Mekelle University

Ethiopian Institute of Technology Mekelle (EiT-M)

School of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Dimensioning and Planning of Multi RAT Radio Network

Submitted
By
Group Member Id. No

1. Ataklti Gebremichael 161608/06

2. Freweyni Hagezom 262040/06
3. Hailay Gebremedhin 162213/06

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for BSc in Electrical and
Computer Engineering (stream of electronics and communication engineering)

Advisor Name
Mr. Merkebu Tekaw (MSc)

May, 2018
 Abstract
The evolution of mobile services are taking place with considerable faster rate starting from
second generation GSM services, third generation UMTS services to fourth generation LTE
technology. The concept of multi RAT could incorporate these radio access technologies in
one to support multiple functional purpose. But with this pace the operators always have a
concern of planning the network.

Network planning is a never ending task, planning network with limited number of user is not
the issue but the issue is to plan a network that also allows future growth and expansion. The
planning ensures the customers to use the network services wherever they are. This is an
ongoing process. This paper deal on the process the multiple radio access network specifically
2G, 3G and 4G radio network planning.

The study considers Adi haki and kedamay weyane sub cities in Mekelle, Ethiopia, in view of
new deployment scenario. After analysis of the data taken from the sub city and using the
nominal parameters in the detailed planning, the study resulted in target area coverage
prediction and capacity evaluation in terms of a given subscriber future growth.

Then after evaluating the performance in terms of prediction by signal level, overlapping zone,
throughput and interference results shows that a better network coverage with an optimum
network capacity can be achieved.

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 Acknowledgment
We would like to thank the almighty God for letting us finish this thesis and endless blessing
throughout our life.

Moreover, this could not be successfully conducted without an essential and valuable assistant
many other peoples. Therefore, we are also grateful to express our sincere thanks and gratitude
to our advisor, Merkebu Tekaw (MSc) for his indispensable suggestions, tremendous support
and encouragement. And we are also grateful to the examiners (lecturers of school of electrical
and computer engineering) for invaluable critics towards the betterment of the thesis during
progress presentation.

The last but not the least we are also grateful for everyone who engaged their hands for
successfully finished of this thesis.

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 Table of Contents
Abstract ................................................................................................................................................. 1
Acknowledgment .................................................................................................................................. 2
Table of Contents .................................................................................................................................. 3
List of Figures ....................................................................................................................................... 5
List of Tables......................................................................................................................................... 6
List of Acronyms ................................................................................................................................... 7
CHAPTER ONE ................................................................................................................................... 9
INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................. 9
1.1 Background ........................................................................................................................... 9
1.2 Literature Survey ................................................................................................................. 10
1.3 Statement of Problem .......................................................................................................... 11
1.4 Objective ............................................................................................................................. 11
1.4.1 General Objective ...................................................................................................... 11
1.4.2 Specific Objectives ..................................................................................................... 12
1.5 Methodology ....................................................................................................................... 12
1.6 Significance of the Paper for the Society ............................................................................ 13
1.7 Organization of Thesis ........................................................................................................ 14
1.8 Scope of the Thesis.............................................................................................................. 14
CHAPTER TWO................................................................................................................................. 15
RADIO ACCESS TECHNOLOGIES OVERVIEW....................................................................... 15
2.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 15
2.2 Global System for Mobile (GSM) ....................................................................................... 15
2.2.1 GSM Architecture ..................................................................................................... 15
2.2.2 Multiple Accessing in GSM ...................................................................................... 15
2.2.3 GSM Channels ........................................................................................................... 16
2.3 Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) ................................................... 16
2.3.1 UMTS Network Architecture ................................................................................... 16
2.3.2 UMTS Operation Modes and Multiple Access ....................................................... 17
2.4 Long Term Evolution (LTE) ............................................................................................... 18
2.4.1 LTE Network Architecture ...................................................................................... 18
2.4.2 LTE Physical Layer................................................................................................... 19
2.4.3 LTE FDD Frame Structure ...................................................................................... 21
2.4.4 LTE MIMO Basics .................................................................................................... 22
CHAPTER THREE ............................................................................................................................. 24

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 MULTI RAT RADIO NETWORK PLANNING ........................................................................... 24
3.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 24
3.2 Multi RAT Network Planning ................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
3.3 Site Survey .......................................................................................................................... 25
3.4 GSM Radio Network Planning............................................................................................ 26
3.4.1 GSM Coverage Planning .......................................................................................... 26
3.4.2 GSM Capacity Planning ........................................................................................... 34
3.5 WCDMA Radio Network Planning .................................................................................... 38
3.5.1 WCDMA Coverage Planning ................................................................................... 38
3.5.2 WCDAM Capacity Planning .................................................................................... 44
3.6 LTE Network Planning ....................................................................................................... 46
3.6.1 LTE Coverage Planning ........................................................................................... 46
3.6.2 LTE Capacity Planning ............................................................................................ 52
CHAPTER FOUR ............................................................................................................................... 56
Simulation Results and Discussion ................................................................................................. 56
4.1 Designing Multi RAT Network .............................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
4.1 Performance Evaluation of Planned GSM Network ........................................................... 58
4.2 Performance Evaluation of Planned UMTS Network ......................................................... 61
4.3 Performance Evaluation of Planned LTE Network ............................................................. 64
4.4 Comparison of Multi RAT by Effective Service Analysis .................................................. 67
CHAPTER FIVE ................................................................................................................................. 70
Conclusions and Recommendations for Future Work......................................................................... 70
5.1 Conclusion............................................................................................................................... 70
5.2 Recommendation for Future Work.......................................................................................... 71
Reference............................................................................................................................................. 72

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 List of Figures
Figure 2.1: GSM Network Architecture .............................................................................................. 15
Figure 2.2: UMTS Network Architecture ........................................................................................... 17
Figure 2.3: LTE Evolved Packet System (EPS) architecture .............................................................. 19
Figure 2.4: Frequency-time representation of an OFDM Signal ......................................................... 20
Figure 2.5: LTE FDD Frame and Slot Structure ................................................................................. 22
Figure 2.6: Physical Resource Block and Resource Element.............................................................. 23
Figure 2.7: MIMO Transmission......................................................................................................... 23

Figure 3.1: Network planning process steps ....................................................................................... 24

Figure 3.2: Link Budget Parameters.................................................................................................... 27
Figure 3.3: Lower tail of normal distribution curve ............................................................................ 30

Figure 4.1 Digital map of Mekelle City .............................................................................................. 56

Figure 4.2 Computational zone of Kedamay Weyane and Adi Haqi in ATOLL ................................ 57
Figure 4.3 GSM Coverage Prediction by Signal level ........................................................................ 58
Figure 4.4 GSM Coverage area with Signal level histogram ................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
Figure 4.5 a) GSM Overlapping zone of transmitter b) Histogram..................................................... 59
Figure 4.6 a) GSM Coverage by C/ (I+N) Level and b) Histogram.................................................... 60
Figure 4.7 GSM Effective Service Area Analysis............................................................................... 61
Figure 4.8 a) UMTS Coverage prediction by Signal level b) Histogram .......................................... 62
Figure 4.9 a) UMTS Overlapping zone of transmitter b) Histogram .................................................. 63
Figure 4.10 a. UMTS Total Noise Level Analysis b. Histogram ........................................................ 63
Figure 4.11 UMTS: Effective Service Area Analysis ........................................................................ 64
Figure 4.12 Coverage prediction by signal level in DL using histogram ............................................ 65
Figure 4.13 Coverage prediction by overlapping zone ....................................................................... 65
Figure 4.14 Coverage prediction using throughput ............................................................................. 67
Figure 4.15 LTE effective service analysis ......................................................................................... 67
Figure 4.16 Comparison of Effective Service Area Analysis by UMTS vs LTE ............................... 68
Figure 4.17 Comparison of Effective Service Area Analysis by GSM vs UMTS .............................. 68
Figure 4.18 Comparison of Effective Service Area Analysis by LTE vs GSM .................................. 69

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 List of Tables
Table 3.1: Regions of Planning ........................................................................................................... 26
Table 3.2: Cable loss per 100m ........................................................................................................... 29
Table 3.3: GSM link budget calculation ............................................................................................. 33
Table 3.4: Subscribers for GSM .......................................................................................................... 35
Table 3.5: Assumption taken for GSM capacity dimensioning........................................................... 35
Table 3.6: GSM Channel Distribution Strategy .................................................................................. 37
Table 3.7: GSM Best site selection of coverage and capacity ............................................................ 37
Table 3.8: Required Eb/No Values...................................................................................................... 39
Table 3.9: Receiver parameters ........................................................................................................... 41
Table 3.10: Calculated 3G Link Budget .............................................................................................. 43
Table 3.11: Throughput per user at busy hour calculation .................................................................. 45
Table 3.12: UMTS Cell Load Dimension Result ................................................................................ 45
Table 3.13: UMTS Best site selection of coverage and capacity ........................................................ 45
Table 3.14: Penetration losses and Standard deviation of slow fading typical dense urban value. ..... 48
Table 3.15: Uplink link budget parameters ......................................................................................... 50
Table 3.16: Downlink Link budget parameters ................................................................................... 50
Table 3.17: Clutter parameters ............................................................................................................ 51
Table 3.18: List of PRBs . ................................................................................................................ 52
Table 3.19: LTE Users Category ......................................................................................................... 53
Table 3.20: Total average throughput per subscriber at busy hour ..................................................... 53
Table 3.21: The total amount of sites .................................................................................................. 55

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 List of Acronyms
2G Second Generation
3G Third Generation
3GPP 3rd Generation Partnership Project
4G Fourth Generation
AMC Adaptive Modulation and Coding
BPL Building Penetration Loss
BS Base-Stations
BSS Base Station Subsystem
BW Bandwidth
C/I Channel to Interference Ratio
CCU Central Control Unit
CINR Carrier to Interference plus Noise Ratio
CN Core Network
CP Cyclic Prefix
CPICH Common Pilot Channel
CS Circuit Switched
DL Down Link
EIRP Effective Isotropic Radiated Power
eNodeB Enhanced node B
EPC Evolved Packet Core
EPS Evolved Packet System
ETSI European Telecommunications Standards Institute
E-UTRAN Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access
FDD Frequency Division Duplex
FDMA Frequency Division Multiple Access
FFT Fast Fourier Transform
FR Full Rate
FSPL Free Space Propagation Loss
GB Giga Byte
GSM Global System for Mobile
HR Half Rate
HSPA HSPA High Speed Packet Access (HSDPA +HSUPA)
HSS Home Subscriber Server
HSUPA High Speed Downlink Packet Access
LB Link Budget
LCD Low Delay Constrained Data
LTE Long Term Evolution
MAPL Maximum Allowed Path Loss
MCS Modulation Coding Scheme
MIMO Multiple Input Multiple Output
MME Mobility Managment Entity
MS Mobile Station

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MSC Mobile Switching Centers
NAS Non-Access Stratum
NGMN Next Generation Mobile Network
NSS Network and Switching Subsystem
OFDM Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex
OSS Operation and Support Subsystem
PRB Physical Resource Block
PS Packet Switched
QoS Quality of Service
RAN Radio Access Network
RAT Radio Access Technology
RB Resource Block
RE Resource Element
RF Radio Frequency
RLB Radio Link Budget
RNP Radio Network Planning
RNSs Radio Network Subsystems
RRU Remote Radio Units
RSRP Referance Signal Received Power
SAE System Architecture Evolution
SC-FDMA Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access
SIM Subscriber Identity Module
SIMO Signle Input Multiple Output
SINR Signal to Interfernce and Noise Ratio
SNR Signal to Noise Ratio
SRC Single Radio Controller
TCH Traffic Channel
TDD Time Division Duplex
TDMA Time Division Multiple Access
TMA Tower Mounted Amplifier
TSL Time Slot
UDD Unconstrained Delay Data
UE User Equipment
UL Uplink
UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunication System
UTRAN UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network
WCDMA Wideband Code Division Multiple Access

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 CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
A cellular network or mobile network is a communication network where the medium used to
transmit data or voice from the transmitter to the receiver is natural medium like air and water.
The network is distributed over land areas called cells, each served by at least one fixed-
location transceiver, known as a cell site or base station.

Multi radio access technologies are technologies which give radio access to the customers,
which means they provide cellular network to the users. Generally multi radio access
technology incorporates the first generation or GSM, UMTS, and the fourth one which is Long
Term Evolution.

The networks support more simultaneous users than would be possible without deploying
cellular solution using efficient utilization of the spectrum over the network coverage area.
However the overall service comes out after a proper dimensioning and planning.

The idea of network planning is a complicated process made up of several phases putting final
target to define the network design, which let built a cellular network. The designing procedure
can be an extension of the existing network or a new network to be launched. The difficulty
during the planning is to combine all the requirements in an optimal way and designing a cost-
effective network since the cellular system consists various components such us User
Equipment (UE), Base-Stations (BS), mobile switching centers (MSC) and so on. [1].

The network planning process consists of several phases, the first stage is preplanning or
dimensioning covers the assignments and preparation before the actual network planning is
started, dealing what kind of services will the network provide, what kind of requirements the
different services impose on the network, the basic network configuration parameters and so
on.[1]

Takes an input from the dimensioning as initial network configuration. Nominal planning
would follow. It starts for the site survey, finding the real site locations. Once it supplemented
i.e. it has all the data related to the geographical properties and the estimated traffic volumes
at different points of the area will be incorporated into a digital map, which consists of
different pixels, each of which records all the information about the selected site locations.

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Based on the propagation model, allowable maximum path loss is calculated the link budget
parameters, to define the cell range and coverage threshold.

From the point of the digital map and the link budget a computer simulations will evaluate the
different possibilities to build up the radio network. The goal is to achieve as much coverage
as possible with the optimal capacity. The coverage and the capacity planning are essentially
important in the whole radio network planning. The coverage planning determines the service
range, and the capacity planning determines the number of to-be-used base stations and their
respective capacities.

In the third phase, constant adjustment will be made to ensure an optimal operation of the
network. Finally the multi RAT network radio plan is ready to be deployed in the area to be
covered and served. An investigation of the performance of multi RAT network with
prediction of effective service area and in general the three technology will proceed to be
evaluated in terms of several parameters such as coverage signal level, overlapping zone,
throughput, and interference following.

