FDD-LTE Site survey

Contents

1 Regulations of site survey........................................1

1.1 Summarization.....................................................1

1.2 Term and definition...............................................1

1.3 Role and duty of Engineering Investigation........................1

1.4 Description of survey flow........................................2

1.4.1 Survey preparation..........................................2

1.4.2 Information collection......................................3

1.4.3 Information verification....................................4

1.4.4 Result confirmation.........................................4

2 Radio network planning survey.....................................6

2.1 How to choose location of sites in site survey....................6

2.2 How to confirm antenna pattern of sites...........................8

2.3 Test equipment list in site survey...............................10

2.4 matters need attention in survey of substitution sites...........10

2.5 Other supplementary specification................................11

1 Regulations of site survey

1.1 Summarization
Site survey of radio network planning is a kind of heavy work
which needs much patient and particularity. In order to make sure
the authenticity and precision of survey data, the staff must
work seriously and carry out detailed test about doubtful points.
Only depend on valid and precise data will we design the network
accurately, provide a valid planning report, and lay a solid
foundation for the network construction in future.

1.2 Term and definition

Site survey: site survey is a procedure which is based on the
design of network topology and planning sites information meeting
the demand of coverage and capacity in theory, and in which
existing sites meeting the demand could be found in real
environment.

Planning sites: Planning sites are a series of site distributions

which are based on original design of network topology

Candidate sites: These candidate sites are obtained in the work

of site survey, according to the standard of site selection.
After verification and acknowledgement, these candidate sites are
defined as the final actual output sites.

1.3 Role and duty of Engineering Investigation

Survey engineer Be responsible for prospect of planning sites,
arrangement and submission of site survey reports.

Network planning engineer Preliminarily auditing the result of

planning sites prospecting, arranging and exporting planning
 results and reports of planning sites survey. Confirming the iffy
sites feedback from customers principal.

Simulation engineer Be responsible for the simulation

verification of planning sites, making sure whether planning
results accord with project demands.

Project coordination manager Carrying out project management and

coordination of planning sites survey, coordinating human
resources in the internal and external of project group, be
responsible for plan of planning sites survey as well as daily
draft and assignment of site survey task document, be responsible
for command and judgement of overall progress of planning sites
survey

Customers principal Confirming plans for planning sites survey,

site survey results of different phases and final network
planning.

1.4 Description of survey flow

This regulation will introduce flow of planning sites survey in
unit of cluster.
This regulation is divided into four parts, which are survey
preparation, information collection, information verification,
and result confirmation.

Phase of survey preparation, Project coordination manager and

Customers principal work out and confirm site survey plan.

Phase of information collection, Survey engineer carrys out site

survey work according to site survey plans drawn up by Project
coordination manager, network planning engineer audits survey
results, collects and arranges the results.

Phase of information verification, simulation engineer provides

simulation verification of site survey results according to
planning and survey results. Output after verification will be
 submitted to customers principal who will confirm the result.

Phase of result confirmation, network planning engineer audits

and arranges planning results, and then submits them to customers
principal who will confirm the results. Finally, if planning
results are passed, the flow of planning sites survey is over.

1.4.1 Survey preparation

Reduction This activity could not be cut down
specificati
on
Threshold prophase activities complete
norm
Input 《Planning sites information》
Activities Project coordination manager determines to start planning sites survey
Specificati flow according to reduced results of wireless network planning flow of
ons specific project as well as project progress.
Project coordination manager and customers principal work out and
confirm work plan of planning sites survey according to 《 Planning
sites information 》 , and then Project coordination manager outputs
《scheme of planning sites survey》
Project coordination manager moves the flow forward to phase of
information collection
Output 《Planning sites survey scheme》
Participati Project coordination manager, customers principal
on roles
supporting MS Project；MS Office
tools

1.4.2 Information collection

Reduction This activity could not be cut down
specification
threshold norm Prophase activities complete
input 《Planning sites survey scheme》
 Activities Project coordination manager works out survey task of next day
Specifications according to 《 Planning sites survey scheme 》 , outputs 《 Task
document of planning sites survey》
Project coordination manager assigns task of site survey to survey
engineer.
Survey engineer carries out planning sites survey according to
intraday task of survey, and outputs 《Site survey report》. In the
process of planning sites survey, give priority to the selection of
sites provided by customer whose parameters are adjacent to those
of planning sites.
Network planning engineer checks intraday planning sites
information according to site selection specification. For those
candidate sites which couldn’t meet demand, project coordination
manager will place them on the agenda of morrow survey.
Network planning engineer collects intraday results of survey,
outputs 《 summarization of daily survey 》 and 《 site information
table of planning and design》.
Project coordination manager judges the integral progress of
planning sites survey, if sites survey completes, then the flow
will achieve the phase of information verification, otherwise it
will return to 2.
output 《Task document of planning sites survey》
《Site survey report》
《summarization of daily survey》
《site information table of planning and design》
Participation Project coordination manager, customers principal, network planning
roles engineer, survey engineer
supporting MS Project ； MS Office ； GPS ； Compass ； Digital Camera ； range
tools finder ； map of business area ； 《 template of task document of
planning sites survey 》 ； 《 template of Site survey report 》 ；
《template of summarization of daily survey 》；《 template of site
information table of planning and design》

