@ TELSIKS 2001
Automatic Frequency Planning Algorithm in a Real Land
Mobile Radio System Design
Dorde PaunoviC, NataSa NeSkoviC, Aleksandar NeSkoviC
Abstract - In this paper a new sophisticated algorithm for fully
automatic frequency planning, in a real land mobile radio
system, is presented. Modern cellular radio systems typically
employ several thousands of transceivers simultaneously. Ann
appropriate assignment of frequencies to cells can in such a case
significantly suppress the intra-system interference. However,
the process of frequency planning is a very complex and difficult
task due to the fact that a great number of sometimes mutually
opposing requirements should be satisfied. In the proposed
algorithm the optimisation of a nonlinear, multivariate and
multicriterion interference function is realised in such a way to
provide a very ‘good frequency planning solution in acceptable
short time. During the real radio system design the
performances of the proposed algorithm have been verified,
both by simulation and in practice.
Keywords - Mobile radio system, Cellular, Frequency
planning, Co-channel interference, Handover.
I. INTRODUCTION
Over the few past decades, radio communication systems
underwent extensive development. The demands that a radio
system has to fulfill are greater by the day. Having in mind
good quality and cost effective solutions, a radio system has to
be designed carefully from the very beginning. One of the
most important steps in the process of a radio system design is
to assign frequencies to the transmitters, i.e. to make a
frequency plan. Applying a proper frequency plan, the intra-
system interference can be suppressed to a great extent or
even completely avoided. However, frequency planning
process is a very complex and diffucult task in which the
minimization of a nonlinear, multivariate and multicriterion
interference function should be done. Having in mind the fact
that a modern cellular radio system typicaly employs several
thousands of transceivers, manual determination of the
frequency plan is impractical or even impossible.
In order to start the optimisation, a number of prerequisites
have to be fulfilled. An accurate estimation of the electric
field level has to provide the basis for accurate determination
of the cell service areas, the metal interference calculations,
etc. The electric field level prediction by itself requires several
huge and accurate environmental databases (digital terrain
elevation database, groundcover or clutter database, etc.). In
addition, to obtain accurate and reliable prediction, the field
level measurements are usually necessary in order to adjust
The authors are with the Faculty of Electrical Engineering,
University of Belgrade, Bulevar Revolucije 73, P.O. box 3554,
I 1 120 Belgrade, Yugoslavia. Tel. +381 1 1 32214149, E-mail:
paunovic@etf.bg.ac.yu
0-7803-7228-X/01/$10.000 2001 IEEE 51 1
19-21 September 2001, NiS, Yugoslavia
the models (prior the implementation). Also, the
measurements are used in the exploitation phase of the system
in order to analyse the service quality, i.e. coverage and
interference. It should be stressed that if each of the
previously mentioned prerequisites is not fulfilled to a high’
level, the process of frequency planning cannot provide good
implementation results regardless the quality of the process
itself. The complexness of the input requirements in the
frequency planning process is maybe the reason why not so
many papers [ I ] , considering in depth the automatic frequency
planning problem, can be found in the literature. It is also
evident that although numerous wireless network design
software packages can be today found on the market [2,3,4],
just a few of them offer automatic frequency planning tool as
an advanced option.
In this paper, a new sophisticated algorithm for fully
automatic frequency planning is considered. In the Section 2
the system requirements, which an advanced frequency plan
has to satisfy, are defined. The detailed description of the
automatic frequency planning algorithm is provided in Section
3 , while Section 4 is devoted to thc verification of the
proposed algorithm on the real GMS system of “Telekom
Serbia” for the whole territory of Serbia, Yugoslavia.
D. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
A. The System Structure
In order to realize the requirements regarding the
coverage of the specific territory by a radio-signal of the given
quality it is indispensable to primarily choose the base stations
locations. It is necessary to take care that the locations of the
base stations correspond to the greatest extent to the so-called
“nominal” cell plan, being usually the first introductory step
in a cell planning process. The exact location of the base
station is usually sought in the circle of the radius of one
fourth to one third of the cell radius around the base station
location from the nominal cell plan. However, this cannot be
respected in all situations, due to general morphological
characteristics of the terrain (plane, hilly terrain, urban
territory, river, etc.), as well as due to thc capacity
requirements. In the areas where the future cells splitting are
foreseen, in order to increase the system capacity, biggec
deviations can he allowed. In those cases the choice of the
final locations should be based on a final, and not on the
initial cell size, what is advantageous especially for later
planning phases of the system. From the designer’s point of
view, a very often but serious problem is the impossibility to
get the permissions to set a base station on the selected
location, especially in urban areas. The aim of this process is
to form a finite set of base station locations in order to ensure
a system implementation, but also to allow future simpler
superstructures and expansions.
At the system design stage, for every location of the base
station the following data are to be defined:
a. Geographical data of the location (geographical
latitude, longitude and altitude),
b. The number of sectors (cells) per base station,
c. The antenna transmitting system for every sector (the