1.2 Literature Survey

A dozen of literatures for the basis of building a strong foundation has been reviewed.

Tibebu Mekonnen[1]: deals on Dimensioning and Planning of Multi RAT Radio Network
for Future Deployment in Bahir Dar City, it has been tried to consider the limitations of the
current telecom services according to their capacity and coverage. And also deals with the
procedure of how to carry out the radio network planning for 2G, 3G and 4G systems. The
general steps and methods for wireless radio network planning are first addressed. Then the
issues of radio network planning for multi radio access technologies including GSM, UMTS
& LTE are discussed with special focus on the coverage, capacity and frequency planning.

Bethelhem Seifu[2]: LTE Radio Network Planning Modeling for the Case of Addis Ababa.
In the paper states that the coverage estimation is done with consideration of the real
environment information at its nominal stage to obtain better estimations. The propagation
modeling is done using COST 231 W/I model with inclusion of additional parameters obtained
from the real environment/terrain model which improves the coverage estimation.

Yiming Sun, 2004 [5]: Radio Network Planning for 2G and 3G. Focused on the procedures
of how to carry out the radio network planning for 2G and 3G systems, specially the link
budget calculation. The general steps and methods for wireless radio network planning are

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first addressed. Then the issue of radio network planning is discussed with special focus on
the 2G and 3G networks, as well as a comparison between 2G and 3G radio network planning
processes is summarized at the end.

A. Benjamin Paul & Sk.M. Subani, 2012 [7]: Code Planning of 3G UMTS Mobile Networks
using ATOLL Planning Tool”, International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology
(IJERT). This paper involves on simulation exercise on planning of 3G UMTS network with
the help of Atoll planning software tool. It involves planning of coverage, quality& capacity
of UMTS Network which uses WCDMA in radio interface between 3G base station and the
User equipment. It also involves planning of scrambling codes for 3G WCDMA Network.

Jaana Laiho [12]: a doctoral thesis is published by Helsinki University of technology radio
laboratory publications in July 2002. It focuses on Wide Band Code Division Multiple Access
(WCDMA) (Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) mode) radio network planning and
optimization process. For the planning part, the link budget model, radio network planning
process using Radio Network Planning (RNP) tool is thoroughly discussed.

1.3 Statement of Problem

The issues encountered as defect stand form view angle of two points. It is obvious that the
advancement of technology lets an evolution. Since the existing system was install with a lot
of investment in case something new happen in middle. A study how do these technologies
behave, there compatible in one situation should been considered. The concept of multi RAT
is similarly lies in integrating the various radio access technology in common. Investigating
the characteristics and interaction between those technologies is crucial.

Making business is the other angle since operators are curious in minimize their investment
for infrastructure while the equipment vendor’s wants to sell more in turn. Therefore these
two extreme interests need to be tradeoff through an effective planning methods which has an
attribute of determining the minimum network resources required to meet coverage, capacity
and quality demands of the operator.

1.4 Objective
1.4.1 General Objective
The general objective of this work is dimensioning and planning of multi RAT access network
and investigating its performance.

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1.4.2 Specific Objectives
Specifically this thesis is focused to the following specific radio network dimensioning and
planning:

 Dimensioning the 2G, 3G and 4G cellular network for case of Kedamay weyane and
Adi haki sub cities based on link budget calculation
 Modelling the 2G and 3G networks and analyze in terms of signal strength,
interference and overlapping zones.
 Modelling the 4G network and analyze in terms of signal strength, throughput,
interference, and overlapping zones.
 Modelling the multi RAT network and analyze in terms effective service area.

1.5 Methodology
The employed methods to achieve the objectives of this thesis goes procedurally on these basic
as follow steps:

 Review related literatures: starting from finding out papers, journals and articles
related areas of research with this paper help to fine tune the statement of problem.
The problem that needs to be addressed through the current work needs to be well
understood. Reviewing of similar literature helps to widen the viewpoints for the
statement of problem.
 Study the multi radio access network technologies: making an understand is the
initial thing so that the challenges associated with the radio network planning and stuff
like that would be explored. The architectures of each multi RAT, there multiple
access, the channel and the frame structure of the technologies are reviewed.
 Sample Site exploring: doing survey to collect data from the live cellular network,
identify and collect the required information from the ground.
 System design: includes studying problems of network and putting down system
flow, by analyzing the modeling techniques and design a system that can co-plan
GSM/UMTS/LTE as multi RAT environment. And identify all necessary inputs for
simulation including the digital map of the area.
 Practice on the planning tools: the coverage prediction and capacity simulation are
made using a commercial radio network planning tools known to be Attol is required.
And to use the planning tool effectively working knowledge of the tools should be
developed.

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  Simulation and analysis: Based on coverage prediction and capacity simulation result
the efficiency of the planning output is evaluated.
 Analysis and Interpretation of the results: putting a conclusion of Multi RAT
deployment scenarios and overall performance will be analyzed based on the likely
outcome.
Generally the points or the procedure included in the methodology followed are illustrated as
in the Figure 1.1.

Figure 1.1: Flow Chart of the Methodology

1.6 Significance of the Paper for the Society

The significance of this thesis straightforward it could quench the thirsty of great quality
services. Service provider needs to provide high quality service with in very low cost and it
needs to get high profit from its services, so as the company would gain the profits it has been
required. Through an efficient planning introduced here an effective way of resource
utilization would be headed anything without allowance of the operator vendors will not install
any kit for their own reason.

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1.7 Organization of Thesis
This paper has contains five chapters from the beginning of the first chapter which deals about
background of the study, literature survey, objective and methodology. The second chapter
also consist of the general over view of these three radio access technologies. In third chapter
the multi RAT network planning is discussed from the capacity and coverage point of view.
At the end the simulation result discussion and the conclusion and recommendation for future
work are put in the fourth and fifth chapters respectively.

1.8 Scope of the Thesis

The scope of this thesis lies on the coverage and capacity planning of Multi radio access
network (RAT). Accounting the actual morphology and topography details of Adi haki and
Kedamay weyane an investigate measure of the performance has been taken. the optimizing
procedure, planning and dimensioning of some other features of multi RAT like scrambling
code, frequency planning as well as core network dimensioning stuffs are out of our range.

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 CHAPTER TWO
RADIO ACCESS TECHNOLOGIES OVERVIEW
2.1 Introduction
In this section the general introduction and the overall architecture of radio access
technologies are discussed. The intended technologies for network planning are GSM, UMTS
and LTE.

2.2 Global System for Mobile (GSM)

GSM was launched in the early 1990s, as one of the first truly digital systems for mobile
telephony. It was specified by ETSI and originally intended to be used only in Europe GSM,
later on has evolved to be more or less the first truly global standard for mobile
communication. Even though it is relatively old, it is still being rolled out all over the world.

2.2.1 GSM Architecture

GSM system comprises three subsystems named Mobile station (MS), Base-Station
Subsystem (BSS), Network and Switching Subsystem (NSS) and Operation and Support
Subsystem (OSS).

Figure 2.1: GSM Network Architecture

2.2.2 Multiple Accessing in GSM

The cellular systems use various mechanisms to allow multiple users accessing the same radio
spectrum at the same time. FDMA and TDMA are the most common ones. The FDMA system
divides the available spectrum into several frequency channels. Individual users are allocated
two channels for uplink and downlink communication so that no other user could allocated

15
the same channels at the same time. In TDMA system the entire available bandwidth is shared
by single user at a time only for short periods. The frequency channel is divided into timeslots
so that it’s allocated periodically. GSM is based on TDMA technology, each frequency
channel is divided into several time slots and each user is allocated one or more slots.

2.2.3 GSM Channels

In the air interface there are two types of channels named physical and logical channels.
Generally the physical channel is all the time slots of BTS and also it’s divided in two types,
Half Rate (HR) and Full-Rate (FR). The Logical channel refers to specific type of information
that is carried by the physical channel. It’s also divided into two types these are traffic channels
and control channels.

Basic Channel Structure

The radio spectrum in GSM 900 is separated into 124 radio channels, each of these radio
channels then separated into eight time‐divided channels called time slots (TSL).

2.3 Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS)

It is one of the third generation technologies that uses Wideband Code Division Multiple
Access (WCDMA) as the underlying standard. It support two basic modes FDD and TDD,
variable transmission rates, inter cell asynchronous operation, adaptive power control, etc. are
some of the key features.

2.3.1 UMTS Network Architecture

UMTS network architecture consists of Core Network (CN), UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access
Network (UTRAN) and User Equipment (UE).

UE contains the mobile phone and the SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card called Universal
SIM (USIM). It has a specific data of subscribers that enables the authenticated entry of the
subscriber into the network.

UTRAN consists of one or more RNSs (radio network subsystems), which in turn consist of
base stations Node B’s and RNCs (radio network controllers). The RNS performs all of the
radio resources and air interface management functionalities.

Radio Network Subsystem (RNS) is the equivalent of the previous Base Station Subsystem
or BSS in GSM. It provides and manages the air interface for the overall network.

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Radio Access Network (RAN) consist of the Base Stations (BS) or Node B and Radio
Network Controllers (RNCs). The major functions of the BS are closed loop power control,
physical channel coding, modulation/demodulation, error handling, etc., while RNCs are radio
resource control/management, power control, channel allocation, ciphering, etc.

Core Network (CN) provide switching, routing and transit for user traffic. It also contains
the databases and network management functions.

Uu Interface is WCDMA radio interface through which the UE accesses the fixed part of the
system. It is probably the most important open interface in UMTS.

IU interface connects UTRAN to CN. It is an open interface too that divides the system into
radio-specific UTRAN and CN which handles switching, routing and service control.

Figure 2.2: UMTS Network Architecture

2.3.2 UMTS Operation Modes and Multiple Access

UMTS might work in two different modes i.e. TDD and FDD in other words the channels in
the UL and DL will be managed in two different ways:

In FDD mode two pairs of frequency bands are used at the same time, one for UL and the
other for DL. Its uses WCDMA, the carried services being characterized by their symmetric
traffic, like voice.

In the TDD mode, both the UL and DL use the same frequency, through a scheme of Time
Division - Code Division Multiple Access (TD-CDMA) in unpaired bands, which will be
advantageous to handle services with asymmetric traffic, like Internet one. The wide
bandwidth of WCDMA offers an inherent performance gain over the previous cellular
systems, since it reduces the fading of the radio signal. It uses coherent demodulation in UL,
a feature that was not implemented in cellular CDMA systems. [14].

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2.4 Long Term Evolution (LTE)
LTE is a standard wireless communication of high-speed data for mobile and data terminals.
It is based on the GSM/EDGE and UMTS/HSPA network technologies, increasing the
capacity and speed using a different radio interface together with core network improvements.
All LTE devices have to support Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) transmissions. The
interfaces between network nodes in LTE are Internet Protocol (IP) based.

2.4.1 LTE Network Architecture

The simplified network architecture with open interfaces of LTE is introduced to be all-IP
based. The architecture is designed to be more simplified and flat as compared to the previous
3GPP releases. Since LTE is the evolution of UMTS, its equivalent components are named
Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA). This is the air interface includes the
user equipment (UE) and Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN)
and it is used to describe RAN.

System Architecture Evolution (SAE) has been introduced in the new architecture instead of
a radio controller. The combination of the EPC, E-UTRA, and E-UTRAN is called Evolved
Packet System (EPS). As shown in Figure 2.3 the LTE network architecture and the network
components are:
Evolved Packet Core (EPC)
In LTE both Circuit-Switched (CS) and Packet-Switched (PS) mobile core sub-domains are
unified as a single IP domain and becomes Evolved Packet Core (EPC). All-IP mobile core
network specified by 3GPP Release 8 for LTE.

User Equipment (UE) is refers to the LTE mobile station. The UE categories stand for an
abstract grouping of common UE radio access capabilities and are defined in 3GPP 36.306.
The maximum possible bit rate of UL ranges from 5Mbps (Cat. 1) to 75Mbps (Cat. 5).

Evolved-UTRAN (E-UTRAN) consist of the enhanced NodeB (eNodeB) which handles the
radio communications between the mobile and the evolved packet core. Each eNodeB is a
base station that controls the mobiles in one or more cells.

Evolved Packet Core (EPC) contains the home subscriber server (HSS), which is a central
database that contains information about all the network operator’s subscribers.

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 Figure 2.3: LTE Evolved Packet System (EPS) architecture

Evolved Packet System (EPS) Architecture

EPC + eUTRAN builds the Evolved Packet System (EPS). LTE/SAE is specified from
Release 8. The name of the actual Radio Access Network (RAN) is eUTRAN and for Core
Network (CN) is Enhanced Packet Core (EPC).

The eUTRAN supports use of different MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) multiple
antenna configurations. This increases the data rates and spectrum efficiency. One of the
objectives E-UTRAN is to simplify and reduce the number of interfaces.

Mobility Management Entity (MME) is the main control element in the EPC used to process
signaling between the CN and the UE. The protocols running between the UE and the CN are
called as the Non-Access Stratum (NAS) protocols.

The S-GW (Serving Gateway): is responsible for IP packet transferring. It acts as a router,
and forwards data between the base station and the packet data network (PDN) gateway.

2.4.2 LTE Physical Layer

The design of LTE physical layer is heavily influenced by requirements of high peak
transmission rate (100 Mbps DL or 50 Mbps UL), spectral efficiency, and multiple channel
bandwidths (1.25-20 MHz), so that an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex (OFDM)
was selected as the basis for the physical layer to fulfill the requirements,.

19
OFDMA and SC-FDMA
LTE has a multiple access scheme of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access
(OFDMA) in the downlink and Single-Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-
FDMA) in the uplink. The OFDM signal can be generated by using the Fast Fourier Transform
(FFT). The available spectrum is divided into multiple, mutually orthogonal subcarriers. The
OFDM technique applied for a signal with 5 MHz bandwidth shown in Figure 2.4 [6].

Figure 2.4: Frequency-time representation of an OFDM Signal

In the frequency domain, the 5MHz bandwidth is divided into a high number of closely spaced
orthogonal subcarriers. The subcarriers in LTE have a constant spacing of 15 kHz. In E-
UTRA, the downlink modulation schemes can be QPSK, 16QAM and 64QAM. In E-UTRA,
the guard interval is a cyclic prefix (CP) which is inserted prior to each OFDM symbol. A
group of subcarriers is called a sub-channel.

