match of original tri-sector coverage
Increased capacity with HOS
Dual split sector, increased capacity
Seamless hotspot site deployments
RF Cables
Avoid cell splitting with new sector adds
Back to back BCCH frequencies used to increase the spectral
efficiencies
Implementation
Planning Consideration
Two Fixed directional beams in
one
In planning tool each beam needs to
be entered separately at +- 18 degrees
deployed direction.
Offsets can not be changed
Separate LEFT and RIGHT beam
patterns need to be assigned correctly.
Any mechanical tilt apply to both
sectors
Electrical tilt can be applied
independently
Deployment Orientation
Left Orientation
Right Orientation
Implementation Considerations
Site Numbering Strategy
Strict replacement strategy: A replaced by A&D, B by B&E and
C by C&F
Why?
Need to allow for growth from 3 to 4, 5 and 6 Sectors
Minimize reconfiguration between 3 and 4, 5 and 6 sector sites
Maintains Sector statistics as much as possible
Allows for Back-to-Back (B2B) BCCH allocations
100
Back-to-Back (B2B) BCCH Allocation

How?
Unique asymmetrical shape of BSA coupled
With high Front to Back ratio allows for BCCH
To be allocated twice per site
A&E, D&C, B&F are paired on same BCCH.
For multiple sites reuse patterns can be used
To maintain separation
Optimizer upgrades to support B2B are being
Pursued
4/3 Back-to-Back Reuse
BCCH Frequency Planning Considerations

Overall Strategy
Use existing Frequency Planning allocations and strategy
Optimize using Optimizer/Schema tool to deliver best results
For 6.2MHz use 6 BCCH per site
Only use B2B BCCH for 4.4MHz
Use standard 4/3 reuse with B2B for multiple site deployments
4.4 MHz
B2B BCCH
Needed
YES
- Use Existing 3-sector BCCHS
- Use AFP tools or display tools
to assign Best BCCH in B2B
6.2 MHz or
Greater
B2B BCCH
Needed
A
A D
B
B
FF
C
E
E D
NO
- Assign three additional BCCH

using AFP tools or display tools
- Freeze BSA sites BCCH

alloaction
- Use 4/3 reuse for multiple sites
- Run Optimizer
tool after five days
of data
- Run Optimizer
of data
101
TCH Frequency Planning Considerations

Overall Strategy
Use existing Frequency Planning allocations and strategy
Optimize using Optimizer/Schema tool to deliver best results
For 6.2MHz use ad-hoc planning and Optimizer
For 4.4MHz use 1/1 reuse
102
6.2 MHz or
Greater
4.4 MHz
- Assign three additional TCH

allocations using AFP tools or
display tools
- Use 1/1 or 1/3 reuse planning
- Run Optimizer
of data
Neighbour Cell Planning Considerations
Overall Strategy
Disable B2B handovers: A should not be a candidate of E, etc
Restrict HO to adjacent sectors only if B2B BCCH is used
Reuse existing 3-sector list: Old list A should be used on both A and D
Optimize once MS based measurements or drive testing is performed
Sector
Handover
Candidate
F,D
A,B
D,E
B,C
E,F
A,C
D
B
F
Dependencies
Item
Availability of space for additional cabinet for higher
TRX Configuration.
C
Requirement
Check
2 Cabinets
Availability of Transmission Resources ( Additional E1)

for higher TRX counts
2 E1 for 24
TRX
Upgrading of power resources suitable for higher

capacity configurations
As required
Feeder Lines to be planned for additional sectors.
2 Per Sector
Suitability of existing pole to replace existing antenna

with TenXc antenna
5 to 12 cm
mount
VSWR of all feeders and TenXc antennas validation

and readings meeting the specifications
<1.4 Required
103
Advantages & Recommendations
To achieve High Capacity in High Traffic Cells

Better Interference Containment and Traffic Balance
Use of Higher Order Sectorization in High capacity Sites
Relieve congestion
Enhance Spectral Efficiencies
Use of Back to Back BCCH frequencies
Overcome constraint of adding Trx in spectrum limited Networks with use of
Back to Back BCCH
Improve in building coverage
WITH BSA 6.2 MHz
CURRENT SCENARIO 6.2 MHz

Use of 3 Sectors.
Maximum Configuration possible is 4/4/3
with Frequency Hopping.
Maximum Traffic Offered with 4/4/3
Configuration is 54 full Rate Erl per site
Addition of Trx beyond 4/4/3 is not
advisable and will deteriorate the KPIs
Additional Traffic is absorbed by addition
of New sites in Adjoining areas
A) High Traffic Hot Spot Sectors

Single sector having High
Blocking in Peak Hrs
Limitation in further addition of
TRXs due to Spectrum Constraint or
Sector at maximum TRX allocation
Spare TRX expansion due to
lower traffic on other sectors
Having sufficient Transmission
and power back up resources for
Higher configurations
Use of Higher no. Sectors ranging from 4 to