type, the local height, the antenna radiation vertical
and horizontal pattern, the azimuth of the maximal
gain and downtilt) , and
d. The total power radiated by the antenna system.
Having a proper configuration and placement of the base
stations one can achieve that the signal level, at the territory of
interest, is above the pre-defined receiving threshold level.
B. Frequency Band
Having in view that the frequency band is a finite
resource, the competent state administrations allocate it
selectively and to a limited extent. It causes the allocation of
the same radio-channel to a large number of cells in the
system. As a consequence of the repetition of the same radio-
channel across the territory of interest, the problem of the co-
channel and adjacent channel interference in the system arises.
Upon the allocation of radio-channels to every cell, the
optimal frequency plan should provide the minimal or at least
acceptable interference, which will exist in the system,
especially on the parts of the territory where high
communication traffic is anticipated. From the foregoing, one
can easy conclude that the development of a successful
automatic frequency planning algorithm is a very complex
problem.
C. Hundover
The mobility of users in contemporary mobile radio-
telecommunications systems implies the possibility of the
user’s transfer from the service area of one cell into the
service area of another, adjacent cell, during an active
connection. In such a case the system should automatically
ensure the active cell change without the interruption of the
connection. It can be achieved in the following way. The
several signal levels received by the mobile unit from the cells
adjacent to the service cell are simultaneously followed. That
is why the precise knowledge of adjacent cells (neighbours, in
short) for every cell is of paramount importance for the
correct operation of the system. Due to the fact that the
neighbouring cells, in order to have the possibility of
handover realisation, cannot use the same radio-channel, the
existing list of neighbours is to be made for the needs of
generating the frequency plan. In a real case the list of
neighbours can be very long, i.e. it can contain several tens of
cells. That is why the limitations are incorporated within the
framework of the system. The first system limitation is the
maximal number of neighbouring cells that can be followed in
a mobile unit. The second parameter that is to be defined, too,
is a minimal contact zone of two cells, considering them to be
adjacent. The contact zone in the automatic realisation can be
512
determined on the basis of the number of contact points of
service areas. The list of neighbours is unique for every cell.
The lists of neighbours for the two possible characteristic
cases, when the handover hysteresis (a) is taken or (b) not
taken into consideration (handover margin being equal to 0 dB
or greater than zero, respectively), can differ considerably,
because the size of cell service areas depends on the amount
of the margin. The consideration of the effect of the handover
hysteresis implies the inclusion of concept of cell “extended
service areas” into the analysis, to be briefly explained in the
text to follow. Suppose that the takingovers of the users
between base stations in different cells were made just at the
moments when the signal level of the adjacent cell exceeds
the level of the service cell signal. In such a case, due to the
fading effects, the frequent takingovers of user by one or
another cell can occur in short time intervals. This frequent
takingovers of user can provoke the degradation of the quality
of the connection, or even its interruption. The previously
described phenomenon is often denoted in literature as a
“ping-pong” effect [ 5 ] . In order to suppress the ping-pong,
effect, the so-called margin for the handover is introduced.
The handover margin is defined as the minimal difference of
the signal levels received from the neighbouring cell and the
cell serving the mobile user requested in order the handover
procedure to occur. it means that the service cell area,
observed from the user’s point of view, is extended to a
certain percentage to the territory of service area of adjacent
cells (the vice versa is valid, too). The value of the margin is
usually several dB and that affects directly the size of the
extension of the service cell area. The value of the margin for
handover can be different for various cells in the system. As a
rule, the handover margin is somewhat bigger in urban areas,
while in rural areas it is certainly smaller in order to prevent
the disconnections before the handover procedure takes place
due to a too small value of the signal level.
D. The near-far problem
The “near-far” problem [6] occurs in situations where, due
to the nonideal characteristic of the input filter of the base
station, the stronger unwanted signal at the adjacent radio
channel (for example, from a mobile unit which is very near
to the base station) can mask the weaker signal at the serving
radio channel (for example, from the user’mobile unit which
is near to the cell border). This problem is solved in two ways:
(a) by an automatic regulation of mobile unit radiated power
which is, naturally, implemented in all modern systems and
(b) by making a proper frequency plan minimising the
mentioned effect.
At the stage of the system design, on the occasion of the
allocation of radio-channels to the cells, it is necessary to
respect the following basic rules arising from technical
limitations of the system (specifically from the near-far
problem point of view):
1. Between the radio-channels used within the framework
of the same cell a specific minimal protective frequency gap
must be ensured (for example, two radio-channels in the GSM
system) ;
2. Between the radio-channels used within the framework.
of different cells of the same location the specific minimal
protective frequency gap must be ensured (for example, one
radio-channel in the GSM system).
Naturally, it is clear that the same radio-channels should
