03/20/17 Security Level:

LTE Cell Planning

LTE RNP 2010-06

www.huawei.com

HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD. Huawei Confidential

Content
Process for Planning the LTE Network

Frequency Planning

Cell ID Planning

TA Planning

PCI Planning

Neighboring Cell Planning

X2 Planning

PRACH Planning

HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD. Huawei Confidential

Page 2
Process for Planning the LTE Network
Informati
The general process includes on
Collectio
information collection, pre- n
planning, detailed planning, and
Pre-
cell planning. In the cell planning, planning
main concerns are frequency
planning, cell ID planning, TA Detailed
Planning
planning, PCI planning,
neighboring cell planning, X2
Cell
interface planning, and PRACH Planning
planning.

Frequen Cell ID TA PCI NB Cell X2 PRACH

cy Plannin Plannin Plannin Plannin Plannin Plannin
Planning g g g g g g

HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD. Huawei Confidential

Page 3
Content
Process for Planning the LTE Network

Frequency Planning

Cell ID Planning

TA Planning

PCI Planning

Neighboring Cell Planning

X2 Planning

PRACH Planning

HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD. Huawei Confidential

Page 4
Frequency Planning
Why and when perform frequency planning?
When the LTE system works on the same frequency band, serious interference
occurs between the UEs on the edge of a cell because they are close to each
other and use the same resources. In this case, the performance of the UEs
deteriorates. The inter-cell interference coordination (ICIC) technology can be
used to change interference distribution, thus improving the throughput of the
UEs on the edge of a cell.

When static DL ICIC is used, the entire

bandwidth is divided into three parts, each of
which serves as the edge band of a cell for
reuse. In this case, network planning engineers
need to perform frequency planning.

HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD. Huawei Confidential

Page 5
Notes for Frequency Planning

In actual applications, the network structure is quite complex, therefore 1x3

frequency reuse can mitigate interference only to a certain extent.
For segmental expansion, frequent planning adjustments need to be
performed. In this case, network performance may deteriorate.
In scenarios where indoor coverage and outdoor coverage require
coordination, frequency reuse cannot be ensured.
If the DL ICIC function is required, dynamic ICIC is recommended.

HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD. Huawei Confidential

Page 6
Content
Process for Planning the LTE Network

Frequency Planning

Cell ID Planning

TA Planning

PCI Planning

Neighboring Cell Planning

X2 Planning

PRACH Planning

HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD. Huawei Confidential

Page 7
Cell ID Planning
Different from a WCDMA cell ID, LTE cell ID consists of 20-bit eNB ID and 8-
bit cell ID, which ensures that the LTE cell ID is unique in the entire network.
If the PLMN (MCC + MNC) is used, the LTE cell ID is unique worldwide. The
WCDMA cell ID is unique on each RNC, the GSM and CDMA cell ID also is
similar to the WCDMA cell ID.
The eNB involves the local cell ID, sector ID, and cell ID. It is advised to
plan the three IDs starting from 0, which ensures that they are consistent.

HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD. Huawei Confidential

Page 8
Considerations for Actual Planning

In practice, customers may provide numbering rules for different areas

and cities. If customers have no additional requirements, the IDs planned
must be different in principle.

HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD. Huawei Confidential

Page 9
Content
Process for Planning the LTE Network

Frequency Planning

Cell ID Planning

TA Planning

PCI Planning

Neighboring Cell Planning

X2 Planning

PRACH Planning

HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD. Huawei Confidential

Page 10
 TA Planning

TA Concept
Similar to the location area and routing area in 2G/3G networks, the tracking area
(TA) is used for paging. TA planning aims to reduce location update signaling caused
by location changes in the LTE system.

TAI list
A list of TAIs that identify the tracking areas that the UE can enter without performing
a tracking area updating procedure. The TAIs in a TAI list assigned by an MME to a
UE pertain to the same MME area. Additionally, the TAIs in a TAI list assigned by an
MME to a CS fallback capable UE pertain to the same location area. In this case, the
defining of the relationship between the tracking area(s) and the location area(s) is
operator specific.
In LTE system, if an UE changes the TAs in the TAI list, TA update wont be triggered.

HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD. Huawei Confidential

Page 11
TA Planning Principles

A TA should be medium. The limitations by the EPC must be considered.

(Currently, each TA supports a maximum of 30 eNBs in the EPC. The number may
be adjusted later.)
When the suburban area and urban area are covered discontinuously, an
independent TA is used for the suburban area.
A TA should be planned for a continuous geographical area to prevent segmental
networking of eNBs in each TA.
The paging area cannot be located in different MMEs.
The mountain or river in the planned area can be used as the border of a TA to
reduce the overlapping depth of different cells in two TAs. In this way, fewer
location updates are performed on the edge of a TA.
The LAC planning in the existing 2G/3G networks can serve as a reference for
planning TAs.

HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD. Huawei Confidential

Page 12
Content
Process for Planning the LTE Network

Frequency Planning

Cell ID Planning

TA Planning

PCI Planning

Neighboring Cell Planning

X2 Planning

PRACH Planning

HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD. Huawei Confidential

Page 13
 PCI Planning
In LTE system, the physical cell identifier (PCI) is used to differentiate radio signals of
different cells. That is, the PCI is unique in the coverage of cells. Cell IDs are grouped in
the cell search procedure. The ID of a cell group is determined through the SSCH, and
then a specific cell ID is determined through the PSCH.

The function of PCIs in the LTE system is similar to that of scrambling codes in the
WCDMA system. PCI planning also aims to ensure the reuse distance.

Differences between a scrambling code and a PCI: The scrambling code ranges from 0
to 511 whereas the PCI ranges from 0 to 503. In addition, the protocols do not have
specific requirements for scrambling code planning. Therefore, only the reuse distance
needs to be ensured in scrambling code planning. For PCI planning, however, 3GPP
protocols require that the value of PCI/3 should be 0, 1, or 2 in each eNB.

The SCP can be used for PCI planning. The prototype version is available for the tool
specific to PCI planning but the tool needs evaluation.

HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD. Huawei Confidential

Page 14
Actual Considerations

PCIs need to be reserved for indoor coverage.

For multiple cities, PCIs need to be reserved for border coverage.

For a high site that may lead to cross-cell coverage, a large reuse
distance needs to be set independently.

HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD. Huawei Confidential

Page 15
Content
Process for Planning the LTE Network

Frequency Planning

Cell ID Planning

TA Planning

PCI Planning

Neighboring Cell Planning

X2 Planning

PRACH Planning

HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD. Huawei Confidential

Page 16
Neighboring Cell Planning
The method of planning LTE neighboring cells is similar to that of planning
GSM/WCDMA/CDMA. Currently, the planning method and tool for LTE neighboring
cells are available.
The actual configuration is different. There is no BSC in the LTE system. When an
eNB cell is configured as neighboring cells of other eNBs, external cells must be
added first, which is similar to the scenario where inter-BSC neighboring cells are
configured on the BSC. That is, neighboring cells can be configured only after the
corresponding cell information is added.
Currently, neighboring cells are configured on the eNB based on the local cell ID
instead of the cell ID used in previous systems. Therefore, the local cell ID and cell ID
should be consistent.

HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD. Huawei Confidential

Page 17
ANR and Neighboring Cell Planning
Automatic Neighbor Relation (ANR) can automatically add and maintain
neighbor relations. The initial network construction, however, should not fully
depend on ANR for the following considerations: a. ANR is closely related to
traffic in the entire network; b. ANR is based on UE measurements but the
delay is introduced in the measurements.

After initial neighbor relations configured and the number of UEs increasing,
some neighboring relations may be missing. In this case, ANR can be used
to detect missing neighboring cells and add neighbor relations, thus network
performance improved.

HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD. Huawei Confidential

Page 18
Content
Process for Planning the LTE Network

Frequency Planning

Cell ID Planning

TA Planning

PCI Planning

Neighboring Cell Planning

X2 Planning

PRACH Planning

HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD. Huawei Confidential

Page 19
X2 Interface Planning

X2 interface planning is based on neighbor relations, that is, neighboring

cells belonging to different eNBs need to be obtained. In eRAN1.0, each
eNB can be configured with a maximum of 16 X2 interfaces. If there are
more than 16 X2 interfaces, the redundant X2 interfaces with the remotest
distance can be deleted. In eRAN1.1 and eRAN2.0, each eNB can
support 32 X2 interfaces.

The later version of the ANR can automatically maintain X2 interfaces to

solve the problems with missing X2 interfaces or configuration errors.

HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD. Huawei Confidential

Page 20
Content
Process for Planning the LTE Network

Frequency Planning

Cell ID Planning

TA Planning

PCI Planning

Neighboring Cell Planning

X2 Planning

PRACH Planning

HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD. Huawei Confidential

Page 21
PRACH Planning - Logical Root Sequence
Indexes
What is the logical root sequence index?

The random access preambles are generated from Zadoff-Chu sequences with
zero correlation zone.

There are 64 available preamble sequences in each cell. The 64 preamble
sequences are first generated from a root Zadoff-Chu sequence using cyclic
shift. If less than 64 preamble sequences are generated, the remaining are
generated from the root Zadoff-Chu sequence corresponding to the
logical index.

The previously mentioned root corresponds to
the logical root sequence index, which is sent
to the UE through the SIB2.

HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD. Huawei Confidential

Page 22
PRACH Planning - Logical Root Sequence
Indexes
Zadoff-Chu sequence
A Zadoff-Chu sequence has good self-correlation and cross-
correlation and is defined as follows:
un ( n 1)
j
xu n e N ZC
, 0 n N ZC 1
N ZC indicates the length of the Zadoff-Chu sequence, and u indicates

the physical root sequence index. The relation between the logical
root sequence index and physical root sequence index is defined in
protocols.
The preamble sequences are generated from theth root Zadoff-Chu
u
sequence through the following cyclic shift.
The cyclic shift value is defined as follows:
xu ,v (n) xu ((n Cv ) mod N ZC ) vN CS v 0,1,..., N ZC N CS 1, N CS 0 for unrestricted sets

Cv 0 N CS 0 for unrestricted sets

dstart v nshift (v mod nshift ) N CS v 0,1,..., nshift ngroup nshift 1
RA RA RA RA RA
for restricted sets

HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD. Huawei Confidential

Page 23
Causes for Planning the Root Sequence
Index
There are 64 preamble sequences in each cell. The preamble sequence
is selected randomly or assigned by the eNB. To reduce interference of
preamble sequences between neighboring cells, the root Zadoff-Chu
sequence index need to be planned properly.

The planning aims to assign the root Zadoff-Chu sequence index for cells
to ensure that different preamble sequences are generated for
neighboring cells through the index. In this way, interference of preamble
sequences between neighboring cells can be reduced.

HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD. Huawei Confidential

Page 24
 Factors Affecting the Access Radius

Preamble format
Preamble Format Maximum Cell Radius
0 14.5 km
1 77.3 km
2 29.5 km
3 100 km

Ncs

N CS 1.04875 (6.67 r TMD 2)

The unit of r is km. The unit of TMD is sec. The value of N CS is subject to the
cell radius and maximum delay extension.

HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD. Huawei Confidential

Page 25
How to Plan (Take a Low Speed Cell as an
Example)
Step 1: The Ncs value is determined by the cell radius. If the cell radius is
10 km, the Ncs value is 76.
Step 2: The value of 839/76 is rounded down to 11, that is, each index
can generate 11 preamble sequences. In this case, six root sequence
indexes are required to generate 64 preamble sequences.
Step 3: The number of available root sequence indexes is 139 (0, 6, 12
828).
Step 4: The available root sequence indexes are assigned to cells. The
assignment principles are similar to those for PCIs.

The planning method of a high speed cell is similar to that of a low

speed cell. The algorithm for determining available root sequence
indexes, however, is more complex.

HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD. Huawei Confidential

Page 26
Thank you
www.huawei.com