1.4.3 Information verification

Reduction
Carrying out according to requirement of actual project plan
specification
threshold norm Prophase activities complete
Input 《site information table of planning and design》
 Activities Simulation engineer inputs candidate sites information which were
Specifications obtained in the survey according to 《 site information table of
planning and design 》 into simulation tools, replaces planning sites
and carries out simulation. For the sites which could not meet demand
after simulation, other candidate sites will replace. If all
candidate sites of the planning site could not meet demand, this
planning site will be listed in morrow survey plan by Project
coordination manager.
Sites information which overpasses simulation verification is
submitted to customers principal who will confirm site information.
If the sites information doesn’t pass the confirmation, it will be
listed in morrow survey plan by Project coordination manager.
Project coordination manager will push the flow to the phase of
result confirmation after receiving confirmation information from
customers principal.
output none
Participation Project coordination manager ， customers principal ， simulation
roles engineer
supporting ZXPOS CNS1；digital map of business area
tools

1.4.4 Result confirmation

Reduction
specificati This activity could not be cut down
on
threshold Prophase activities complete
norm
Input 《site information table of planning and design》
Activities Network planning engineer collects and arranges planning result
Specificati according to 《site information table of planning and design》, outputs
ons 《site information》and 《site survey report》.
Customers principal confirms planning result, and gives network
planning engineer feedback on doubtful sites.
Network planning engineer confirms the reason for existence of doubtful
sites and submits it to Project coordination manager, then doubtful
sites will be listed in morrow planning sites survey scheme.
After customers principal confirms final planning result, Project
coordination manager defines the end of planning sites survey flow, and
main flow comes back.
Output 《site information》
 《site survey report》
Participati Project coordination manager ， Customers principal ， network planning
on roles engineer
Supporting MS OFFICE；《site information》；《template of Site survey report》
tools
2 Radio network planning survey

2.1 How to choose location of sites in site survey.

For sites which will be built, general principle of site
selection in site survey is listed as follows:

Site survey and site selection is accomplished by both operator

and engineer of network planning and survey, engineer of network
planning and survey puts forward suggestions of site selection,
Operator and proprietor negotiate about the lease on house and
ground. Designing institute prospects for project feasibility and
completes design of apparatus room and iron tower. Network
planning and survey engineer knows electromagnetic
wave propagation environment and user density distribution and
obtain specific longitude and latitude of sites through site
survey and site selection. Generally speaking, coverage of field
intensity, density distribution of telephone traffic, conditions
of site construction and economic cost are taken into account in
site selection. We should lay stress on the following factors in
Initial layout and survey of sites.
 Site location is selected in ideal position of regular
cellular network, deviation should not surpass quarter of
site radius for the frequency plan and cells division.
 Layout of site density is corresponded to traffic density
distribution. In the initial stage of network construction,
sites are few, we should provide good coverage for important
users and downtown area of large user density in the process
of site selection.
 In the survey of downtown sites, the height of those little
cellular sites should exceeds average building height but be
 less than the highest building. For those cellular sites, the
height should be less than average building height, and
buildings around have a good electromagnetic shielding. In
the survey of suburban and village or town sites, we should
inquire and verify whether large traffic area which will be
shut out around the sites location.
 In site selection of crowds of buldings in downtown area, we
should avoid that there are tall buildings which are existed
or will be under construction obstruct the area which need to
be covered near the antenna.
 We should avoid that Sites are located near radio launch pad,
radar station or other strong interference. If that location
must be chosen, interference field intensity test should be
done.
 Sites are located on high mountain should be avoided. Tall
sites located in urban areas will cause large-scale
interference and affect frequency reuse, while tall sites
located in suburban or rural will lead to poor coverage in
towns of small basin.
 Sites are located in the woods should be avoided, if
necessary, Antenna of sites must be taller than top of trees.
 There are necessary conditions of site establishment, for the
sites in downtown area: there is commercial power and
grounding for lightening system, load of floor can meet the
requirement of technique, ground for antenna installation on
the top of building is required. For the sites in suburban
and rural, commercial power is reliable, environment is safe,
traffic is convenient, iron tower or other infrastructure are
convenient to be built.
 We should choose buildings whose reconstruction cost of
apparatus room is low and whose rental is cheap as location
of sites.
 We should choose existing telecommunication hub buildings,
post office or Microwave sites as location of sites and make
use of their apparatus room, power supply as well as iron
tower on the precondition of not affecting layout of sites.
 After determination of using microwave for transmission, we
should take feasibility of other kinds of transmission, cost
and transmission performance. For the supply of electricity,
don’t use agricultural electrical power directly, otherwise
it will affect the regular work of base station because of
unstable voltage.
 In downtown area, locations of sites from two different
systems should be the same or close.
 Sectors direction of site can’t be sheltered obviously, we
should confirm that any buildings in the range of 100 meters
right opposite to sectors can’t be taller than antenna
height.
 Shelter from buildings of large area should be prohibited in
the range of 200 meters right opposite to sectors
 Antenna height should surpass buildings around 10-15 meters.
In dense urban, antenna height should surpass buildings
around 10 meters. In nondense urban, antenna height should
surpass average height around 15-20 meters. If antenna height
is too high, it will lead to fade zone and strong
interference all around.
 Solid angle of GPS installation can’t be less than 90
degree, obvious shelter around can’t exist, and space for
GPS installation is required.
 We should confirm that there will be enough space for putting
up the aerial. For LTE sites which have same locations with
sites of other systems, requirement for isolation degree
should be guaranteed, while enough space for antenna
 installation is required.
 Apparatus room, space for rack, power supply and
transmission should be provided, normal wiring is required.
 Description of environment around in site survey should be
provided in direction, including geomorphology, interference
conditions, and important areas need to be well covered.
Physiognomy item corresponds to specification of the
definition according to Physiognomy around, choose
corresponding numbers at the same time. Interference
conditions correspond to interference which may exist around
and provide interference information. Important area of good
coverage means whether there are areas around sites which
need to be well covered. If areas exist, select corresponding
numbers according to categories.