not be allocated to adjacent cells so that the function of
handover can be correctly implemented.
By an optimal or nearly optimal frequency plan, ensuring
the correct functioning of the system, the previously defined
requirements must be fulfilled. The final goal is to minimize
to the greatest extent the values of the co-channel interference
(respecting the previously stated rules, the adjacent channel
interference is already minimized).
E. The eo-channel inte ference
In modern cellular systems, using special techniques of
base stations and mobile units realization, the intermodulation
problems can be almost entirely eliminated, i.e. reduced to the
acceptable level. That is why the intermodulation problems
are almost neglected when the frequency plan of a complex
mobile radio system is under consideration. However, as
several times emphasized in the previous text, a very
pronounced problem to be taken care of is the co-channel
interference.
The co-channel interference occurs as a consequence of
spatial repetition of the radio channel frequencies in order to
fulfill the requirements regarding (a) the coverage
requirements of the territory by an acceptable quality of radio
signal and (b) the traffic capacity. For instance, in order to
prevent the degradation of the GSM system quality, the
minimal required ratio of carrier to interference amounts to
C/I=9 dB [7] (practically that is carrier to co-channel
interference). However, in practice, the value C/I=12 dB is
usually taken as a design criterion in the GSM system. The
additional 3 dB presents the additional margin for security.
The radio-system cluster size, i.e. the possibility of the
frequency repetitions in the system, depends on C/I ratio. It
should be mentioned that the previously quoted values are
valid if the frequency hopping is implemented in the GSM
system. In an opposite case, additional margins are to be
introduced. The frequency hopping option is usually
implemented in all GSM radio-systems.
In order to calculate the co-channel C/I ratio, an
elementary “point” (georeferenced elementary area of the
territory of exactly known dimensions) is to be defined.
The calculation of the co-channel interference is based on
the fact that the ratio of the useful signal and the total co-
channel interference, received at the elementary point under
consideration from all other co-channel system transmitters, is
weighted by some relative “coefficients”, according to some
pre-defined criterions. The total interference, provoked by a
cell to the service area of another cell under observation, is
defined as the power sum of “weighted” C/I ratios for all
interfered elementary areas of the cell service area observed.
By selecting the values of the ”weight coefficients”, the
influence of the co-channel interfcrence in the system
analysed can be correspondingly modelled as well.
The basic goal of the process of elaborating the frequency
plan is to reduce the co-channel interference to the least
possible measure, especially i n the areas where the
requirements regarding the traffic capacity are big (for
513
example, in urban areas). It practically means that if the
problem of the co-channel interference cannot be fully
eliminated due to the system complexity, it is better to allow a
higher interference level in the areas where it is less critical,
i.e. in rural areas. The “weight coefficients” referred to in the
foregoing text, can be formed on the basis of georeferenced
database of the required traffic in the system. Since in
practice, most often, it is difficult to form such databases, as a’
good approximation of the expected relative traffic
distribution the clutter database can be used. This database is
one of the primary databases used for the-prediction of the
electrical field level, so that the investments in its creation are
unnecessary. Using the clutter database, it is possible to join
the corresponding “weight coefficient” to every defined
clutter type.
Finally, for the purpose of the frequency planning, the
basic criterion of the quality can be established in the
following way. For an observed frequency plan in a given
radio network one has to calculate the total interference
measure as the power sum of all mutual co-channel
interference “weighted” C/I ratios. for all interferer cells and
all points of the network. The optimal frequency plan is one
having the minimal value of the total interference measure.
III.THEAUTOMATIC
FREQUENCY
PLANNING
ALGORITHM
The complete process of the automatic frequency planning
is presented in Figure 1. A detailed description of every block
will be provided in the following sections.
A . The calculation of the total coverage arid the
determiriatioil of service areas
The parameters previously defined i n the framework of the
system structure represent input data for forming the results
of the electric field level prediction for every single cell in the
system. The result of the electric field level prediction for a
cell is organized in the matrix form. Every element o i the
matrix - a field level prediction result - has a unique
correspondence to the elementary area of the territory on a
defined geographical position. In such a way: the appropriate
prediction-obtained electric field level results are
allocated to all elementary areas of the territory. For the
purpose of this algorithm the dimensions of the elementary
area of 5 seconds of geographical longitude and 4 seconds .
of geographical latitude were adopted (circa I 1Ox 120 meters).
Keeping in mind the main issues o l this paper, the problem of
the electric field level prediction will not be further considered
in detail. In the refcrences [8] and [9] the survey of popular
prediction methods of the electric field level wcre provided.
For the needs of this paper, the electric field level prediction
was carried out through a specially developed soltware
package for the radio system design [ I O ] . Further steps in the
development of the algorithm for automatic frequency
planning represent the calculation of service areas of all the
cells in the system and deterinination the total coverage.
 I

