Automatic Transmit Power Control

(ATPC)
What is ATPC

• What is ATPC: Automatic transmit power Control or Adaptive transmit power control
•DTPC: Dynamic Transmit Power Control
• MTPC: Manual Transmit Power control
• ATPC:Is a feature of digital MW radio ,which increases near end station Transmit power when far end
station RSL goes below pre defined/set Threshold either due to rain or due to other fades
• It is a closed loop feature. Holds RSL with in 5dB (hysteresis), of reference/set level
• Exponentially closes the gap for fast response
• Up to 30dB dynamic range. Tx Power adjustment in steps of 1dB

5 dB, -55 dBm

Hysteresis
RSL

-60 dBm Rx
Threshold level

• Example: If Rx threshold is set to -60 dBm no output control is made unless RSL goes below -60 dBm
or goes above -55 dBm, so that RSL is maintained between -60 to -55 dBm
ATPC: How it works

ATPC TX Max
Station A

Tx Out
ATPC TX Min

Deep Shallow

5dB Fixed
Hysteresis
-55dBm
RSL

Rx Threshold
(-60dBm) Station B

Deep Shallow
ATPC Settings

Tx Rx
IDU ODU IDU ODU
Rx Tx

Site A Site B

Tx Max Tx Max
Tx Min Tx Min
Ref Ref

• Tx Max.=Nominal –(0-30 dB)

• Tx Min.= Nominal- (0-30dB)
• ATPC Rx Threshold (reference)= -30 to -70 dBm
• ATPC will start with Tx Min Power
• When RSL at the opposite site goes below the reference level,
• ATPC will start increasing the Tx Power up to Tx Max in 1 dB steps until
• RSL at the opposite site to be over the reference level
• ATPC will maintain the RSL with in 5 dB over reference level
• ATPC control transmits the information on the RSL to the opposite station and controls the
• Tx level of its own station in accordance with the RSL o0f the opposite station
ATPC Settings

Tx Rx
IDU ODU IDU ODU
Rx Tx

Site A Site B

• ATPC settings for PDH link

1. Fade margin =40dB( for regions point rain fall rate=120mm/Hr)
2. RSL Min=(-82+40) -42dBm
3. ATPC range= 30dB
4. ATPC RSL reference setting= -72 dBm
5. Minimum reference level setting to be 5dB more than the threshold ie -77dBm
• ATPC settings for SDH link
1. Fade margin =36 dB( for regions point rain fall rate=120mm/Hr)
2. RSL Min=(-68+36) -32dBm
3. ATPC range= 20dB
4. ATPC RSL reference setting= -52 dBm
5. Minimum reference level setting to be 5dB more than the threshold ie -63 dBm
•Advantages of ATPC

•Reduced average Power consumption

• Eliminates of Up fade
• Extended MTBF
• Limits transmit power to that required to maintain a constant bit error rate (BER)regardless of the
propagation conditions.
• Improved outage performance due to the reduced influence of adjacent channel
• Reduced transmit power during clear sky conditions, meaning that the interference resulting from the
ATPC link is correspondingly lower., compared to non ATPC links
•Facilitates operation of co channel links with acute branching angles
•Improves the frequency reuse factor associated with a given band and geographic area, providing a
spectrum efficiency
•Facilitates mitigation of rain fades( above 10 Ghz)
•Prevents receiver front end over load in high frequency links( Metro links, Greater than 10 Ghz), designed
for high rain fades
• Facilitates usage of larger Antenna sizes for short haul links ( Metro links) with out overloading the
receiver front ends
• Facilitates reduction of interference levels at Hub locations and in to adjacent links in a frequency
congested area.
 Important aspects to be understood on ATPC

1. During rain spatio-temporal distribution of rain fields are not uniform and not correlated, Interfering
signals are not attenuated in similar proportion to wanted signals, consequently ATPC enabled links may
result in increased levels of interference.
2. As the distance increases rain field spatial autocorrelation function falls off approximately exponentially.
3. During rain events, what would be effect of ATPC ? Does it increase or decrease Interference to
neighboring stations?
4. Over what geographical area can rain fading be considered to be correlated? Which will have an impact
on the worst-case scenarios for the use of all-ATPC and mixed deployments.?
5. What is the most efficient way of maximizing the increase in usage of co channel frequency spots
through the usage of ATPC ?
6. By employing ATPC does the co-ordination distance for neighboring links subjected to excessive be
reduced with out compromising the quality of service .?
7. ATPC to be used to combat temporary fading of the wanted link rather than interference from the
unwanted link(s).?.
8. When to use ATPC and when to Use MTPC?
9. Introduction of ATPC may give rise to a number of additional outages in the presence of intense rain
(~10% increase for a frontal rain event).
10. Judicious adjustment of W/U ratio may be an appropriate technique for reduction of outages due to ATPC
11. ATPC may be more appropriate for combating temporary fading of wanted link rather than interference
from the unwanted link(s)?. Otherwise, a situation may arise where two ATPC systems repeatedly
increase their Tx power in response to each other’s interference until both are transmitting at their
maximum Tx power. This situation negates the purpose of ATPC
 ATPC: How it works