Adaptive Modulation and Coding (AMC)

In cellular systems, the quality of the received signal by UE depends on the channel quality
from serving cell, level of interference from other cells, and noise level. To optimize system
capacity and coverage for a given transmission power, the transmitter should try to match the
information data rate for each user to the variations in the received signal. This is commonly
referred to as link adaptation and is typically based on Adaptive Modulation and Coding
(AMC). The AMC consists of the modulation Scheme and code rate.

Modulation Scheme:
Low-order modulation (i.e. few data bits per modulated symbol, e.g. QPSK) is more robust
and can tolerate higher levels of interference but provides a lower transmission bit rate.

High-order modulation (i.e. more bits per modulated symbol, e.g. 64QAM) offers a higher bit
rate but is more prone to errors due to its higher sensitivity to interference, noise and channel

20
estimation errors, it is useful only when the Signal to Interference and Noise Ratio (SINR) is
sufficiently high.

Code rate: For a given modulation, the code rate can be chosen depending on the radio link
conditions: a lower code rate can be used in poor channel conditions and a higher code rate in
the case of high SINR [13].
LTE supports the following modulation techniques in the downlink and uplink:
 64 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (64 QAM) which uses 64 different quadrature
and amplitude combinations to carry 6 bits per symbol
 16 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (16 QAM) which uses 16 different quadrature
and amplitude combinations to carry 4 bits per symbol
 Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) which used 4 different quadrature’s to send 2
bits per symbol [15, 16].
In LTE each subcarrier is modulated with a conventional modulation scheme depending on
the channel condition. LTE uses QPSK, 16QAM, or 64QAM. The FFT sizes of 128, 256, 512,
1024 and 2048, corresponding to LTE channel bandwidth of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10 and 20MHz are
used. Guard intervals are inserted between each of the symbols to prevent inter-symbol
interference at the receiver caused by multipath delay spread in the radio channel [16].

Spectrum Flexibility depending on regulatory aspects in different geographical areas, radio

spectrum for mobile communication is available in different frequency bands in different
bandwidths. LTE can be deployed with bandwidths ranging from approximately 1.25MHz up
to approximately 20MHz. Furthermore, LTE can operate in both paired and unpaired spectrum
by providing a single radio access technology that supports frequency-division duplex (FDD)
as well as time division duplex (TDD) operation.

2.4.3 LTE FDD Frame Structure

The LTE FDD frame structure is illustrated in Figure 2.5 for normal cyclic prefix (CP). Each
LTE FDD radio frame is 𝑇𝑓 = 307200 × Ts = 10ms long and consists of 20 slots of
length 𝑇𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑡 = 15360 × 𝑇𝑠 = 0.5ms, numbered from 0 to 19. For LTE FDD, 10 sub-frames
are available for downlink transmission and 10 for uplink transmissions in each 10ms interval.
UL and DL transmissions are separated in the frequency domain [16, 17].

21
 Figure 2.5: LTE FDD Frame and Slot Structure

Resource Blocks (RB)

A physical resource block (PRB) is used to describe the physical resource in the time/
frequency grid. Figure 2.6 illustrates the LTE time/frequency grid definitions. The PRB
consists of 12 consecutive subcarriers and lasts for one slot, 0.5ms. Each subcarrier is spaced
by 15 kHz. The NRB UL and NRB DL parameter are used to define the number of RB
(resource blocks) for uplink and downlink respectively.
Each resource block consists of NSCRB subcarriers for standard operation is set to 12 or a
total of 180 kHz lasting in a 0.5ms slot. The resource element (RE) is the smallest defined
unit, which consists of one OFDM subcarrier during one OFDM symbol interval. Each RB
consists of 12 × 7 = 84 REs in the case of normal CP and 72 REs for extended CP. The
maximum RB is 100 and corresponds to the transmission bandwidth while 20MHz is the
channel bandwidth. The number of subcarriers depends on the system BW (i.e. 1.4→72,
3→180, 5→300, 10→600, 15→900, 20→1200) [16].

2.4.4 LTE MIMO Basics

Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) refers to the use of multiple antennas at the
transmitter and receiver side. There are two functionality modes of MIMO in which different
gains can be achieved.

The Spatial Multiplexing mode: allow transmitting different streams of data simultaneously
on the same resource blocks by exploiting the spatial dimension of the radio channel so that
the data rate or capacity is increased.

Spatial Diversity: used to exploit diversity and increase the robustness of data transmission.
Each transmitter antenna transmits essentially the same stream of data, so the receiver gets
replicas of the same signal [13]. Only the spatial multiplexing mode is concerned in this thesis
while calculating the LTE capacity and data rate. As shown in Figure 2.7 taking 4 x 4 antenna
configuration as an instance, where each receiver antenna may receive the data streams from
all transmit antennas.

22
 Figure 2.6: Physical Resource Block and Resource Element
The transmission relationship can be described with a Transmission Channel Matrix H. The
coefficients ℎ𝑖𝑗 stands for transmit antenna 𝑗 to receive antenna 𝑖 thus describing all possible
paths between transmitter and receiver sides.

Figure 2.7: MIMO Transmission

Suppose the receiver vector is 𝑦, the transmitter vector is 𝑥, the noise vector is 𝑛 and 𝐻 is the
transmission channel matrix. Then MIMO transmission described by the Equation 2.1.
𝑦 = 𝐻𝑥 + 𝑛 2.1

In M x N antenna configuration, the number of data streams which can be transmitted in

parallel over the MIMO channel is given by the minimum value of M and N. It’s limited by
the rank of the transmission matrix H. For example, a 4 x 4 MIMO system could be used to
transmit four or fewer data streams.

23
 CHAPTER THREE
MULTI RAT RADIO NETWORK PLANNING
3.1 Introduction
It is refers to the process of designing a multiple radio access network structure and
determining network elements subject to various design requirements. In this thesis the
network planning is associated with dimensioning and planning.

Figure 3.1: Network planning process steps

The network planning procedure is a complicated process consisting of several phases. The
final target is to define the network design, which is then built as a cellular network. Generally
the process is divided into five main steps starting from preplanning, planning, detailed
planning, acceptance and optimization.
The input for the preplanning phase is the network planning criteria which is then used as an
input for the main activity of preplanning or dimensioning. The following are basic inputs for
dimensioning:
 Coverage requirements, the signal level for outdoor and indoor with the coverage
probabilities.
 Quality requirements, call blocking.
 Subscriber information, traffic per user, busy hour value and Services.
The result of dimensioning has two aspects, it tells the minimum number of base stations due
to coverage or capacity reasons.
The planning phase takes input from the dimensioning, initial network configuration. This is
the basis for nominal planning, which means radio network coverage and capacity planning
with a planning tool. Detailed planning covers frequency, neighbor and parameter planning.
After detailed planning the network is ready for verification and acceptance, which finishes
the prelaunch activities. After the launch the activities continue with optimization [2].

The basic requirements are to meet the coverage and quality targets. Coverage targets the
geographic area where the network covers with agreed location of probability. The quality

24
targets are related to factors such as success of the call, drop call ratio, which should not
exceed the agreed value and the success ratio for the call setup and for handovers [1]. A good
plan should address the following issues provision of required capacity, optimum usage of the
available frequency spectrum, minimum number of sites, provision for easy and smooth
expansion of the network in future & provision of adequate coverage of the given area, for a
minimum specified level of interference [5, 18].

The detailed part of radio network plan can be sub-divided into three sub-plans: Link budget
calculation, coverage, capacity planning and spectrum efficiency and Parameter planning.

Link Budget Calculations

Link budget (LB) calculations give the loss in the signal strength on the path between the
mobile station antenna and base station antenna. And radio link budget (RLB) analysis should
be done for both uplink and downlink communications [2].

Coverage Planning
The objective of coverage planning phase in coverage limited network areas is to find a
minimum amount of cell sites with optimum locations for producing the required coverage for
the target area. The basic input information for coverage planning includes coverage regions,
coverage threshold values on per regions (outdoor, in-car, indoor), Antenna, preferred antenna
line system specifications, preferred base station specification & activities such as propagation
modeling, field strength predictions and measurements are usually referred to as coverage
planning.

Capacity Planning
The steps for calculating the network capacity are:
 Find the maximum no of carriers per cell that can be reached for the different regions
based on the frequency reuse patterns and the available spectrum.
 Calculate the capacity of the given cell using blocking probability and the number of
carriers.
 Finally the sum of all cell capacities gives the network capacity.

3.2 Site Survey

The purpose of site survey is to identify the different environmental factors that directly or
indirectly affect the radio network planning process. In this thesis, Kedamay Weyane and Adi
Haqi sub cities of Mekelle are considered as the area of planning and its environmental factors
are listed in Table 3.1.

25
Table 3.1: Regions of Planning
SN. Name Popn. Area Density(per No. Remark
Size (km2) km2) kebeles
1 Kedamay Weyane 32,035 7.09 5,005.5 4 Dense Urban
2 Quiha 45,627 16.33 2,794 4 Sub Urban
3 Hadinet 49,566 10.67 2,725 5 Sub Urban (
aynalem & debri)

4 Adi Haqi 51,590 4.9 13,228 4 Dense Urban

5 Hawelti 61,507 17.32 3,551.2 5 Urban
6 Semen 53,057 37.35 1,420.5 5 Urban
7 Ayder 40,878 12.59 3,246.86 5 Sub Urban

The selected area covers around 11.99 km2 with a population of 83,625 from total of 454,207.

3.3 GSM Radio Network Planning

The first considered multi RAT network is GSM, which is divided into a lot of cells, and
usually a base station is planted in the center of each cell. For the sake of easy analysis, the
cells are represented as neighboring hexagons, while in reality they can be of any kind of
forms and overlap with each other. The size of each cell, when fixed, will usually stay stable.

The one important feature of GSM network planning is both the coverage and capacity
planning are independent. The coverage planning depends on the received signal strength,
while the capacity planning depends mainly on the frequency allocation [1, 5].

3.3.1 GSM Coverage Planning

The radio network dimensioning parameters have an impact on each other so it is good to
decide the parameters for optimal result. In this thesis a macro cells with three sector sites are
considered that spans a 1 to 35km and is characterized by an outdoor antenna [3, 5].

Link Budget Calculations

The radio link budget aims to calculate the cell coverage area. One of the required parameters
is radio wave propagation to estimate the propagation loss between the transmitter and the
receiver. The other required parameters are the transmission power, antenna gain, cable losses,
receiver sensitivity and margins, as shown in Figure 3.2.

26
 Figure 3.2: Link Budget Parameters
When defining the cell coverage area, the aim is to balance the uplink and downlink powers.
The links are calculated separately and are different from the transmission powers. The GSM
link budget parameters are classified into four types these are system parameter, transmitter
parameters, receiver parameters, and margin reservation

System Parameter
Carrier frequency: radio waves of different frequencies have different propagation models
and different transmission losses.
System bandwidth: In a GSM system, the receiver bandwidth is 200 kHz (that is, 53dBm)
Data rate: The full rate and half rate of GSM voice service is given as 9.6Kbps and 4.Kbps
respectively.

Transmitter Parameter
MS and BTS powers are important along with the sensitivities. The MS TX (transmission)
power is defined by the MS class in ETSI specifications. For MS class 4 (GSM 900) the
maximum TX power is 2W. BTS TX power depends on the BTS type and vendor. The TX
power is adjustable, which enables the link budget to be balanced.

Antenna gains is dependent on the antenna type and whether the antenna is omnidirectional
or directional. The antenna gain is around 16 – 20dBi when there is a widely used antenna
with 60–65◦ horizontal half power beam width and 5–10 vertical half power beam width. In
the link budget calculations the MS antenna the gain is 0dBi.

Body Loss is a loss generated due to signal blocking and absorption when a terminal antenna
is close to the human body. It’s always taken 3dB and 0dB for the case of MS and BTS
respectively.

Receiver parameter

27
Noise spectral density is calculated as:
𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 = 𝑘𝑇 = −174 𝑑𝐵𝑚⁄𝐻𝑧 𝑖𝑛 𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑚 𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒(290𝐾) 3.1
Noise power also called thermal noise power is produced by the thermal movement of
electrons. It is given by:
𝑁𝑖 = 𝑘𝑇𝐵 3.2
C/I required by TCH: is the SNR requirement on the air interface. In narrowband system,
C/I is the requirement of receiver baseband demodulation performance. The target value varies
depending on the propagation environment, mobility speed, and coding rate. According to the
GSM protocol, C/I should be greater than or equal to 9dB [6].

Noise figure: is a method to measure the noise added when a signal is pass through BTS
or/and MS receiver. In the case of ideal receiver nose figure is F = 1 or 0dB. In actual
situations, a receiver has noise and the output noise power is greater than signal power. Thus,
the SNR is worse and F > 1. As defined in GSM protocol, the noise figure of a base station
receiver is 8 dB and 10dB for MS receiver.
𝑆𝑖 ⁄𝑁𝑖 𝑆𝑖 ⁄(𝑘𝑇𝑜 𝐵)
𝐹= = 3.3
𝑆𝑜 ⁄𝑁𝑜 𝐸𝑏 ⁄𝑁𝑜
𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑁𝑖 = 𝑘𝑇𝑜 𝐵

Receiver sensitivity is a measure of how well the receiver performs and defined as the power
of the weakest signal the receiver can detect. The receiver sensitivity is given by:
𝑅𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦 = 𝑛𝑜𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦(𝑑𝐵𝑚⁄𝐻𝑧)
+ 𝑏𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑤𝑖𝑑𝑡ℎ(𝑑𝐵𝐻𝑧) + 𝑛𝑜𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑔𝑢𝑟𝑒(𝑑𝐵) + 𝐶⁄𝐼 (𝑑𝐵)
𝐸𝑏
𝑆𝑖 = 𝐹𝐾𝑇𝑜 𝐵 3.4
𝑁𝑜
BTS sensitivity has a general recommendation value of -106dBm as it is specified on the
ETSI GSM recommendation 05.05.