Electric field level prediction

for every cell in the system

No Yes

I I
1
Service areas database of all the cells Extended service area database.
in the system. Corrected total coverage database.
Total coverage database.
For all the cells
in the svstem

List of neighbours using the service

areas database

For all the cells I

i n the system
I >
Interference on the. territory of Interference on the territory of
the service areas ot another cell the extended service area of another cell
I I I I I
For all the cells For all the cells
i n the svstem
observed as interferers
For all the cells
in the system

The number of the given consecutive radio-channels.

Maximal permitted number of neighbours
of a cell under consideration.
Minimal number of contact points in service
areas of two cells, considered to be adjacent.
The maximal permitted, number of
iterations during the optimisation process.

interference measure
I I 1

Fig. 1. The flowchart of the automatic frequency planning process

5 I4
 The result of the total coverage is given in the form of a
database containing the values of the maximal electric field
level at every prediction point, i.e., in all elementary areas of
the territory. Both theoretically and practically every point
could be covered by signals from several different cells, so
that the maximal electrical tield level can originate from any
of the cells in the system. The forming of the total coverage
database implies a spatial fitting of the results of the electric
field level prediction obtained for every single cell in the
system. The condition for forming that database is the ability
to determine the geographical position of every elementary
point within the framework of the prediction results for every
cell of the system.
The total coverage database is formed in the following
way. For every elementary point, defined by its nominal
geographical position, the corresponding values of the electric
field level for all the cells in the system are taken. The
highest of the selected values presents the result of the total
coverage.
Besides the value of the maximal electric filed level at
every elementary point, the datum to which cell this value
belongs is also saved. Those two data make possible to form
and save the service area of every cell in the system.
Another significant problem, which is to be solved in the
initial phase of the frequency planning, is the influence of the
handover hysteresis on the system behaviour. There are the
differences occurring in total coverage databases and service
area databases for the cases when the handover hysteresis in
the system is applied or is not applied.
In the case when the margin for handover is equal to zero,
a unique database of total coverage is formed, as well as the
unique service area database for all the cells in the system.
As already explained, the handover margin of several dB
could directly affect the extension of the size of the service
area wherein the user is at that moment. Actually the
extension takes place only in the case when during an active
connection the mobile user is moving to the service area of an
adjacent cell. Since every service area under observation
could be extended to some degree to the service areas of the
adjacent cells, it is necessary for such cases to form corrected
databases of the total coverage and the databases of extended
service areas, for every cell in the system. The extension of
the service area due to the accepted handover margin, regards
only the cell which is at that moment being analysed, while
all other cells are observed with the service areas where the
margin for handover is 0 dB. The example of a service area
extension is illustrated in Figure 2. The correction of the total
coverage database affects only those elementary points being
within the extended area of the observed cell. The maximal
field level values, previously allocated to the elementary
points in the extended area, are during the handover process
changed to the values of the electric field levels stemming
from the observed cell transmitter, provided that the new
value of the electric field level is greater than the previous
maximal value decreased for the handover margin. As already
515
mentioned, during the handover process the user will be.
served by the seving cell within the extended service area, but
only if the call is initiated within the territory of the
nonextended service area of that cell. Taking handover
hysteresis into consideration, one can easily conclude that
every cell in the system must have its own unique corrected
total coverage database and extended service area database.
B. Forming of the List of Neighbours
Having in view the fact that during the handover
procedure the\system has to ensure the transfer of an active
call from the serving cell territory to the adjacent cell, without
the connection interruption, the knowledge of the list of
neighbours for every cell presents one of important data about
the system. The list of neighbours must be also used when
elaborating the frequency plan, since the cells-neighbours
must not use the same radio-channel. For the needs of
automatic forming of the frequency plan, the initial list of
neighbours for every cell in the system involves:
a) the names of the cells-neighbours, and
b) the number of the service area points of the observed
cell, being in contact with the service areas points of
every cell neighbour, which is the basis for the