Nowadays, before site survey, the operator has a global

assumption of site selection, some sites even have specific
locations. Planning and survey engineer of our company can judge
whether locations of sites selected by operator are reasonable,
if not suitable, we can carry out site survey and choose sites
which are more suitable, then provide operator with reason and
suggestions so that operator can make a final decision(written
confirmation).

2.2 How to confirm antenna pattern of sites

About selection of antenna, we usually conform to the following
principles:

Generally speaking, in urban areas or some special areas of

terrain and physiognomy, there are many tall buildings and
reflectors which lead to much reflection and multipath, in order
to minimize the interference with other sites, we often choose
antennas whose HBWD is 65 degree.

In suburban and towns with small population, in order to

guarantee coverage, we can use directional antenna with high gain
on condition that landform is flat. For example, antenna whose
gain is 18.5dBi, degree of horizontal 3dB is 65, degree of
vertical 3 dB is 6.5 can be adopted.

Moreover, if necessary, directional antenna with electrical down-

tilting and null fill can be selected.

For omnidirectional antenna, gain is often 11 dBi, degree of

vertical 3dB is 7. We can choose antenna with electrical down-
tilting and null fill according to the terrain.

For example, in mountainous areas where coverage range of sites

is deeply influenced by environment, Omni sites are recommended.
Sometimes, sites are located on high mountains for good coverage,
and these sites are supposed to cover towns and roads nearby at
the same time. In some situations, if there is a town in low area
with high mountains surrounded, there will be near-point weak
coverage when there are buildings of high density in the town
which almost happen several hundred meters away from the sites.
We need to seriously survey the location and altitude of the site
and town which are in covered area. and survey the top of
mountains where the sites are located when it is necessary to
make sure if omni antenna with electrical down-tilting is
necessary and which type should be selected. Moreover, when
setting up a site in the town, we should choose the location and
the type of antenna according to the shape of the town and
characteristic of the building, and the coverage of low traffic
or blocked area should not be concerned if necessary. Table 2.1
describes antenna selection of sites in the top of high
mountains.

Table 2-1 Antenna selection of omnidirectional coverage in the top of mountains

 omnidirectio
nal coverage illustra
coverage type
of top tion
mountains

Omnidirectional sites
scope of
Sites are built on the top of mountain, service area is hillside
application
and its surroundings
example manufacturer：KATHREIN
antenna model：736349、738664、737190
As omnidirectional antenna can hardly contain mechanical down-
remark tilting, omnidirectional antenna with electrical down-tilting
should be adopted in order to guarantee good coverage.

About specific antenna selection, please refer to appendix 3.3:

technical file “method of antenna selection”

2.3 Test equipment list in site survey.

Generally speaking, following devices are necessary in site
survey.

1. GPS Test longitude, latitude, altitude of site

location.

2. Compass Judge the direction to know conditions of sites

around.

3. Test mobile Knowing the basic situation about coverage of

existing sites which affect surrounding candidate sites.

4. Tape For necessary measurement.

5. Telescope(not necessary) Extend the range of vision

6. (Digital) camera(not necessary) Get pictures of location of

candidate sites and situation around sites, in order to judge
and make a further choice as well as being put on record.

7. Testing equipments (not necessary) Testing the coverage of

existing sites surrounding candidate sites, knowing coverage
of original sites, putting testing data on record.
 8. testing vehicle each survey group needs one at least(if
survey area is a mountainous area or hilly ground, vehicles
suitable for long journey in mountains should be needed.)

2.4 matters need attention in survey of substitution sites.

If newly-built sites are substitution sites, in this case, we
must know data of original sites, such as site type
configuration, kinds of mixer(half or quarter), transmit power of
amplifier and so on. Details can be found in site survey table-
substitution part of the appendix. If necessary, we should
explain to operators that coverage of newly-built sites may be
different from that of original sites. Only in this way can we
avoid dispute about coverage in future.

2.5 Other supplementary specification

1. For the sites next to boundary, operators need to provide
external cells information.

2. Reminding operators of maximum configuration about all kinds

of equipment at necessary time.