MS sensitivity is also specified in the ETSI recommendation 05.05, where the receiver
sensitivity value for MS class 4 the recommended value is -102dBm. The MS sensitivity can
also be calculated using the information of receiver noise F and minimum Eb/N0. The value
for the noise is 10dB and the minimum Eb/N0 is 8dB, as defined in the ETSI recommendation
03.30. The receiver sensitivity Si is solved from Equation 3.3 at room temperature T = 290 K,
and BW = 200 kHz (53dBm).

𝑆𝑖 ⁄𝑁𝑖 𝑆𝑖 ⁄(𝑘𝑇𝐵)
𝐹= = , 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑁𝑖 = 𝑘𝑇𝐵
𝑆𝑜 ⁄𝑁𝑜 𝐸𝑏 ⁄𝑁𝑜

28
 𝐸𝑏
𝑆𝑖 = 𝐹𝐾𝑇𝐵
𝑁𝑜
𝐽
= 9𝑑𝐵 + 10𝑑𝐵 + (290𝐾 × 1.38 × 10−23 ) + 53𝑑𝐵𝑚
𝐾
= 9𝑑𝐵 + 10𝑑𝐵 − 174𝑑𝐵𝑚 + 53𝑑𝐵𝑚
= 102𝑑𝐵𝑚
Interference degradation margin: describes the loss due to frequency reuse. Therefore the
frequency reuse rate corresponds to the degradation margin value. The suggested value for the
interference degradation margin in dense urban areas have a value of 4 – 5dB according to the
ETSI recommendation 03.30.

Margin Reservation
Diversity gain can be used for correcting unbalance between the uplink and downlink. The
typical way to arrange diversity is to have it in the BTS reception. One basic method is to
separate receiver antennas vertically or horizontally which is known to be space diversity. The
diversity decreased fading effect and gain achieved can be around 5dB.

Cable and connector losses are case specific and need to be measured or calculated
separately. The cable losses can be seen from Table 3.2. An individual connector gives a loss
of around 0.1dB, but depending on the cable installations there can be several.

Table 3.2: Cable loss per 100m

Loss/100m
Cable type 900MHz 1800MHz
½ inch 7 dB 10 dB
7/8 inch 4 dB 6 dB
1 ¼ inch 3 dB 4.5 dB

Slow fading margin / Shadow fading margin: also named slow attenuation. It follows a log-
normal distribution in the calculation of radio coverage. To reach the specified coverage
probability, during network planning, certain power margin must be reserved for BS or MS
receivers to reduce the attenuation effect. Shadow fading standard deviation is related to
electromagnetic wave propagation environment. In dense urban areas, the shadow fading
standard deviation is about 10dB.

Coverage probability: refers to the probability that the quality of communication between
terminals in radio coverage edge (or inside coverage) and the base station meet the
requirement. Coverage probability can also be classified into area coverage probability and
edge coverage probability.

29
Edge coverage probability: is used to evaluate the reliability of communication links in
shadow fading environment. It is an index for determining the coverage quality. To determine
the location probability (i.e. describes the probability of the receiver being able to capture the
signal) a distribution for the received signal has to be defined. The slow fading variations in
the average received signal level are normally distributed, which is illustrate in Figure 3.3.

Figure 3.3: Lower tail of normal distribution curve

In radio propagation, for a given distance, the path loss changes quickly and can be regarded
as a random variable in lognormal distribution. To improve cell coverage, fade margin should
be considered in link budget. The distribution function for slow fading is:
1 (𝑟−𝑟𝑚 )2
−
Ƥ(r) = 𝑒 2𝜎2 3.5
√2𝜋𝜎
Where r is the random variable and rm the mean value of it, and σ is the standard deviation,
which is measured in dB. The slow fading is described by the normal random variable r [2, 6].

The location probability can be expressed by an equation, which is upper tail probability of
Equation. The location probability for upper tail probability can be expressed as follows:

1 𝑥𝑜 (𝑟−𝑟𝑚 )2
−
Ƥ 𝑥𝑜 = ∫ 𝑒 2𝜎2 𝑑𝑟 3.6
√2𝜋𝜎 −∞

The probability Ƥ𝑥𝑜 gives the location probability at a certain point when the random variable
r exceeds some threshold xo:

1 ∞ (𝑟−𝑟𝑚 )2 1 𝑥𝑜 − 𝑟𝑚
−
Ƥ 𝑥𝑜 = ∫ 𝑒 2𝜎2 𝑑𝑟 = [1 − 𝑒𝑟𝑓 ( )] 3.7
√2𝜋𝜎 𝑥𝑜 2 𝜎√2

The location probability can be expressed as well as the lower tail in Equation 3.7, and
therefore the probability can be calculated below a certain margin. The planning target for the

30
location probability is normally 90-95% over the whole cell area [6]. The location probability,
slow fading margin (xo - rm), maximum path loss and cell range are all connected.

The cell range is dependent on the maximum allowed path loss and therefore improvement in
the location probability causes a decrease in the cell range. This leads to calculation of the
coverage threshold, which is the minimum allowed downlink signal strength at the cell edge
with a certain location probability. For the coverage threshold calculations are needed for the
MS isotropic power, propagation model with calculation parameters, standard deviation, area
type correction factor and building penetration loss.

Using the standard deviation and location probability the value of the slow fading margin is
first calculated. Area type correction factors come from the propagation model tuning
measurements. Building penetration loss is needed in the case where indoor coverage
thresholds are calculated. ETSI recommendation 03.30 suggests values for the average
building penetration loss (BPL); in urban areas it is approximately 18 dB for 900 MHz and in
rural areas around 10 dB, due to the smaller size of buildings. For an indoor coverage threshold
calculation the deviation of building penetration loss indoor is also needed, which is used as
the standard deviation indoor. The approximate value for the BPL deviation is 10dB. For
indoor environment, the standard deviation of propagation loss random variable is around
10dB. Then, the slow fading margin of 90% edge coverage probability is as follows:
𝑥𝑜 − 𝑟𝑚 = 1.29𝜎 = 1.29 × 10 = 12.9𝑑𝐵 3.8
In GSM network planning 12.9 dB margin is reserved to ensure a 90% edge coverage
probability.

Table 3.1: Common edge coverage probability and shadow fading margin
Edge coverage Probability (%) 70% 75% 80% 85% 90% 95% 98%
Shadow fading margin (dB) 0.53σ 0.68σ 0.85σ 1.04σ 1.29σ 1.65σ 2.06σ

Area coverage probability: is the percentage of area of the location where receiving signal
strength is greater than receiving threshold to the total area in a round region with radius R.
The 90% edge coverage probability corresponds to 95% area coverage probability and shadow
fading margin is 12.9dB.

Fast fading margin (Rayleigh fading margin) is a type of multipath wave interference
generated because the propagation is reflected by scattering objects (mainly buildings) or

31
natural obstacles (mainly forest) around the MS (within 50-100 wavelength). Fast fading
always produce standing wave field.

Penetration loss refers to building loss that is associated with building style and structure,
such as concrete structure, brick structure, window size, style and so on.

Maximum allowable path loss

The Equation 3.9 is a typical one to determine maximum allowable path loss for a radio
communications system.

𝑚𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑡ℎ 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠(𝑀𝐴𝑃𝐿)

= 𝑇𝑋 𝐸𝐼𝑅𝑃 + 𝑅𝑋 𝐿𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑠 − 𝑅𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑆𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦 − 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑠 3.9
𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒
𝑇𝑥 𝐸𝐼𝑅𝑃 = 𝑇𝑋 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 + 𝑇𝑋 𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑛𝑎 𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛 − 𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑦 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑
𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑖𝑛 = 𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑓𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑖𝑛 + 𝑓𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑓𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑖𝑛 +
𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑖𝑛 + 𝑏𝑢𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑟 𝑣𝑒ℎ𝑖𝑐𝑙𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠

As a result of the link budget calculation of Table 3.3, there is a difference in the power budget
of the uplink and downlink calculations, so that the downlink path loss exceeds the uplink
power loss. This is implies that the area covered by the base station antenna radiations is more
than the area covered by the mobile station antenna, thereby giving more coverage in the
downlink direction

Propagation Model Selection

The propagation model for GSM 900MHz Okumura-Hata is selected considering the worst
case scenario for better radio network planning.
Cell Radius Calculation for GSM 900 MHz
The Okumura-Hata model for path loss prediction is given by

𝑃𝐿 = 𝐴 + 𝐵𝑙𝑜𝑔10(𝑓) − 13.82𝑙𝑜𝑔10(𝐻𝑏) − 𝑎(𝐻𝑚) + [44.9 − 6.55𝑙𝑜𝑔10(𝐻𝑏)]𝑙𝑜𝑔10(𝑑)

+ 𝐿𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟
𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝐴 = 69.55, 𝐵 = 26.16, 𝑙𝑜𝑔10(𝑓) = log10(900) = 2.954,

𝐵𝑙𝑜𝑔10(𝑓) = 26.16 x 2.954 = 77.276

32
Table 3.3: GSM link budget calculation

Scenario Dense urban Formula

Parameter Unit UL DL
MS BS
TX power W 2 20
dBm 33.01 43.01 A
Transmitting end

Antenna gain dBi 0 18 B

Cable losses dB 0 3 C
Body loss dB 3 0 D
Combiner loss dB 0 3 E
EIRP dBm 30.01 55.01 F = A+B-C-D-E
Antenna gain dBi 18 0 G
Cable losses + connector dB 3 0 H
Body loss dB 0 3 I
Noise spectral density, Ni dBm/Hz -174 -174 J
Receiving end

Noise figure dB 10 7 K
Bandwidth dBHz 53.01 53.01 L
C/I dB 9 8 M
Receiver sensitivity dBm -102 -106 N = J+K+L+M
Area coverage probability % 95
Edge coverage probability % 90
Slow fading standard deviation dB 10
Margin reservation

Slow fading margin dB 12.9 O

Fast fading margin dB 5 5 P
Interference degradation dB 4 4 Q
margin
Indoor penetration loss dB 5 0 R
Sum of margins dB 26.9 21.9 S = O+P+Q+R
Max path loss dB 120.11 136.11 T = F+G-H-I-N-S
Frequency band MHz 900
Cell radius

Propagation model Okumura – HATA

Cell radius Km 0.662 1.885 𝑢 = 10[(𝑈−126.42)/35.21]
Cell radius output Km 0.662

13.82𝑙𝑜𝑔10(𝐻𝑏) = 13.82𝑙𝑜𝑔10(30) = 20.41

𝑎(𝐻𝑚) = [1.1𝑙𝑜𝑔10(𝑓) − 0.7]𝐻𝑚 − [1.56𝑙𝑜𝑔10(𝑓) − 0.8]
= [1.1 ∗ 2.954 − 0.7] ∗ 1.5 − [1.56 ∗ 2.954 − 0.8]
= 0.016
[44.9 − 6.55𝑙𝑜𝑔10(𝐻𝑏)]𝑙𝑜𝑔10(𝑑) = [44.9 − 6.55𝑙𝑜𝑔10(30)]𝑙𝑜𝑔10(𝑑)
= [44.9 − 6.55 ∗ 1.48]𝑙𝑜𝑔10(𝑑) = 35.21𝑙𝑜𝑔10(𝑑)

33
𝐿𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 = +2𝑑𝐵
𝑃𝐿 = 𝐴 + 𝐵𝑙𝑜𝑔10(𝑓) − 13.82𝑙𝑜𝑔10(𝐻𝑏) − 𝑎(𝐻𝑚) + [44.9 − 6.55𝑙𝑜𝑔10(𝐻𝑏)]𝑙𝑜𝑔10(𝑑)
+ 𝐿𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟
= 69.55 + 77.276 − 20.41 − 0.016 + 35.21𝑙𝑜𝑔10(𝑑)
= 128.42 + 35.2𝑙𝑜𝑔10(𝑑)
𝑑900𝑀𝐻𝑧(𝑘𝑚) = 10[(𝑃𝐿−128.42)/35.21] 3.10
Required number of BTS’s
A tri-sector cells in a single base station are considered to provide precise coverage for the
selected regions. The coverage area of the tri-sector base station is determined using the
following formula for R is radius of single cell [1, 2].
9√3 2
𝑆𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝐶𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎 = 𝑅 3.11
8
Now the coverage per base station can be predict using Equation 3.11. Thus the computed cell
radius is 0.662 km. Consequently the coverage area of a single site would be 0.8546 km 2.
Therefore a totally of 14 GSM 900MHz base stations are computed from Equation 3.12 for
total coverage area of 11.99km2.
𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝐵𝑇𝑆 = 3.12
𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒 𝐵𝑇𝑆

3.3.2 GSM Capacity Planning

Capacity dimensioning is a very important process in the network rollout as it defines the
number of base stations required and their respective capacities. There are three essential
parameters required for estimated traffic, average antenna height, and frequency usage.

Traffic Estimates is based on theoretical estimates or assumptions, and on studies of existing

networks. Traffic in the network is dependent on the user communication rate and user
movement in the network. The user communication rate means how much traffic is generated
by the subscriber and for how long. The estimated traffic in the network is given in terms of
‘Erlangs’. One erlang (1 Erl) is defined as the amount of traffic generated by the user when he
or she uses one traffic channel for one hour (this one hour is usually the busy hour of the
network).

Another term that is frequently used in network planning is ‘blocking’. Blocking describes the
situation when a user is trying to make a call and is not able to reach a dialed subscriber owing
to lack of resources. Generally, it is assumed an average of two call per hour and the call lasts
an average of 90 seconds per call and individual voice traffic intensity can be
𝐴𝑢 = 𝐻 × 𝜆 3.13

34
Where 𝜆 is the average arrival rate (call request/time), and 𝐻 is average holding time
Erlang B offers no queuing for call requests in other words for every requests service if any is
available the user is given an immediate access to a channel otherwise the requesting user is
blocked without access and is free to try again later. The Erlang B formula determines the
probability that a call is blocked and is a measure of the GOS for a trunked system which
provides no queuing for blocked calls [4].

The dense urban regions covers about 11.99 km2 with a population of 83,625 from total of
454,207 population of Mekelle city. A sixty percent of the population are assumed to be GSM
subscriber so that it becomes total of 50,175 mobile users.