determination of the important neighbours.
Determination of the list of neighbours for every cell is made
through the analysis of the service area database. On the basis
of the knowledge of the identification number of each cell, for
every elementary point of the observed serving cell, it is
defined to which service area the adjacent points belong. If the
observed serving point touches with many elementary points
of the service area of the same cell, the cell is counted only
once as a neighbour. When all the data on the neighbours for
all elementary points of the service area of a cell are grouped,
its list of neighbours is formed. If the values of handover
margin is 0 dB, the service area database is unique for all the
cells, so that the list of neighbours can be made during only
one cycle of data reading out from this base. If the value of
the margin of handover exceeds 0 dB, the cell service areas
are being extended during handover and extended service area
database will be different for every cell. In such a case the list
of neighbours has also to be calculated by the analysis of its
database of the extended service area. The algorithm is the
same as for the margin value 0 dB, but during a cycle only
one database of the extended service area is analysed and the
list of neighbours is determined for only that cell.
Within the algorithm of automatic frequency planning the
maximal number of neighbours to be taken into consideration
is predefined. This number is usually system-limited. For
example, in the GSM system the maximal permitted number
of neighbours is eight, but in practice i t is inore often allowed
that one cell can realize the function of haridover with only six
adjacent cells.
 Fig. 2. The illustration of the nonextended and extended service areas
a) the margin for handover 0 dB, b) the margin for handover 6 dB
The second parameter to be taken into account is the
minimal number of contact points of service areas of two cells
in order to consider them adjacent. A particular problem in
making the list of neighbours is raised in the case when cells
are covering a hilly terrain. On such a terrain the elementary
surfaces of the territory, belonging to various service areas,
can be intermixed, so that the problem of determining the list
of significant neighbours is somewhat more complex. To
solve that problem, the minimal required number of contact
points is introduced, in order that two cells in the system
could be considered adjacent. In this paper the value of three
points was adopted as an optimum.
C. The calculation of the co-channel interference
In order to form a proper frequency plan it is indispensable
to calculate the mutual co-channel interference of every two
cells in the system, prvided that they use the same radio-
channel. The mutual co-channel interference calculation
algorithm is organized in the following way. Every cell in the
system is observed as the possible source of the co-channel
interference (interferer cell). During the interference
calculation process, for an observed interferer, all other cells
are determined in which the co-channel interference could
exist (interfered cells). For every such pair (interferer -
interfered cell) the measure of the interference is determined
according to the pre-defined criterion, as well as the percent of
the interfered points with respect to total number of points of
the interfered cell service area. The interference, caused by the
interferer cell in the service area of the interfered cell, is
516
defined as the sum of the “weight coefficients” for all
interfered elementary areas of the territory belonging to the
service area of the interfered cell.
I n order to make the calculation of t h e mutual co-channel
interference one has at the disposal the total coverage area
database, service area database, the clutter database, as well as
the results of the electrical field level prediction for the
interfirer cell. For every georeferenced elementary area of the
territory, knowing the interferer cell predicted field level at
that point, it is possible to compare the interfering signal level
with the maximal useful electrical ficld level at the same
elementary point and to calculate the particular C/I value for
the observed case. The obtained particular C/I value is usually
weighted by two different “weight coefficients”, c1 and p.
“Weight coefficient” CL is determined as a function of the
value CA. For the GSM system the following set of CI values
is adopted:
C/I59dB + CX=I
I O dB 5 C/I 5 12 dB -+ cx = 0.8
13dBIC/I515dB -+ a = 0 . 5
C / I > 1SdB -+ CI=O
“Weight coefficient” p is determined on the basis of the
ground coverage type to which the elementary point in the
clutter database belongs. The highcst coefficient value p=1 is
allocated to the urban areas and residence areas, i.e. where a
dense traffic is expected. Less critical, as far as the traffic is
concerned, are the suburban areas in the cities, so that a
smaller coefficient p=0.7 is given to them. In rural areas,
swamp areas, on the water, rare traffic is expected, or no
traffic at all, so the coefficient is (3=0.2.
The particular interference measure Minti.k , from the i-th
interferer to the point of the k-th interfered cell is equal to:
Minti.,= ai.k.Pk
The total mutual co-channel interference in the network is
calculated by summation of Minti,, , for all the interferer cells
and in all the points of the total coverage area. The obtained