6.
Maximum Configuration possible is 4+4 /
4+4 / 4+4 with BSA
Maximum Traffic Offered with 4+4 / 4+4 /
4+4 Configuration is 120 Full Rate Erl per
site
Addition of Trx beyond 4/4/3 is Possible
with BSA
Additional Traffic is absorbed by addition of
sectors in the same site
B) Site and Cluster

Multiple sector having High Blocking in
Peak Hrs
High Dense areas with High growth
projections and constraints in adding
sites
Limitation in further addition of TRXs due
to Spectrum Constraint
Relieve congestion from surrounding
Sites as well within the Cluster
Having sufficient Transmission and
power back up resources for Higher
configurations
104
105
14.3.9 SAIC (Single Antenna Interference Cancellation)

Description
SAIC enables the interference cancellation without exploiting a second antenna
MODULATIONS
GMSK
FR, HR and EFR

speech
AMR speech
GPRS
EDGE (MCS1-4)
Control channel
8-PSK
EDGE (MCS5-4)
In today's network the vast amount

In today's network the vast amount
of traffic is GMSK modulated!
of traffic is GMSK modulated!
SAIC is digital signal processing
SAIC is digital signal processing
technique, which uses the correlation
technique, which uses the correlation
properties of a GMSK modulated
properties of a GMSK modulated
signal to perform an active
signal to perform an active
cancellation of the interfering signals.
cancellation of the interfering signals.
Neighbour
BTS
User 2
Interference
Own
Cell
Serving
BTS
User 1
GMSK modulated interferers SAIC gain!

GMSK modulated interferers SAIC gain!
8-PSK modulated interferer No SAIC gain/No
8-PSK modulated interferer No SAIC gain/No
loss
loss
Gains on both synchronized and nonGains on both synchronized and nonsynchronized networks (performs better in Sync
synchronized networks (performs better in Sync
NW).
NW).
SAIC does not improve coverage.
SAIC does not improve coverage.
Two Major Approaches

Blind Interference Cancellation (BIC): Only demodulate the desired signal.
They are mainly applied to GMSK modulation. Works in both Sync and
Unsync NWs
Joint Detection (JD): Demodulate both desired and interfering signals.
Although currently SAIC is for GMSK, conceptually JD methods also apply to
8PSK modulation
SAIC methods are very sensitive to the amount of different interferers
overlapping the desired signal. Synchronized NWs are preferred since the time
slot alignment across the NW ensures that the set of interferers remain
unchanged during the duration of a burst.
Expected Gain (Dependent non-linearly upon SAIC MS penetration)
For low to moderate terminal penetrations, SAIC is provides its primary benefit
in terms of immediate improvement in call quality (and GPRS throughput) of
SAIC-enabled terminals, with the secondary benefit of modest system capacity
gain (2.7% capacity gain with 20% penetration with specific network
configuration).
For high terminal penetration rates, SAIC provides both, improvement in call
quality of SAIC-enabled terminals as well as large gain in overall system
106
capacity. (50% capacity gain with 100% penetration in simulation with specific
NW configuration)
Implementation
SAIC can be enable at BSC level by loading the license file
Various counter definition should be enable in BSC where SAIC is
implemented to get the SAIC related counter values
Dependencies
BSS12
OSS 4.2 to measure SAIC Counters
SAIC License
Advantages
SAIC improves network capacity. The capacity gain due to SAIC
depends on
Type of Environment
Penetration of SAIC capable Handsets
Ratio of GMSK Vs 8-PSK Traffic
Geographical factors & Interference characteristics
SAIC improves network downlink performance
Recommendation
SAIC can be used to improve downlink performance.
The best system performance is achieved with SAIC when the uplink
and downlink interference cancellation is balanced. This can be
achieved by using Interference Rejection Combining (IRC) or Space
Time Interference Rejection Combining (ST-IRC) in the uplink (in the
BTS)
107
14.3.10
STIRC (Space Time Interference Rejection Combining)
Description
STIRC is an enhancement to Interference Rejection Combining (IRC) that is

implemented in NSN Flexi EDGE, EDGE Ultra Site, and EDGE Metro Site BTSs
In a multiple-antenna receiver, there is a strong correlation in the interference
between different branches (normal and diversity) and samples for each symbol
period. Usually, the interference correlation is different from the correlation of the
desired signal.
IRC is a set of diversity combining, digital signal processing methods that removes
interference by taking these cross correlations into account. These methods can be
considered as whitening the interference (there is no correlation) between the
individual branches and samples of each symbol which, if done perfectly, optimizes
the performance of the receiver, in particular the bit (0/1) detection process.
Whiteni
ng
Whiteni
ng
Interference Rejection
Combining (IRC)
Whitening,
jointly
estimated
Space Time Interference