Table 3.4: Subscribers for GSM

Sub cities Total population Dense urban Number of

population number Subscribers
Adihaki and kedamay weyane 192,047 83,625 50,175

The following assumptions has been made in the planning:

Table 3.5: Assumption taken for GSM capacity dimensioning

Parameter Value
GOS 2%
Average calls per hour 2 calls per hour
Average call duration 90 seconds
Traffic of the cell 35 erlang
Pages per cell 2
SMS ratio 0.1

Now the individual voice traffic intensity can be calculated using Equation 3.13 as follow:
2 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑠 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑠
𝐴𝑢 = × 45
3600 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙
𝐴𝑢 = 0.025𝑒𝑟𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑟 25𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖 𝑒𝑟𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑟
Since RF Carriers Needed depend upon the number of subscribers to be served, average traffic
per subscriber, grade of service so that the total number of subscribers are 50,175. The total
system traffic is given as Equation 3.14:
𝐴 = 𝑈𝐴𝑢 3.14
Where: 𝐴𝑢 traffic intensity per user and 𝑈 number of subscribers
𝐴 = 50,175 × 25𝑚𝐸 = 1254.375
Step 1: Calculate Pages per second:
The call rate (Calls/hour) becomes

35
 1254.375 × 3600
= = 100,350
45
Average number of mobile terminated calls = 20% = 20,070
Hence number of pages per hour = 40,140
Number of pages per second = 40,140/3600 = 11.15
Step 2: Calculate NPCH (Number of Paging Channels):
𝑃𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑
𝑁𝑃𝐶𝐻 = 3.15
2 × 4.25
11.15
= = 1.312
2 × 4.25
Step 3: Calculate NAGCH (Number of AGCH Channels):
For this we need λ values
a∗3600
λcall = = 3200 calls/hr in the cell
90

 λSMS = λcall × SMS = 3200 × 0.1 = 320

 λLU = λcall × 𝐿 = 3200 × 2 = 6400
1 3200+320+6400
 λ AGCH = (λcall + λSMS + λLU ) 3600 = =2.7556 per second
3600
2.7556
 NAGCH = 2×4.25 = 0.3242

Step 4: Calculate NPAGCH (Number of PAGCH Channels):

𝑁𝑃𝐶𝐻 + 𝑁𝐴𝐺𝐶𝐻
𝑁𝑃𝐴𝐺𝐶𝐻 = 3.16
𝑈𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐻
Where, UCCCH is the % utilization of control channels Typically, UCCCH= 0.33,
NPAGCH = (1.312 + 0.3242)/0.33 = 4.9581 Blocks NAGCH i.e. we need a minimum of
5 CCCH blocks.
Step 5: Calculate SDCCH Requirement:
The need of SDCCH channel is crucial during call set-up, location updates & SMS. Hence
Erlang offered for SDCCH Channel is given by:
λ𝑆𝑀𝑆 (𝑇𝑆𝑀𝑆 + 𝑇𝑔 )
λ𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙 × 𝑇𝑐 + λ𝐿𝑈 × (𝑇𝐿𝑈 + 𝑇𝑔 ) + 3.17
3600
The values of time variables 𝑇𝑔 , 𝑇𝑐 , 𝑇𝐿𝑈 , 𝑇𝑆𝑀𝑆 are given with values of 4, 5, 4, and 6 seconds
respectively. Therefore the SDCCH Channel Erlang becomes:
(3200 × 5 + 6400 × 8 + 320 × 10)/3600 = 19.5556𝐸
Step 6: Calculate SDCCH Channels:
A GoS = 2% & E = 19.5556 the number of SDCCH Channels are 27 from Erlang B table. A
single timeslot accommodates eight SDCCH Channels, so that three independent Timeslots
& one combined timeslot are needed to accommodate 27 SDCCH Channels.

36
Step 7: Number of RF Carriers need
Cell Traffic = 50E at 2% GOS 60TCH required
Time slots required for traffic channels = 60
Time slots required for control channels = 4
Total Time slots required 60 + 4 = 64
So RF Carriers needed = 64/8 = 8

Table 3.6: GSM Channel Distribution Strategy

Channel Distribution Strategy

Control Surplus TCH traffic/ PDCH TCH TCH
Carrier channel SDCCH
channel channel user cell channel ERL user
1 8 SDCCH/4 1 7 117 2.0592 1 2.28 91
1 8 SDCCH/8 2 6 91 1.6016 1 1.66 66
2 16 SDCCH/8 2 14 327 5.7552 1 7.4 296
3 24 SDCCH/8 2 22 595 10.472 2 13.18 527
14.801
4 32 2*SDCCH/8 3 29 841 2 19.27 770
6
5 40 2*SDCCH/8 3 37 1130 19.888 3 25.53 1021
25.062
6 48 2*SDCCH/8 3 45 1424 4 31.92 1276
4
7 56 3*SDCCH/8 4 52 1685 29.656 4 38.39 1535
8 64 3*SDCCH/8 4 60 1985 34.936 4 45.87 1834

A total of 64 channels are required four of them are belong to control channel and the rest
would be a surplus channel. As a result the number of subscribers per site is 1985*3 = 5955.
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑢𝑏𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑒𝑟
𝑅𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑛𝑜. 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑠 = 3.18
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑛𝑜. 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑟 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑒
50,175
= = 8.4257 ≈ 9
5,955
Therefore the minimum site required to meet 50E would be 9 sites since the number of site
form coverage dimensioning has been 14 sites. The bottleneck is the dimensioned with highest
number so that a total of fourteen number of sites are needed to fulfil our requirements.

Table 3.7: GSM Best site selection of coverage and capacity

Dimensioning Number of sites calculated Best selection
Coverage 14 sites
14 sites
Capacity 9 sites

37
3.4 WCDMA Radio Network Planning
The fundamental process for coverage planning in the WCDMA system is quite similar to that
of the GSM system. However, propagation models need to be adjusted to take into
consideration the WCDMA technology.
3.4.1 WCDMA Coverage Planning
The link budget is performed as part of coverage dimensioning process to acquire the
maximum allowable path loss based on the given planning scenes. And the acquired maximum
path loss will be further used to calculate the maximum cell radius based on the radio
propagation model. In all these processes the final target is to estimate the number of required
bases station to cover the target coverage area [7].

Link budget parameters

Based on the signal propagation path from the transmitting end to receiving end, there are two
paths uplink and a downlink path. UMTS system could be uplink limited or downlink limited
based on the system loading. In a lightly loaded system, the User equipment transmits power
sets a coverage limitation, therefore, it is uplink limited. In a heavily loaded system, the base
station transmits power limits the number of user equipment it can serve therefore it is
downlink-limited. Generally, the uplink is limiting link in terms of radio bearer coverage. But
practically the link budget analysis is also performed on the downlink path to verify the
assumption [8].
The link budget calculation involves various link parameters associated with gains, losses and
design margins of the particular signal transmission path. The major link parameters are [17].

Chip and information rates: system chip rate is 3.84 Mchips/s whereas the information rate
depends upon the service. For speech the information rate is 12.2 kbps while for data services
it can be 64kbps, 128kbps, 384kbps or HSUPA.
The processing gain is defined by the equation:
𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑝 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒
𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛 = 10 𝑥 log 3.19
𝐵𝑖𝑡 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒

UE velocity: is an important parameter as it impacts the uplink and downlink Eb/No

requirements. The Eb/No figures are based upon propagation models assuming 120 km/h and
3 km/h for vehicular and pedestrian environments, respectively. These two UE velocities are
used in link budget were deemed to provide the most challenging cases for planning. At 3
km/h the UE suffers from fast fading and therefore power control is required to track this

38
fading environment. At 120 km/h, power control is unable to track the fast fading, and
therefore the Eb/No value is now affected by the interleaving performance [11, 16, 19].

Transmitter Parameters

UEs Maximum Transmits Power (dBm)

The maximum transmits power of the mobile station is dictated by the UE power class.
Usually voice-centric UE is class 3 or 4 and data-centric UE is class 3. Therefore the transmit
power parameter for the uplink path is specified as 21dBm for voice terminal while for data
terminal it is specified as 24dBm [11].

BTS Transmit Power (dBm)

The common pilot channel (CPICH) is used by the base station to provide a reference to all
mobile stations and aid the channel estimation at the terminals. For this reason, the CPICH
channel is used to define the maximum possible coverage of a particular cell. In this thesis the
typical CPICH power configuration of a cell taken as 33dBm [8, 16].

Required Eb/No
The Eb/No value assumption reflect the performance of the BTS receiver for Uplink link
budget calculation, and the value may vary from one vendor to the other. As shown in Table-
3.8 the Eb/No taken from Huawei product documentation accordingly [10, 14].

Body loss (dBm)

Body loss occurs at the UE side. Its value depends on usage habit of the user. The default
setting of body loss is 3dB for speech service and 0dB for data services because the UE is far
away from the human body [8].

Table 3.8: Required Eb/No Values

Downlink Uplink
CS 12.2k 7.5 4.2
CS 64K 5.2 2.7
PS 64K 4.8 1.6
PS 128K 4.5 1.1
PS 384K 4.3 0.6

Antenna gains (dBi)

Normally antenna gain for the user equipment is taken as 0dBi whereas for the BTS antenna
the value is chosen based on the type of antenna selected for each propagation scenario. For

39
this particular case or research, the Base station antenna selected for all propagation scenarios
has an 18dBi gain [15].
EIRP represents the effective isotropic radiated power from the transmitter antenna. In the
case of the uplink it is computed from the Equation 3.19:
𝐸𝐼𝑅𝑃𝑈𝐿 = 𝑁𝑜𝑑𝑒𝐵 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑚𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 + 𝑈𝐸 𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑛𝑎 𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛 − 𝑈𝐸 𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑦 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠 3.20

Receiver Parameters
Noise Figures
Noise figure is an index used to evaluate whether noise performance of the amplifier is good
or not. It is expressed by Noise Figures (N) and defined as the ratio of input Signal-to-Noise
ratio (SNR) and output Signal-to-Noise ratio (SNR) of an amplifier. The noise figure for
Huawei Base station DBS3900 is taken as 2.1dB for the case where there is no TMA (Tower
mounted Amplifier) [17].
Thermal Noise Spectral Density is -174dBm/Hz in room temperature (300K).The thermal
noise density is computed from the Equation 3.1:
𝑁 = 𝑘𝑇
= 1.38 𝑥 10−23 𝑥 290 𝑥 103 = 4 𝑥 10−23
𝑁𝑑𝐵 = 10 log10 (4 𝑥 10−23) = −174𝑑𝐵𝑚/𝐻𝑧
Thermal Noise Power is computed from the Equation 3.2:
𝑁𝑖 = 𝑘𝑇𝐵
Where, k is Boltzmann constant, which equals 1.38 x 10-23J/K, T is absolute temperature
290K, and B is system bandwidth.
𝑁 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 = 1.38 𝑥 10−23 𝑥 290 𝑥 103 𝑥 106
𝑖
𝑠

= 1.54 𝑥 10−11
𝑁𝑖(𝑑𝐵) = 10 log10 (𝑘𝑇𝐵)
= 𝑁𝑑𝐵 + 𝑁𝑑𝐵
= −108.16 𝑑𝐵𝑚
Receiver Noise Power / Total Effective Noise Power:
The total effective noise at the receiver, receiver noise power, is computed from the sum of
the thermal noise power and the receiver noise figure.
𝑅𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑛𝑜𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 = 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑙 𝑛𝑜𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 + 𝑛𝑜𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑔𝑢𝑟𝑒 3.21
The total effective noise indicated in Table 3.9 is computed from the sum of the thermal noise
density and the receiver noise figure.

40
Table 3.9: Receiver parameters

Parameter UE Node B
(a) Rx antenna gain (dBi) 0 18
(b) Cable and connector losses (dB) 0 0.5
(c) Noise figure (dB) 0 7
(d) Thermal noise density (dBm/Hz) -174 -174
(e) Total effective noise (dBm/Hz) (c) + (d)
(f) receiver thermal sensitivity (dBm) (e) + 10 log (information rate) + Eb/Io

It is used to define the noise floor when computing the receiver sensitivity. Similarly, the
receiver thermal sensitivity is computed based on Equation 3.22.
𝑅𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦
𝐸𝑏
= 𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 + 𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑 ⁄𝑁 − 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛 3.22
𝑜

Loading Factor and interference margin

The link budget includes an interference margin that is based upon the load factor and is given
by Equation 3.23:
𝐼𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑖𝑛 = 10𝑥 log(1/(1 − 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟)) 3.23
The load factor is the ratio of actual load to the pole capacity. In this thesis, the typical uplink
load factors of 50% are assumed for all propagation scenario.

Other Margins and Gains

Slow fading margin
Slow fading or shadowing is the variation in the local mean of the received signal that is
caused by terrain irregularity and is typically lognormally distributed. In this thesis, the
standard deviation of shadowing is taken as 10 dB in a dense urban propagation environment.

Fast fading margin refers to the attenuation of the signals due to multipath reflections and
diffractions. The short-term average of fast fading can typically be represented by a Rayleigh
distribution. In slow moving environments, the UE’s closed-loop fast power control can
effectively compensate fast fading. It requires an appropriate headroom in the UE transmission
power. For the link budget calculation, 2.0 dB is considered for all propagation scenarios.

Soft Handoff Gain

Depending upon the degree of slow fading correlation between BTSs, soft handoff results in
a reduction of the required slow fading margin. In addition, due to macro diversity combining,
soft handoff provides gain against fast fading by reducing the required Eb/No. Typical values
for soft handoff gain ranges 2-4dB. The values of 4dB is considered for Dense urban [1, 2, 3].

41
Receiver antenna diversity gain
It is assumed that the receiver antenna diversity gain is taken into account in the required
Eb/No values [13, 15].

Penetration loss
The building penetration losses are assumed to be dependent upon the building construction.
In all the propagation environment a mean penetration loss is assumed to provide good indoor
coverage for the outdoor macro cells. The 15dB is assumed for dense urban [17, 15].

Cable and Connector Losses

Cable and connector losses in the link budget attribute to the losses in RF jumper cable that
connects Remote Radio Unit (RRUs) of the BTS to the antenna system. RF jumpers transmit
signals between a BTS and an antenna system. The RF jumper comes with a standard length
of 2m, 3m, 4m, 6m, and 10m. The 3m standard length is selected. Accordingly a cable loss of
0.5 dB is considered [16, 17].