value Mint,, is the interference measure for a specific
frequency plan of the whole network, as explained earlier. For
the purpose of the algorithm developed, the summation is also
made for every interferer-interfered cell pair, obtaining thc
mutual interference measure for every such pair. Finally, if
that is of interest, it is also possible to make the summation of
interferences from all the interferes to one particular interfered
cell, for all cells in the system, obtaining in such a way the
cells total interference measure.
The previous text concerns the case when the handover
margin is OdB. If the margin is greater than zero, for every
cell in the system the corrected total coverage databases and
extended service areas are to be used. In that case, during the
analysis described in the former text, the value of the
interference caused by signal from an interferer cell on the
territory of the extended service area of the cell observed is
determined for all interferers and all extended cells. Due to the
complexity of the algorithm in this case the calculation of
mutual co-channel interference lasts much longer.
D.Forming of the frequency plan
The assignment of radio-channels to all the cells in the
system is made by the frequency planning algorithm.
Practically, the ideal frequency plan does not exist since for at
least two main reasons: ( 1 ) the number of radio-channels
obtained from the state administration is never greater or
equal to the number of them needed, and (2) generally, by a
suitable selection of the base stations locations, by
sectorization and using any other design techniques, it is only
possible to minimize and to suppress the mutual co-channel
interference, but not to avoid it completely. Having in view
the fact that many cells use the same radio-channel in the
system, one can make different frequency plans for the same
system, trying to choose the optimal one. As already
mentioned, the basic measure of a frequency plan quality is
the total value of mutual co-channel interference upon the
allocation of radio-channel to the cells in the system.
Through the algorithm of automatic frequency planning it
is necessary to:
1. Define the order of cells to which the radio-channels are
allocated, and
2. Adopt and apply the criterion lor the selection of radio-
channels which are to be assigned to the cell observed.
The assignment of radio-channels to the cell is made until
the requested number of channels is assigned to it. The
assignment of radio channels to the ccll is made from a set of
disposable channels satisfying the requests on the minimal
protective frequency gaps between the radio-channels used
517
within the same cell and between the radio channels used
within different cells of the same location (as explained within
the “near-far problem” section). In order to realize handover
in the system, the third limitation is that the same radio
channels must not be given to the adjacent cells.
In the proposed algorithm, the order of cells to which the
radio-channels are assigned is accepted using the “worst case
- best choice” rule. It implies that the assignment of radio-
channels is first made to those cells having the highest mutual
co-channel interference. Evidently, two cells can have the
mutual co-channel interference only if they use at least one
common radio-channel.
In the initial stage of the algorithm, it is assumed that all
the cells in the system use the same radio-channels. The
mutual co-chxinel cell interference in the system is first
calculated for that case, in the way explained in the previous
sections.
Using the calculated mutual co-channel interference values
of all cells, a simple mutual interferences database is made for
all the pairs of cells in the network. The first row contains the
names of the interferer cells, the second row the names of the
cells interfered by the cells from the first row, under the
assumption that they use at least one common channel, and
the third row contains the calculated amount of the mutual
interference. An example of the mu:ual interferences database
is shown in Table 1. Afterwards , the
TABLE 1
AN EXAMPLE OF THE MUTUAL INTERFERENCES DATABASE
Interferer Interfered Interference
cell cell
cell-1 cell-3 476.25
cell-4 cell-7 1290.30
cell-6 cell-4 345.15
cell-5 cell-19 1100.85
cell-24 cell-2 589.60
cell-7 cell-4 1 130.50
. . . .... .. . . ... . . .....
the total value of the weighted co-channel interference Mint,,,
in the network is calculated as a sum of all weighted mutual
co-channel interferences recorded in this database. The Mintt,,
is a nonlinear, multivariate and multicriterion interference
function serving as an error function for the optimisation
process. The proposed frequency planning algorithm
minimises the current Mint,,, value to the least possible. It
should be noticed that for every pair of cells, two values of
mutual interference exist, observing the first one as the
interferer and the second as interfered cell, and vice versa.
The evident case in Table 1 regards the cells 4 and 7:
cell-4 cell-7 1290.30
cell-7 cell-4 1130.50
Under the mutual co-channel interference, the higher value
is accepted. The next step is the choice of the cells, which are
first to assign the radio-channels. From the previously
defined database two highest valucs of the mutual co-channel
 interference are observed, as well as the corresponding cells.
For the selected example they are:
cell-4 cell-7 1290.30
cell-5 cell-19 I100.85
In order to enhance the randomness of the cell order to
which the channels are assigned, thereby increasing the
probability for obtaining the optimal frequency plan by the
procedure proposed, one of two highest values of mutual co-
channel interference is selected by random. To the selected
pair of cell, the radio channels are first assigned.
For every cell of‘ the selected pair the series are formed
wherein the values of their mutual co-channel interference
with the other cells in the network are recorded. These data
are afterwards used in the stage of the selection of the radio
channel that is assigned to the cells.
During the algorithm execution a temporary matrix of the
channels is formed, where every column of the matrix is
reserved for a single cell and the ordinal numbers of the radio
channels given to that cell are recorded. Every cell is first
checked whether the previous assignment of the channel was
’
made or not. It is performed through the analysis of the
channel matrix. If the assignment was not made, the
assignment of the radio-channels is proceeded to. This
procedure is repeated as many times as the number of radio
channels to be given to the cell. All available channels are
checked whether they satisfy the requirements in the minimal
protective frequency gap and whether the cells-neighbours
were assigned different channels. For the channels fulfilling
the conditions, the sum of mutual co-channel interferences
between the cell under observation (to which the channel is
being assigned) and all other cells in the system, is calculated.
The cell is assigned the radio-channel for which this sum is
the lowest, provided that the requirements concerning the
channel frequency gap are being satisfied. If it is not possible
to fulfill the requirements set, the generating of the frequency
plan is interrupted and the procedure is repeated. When the
assignment of the channels to the first cell of the selected pair
is terminated, the algorithm proceeds to the second cell.
When the assignment of the radio-channels to the selected
pair of cells is finished, the database containing the cell pairs
and the corresponding values of mutual interference is
updated. This is necessary because, upon every channel
assignment, the initial assumption that all the cells use the
same radio-channels is no more valid. The updating involves
the examination of the matrix with data on the given radio-
channels and deleting data on the mutual interference of the
cells, in the corresponding database, for all cases where the
assigned radio-channels are different. If a pair of cells under
consideration was assigned at least one common radio-
channel, that pair is also erased from the database, but the
value of its mutual co-channel interference enters into the
518
final sum of the interference that cannot be eliminated from’
the system by further tlow of the algorithm..In such a way it is
ensured that if one cell in the pair was given no channel at all,
it will get it during some further iterations.
At the end, the analysis of the quality of the current
frequency plan is made. If the sum of mutual co-channel
interferences is less than those obtained in the previous
iterations, the frequency plan and the value of its total
interference are saved. One can than proceed to look for a
“maybe” better frequency plan, provided that all the imposed
iterations were not performed.
The frequency planning algorithm is illustrated in Fig. 3.
Iv. THEVERIFICATION OF THE PROPOSED
ALGORITHM
The proposed algorithm of the automatic frequency
planning is verified on a real system. One of the initial phases
of the development of the mobile GSM network of
“TELEKOM Serbia”, on the whole territory of Serbia, was
~
selected as an example. Within the framework of this phase of
the network development, on the territory of Serbia the base
stations were set on 239 different locations, hading total 618
cell sectors. TELEKOM had at its disposal 48 consecutive
GSM radio-channels from the authorized 900MHz GSM
band. The total number of radio-channels to be distributed to
all the sectors was 1424. It is evident that every radio channel
on the territory under observation was to be repeated in
average 30 times. For the chosen system structure the
frequency plan was generated and the total value of the co-
channel interference was determined, as well as the interfered
area percentage with respect to the total coverage area. In
Figure 4 the elementary interfered areas of the territory were
shown, in various shades of grey, upon the assignment of
radio-channels to the cells.
In order to find out the quality of the algorithm proposed,
it is compared with another known Monte-Carlo algorithm to
see which frequency plan provides smaller value of the total.
co-channel interference for the same initial conditions. The
algorithms were also checked from the practical application
viewpoint.
The Monte-Carlo algoritlim implies the assignment of
radio channels to the cells according to the Monte-Carlo
method, with inserted limitations for a minimal protective
frequency gap among the channels assigned (defined by the
near - far problem) and the possibility to realize the functions
of handover For the same system structure, the algorithm
proposed generated the frequency plan with a smaller value of
the total co-channel interference with respect to the Monte-
Carlo algorithm.