Case1 Case2
+27dBm
-42 dBm RSL(Nom) (Tx Power Max)
Station A
20dB
fade

+17dBm
-62 dBm
-3 dBm,ATPC set
-72 dBm ATPC setting -TX Power

-82 dBm Rx Threshold

(-82dBm) Resultant RSL
Deep = ATPC set RSL

+27dBm
RSL(Nom) (Tx Power Max)
-42dBM

-3 dBm,ATPC set
40dB fade

-TX Power

ATPC setting

-82dBm Rx Threshold
Resultant RSL
(-82dBm)
= ATPC set RSL
Station A Station B
Station B
Case 1: Deep fade=20 dB, which is well with in the Dynamic/Compensating range (30dB) of PDH radio
Hence resultant/overall RSL is maintained at ATPC set level= -72 dBm
Case 2: Deep fade=40 dB, which is beyond Dynamic/Compensating range (30dB) of PDH radio
Hence resultant/overall RSL is 10 dB below the ATPC set level= -82 dBm
RSL
Impact of ATPC during rain(co channel operation)
Co Channel Operation
• In the below NW ATPC is enabled for all the 4 Links
• Link1: Is subjected to rain fade.RSL ofODU1reduces.Tx power of ODU2(siteB) increses.High Tx level of
ODU2(site B) interfere with ODU1(siteA) of Link 2
• Link2:Consequent to this RSL of Link2 of ODU1(SiteA) reduces.Tx Power at ODU2 (SiteC)
increases.High TX level of ODU2(SiteC) of Link 2 interfere with ODU1(SiteA) of Link3.Similary with ODU1
of Link1
• This process continue until both sites are transmitting to their maximum Tx power.
• It is noticed that in few geographies ATPC has resulted in 10% additional outages during rain
SiteE

ATPC SiteA
Site A Rain SiteB
LInk1
ATPC ODU1 ODU2
ATPC
SiteA ATPCTX level High
Adjacent Channel Operation ATPC SiteA
• Impact is same as co channel links.
ATPC
• However adjacent frequency spot links may
not be subjected to similar additional
Outages during rain like co channel links
in ATPC enabled links
SiteC
ATPC
TX level Low
ATPC SiteD
Mitigation of ATPC induced outages during rain(co channel operation)
• Acute angle Links
• In the below NW Link1,Link2 are acute angle co channel links due to low branching angle(<40 degrees)
• ODU1 ‘s mounted at Site A Link1 and Link2 are victim ODU’s and ODU2 of Site B,ODU2 of Site C are
interfering sites
• Change ATPC to MTPC for both the ODU1’s of Link1& Link2,ODU2’s to be retained in ATPC mode

SiteE

ATPC SiteA
Site A Rain SiteB
LInk1
ATPC ODU1 ODU2
MTPC
SiteA ATPCTX level High
• Adjacent Channel Operation ATPC SiteA
• ATPC to be enabled at both sites
MTPC

SiteC
ATPC
TX level Low
ATPC SiteD
Waluj -Chitegaon Link: RSL log Before ATPC enabling

Before
Enabling
ATPC,RSL of
Both main &
diversity
Paths were
Subjected to
Interference/
Multipath
And RSL was
varying from

-30dBm to -65
dBm.After
Enabling
ATPC
RSL of both
main and
Diversity
paths
Maintained
at -33 to -38(
Main) & at -35
• Walj-Chitegaon:2 4 Kms 6 GHz SD Link
To -40 dBM
•1) Blue Chart;RSL Log-Main path, 2) Red Chart;RSL Log-Diversity path
(SD) paths
Soc Classification level
11 © Nokia Siemens Networks Presentation / Author / Date
Waluj-Chitegaon Link: RSL log After ATPC enabling

• Walj-Chitegaon: 1)Blue Chart;-SL Log-Main path 2) Red Chart ,RSL Log-Diversity path
• After enabling ATPC RSL is maintained with in 5dB
Soc Classification level
12 © Nokia Siemens Networks Presentation / Author / Date
Paithan - Pingli Link RSL & TX Logs after ATPC

Chart 1:
• Paithan site Tx & RX Logs after enabling
AT PC
• Before enabling ATPC RSL of Paithan &
Pingli link was varying from -40 dBm to -60
dBm.
•After enabling ATPC RSL held constant
between -40 t0 -50 dBm
•Blue chart indicates the RSL variation
•Pink Chart indicates TX variation to
compensate RSL variation

Chart 2:
• Pingli site Tx & RX Logs after enabling
AT PC
•RSL variation
•Pink Chart indicates TX variation to
compensate RSL variation

Soc Classification level

13 © Nokia Siemens Networks Presentation / Author / Date
 Conclusions & recommendations
1. ATPC to be used to combat temporary fading of the wanted link rather than interference from the
unwanted link(s)
2. Judicious decision to be made during planning for enabling ATPC for co channel acute branching angle
links
3. MTPC to be enabled for the acute branching angle links emanating from a common/hub site and ATPC
to be enabled at the distant end
4. Since the spacial temporal distribution of rain field are not uniform and difficult correlate additional
outages due to ATPC enabled links during rain it is recommended that ATPC be enabled for all the links
5. ATPC to be enabled for all hops irrespective of their hop length
6. ATPC to be enable for all the links falling in the service providing geographical area.
Thank You