Link Budget Calculations

The fundamental principle remains the same as described in GSM link budget. However, in
WCDMA radio networks the link budget calculations need to be done individually for voice
and various data rates (e.g. 64 kbps, 128 kbps, 384 kbps & HSPA).
This section presents the link budget templates for each radio bearer i.e. 12.2kbps speech,
64kbps data, 128kbps data, 384kbps data and HSPA. The data service link budgets are
presented for Low Delay Constrained Data (LCD) services. It is assumed that the
Unconstrained Delay Data (UDD) services have identical link budgets i.e. there is no
difference between the packet switched and circuit switched radio bearer link budgets

Maximum Allowed Path Loss (MAPL)

The Maximum Allowed Path Loss (MAPL) for each service and in every environment can be
computed for uplink and downlink. Uplink and downlink load factors are assumed based upon
the traffic density expectation. The transmit EIRP and receiver sensitivities are calculated as
the net gains and losses of the radio link. The uplink is generally the limiting link in terms of
radio bearer coverage. Nevertheless the downlink is checked to verify this assumption.

Required number of NodeB sites

As it is shown on the Table 3.10, PS384K has the smallest coverage. Whereas AMR 12.2
(voice service) and HSUPA service have the largest coverage. In this regard the limiting
service is PS384K but it is more conservative to ensure continues voice coverage in this

42
design. Hence, the site density is calculated based on the cell radius for voice service. The cell
radius becomes 0.62 km, Thus the coverage area of a single NodeB using Equation 3.11 would
be 1.95(0.62km*0.62km) = 0.74958 km2. More over from the perspective of dimensioning, a
total of 16 NodeB’s are computed from Equation 3.12 to provide enough 3G services.

Table 3.10: Calculated 3G Link Budget

Parameters Units
Services CS12.2 CS64K PS64K PS128K PS384K HSUPA
Bit rate Kbps 12.20 64.00 64.00 128.00 384.00 200.00
Chip rate Mchip/s 3.84 3.84 3.84 3.84 3.84 3.84
Target load % 50 50 50 50 50 50
TX power dBm 21 21 21 21 21 24
characteristics

Antenna gain dBi 0 0 0 0 0 2

Transmitter

Body loss dB 3 0 0 0 0 0
Feeder loss dB 0 0 0 0 0 0
EIRP dBm 18 21 21 21 21 26
Thermal noise spectral dBm/Hz -174 -174 -174 -174 -174 -174
density
Thermal noise power dBm -108.16 -108.16 -108.16 -108.16 -108.16 -108.16
Receiver characteristics

Receiver noise figure dB 2.10 2.10 2.10 2.10 2.10 2.10

Effective noise power dBm -106.06 -106.06 -106.06 -106.06 -106.06 -106.06
Processing gain dB 24.98 17.78 17.78 14.77 10 -13
Required Eb/No dB 4.20 2.70 1.60 1.10 0.60 -119.06
Receiver sensitivity dBm -126.84 -121.14 -122.24 -119.73 -115.46 -119.06
Interference margin dB 3.01 3.01 3.01 3.01 3.01 3.01
Antenna gain dBi 18 18 18 18 18 18
Feeder loss dB 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5
Body loss dB 0 0 0 0 0 0
Power control dB 2 2 2 2 2 2
headroom
Standard deviation dB 10 10 10 10 10 10
Soft handover gain dB 4 4 4 4 4 4
Shadow fading margin dB 16.4 16.4 16.4 16.4 16.4 16.4
Penetration loss dB 15 15 15 15 15 15
Max allowable dB 144.93 142.23 143.33 140.82 136.55 145.15
outdoor path loss
Outdoor coverage Km 1.67 1.4 1.5 1.28 0.97 1.694
radius
Frequency Band MHz 1950 1950 1950 1950 1950 1950
Max allowable dB 129.93 127.23 128.33 125.82 121.55 130.15
indoor path loss
Indoor coverage radius Km 0.62 0.53 0.56 0.48 0.36 0.64

43
3.4.2 WCDAM Capacity Planning
The purpose of capacity dimensioning is to estimate the approximate base station number
needed from the capacity perspective. Similar to the link budget, the capacity estimation
should be performed from the uplink and downlink based on the traffic model and service
traffic demand. Individual voice traffic intensity for UMTS is similar with GSM, and based
on Equation 3.13.
2 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑠 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑠
𝐴𝑣 = × 45
3600 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙
𝐴𝑣 = 0.025𝑒𝑟𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑟 25𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖 𝑒𝑟𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑔
UMTS Traffic Model
Now the traffic model consist of 25mErl per subscribers is considered for voice traffic, 10GB
per month per user for dongle (load heavy user), 1GB per month per for Smart phone user and
also the following assumptions are used as our dimensioning requirement:

 % of daily traffic at busy hour is 10% and down link ratio 70%
 Active users is assumed to be 70%
 From the total data users the average load heavy user are assumed to be 30% and 70%
is set for smart phone user.
 This traffic per user includes normal traffic, signaling traffic and additional soft
handover traffic.

The data rate per user at a busy hour is calculated based

𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑎 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑡ℎ 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑟@𝐵𝐻(𝑘𝑏𝑝𝑠)

𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑎 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑡ℎ 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑟[𝐺𝐵𝑦𝑡𝑒] × 𝐵𝑢𝑠𝑦 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜[%] × 1024 × 1024
= 3.24
30 𝑑𝑎𝑦𝑠 × 3600 𝑠𝑒𝑐
The uplink to downlink data ratio is 70% and selected based on the network statistics. At last,
the data throughput per user calculated based on Equation 3.25 and 3.26 for uplink and
downlink:
𝐷𝐿 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑟@𝐵𝐻[𝑘𝑏𝑝𝑠]
= 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑎 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑟@𝐵𝐻[𝑘𝑏𝑝𝑠] × 70% 3.25
𝑈𝐿 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑟@𝐵𝐻[𝑘𝑏𝑝𝑠]
= 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑎 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑟@𝐵𝐻[𝑘𝑏𝑝𝑠] × 30% 3.26

HSDPA and HSUPA user per carrier calculation

To calculate the total subscriber, an active user ratio of 70% is considered. According to
orange telecom laboratory test, the HSDPA average throughput per cell is 3.6Mbps, and

44
HSUPA average throughput per cell is 1.9Mbps. Therefore, the supported subscribers per cell
results as follow:
Table 3.11: Throughput per user at busy hour calculation

Type Data Dongle Data SP

Data per month (GB) 10 1
Proportion (%) 30% 70%
Data Volume per month per user 3 0.7
Data Volume per month per user (GB) 3.7
Busy hour ratio (%) 10%
Data Volume per month per user @BH (kbps) 29.43
Active user ratio (%) 70%
Active user Data volume per user @BH(kbps) 29.43
DL/UL Ratio 70%
DL Throughput per user @BH (kbps) 20.6
UL Throughput per user @BH (kbps) 8.83

Table 3.12: UMTS Cell Load Dimension Result

Bear Cell Load Traffic per subs Active Subs/Cell Total Subs/Cell
HSDPA+Voice 3.6 Mbps 5.97 kbps 603 862
HSUPA+Voice 1.9 Mbps 3.85 kbps 494 706

Therefore, an active subscriber per cell would support 1097 subscribers for DL and UL FDD
mode communication, the total population had been forecasted for the next three years with
rate of 0.25. Finally the required number of cells for our case becomes:
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑜𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
𝑅𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑛𝑜. 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑠 = 3.27
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑛𝑜. 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑟 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑙
31360
= = 29
1097
As a result of capacity planning a total of ten sites or tri sector are required. Therefore the
required sites number for a specific area should be chosen to be the maximum number of sites
obtained from coverage and capacity planning calculations to satisfy the traffic requirements
of both coverage and capacity so according to the results of Table 3.13 the sixteen sites are
selected.
Table 3.13: UMTS Best site selection of coverage and capacity

Planning Number of sites calculated Best selection

Coverage 16 sites
16 sites
Capacity 10 sites

45
3.5 LTE Network Planning
The third multi RAT network consists evaluation of downlink and uplink radio link budgets.
The maximum path loss is calculated based on the required SINR level at the receiver, taking
into account the extent of the interference caused by traffic. The minimum of the maximum
path losses in UL and DL directions is converted into cell radius, by using a propagation model
appropriate to the deployment area.

Capacity planning gives an estimate of the resources needed for supporting a specified offered
traffic with a certain level of QoS (e.g. throughput or blocking probability). Theoretical
capacity of the network is limited by the number of base stations-eNodeB installed in the
network. Cell capacity in LTE is impacted by several factors, which includes interference
level, packet scheduler implementation and supported modulation and coding schemes [7, 8].

3.5.1 LTE Coverage Planning

The link budget calculations estimate the maximum allowed signal attenuation, called path
loss, between the mobile and the base station antenna. The maximum path loss allows the
maximum cell range to be estimated with a suitable propagation model, such as Cost231–Hata
model. The cell range gives the number of base station sites required to cover the target
geographical area. The link budget calculation can also be used to compare the relative
coverage of the different systems.

Dimensioning procedure
Link budget and coverage planning is calculated for both cases "UL & DL". The procedure
steps are [4]:
1. Calculate the Max Allowed Path Loss (MAPL) for DL and UL.
2. Calculate DL & UL cell radiuses by using the propagation model & MAPL.
3. Determine the appropriate cell radius
4. Calculate the site coverage area and the required sites number.
LTE Link budget Parameters
The parameters can be grouped as propagation related, equipment related parameters, and
LTE specific parameters. Propagation related parameters include the penetration loss, body
loss, feeder loss, and background noise. The equipment related parameters are the
specification given by the manufacturer such as transmitter power, receiver sensitivity, and
antenna gain. The LTE specific parameters include interference margin, fast fading margin,
edge coverage rate and MIMO type used. In this section the main parameters are discussed.

46
eNodeB Maximum Total Transmitter Power refers to the transmit power value per
transmitting (TX) path. Typical value is either 43dBm (20W) or 46dBm (40W) [7].

eNodeB Antenna Gain depends on the clutter type and coverage requirement. The low gain
antenna (15–17 dBi) can be used in dense urban and urban clutters while a high gain antenna
(18–20 dBi) can be used in rural areas and highways to extend the RF coverage.

UE Maximum Total Transmitter Power refers to the UE transmit power which depends on
the power class of the UE. Currently only one power class is defined in 3GPP TS 36.101, class
3 with maximum transmitter power of 23dBm.

UE Antenna Gain based on the specifications of 3GPP, UE(s) are assumed to have an integral
antenna only with a gain of 0 dBi for each antenna port(s) [21].

Body Loss is a loss generated due to signal blocking and absorption, when UE antenna is
close to the body of the user. For UE such as USB dongle, Wi-Fi device, and an LTE fixed
router the position of the antenna is far from the user’s body, thus the body loss is ignored.
Whereas for mobile terminals (smart phones for instant) they are close to the user’s body and
the body loss must be considered in the link budget, has a typical value of 3dB.

Feeder Loss considers the losses due to RF feeder, RF jumpers and connectors in the path
between the antenna and the eNodeB. In a distributed eNodeB, the baseband unit and RF unit
(Remote Radio Units (RRU)) are separated, only the loss of the jumper between the RRU and
antenna is considered with typical value of 0.5dB loss. On the other hand, if the eNodeB is
not a distributed type, feeder losses may be 3dB or more according to the feeder and its
connector’s characteristics [20].

Equivalent Isotropic Radiated Power (EIRP) indicates the power that would be radiated by
the theoretical isotropic antenna to achieve the peak power density observed in the direction
of maximum antenna gain. In LTE the EIRP in the DL is calculated based on the total number
of RB due to the OFDMA while in the UL the allocated RB are only used due to the SC-
FDMA (3 RBs). The EIRP per subcarrier in the DL and UL are calculated as follows [7]:
𝑆𝐶
𝐸𝐼𝑅𝑃𝐷𝐿 = 𝑃𝑒𝑁𝐵(𝑠𝑐) + 𝐴𝐺𝑒𝑁𝐵 − 𝐹𝐿 + 𝑀𝐺 3.28
𝑆𝐶
𝐸𝐼𝑅𝑃𝑈𝐿 = 𝑃𝑈𝐸(𝑠𝑐) + 𝐴𝐺𝑈𝐸 − 𝐵𝐿 3.29
Where 𝑃𝑒𝑁𝐵(𝑠𝑐) and 𝑃𝑈𝐸(𝑠𝑐) are the power per subcarrier in the DL and UL respectively,
𝐴𝐺𝑒𝑁𝐵 is the eNodeB antenna gain, 𝐹𝐿 is feeder loss, 𝑀𝐺 is the MIMO gain, 𝐴𝐺𝑈𝐸 is the UE
antenna gain, and the 𝐵𝐿 is the body loss.

47
Cell Edge User Throughput is the minimum net single UE target throughput requirement
to be achieved service at the cell edge. Accordingly it can limit the minimum Modulation and
Coding Scheme (MCS) to be used. This parameter usually provided by the network operator
based on the required services at cell edge. A typical value for UL can be 512 kbps to 1 Mbps
where as in the DL it can be 1 Mbps up to 4 Mbps.

Signal to Interference Noise Ratio (SINR) is the threshold of the receiver that can
demodulate the signal for the UL and it is related to the MCS for the DL. SINR values are
obtained from the system level simulation result and it depends on the receiver design. Thus
SINR is a vendor specific parameter.

Noise Figure is a key factor to measure the receiver performance. It is defined as the ratio of
the input SINR at the input end to the output SINR at the output end of the receiver. The noise
figure depends on the bandwidth and the eNodeB capability. A typical value for the noise
figure is between 6 to 8 dB [15].

Receiver Sensitivity determines the signal level or threshold at which the RF signal can be
detected with a certain quality. The receiver sensitivity per subcarrier can be calculated as
follows [15]:
𝑅𝑥𝑠(𝑠𝑐) = 𝑆𝐼𝑁𝑅 + 𝑁𝐹 + 𝑁𝑃 + 10 log(𝑆𝐶) 3.30
Where SINR is the threshold of the receiver that can demodulate the signal, NP is the density
of the thermal white noise power which is -174dBm/Hz, SC is the subcarrier and it is 15 KHz
in LTE, and NF is the noise figure in dB.