1 Calculation of the mutual co-channel
interference for every two cells in the system
(Realization of the mutual interferences
database for all the pairs of cells in the system)
Choice of two highcst mutual
interference values and its cell pairs
Random choice of one
o f two selected cell pairs
Random choice of one of cells
~
Choice of a channel from the
disposablc set of channels
satisfyingthe system rcquirements
Updating of the mutual
co-channel database
system requirements
Yes
For the channel sJected, calculation Same charnels - verified in practice on the case of the real “Telekom Serbia”
3 f the mutual co-channel interference assibmed to
between the observed cell and
all other cells with the Same
channel being already assigned to
I
Choice of the channel with the
, all cells
L-J
Calculation of the total
remaining cn-channel
minimal co-channel interference, interference in the system
saving to the mahix of alrcady
assigned channels
I hopping signaling”, IEE Journal of Selected Areas in
Fig. 3. The frequency planning algorithm
These two algorithms were also compared with respect to
the execution speed. It was found that the algorithm proposed
converges faster to the optimal frequency plan. Due to the
complexity of the algorithm proposed, one single iteration of
the radio-channel allocation lasts longer than when the Monte-
Carlo method was involved. That is expectable since in Monte
Carlo algorithm the channels are randomly assigned to the
cells, taking care only of system limitations. Observing the
total time to get an optimal or nearly optimal solution, it was
found in practice that the Monte-Carlo algorithm lasts much
longer. In the numerical implementation of the algorithm
proposed it was found that the optimal solution is arrived
rather quickly. For the given example the optimal frequency
plan, was obtained for less than several hours, using a standard
500 MHz PC Pentium.
However, the following should be stressed once more on
this occasion. In order to get a good frequency plan, it is
indispensable to form quality databases of the total coverage
and cell service areas. They were obtained, as already
explained, on the basis of the prediction of the eletric field
level for every cell in the system. The prediction methods
used in this algorithm were experimentally verified many
times, for different frequency ranges [8.9]. It should he also
stressed that a reliable clutter database for the entire territory
of the Republic of Serbia was used for the electric field level
prediction, as well as a good approximation of the expected
relative traffic distribution on every elementary area of the
territory. The aim achieved by the clutter- database use is the
shift of the remaining interference to the areas of less interest
(for instance, rural areas, swampy soil and water areas) that,
from the user’s point of view leads also to the improvement of
the general quality of the service.
V. CONCLUSION
One of the most important steps in the process of
designing mobile radio systems is the assignment of radio
channels to transmitters in a manner ensuring the
minimization of mutual co-channel interference. In this paper
the effective automatic frequency planning algorithm was
presented. The algorithm is based on the sophisticated
optimisation procedure with the elements of random
1
processes, satisfying at the same time numerous required
system limitations. A fast convergence to the optimal
frequency plan makes the proposed algorithm advantageous
I with respect to other known algorithms, both regarding the
final solution and execution speed. The algorithm proposed is
I
GSM network.
REFERENCES
Beca H., Paunovic Dj., Stojanovic I., “A design concept for
reconligurable mobile radio networks with slow frequency-
Communications, Special issue on Spread Spectrum Com.1,
Vo1.8,4,603-612,May 1990.
WIZARD network design and analysis software package,
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PLANET, Mobile Systems International Ltd.
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A. Mehrotra, “Cellular Radio Performance Engineering
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W.C.Y. Lee, “Mobile Cominunications Design
~
Fundamentals”, John Wiley.& Sons, inc, 1993.
GSM Recommendation 3.30.
A. NeSkovid, N. NeSkovic, D. PaunoviC, “Modern
Approaches in Modeling of Mobile Radio System9
Propagation Environment,” IEEE Communications Surveys,
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D. Paunovid, Z. StojanoviC. 1. Stojanovic, “Choice of a
Suitable Method for the Prediction of the Field Strength i n
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Veliiculcrr Techmlogy, vol. 33, no. 3, pp. 259-265, 1984.
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(BABY) - WTB, R d o Swterizs Desigil Tools”. Proccediiigs q f
YUINFO, Kopaonik - Yugoslavia, March 1999.
519
I C/I < 9 dB 9dB < C/I c: 12dB 12dB < C/I < 1SdB C/I > 15dB
I
Fig. 4. The illustration of the remaining interference for the gcnerated optimal Irequencp plan

520