Combining STIRC
Implementation
STIRC can be implemented in BSC via loading the license file and enable the
feature.
STIRC related counter definition should be loaded in BSC to get the counter
values.
Dependencies
STIRC License
BSS 12, OSS 4.2
Due to the nature of the interference rejection algorithms, IRC and STIRC perform
best in synchronized networks
Advantages
STIRC improves network uplink performance
STIRC improves the adjacent channel and co-channel interference rejection
capability (in UL only) of the Flexi EDGE, NSN EDGE Ultra Site, and Metro Site
TRXs.
Recommendation
STIRC can be used to improve uplink performance
Best results when used with SAIC and with Synchronized network
108
These methods can be used to fine-tune the interference conditions achieved so

far. A bad frequency plan, however, cannot be substantially improved with these
add-on methods. The main and decisive factor for interference reduction is
therefore always a good and proper frequency allocation plan to start with. Fixed
frequency allocation is implemented in most network planning tools. These
algorithms assume static, worst case interference conditions and allocate
frequencies to cells following a heuristic allocation strategy. There is no closedform, analytical solution to the frequency allocation problem. Many different
allocation strategies have been studied in literature and are further under
development. A good allocation plan still heavily relies on intelligent planners
guidance. There also is no fully automatic allocation procedure, but it is rather an
iterative procedure between the planner and the computer.
100
% of area
with acceptable
interference level
design goal
frequency
hopping
use larger
bandwidth
90
tight re-use
good frequency
planning
power control
DTX
80
# of radio
channels used
low
Figure 10.
high
Effects of interference reduction methods
Gains achieved by diversity, power control, frequency hopping and DTX are no
physical gains in terms of increased signal levels. They are equivalent gains
instead. A gain of X dB means that the bit error rate found with usage of (e.g.)
diversity corresponds to the bit error rate that could achieved with a carrier with X
dB stronger, but without use of diversity.
Interference Planning
A main dimensioning criterion for the network is the amount of tolerated outage
area. While blocking is a call-oriented network failure, caused e.g. by overload
situations, outage describes a purely physical reason for network failure, e.g.
power supply breakdown, no coverage due to shadowing or interference.
Network functionality can be provided if (area is covered) AND (area is not
interfered). Values for max. acceptable outage area is defined by the operator,
typically 5 ...10%.
109
The cells actual useful service area is calculated by:
(1- uncovered_area) * (1- interfered_area)
Dimensioning criterion :
How much of area to be covered is tolerated to be interfered?
Calculate total cell outage area :

outage area = 1 - serviced_area
service_area = (1 - interfered_area) * (1 - uncovered_area)
3%
4%
Figure :.
Service_area = 93% * 92%
8%
Outage area = 1 - 0,8556 =14,4%
Outage probability
110
111

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RADIO NETWORK

2 Spectrum & frequency planning

Separation between BCCH carriers within same site : 600 KHz

Synthesized Frequency Hopping (SFH) with 1/1 frequency reuse pattern to

In frequency hopping, each frequency is used by a fraction of the time. This

FRload = Average (Erlangcell) / (8 x #Hopping Frequencies)

2.3.2 Single site towns

Spectrum Utilization Efficiency (SUE)

These values will be benchmark against global standards

TRX per cell

TRX per cell

Half rate configuration

Offered FR capacity (excluding Data)

TCH requirement (8.88@2%GoS) ~15

In Abis interface as a normal practice, 16 Kbps LAPD signalling is sufficient in case

In TCSM AMR pool to be suitably configured to support all of AMR traffic.

Total traffic (Busy hour)x 100

Capacity Utilization (FR+HR) =

Total traffic (Busy hour)x 100

900 MHz band (for reference)

RADIO LINK POWER BUDGET

1800 MHz band (for reference)

RADIO LINK POWER BUDGET

Roaming sensitive locations

a. Adding new sites (macro or IBS)

5 Antenna & Feeder cables

1/2" Super flexible Foam Dielectric

6 Dual Band (900/1800) planning

5...39 dBm with 2

Availability of adequate space for shelter

Macro BTS: In areas of high traffic. ( ~12 TRX)

7.1.3 Tower top BTS

7.1.4 Street pole BTS

BTS Capacity Optimization

New TRX to be added If the Average Utilization (FR+20%HR) of any five

New Capacity Site

All necessary capacity enhancement techniques (refer to section 12)

Handover and Power Control

Power Control parameters, threshold definitions to trigger power control

Handover Control parameters, threshold definitions to trigger handover

same cell, other carrier or timeslot

Bad C/I ratio

Rapid field drop

Better cell, i.e. periodic check (power budget, umbrella handovers)

Good C/I ratio

PC: lower quality/level thresholds (DL/UL)

PC: upper quality/level thresholds (DL/UL)

Data network configuration

7.4.1 Timeslot configuration

7.4.2 DAP Pool capacity

: 256 Kbps (64 x 4 TS)

7.4.3 PCU capacity

7.4.4 Gb Link capacity

BTS locations and sizes

BSC is to be dimensioned based on following limiting conditions:

Following are the limits in current version of NSN BSC

Product Specific Information.

High Cap BSC 3i

BSC3i (660 TRX)

BSC3i (2000 TRX)

Trigger points for BSC enhancement

80% of total TRX capacity

Minimum BSC configuration of 400 TRX & to be considered in planning.

New BSC location