Penetration Loss indicates the fading of radio signals due to building obstruction from an
indoor terminal to the eNodeB and vice versa. It depends on the nature of the buildings and
the clutter type of the targeted coverage area.
Table 3.14: Penetration losses and Standard deviation of slow fading typical dense urban.

Clutter type Penetration loss range (dB) Standard deviation of slow

fading (dB)
Dense urban 19 – 25 10

Shadow Fading Margin indicates the fading due to obstruction like building. The effect of
shadow fading minimized by ensuring a certain edge coverage probability, certain allowance
is required. This allowance is called the “slow fading margin” or the “shadow fading margin”.
The Standard deviation of slow fading is used to determine the slow fading difference and it

48
shows the distribution of the radio signal strength at different test points at similar distance
from the transmitter [22].

Frequency Band: Band 3 (1800 MHz) is selected to use since the band is the most promising
LTE band as it can be used for nationwide coverage with dense urban convergence.

Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) is used to measure the coverage of the LTE cell
on the DL. The UE will send RRC measurements reports that include RSRP values in a binned
format. The reporting range of RSRP is defined from -140 to -40dBm with 1dB resolution.
The main purpose of RSRP is to determine the best cell on the DL radio interface and select
this cell as the serving cell for either initial random access or intra-LTE handover. In this
thesis, the RSRP is assumed to be greater than/or equal to -110dBm in order to have a better
signal strength through the selected area.

Cell-edge Coverage Probability is assumed to have a cell-edge coverage probability of 80%,

and hence a fading margin of 7dB is used during link budget calculation.
Area Coverage Probability tells how much the target area will be covered by the planned
network. The assumed 80% coverage probability implies the target network would cover 80%
of the selected area for the considered value of RSRP.

Based on the above described the main link budget parameters and the common parameters,
a MAPL would be calculated as the difference between the EIRP and the overall loss.

Propagation model selection

COST231-Hata model is selected in the calculation of the cell radius.
𝑃𝐿 = 46.3 + 33.9𝑙𝑜𝑔10(𝑓) − 13.82𝑙𝑜𝑔10(ℎ𝑏 ) − 𝑎ℎ𝑚
+ [44.9 − 6.55𝑙𝑜𝑔10(ℎ𝑏 )]𝑙𝑜𝑔10(𝑑) + 𝑐𝑚 3.31

Where frequency 𝑓 = 1800𝐻𝑧, height of BTS ℎ𝑏 = 30𝑚, height of MS ℎ𝑟 = 1.5𝑚 d radius

of the site, and 𝑐𝑚 is correction factor in this case it is 2.

 𝑎ℎ𝑚 = [1.11𝑙𝑜𝑔10(𝑓)]ℎ𝑟 − [1.5𝑙𝑜𝑔10(𝑓) − 0.8] = 1.11 log(1800) 1.5 −

1.5 log(1800) = −0.8287
 [44.9 − 6.55 log(ℎ𝑏)] log(𝑑) + 𝑐𝑚 = [44.9 − 6.55 log(30)] log(𝑑) +
2 35.225 log(𝑑) + 2
= 46.3 + 33.9𝑙𝑜𝑔10(𝑓) − 13.82𝑙𝑜𝑔10(ℎ𝑏 )
= 46.3 + 33.9 log(1800) − 13.82 log(30)
= 136.240
49
 𝑃𝐿 = 136.240 − 0.287 + 35.225 log(𝑑) + 2 = 137.953 + 35.225 log(𝑑)
(𝑃𝐿−137.953)
𝑑 = 10 35.225 3.32
Table 3.15: Uplink link budget parameters

Unit Formula Typical value

General parameter
Morphology DU
Duplex mode FDD
Data channel type PUSCH
System bandwidth MHz 15
User Environment Indoor
MIMO scheme 1x1
Cell edge user Kbps 384
throughput(kbps)
Transmitter side
Tx power (dBm) dBm A 23
Tx antenna gain (dBi) dBi B 0
Cable loss (dB) dB C 0
EIRP (dBm ) dBm E =A+B-C 23
Receiver side – UE
eNode B noise figure dB G 2.2

Feeder loss dB H 0.5

Thermal noise dBm I −174

Noise power per subcarrier dBm J= I+𝟏𝟎 𝐥𝐨𝐠(𝑩𝑾 ∗ 𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟎) -132.17

Required SINR (dB) dB K 2.17

Number of received subcarrier L = 𝟏𝟎𝒍𝒐𝒈(PRB per TTI*12) 17.8

Receiver sensitivity dBm M= K+G+L+J -110

eNode B Rx Gain dBi N 18

Cable loss dB O 3
MAPL= E - M + N - O = 148

Therefore Table 3.15 and Table 3.16 shows that the maximum allowable path loss has been
computed for uplink and downlink case with result of 148 and 161.73 respectively. As a result
of this the MAPL in the DL path is greater this points out that the area covered by the eNodeB
antenna radiation is more than the area covered by the UE antenna. Considering Table 3.17
the radius of the single site and the required number of sites are calculated using Equation
3.32 and Equation 3.33.

50
Table 3.16: Downlink Link budget parameters
Unit Formula Typical value
General parameter
Morphology DU
Duplex mode FDD
Data channel type PDSCH
System bandwidth MHz 15
User Environment Indoor
MIMO scheme 4x4
Cell edge user Kbps 1024
throughput(kbps)
Transmitter side
Tx power (dBm) dBm A 46
Tx antenna gain (dBi) dBi B 17.5
Cable loss (dB) dB C 3
TMA insertion loss(dB) dB D 0.5
Total Tx power increase(dB) dB E 3
EIRP (dBm ) dBm F=A+B-C-D 63
Receiver side
UE noise figure dB G 7
Thermal noise dBm H=10𝐥𝐨𝐠(𝒌 ∗ 𝑻𝒐 ∗ 𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟎) -174

Thermal noise density dBm I= H+𝟏𝟎 𝐥𝐨𝐠(𝑩𝑾 ∗ 𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟎) -132.17

Required SINR dB J -3.06

Number of received subcarrier K = 𝟏𝟎𝒍𝒐𝒈(PRB per TTI*12) 29.5

Receiver sensitivity dBm L= J+G+K+I -98.73

Rx antenna gain dBi M 0
Body loss dBm N 0
MAPL= F-L+M-N = 161.73

Table 3.17: Clutter parameters

Parameter Value
Interference margin (dB) 3
Standard deviation 10
Edge coverage probability 77%
Shadow Fading margin (dB) 7
Gain against shadowing 2.8
Average Penetration loss (dB) 20

𝑀𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝐴𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑃𝑎𝑡ℎ 𝐿𝑜𝑠𝑠(𝑀𝑃𝐴𝐿)

= 𝐿𝑀𝐴𝑋 − 𝑠𝑢𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑠 + 𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔
= 148 − 30 + 2.8 = 120.8

51
Therefore the MAPL of the uplink is equal with 120.8dB. From this it is easy to identify the
number of sites.
(120.8−137.953)
𝑑 = 10 35.225 = 0.3258
The coverage area of the eNodeBs (i.e. = 1.95𝑅 2 = 1.95(.3258)2 = 0.207𝑘𝑚2 )
𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑁𝐵𝑠 = 3.33
𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒 𝑒𝑁𝐵𝑠
11.99 𝑘𝑚2
= = 57.9
0.207𝑘𝑚2
Finally an approximately value a total of 58 sites are required.

3.5.2 LTE Capacity Planning

Capacity planning calculates the average cell throughput and average number of subscribers
that can be supported for a given cell range. A simple approach is done on the results obtained
from both SINR-based and the traffic demand analysis to get the average cell throughput.

Calculation of LTE Data Rate

Factors that affect peak data rate are system bandwidth, multiplexing technique, modulation
and coding schemes and UE category.

Available bandwidth: 10% of the given bandwidth is used as a guard band, therefore the
effective bandwidth would be 90%. Carrier spacing in LTE is 15 kHz and there are 12 sub-
carriers in a resource block. From this, bandwidth of one resource block will be 15 kHz * 12
= 180 kHz and the number of resource blocks can be calculated as:
𝐸𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑤𝑖𝑑𝑡ℎ
No of resource blocks = 3.34
180𝑘𝐻𝑧
For LTE system the numbers of resource blocks are listed in Table 3.12. The PRB is calculated
by dividing the effective bandwidth to the bandwidth of single RB, like the effective
9𝑀𝐻𝑧
bandwidth of 10MHz is 9MHz so 𝑃𝑅𝐵 = 180𝐾𝐻𝑧 = 50.

Table 3.18: List of PRBs.

System bandwidth (MHz) 1.4 3 5 10 15 20

Sub-carrier bandwidth (kHz) 15
Physical resource block (PRB) bandwidth (kHz) 180
Number of available PRBs 6 12 25 50 75 100

The daily traffic can be estimated as a percentage of the busy hour traffic. In this thesis it is
assume that the busy hour traffic is 10% of the daily traffic. Three types of service packages

52
are provided, golden, silver and bronze service package, each service has its own quality. The
month service package, the DL and UL peak data rates, and the package percentage, all of
these characteristics are shown in Table 3.20. The traffic ratio of the UL and DL in terms of
the total traffic is chosen to be 20% for UL and 80% for DL. The number of subscribers must
be specified in order to continue the analysis, the population number is considered to be 83,625
and 15% (i.e. 12544) of them are assumed as LTE subscribers.

Table 3.19: LTE Users Category

Package Type Month service package (GB) Package Percentage

Gold 20 10%
Silver 15 40%
Bronze 10 50%

Total average throughput per subscriber must be calculated in order to calculate the average
throughput per site.
𝐴𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑢𝑏𝑈𝐿+𝐷𝐿 (𝑘𝑏𝑝𝑠)
8𝑏𝑖𝑡
𝑀𝑜𝑛𝑡ℎ𝑙𝑦 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑎𝑔𝑒 ∗ ∗ 𝐵𝐻 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜
𝑏𝑦𝑡𝑒
= 3.35
𝑁𝑜 𝑜𝑓 𝑑𝑎𝑦𝑠 ∗ 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑

Table 3.20: Total average throughput per subscriber at busy hour

Package Month Package Traffic ratio Average Total Total average
type service percentage UL DL throughput average throughput per
package per subscriber throughput subscriber for
(GB) (UL+DL) (kbps) (kbps)

UL DL
Golden 20 10% 20% 80% 148.15 14.815 19.25 77.03
Silver 15 40% 20% 80% 111.11 44.444 19.25 77.03
Bronze 10 50% 20% 80% 74.074 37.037 19.25 77.03

Total average throughput per subscriber at busy hour (kbps):

∑ (𝐴𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑝𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑢𝑏 @𝐵𝐻𝑈𝐿+𝐷𝐿 ∗ packet percentage) 3.36

= 14.815 + 44.444 + 37.037 = 96.296

Data rate calculation of FDD-DL

The peak capacity throughput per sector calculated considering a 15 MHz LTE system with
4×4 MIMO and 1×2 SISO configuration in downlink and uplink sides respectively. 64QAM
4
and 6 code rate: firstly the number of resource elements (RE) in a sub frame is being calculated.

53
  1RB = 12 sub-carriers
 1 sub-frame = 1ms
 1time slot = 7 OFDM symbols (when normal CP length is used)
 1 OFDM symbol = 6 data bits if 64 QAM is used as modulation scheme in downlink
side and 4 data bits if 16 QAM is used in the uplink side.

No of bits in sub − frame = No of RBs ∗ No of sub − carriers in a RB

∗ No of slots in a sub frame ∗ No of modulation symbols in a slot ∗
No of data bits in 1 OFDM symbol
𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝐷𝐿 75 ∗ 12 ∗ 2 ∗ 7 ∗ 6 = 75,600𝑏𝑖𝑡𝑠
𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑈𝐿 75 ∗ 12 ∗ 2 ∗ 7 ∗ 4 = 50,400𝑏𝑖𝑡𝑠
𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑏𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑢𝑏𝑓𝑟𝑎𝑚𝑒
Data rate = ∗ No of antennas ∗ coding rate
𝐷𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 1 𝑠𝑢𝑏𝑓𝑟𝑎𝑚𝑒
75600
𝐷𝑎𝑡𝑎 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒(𝐷𝐿) = ∗ 4 ∗ 4/6 = 201.6𝑀𝑏𝑝𝑠
1𝑚𝑠
50400 3
𝐷𝑎𝑡𝑎 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒(𝐷𝐿) = ∗ 1 ∗ 4 = 37.8𝑀𝑏𝑝𝑠
1𝑚𝑠

Peak Throughput per sector calculation for DL communication:

The data rate in the down link is 151.2Mbps, but there are a lot of overheads related to control
signaling to be subtracted from.
 Pilot overhead (4 TX antennas) = 14.29%
 Common channel overhead (adequate to serve 1 UE/sub frame) = 10%
 CP overhead = 6.66%
 Guard band overhead = 10%
The total DL overhead for the 15 MHz channel is 14.29% + 10% + 6.66%+ 10% = 40.95%.
The remaining percentage would be (100% - 40.95%=59.5). Thus
𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑝𝑢𝑡𝐷𝐿 = 0.595 ∗ 151.2 ∗ 106 = 119.95Mbps
Peak Throughput per sector for UL communication calculation:
Similarly, the overheads related to the control signaling would be subtracted using a single
transmission antenna.
 Pilot overhead = 14.3%
 Random access overhead = 0.625%
 CP overhead = 6.66%
 Guard band overhead = 10%
The total UL overhead for the 15 MHz channel is 14.3% + 0.625% + 6.66%+ 10% = 31.585%.
So 68.4 % of the peak data rate in the uplink becomes:

54
Peak data rate UL = 0.684*37.8*106 = 25.85 Mbps
Peak throughput per site calculation for UL and DL:
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑖𝑡𝐷𝐿 = 3 ∗ 𝐷𝐿 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑎 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟
= 3 ∗ 119.95𝑀𝑏𝑝𝑠 = 359.85𝑀𝑏𝑝𝑠
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑈𝐿 = 3 ∗ 𝑈𝐿 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑎 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟
= 3 ∗ 25.85𝑀𝑏𝑝𝑠 = 77.56 𝑀𝑏𝑝𝑠
Having the total throughput per sit in both UL and DL will help us to calculate the total number
of subscriber per site:
Max. Number of subscriber per site
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑖𝑡
= 3.37
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑢𝑏𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑒𝑟
359.85𝑀𝑏𝑝𝑠
𝑀𝑎𝑥. 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑢𝑏𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑒𝐷𝐿 = = 4672 𝑠𝑢𝑏
77.03𝑘𝑏𝑝𝑠
77.56𝑀𝑏𝑝𝑠
𝑀𝑎𝑥. 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑢𝑏𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑈𝐿 = = 4029 𝑠𝑢𝑏
19.25𝑘𝑏𝑝𝑠
Since the total number of subscribers are considered to be 12,544 subscribers. Assuming the
population growth rate 4% and penetration rate of 15% a total of 13046 subscribers are
expected for LTE service usage. So the number of sites in the coverage area becomes:
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑢𝑏𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑠 𝐷𝐿 =
𝑀𝑎𝑥. 𝑛𝑜. 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑢𝑏𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑒
13046
= =3
4672
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑢𝑏𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑠 𝑢𝑙 =
𝑀𝑎𝑥. 𝑛𝑜. 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑢𝑏𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑒
13046
= =4
4029
Table 3.21: The total amount of sites

Type of analysis Total number of sites Best selection

Coverage analysis 58 sites 58 sites
Capacity analysis 4 sites

The Table 3.21 shows that the sites in coverage analysis are greater than the sites in the
capacity analysis so that 58 sites are going to be selected.

55
 CHAPTER FOUR
SIMULATION RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
4.1 Introduction
An atoll simulation software is going to be used to find out the analytical results from coverage
and capacity dimensioning. In this thesis the simulation environment is used to investigate the
RAN nominal planning of GSM/UMTS/LTE networks.

The cell planning tools require a digital map which is a geographical map of the planned area.
It is the most basic and initially required tool for RNP since it contains information about, the
land usage, the height of obstacles and vector data. A digital map with topographic data,
morphographic data and building location and height data, in the form of raster maps is the
minimum requirement.

Figure 4.1: Digital Map of Mekelle City

Computational Zone
It is a special zone where the intended calculations are being carries out. It also defines the
area where the coverage prediction results will be displayed. Therefore it allows to restrict the
coverage prediction result to the part of the network aimed to work on. so in the case of this
thesis the computational zone which incorporate Kedamay Weyane and Adi Haqi is shown in
Figure 4.2.

56
 Figure 4.2: Computational Zone of Kedamay Weyane and Adi Haqi in ATOLL

4.1 Modeling and Analysis of the Multi RAT Network

The multiple radio access networks consist of GSM, UMTS and LTE is illustrated on the Atoll
simulation software window.

Figure 4.3: Model of the Multi RAT Radio Network

The computational zone of the digital map as shown in the Figure 4.3 depict that of the three
sector yellow colored base stations, the red colored NodeBs and the ----- colored eNodeB are
generally belongs to Multi RAT technologies of GSM, UMTS and LTE respectively.

57
Analysis and Interpretation of the Simulation Results
In this section manipulating the performance, coverage predictions have been performed using
parameters like Signal level, Throughput, Overlapping Zones and Carrier to Interference plus
Noise Ratio (CINR).

4.1.1 Performance Evaluation of Planned GSM Network

a. GSM Coverage Prediction by Signal level
The prediction by signal level show in Figure 4.4 (a) tells the prediction of the best signal
strength at each pixel within the computation zone. The signal prediction result has an
acceptable coverage from the simulation result.

a)

b)
Figure 4.4: a) GSM Coverage Prediction by Signal level b) Histogram
The histogram result shown in Figure 4.4 (b) depicts more areas within the computation area
are covered by strong signal level and its signal values are ranges from -65dBm to -70dBm.
Therefore it has come to be greater than the receiver sensitivity. Other areas are also covered
by acceptable signal level comparing design receiver sensitivity signal level -105dBm.

58
b. Coverage Prediction on Overlapping Zones
The Figure 4.5 composed of pixels that are covered by the signal of at least two transmitters.
The coverage is calculated for the cell with the highest power for a transmitter with more than
one cell.

a)

b)
Figure 4.5: a) GSM Overlapping zone of transmitter b) Histogram
The Figure 4.6 show that the 76.009% of the area are served by single cell without need of
hand off stuffing. The rest would be 19.41%, 4.33%and 0.251% served with more than two
cells. As result of this 100% of the area becomes to be served by at least a single transmitter.

c. Coverage prediction by C/ (I+N) Level

This parameter is used to analyze the signal quality. The prediction are based on the predicted
signal level from the best server and the predicted signal levels from other cells (interference)
at each pixel.

59
The simulator calculates the serving transmitter for each pixel based on the downlink reference
signal level. The serving transmitter is determined according to the received reference signal
level from the cell with the highest power. If more than one cell cover the pixel, the one with
the lowest order is selected as the serving cell. Then, depending on the prediction definition,
it calculates the interference from other cells, and finally calculates the 𝐶 ⁄(𝐼 + 𝑁). If the
𝐶 ⁄(𝐼 + 𝑁) is higher than 𝐶 ⁄(𝐼 + 𝑁) threshold the pixel is colored.

The Carrier to Interference plus Noise Ratio (CINR) is the ratio of the signal carrier best
servings for the intervention seemed at all other sites/sectors, plus all the noise. If a signal
goes below the level of noise, it cannot be decoded and no useful information can be recovered
from it.

a)

b)
Figure 4.6: a) GSM Coverage by C/ (I+N) Level and b) Histogram
The histogram result shows the comparison of coverage percentage area versus 𝐂⁄(𝐈 + 𝐍)
level value. The 98.07% of the areas within the computation zone are covered by 15dB
to 21.2dB. Which satisfies the standard value.

60
d. Prediction by Effective Service Area Analysis
The effective service area prediction calculates where a service actually is available for the
probe mobile. The Figure 4.8 shown below refers to the colored area are where an effective
service is being provided.

Figure 4.7: GSM Effective Service Area Analysis

4.1.2 Performance Evaluation of Planned UMTS Network

a. Coverage Prediction by Signal level
The prediction of the best signal strength at each edge within the designed dense urban
computational zone is shown in the Figure 4.9 (a).

a)

61
 b)
Figure 4.8: a) UMTS Coverage prediction by Signal level b) Histogram
The histogram statistical result shows in Figure 4.9 (b) 65.405% of the areas within the
computation zone are covered by -100dBm to -90dBm strong signal level which is better as
compared to the calculated receiver sensitivity signal value -120dBm. The remaining
percentage area also covers by 1.36%, 2.907% and 30.328% of signal level intervals [-110, -
100], [-90,-80] and [-80,-70] respectively. Therefore a total of the computational zone is
covered with greater signal levels in which the receiver can just sense it.

b. Coverage Prediction on Overlapping Zones

The Figures 4.10 (a) depicts that the coverage prediction of the overlapping zones of UMTS
and The histogram illustrate in Figure 4.10 (b) the 63.17% of the computational zone are
served by a single server where as 27.02%, 8.45%, 1.36% are being served with two, three
and four servers respectively. So that the total area or 100% of the area are served by at least
a single server.

a)

62
 b)
Figure 4.9: a) UMTS Overlapping zone of transmitter b) Histogram
c. Coverage Prediction by Total Noise Level Analysis

a) UMTS Total Noise Level Analysis

b) Histogram

Figure 4.10: a) UMTS Total Noise Level Analysis b) Histogram

63
The Figures 4.11 (b) depict that the 98.33 percentage of the area has a maximum noise level
of -80 to -70dBm rages which is 10-11 to 10-10 watt. The rest 1.67% has a noise level of -90 to
80dBm. So that the noise level is much smaller as compared to the transmitted power.
d. Prediction by Effective Service Area Analysis
The effective service area is the intersection zone between the pilot reception area, and the
uplink and downlink service areas. In other words, the effective service area prediction
calculates where a service actually is available for the probe mobile. The Figure 4.12 shown
below refers to the colored area where an effective service is being provided.

Figure 4.11: UMTS Effective Service Area Analysis

4.1.3 Performance Evaluation of Planned LTE Network

a. LTE Coverage Prediction based on the signal level
Coverage prediction by signal level that is shown in Figure 4.13 tells us the prediction of the
best signal strength at each edge within the designed dense urban computation zone. The
simulation signal level values are greater than our design receiver sensitivity signal value. This
shows all the customers with in the selected coverage are can sense the signal from the sites,
which means any customer can be served by being in every places of the considered area
because. The designed receiver sensitivity was around -110dBm.

64
 Figure 4.12: Coverage prediction by signal level in DL using histogram
The above figure shows the 24.775% of customers with in the dense urban get signal streangth
btween -80, -75, 40.552 % of the users get -75,-70 signal streangth, 8.893% of them get -85,
-80 dBm, 23.436% of the customers get very strong signal than the others which is geater than
-70dBm and less than 3% of the users get signal level between -95, -85dBm. Therefore from
this all it is observed that about 97.656% of the users get very excellent signal level above -
85dBm.
b. Coverage prediction by overlapping zone
Overlapping zones as shown on Figure 4.14 are composed of pixels, they are composed of
pixels that are covered by the signal of at least two transmitters. For a transmitter with more
than one cell, the coverage is calculated for the cell with the highest power.

Figure 4.13: Coverage prediction by overlapping zone

c. Analyzing the Signal Quality (Coverage by C/ (I+N) Level

The carrier to interference plus noise ratio (CINR) is the ratio of the signal carrier best servings
for the intervention seemed at all other sites/sectors, plus all the noise. If a signal goes below
the level of noise, it cannot be decoded and no useful information can be recovered from it. A

65
good signal is important for high data rate communications. Coverage prediction by C/(I+N)
level calculates the co-channel interference as well as the adjacent channel interference, which
is reduced by the adjacent channel suppression factor defined in the Frequency Bands table
[20].

Figure 4: coverage analysis with c/(I + N) and its Histogram result

The histogram result of Figure 4 shows the relationship between coverage percentage area and
𝐶/(𝐼+𝑁) value. As it is shown in the figure 75.18% of the coverage percentage has CINR in
between 17 and 18 dB and 24.29% of the area owns CINR in between 18 and 19 dB. Therefore
the 99.47% of the area within the computation zone are covered by 17 to 19 dB CINR Level
value which satisfies the standard value.
d. Coverage prediction by Throughput (DL)
Downlink and uplink throughput coverage predictions calculate and display the channel
throughputs and cell capacities based on C/ (I+N) and bearer calculations for each pixel. These
coverage predictions can also display aggregate cell throughputs. The simulation result
determines the total number of symbols in the downlink and the uplink sub frames from the
input parameter tables. Then, Atoll determines the bearer at each pixel and multiplies the
bearer efficiency by the number of symbols in the frame to determine the peak MAC channel
throughputs. The cell capacity is equal to channel throughput when the maximum traffic load
is set to 100%, and is equal to a throughput limited by the maximum allowed traffic loads
otherwise. Cell capacities are, therefore, channel throughputs scaled down to respect the
maximum traffic load limits. The per-user throughput in DL and UL is calculated by dividing
the DL and UL cell capacity by the number of DL and UL users of the serving cell
respectively, but in uplink, the per-user throughput is smaller than the DL per-user throughput.
Finally the simulation result shows the DL individual user throughputs within the dense urban
area is acceptable as shown in Figure 4.

66
 Figure 4.14: Coverage prediction using throughput

e. Prediction by Effective Service Area Analysis

Figure 4.15: LTE effective service analysis

4.2 Comparison of Multi RAT by Effective Service Analysis

a. Comparison between UMTS and LTE

The figure below show that the computational zone has been covered almost 100%. The red
color take the most percentage of the area which are the pixels covered by the two radio access
and the rest pixels are covered by each predictions.

67
 Figure 4.16: Comparison of Effective Service Area Analysis by UMTS vs LTE

b. Comparison between GSM and UMTS

The pixels of the computational zone has been covered almost 100% as show figure 4.17. The
red color take the most percentage of the area which are the pixels covered by the two radio
access and the rest pixels are covered by each predictions.

Figure 4.17: Comparison of Effective Service Area Analysis by GSM vs UMTS

c. Comparison between LTE and GSM

Also the pixels of the computational zone has been covered almost 100% by these two radio
access technologies. The red color as show in the figure 4.18 indicates areas which are the
pixels covered by LTE and GSM, the rest pixels are covered by each radio access predictions.

68
Figure 4.18: Comparison of Effective Service Area Analysis by LTE vs GSM

69
 CHAPTER FIVE
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Conclusion
In a cellular network industry radio network planning shall compromise the important factors
such as network coverage, capacity, and QoS.

Furthermore, the radio network dimensioning parameters have an impact on each other and
therefore it is important to decide the emphasis in order to get an optimal dimensioning result
within the agreed parameter ranges. Based on system, transmitter and receiver parameters link
budget has been determined. Since it the initial point for the coverage dimensioning.

The essential parameters for capacity planning start with estimated traffic, average antenna
height, and frequency usage of the multi radio access technologies. This thesis was done to
develop a multiple radio network for Kedamayweyane and Adihaki sub cities of Mekelle city.
As a result of the capacity and the coverage dimensioning 14 GSM BTS’s, 16 WCDMA
NodeB’s and 58 LTE eNode’s are selected so that it is enough to cover 11.99km2 of the dense
urban clutters.

The output of this planning process by using radio network prediction and simulation can
verify and adjust the coverage and capacity planning results. The dimensioning output such
as cell radius of sites and required number of sites are some of the main important factors for
our final simulation results. The simulation output includes coverage prediction area with best
signal level, overlapping zone, C/I and throughput per each radio access technology that verify
the planned multi RAT radio network can handle the cellular traffic of sub cities.

70
5.2 Recommendation for Future Work
As there is always a need to see a certain research topics using different approaches and
methods, the following issues are recommended as future works:
 In this study the cell range of the target network has been taken from selecting the
worst case scenario due to lack of the drive test data. Hence a further study can be
made by incorporating the propagation model comparison after tuning each model
parameters using the target deployment area drive test data.
 This study focused on the network planning of the radio access technologies. One can
further study the various features of these technologies as well as the core network
part.
 And also one can do in the optimizing process for efficient and effective dimensioning
and planning outcome.

71
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